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"These negotiations are broken off, then, as you have come without
having been recalled?"

"No, they are not broken off, but I have important news to
communicate to your majesty, and as I think that we are served best
when serving ourselves, I have made myself the bearer of my own
dispatches, to be sure that they reach your majesty in time. I have
travelled post-haste, and shall return to Prague in the same
manner."

"Well, then, inform me of the contents of your dispatches orally and
quickly."

"Sire, I inform your majesty that the Count de Metternich is on the
road to this city to convey to you the ultimatum of Austria."

A flash of anger burst from the emperor's eyes. "He dares meet me!
does he not fear lest I crush him by hurling his duplicity and
treachery into his face? For I know that Austria is playing a double
game, negotiating at the same time with me and my enemies."

"But it is still in the power of your majesty to attach Austria to
France, and secure a continued alliance with her," exclaimed the
Duke do Vicenza. "This is the reason why I have hastened hither: to
implore your majesty not to reject entirely, in the first outburst
of your anger, the proposals of Austria, however inadmissible they
may appear to be. I left Vienna simultaneously with Count
Metternich, but succeeded in getting somewhat the start of him; he
will be here in an hour, and I have, therefore, time enough to
communicate to your majesty important news which I learned at Prague
yesterday, and which is sufficiently grave to influence perhaps your
resolutions."

"Speak!" commanded the emperor, throwing himself again into the
chair, and taking, for want of a penknife, a pair of scissors from
his desk, in order to bore the back of the chair with it. "Speak!"

"In the first place, I have to inform your majesty that the Emperor
of Austria has left Vienna for Castle Gitschin, in Bohemia, and that
an interview of the Emperor Francis with the allied monarchs took
place there on the 20th of June."

"Ah, the first step to open hostility has been taken, then," cried
Napoleon.

"This interview, however, led to no results," added Caulaincourt.
"The Emperor Francis, on the contrary, declared emphatically that he
was still merely a mediator, and would consider the alliance with
France as dissolved, if your majesty should reject the ultimatum
with which he should send Metternich to Dresden."

"That is the equivocal and insidious language which the Austrian
diplomacy has always used," exclaimed the emperor, shrugging his
shoulders. "They want to keep on good terms with all, in order to
succeed in being the friend of him who is victorious. My father-in-
law, it seems, has learned by heart, and recited the lesson which
Metternich taught him. Proceed, Caulaincourt."

"Next, I have to inform your majesty that a definite treaty was
concluded yesterday between Austria and the allies. It was concluded
at Reichenbach. Austria has solemnly engaged to declare war against
you if you refuse to accept her terms, the last she would send.
Besides, Prussia and Russia concluded a treaty with England, which
engaged to assist both powers with money and materiel, and which, in
return, received the promise that Hanover, England's possession in
Germany, should be considerably enlarged at the end of the war, and
that new territories should be added to it."

"And the short-sighted monarchs have been foolish enough to grant
this to England!" cried Napoleon, with a sneer. "In their blind
hatred against me they grant more territory in Germany to their most
dangerous enemy, that England may spread still further the vast net
of her egotism, and catch all Germany in it, flood the country with
her manufactured goods, and drive the commerce of the continent into
British hands! Ah, those gentlemen will soon perceive what a mistake
they have committed in yielding to the demands of those greedy
English traders. For if England gives money instead of asking it,
she must have a great many substantial advantages in view, and these
she can obtain only at the expense of the German sovereigns, to whom
she will furnish subsidies now. Are you through with your news,
Caulaincourt?"

"No, sire, I have still something to add," said the Duke of Vicenza,
in a melancholy voice.

The emperor looked at him with a piercing glance, which seemed to
fathom the depths of his soul.

"Speak!" he said, quickly.

"Your majesty knows that the crown prince of Sweden, Bernadotte,
landed with his army at Stralsund on the 20th of May?"

"Yes, I do," said Napoleon, shrugging his shoulders. "My former
marshal, who acquired in my service a name and some fame, whom I
permitted to accept the dignity of crown prince of Sweden that was
offered him, a Frenchman, had the meanness to turn his arms against
his country, and ally himself with the enemies of France. But still
it seems that his courage is failing him. A month ago he disembarked
in Germany, and is idle with his troops in Mecklenburg. He allowed
Hamburg to fall; he did nothing to save Brandenburg, and appears
ready to embark again for Sweden. Looking the crime of treason full
in the face, he was unable to bear the thought of it, and will
retreat from it to the steps of the Swedish throne."

