Paris,
and in the midst of that republic whose fiercest watchword, whose
loudest cry, was "equality," he treated partisans and opponents alike,
as he would have treated a batch of refractory Arabs in a distant
province of that newly-conquered African soil. He disliked every one who
did not wear a uniform, and assumed a critical attitude towards every
one who did. His republicanism was probably as sincere as that of
Thiers--it meant "La Republique c'est moi:" with this difference, that
Thiers was amiable, witty, and charming, though treacherous, and that
Cavaignac was the very reverse. His honesty was beyond suspicion; that
is, he felt convinced that he was the only possible saviour of France:
but it was impaired by his equally sincere conviction that bribery and
coercion--of cajoling he would have none--were admissible, nay,
incumbent to attain that end. "Thiers, c'est la republique en ecureuil,
Cavaignac c'est la republique en ours mal leche," said a witty
journalist. He and Louis-Napoleon were virtually the two men who were
contending for the presidential chair, and the chances of Cavaignac may
be judged by the conclusion of the verbal report of one of Lamoriciere's
emissaries, who canvassed one of the departments.

"'The thing might be feasible,' said an elector, 'if your general's name
was Genevieve de Brabant, or that of one of the four sons of Aymon.[48]
But his name is simply Cavaignac--Cavaignac, and that's all. I prefer
Napoleon; at any rate, there is a ring about that name.' And I am afraid
that eleven-twelfths of the electors are of the same opinion."

[Footnote 48: The four knights of a Carlovingian legend, who
were mounted on one horse named Bayard.--EDITOR.]

As for Ledru Rollin, Raspail, Changarnier, and even Lamartine and the
Prince de Joinville, some of whom were candidates against their will,
they were out of the running from the very start, though, curiously
enough, the son of the monarch whom the republic had driven from the
throne obtained more votes than the man who had proclaimed that
republic. These votes were altogether discarded as unconstitutional,
though one really fails to see why one member of a preceding dynasty
should have been held to be more eligible than another. Be this as it
may, the votes polled by the sailor prince amounted to over twenty-three
thousand, showing that he enjoyed a certain measure of popularity. It is
doubtful whether the Duc d'Aumale or the Duc d