e me about the business." I observed that the man whom he called
an intriguer was only reviving an invention already known, and that it
was wrong to reject the scheme without examination. He would not listen
to me; and thus was adjourned, for some time, the practical application
of a discovery which has given such an important impulse to trade and
navigation.

Paul I. fell by the hands of assassins on the night of the 24th of March
1801. The First Consul was much shocked on receiving the intelligence.
In the excitement caused by this unexpected event, which had so important
an influence on his policy, he directed me to send the following note to
the Moniteur:--

Paul I. died on the night of the 24th of March, and the English
squadron passed the Sound on the 30th. History will reveal the
connection which probably exists between these two events.

Thus were announced the crime of the 24th of March and the not
ill-founded suspicions of its authors.

--[We do not attempt to rescue the fair name of our country. This
is one among many instances in which Bourrienne was misled.--Editor
of 1886 edition.]--

The amicable relations of Paul and Bonaparte had been daily strengthened.
"In concert with the Czar," said Bonaparte, "I was sure of striking a
mortal blow at the English power in India. A palace revolution has
overthrown all my projects." This resolution, and the admiration of the
Autocrat of Russia for the head of the French Republic, may certainly be
numbered among the causes of Paul's death. The individuals generally
accused at the time were those who were violently and perseveringly
threatened, and who had the strongest interest in the succession of a new
Emperor. I have seen a letter from a northern sovereign which in my mind
leaves no doubt on this subject, and which specified the reward of the
crime, and the part to be performed by each actor. But it must also be
confessed that the conduct and character of Paul I., his tyrannical acts,
his violent caprices, and his frequent excesses of despotism, had
rendered him the object of accumulated hatred, for patience has its
limit. These circumstances did not probably create the conspiracy, but
they considerably facilitated the execution of the plot which deprived
the Czar of his throne and his life.

As soon as Alexander ascended the throne the ideas of the First Consul
respecting the dismemberment of Poland were revived, and almost wholly
engrossed