The books that he studies we have put in practice, though we never read
them: the principles he applauds we have defended with powder and
bayonet."

"And at the price of your limbs and your blood. The merchant said, when
he saw your maimed body, 'See the worth of glory!"'

"Do not believe him, my son: the true glory is the bread of the soul; it
is this which nourishes self-sacrifice, patience, and courage. The
Master of all has bestowed it as a tie the more between men. When we
desire to be distinguished by our brethren, do we not thus prove our
esteem and our sympathy for them? The longing for admiration is but one
side of love. No, no; the true glory can never be too dearly paid for!
That which we should deplore, child, is not the infirmities which prove a
generous self-sacrifice, but those which our vices or our imprudence have
called forth. Ah! if I could speak aloud to those who, when passing,
cast looks of pity upon me, I should say to the young man whose excesses
have dimmed his sight before he is old, 'What have you done with your
eyes?' To the slothful man, who with difficulty drags along his
enervated mass of flesh, 'What have you done with your feet?' To the old
man, who is punished for his intemperance by the gout, 'What have you
done with your hands?' To all, 'What have you done with the days God
granted you, with the faculties you should have employed for the good of
your brethren?' If you cannot answer, bestow no more of your pity upon
the old soldier maimed in his country's cause; for he--he at least--can
show his scars without shame."


October 16th.--The little engraving has made me comprehend better the
merits of Father Chaufour, and I therefore esteem him all the more.