186 NAPOLEON. 



he seemed to demur, and was silent for a 

 time. At length he said : ' Will you allow 

 me to introduce you to the Emperor? 

 he holds a levee to-morrow, where I have 

 to be present/ I replied that I should 

 feel proud of the opportunity of seeing 

 so remarkable a man. 



Accordingly, on the following morning, 

 I, attended by the General, was presented 

 to this idol of the French soldiery, and 

 who was at that time the dread of 

 Europe. The General, in a few words, 

 stated that I was an officer in the 

 British army, who had recently been 

 sent prisoner from Spain, and that upon 

 a former occasion, when he was taken 

 by the British, he owed his life to his 

 gallant intercession. The Emperor, with 

 his usual blandness of manner, expressed 

 his pleasure at the interview, and, after 

 ascertaining my country, asked me what 

 rank I held in the British army. I re- 



