2d, Astorga:
We have found 800 dead horses along the road and much baggage, with supplies. The Guard is returning to Benavente, and I am coming back closer to the centre of my armies.

6th, Benavente:
(To Joseph.) I thank you for your good wishes for the new year. I have no hope as yet that Europe will be pacified this year. I have so little hope of it that I signed a decree yesterday to raise 100,000 men.
 

Happiness? Ah! of course! There's little enough question of happiness these days!

7th, Valladolid:
I have left the Duke of Dalmatia with 30,000 men to pursue the English.

8th, Morning parade:
Ah, yes. I know, you all want to get back to Paris, to your bad habits, and your mistresses! Well, I mean to keep you with the colours till you're eighty!

9th. (To Josephine.) Moustache has brought me your letter of the 31st of December. I perceive, dear friend, that you are worried, that you are in a state of black anxiety. Austria will not make war on me. If she does, I have 150,000 men in Germany, and as many on the Rhine, and 400,000 Germans with whom to reply. Russia will not leave my side. People are mad in Paris; all is going perfectly well.

I shall be in Paris the moment I think it necessary. I warn you to beware of ghosts: one of these fine days, at two o'clock in the morning - But, good-bye.

11th. I have to stay at Valladolid, where dispatches from Paris can reach me in five days. The events of Constantinople, the present situation of Europe, the reorganization of my armies of Italy, of Turkey, and of the Rhine prevent my moving away from here. It was with great reluctance that I turned back at Astorga.

On the parade ground:
(To General Legendre, Dupont's chief of staff.) You have the impudence to appear before me! Your dishonour is written on the face of every brave soldier. Men have blushed for you in the most remote parts of Russia. On the field of battle a man fights, sir, he does not surrender, and if he surrenders he deserves to be shot. A soldier should know how to die. Your surrender was a crime!

15th. (To Joseph.) The condition of Europe compels me to go to Paris for three weeks. I expect to be there on the 21st of January. I shall travel most of the way in the saddle, rapidly. If you think it advisable you can keep my absence secret for a fortnight by saying that I have gone to Saragossa.

24th, Paris:
I arrived here in good health on the 23d at 8 in the morning.

28th. (To Talleyrand.) You are a thief, a coward, a man without honour, you disbelieve in God, you have betrayed everyone, to you nothing is sacred, you would sell your own father! You suppose, without rhyme or reason, that my Spanish affairs are going wrong. You deserve that I should smash you like a glass, but I despise you too profoundly to put myself to that trouble!

(Talleyrand: What a pity that so great a man should be so ill-bred!)

29th. (To Metternich.) Well! this is something new at Vienna! What does it mean ? Has a spider stung you? Who is threatening you? Whom are you aiming at? Do you want to set the world aflame again?
 

Metternich has almost become a statesman, he lies very well.

(Austria) wants to get slapped; she shall have it, on both cheeks. If the Emperor Francis attempts any hostile move, he will soon have ceased to reign. That is clear. Before another ten years mine will be the most ancient dynasty of Europe.

February 11th. My memory will not store a single alexandrine verse; but I do not forget one syllable of the regimental returns. I always know where my troops are. I am fond of tragedy; but were all the dramas of the world there, on one side of me, and the regimental returns on the other, I would not so much as glance at the dramas, while every line of my regimental returns would be read with the closest attention.

March 9th. I am leaving my best troops with Joseph, and am starting alone for Vienna with my little conscripts, my name, and my long boots.

14th, Rambouillet:
(To Maximilian Joseph, King of Bavaria.) My Brother: If war should break out, your troops must be employed vigorously. The Prince Royal, however distinguished he may be by his natural gifts, has never conducted military operations, and is therefore not competent to command. I should be depriving myself of the services of your 40,000 men if I had not a firm and able commander at their head. I have selected an old soldier, the Duke of Dantzig, for this duty. At this day the Bavarian army is too large, and the circumstances too serious, for me to speak less than frankly to Your Majesty. After the Prince Royal has won his promotions through six or seven campaigns, he will be fit to command.

23d, Paris:
A French officer has been stopped at Braunau, and his dispatches, though sealed with the arms of France, have been forcibly taken by the Austrians.

24th. All the infantry of the Guard coming from Spain will proceed to Paris by coach.

