or a Republic in M. Lafitte's saloons--at least he
was the only one that was remarked. Thus all was over as
regards Napoleon. And some little time after this, a young
colonel, in the service of Austria, died beyond the
Rhine--the frail representative of a dynasty whose last
breath passed away with him."[X]

[Footnote X: "The History of Ten Years," by Louis Blanc, vol. i, p.
187.]

When Louis Blanc penned these lines he little supposed that but a few
years would pass away ere the almost unanimous voice of the French
people would call Napoleon III. to the throne of France, and that
under his energetic sway France would enjoy for twenty years
prosperity at home and influence abroad which almost eclipsed the
splendors of the first Empire.

In the mean time an agitated crowd poured out through the gates of
Paris, and, invading Neuilly, surrounded the chateau, intending to
seize the Duke of Orleans and carry him into the city. But he, as we
have mentioned, had retired to Rancy. The leaders of this multitude,
professing to be a deputation from the Chamber of Deputies, demanded
to see the duchess, and informed her that they should take her and
her children as hostages to the city, and there keep them until the
duke should appear in Paris. The duchess, terrified in view of the
peril to which she and her children would be exposed in the hands of
an ungovernable mob, wrote to her husband entreating him to return
immediately.

Thus influenced, the duke resolved to repair to Paris. The streets
were thronged with an excited mob, who would surely assassinate him
should he be recognized. The peril of his family overcame his
constitutional timidity. In disguise, accompanied by three persons
only, who were also disguised, this reluctant candidate for one of
the most brilliant of earthly crowns, a little before midnight, set
out on foot from his rural retreat; and, entering Paris, traversed
the thronged streets, with Republican cries resounding everywhere
about him. In several instances the mob, little aware whom they were
assailing, compelled him to respond to the cry. Upon reaching his
sumptuous palace, sometime after midnight, he threw himself, in utter
exhaustion, upon a couch, and sent the welcome announcement to his
friends of his arrival. M. de Montmart, one of the most prominent of
the Orleans party, immediately called. He found the duke in a state
of extreme agitation, bathed in sweat, undressed, and cov