He thought, however, that Russia must oppose this division, as she would thereby have to fear the growing strength and consolidation of Germany against her. Some one present remarked that Austria must oppose it also, from the apprehension of wanting the necessary support in case of any attempts on the part of Russia. It was moreover observed that, in such a case, Austria might probably serve the cause of the King of Rome, by putting him forward. “Yes,” replied the Emperor, "as an instrument of menace, perhaps; but never as the object of her good wishes. Austria must have too much cause to dread him. The King of Rome will be the man of the people; he will be the champion of Italy. Thus it will be the policy of Austria to take his life. This will not probably be attempted during the reign of his grandfather, who is a good man;—but the Emperor Francis cannot live for ever. If, however, the manners of the present age should preclude the possibility of an attempt to murder him, they will endeavour to brutalize his faculties. Or finally, if he should escape both physical and moral assassination,—if his mother’s cares and his own natural endowments should rescue him from all those dangers, then—then—" (he repeated several times, as if absorbed in reflection) “why then—But who can calculate on the destinies of any one here below!” The Emperor then turned the conversation to England, by remarking that she alone was interested in the destruction of France; and in the plenitude and versatility of his fancy, he touched on all the various plans which she was likely to adopt for that purpose. She could not increase the power of Belgium, he said, otherwise Antwerp would become as formidable to her as it had been under his reign. She must, he observed, leave the Bourbons in the centre, with only eight or ten millions of inhabitants, and surround them with Princes, Dukes, or Kings of Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine, and Provence; so that Cherbourg, Brest, the Garonne, and the Mediterranean would be in the possession of different sovereigns. This, he said, would make the French monarchy retrograde several ages, would restore it to its situation under the first Capets, and would provide for the Bourbons a few centuries of new and laborious efforts.—"But, fortunately," observed the Emperor, "before England can arrive at this point, she will have to surmount almost invincible obstacles,—the uniformity of the division of the territory into departments, the similitude of language, the identity of manners, the universality of the code, the generality of my lyceums, and the glory and splendour which I have left behind me; these are so many indissoluble knots and truly national institutions.