as of no use to apply to me; but I told him to give me a
copy of the letter, and I would mention the subject to the First Consul,
and communicate the answer to him. Doublet searched his pocket for the
letter, but could not find it. He said he would send a copy, and begged
me to discover how the error originated. On the same day he sent me the
copy of the letter, in which, after congratulating Bonaparte on his
return, the following passage occurs:--"Hasten to save Malta with men and
provisions: no time is to be lost." For this passage these words were
substituted in the 'Moniteur': "His name inspires the brave defenders of
Malta with fresh courage; we have men and provisions."

Ignorant of the motives of so strange a perversion, I showed this letter
to the First Consul. He shrugged up his shoulders and said, laughing,
"Take no notice of him, he is a fool; give yourself no further trouble
about it."

It was clear there was nothing more to be done. It was, however, in
despite of me that M. Doublet was played this ill turn. I represented to
the First Consul the inconveniences which M. Doublet might experience
from this affair. But I very rarely saw letters or reports published as
they were received. I can easily understand how particular motives might
be alleged in order to justify such falsifications; for, when the path of
candour and good faith is departed from, any pretest is put forward to
excuse bad conduct. What sort of a history would he write who should
consult only the pages of the 'Moniteur'?

After the vote for adding a second ten years to the duration of
Bonaparte's Consulship he created, on the 19th of May, the order of the
Legion of Honour. This institution was soon followed by that of the new
nobility. Thus, in a short space of time, the Concordat to tranquillize
consciences and re-establish harmony in the Church; the decree to recall
the emigrants; the continuance of the Consular power for ten years, by
way of preparation for the Consulship for life, and the possession of the
Empire; and the creation, in a country which had abolished all
distinctions, of an order which was to engender prodigies, followed
closely on the heels of each other. The Bourbons, in reviving the
abolished orders, were wise enough to preserve along with them the Legion
of Honour.

It has already been seen how, in certain circumstances, the First Consul
always escaped from the consequences of his own precipitation, and got
rid of hi