NAPOLEON AT BOURGOIN. 433 



to Fourier, " which would seem to have occurred in your 

 presence at the very gates of the city, with respect to the 

 tricoloured cockades substituted for the cockade of Henry 

 IV., with respect to the eagles which you say have re- 

 placed the white flag, I do not suspect your good faith, 

 but the uneasy state of your mind must have dazzled 

 your eyes. Prefect, return then without delay to Gre- 

 noble ; you will answer for the city with your head." 



You see, Gentlemen, after having so long proclaimed 

 the necessity of telling the truth to princes, moralists will 

 act wisely by inviting princes to be good enough to listen 

 to its language. 



Fourier obeyed the order which had just been given 

 him. The wheels of his carriage had made only a few 

 revolutions in the direction of Grenoble, when he was 

 arrested by hussars, and conducted to the head-quarters 

 at Bourgoin. The Emperor, who was engaged in ex- 

 amining a large chart with a pair of compasses, said, 

 upon seeing him enter : " Well, Prefect, you also have 

 declared war against me ? " " Sire, my oath of alle- 

 giance made it my duty to do so ! " " A duty you say ? 

 and do you not see that in Dauphiny nobody is of the 

 same mind ? Do not imagine, however, that your plan 

 of the campaign will frighten me much. It only grieved 

 me to see among my enemies an Egyptian, a man who 

 had eaten along with me the bread of the bivouac, an old 

 friend!" 



It is painful to add that to those kind words succeeded 

 these also : " How, moreover, could you have forgotten, 

 Monsieur Fourier, that I have made you what you are ? " 



You will regret with me, Gentlemen, that a timidity, 

 which circumstances would otherwise easily explain, 

 should have prevented our colleague from at once em- 



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