Books: NAPOLEON AND BLUCHER

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In the night of the 13th of April, Constant, Napoleon's valet de
chambre, was awakened by an extraordinary groaning proceeding from
Napoleon's bedroom, whither Constant hastened. Yes, it was the
emperor who was suffering. His face was deadly pale; his limbs were
quivering; a paper lay on the floor in front of him; on the table by
his side stood a glass, in which were still seen some drops of a
whitish color. Constant rushed toward him. He gazed at his servant
with fixed looks, and murmured, "I suffer dreadfully! Fire is
consuming my bowels; but it does not kill me!"

Uttering a cry, and hastening from the room, Constant went for the
domestic surgeon, Dr. Ivan, Maret, and Caulaincourt. They appeared
in the utmost consternation, and surrounded the easy-chair on which
the emperor still sat. Dr. Ivan felt his forehead, which was covered
with clammy perspiration; and his pulse was feeble and sluggish, but
still throbbing. He recognized his physician, and his livid lips
murmured almost inaudibly, "Ivan, I have taken poison, that which
you gave me one day in Russia; but it has lost its efficacy! It does
not kill, while it causes me excruciating pain."

Ivan went weeping out of the room to prepare a remedy.

Napoleon turned his eyes with an expression of agony toward Maret
and Caulaincourt, who were kneeling before him. "My friends," he
said, "I sought death! But you see God did not will it! He commands
me to live and suffer." [Footnote: Constant's "Memoires," vol. vi.,
p. 88. Fain, "Manuscrit."]

On the morning after this night of terror, the emperor rose from his
couch, and his face, which for the last few days had been so gloomy,
assumed now a serene expression. "Providence has spared me for other
purposes," he murmured to himself. "Well, then, I shall live! To the
living belongs the future!"! [Footnote: Bausset's "Memoires," vol.
ii., p. 244.]

A week afterward, on the 20th of April, Napoleon left Fontainebleau
for Elba. In the court-yard of the palace the Old Guard was drawn up
in the splendor of their arms, with their eagles and banners. Near
the ranks of the soldiers, in front of the main portal, stood
Bonaparte's travelling-carriage, and beside it the foreign
commissioners. Before setting out, he wished to take leave of his
faithful soldiers. Advancing into the midst of the Old Guard, he
addressed them in a firm voice: "Soldiers of my Old Guard, I bid you
adieu! During twenty years I have ever found you in the path of
honor. In the last days, as in those of our prosperity, you have
never ceased to be models of bravery and fidelity. With such men as
you our cause could never have been lost; but the war would never
end; it would have become a civil war, and France must daily have
been more unhappy. I have, therefore, sacrificed all our interests
to those of our country: I depart; but you remain to serve France.
Her happiness was my only thought; it will always be the object of
my fervent wishes. Lament not my destiny: if I have consented to
survive myself, it was because I might contribute to your glory.
Adieu, my children! I would I could press you all to my heart; but I
will, at least, press your eagle!" At these words, General Petit
advanced with the eagle; Napoleon received the general in his arms,
and, kissing the standard, he added: "I cannot embrace you all, but
I do so in the person of your general! Adieu, once again, my old
companions!"

The veteran soldiers had no reply but tears and sobs, and,
stretching out their hands toward Napoleon, they implored him to
stay. But the carriage rolled rapidly across the court-yard, bearing
into exile, or at best to the sovereignty of an insignificant
island, a man who, in aiming at the empire of the world, had subdued
almost all the kingdoms of Europe.