g there shone a
profound satisfaction, and perhaps even a natural sentiment of pride, in
seeing the welcome accorded to his glory here as elsewhere, and the
universal sympathy aroused in the masses by his presence alone. Drapery
in three colors, which produced a very fine effect, hung from posts
erected at regular intervals and formed the decoration of the streets
through which his Majesty was to pass; and he who three years later was
to enter the palace of the Tuileries by night, and as a fugitive, after
having with much difficulty gained admission through the gates of the
chateau, passed then under arches of triumph, with a glory yet unsullied
by defeat, and a fortune still faithful. These reminiscences are painful
to me, but they recur to my mind even against my will; for no year of the
Empire was marked by more fetes, more triumphant entries, or more popular
rejoicings, than that which preceded the disastrous year of 1812.

Some of the actors of the French Theater at Paris had accompanied the
court to Holland, and Talma there played the roles of Bayard and
d'Orosmane; and M. Alissan de Chazet directed at Amsterdam the
performance by French comedians of a vaudeville in honor of their
Majesties, the title of which I have forgotten. Here, again, I wish to
refute another assertion no less false made by the author of these
'Contemporary Memoirs', concerning a fictitious liaison between the
Emperor and Mademoiselle Bourgoin. I cite the passage in question:
"Mademoiselle Bourgoin, one of the delegates from the court of Thalia,
in order to be permitted to accompany the party on this journey, had
thoughtlessly succumbed to the temptation of making indiscreet
revelations; even boasting aloud that she attracted the Emperor to the
theater in which she played; and these boasts, which were by no means
virtuous, having reached the Emperor's ears, he would no longer attend
the theater. He charged Talma, for whom he had much consideration, to
urge the pretty actress to be silent; and to inform her that on the
slightest indiscretion she would be reconducted to France under good
escort."

This by no means agrees with what his Majesty said one day in regard to
this actress while at Erfurt. These words, which the author of the
Memoirs would do well to recall, prove that the Emperor had no views in
regard to her; and the most important proof of all, is the great
discretion which the Emperor always exercised in regard to his amours.

D