In order to form a conception of the effect produced by these
transactions, we must imagine Pelissier or Walewski entertaining, twenty-
three years later, the _cercles_ at Paris with discourses from the beauty
of the last _regime_, with eulogies of Lamartine, and apotheoses of Louis
Blanc; sneering at Espinasse, and eulogizing Cavaignac; vowing that France
can be governed only under a liberal constitution, and paying a visit to
his Majesty, the Elect of December, with a rough-and-tumble suite of
Republican bravos. Assuredly, were such a thing possible in Paris, the
gentlemen in question would very shortly be reviling English hospitality
under its protecting aegis, if not dying of fever at Cayenne. Nor could
Rosas, who was at that time far less firmly seated on his throne than is
at present the man who wields the destinies of France, endure so powerful
a rival in his vicinity. But how to get rid of him? Assassination, by
which a minor offender was so speedily put out of the way, could not
safely be attempted with a man who yet retained a singular mastery over
the minds of thousands of brutal and strong-armed horsemen; a false step
would result in inevitable destruction; and many anxious days were spent
by the gloomy tyrant ere he could decide upon a plan for disposing of his
inconvenient friend.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177