l after his third
refusal, that his sentence was ordered to be
carried into execution.]

The Emperor did not stop at the rigorous trial, to which he had
delivered over the person of M. de Lascours: by a decree, dated the
18th of March, and published the 9th of April, he ordered the
condemnation, and the sequestration of the property of

The Prince of Benevento,
The Duke of Ragusa,
The Duke of Alberg,
The Abbe de Montesquiou,
The Count de Jaucourt,
The Count de Bournonville, and
The Sieurs Lynch,
Vitrolles,
Alexis de Noailles,
Bourienne,
Bellard,
La Roche-Jaquelin, and
Sostene de la Rochefoucault[104];

[Footnote 104: Marshal Augereau, Duke de
Castiglione, was also in this list. His name was
struck out at the request of the duchess, and in
consideration of the proclamation, which he
published on the 23d of March.]

All of whom, as members of the provisional government, or agents of
the royal party, had concurred in the subversion of the imperial
government, previous to the abdication of Napoleon.

This decree, though supposed to have originated at Lyons, first saw
the light at Paris; and was, as I have just said, the result of the
ill humour, into which the plots of the royalists had thrown Napoleon.
The terms, in which it was originally couched, too clearly attested
its source: the first article said; "are declared traitors to their
country, and shall be punished as such, &c."

It was I, who wrote this decree, from the dictation of the Emperor.
When I had finished it, he ordered me, to go and get it signed by
Count Bertrand, who had countersigned the decrees of Lyons. I went to
the marshal. He read the decree, and returned it to me, saying: "I
will never sign it: this is not what the Emperor promised us; they who
advise him, to take such measures, are his bitterest enemies; I will
speak to him about it." I related this firm and courageous answer to
Napoleon word for word. He ordered me, to return to the grand Marshal,
to endeavour to overcome his repugnance, and, if he still persisted,
to bring him to him. Count Bertrand instantly followed me, with head
erect, into the Emperor's closet. "I am astonished," said Napoleon to
him in a dry tone, "that