Note 23 — MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE, EXILE, AND CONVERSATIONS, OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. (continued 7)
Reading edition
A report was pretty generally circulated that the marriage of the Archduchess Maria-Louisa with the Emperor Napoleon was a secret article of the treaty of Vienna: this idea is void of foundation. The treaty of Vienna is dated Oct. 15, 1809, and the marriage contract was signed at Paris on the 7th of Feb. 1810.
Every individual who was present at the deliberations of the Privy Council can attest that the circumstances of the marriage were such as they have been above described; that no idea of the Austrian alliance was entertained before the contents of the Count de Narbonne’s despatches were made known; and that the marriage with the Archduchess Maria-Louisa was proposed, discussed, and determined on in the Council, and signed within the space of twenty-four hours.
The members of the Council were—the Emperor, the great Dignitaries of the Empire, the high Officers of the Crown, all the Ministers, the Presidents of the Senate and the Legislative Body, and the Ministers of State, Presidents of the sections of the Council of State; amounting, in all, to 25.