etained me, saying in the kindest manner, "What, are you
going already, Bourrienne? Are you in a hurry? Let, us chat a little
longer. God knows, when we may see each other again!" Then after two or
three moments' silence he said, "The more I reflect on our situation, on
our former intimacy, and our subsequent separation, the more I see the
necessity of your going to Hamburg. Go, then, my dear fellow, I advise
you. Trust me. When do you think of setting out?" "In May."--"In May?
. . . Ah, I shall be in Milan then, for I wish to stop at Turin. I
like the Piedmontese; they are the best soldiers in Italy."--"Sire, the
King of Italy will be the junior of the Emperor of France!"

--[I alluded to a conversation which I had with Napoleon when we
first went to the Tuileries. He spoke to me about his projects of
royalty, and I stated the difficulties which I thought he would
experience in getting himself acknowledged by the old reigning
families of Europe. "If it comes to that," he replied. "I will
dethrone them all, and then I shall be the oldest sovereign among
them."--Bourrienne.]--

--"Ah! so you recollect what I said one day at the Tuileries; but, my
dear fellow, I have yet a devilish long way to go before I gain my
point."--"At the rate, Sire, at which you are going you will not be long
in reaching it."--"Longer than you imagine. I see all the obstacles in
my way; but they do not alarm me. England is everywhere, and the
struggle is between her and me. I see how it will be. The whole of
Europe will be our instruments; sometimes serving one, sometimes the
other, but at bottom the dispute is wholly between England and France.

"A propos," said the Emperor, changing the subject, for all who knew him
are aware that this 'a propos' was his favourite, and, indeed, his only
mode of transition; a propos, Bourrienne, you surely must have heard of
the departure of Jaubert,

--[Amedee Jaubart had been with Napoleon in Egypt, and was appointed
to the cabinet of the Consul as secretary interpreter of Oriental
languages. He was sent on several missions to the East, and brought
back, is 1818, goats from Thibet, naturalising in France the
manufacture of cashmeres. He became a peer of France under the
Monarchy of July.]--

and his mission. What is said on the subject?"--"Sire, I have only
heard it slightly alluded to. His father, however, to whom he said
nothing respecting the object of his journey