30th. My intention is to carry my headquarters to Ratisbon and to concentrate my whole army there.

April 10th. Intercepted dispatches addressed to M. de Metternich, and his demand for passports, show clearly enough that Austria is on the point of beginning hostilities, if she has not already done so; if she attacks before the 15th everything must fall back on the Lech.

12th. (To the Prince of Neuchâtel.) The semaphore is just giving me, at 8 P. M., the first half of your dispatch, from which it would appear, according to a letter of M. Otto, that the Austrians have crossed the Inn and declared war. I shall start in two hours.

15th, Strassburg:
In an hour 1 shall cross the Rhine.

16th, Ludwigsburg.
(To Alexander, Prince of Neuchâtel.) I have received your dispatch stating that you are moving Oudinot's corps to Ratisbon. You state no reasons for so extraordinary a move that weakens and disperses my forces.

17th, Donauwerth, 4 A. M.:
I have absolutely no knowledge of the whereabouts of the Duke of Auerstadt.

It appears that the Duke of Dantzig is retreating on Eisenfeld.

8 A. M.:
(To the Duke of Dantzig.) Let me know your personal view as to where the mass of the enemy's forces is situated.

10 A. M.:
(To the Duke of Auerstadt.) I have just reached Donauwerth. I hear that you are at Ratisbon. My intention had always been to concentrate behind the Lech. Fall back with all your troops on Ingolstadt.

(To the Duke of Rivoli.) You will receive in the night orders to march to-morrow at two in the morning with your whole corps and that of General Oudinot. The object of your march will be to get contact with the rest of the army, to catch the enemy in a false manœuvre, and to destroy his columns.

6 P. M.:
(To Davout.) Since arriving here this morning I have sent you General Savary, my aide-de-camp Vence, an artillery officer, a Bavarian major, and have ordered General von Wrede and the Duke of Dantzig, to both of whom I have sent several dispatches, to send on my views to you. It is now 6 P. M. and I am sending off your aide-de-camp, with a duplicate copy of my orders, and he has promised me that he will reach you by six in the morning. We have heard the sound of guns from between Pfaffenhofen and Freising. We are moving towards one another.

18th, 4 A. M.:
It appears as though the Archduke Charles were moving on the line Landshut Ratisbon.

(To Masséna, Duke of Rivoli.) In a word you will see the whole situation. Prince Charles debouched yesterday from Landshut on Ratisbon with his whole army; he had three corps, estimated at 80,000 men. You therefore perceive that there never was a stroke that demanded more energy and swiftness than this.

Rapidity! Activity! activity! All lies with you!

20th, Vohburg:
I am in the saddle to get to the outposts and see things for myself. I shall attack the enemy if they are still in position, and pursue them rapidly if they are retreating.

21st, Rohr:
Yesterday and day before are a second Jena. The Duke of Rivoli should have reached Landshut (yesterday) at three in the afternoon.

22d, Landshut:
I shall be at Ergoltsbach before noon. If I hear the guns, that will be a sufficient signal for me to attack. I am determined to destroy the army of Prince Charles to-day, or at latest to-morrow.

(Order.) The Duke of Rivoli will move on Eckmühl with his three divisions, and cut off the enemy. The Emperor will be with him.

24th, Imperial headquarters, Ratisbon:
Soldiers, you have done all that I expected! You have balanced numbers by courage. You have gloriously marked the difference that lies between the soldiers of Cæsar and the armed hordes of Xerxes.

In a few days we have triumphed in three pitched battles, at Thann, at Abensberg and at Eckmühl, and in the actions of Freising, of Landshut, and of Ratisbon. Before another month has elapsed we shall be in Vienna.

27th, Mühldorf:
We are now in Austria and covering long days' marches.

30th, Burghausen:
(To Prince Eugène, commanding the army of Italy.) I regret to see that you have abandoned the line of the Piave. In warfare one sees one's own deficiencies, but not those of the enemy. You should have held on until the enemy actually attempted to force the passage of the Piave.

