Page 1187 - les-miserables

losopher Sieyes! I will do myself the justice to say, that I have
never had any better opinion of the philosophies of all those
philosophers, than of the spectacles of the grimacer of Tivo-
li! One day I saw the Senators cross the Quai Malplaquet
in mantles of violet velvet sown with bees, with hats a la
Henri IV. They were hideous. One would have pronounced
them monkeys from the tiger’s court. Citizens, I declare to
you, that your progress is madness, that your humanity is a
dream, that your revolution is a crime, that your republic is
a monster, that your young and virgin France comes from
the brothel, and I maintain it against all, whoever you may
be, whether journalists, economists, legists, or even were
you better judges of liberty, of equality, and fraternity than
the knife of the guillotine! And that I announce to you, my
flne fellows!’
‘Parbleu!’ cried the lieutenant, ‘that is wonderfully true.’
M. Gillenormand paused in a gesture which he had be-
gun, wheeled round, stared Lancer Theodule intently in the
eyes, and said to him:—
‘You are a fool.’

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