"No, sire," said Caulaiueourt, gravely, "the crown prince of Sweden
has made up his mind, and hesitates no longer. The Emperor Alexander
sent an envoy to Bernadotte, and requested of him an interview with
the monarchs of Prussia and Russia, for the purpose of concerting
with them a joint plan of operations for the campaign. Bernadotte,
thanks to the persuasive eloquence of the Russian envoy, eagerly
accepted this invitation, and the interview is to take place on the
9th of July at Trachenberg, in Silesia. The crown prince is already
on the road with a truly royal suite, and he has been solemnly
assured that the sovereigns will receive him at Trachenberg with all
the honors due his rank as a sovereign and legitimate prince. The
envoy of the Emperor of Russia is accompanying Bernadotte on this
journey, to strengthen the favorable dispositions of the crown
prince, and render him at once an active and energetic member of the
alliance."

"Who is this envoy whom Alexander has dispatched to Bernadotte?"
asked Napoleon.

"Sire, it is Count Pozzo di Borgo."

"Ah, my Corsican countryman, and once an ardent friend," exclaimed
Napoleon. "He has never forgiven me for not having assisted him, the
enthusiastic republican, in becoming King of Corsica, but having
left France in possession of my native country. As he was unable to
become a king, M. Pozzo di Borgo entered the service of the Czar of
Russia to fight against me, his countryman, with the power of his
tongue, as my other countryman with the arms of the Swedes. Well, I
think it will not do the allies much good to unite with traitors and
apostates, and to look for assistance against me from them. I gain
more moral weight by this struggle against traitors than my enemies
by their support. Bernadotte's treason is my ally."

"Sire, another man has joined the traitor, a Frenchman, who wants to
fight against France, against his emperor and former comrade."

"Still another! A third traitor! Who is it?"

"Sire, it is General Moreau."

"What! has Moreau returned from America?" asked Napoleon, looking up
quickly.

"Yes, sire; he has left the banks of the Delaware to fight against
his country, as a general of the Emperor of Russia."

The emperor looked thoughtfully, and suddenly he raised his eves,
while a pleased expression lit up his countenance.

"My enemies assert that I have a heart of iron," he said, in a
gentle voice; "they charge me with being insensible to human
emotions--to compassion, friendship, and love. Well, then, I could
have had Moreau and Bernadotte both killed; they were in my power,
and deserved death. Moreau had entered into a conspiracy against me
and the existing laws of our country--a conspiracy whose object was
to assassinate me. I believe I would have been justified if I had
made him feel the rigor of my laws, and expiate his murderous intent
by death. Bernadotte disobeyed my orders in two battles; I would
have been justified in having him tried by a court-martial, which
would certainly have passed sentence of death upon him. I permitted
Moreau to emigrate to America, and indulge his republican
predilections there without hinderance; and Bernadotte to go to
Sweden, and gratify the desires of his ambitious heart. I pardoned
both because I loved them. They now reward me by allying themselves
with my enemies. This is all right, however, for I have placed both
under heavy obligations, and nothing is more difficult to forgive
than benefits."

"Sire, as I have alluded to these traitors, I must mention still
another. General Jomini, adjutant-general of Marshal Ney, has
deserted his post and gone over to the camp of the allies to offer
his services to the sovereigns. He has become a member of the
Emperor Alexander's staff."

"Well," cried Napoleon, with the semblance of unalloyed mirth, "the
world and posterity will have to pardon me now if I lose a few
battles in this campaign, for those who are fighting against me are
commanded by generals who have learned the art of war from me--
pupils of mine. I must, therefore, allow them to gain a battle or
two to prove that I am a good teacher. Besides, Jomini is not as
guilty as Moreau and Bernadotte. He is a native of Switzerland, and
his treason is aimed only at myself, and not at his country."

"It seems such is Jomini's excuse, too," said Caulaincourt, "for I
have been told that he treated General Moreau with surprising
coolness, and when the latter offered him his hand he did not take
it, but withdrew with a chilling salutation. To the Emperor
Alexander, who rebuked him for it, he replied that he would gladly
welcome General Moreau anywhere else than at the camp of the enemies
of Moreau's own country. For if he, Jomini, were a native of France,
he would assuredly at this hour not be at the camp of the Emperor of
Russia."

