el the
young man's pulse, which he immediately did; and Staps then very coolly
said, 'Am I not well, sir?' Corvisart told the Emperor that nothing
ailed him. 'I told you so,' said Steps, pronouncing the words with an
air of triumph.

"I was really astonished at the coolness and apathy of Staps, and the
Emperor seemed for a moment confounded by the young man's
behaviour.--After a few moments' pause the Emperor resumed the
interrogatory as follows:

"'Your brain is disordered. You will be the ruin of your family. I will
grant you your life if you ask pardon for the crime you meditated, and
for which you ought to be sorry.'--'I want no pardon. I only regret
having failed in my attempt.'--'Indeed! then a crime is nothing to you?'--
'To kill you is no crime: it is a duty.'--'Whose portrait is that which
was found on you?'--'It is the portrait of a young lady to whom I am
attached.'--'She will doubtless be much distressed at your adventure?'--
'She will only be sorry that I have not succeeded. She abhors you as
much as I do.'--'But if I were to pardon you would you be grateful for my
mercy?'--'I would nevertheless kill you if I could.'

"I never," continued Rapp, "saw Napoleon look so confounded. The replies
of Staps and his immovable resolution perfectly astonished him. He
ordered the prisoner to be removed; and when he was gone Napoleon said,
'This is the result of the secret societies which infest Germany. This
is the effect of fine principles and the light of reason. They make
young men assassins. But what can be done against illuminism? A sect
cannot be destroyed by cannon-balls.'

"This event, though pains were taken to keep it secret, became the
subject of conversation in the castle of Schoenbrunn. In the evening the
Emperor sent for me and said, 'Rapp, the affair of this morning is very
extraordinary. I cannot believe that this young man of himself conceived
the design of assassinating me. There is something under it. I shall
never be persuaded that the intriguers of Berlin and Weimar are strangers
to the affair.'--'Sire, allow me to say that your suspicions appear
unfounded. Staps has had no accomplice; his placid countenance, and even
his fanaticism, are easiest proofs of that.'--'I tell you that he has
been instigated by women: furies thirsting for revenge. If I could only
obtain proof of it I would have them seized in the midst of their
Court.'--'Ah, Sire, it is impossible that either man or woman in the
Cour