[NAPOLEON IER]. Manuscript entitled "Fontainebleau, April 20, 1814. Discours... à la Vieille Garde", in autograph copy by General Jean-Martin PETIT. [probably april 1814]. One p. 1/2 in-4; small needle perforations in margin. "Soldiers of my Old Guard. I want to bid you farewell. For 20 years, I have found you constantly on the path to honor and glory. You have always conducted yourselves with bravery and fidelity; even in recent times you have given me proof of this. With you, our cause was not lost; I could have fuelled the civil war for three years, but France would have been all the worse for it, with no results. The allied powers presented all of Europe united against me; part of the army had betrayed me; parties were forming for another Government. I sacrificed all my interests for the good of my country. I am leaving... You will always serve her with glory and honor. You will be faithful to your new sovereign; receive my thanks; I cannot embrace you all: I will embrace your leader, I will also embrace the flag; come forward, General (le g[enér]al Petit). Bring the flag forward... may this kiss pass through your hearts! I will always follow your destiny and that of France. Do not pity my fate; I wanted to live to be useful to your glory; I will write the great things we have done together. The happiness of our beloved country was my only thought; it will always be the object of my wishes. Farewell, my children. THEN COMMANDING THE TROOPS AT FONTAINEBLEAU, GENERAL JEAN-MARTIN PETIT (1772-1856) RECEIVED THE EMPEROR'S EMBRACE AND PRESENTED HIM WITH THE FLAG OF THE GUARD TO KISS. Enlisted in 1792, a veteran of the wars of the Revolution and Empire, he was Adjutant-General of the Imperial Guard, attached since March 1814 to the first division of the Guard (Grenadiers). A FAMOUS TEXT, BUT PRESERVED FOR POSTERITY IN DIFFERENT FORMS. Improvised by Napoleon I as he left the Château de Fontainebleau for Elba, this harangue was first known in broad outline, according to what could be found in historiographical works as early as 1814. However, several literal versions have been preserved, with variations: the first, published in 1822 in the Œuvres de Napoléon Ier (Paris: Panckoucke, vol. V), was drawn up by Napoleon I's secretary, Fain, in collaboration with general Gourgaud, former minister Maret and premier commis Jouanne. The version most frequently used is the one Fain reworked and published in 1823 in the part of his memoirs entitled Manuscrit de 1814, a version that would be officially adopted by the publishers of the Correspondance de Napoléon Ier under the Second Empire. Another version, preserved in manuscript form in the Archives Nationales, was transcribed by an officer of the Guard, and yet another version, attributed to General Petit, was published in 1842 in volume V of Souvenirs historiques des rŽsidences royales de France, devoted to Fontainebleau, a series given under the name of Jean Vatout, historian and librarian to Louis-Philippe I, but probably rather edited for this volume by the writer François-Xavier Esteben (cf. Thierry Lentz, Les Vingt jours de Fontainebleau, Paris, Perrin, 2014, pp. 201-204 and 22-30). THE PRESENT VERSION OF GENERAL PETIT DIFERS FROM THAT WHICH HE COMMUNICATED IN 1842, but like it, alludes to the betrayal of part of the army, to the possibility of continuing a civil war for three years, and includes advice to serve the new sovereign of France. ATTACHED, BERTRAND (Henri-Gatien). Printed bill with handwritten additions. "The Grand Marshal will have the honor of receiving Mr. General Petit on April 20 at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Paris [...] 1815" (one p. in-8).