"Ah!" exclaimed the emperor, "I am convinced that miserable Jomini
imagines that he acted in a very noble and highly-dignified manner.
A traitor who is ashamed of another traitor, and blushes for him!
Ah, Caulaincourt, what a harrowing spectacle! These acts of
treachery will in the end make me unhappy! [Footnote: Napoleon's
words.--Constant's "Memoires," vol. v., p, 245.] For does not
Austria, too, wish to betray me? Has she not entered into an
alliance with me, and does she not now wish to forsake me merely
because she imagines that it would be more advantageous to her to
side with my enemies? Austria is oscillating, and Metternich thinks
he can preserve her equilibrium by placing Austrian promises as
weights now into this, now into that scale. But the cabinet of
Vienna deceives itself. Count Metternich wants his intrigues to pass
for policy, while the whole object of Austria is to recover what she
has lost." [Footnote: Napoleon's words.--Fain, "Manuscrit de 1813,"
vol. i.]

At this moment a carriage was heard to roll up to the palace and
stop close under the windows of the cabinet. Maret, who, during the
conversation between Napoleon and Caulaincourt, had retired into a
window-niche, turned and looked out into the street.

"Sire," he then said, quickly, "Count Metternich has arrived, and
already entered the palace."

"Ah, he is really coming, then!" exclaimed Napoleon, with an air of
scornful triumph; "he wishes me to tear the mask from his smirking
face! Well, I shall comply with his wishes; I, at least, shall not
dissemble, nor veil my real thoughts! Austria shall learn what I
think of her!"

The door opened, and Roustan entered again. "Sire," he said. "his
excellency Count Metternich, minister plenipotentiary of his majesty
the Emperor of Austria, requests an audience of your majesty."

Napoleon turned his head slowly toward the Dukes de Vicenza and
Bassano. "Enter the cabinet of my private secretary, Fain," he said.
"Leave the door ajar; I want you to hear all. Fain, if he pleases,
may take notes of this interview, that he may afterward accurately
testify to it. Go!"

The two gentlemen bowed in silence and withdrew. The emperor gazed
after them until they disappeared through the door of the cabinet;
then turning toward Roustan, "Let him come in," he said, with a
quick nod.

A few minutes afterward the slender form, and the handsome, florid,
and smiling face of Count Clement de Metternich appeared on the
threshold of the imperial cabinet.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

NAPOLEON AND METTERNICH.

The emperor quickly met the Austrian minister, but, as if
restraining himself, he stood in the middle of the room. Metternich
approached, making a still, solemn bow, and quickly raised his head
again, and turning his fine face, from which the smile did not
vanish for a moment, toward the emperor, he waited in respectful
silence for the latter to address him. Napoleon cast a menacing
glance of hatred upon him; but Metternich did not seem to perceive
his threat. He fixed his large blue eyes with perfect calmness on
the face of the emperor, and awaited the commencement of the
conversation.

The emperor felt that it was his province to break this silence.
"Well, Metternich," ho said, "yon are here, then! You are welcome!
But answer me, without circumlocution, What do you want?"

"Sire, Austria wishes me to mediate a peace between the Prussian and
Russian allies and your majesty."

"Ah, you want peace!" exclaimed Napoleon, sarcastically. "But why so
late? We have lost nearly a month, and your mediation, from its long
inactivity, has become almost hostile. It appears that it no longer
suits your cabinet to guarantee the integrity of the French empire?
Be it so; but why had you not the candor to make me acquainted with
that determination at an earlier period? It might have modified my
plans--perhaps prevented me from continuing the war."

"But your majesty ought graciously to remember that, for the
present, there is no question of Austria and her wishes," said
Metternich, calmly; "that Austria is merely trying to mediate peace
between your majesty and the sovereigns of Russia and Prussia."

"Ah, that is what you call mediating," exclaimed Napoleon,
sneeringly. "When you allowed me to exhaust myself by new efforts,
you doubtless little calculated on such rapid events as have ensued.
I have gained, nevertheless, two battles; my enemies, severely
weakened, were beginning to waken from their illusions, when
suddenly you glided among us, and, speaking to me of an armistice
and mediation, you spoke to them of alliance and war. But for your
pernicious intervention, peace would have been at this moment
concluded between the allies and myself. You cannot deny that, since
she has assumed the office of mediator, Austria has not only ceased
to be my ally, but is becoming my enemy. You were about to declare
yourself so when the battle of Lutzen intervened, and, by showing
you the necessity of augmenting your forces, made you desirous of
gaining time. You have improved your opportunity, and now you have
your two hundred thousand men ready, screened by the Bohemian hills;
Schwartzenberg commands them; at this very moment he is
concentrating them in my rear; and it is because you conceive
yourself in a condition to dictate the law, that you pay this
visit."

