but the peculiar situation in which this extraordinary man has been placed, must be kept in view, while we decide on the merits of his system.  His principles forbid his having recourse to the agencies usually employed by those who loose sight of the means in the object, and his opponents are the great of the earth.  A man who is merely sustained by truth and the purity of his motives, whatever visionaries may say, would be certain to fail.  Popularity is indispensable to the success of Lafayette, for thousands now support him, who, in despite of his principles, would become his enemies, were he to fall back sternly on the truth, and turn his back on all whose acts and motives would not, perhaps, stand the test of investigation.  The very beings he wished to serve would desert him, were he to let them see he drew a stern but just distinction between the meritorious and the unworthy.  Then the power of his adversaries must be remembered.  There is nothing generous or noble in the hostility of modern aristocrats, who are mere graspers after gain, the most debasing of all worldly objects, and he who would resist them successfully must win golden opinions of his fellows, or they will prove too much for him.

[Footnote 11:  Was Mr. Jefferson himself free from a similar charge?]

But I am speculating on principles, when you most probably wish for facts, or, if you must have opinions, for those of Lafayette in preference to my own.  When I ventured to ask him if he thought the government had had any agency in producing the late struggle, his answer was given with the integrity and fearlessness that so eminently characterize the man.

He was of opinion that there was a plot, but he also thought it probable that the agents of the government were, more or less, mixed up with it.  He suspected at the moment, that the man who offered him the bonnet rouge was one of these agents, though he freely admitted that the suspicion was founded more on past experience than on any knowledge of present facts.  The individual himself was an utter stranger to him.  It had been his intention to quit town immediately after the funeral obsequies were completed, but, added the old man, proudly, “they had spread a rumour of an intention to cause me to be arrested, and I wish to save them the trouble of going to La Grange to seek me.”

He then went on to tell me what he and his political friends had expected from the demonstration of public opinion, that they had prepared for this important occasion.  “Things were approaching a crisis, and we wished to show the government that it must change its system, and that France had not made a revolution to continue the principles of the Holy Alliance.  The attempt to obtain signs of popular support at the funeral of Casimir Perier was a failure, while, so great was our success at this procession in honour of Lamarque, that there must have been a new ministry and new measures, had not this unfortunate event occurred.  As it is, the government will profit by events.  I do not wish to wake any unjust accusations, but, with my knowledge of men and things, it is impossible not to feel distrust."[12]