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party had triumphed.
If McMahon cherished any of those intentions which afterward brought about his downfall, they were postponed; and it is possible that General Grant's action contributed to the stability of the Republic in France.
At least, the greatest of French statesmen at that epoch thought it worth while to commit the mission to Sickles which I have described.
Sickles returned to Paris, arriving late in the day, and as soon as possible made his way to the residence of Thiers to communicate the result of his embassy.
The exPresi-dent was living at the mansion rebuilt for him by the Government after the destruction of his house by the Commune.
He dined early, and later in the evening was accustomed to receive the world in a stately salon of this building in the Rue George. But there was always an interval after his simple dinner before the crowd arrived, and often the old statesman seized this moment to snatch a little sleep.
Thus, when Sickles was announced, Thiers was lying on a sofa behind a screen at the further end of the salon, sleeping; but Madame Thiers received the envoy.
She wished at once to waken the ex-President, but this Sickles would not allow, and he remained in conversation with the old lady, until Madame Doche, her famous sister-in-law, entered.
Of course, he paid his compliments to this lady, and while they were talking, Madame Thiers also dozed.
Then came in Barthelemy Saint Hilaire, once the private secretary of Thiers, and afterward a member of his cabinet.
He also wished to waken Thiers; but still Sickles said, ‘Let him sleep’; and during this discussion Madame Doche fell into a doze.
The three old people were used to this little refreshment before the entrance of the general company; and thus the American plenipotentiary, entrusted with a political errand that was thought important to the peace of France, found the exPresi-dent and his venerable family all asleep when he went to communicate the result of his journey.
S. S. Scranton and Co., Hartford, 1887.
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