42 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



proposals at nearly every line of which the Eoman 

 Eepublic, which I had not been charged to recognise, 

 was specifically mentioned. I declined to allow them 

 even to be the subject of any written communication 

 on my part. 



This incident led me to suspect that the Eoman 

 executive power, finding that I was resolved to follow 

 closely the line which I had adopted from the first, 

 was endeavouring to act, irrespectively of me, upon 

 the mind of the general in command, and I was aware 

 that, upon the other hand, a party which had little 

 confidence in the friendly intentions of France, and 

 was disposed to repel all attempts at conciliation, 

 endeavoured to make me appear as an obstacle and 

 a disturbing element. It was openly stated in the 

 clubs that I was another Eossi. The irritation 

 produced by the ringleaders upon a few fanatics 

 led to a disgraceful scene which disturbed a meeting 

 of Frenchmen at the French Embassy. Three men, 

 wearing the uniform of the Eoman National Guard, 

 furious at not having met me there and at having 

 " missed their chance," as they phrased it, insulted 

 M. de la Tour d'Auvergne, who had attended in my 

 place. 



The complaint which I lodged with the Eoman 

 authorities was at first received very coldly, though it 

 is only fair to add that they were not aware of the 

 criminal intentions which, as I had been privately 

 informed, these men had cherished. It was not till 



