o conscientious a Catholic to fight a duel, and still his
pride forbade him to remain under the imputation of being a
coward. So he enlisted first in a Belgian, subsequently in a
foreign regiment, and proved his courage. He was very
hot-tempered, and had frequent disagreements with Generals
Lamoriciere and De Guyon, and even with Pius IX. himself, who,
on the occasion of the promulgation of the decree of
infallibility, positively forbade him to enter the Vatican
again. But he soon afterwards made his peace with the Pontiff.
His worst enemies--and he had many--never questioned his
sincerity and loyalty.--EDITOR.]

Mgr. de Merode could have done De Persigny no greater injury than to
remind him of his humble origin. He always winced under such allusions;
his constant preoccupation was to make people forget it, and he often
exposed himself to ridicule in the attempt. He knew nothing about art,
and yet he would speak about it, not as if he had studied the subject,
but as if he had been brought up in a refined society, where the
atmosphere had been impregnated with it. As a matter of course, he
became an easy victim to the picture-dealers and bric-a-brac merchants.
I remember his silver being taken to the mint during the Siege. He had
paid an enormous price for it on the dealer's representation that it was
antique: "C'est du Louis XV. tout pur." "Tellement pur que c'est du
Victoria," said a connoisseur; and he was not mistaken, for it had been
manufactured by a firm of London silversmiths. But it was a compliment
for all that to the Queen.

With all his faults, De Persigny was at heart a better man than De
Morny, who affected to look down upon him. True, the latter had none of
his glaring defects, neither had he any of his sterling virtues. One
evening, in January, 1849, when the Prince-President had been less than
a month at the Elysee, a closed carriage drove into the courtyard and
stopped before the flight of steps leading to the hall, which, like the
rest of the building, was already wrapt in semi-darkness. A gentleman
alighted who was evidently expected, for the officer on duty conducted
him almost without a word to the private apartments of the President,
where the latter was walking up and down, the usual cigarette between
his lips, evidently greatly preoccupied and visibly impatient. The door
had scarcely opened when the Prince'