excited the indignation of the magistrates. M. Vivien is not the
only official to whom I have been indebted, since my first
publication, for assistance and protection; but such generosity
in the political arena is so rare that one may acknowledge it
graciously and freely. I have always thought, for my part, that
bad institutions made bad magistrates; just as the cowardice and
hypocrisy of certain bodies results solely from the
spirit which governs them. Why, for instance, in spite of the
virtues and talents for which they are so noted, are the
academies generally centres of intellectual repression,
stupidity, and base intrigue? That question ought to be proposed
by an academy: there would be no lack of competitors.




"I feel as deeply as you, sir, the abuses which you point out;
but I have so great an affection for order,--not that common and
strait-laced order with which the police are satisfied, but the
majestic and imposing order of human societies,--that I sometimes
find myself embarrassed in attacking certain abuses. I like to
rebuild with one hand when I am compelled to destroy with the
other. In pruning an old tree, we guard against destruction of
the buds and fruit. You know that as well as any one. You are a
wise and learned man; you have a thoughtful mind. The terms by
which you characterize the fanatics of our day are strong enough
to reassure the most suspicious imaginations as to your
intentions; but you conclude in favor of the abolition of
property! You wish to abolish the most powerful motor of the
human mind; you attack the paternal sentiment in its sweetest