Some one present remarked that it might have been thus in the dark ages of ignorance; but that now the multitude of monuments and public documents, the arts of printing and engraving, and the general diffusion of knowledge, must always render truth accessible to those who wish to come at it; and, as each party has its own historians, the thinking reader will always be enabled to form an impartial opinion.
The Emperor then described at length the affairs of Moreau, Georges, and Pichegru, to which I have before alluded, and of which I promised further details. He now informed us that the man who made the first confessions indicated, though without naming him, a person to whom Georges and the other leaders of the conspiracy never spoke without taking off their hats, and whom they treated with the utmost consideration and respect. It was at first supposed that this individual must have been the Duke de Berri; and some concluded him to have been the Duke d’Enghien, during his momentary appearance. Charles d’Hosier, one of the conspirators, unexpectedly drew aside the veil. A few days after his arrest, he was seized with a fit of melancholy and hanged himself in prison. The alarm was however given, and he was cut down. Stretched on his bed, and while yet struggling between life and death, he vented repeated imprecations against Moreau, and accused him of having treacherously seduced many well-disposed men, and held out to them promises of assistance which he never realized. He likewise mentioned the names of Georges and Pichegru. This was the first circumstance that excited suspicion against Georges and Pichegru; there was previously no idea of either the one or the other having been engaged in the conspiracy. Real, who had hastened to this sort of death-bed confession of d’Hosier, proposed to the Consul that he should order the arrest of Moreau.
“This event created a great sensation,” said the Emperor. “The public mind was wrought up to a high pitch of fermentation. Doubts were entertained of the truth of the statements made by the Government respecting the extent of the conspiracy and the number of the conspirators. Of the latter it was affirmed there were about forty in Paris. Their names were published, and the First Consul pledged his honour to secure them. He summoned Bassières, and gave orders that he, with his corps, should surround and guard the walls of Paris. For the space of six weeks, nobody was suffered to quit the capital without special permission. A general gloom prevailed through Paris; but every day the Moniteur announced the arrest of one or two of the individuals who it was alleged were concerned in the conspiracy. Public opinion took a turn in my favour; and indignation against the conspirators increased in proportion as they were secured. Not one escaped.”