M. Mérimée was vile by nature, he must not be blamed for it.
With regard to M. de Morny it is otherwise, he was more worthy; there was something of the brigand in him.
M. de Morny was courageous. Brigandage has its sentiments of honor.
M. Mérimée has wrongly given himself out as one of the confederates of the coup d'état. He had, however, nothing to boast of in this.
The truth is that M. Mérimée was in no way a confidant. Louis Bonaparte made no useless confidences.
Let us add that it is little probable, notwithstanding some slight evidence to the contrary, that M. Mérimée, at the date of the 2d December, had any direct relations with Louis Bonaparte. This ensued later on. At first Mérimée only knew Morny.
Morny and Mérimée were both intimate at the Elysée, but on a different footing. Morny can be believed, but not Mérimée. Morny was in the great secrets, Mérimée in the small ones. Commissions of gallantry formed his vocation.
The familiars of the Elysée were of two kinds, the trustworthy confederates and the courtiers.
The first of the trustworthy confederates was Morny; the first—or the last—of the courtiers was Mérimée.
This is what made the fortune of M. Mérimée.