ession of this man or
that, but it is no more. We live in a period of too much change to
have anything like a public opinion; so that what is written to-day is
forgotten to-morrow. Yet with all that, the people must be taught to
have one religion of the State as they have one of the Church, and
heresies of either kind must be suppressed. Now, Monsieur Bertin, my
advice to you is, be of the good fold,--not alone because it is good,
but because it is likely to be permanent. Continue to write for the
'Gazette.' When you want information, Sanson will procure it for you;
but you must not come here again. Temper your royalist zeal with a
seeming regard for your personal safety. Remember that a gentleman gives
larger recognizances than a _sans-culottes_; and, above all, keep in
mind that you serve us better in those columns than in our own. C'est de
la haute politique, de faire combattre ses ennemis pour soi."

He repeated this sentiment twice over, and then with a courteous gesture
dismissed me. I was now in the secret pay of the Government,--no regular
allowance made me, but permitted to draw freely; and when any occasion
of real information offered, to pay largely for it.

Had time been given me for reflection, I believe I should have abhorred
myself for the life I now led. It was one course of daily trick and
deception. In society I was a spy; in secret, a traitor. Trusted by all,
and false to all, I hurried along in a headlong career of the wildest
excitement. To enable me to write, I had recourse to various stimulants;
and from one excess to another I became a confirmed opium-eater. I had
by habit acquired a degree of nervous irritability that almost defied
sleep. For days and days frequently I took no other rest than an
occasional half-hour's repose when overcome, and then back to the desk
again,--if not refreshed, at least rallied. The turmoil and confusion of
my thoughts at any chance interval of quiet was terrific. So long as
I was in action, all went well; when my brain was overworked, and my
faculties stretched to their extreme tension, the excitement sustained
me, and I could develop whatever there was in me of intellectual power.
The effort over, and my task accomplished, I became almost bereft of
life; a trance-like lethargy seized me; my voice failed, my sight and
hearing grew dulled, and I would lie thus, sometimes for hours, scarcely
breathing, indifferent to everything.

When I rallied from these seizures,