Everything justifies me--the past and the present, I am sure; and so will the future, I fear.

Did I say the past?
Be assured, Monsieur de Camors, I am not a narrow-minded admirer of the past.

Though a Legitimist from personal affections, I am a downright Liberal in principles.

You know that, Durocher?
Well, then, in short, formerly between the Alps, the Rhine, and the Pyrenees, was a great country which lived, thought, and acted, not exclusively through its capital, but for itself.

It had a head, assuredly; but it had also a heart, muscles, nerves, and veins with blood in them, and yet the head lost nothing by that.