Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna

by Adam Zamoyski

He persuaded the ministers of the other powers that they must issue a joint declaration, and produced a draft. This argued that by leaving the island of Elba Napoleon had broken his only legal right to exist, and that he was therefore an outlaw and fair game for anyone to kill. When they met to discuss this on 13 March, some of the other plenipotentiaries protested against such extreme language, on legal grounds. Metternich objected because he did not want the door closed entirely on some form of negotiated settlement with Napoleon if that were to prove possible or necessary. After some discussion and a great deal of shouting, the text was amended. While it kept to the same argument and declared Napoleon to have placed himself outside the law, the final declaration did not actually sanction his murder.