The survival of a people is the work of its men of genius.

At this very moment France is proving, energetically, the truth of that theory.

She is, undoubtedly, excelled by England in commerce, industry, and navigation, and yet she is, I believe, at the head of the world,--by reason of her artists, her men of talent, and the good taste of her products.

There is no artist and no superior intellect that does not come to Paris for a diploma.

There is no school of painting at this moment but that of France; and we shall reign far longer and perhaps more securely by our books than by our swords.