m the sea. A pilot came on board and we sailed into the
Chesapeake and soon set foot on American soil.

At that time I had a great admiration for republics, though I did not
believe them possible in our era of the world. My idea of liberty
pictured her such as she was among the ancients, daughter of the manners
of an infant society. I knew her not as the daughter of enlightenment
and the civilisation of centuries; as the liberty whose reality the
representative republic has proved--God grant it may be durable! We are
no longer obliged to work in our own little fields, to curse arts and
sciences, if we would be free.

I met General Washington. He was tall, calm, and cold rather than noble
in mien; the engravings of him are good. We sat down, and I explained to
him as well as I could the motive of my journey. He answered me in
English and French monosyllables, and listened to me with a sort of
astonishment. I perceived this, and said to him with some warmth: "But
is it less difficult to discover the north-west passage than to create a
nation as you have done?"

"Well, well, young man!" cried he, holding out his hand to me. He
invited me to dine with him on the following day, and we parted. I took
care not to fail in my appointment. The conversation turned on the
French Revolution, and the general showed us a key of the Bastille. Such
was my meeting with the citizen soldier--the liberator of a world.

_III.--Paris in the Reign of Terror_

In 1792, when I returned to Paris, it no longer exhibited the same
appearance as in 1789 and 1790. It was no longer the new-born
Revolution, but a people intoxicated, rushing on to fulfil its destiny
across abysses and by devious ways. The appearance of the people was no
longer curious and eager, but threatening.

The king's flight on June 21, 1791, gave an immense impulse to the
Revolution. Having been brought back to Paris on June 25, he was
dethroned for the first time, in consequence of the declaration of the
National Assembly that all its decrees should have the force of law,
without the king's concurrence or assent. I visited several of the
"Clubs."

The scenes at the Cordeliers, at which I was three or four times
present, were ruled and presided over by Danton--a Hun, with the nature
of a Goth.

Faithful to my instincts, I had returned from America to offer my sword
to Louis XVI., not to involve myself in party intrigues. I therefore
decided to "emigrate." Brussels wa