War is a serious business in which one risks one's own reputation and that of one's country; a reasonable man should examine himself and decide whether or no he is fitted for it. I know that in Italy you affect a great contempt of Masséna; had I sent him there things would not have happened as they have. Masséna has military talents to which we may well doff our hats; we must forget his foibles; every man has some. I made a mistake in giving you the command of the army; I should have placed you under Masséna in command of the cavalry. Kings of France, even reigning Emperors, have often enough commanded a regiment or a division under the orders of an old Marshal. I think that if you are hard pressed you should write asking the King of Naples to join the army; he could leave his government to the Queen. You could hand the command over to him, and place yourself under his orders; that would be highly proper, and would have a good effect. It is a simple enough matter that you should know less of warfare than a man who has been waging it for sixteen years. I am not vexed at your mistakes, but I am at your not writing and posting me, so that I can advise you, and direct your movements from here. If you only knew history you would also know that quips serve no good purpose, and that the greatest battles of which we know were lost through following the opinions of the armies.

May 4th, Enns:
I crossed the Traun yesterday. There has been an engagement at Ebelsberg in which we took 6000 prisoners.

6th. (To Josephine.) Dear friend: I have received your letter. The bullet that struck me did not wound me; it just grazed the tendon of Achilles. My health is excellent and there is no cause for worry. My affairs are going well.

9th, S. Poelten:
I shall be in sight of Vienna to-morrow at noon. The inhabitants are armed, and appear inclined to defend themselves. We shall see if we are to have a repetition of the Madrid business.

12th,Schoenbrunn:
We took possession of the suburbs on the 10th, and of the city to-day, after a bombardment.

(Decree.) Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, etc.

Whereas Charlemagne, Emperor of the French, our illustrious predecessor, when donating various counties to the bishops of Rome, granted them by way of fiefs and for the greater benefit of his states; and whereas Rome did not cease, by the said donations, from being a part of his Empire; and whereas nothing that we have put forward for the purpose of conciliating the safety of our armies, the tranquillity and prosperity of our people, the dignity and integrity of our Empire with the temporal claims of the Popes, has been of any effect; we hereby decree:

The States of the Pope are annexed to the French Empire.

17th. The immense quantity of material necessary for throwing a bridge over the Danube is already assembled. I hope to cross on the 18th and 19th, and to disperse the armies between the Danube and Moravia.

19th, Ebersdorf:
The Emperor hopes the bridge will be ready to-morrow forenoon, and that the whole army will reach the left bank in the course of the day.

22d, bivouac, island of Lobau:
The nearest villages are Aspern, Essling, and Enzersdorf. To cross a river like the Danube in the presence of an enemy knowing the ground thoroughly, and having the sympathies of the inhabitants is one of the most difficult military operations conceivable.

It was all over with the Austrian army when at 7 A. M. a staff officer reached the Emperor and informed him that, owing to a sudden flood of the Danube which had carried down many trees and rafts, the bridges between the right bank and the island of Lobau had been broken. This deplorable mishap caused the Emperor to stop the advance of the troops.

The enemy made desperate efforts, backed by the fire of 200 guns, to drive the French army away. Their efforts ended ingloriously. Three times they attacked the villages of Aspern and Essling, and three times they filled them with their dead. Towards six o'clock in the evening the Duke of Montebello had a leg carried away by a cannon-ball; for a moment it was thought, he was killed.

23d, Ebersdorf:
(To Count Daru.) A great part of the army will be in the island to-night, and will need provisions. In the present situation of affairs there is nothing more pressing than to get us supplies.

28th. On the night of the 26th to the 27th our bridges over the Danube were carried away by the flood and by mill wheels that had been thrown in (and floated down). To-day one of the bridges is repaired.

31st. (To the Empress Josephine.) I am in great grief for the loss of the Duke of Montebello, who died this morning. And so all things come to their end! Good-bye, dear friend; do anything you can to console the Marshal's poor wife.

There are some wounds to which death itself is preferable. It is at the moment of leaving life that a man clings to it with all his might. Lannes, the bravest of men, Lannes, deprived of his two legs, did not want to die, and said to me that the two surgeons who had treated a Marshal so brutally and with such scant respect ought to be hanged. With his remnant of life he clung to me; he wanted only me, thought only of me. A sort of instinct! For surely he loved his young wife and his children more than he did me; yet he never spoke of them, which was because he expected no help from them. But I was his protector; for him I was some vague and superior power; I was his Providence, and he was imploring. . . .

