s of Ministers sunk in public hatred and
contempt, and stained with blood--all these, seasoned with a few
notabilities, thrown in by the Royalty of the 7th of August, on
condition they should never open their lips save to approve their
master's commands--all this farrago of servilities was not competent to
pronounce on the culpability of men seeking to enforce the results of
the Revolution of July!"

"It was not until the commencement of 1835, I think," said Marrast,
"that Ministers opened a general onslaught upon the Parisian press. 'Le
Republicain' was interdicted that year. It was then, too, that the laws
against public criers and newspaper hawkers were instituted. As far back
as '33, however, Rodde had braved all such prohibitions by selling and
with impunity, too, his own paper in the streets. In May of '35 came on
the general prosecution of the press. Rollin was advocate in the
defence. There were warm words between Armand Carrel and his friend
Dupont, the lawyer, and there was at one time apprehension of a duel."

"The position of Armand Carrel with Thiers, his former colleague, was,
at that time, a singular one," remarked Rollin. "Each seemed to be on
the constant search for opportunities to exasperate the other. The
editor assailed the Minister in his columns, and the Minister retaliated
by an arrest. Carrel censured and ridiculed Thiers, though he respected
his abilities, and Thiers feared and hated Carrel, though he admired his
talents."

"It was about this time that Fieschi exploded his infernal machine at
the King, was it not?" asked Flocon. "Thiers arrested Carrel then, I
know."

"It was on the 28th of July of '35, at ten in the morning, on the
Boulevard du Temple. This was the second attempt on the King's life, the
first having been that of Bergeron, in November of '33. Carrel was
arrested as an accomplice, it was pretended, for every one of these
attempts has been attributed to the whole body of the Republicans,
while they were utterly ignorant of them until they took place, and then
bitterly denounced them. But the Government has made capital out of all
these insane attempts, and against the opposition, too."

"I've heard it asserted," said Rollin, "that the Government got up some
of those little exhibitions of fireworks for that very purpose. They are
quite harmless, so far as the old man is concerned--wonderfully so--and
Fieschi was made a perfect fool of, so ridiculously lionized was he by
King