A few writers bent over their papers, while soldiers sat or lay along the walls, asleep or talking loudly, several of them in French.

A room like this, dimly lighted, was not calculated to make a cheerful impression upon Anton, who whispered to the merchant, "If revolutions in general look like this, they are ugly things." "They always destroy, and seldom recreate," was the reply.

"I am afraid that this room is an emblem of the whole town: the painted coat of arms on the ceiling, and the dirty bench on which we are sitting.

When such contrasts as these are brought into juxtaposition, it is enough to make a sober-minded man cross himself in horror.

The nobles and the people are bad enough, taken separately, when they each try their hands at government; but when they unite, they are sure to bring down the house that holds them." "The nobles are the most troublesome," said Anton.