(To Mme. Lannes, Duchess of Montebello.) My Cousin: The Marshal died this morning of wounds received on the field of honour. My sorrow is as deep as yours. I lose the most distinguished general in my armies, my comrade in arms during sixteen years, he whom I considered my best friend. His family and his children will always have a special claim to my protection. It is to assure you of this that I have written you this letter, for I am convinced that nothing could lighten the grief that you must feel.

June 5th, Schoenbrunn.
I am here to review the Guard, which is superb. There are 60 guns, 4000 sabres, and 12,000 of the finest infantry in Europe.

9th. (To Jerome Napoleon, King of Westphalia.) Experience will teach you the difference between reports spread by the enemy and reality. I have never, in the whole of the sixteen years during which I have exercised command, given counter-orders to a regiment, because I always wait until matters are ripe and understood before I begin operations. Don't be so nervous; there is nothing to be alarmed about; it is all empty noise.

11th. (To General Clarke.) It seems to me that the Spanish operations are being poorly conducted, and so poorly conducted that I foresee a catastrophe unless more vigour is imparted to the movements of the columns. The English have been given enough respite to form another army at Lisbon. It is the English we have to fear; they alone, unless the army is managed differently, will bring it to a catastrophe before many months.

12th. I believe that in German Schoenbrunn means the beautiful fountain; the spring in the park produces delicious water which I drink every morning. Do you also like fresh water?

(Colonel Sainte Croix: Faith, no, Sire; I prefer a good glass of Bordeaux or of Champagne.)

Send the Colonel 100 bottles of Bordeaux and as many of Champagne.

14th. (To Count Fouché.) I have received a wretched scrawl from that blackguard Palafox. I am displeased that you should have accepted it, had it translated, and thereby allowed it to become known that he was at Vincennes, instead of leaving that fact unpublished. This blackguard is stained with the blood of 4000 Frenchmen whom he barbarously slaughtered it Saragossa. Let him remain at Vincennes, forgotten, without pen or paper, and unable to secure the intervention in his favour of the most bitter enemies of France.

16th. (To Josephine.) On the 14th, anniversary of Marengo, Eugène won a battle at Raab in Hungary against the Archduke John; he captured 3000 prisoners, several guns, four flags, and has pursued the enemy far on the road to Baden.

17th. (To Joachim Napoleon.) I received Your Majesty's letter of the 8th of June. I would much like to have you here. But in the present state of things it is better that you should not be too far away from Naples. In another campaign, when things are quite settled in your direction, it will be possible to call you to the army.

20th. (To Eugène.) The art of questioning prisoners comes with experience and the practice of war. What he said appears uninteresting to you; had I questioned him I would have obtained much information about the enemy.

Be ready to start, as soon as my orders reach you, to take part in the great battle.

30th. (To Fouché.) Find out who influences the Prussian Minister. The stupid and infamous reports he sends to his Court are inconceivable. Is he a fool, or is he malicious, or is he taken in by some intriguing person at Paris? He writes to Berlin that my position is desperate, that the discontent in France is at the highest pitch, and the refrain of the whole is that Prussia should pay no more money. The man must be very silly or very ill-intentioned.

July 2d, Island of Lobau:
The army of Prince Charles is ranged in battle opposite; I shall cross on the night of the 4th.

4th. Notwithstanding his redoubts and intrenchments, I hope, with the help of God, to crush the army of Prince Charles.

9 P. M.:
I am delighted with this storm. What a splendid night for us. The Austrians can't see our preparations.

6th. Battle of Wagram :
(To Bernadotte.) I relieve you, sir, from the command of a corps which you handle so badly!

7th, Ebersdorf:
(To the Empress Josephine.) I am sending you a page with the good news of the victories of Enzersdorf and of Wagram which I won on the 5th and 6th of July. The enemy's army is retreating in disorder, and all is going as well as possible. My losses are rather heavy, but the victory is complete and decisive. We have over a hundred guns, twelve flags, many prisoners.

I am sunburnt. Good-bye, dear friend. I embrace you. Many compliments to Hortense.

8th, Wolkersdorf:
I have my headquarters in the house that the weakling Francis I occupied; he was content to watch the battle from an observatory twelve miles away from the field.

