There were few people there, and the
conversation was certainly dull enough to justify Tocqueville's fears.
_April_ 10.--Tocqueville drank tea with us.
We talked of the Empress, and of the possibility of her being Regent of
France.
'That supposes,' I said, 'first, that _Celui-ci_ holds his power until
his death; and, secondly, that his son will succeed him.'
'I expect both events,' answered Tocqueville. 'It is impossible to deny
that Louis Napoleon has shown great dexterity and tact. His system of
government is detestable if we suppose the welfare of France to be his
object; but skilful if its aim be merely the preservation of his own
power.
'Such being his purpose, he has committed no great faults. Wonderful,
almost incredible, as his elevation is, it has not intoxicated him.'
'It has not intoxicated him,' I answered, 'because he was prepared for
it--he always expected it.'
'He could scarcely,' replied Tocqueville, 'have really and soberly
expected it until 1848.
'Boulogne and Strasbourg were the struggles of a desperate man, who
staked merely a life of poverty, obscurity, and exile. Even if either of
them had succeeded, the success could not have been permanent.
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