"Sire, dictate!" echoed Metternich, in a tone of dismay, but with a
strange smile.

"Yes, dictate!" repeated Napoleon, in a louder voice. "But why do
you wish to dictate to me alone? Am I, then, no longer the same man
whom you defended yesterday? If you are an honest mediator, why do
you not at least treat both sides alike? Say nothing in reply, for I
see through you, Metternich: your cabinet wishes to profit by my
embarrassments, and augment them as much as possible, in order to
recover a portion of your losses. The only difficulty you have is,
whether you can gain your object without fighting, or throw
yourselves boldly among the combatants; you do not know which to do,
and possibly you come to seek light on the subject. Well, then, let
us see! Let us treat! What do you wish?"

"Sire," said Metternich, with his smiling calmness, which had not
yielded for an instant to the storm of Napoleon's reproaches,
"Austria has no motives of self-interest. The sole advantage which
the Emperor Francis wishes to derive from the present state of
affairs is the influence which a spirit of moderation, and a respect
for the rights of independent states, cannot fail to acquire from
those who are animated with similar sentiments. Austria wishes not
to conquer, but to preserve."

"Speak more clearly," interrupted the emperor, impatiently; "but do
not forget that I am a soldier."

"Your majesty has taught Europe by upward of fifty battles never to
forget that," said Metternich, with a pleasant nod. "Austria wishes
to wound your majesty neither as a soldier nor as an emperor. She
simply desires to establish a state of things which, by a wise
distribution of power, may place the guaranty of peace under the
protection of an association of independent states."

"Words, words!" cried Napoleon, impatiently. "Words having no other
object than evasion, veiling your own designs! But I mean to go
directly to the object. I only wish Austria to remain neutral, and I
am ready to make sacrifices to her for it. My army is amply
sufficient to bring back the Russians and Prussians to reason. All
that I ask of you is to withdraw from the strife."

"Ah, sire," said Metternich, eagerly, "why should your majesty enter
singly into the strife? Why should you not double your forces? You
may do so, sire! It depends only on you to add our forces to your
own. Yes, matters have come to that point that we can no longer
remain neutral; we must be either for or against you."

The emperor bent on him one of those piercing glances which the
eagle bends upon the clouds to which he is soaring, seeking for the
sun behind them. "And which would be more desirable to you," he
asked, "to be for or against me?"

"Ah, sire, the Emperor Francis wishes for nothing more ardently than
that the state of affairs should enable him to be for France, whose
emperor is his son-in-law."

"But my father-in-law imposes conditions! Pray, tell me what they
are!" exclaimed Napoleon, striding up and down the apartment, while
Metternich walked by his side, respectfully holding his hat in his
hand.

"Tell me what these conditions are!" repeated Napoleon.

"Sire, they are simply these," said Metternich, in a bland tone.
"During the late decade the affairs of Europe have been disturbed in
a somewhat violent manner. Austria only wishes to have the
equilibrium of Europe reestablished, and all the states occupy again
the same position which they held prior to these convulsions. If
your majesty consents to contribute your share to this restoration,
Austria in return offers to France her lasting alliance and, in case
the other powers should pursue a hostile course, her armed
assistance. Austria wishes to make no conquests, to acquire no
provinces, no titles--she is animated with the spirit of moderation.
She demands only order, justice, and equality for all, and,
moreover, only the restoration of such states as have been
recognized for centuries as members of the general confederacy of
European states, the reconstruction of those thrones which have
existed for ages, and whose rulers have a legitimate right to their
sovereignty. I believe your majesty cannot deny that the Bourbons
have a well-founded right to Spain, and that the Spaniards now, by
the blood shed in their heroic struggle, have established their
right to restore the throne to their legitimate rulers. You will
have to admit, further, that no Christian sovereign, how powerful
soever he may be, has a right to overthrow the Holy See of St.
Peter, and to keep the vicegerent of God away from the capital which
all Christendom has so long recognized as his own. You will have to
admit, too, that both Lombardy and Illyria have long been
possessions of Austria, and that Switzerland has been recognized as
a confederation of republics by all the powers of Europe. If your
majesty acknowledges all this, and consents to restore the state of
things in accordance with those well-established rights, it only
remains for us to find compensation for the three powers which have
already allied themselves against you. As for Prussia, I believe a
portion of Saxony would be the most suitable indemnity for her.
Russia, I suppose, would be content if, after the dissolution of the
duchy of Warsaw, Poland should once more fall to her share, and
England demands only the possession of a few fortified places and
safe harbors on the shores of Holland."

