To him who utters the word, "Sire or Seignior" stands for the protector who feeds, the ancient who leads."[1447] With such a title and for this purpose too much cannot be granted to him, for there is no more difficult or more exalted post.

But he must fulfill its duties; otherwise in the day of peril he will be left to himself.

Already, and long before the day arrives, his flock is no longer his own; if it marches onward it is through routine; it is simply a multitude of persons, but no longer an organized body.

Whilst in Germany and in England the feudal regime, retained or transformed, still composes a living society, in France[1448] its mechanical framework encloses only so many human particles.

We still find the material order, but we no longer find the moral order of things.