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THE REGENT. 27
am
condemned I will implore the mercy of the Emperor. Without me Napoleon
would not have been on the throne; to me is due the success at
Marengo. I was one of the robbers of the Garde Meuble. I assisted my
confederates to conceal the Regent diamond and other objects in the
Champs Elyse'es as keeping them would have betrayed us. On a promise
that was given to me of pardon I revealed the secret; the Regent was
recovered and you are aware, gentlemen, that the magnificent diamond
was pledged by the First Consul to the Bata-vian * government to
procure the money which he so greatly needed."
There
must have been some truth in Baba's statement, or at least the Tribunal
considered there was, for he was not sent with his companions to the
galleys, but was confined in the Bicetre prison where he was known as "
the man who stole the Regent."
* Evidently a mistake on Baba's part, as the Regent was pawned to a banker in Berlin.
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