They are in full view; we are not reduced to conjectures about them, to uncertain divination, to vague indications.

By singular good fortune we perceive the men themselves, their exterior and their interior.

The Frenchmen of the ancient regime are still within visual range.

All of us, in our youth, (around 1840-50), have encountered one or more of the survivors of this vanished society.

Many of their dwellings, with the furniture, still remain intact.