Page:The invasion of the Crimea vol. 1.djvu/368

 32 G ORIGIN OF THE WAR OF 1853 CHAP, fought against a foreign enemv.* It is true that XIV. ' this decree was not issued until the massacre of the 4th was over, but of course the temper in which a man encounters danger is to be gathered in part from his demeanour immediately after the worst moment of trial ; and when it is found that the chief of a proud and mighty nation was capable of putting his hand to a paper of this sort on the 5th of December, some idea may be formed of what his sensations were on the noon of the day before, when the agony of being in fear had not as yet been succeeded by the indecorous excite- ment of escape, of Jerome Whilst Prince Louis Bonaparte was hugging Bonaparte. . _ the knees of the soldiers, his uncle Jerome .Bona- parte fell into so painful a condition as to be unable to maintain his self-control, and he suffered himself to publish a letter in which he not only disclosed his alarm, but even showed that he was preparing to separate himself from his nephew ; for he made it appear (as he could do, perhaps, with strict truth) that although he had got into danger by showing himself in public with the President on the 2d of December, he was innocent of the plot, and a stranger to the counsels of the ofkbson. Elysee.f His son (now called Prince Napoleon) December: 'Lorsn/une troupe organisee aura contribute par 'des combats & retablir l'ordre sur un point quelconque du ter- ' ritoire, ce service sera compte" comme service de campagne. Article 1, 'Annuaire,' Appendix, p. IQ.—Note to ith Edition. -r The letter will be found in the ' Annual Register.' It seems to have been sent at 10 o'clock at night on the 4th of December ;
 * Decree of the 5th, inserted in the ' Moniteur ' of the 7th