or
the truth of which I can unhesitatingly vouch.

The Empress did not know of the consultation that had taken place on the
1st of July, and to which I have already referred. But she did know that
the Emperor was suffering from a very serious complaint, and that the
disease had been aggravated since his departure through his constantly
being on horseback. M. Franceschini Pietri, the private secretary of the
Emperor, had informed her to that effect on the 7th of August, when
Forbach and Woerth had been fought. He also told her that the Emperor
was not unwilling to return to Paris, and to leave the command-in-chief
to Bazaine, but that his conscience and his pride forbade him to do so,
unless some pressure were brought to bear upon him. I repeat, I can
vouch for this, because I had it from the lips of M. Pietri, who was
prefect of police until the 4th of September.

Meanwhile, others, besides M. Franceschini Pietri, had noticed the
evident moral and mental depression of the Emperor, increased, no doubt,
by his acute physical sufferings, which were patent to almost every one
with whom he came in immediate contact; for an eye-witness wrote to me
on the 4th of August: "The Emperor is in a very bad state; after
Saarbruck, Lebrun and Leboeuf had virtually to lift him off his horse.
The young prince, who, as you have probably heard already, was by his
side all the time, looked very distressed, for his father had scarcely
spoken to him during the engagement. But after they got into the
carriage, which was waiting about a dozen yards away, the Emperor put
his arm round his neck and kissed him on the cheeks, while two large
tears rolled down his now. I noticed that the Emperor had scarcely
strength to walk that dozen yards."

Leboeuf, who, like a great many more, has suffered to a certain extent
for the faults of Marshal Niel, perceived well enough that something had
to be done to cheer the Emperor in his misfortunes. It was he who
proposed that the latter should return to Paris, accompanied by him,
while the corps d'armee of Frossard, which had effected its retreat in
good order, and several other divisions that had not been under fire as
yet, should endeavour to retrieve matters by attacking the armies of Von
Steinmetz and Frederick-Charles, which at that identical moment were
only in "course of formation." But Louis-Napoleon, while admitting the
wisdom of the plan, sadly shook his head, and declared that he could not
relinqu