Their eyes ought to be opened to it.

Ought not Monsieur Isidore Granoux to be seated in the mayor's arm-chair, in the place of that big portly beggar who had not a copper to bless himself with?
Thus launched, the envious folks began to reproach Rougon for all the acts of his administration, which only dated from the previous evening.

He had no right to retain the services of the former Municipal Council; he had been guilty of grave folly in ordering the gates to be closed; it was through his stupidity that five members of the Commission had contracted inflammation of the lungs on the terrace of the Valqueyras mansion.

There was no end to his faults.

The Republicans likewise raised their heads.