46/57 When it is not _Fracasse_ it is _Basile_. In this manner he succeeded wonderfully in duping at the same time Montalembert, who does not believe in France, and Saint-Arnaud who does not believe in God. He smells of both tobacco and incense. Oh, France! what a government is this! The spurs pass by beneath the cassock. The _coup d'etat_ goes to mass, thrashes the civilians, reads its breviary, embraces Catin, tells its beads, empties the wine pots, and takes the sacrament. |