and infamous rumours spread abroad respecting the birth of the King of Rome were wholly without foundation.  My friend Corvisart, who did not for a single instant leave Maria Louisa during her long and painful labour, removed from my mind every doubt on the subject.  It is as true that the young Prince, for whom the Emperor of Austria stood sponsor at the font, was the son of Napoleon and the Archduchess Maria Louisa as it is false that Bonaparte was the father of the first child of Hortense.  The birth of the son of Napoleon was hailed with general enthusiasm.  The Emperor was at the height of his power from the period of the birth of his son until the reverse he experienced after the battle of the Moskowa.  The Empire, including the States possessed by the Imperial family, contained nearly 57,000,000 of inhabitants; but the period was fast approaching when this power, unparalleled in modern times, was to collapse under its own weight.

     —­[The little King of Rome, Napoleon Francis Bonaparte, was born on
     the 20th of March 1811.  Editor of 1836 edition.]—­

CHAPTER XXVI.

My return to Hamburg—­Government Committee established there—­ Anecdote of the Comte de Chaban—­Napoleon’s misunderstanding with the Pope—­Cardinal Fesch—­Convention of a Council—­Declaration required from the Bishops—­Spain in 1811—­Certainty of war with Russia—­Lauriston supersedes Caulaincourt at St. Petersburg—­The war in Spain neglected—­Troops of all nations at the disposal of Bonaparte—­Levy of the National Guard—­Treaties with Prussia and Austria—­Capitulation renewed with Switzerland—­Intrigues with Czernischeff—­Attacks of my enemies—­Memorial to the Emperor—­Ogier de la Saussaye and the mysterious box—­Removal of the Pope to Fontainebleau—­Anecdote of His Holiness and M. Denon—­Departure of Napoleon and Maria Louisa for Dresden—­Situation of affairs in Spain and Portugal—­Rapp’s account of the Emperor’s journey to Dantzic—­ Mutual wish for war on the part of Napoleon and Alexander—­Sweden and Turkey—­Napoleon’s vain attempt to detach Sweden from her alliance with Russia.

As I took the most lively interest in all that concerned the Hanse Towns, my first care on returning to Hamburg was to collect information from the most respectable sources concerning the influential members of the new Government.  Davoust was at its head.  On his arrival he had established in the Duchy of Mecklenburg, in Swedish Pomerania, and in Stralsund, the capital of that province, military posts and custom-houses, and that in a time of profound peace with those countries, and without any previous declaration.  The omnipotence of Napoleon, and the terror inspired by the name of Davoust, overcame all obstacles which might have opposed those iniquitous usurpations.  The weak were forced to yield to the strong.