from his eagle would risk finding a goose's quill in his hand. This
Bonaparte does not pass currency in the array, he is a counterfeit image
less of gold than of lead, and assuredly French soldiers will not give us
the change for this false Napoleon in rebellion, in atrocities, in
massacres, in outrages, in treason. If he should attempt roguery it would
miscarry. Not a regiment would stir. Besides, why should he make such an
attempt? Doubtless he has his suspicious side, but why suppose him an
absolute villain? Such extreme outrages are beyond him; he is incapable
of them physically, why judge him capable of them morally? Has he not
pledged honor? Has he not said, "No one in Europe doubts my word?" Let us
fear nothing. To this could be answered, Crimes are committed either on a
grand or on a mean scale. In the first category there is Caesar; in the
second there is Mandrin. Caesar passes the Rubicon, Mandrin bestrides the
gutter. But wise men interposed, "Are we not prejudiced by offensive
conjectures? This man has been exiled and unfortunate. Exile enlightens,
misfortune corrects."

For his part Louis Bonaparte protested energetically. Facts abounded in
his favor. Why should he not act in good faith? He had made remarkable
promises. Towards the end of October, 1848, then a candidate for the
Presidency, he was calling at No. 37, Rue de la Tour d'Auvergne, on a
certain personage, to whom he remarked, "I wish to have an explanation
with you. They slander me. Do I give you the impression of a madman? They
think that I wish to revivify Napoleon. There are two men whom a great
ambition can take for its models, Napoleon and Washington. The one is a
man of Genius, the other is a man of Virtue. It is ridiculous to say, 'I
will be a man of Genius;' it is honest to say, 'I will be a man of
Virtue.' Which of these depends upon ourselves? Which can we accomplish
by our will? To be Genius? No. To be Probity? Yes. The attainment of
Genius is not possible; the attainment of Probity is a possibility. And