The government of Louis XVIII considered that, like Murat, Napoleon must go, and the sooner the better. And whether assassination or invasion were the chosen option, it would be made a great deal easier if lack of funds obliged him to disband his guards. Alternatively, it might provoke him into making a rash move that would bring the whole of Europe out against him, the assumption being that this time he would be given no quarter when finally cornered. The Bourbon ministry calculated, correctly, that this was the surest way to engineer the monster’s final downfall, but miscalculated
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