I reckon that the enemy played on us with from 700 to 800 guns. I had 550, and fired 100,000 rounds of shot and grape.

13th, Znaym:
There shall be an armistice between the armies of H. M. the Emperor of the French and King of Italy, and of H. M the Emperor of Austria.

15th, Schoenbrunn:
The bull of excommunication is so ridiculous a document that one may as well take no notice of it.

17th. (To Jerome.) I have seen an order of the day signed by you that makes you the laughing stock of Germany, Austria and France. Have you no friend who will tell you the truth? You are a King and a brother of the Emperor, - ridiculous title in warfare! You must be a soldier, and again a soldier, and always a soldier! You must bivouac with your outposts, spend night and day in the saddle, march with your advance guard so as to get information, or else remain in your seraglio. You wage war like a satrap. By Heaven! is it from me you have learned that? - from me, who with an army of 200,000 men live with my skirmishers?

You have much ambition, some intelligence, a few good qualities, - but spoiled by silliness, by great presumption, - and have no real knowledge. In God's name keep enough wits about you to write and speak with propriety.

18th. After matters are settled here, I hope that Spain will not hold us up very long. But it is to be feared that the English will attempt something, and I can see very little brains to take care of things there.

August 3d. (To the Polish deputation.) One does what one can. Poland is a question on which all negotiations, with Russia fail. Russia sees quite well that she is vulnerable only through Poland. If I were Emperor of Russia I would never consent to the least increase of the Duchy of Warsaw; just as I would meet death, and ten armies behind me, in defence of Belgium; and more than that I would raise an eleventh army of women and children to fight and to defend the interests of France.

I know that the reëstablishment of Poland would balance Europe, but you must see that Russia would never consent unless her armies were totally destroyed. The reëtablishment of Poland is not, at this moment, within the power of France. I will not make war on Russia.

15th. (Message to the Senate.) Senators, we have thought proper to acknowledge in the most marked manner the special services rendered to us in the campaign just concluded by our cousins, the Prince of Neuchâtel and the Dukes of Auerstadt and of Rivoli. We have therefore erected the castle of Chambord into a principality, under the style of principality of Wagram, to be Possessed by our cousin the Prince of Neuchâtel, and by his descendants. We have erected the castle of Brühl into a principality, under the style of principality of Eckmühl, to be possessed by our cousin the Duke of Auerstadt and his descendants. And we have erected the castle of Thouars into a principality, under the style of principality of Essling, to be possessed by our cousin the Duke of Rivoli and his descendants.

(To General Clarke.) I have your letter of the 8th. I don't exactly understand the event in Spain (Talavera), or what took place. The King says that for a month past he has manœuvred with 40,000 men against 100,000. Write to him that it is his own fault; they don't understand the art of war at Madrid.

27th. The conferences at Altenburg still continue, but it appears that the English raid on Zeeland has given the Austrian negotiators new hopes, or makes them delay.

September 6th. (To Fouché.) Maret will send you a collection of all the banknotes. You will find herewith a decree on the subject. I want you to start manufacturing these notes in all denominations, to total not more than 100 millions. It is by means of this paper money that Austria was able to make war on me; and it is by the same means that she may be able to renew it. That being the case, my policy, in time of peace as in time of war, is to destroy this paper money and to force Austria to come back to a metallic currency, which would naturally compel her to reduce her army and the insane expenditure by means of which she has threatened the safety of my dominions. I wish this business to be carried through with the utmost secrecy. My object, however, is far more political than a matter of speculation or profit. There is no quiet to be looked for in Europe so long as the House of Austria can supply itself with loans of 300 or 400 millions by the credit of its paper money.

10th, Schoenbrunn:
(To Champagny.) I inclose the letter written to me by the Austrian Emperor. I do not exactly understand the object of his step, unless the letter is a passport to enable his aide-de-camp to reach Vienna and have a conversation with me. The aide-de-camp says that the Emperor has declared that he approves the proposed bases, and is disposed to make sacrifices. I replied that the Emperor of Austria is always of the opinion of the last speaker, and that in five or six years he would begin the war again and become once more the tool of England. After that the aide-de-camp made the usual Austrian speeches and spoke of an alliance. I told him that the House of Austria had always rejected it; that we were two bulls struggling for the love of Italy and of Germany; and that so long as Austrian sentiment remained what it was, there could be no possible understanding.

