“The soldiers of the Imperialist armies,” says Wellington, “are viewed with suspicion, not only by the chiefs of the Allied army of occupation, but also by the King of France and by the French Government.... Your Excellency is therefore right to watch these persons, and I am sure that your measures, taken with this object, have the approval of the King of France. But I beg you to be careful that you do not trespass upon those powers which belong to the King or to the legislature. It is true, the King of France has ordered disbanded soldiers to return to their homes, and they do not obey if, having their domiciles elsewhere, they persist in congregating in those Departments, which are occupied by the troops under Your Excellency’s command. You are therefore right in obliging these persons to obey their Sovereign’s order, and in sending them out of the Prussian districts. But to oblige all these soldiers who inhabit your districts, to be in possession of a card of residence, to be submitted to your Brigadiers, is a step in advance. This is more than a police measure, which in my opinion should be limited to putting the existing law in motion; it is an act of sovereignty, and even of legislation; because it obliges soldiers who are subjects of the King, and who are residing in their homes by the King’s command, to furnish themselves with papers for their personal security, which neither the King nor the laws of the country require of them. I think, therefore, that your order ought only to oblige such soldiers who are not domiciled in your Departments to quit them, and to command your Officers to carry out your order, if they find these unauthorized persons. At the same time, in order to clear up the subject, you can demand from the mayors, the Sous-Préfets, etc., a list of the men who have a right to live in your Departments, and you can remove all those, whose names are not to be found on the lists. This you may do, because you would be only carrying out the decrees of the Sovereign authority; but I do not think we should be justified in doing more than this.”[114] ----- Footnote 114: