Читать книгу The Life, Exile and Conversations with Napoleon - Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné Las Cases - Страница 107

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24th.—After dinner, while we were taking our coffee, the Emperor observed that, about this time last year, he quitted the Island of Elba. The Grand Marshal informed him that it was on the 26th of February and on a Sunday. “Sire,” said he, “you directed mass to be performed at an earlier hour than usual, that you might have the more time for issuing the necessary orders.”

They sailed in the afternoon, and next morning at ten o’clock they were still within sight, to the great anxiety of those who were interested in their success.

The Emperor entered into conversation on this subject, and was, for upwards of an hour, engaged in describing the details of that event, which is unparalleled in history, both for the boldness of the enterprise, and the miracle of its execution. I shall insert in another part of my journal, the particulars which I collected on this subject.