terms the expedition to Italy, and showed how it violated the feelings
of the French nation. A few days afterward, he received the following
laconic note:

"M. Blank is invited to call on the prefect of the police, at his
office, to-morrow, Friday, at eleven o'clock."

M. Blank sat down, first, and wrote an able letter to the minister for
the interior, for he well knew that the note signified the suppression
of the pamphlet, and very likely his ejection from France. He sent the
same letter to the American minister, and the next day answered the
summons of the prefect. This is the account of the interview which he
gave me from a journal he was in the habit of keeping at that time:

"I read the word '_Refugies_' over the door, and it reminded me of the
inscription on the gates of hell--'Leave all hope far behind.' Everyone
knows that the very reason that ghosts are dreaded, is that ghosts were
_never seen_. It is the same for policemen--those 'Finders out of
Occasions,' as Othello styles them--those 'rough and ready' to choke
ideas, as the bud is bit by the venomous worm 'ere it can spread its
sweet leaves to the air.' I was about to encounter the assailing eyes of
knavery. A gentleman of the administration welcomed me in. 'Sir,' I
said, coldly, 'I was invited to meet the _prefect of the police_. I wish
to know what is deemed an outrage to the established government of
France?'

"The reply, was, 'The procureur-general noticed several portions of
your book; sit down and we will read them!'

"I listened to several extracts, where there were allusions to