23d. (To Maret.) I do not propose giving the Emperor of Austria the title of "Apostolic." You will make believe that you understood this title to belong to the Emperor of Germany; as he is no longer that, he is no more apostolic than I am; I am as christian as he is.

30th. (To Joachim Napoleon.) I think you should give nothing to your minister Saliceti, because he has not been in your service long enough. As a rule give nothing to people who have not worked ten years for you. You are right in making the rule that no member of the diplomatic corps can see either you or the Queen. They are spies, and insatiable, and the better you treat them the worse they abuse you. Notwithstanding the Emperor of Russia's practice of inviting Caulaincourt to dinner twice a week, I have never invited Prince Kourakine. Base yourself on the principle that the less the diplomatic corps see you the better.

October 3d. (Note.) The Institute proposes conferring on the Emperor the title of Augustus and of Germanicus. Augustus gained one battle, at Actium. Germanicus won the sympathy of Rome by his misfortunes, but his life shows a decidedly moderate record. There is nothing to provoke emulation in the memory of the Roman Emperors. The only man, and he was not an Emperor, who was distinguished by his character and by his many illustrious achievements was Cæsar. If the Emperor could wish a new title it would be that of Cæsar: But so many puny princes have dishonoured that title, - if such a thing were possible, - that it no longer evokes the memory of the great Cæsar, but that of a mass of German sovereigns, as feeble as they were ignorant, of whom not one has left a reputation behind him.

The Emperor's title is Emperor of the French.

10th. In a battle even the most skilful soldiers find it difficult to estimate the enemy's numbers, and as a rule; one is apt instinctively to exaggerate the number. But if one is foolish enough to accept an inflated estimate of the enemy's forces, then every cavalry colonel on reconnaissance espies an army, and every captain of light infantry battalions. Again I repeat that in war morale and opinion are half the battle. The art of the great captain has always been to make his troops appear very numerous to the enemy, and the enemy's very few to his own. So that to-day, in spite of the long time we have spent in Germany, the enemy do not know my real strength. We are constantly striving to magnify our numbers. Far from confessing that I had only 100,000 men at Wagram, I am constantly suggesting that I had 220,000. In my Italian campaigns, in which I had only a handful of troops, I always exaggerated my numbers. It served my purpose, and has not lessened my glory. My generals and practised soldiers could always perceive, after the event, all the skilfulness of my operations, even that of having exaggerated the numbers of my troops.

12th. At parade to-day a young man of seventeen, the son of a Lutheran pastor of Erfurt, tried to get near me. Some officers stopped him, and as the boy showed confusion, suspicion was aroused, he was searched, and a dagger was found on him. I have ordered him to be brought before me.

What did you want of me?

(Staps: To kill you).

What have I done to you? Who made you my judge?

(I wanted to bring the war to an end.)

Why didn't you go to the Emperor Francis?

(He? What for? He doesn't count. And if he died another would succeed him; but after you the French would disappear from Germany.)

Do you repent?

(No!)

Would you do it again?

(Yes!)

What, even if I spared you?

(To Fouché.) The wretched boy, who seems to be pretty well educated, told me that he wanted to assassinate me to rid Austria of the presence of the French. I could find in him no traces of religious or of political fanaticism. He see med to have no clear idea of who Brutus was. His excitement prevented my finding out more. He will be questioned after he has cooled down and fasted. Possibly it all amounts to nothing.

I have sent you the news of this incident to prevent its importance being exaggerated. I hope nothing will be said about it; if there should be talk, make out that the fellow is insane. If there is none, keep the matter a close secret. There was no scene at the parade. I. myself had no notion that anything had happened.

14th. Peace was signed at two o'clock by Champagny and Prince Liechtenstein.

15th. The individual named Staps, arrested in the courtyard of Schoenbrunn with a dagger in his possession, shall be tried by court-martial.

21st, Munich:
(To the Empress.) I arrived here yesterday, and in good health. I shall stop one day in Stuttgardt. You shall have twenty-four hours' notice of my arrival at Fontainebleau. I am impatient to see you again.

