Four days later I received the following letter from the French Embassy:—

‘PARIS, _June 3, 1861_, OFFICE OF

PREFECT OF POLICE, BUREAU ONE.

‘DEAR SIR,—By command of the Emperor I have the honour to

inform you that His Imperial Majesty sanctions your visit to

France and your sojourn in Paris on every occasion when your

business requires it, as you have requested in your letter of

May 31st.

‘You can consequently travel freely throughout the Empire,

observing the accepted formalities.—Receive sir, etc., Prefect

of Police.’

Then a signature written eccentrically slanting, impossible to decipher,

and like anything rather than the name Boitelle.

The same day came a letter from Branicki. Prince Napoleon sent him the

following letter from the Emperor:—

‘DEAR NAPOLEON,—This is to inform you that I have just

sanctioned the entrance of Monsieur[68] Herzen into France and

have ordered him to be given a passport.’

After this ‘Lift up!’ the _Schlagbaum_, which had been down for eleven

years, was raised, and a month later I set off for Paris.

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