with his indolent character to procrastinate.  With all his ambition, he was patient, waiting for opportunities to arise; and yet he never relinquished an idea or an intention,—­it was ever in his mind:  he would simply wait, and quietly pursue the means of success.  He had been trained to meditation in his prison at Ham; and he had learned to disguise his thoughts and his wishes.  The power which had been developed in him in the days of his obscurity and adversity was cunning.  As a master of cunning he saw the necessity of reserve, mistrust, and silence.

The first move of the President to gain his end was to secure a revision of the Constitution.  The Assembly, by a vote of three-fourths, could by the statutes of 1848 order a revision; a revision could remove the clause which prohibited his re-election, and a re-election was all he then pretended to want.  But the Assembly, jealous of its liberties, already suspicious and even hostile, showed no disposition to smooth his way.  He clearly saw that some other means must be adopted.  He naturally turned to the army; but the leading generals distrusted him, and were in the ranks of his enemies.  They were all Orleanists or Republicans.

The ablest general in France was probably Changarnier, who had greatly distinguished himself in Algeria.  He had been called, on the change of government, to the high post of commander of the National Guards and general of the first military division, which was stationed at Paris.  He had been heard to say that if Louis Napoleon should undertake a coup d’etat, he would conduct him as a prisoner to Vincennes.  This was reported to the President, who at once resolved to remove him, both from hostility and fear.  On Changarnier’s removal the ministry resigned.  Their places were taken by tools still more subservient.

Nothing now remained but to prepare for the meditated usurpation.  The first thing to be done was to secure an able and unscrupulous minister of war, who could be depended upon.  As all the generals received their orders from the minister of war, he was the most powerful man in France, next to the President.  Such was military discipline that no subordinate dared to disobey him.

There were then no generals of ability in France whom Louis Napoleon could trust, and he turned his eyes to Algeria, where some one might be found.  He accordingly sent his most intimate friend and confidant, Major Fleury, able but unscrupulous, to Algeria to discover the right kind of man, who could be bribed.  He found a commander of a brigade, by name Saint-Arnaud, extravagant, greatly in debt, who had done some brave and wicked things.  It was not difficult to seduce a reckless man who wanted money and preferment.  Fleury promised him the high office of minister of war, when he should have done something to distinguish himself in the eyes of the Parisians.  Saint-Arnaud, who proved that he could keep a secret, was at once promoted, and a campaign was arranged for him in the