It is certain that many eminent Frenchmen, and some foreign
observers of experience, regard the situation as fraught with immediate danger, and, no doubt, anything may happen with Paris in such a mood. The rumours, however, of Prince Victor Bonaparte making secret visits to Paris, of a Monarchical plot to overthrow the Republic, and of the intention of certain Republicans to proclaim a "Consular Republic "—that is, a Republic on the American plan, with an independent executive—may be dismissed as baseless or pre- mature. So long as M. Carnot sits firm, and is not attacked by the evidence, a popular movement is very nearly impossible. The soldiers would not be on its side. If, however, he resigns or falls or dies, the danger will be very great and imminent. Even then, however, the probability is that revolution in the strict sense will be avoided, that a "Revision of the Constitu- tion" would be effected in a few hours, and that the Republic would emerge reconstituted in the American form. That has a great attraction for all the Right, and for all those moderate men who dread nothing so much as the caprices, the vacilla- tions, and the corruption of the Chamber. At present, how- ever, M. Carnot sits safe.
