The ambassador did not refuse a passage to the noble duke; and it was a most curious circumstance that the first step taken by M. de Liancourt when they reached the royal yacht in which Louis had embarked, was to adorn himself with the blue ribbon he had formerly sent back to the king during his sojourn in the land of equality and liberty. It is impossible to describe the despair of the duke when he found he could not be received by Louis XVIII., while Count Pozzo was welcomed in the warmest manner, and the king expressed himself in the most flattering language, with tears in his eyes. The ambassador from the allies explained the orders he had received. "Though the constitution proclaimed by the senate might have fallen into contempt, it was no reason for abandoning the principles of liberty upon which it was founded." Pozzo di Borgo remained with the king during his voyage, and assisted him in preparing the declaration issued at St. Ouen, containing the plan of such a representative system as the liberal party were desirous of establishing in France. Let us imagine that country passing from the military rule of Napoleon into constitutional principles, finding herself free, on emerging from the firm, but despotic government of the emperor, had she not already gained an immense step in securing the advantages of a public representation? The treaty of Paris was based on the diplomatic scheme determined upon at Chaumont and Chatillon: it restrained France within her ancient limits, and placed her under the government of the ancient dynasty, thus offering a pledge of peace and the maintenance of order, so necessary to the tranquillity of Europe. General Pozzo di Borgo remained in Paris as Russian ambassador to the new French government, until the meeting of the Congress of Vienna, where all the diplomatic chiefs were summoned to attend. I will not recount the events of that period, having related them in a work especially devoted to the history of those times;[21] I will only observe, that had they listened at Vienna to the warnings, derived from the former experience of the friend of Paoli, France would never have suffered the misfortunes inflicted by the reign of the Hundred Days. The _corps diplomatique_ received intelligence that Napoleon was seeking the opportunity of returning from exile, and reappearing in Europe, and General Pozzo, who well knew the energy of his countryman, proposed removing him to a more secure spot,--as, for example, one of the islands of the African Ocean, from whence escape would be impossible, so as to prevent any risk of his again throwing the whole of Europe into a state of danger and revolution. [21] "Histoire de la Restauration."