e
secret springs upon which the conspiracy hung."

This description of M. de Persigny is borrowed from the indictment at
the trial for high treason in 1836. Every particular of it is correct,
yet it is a very one-sided diagnosis of the character of Napoleon's
staunchest henchman. If I had had to paint him morally and mentally in
one line, I should, without intending to be irreverent, have called him
the John the Baptist of the revived Napoleonic legend. There could be no
doubt about his energy, his activity, and his intelligence; in respect
to the former two he was absolutely superior to Louis-Napoleon, but
they, the activity and energy and intelligence, would only respond to
the bidding of one voice, that of the first Napoleon from the grave,
which, he felt sure, had appointed him the chief instrument for the
restoration of the Empire. It was the dream that haunted his sleep, that
pursued him when awake. Let it not be thought, though, that
Louis-Napoleon appeared to him as the one selected by Providence to
realize that dream. Loyal and faithful as he was to him from the day
they met until his (Persigny's) death, he would have been equally loyal
and faithful, though perhaps not so deeply attached, to Jerome, the
ex-King of Westphalia, to whom he appealed first. But the youngest of
the great Napoleon's brothers did not relish adventures, and he turned a
deaf ear to Persigny's proposals, as he did later on to those of M.
Thiers, who wished him to become a candidate for the presidency of the
Second Republic.

I was talking one day on the subject of the latter's refusal to De
Persigny, several years after the advent of the Empire, and commending
Jerome for his abnegation of self and his fealty to his nephew. There
was a sneer on Persigny's face such as I had never seen there before;
for though he was by no means good-tempered, and frequently very
violent, he generally left the members of the Imperial family alone. He
noticed my surprise, and explained at once. "It is very evident that you
do not know Jerome, nor did I until a few years ago. There is not a
single one of the great Napoleon's brothers who really had his glory at
heart; it meant money and position to them, that is all. Do you know why
Jerome did not fall in with my views and those of M. Thiers? Well, I
will tell you. He was afraid that his nephew Louis and the rest of the
family would be a burden on him; he preferred that others should take
the chestnuts out