There had been youth and gaiety at the outset, brave acceptance of the law that one must work.
Then weariness had come; what was the use of always toiling if one were never to get rich?
And so, by way of snatching a share of happiness, the husband turned to drink; the wife neglected her home, also drinking at times, and letting the children grow up as they might.

Sordid surroundings, ignorance, and overcrowding did the rest.

In the great majority of cases, prolonged lack of work was mostly to blame; for this not only empties the drawers of the savings hidden away in them, but exhausts human courage, and tends to confirmed habits of idleness.

During long weeks the workshops empty, and the arms of the toilers lose strength.

In all Paris, so feverishly inclined to action, it is impossible to find the slightest thing to do.