And how many men had he with him ?" "I do not know, sire," answered the minister of police.
"What, you do not know! Have you neglected to obtain information on that point?
Of course it is of no consequence," he added, with a withering smile.
"Sire, it was impossible to learn; the despatch simply stated the fact of the landing and the route taken by the usurper." "And how did this despatch reach you ?" inquired the king.

The minister bowed his head, and while a deep color overspread his cheeks, he stammered out,-- "By the telegraph, sire."-- Louis XVIII.

advanced a step, and folded his arms over his chest as Napoleon would have done.
"So then," he exclaimed, turning pale with anger, "seven conjoined and allied armies overthrew that man.

A miracle of heaven replaced me on the throne of my fathers after five-and-twenty years of exile.

I have, during those five-and-twenty years, spared no pains to understand the people of France and the interests which were confided to me; and now, when I see the fruition of my wishes almost within reach, the power I hold in my hands bursts, and shatters me to atoms!" "Sire, it is fatality!" murmured the minister, feeling that the pressure of circumstances, however light a thing to destiny, was too much for any human strength to endure.
"What our enemies say of us is then true.