Good  as  the  Imperial  Government  might  have
been,  it  must  be  recollected,  too,  that,  since  its
first  fall,  both  the  Emperor  and  his  admirer,  and
would-be  successor,  have  had  their  chance  of  re-
establishing it.  "  Flying  from  steeple  to  steeple,"
the  eagles  of  the  former  did  actually,  and  according
to  promise,  perch  for  a  while  on  the  towers  of
Notre  Dame.  We  know  the  event :  if  the  fate  of
war  declared  against  the  Emperor,  the  country
declared  against  him  too ;  and,  with  old  Lafayette
for  a  mouth-piece,  the  representatives  ofHhe  nation
did,  in  a  neat  speech,  pronounce  themselves  in
permanence,  but  spoke  no  more  of  the  Emperor
than  if  he  had  never  been.  Thereupon  the  Em-"
peror  proclaimed  his  son  the  Emperor  Napoleon
II.  "  L'Empereur  est  mort,  vive  l'Empereur !"
shouted  Prince  Lucien.  Psha !  not  a  soul  echoed
the  words:  the  play  was  played,  and  as  for  old


NAPOLEON  AND  HIS  SYSTEM.  253

Lafayette  and  his  n  permanent "  representatives,  a
corporal  with  a  hammer  nailed  up  the  door  of
their  spouting-club,  and  once  more  Louis  Stanislas
Xavier  rolled  back  to  the  bosom  of  his  people.
In  like  manner,  Napoleon  III.  returned  from
exile,  and  made  his  appearance  on  the  frontier.
His  eagle  appeared  at  Strasburg,  and  from  Stras-
burg  advanced  to  the  capital ;  but  it  arrived  at  Paris
with  a  keeper,  and  in  a  post-chaise ;  whence,  by
the  orders  of  the  sovereign,  it  was  removed  to  the
American  shores,  and  there  magnanimously  let
loose.  Who  knows,  however,  how  soon  it  may  be
on  the  wing  again,  and  what  a  flight  it  will  take  ?


254


THE  STORY  OF  MARY  ANCEL.
