138 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



of cigars, inside which were to be proclamations ad- 

 dressed to the French army. I learnt the same day 

 from Yeyrassat that Mazzini had on his table several 

 small sheets of very thin paper, upon which were 

 written the appeals to the French soldiers to mutiny. 

 He advised me to go to see Mazzini about two o'clock, 

 and as he had always many people to see him who 

 were generally on his right, I was to place myself on 

 his left, and I should then be able to lay hold of one 

 of these sheets, and prove to him that he had again 

 deceived me. 



I did this, and was able to seize one of these pieces 

 of paper and put it in the crown of my hat. I then 

 said to him, " Do you know what I am told. You were 

 twice led away by your friends, conspirators by habit, 

 and you have twice tried to deceive me. This is the 

 third time. I am informed that you have meditated 

 sending proclamations to the French troops. The French 

 soldier would burn down his mother's house if he re- 

 ceived orders to do so. Despite your experience, you 

 do not know the French soldier, and you have conse- 

 quently made a great blunder. He denied the accusa- 

 tion. Whereupon I said, taking the proclamation out 

 of my hat, " What do you mean by No ? I have done 

 to-day a thing that I will never do again, and that is 

 to lay my hands upon this sheet of paper." He then 

 again embraced me, and I followed up my negotiations, 

 which ended in a draft of agreement. 



This over, I returned to Paris, and this is the origin 



