opening of Masonic lodges, but we have every reason to believe secretly
favored them. He was very sure that nothing originated in these meetings
which could be dangerous to his person or injurious to his government;
since Freemasonry counted among its votaries, and even had as chiefs, the
most distinguished personages of the state. Moreover, it would have been
impossible in these societies, where a few false brethren had slipped in,
for a dangerous secret, had there been one, to escape the vigilance of
the police. The Emperor spoke of it sometimes as pure child's play,
suitable to amuse idlers; and I can affirm that he laughed heartily when
told that the archchancellor, in his position as chief of the Grand
Orient, had presided at a Masonic banquet with no less dignity than would
have comported with the presidency of the senate or of the council of
state. Nevertheless, the Emperor's indifference did not extend to
societies known in Italy under the name of Carbonari, and in Germany
under various titles. We must admit, in fact, that since the
undertakings of two young Germans initiated in Illuminism, it was natural
that his Majesty should not have seen without anxiety the propagation of
those bonds of virtue in which young fanatics were transformed into
assassins.

I know nothing remarkable in relation to the Carbonari, since no
circumstance connected our affairs with those of Italy. In regard to the
secret societies of Germany, I remember that during our stay at Dresden I
heard them mentioned with much interest, and not without fears for the
future, by a Saxon magistrate with whom I had the honor of associating
frequently. He was a man about sixty years of age, who spoke French
well, and united in the highest degree German stolidity with the gravity
natural to age. In his youth he had lived in France, and part of his
education had been received at the College of Soreze; and I attributed
the friendship which he showed for me to the pleasure he experienced in