modern
revolutions as they passed, and only interfered when the voice of his
country called him to her defence. The conqueror of Harlem and Bakkun
had been for four years forgotten in retirement, or rather in exile,
when the same voice which sent him away recalled him, and at the summons
Cincinnatus left his plough and grasped his weapons. Physically he was
at this period a man of about fifty-five, with a frank and open face
framed by large whiskers; his head was bald except for a little grizzled
hair at the temples; he was tall and active, and had a remarkably
soldierly bearing.

"I had been brought into contact with him by a report which one of my
friends and I had drawn up on the opinions of the people of the South,
and of which he had asked to have a copy. In a long conversation with
us, he discussed the subject with the impartiality of a man who brings
an open mind to a debate, and he invited us to come often to see him. We
enjoyed ourselves so much in his society that we got into the habit of
going to his house nearly every evening.

"On his arrival in the South an old calumny which had formerly pursued
him again made its appearance, quite rejuvenated by its long sleep. A
writer whose name I have forgotten, in describing the Massacres of
the Second of September and the death of the unfortunate Princesse de
Lamballe, had said, 'Some people thought they recognised in the man who
carried her head impaled on a pike, General Brune in disguise,' and this
accusation; which had been caught up with eagerness under the Consulate,
still followed him so relentlessly in 1815, that hardly a day passed
without his receiving an anonymous letter, threatening him with the same
fate which had overtaken the princess. One evening while we were with
him such a letter arrived, and having read it he passed it on to us. It
was as follows:

"'Wretch,--We are acquainted with all your crimes, for which you will
soon receive the chastisement you well deserve. It was you who during
the revolution brought about the death of the Princesse de Lamballe; it
was you who carried her head on a pike, but your head will be impaled on
something longer. If you are so rash as to be present at the review of
the Allies it is all up with you, and your head will be stuck on the
steeple of the Accoules. Farewell, SCOUNDREL!'

"We advised him to trace this calumny to its source, and then to take
signal vengeance on the authors. He paused an instant to refle