France in reality is a republic to-day." Philippe stared at him.

"You are being paradoxical, I think.

What of the King ?" "The King?
All the world knows there has been no king in France since Louis XIV.

There is an obese gentleman at Versailles who wears the crown, but the very news you bring shows for how little he really counts.

It is the nobles and clergy who sit in the high places, with the people of France harnessed under their feet, who are the real rulers.
That is why I say that France is a republic; she is a republic built on the best pattern--the Roman pattern.