me, even Talleyrand, came to him, while he exclaimed bombastically
and blasphemously, "Suffer little children to come unto me."

He went into society, made the acquaintance of the old men of the
revolution, and gathered the materials for the _History of the
Revolution_, which afterward carried him to the height of his
popularity. He fought two duels about this time--one with the father of
a young lady whom he had seduced. He started a new journal called the
_National_, which should be more fully under his control than the
_Constitutionel_ had been, and which should entirely meet his views of
what a journal should be. But the new journal seriously offended the
government, the officers of which attempted to put it down, for on the
morning of the 26th of July, they nearly destroyed the presses of the
establishment. The opposition journalists had a meeting to express their
opinions upon this outrage upon the rights of the press. During the
three troublous days of fighting, Thiers left Paris for the suburbs, and
came back in time to make his fortune, for he was soon named
secretary-general to the government. He had the principal management of
the finances, which at that time were in a state of great disorder.
Thiers delivered a public speech upon the law of mortgages, and
Royer-Collard approached him with open arms, exclaiming, "Your fortune
is made!"

In the meantime, M. Thiers, as the holidays were approaching, thought it
wise to run down to Aix, which he represented in the chamber of
deputies. Since he was last there he had changed his course upon many of
the important questions of the day. Formerly he was extremely liberal,
but for the sake of power he had deserted the cause of Poland and Italy.

He let the inhabitants of Aix know that he was coming, that no excuse
might be wanting for a grand reception. Surely the people of Aix would
feel proud of their fellow-citizen who had been so highly honored by the
government!

He arrived before the gates of the town and was surprised at the silence
everywhere. No crowd came out to greet him--the people were about their
business. A few officials alone met and welcomed him back to the scene
of his early triumphs. He went to his hotel, and when night came, it was
told him that crowds of people were gathered in the street below. He
went to the window--ah! now the people were come to do him honor! What
was his chagrin to hear the multitudes commence a serenade of the vilest
descr