faith in some secret and infinite goodness. The green glades are his
chosen dwelling and his life is April; he reclines amazed at the
mysteries of a tuft of grass; he studies the ant-hills of tiny
republicans; he learns to know the birds by their songs; he watches the
children playing barefoot in the edge of the sea.

Against this dangerous man governments are taking the most strenuous
precautions. Victoria offers to hand over the exiles to Napoleon, and
messages of compliment are passed from one throne to the other. But that
gift did not take place. The English royalist Press applauded, but the
people of London would have none of it. The great city muttered thunder.
Majesty clothed in probity--that is the character of the English nation.
That good and proud people showed their indignation, and Palmerston and
Bonaparte had to be content with the expulsion of the exiles.

During the whole long night of my exile I never lost Paris from my view.
When Europe and even France were in darkness, Paris was never hidden.
That is because Paris is the frontier of the future, the visible
frontier of the unknown. All of to-morrow that can be seen to-day is in
Paris. The eyes that are searching for progress come to rest on Paris,
for Paris is the city of light.


_VI.--After the Exile_


This triology, "Before, During, and After the Exile," is no work of
mine, it is the doing of Napoleon III. He it is who has divided my life
in this way, observing, as one might say, the rules of art. Returning to
my country on September 5, 1870, I found the sky more gloomy and my duty