vite society was a task
hitherto unknown to French arts, and experience had to be dearly
bought. In this latter work his success was very moderate, but he
became unconsciously an intimate friend and adviser of the Czar. This
displeased Napoleon, who promptly recalled him to his senses by a
warning that he must not forget that he was a Frenchman. Caulaincourt
bravely repelled the insinuation, but the correspondence of Napoleon
both with him and with the Czar became so voluminous that the Emperor
was virtually his own ambassador.

The contents of these letters were partly personal and friendly;
partly promissory, in preparation for what was about to be done at
Bayonne; partly preliminary to the second interview between the two
emperors, which had been mentioned at Tilsit and often discussed since
then. But so far there was not the slightest change of front, no
substantial fulfilment of the vague promises, no cooeperation; the
world was still under the system of Tilsit in the union of Russia and
France--a union so far represented by the will of Napoleon. The events
at Bayonne deeply affected Alexander. His ally knew they would, and on
July tenth he wrote a long letter to St. Petersburg, lamely justifying
his conduct. But, after all, the Czar cared little for ancient
European dynasties, and, recovering from the first shock, he began to
make sport of a king "who had nothing further to live for than his
Louise and his Emmanuel," and then took a firm stand in approval of
his ally's course. The French and Russian ministers had now completed
their scheme for the partition of Turkey, and the Czar finally and
unconditionally assented to the second meeting with the Emperor.

But before the details of the all-important interview could be
arranged there was much to be done; in particular, Austria must be
held in check. An English vessel had arrived at Triest with a
deputation of Spanish insurgents who offered the throne of their
country to the Archduke Charles. The armaments of Francis grew
stronger day by day. No one could hold the Hapsburg empire in check
except the Czar. Even amid the exhausting labors of Bayonne, Napoleon
remembered this, and thought of the East, reorganizing his fleet in
preparation for cooeperation with that of Russia, and commanding
reports to be made on the geography and military history of Persia.
After the loss of Baylen, of which he learned in the first days of
August, his ingenuity did not desert him, i