“France was far from being in a quiet state. During the whole summer the country was greatly agitated. The terrorist party was once more gaining alarming strength. On different points great advantages had been obtained by the troops of the Coalition. An English army had disembarked at the Helder. Terrified at all that was said in Paris, my mother trembled at the thought of seeing fresh barriers arising between my father and herself. Owing to the good will of the Batavian government he was allowed to remain in Holland, notwithstanding General Brune’s injunctions to the contrary. But if my father could not depend on the protection of the French armies, what would happen if those of the Coalition marched into Holland, bringing with them the counter-revolution? My mother, in her anxiety, resolved to go to the Directeur Sieyès, then chief of the party opposed to the Jacobins. She told him of the dangers to which my father was exposed, and warned him that if the foreign armies were victorious, he would take refuge on the French territory. “Sieyès answered that it would be imprudent for him to return to France, and that he would be safer in the states of the king of Prussia. ‘Who kept him a prisoner!’ answered my mother. ‘M. de La Fayette would prefer, if necessary, a prison in France, but he has more confidence in his fellow-countrymen.’ “All was in this alarming uncertainty when the revolution of the 18th _Brumaire_ took place, and changed the face of affairs. With that just appreciation of things which never forsook her, my mother at once deemed it necessary that, without loss of time, and without asking anybody’s permission, my father should return to France at the very moment when justice was proclaimed. She wished him to return ere time had brought the slightest change, and without any other authorization than the liberal intentions then proclaimed by the new government. She obtained a passport for him under an assumed name, and M. Alexandre Romœuf, one of his former aides-de-camp, brought it to him. My mother was accustomed to foresee my father’s intentions, to judge with marvellous tact what it was best for him to do: she would guess his wishes. He, on his side, had entire confidence in her opinion. Therefore, without any further delay, he started immediately and arrived in Paris.” But La Fayette did not sneak into France like a culprit; he knew his course had been above reproach, and he boldly announced his arrival to Napoleon in the following manly note:—