Tormented by these gloomy thoughts, he pursued his journey, and reached Philippeville; and there he snatched a few hours repose. But the fear of the Prussians haunted his followers, and he was hurried on, still in a state of indecision.[4] The momentous question had now to be faced, and immediately decided. What was Napoleon to do? Should he remain in the field in command of his troops, rally the shattered remnants of the grand army, and cover Paris, or should he fly to the capital, assert his authority there, and trust to the magic of his name to retain his supremacy over France? His own desire was to stay among his men, and to abide the result at the head of an army, devoted to his person and to his interests. Had he done so, his fate would have been less humiliating than it eventually proved to be. But his failing health, and the shock he had experienced, paralysed the active energies of the man, and, dreading a revolution in the seat of government, he agreed, against his better judgment, to start at once for Paris. He reached his destination early on the 21st, exhausted and shaken both in body and mind. ----- Footnote 4: Alphonse de Lamartine, _The History of the Restoration of the Monarchy in France_ , ii. 443 (London, 1852). ----- Paris was struck dumb by this event. On the 18th, the guns of the Invalides thundered a salute in honour of the battle of Ligny, and on the two following days the details of the French victory over the Prussians were published in glowing colours; but towards the evening of the 20th, the news of trouble began to leak out, and on the morrow the Emperor arrived at the Elysée palace attended only by a few of his personal Staff. “Dans le premier moment on refusa à croire; ce fut ensuite une anxiété cruelle; puis une morne stupeur.”[5] And now at length the fatal news was fully realized, and spread like wildfire through the excited people, and all knew for certain that the army of Napoleon had been annihilated, that his military genius had played him false, and that the catastrophe was at once complete and irretrievable. ----- Footnote 5: Hooper, p. 265. -----