"At liberty," continued Simon Giguet, "to use its rights in the great
battle of a general election to the Chamber of Deputies; and as, in a
few days, we shall have a meeting, at which all electors will be
present, to judge of the merits of the candidates, we ought to feel
ourselves most fortunate in becoming accustomed here, in this limited
meeting, to the usages of great assemblies. We shall be all the more
able to decide the political future of the town of Arcis; for the
question now is to substitute a town's interests for family interests,
a whole region for a man."

Simon then reviewed the history of the Arcis elections for the last
twenty years. While approving the constant election of Francois
Keller, he said the moment had now come to shake off the yoke of the
house of Gondreville. Arcis ought to be no more a fief of the liberals
than a fief of the Cinq-Cygnes. Advanced opinions were arising in
France of which the Kellers were not the exponents. Charles Keller,
having become a viscount, belonged to the court; he could have no
independence, because, in presenting him as candidate, his family
thought much more of making him succeed to his father's peerage than
of benefiting his constituency as deputy, etc., etc. And, finally,
Simon presented himself to the choice of his fellow-citizens, pledging
his word to sit on the same bench with the illustrious Odilon Barrot,
and never to desert the glorious flag of Progress.

_Progress_! one of those words behind which more flimsy ambitions than
ideas were trying to group themselves; for, after 1830, it represented
only the pretensions of a few hungry democrats. Nevertheless, this
word had still a great effect upon Arcis, and gave stability to
whosoever might inscribe it on his banner. To call himself a man of