attribute of soul, evincing the government of a divine Thought which
evolves out of the discords of one age the harmonies of another, and, in
the world within us as in the world without, enforces upon every
unclouded reason the distinction between Providence and chance.

The account subjoined may suffice to say all that rests to be said of
those individuals in whose fate, apart from the events or personages that
belong to graver history, the reader of this work may have conceived an
interest. It is translated from the letter of Frederic Lemercier to
Graham Vane, dated June ----, a month after the defeat of the Communists.

"Dear and distinguished Englishman, whose name I honour but fail to
pronounce, accept my cordial thanks for your interests in such remains
of Frederic Lemercier as yet survive the ravages of Famine, Equality,
Brotherhood, Petroleum, and the Rights of Labour. I did not desert my
Paris when M. Thiers, '_parmula non bene relicta_,' led his sagacious
friends and his valiant troops to the groves of Versailles, and confided
to us unarmed citizens the preservation of order and property from the
insurgents whom he left in possession of our forts and cannon. I felt
spellbound by the interest of the _sinistoe melodrame_, with its quick
succession of scenic effects and the metropolis of the world for its
stage. Taught by experience, I did not aspire to be an actor; and even
as a spectator, I took care neither to hiss nor applaud. Imitating your
happy England, I observed a strict neutrality; and, safe myself from
danger, left my best friends to the care of the gods.

"As to political questions, I dare not commit myself to a conjecture. At
this _rouge et noir_ table, all I can say is, that whichever card turns
up, it is either a red or a black one. One gamester gains for the moment
by the loss of the other; the table eventually ruins both.