t, was the captain of the guard,
smoking a cigar. I believe it was Captain Desondes of the "Guides," but
I will not be sure, for I was not near enough to distinguish plainly.
The Faubourg St. Honore was pretty well deserted, save for a few
individuals prowling about; they were probably detectives in the pay of
the Prince-President's adversaries.

Let me return for a moment to London, and give an account of what
happened there on the 2nd of December, as supplied by the writer of the
above-mentioned letter, in an epistle which reached Paris only on the
7th.

It appears that on the day of the Coup d'Etat London woke up amidst a
dense fog. Virtually the news of what happened in Paris early that
morning did not spread until between two and three o'clock. Our
informant had been invited to a dinner-party at the French Embassy that
night, and though in no way actively connected with politics, he was
asking himself whether he should go or stay away, when, at five o'clock,
he received a note from the Embassy, saying that the dinner would not
take place. The fact was that at the eleventh hour the whole of the
corps diplomatique had sent excuses. Our friend went to his club, had
his dinner, and spent part of the evening there. At about eleven a crony
of his came in, and seeing him seated in the smoking-room, exclaimed,
"Why, I thought you were going to Walewski's dinner and reception." "So
I was," remarked our friend, "but it was countermanded at five."
"Countermanded? Why, I passed the Embassy just now, and it was blazing
with light. Come and look."

They took a cab, and sure enough the building was positively
illuminated. Our friend went in, and the salons were crammed to
suffocation. Lord Palmerston was talking animatedly to Count Walewski;
the whole corps diplomatique accredited to the court of St. James was
there. The fact was that about nine or half-past the most favourable
news from Paris had reached London. The report soon spread that Lord
Palmerston had officially adhered to the Coup d'Etat, and that he had
telegraphed in that sense to the various English embassies abroad
without even consulting his fellow-ministers.

I believe our friend was correctly informed, for it is well known that
Palmerston did not resign, but was virtually dismissed from office. He
never went to Windsor to give up the seals; Lord John Russell had to do
it for him. Persigny, therefore, considered that he had fallen in the
cause of Louis-Napole