XXX
My wild excitement in 1848.
What was the nature of that excitement?
The taste for revenge. Natural pleasure in destruction.
Literary excitement; memories of my reading.
The 15th of May. Still the pleasure in destruction.
A legitimate pleasure, if what is natural be legitimate.
The horrors of June. Madness of the People and
madness of the Bourgeoisie. Natural delight in crime.
My fury at the Coup d'Etat. How many gunshots
have I endured! Another Bonaparte! What infamy!
And, meanwhile, all is quiet. Has not the President
some right to invoke?
What Napoleon III is. What he is worth. To find
the explanation of his nature and of his mission
under Providence.
