The revelations of Boulangism now appearing in Paris strip all
romance from that formidable movement. The Duchesse d'Uzes has admitted to an interviewer that she found the money for the General ; that she contributed 2120,000 of which she has never had any account; and that her object was to utilise him for the restoration of the Monarchy, as to which the General must have given certain pledges. The Comte de Paris was aware of the plan, but declined to subscribe, though he had a long interview with the General in London. The Duchess was ultimately disgusted, she says, with the General's timidity, he having run away twice, once because he was certain that, if arrested, M. Constans would poison him in his cell ! As the General throughout protested his Republicanism, these revelations, unless disproved, are fatal to his remaining popularity, as fatal as the statement that in Jersey he has grown fat and indolent, and professes to be waiting until France, being attacked, will recall him to command her armies. We should not wonder if it turned out ultimately that the whole truth about the money had not been told, and that the Duchesse d'Uzes, who seems strangely unconcerned about the waste of a large fortune to no purpose, is loyally shielding other Royalists who would be in greater peril. No one takes female politicians quite seriously, and, in view of French opinion, the Republic could hardly send the Duchess to the scaffold for treason.
