offered for his head. This call for a crime, which indignant France
first heard from the assassins of Coligny, was repeated by men, who,
like them, had the sacred words of morality, humanity, and religion,
continually in their mouths, and who, like them, thirsted only after
vengeance and blood.

But while they were conspiring at Paris to assassinate Napoleon, he
peaceably pursued his triumphant march.

Quitting Grenoble on the 9th, he came that night and slept at
Burgoing. [51]""The crowd and the enthusiasm continued to increase:
"We have long expected you," said all these brave fellows to the
Emperor; "at length you are come, to deliver France from the insolence
of the nobility, the pretensions of the priests, and the disgrace of a
foreign yoke."

[Footnote 51: The double sets of inverted commas
are still used to distinguish passages extracted
from the official account.]

""The Emperor, being fatigued[52], was in his calash, the horse
walking, surrounded by a crowd of peasants, singing songs, that
expressed the noble sentiments of these brave Dauphinese. "Ah!" said
the Emperor, "I here find again the sentiments, which twenty years ago
led me to hail France by the name of the great nation! Yes, you are
still the great nation, and you shall ever be so."""

[Footnote 52: He had travelled from Cannes to
Grenoble partly on horseback, but chiefly on foot.]

They approached Lyons: the Emperor had sent his emissaries before him,
who informed him, that the Count d'Artois, the Duke of Orleans, and
Marshal Macdonald, had determined to defend the city, and that they
were going to break down the bridges de la Guillotiere and Moraud.
""The Emperor laughed at these ridiculous preparations: he could not
doubt the disposition of the Lyonese, still less those of the
soldiers; yet he gave orders to General Bertrand, to collect boats at
the Mirbel, intending to cross the river in the night, and cut off the
roads to Moulins and Macon for the Prince, who wanted to prevent his
passing the Rhone. At four o'clock a reconnoitring party of the
fourth hussars arrived at la Guillotiere, and were received with
shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" by the immense population of the
suburb, that has always been distinguished for its attachment to its
country.""

The Emperor immediately countermanded the passage at Mirbel, and
desirous of availing himse