However, let us put that aside; it was, perhaps, in the nature of things.

In every community there must be a few scoundrels and, if this turns out to be a solitary instance, we may congratulate ourselves, especially as we have escaped without injury.
"That we have done so, gentlemen, is due solely to Monsieur Stansfield; who thus twice, in the course of a single day, has performed an inestimable service to the cause.

There are few indeed who, on hearing the braggadocio of a drunken man, would have given the matter a moment's thought; still less have undertaken a night of watchfulness, after a day of the heaviest work, merely to test the truth of a slightly-founded suspicion that might have occurred to them.

It is not too much to say that, had not this act of treachery been discovered, our defeat tomorrow would have been well-nigh certain.

You know how much our people think of their guns; and if, when the fight began, the cannon had been silent, instead of pouring their contents into the ranks of the enemy, they would have lost heart at once, and would have been beaten almost before the fight began.
"We have no honours to bestow on you, Monsieur Stansfield, but in the name of La Vendee I thank you, with all my heart.