I
did not return from the Isle of Elba that Paris should be inundated with
blood: He did not like the idea of flight.' 'Why should I not stay
here?' he repeated. 'What do you suppose they would do to a man disarmed
like me? I will go to Malmaison: I can live there in retirement with
some friends, who most certainly will come to see me only for my own
sake.'

"He then described with complacency and even with a sort of gaiety this
new kind of life. Afterwards, discarding an idea which sounded like mere
irony, he went on. 'If they do not like me to remain in France, where am
I to go? To England? My abode there would be ridiculous or disquieting.
I should be tranquil; no one would believe it. Every fog would be
suspected of concealing my landing on the coast. At the first sign of a
green coat getting out of a boat one party would fly from France, the
other would put France out of the pale of the law. I should compromise
everybody, and by dint of the repeated "Behold he comes!" I should feel
the temptation to set out. America would be more suitable; I could live
there with dignity. But once more, what is there to fear? What
sovereign can, without injuring himself, persecute me? To one I have
restored half his dominions; how often has the other pressed my hand,
calling me a great man! And as to the third, can he find pleasure or
honour in humiliation of his son-in-law? Would they wish to proclaim in
the face of the world that all they did was through fear? As to the
rest, I shall see: I do not wish to employ open force. I came in the
hope of combining our last resources: they abandoned me; they do so with
the same facility with which they received me back. Well, then, let them
efface, if possible, this double stain of weakness and levity! Let them
cover it over with some sacrifice, with some glory! Let them do for the
country what they will not do for me. I doubt it. To-day, those who
deliver up Bonaparte say that it is to save France: to-morrow, by
delivering up France, they will prove that it was to save their own
heads.'"

The humiliating scenes which rapidly succeeded one another; and which
ended in Napoleon's unconditional surrender, may be briefly told. As
soon as possible after his arrival at Paris he assembled his counsellors,
when he declared himself in favour of still resisting. The question,
however, was, whether the Chambers would support him; and Lafayette being
treacherously informed, it is said by Fouche, th