easures their
enlightened minds are the last to approve, but whose misfortunes, if
they cannot ameliorate, they will at least share!

I know not a more painful position than that of the Duc and Duchesse de
Guiche, at the present moment. With highly cultivated minds and liberal
opinions, possessing a knowledge of the world, and of the actual state
of public opinion in France, they must be aware of the utter
hopelessness of the cause in which they find themselves embarked, yet
such is their chivalrous sentiments of honour, that they will sacrifice
every thing rather than abandon those whose prosperity they have
partaken, and thus incur all the penalty of the acts of a government
whose policy they did not approve. Had Charles the Tenth many such
devoted adherents, he would not find himself deserted in his hour of
need.

CHAPTER XXV.

I have but just returned from the Rue d'Anjou, and now that I find
myself once more within the sanctuary of my home, I am surprised at my
own courage in having ventured to pass through the streets, and
_alone_, too, at such a moment. I do not think I should have risked it,
had I not known how much my excellent friend Madame C---- stood in need
of consolation, after having seen her grandchildren and great
grandchildren driven from their late peaceful and happy dwelling,
uncertain when she may behold them again, as they have determined on
not forsaking the royal family.

I had ascended nearly to the top of the barricade at the entrance to
the Rue Verte when a head and shoulders rose from the opposite side so
suddenly as to alarm me not a little. My trepidation was infinitely
increased when I discovered that the individual to whom the said head
and shoulders appertained, was in a state of extreme intoxication, and
when with rolling eyes, flushed checks, and thick articulation he
addressed me with a familiarity, yet good nature, that I would most
willingly have dispensed with.

"Give me your hand, _ma belle_, fear nothing, I am one of the _bons
enfans_ of the revolution, take my arm and no one will molest you. We,
_les braves des braves_, wage no war against women; _au contraire_, we
love the pretty creatures. Here take my hand, and I will assist you
over the barricades."

Suiting his action to the word, he extended his hand towards me, and
reaching forward lost his equilibrium and rolled over; at which moment,
the proprietor of a wine shop at the corner of the Rue Verte came to my