The emperor uttered a cry of anger, and, suddenly halting, cast
glances on Metternich which seemed to borrow their fire from the
lightning. "Are you through with your proposals, sir?" he asked, in
a threatening tone.

Metternich bowed. "Yes, sire."

"Well, then," cried the emperor, stepping up to the minister, "to
all this I respond only by the question: How much money has England
given you to play this part?"

At this question, uttered in a menacing voice, Metternich turned
pale, the smile passed from his lips, his brow darkened, and his
eyes, usually so mild and pleasant, kindled with anger, and allowed
the thoughts, generally concealed in the innermost recesses of the
diplomatist's heart, to burst forth for a moment, and betray hatred.

"Ah," cried Napoleon, in a triumphant tone, "I have at length torn
the mask from your smiling features, and I see that a serpent is
hidden under them as under roses. It would sting, but I know how to
be on my guard; I will never grant Austria the right to insult,
dictate to, and humiliate me. I will compel her, as I have done so
often, to prostrate herself in the dust before me, and ask mercy and
forbearance. Do you hear what I say? I will humiliate Austria,
trampling her in the dust." The emperor violently raised his
clinched fist, and striking it downward struck Metternich's hat,
which the minister still held in his hand, and caused it to fall to
the ground.

The emperor paused and looked at Metternich, as if to request him to
pick up the hat. But the latter did not make the slightest movement.
His thoughts and his hatred had already retired into his bosom; his
brow was serene again, and his accustomed smile returned. He looked
first at the hat, and then at the emperor, who followed his glances,
and met them sullenly and defiantly. This little incident, however,
seemed to have dispelled Napoleon's anger, or at least to have
appeased the first stormy waves of the sea. When he spoke again his
tone was milder, and his look less scorching, returning from time to
time, as it were involuntarily, to the hat lying on the floor a few
steps from him. He commenced pacing the apartment again with quick
steps. Metternich followed him, only with somewhat slackened pace,
and thus compelled the emperor to walk a little slower.

"Now," said Napoleon, loudly, "I know what you want! Not only
Illyria, but the half of Italy, the return of the pope to Rome,
Poland, and the abandonment of Spain, Holland, and Switzerland! This
is what you call the spirit of moderation! You are intent only on
profiting by every chance; you alternately transport your alliance
from one camp to the other, in order to be always a sharer in the
spoil, and you speak to me of your respect for the rights of
independent states! You would have Italy; Russia, Poland; Prussia,
Saxony; and England, Holland and Belgium: in fine, peace is only a
pretext; you are all intent on dismembering the French empire! And
Austria thinks she has only to declare herself, to crown such an
enterprise! You pretend here, with a stroke of the pen, to make the
ramparts of Dantzic, Custrin, Glogau, Magdeburg, Wesel, Mentz,
Antwerp, Alessandria, Mantua, in fine, all the strong places of
Europe, sink before you, of which I did not obtain possession but by
my victorious arms! And I, obedient to your policy, am to evacuate
Europe, of which I still hold the half; recall my legions across the
Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees; subscribe a treaty which would be
nothing but a vast capitulation; and place myself at the mercy of
those of whom I am at this moment the conqueror! It is when my
standards float at the mouths of the Vistula, and on the banks of
the Oder; when my army is at the gates of Berlin, and Breslau; when
I am at the head of three hundred thousand men, that Austria,
without drawing a sword, expects to make me subscribe such
conditions! This is an insult, and it is my father-in-law that has
matured such a project; it is he that sends you on such a mission!"
[Footnote: This whole speech contains only Napoleon's words.--Vide
Fain, "Manuscrit de 1813," vol. i.]

While thus speaking, the emperor was still walking, and Metternich
by his side. Whenever they passed the hat lying on the floor,
Napoleon cast a quick side-glance on Metternich, who appeared to
take no notice of the hat, and it seemed entirely accidental that he
slightly wheeled aside, and thus succeeded in passing without
touching it.