The  thing  was  clear  enough.  If  the  Monarchists  were  true  to  the
country,  his  time  was  short ;  but  if,  as  always,  despising  the  in
terests  of  the  masses,  they  employed  power  only  to  aggrandize
themselves,  then  it  remained  for  him,  after  what  fashion  he  pleased,


THE    LAST   REVOLT.  49

to  give  the  country  a  chance  to  choose  between  them.  For  the
present  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  stand  on  the  defensive,  and  let
M.  Thiers  and  the  other  leaders  of  the  Monarchists  play  out
their  game.
It  may  be  supposed  that  when  the  Republican  party  found  them
selves  repudiated  by  the  people,  and  in  a  minority  in  the  Assembly,
where  only  a  year  ago  their  sway  was  supreme,  their  mortification
knew  no  bounds.  The  leaders  in  the  Assembly  would  have  consented,
with  the  usual  pliancy  of  politicians,  to  submit  to  circumstances
with  the  best  grace  possible  ;  not  so,  however,  that  influential  class
of  demagogues  out  of  doors  who  were  in  close  connection  with  the
riotous  and  disorderly  always  abounding  in  a  great  metropolis,  and
whose  influence  arose  from  their  skill  in  organizing  street  con
spiracies.  I  have  encountered  not  a  few  of  these  gentry  in  France,
and  in  talent  and  courage  they  surpass  those  of  all  other  countries,
whilst  in  disinterestedness  they  are  no  worse  than  their  betters.
The  street-leaders  of  the  French  Kepublicans  and  Socialists  natu
rally  expected,  when  they  succeeded,  to  get  their  share  of  place
and  power.  "  To  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils"  is  an  ancient  motto.
