Ah! I have always been the friend of France.

I only reproach her with one thing, that she has failed to understand the position in which we were placed, the vital reasons which compelled us to ally ourselves with Germany.

And then there are the thousand millions of _lire_* swallowed up in Rome! That was the real madness; pride and enthusiasm led us astray.

Old and solitary as I've been for many years now, given to deep reflection, I was one of the first to divine the pitfall, the frightful financial crisis, the deficit which would bring about the collapse of the nation.

I shouted it from the housetops, to my son, to all who came near me; but what was the use?
They didn't listen; they were mad, still buying and selling and building, with no thought but for gambling booms and bubbles.