OnNapoleon'sescapefromElbaandreturntoFrancein1815,FrenchministerofpoliceFouche,whohadbeenmakingoverturestothevictoriousallies,turnedhiscoatwithhiscustomarypromptitude.DuringtheHundredDayshewasemployedincompilingalistofthosewhomNapoleonintendedtopunishoncehehadreestablishedhisascendancy.
AfterNapoleon'sdefeatattheBattleofWaterloo,thislistwassomethingofanembarrassmenttoitscompiler,particularlywhenitfellintothehandsofforeignministerTalleyrand,whosenamewascourseonit.Runninghiseyesoverthelist,Talleyrandremarked,"Onemustatleastdohimthejusticeofacknowledgingthathehasomittednoneofhisfriends."
一八一五年,拿破崙逃離厄爾巴島,回到法國。法國警察部長富歇當時正和戰勝的盟國打交道,但他向來善變,馬上易幟,在拿破崙卷土重來那一百天,致力擬訂黑名單,把拿破崙準備重振聲威就要懲處的人列進去。
滑鐵盧戰役拿破崙敗北之後,這名單難免令富歇有點尷尬,特別是名單落入在外交部長塔列朗手中。塔列朗的名字當然也在名單上。他看了一遍,說:「我們對富歇須公平一點,至少也得承認,他連自己的朋友都寫了進去,沒有一個遺漏。」
【附注】Turnone'scoat(把外衣翻轉)原指士兵敗陣時反穿軍服以求脫身,引伸解作「變節」或「改變立場」,名詞turncoat指「變節者」,例如:DonaldTsangisatypicalturncoatwhohasswitchedfrombeingloyaltotheBritishtobeingloyaltotheChinesecommunists(曾蔭權由忠於英國變成忠於中共,是個典型變節者)。