Note 388 — Chapter XLII
Reading edition
"When I had them all assembled at Bayonne, I felt a confidence in my political system, to which I never before had the presumption to aspire. I had not made my combinations, but I took advantage of the moment. I here found the Gordian knot before me, and I cut it. I proposed to Charles IV. and the Queen, to resign the crown of Spain to me, and to live quietly in France. They agreed, I could say, almost with joy, to the proposal. The Prince of Asturias made no extraordinary resistance to the plan; but neither violence nor threats were employed against him. There you have, in very few words, the complete historical sketch of the affair of Spain; whatever may be said, or written on it, must amount to that; and you see, that there could be no occasion for me to have had recourse to paltry tricks, to falsehoods, to breaches of faith, or violation of engagements."—Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 200.