portunity of seeing, the King expressed his regret at not
having been able to prevent the scandal; for, on his return from a
journey to Kiel, the affair had become so notorious that all attempts at
reconciliation were vain. In the meantime it was settled that the
Princess was to remain at Altona until something should be decided
respecting her future condition.

It was Baron Plessen, the Duke of Mecklenburg's Minister of State, who
favoured me with a sight of the King of Denmark's letters. M. Plessen
told me, likewise, at the time that the Duke had formed the irrevocable
determination of not receiving his daughter. A few days after her
arrival the Princess visited Madame de Bourrienne. She invited us to her
parties, which were very brilliant, and several times did us the honour
of being present at ours. But; unfortunately, the extravagance of her
conduct, which was very unsuitable to her situation, soon became the
subject of general animadversion.

I mentioned at the close of the last chapter how the promptitude of M. de
Champagny brought about the conclusion of the treaty known by the name of
the Treaty of Schoenbrunn. Under this the ancient edifice of the German
Empire was overthrown, and Francis II. of Germany became Francis I.,
Emperor of Austria. He, however, could not say, like his namesake of
France, 'Tout est perdu fors l'honneur'; for honour was somewhat
committed, even had nothing else been lost. But the sacrifices Austria
was compelled, to make were great. The territories ceded to France were
immediately united into a new general government, under the collective
denomination of the Illyrian Provinces. Napoleon thus became master of
both sides of the Adriatic, by virtue of his twofold title of Emperor of
France and King of Italy. Austria, whose external commerce thus received
a check, had no longer any direct communication with the sea. The loss
of Fiume, Trieste, and the sea-coast appeared so vast a sacrifice that it
was impossible to look forward to the duration of a peace so dearly
purchased.

The affair of Staps, perhaps, made Napoleon anxious to hurry away from
Schoenbrunn, for he set off before he had ratified the preliminaries of
the peace, announcing that he would ratify them at Munich. He proceeded
in great haste to Nymphenburg, where he was expected on a visit to the
Court of Bavaria. He next visited the King of Wurtemberg, whom he
pronounced to be the cleverest sovereign in Europe, and at the end