432 JOSEPH FOURIER. 



which I am about to describe,) he knocks with his snuff- 

 box! " Who is there ? " cried the officer of the guard. 

 " It is the Emperor ! Open ! " " Sire, my duty forbids 

 me." " Open I tell you ; I have no time to lose." 

 " But, sire, even though I should open to you, I could 

 not. The keys are in the possession of General Mar- 

 chand." " Go, then, and fetch them." " I am certain 

 that he will refuse them to me." " If the General refuse 

 them, tell him that I will dismiss him." 



These words petrified the soldiers. During the pre- 

 vious two days, hundreds of proclamations designated 

 Bonaparte as a wild beast which it was necessary to 

 seize without scruple ; they ordered everybody to run 

 away from him, and yet this man threatened the general 

 with deprivation of his command ! The single word 

 dismissal, effaced the faint line of demarcation which 

 separated for an instant the old soldiers from the young 

 recruits ; one word established the whole garrison in the 

 interest of the emperor. 



The circumstances of the capture of Grenoble were 

 not yet known when Fourier arrived at Lyons. He 

 brought thither the news of the rapid advance of Napo- 

 leon ; that of the revolt of two companies of sappers, of 

 a regiment of infantry, and of the regiment commanded 

 by Labedoyere. Moreover, he was a witness of the 

 lively sympathy which the country people along the 

 whole route displayed in favour of the proscribed exile 

 of Elba. 



The Count d'Artois gave a very cold reception to the 

 Prefect and his communications. He declared that the 

 arrival of Napoleon at Grenoble was impossible ; that 

 no alarm need be apprehended respecting the disposition 

 of the country people. " As regards the facts," said he 



