him to retire: "Go all of you away: I am surrounded by none but good
Frenchmen; I am as safe with them as with you." The national guards,
who heard these words, cried out spontaneously, "Yes, yes, Sire, you
are right; we would all defend your life at the expense of our own."
Encouraged by the familiarity which the Emperor displayed towards
them, they quitted their ranks, and crowded round him: some pressed
his hands, others kissed theirs to him; all expressed their
satisfaction and attachment by continued shouts of "Long live the
nation! Long live the Emperor!"

[Footnote 92: A nickname given by Napoleon to his
old grenadiers.]

After this unexpected scene, the Emperor proceeded with his review: he
then caused a circle of officers to be formed, alighted, and addressed
them nearly in the following terms:

"Soldiers of the national guard of Paris, I am well pleased to see
you. Fifteen months ago I formed you for the preservation of
tranquillity in the capital, and for its security. You have fulfilled
my expectations. You have shed your blood in defence of Paris; and if
hostile troops entered your walls, the blame falls not on you, but on
treason, and above all on that fatality, which attaches itself to our
affairs under adverse circumstances.

"The royal throne was not adapted to France: it gave the people no
security for its most valuable interests; it was imposed upon us by
foreigners. I am arrived, equipped with all the strength of the people
and of the army, to obliterate this stain, and restore the honour and
glory of France to all their lustre.

"Soldiers of the national guard, this very morning the telegraph of
Lyons has informed me, that the tricoloured flag is waving at Antibes
and at Marseilles. The discharge of a hundred cannon on our frontiers
will proclaim to foreign nations, that our civil discords are at an
end: _I say foreign nations, because we yet know of none that are
enemies._ If they assemble their troops, we will assemble ours. All
our armies are composed of brave men, who have distinguished
themselves in various battles, and who will display to foreigners a
barrier of iron; while numerous battalions of grenadiers and chasseurs
of the national guards will secure our frontiers. I shall not
interfere with the affairs of foreign nations: wo to those
governments, that shall interfere with ours! Misfortunes have tempered
anew the character of the French people