Note 347 — Chapter LXXIV
Reading edition
On the 5th of March, just before the battle of Craonne, Napoleon again wrote to Murat:—"I have communicated to you my opinion of your conduct. Your situation had turned your head. My reverses have finished you. You have surrounded yourself with men who hate France, and who wish to ruin you. What you write to me is at variance with your actions. I shall, however, see by your manner of acting at Ancona, if your heart be still French, and if you yield to necessity alone. Remember that I made you a king solely for the interest of my system. Do not deceive yourself, if you should cease to be a Frenchman, you would be nothing for me."—Parl. Debates, vol. xxxi., p. 153.