en in
the house of one of his supporters. Everybody urged him to accept
the conditions on which alone he could reign, and fulfil the hopes
of his faithful followers. They implored him to ascend the throne as
a constitutional sovereign, and to accept the Tricolor, in deference
to the wishes of the people and his friends.

He passed an entire night in miserable indecision, walking up and
down his friend's dining-room, debating with himself whether he
would give way. It had been arranged that the next day he should
present himself suddenly in the Assembly, be hailed with acclamation
by his supporters, and be introduced by the marshal-president himself
as Henri Cinq. The building was to be guarded by faithful troops,
the telegraph was prepared to flash the news through France, the
very looms at Lyons were weaving silks brocaded with _fleurs de
lys_. But Henri V. could not bring himself to comply. He fled away
from Versailles before dawn. "He is an honest man," said M. Thiers,
"and will not put his flag in his pocket." A few days later he
published at Salzburg a letter in which he protested against the
pressure his friends had brought to bear on him. "Never," he said,
"will I become a revolutionary king," by which he meant a king who
reigned under a constitution; never, he protested, would he sacrifice
his honor to the exigencies of parties; "and," he concluded, "never
will I disclaim the standard of Arques and of Ivry!"

"The count," said an English newspaper, "seems to have forgotten
that Arques and Ivry were Protestant victories."

"My person," continued the count, "is nothing; my principle is
everything. I am the indispensable pilot, the only man capable
of guiding the vessel into port, because for this I have mission
and authority."

Thus ended all chances for Henri V. The Orleans princes, having
concluded a compact with him as his heirs, felt themselves bound
in honor to refuse to accept any compromise which "the head of
the family" did not approve.

It can be easily imagined how provoked and disappointed were all
those who had rallied to the king's party. There remained nothing to
do but to strengthen the Republic and to provide it with a permanent
constitution. A Committee of Thirty was appointed to draw up the
document. The constitution was very conservative. It has now been
in force nineteen years, but it has never worked smoothly, and the
object of the extreme Republicans, who have clamored for "revision,"