22d. (To the Empress.) Dear friend: I start in one hour; I shall reach Fontainebleau on the 26th or 27th; you may go there with a few of your ladies.

26th, Fontainebleau:
I have arrived; it is ten o'clock in the morning. The weather is lovely.

November 23d, Paris:
(To General Clarke.) Summon a council of the Guard to go over the accounts and get it into shape for the Spanish campaign. I propose going to Spain with nearly 25,000 men. I want the Guard all ready to start about the 15th of January.

30th. The divorce question.
(To Josephine.) Will you do it of your own free will, or won't you? My mind is made up!

December 1st. Josephine sent me word that she consented. As we were sitting down to dinner she suddenly uttered a cry and fainted.

3d. I have annexed Tuscany to the Empire. Its people are worthy of it because of their good character and of the attachment their forefathers have always shown us, and of the services they have rendered to European civilization.

(To the Empress.) I am going to Paris, dear friend. I want to hear that you are happy. I shall see you some time this week. I have received your letters which I shall read in the carriage.

15th. (To Prince Cambacérès.) My Cousin: We have ordered the convocation of a privy council to be held) to-day at nine in the evening at our palace of the Tuileries.

We have deemed it proper not to assist in person at this Council, and we have written the present letter to inform you that it is our will that you should place before it the following proposed Senatus Consultum:

The Senate, in view of the decree of the 15th of the present month drawn up by the Archchancellor, decrees as follows:

The marriage contracted between the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine is dissolved.

The ceremony took place in the state apartments of the Tuileries and was very touching; all those present wept.

The policy of my Empire, the interests, the needs of my people, which have guided all my actions, demand that I should leave after me, to my children, - the heirs of my affection for my people, - the throne on which Providence has placed me. I have, however, for some years past, lost hope of having children from my marriage with my beloved wife the Empress Josephine: and it is this has brought me to sacrifice my dearest affections, to consider only the good of the State, and to wish the dissolution of our marriage. At the age of forty I may yet hold the hope of living long enough to bring up in my own way of thinking the children which it may please Providence to grant me. God knows how much my present resolve has cost me, but no sacrifice goes beyond my courage when it can be shown to be for the interests of France.

17th, Trianon:
(To the Empress Josephine.) I think, dear friend, that you were weaker than you should have been to-day. You have shown courage; you must keep it up; you must not give way to a dangerous melancholy; you must be happy, and look after your health, which is so precious to me. If you are attached to me, if you love me, you must show strength. You cannot doubt my constant and loving friendship, and you would only show how little you know me if you thought that I could be happy unless you are. Good-bye, dear friend, sleep well, - remember that I want you to.

18th. My expenses are enormous and I really must consider reforms. My army, on its present basis, would eat up three times the actual revenue of France.

19th. (To the Empress.) I have just received your letter. Savary tells me that you do nothing but cry; it's very wrong of you. I hope that you were able to get out to-day. I have sent you some game from my bag. I will come and see you when you let me know that you are more reasonable, and that your courage has returned. Good-bye, dear friend, I also am sad to-day; I want to hear that you are contented, and are regaining your balance. Sleep well.

(To Marshal Augereau.) I have received your letter of the 11th of December, with the capitulation of Gerona, which your aide-de-camp has handed me. Your news gives me a double pleasure, because of the importance of the fortress, and because it is you have captured it.

22d. (To the Empress Josephine.) I would have come to see you to-day had it not been necessary for me to call on the King of Bavaria, who has just arrived in Paris. I hope to see you to-morrow.

27th. (To Josephine.) Eugène tells me you were quite sad yesterday; it is very wrong of you, dear friend, and contrary to what you had promised. I am very bored at seeing the Tuileries again; this great palace seems empty and I feel isolated.

31st. To-day there is a grand parade; I shall see all my Old Guard with sixty artillery trains.

(To Alexander I, Emperor of Russia.) My Brother: I have received a second note from your Chancellor Romanzoff; it grieves me. Why turn back to matters that were disposed of by my letter from Vienna? After all this, I don't know what people want; I cannot destroy chimeras or tilt against clouds. I leave it to Your Majesty to decide which of us holds closer to the language of alliance and friendship. A beginning of suspicion means that. Erfurt and Tilsit are already forgotten.

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