The crowd will not stop, unless the man is proved to be mad; but to prove it is indeed a difficult task, because we have a crowd of men who, mad from their birth, are still considered wise.
"The snuff of the 'Civet Cat' is but one example of the facility with which the crowd can be attracted to one particular spot.

The king was one day hunting, and found himself at the Neuilly Bridge; being thirsty, he wanted a glass of ratafia.

He stopped at the door of a drinking-booth, and by the most lucky chance the poor keeper of the place happened to have a bottle of that liquor.

The king, after he had drunk a small glass, fancied a second one, and said that he had never tasted such delicious ratafia in his life.

That was enough to give the ratafia of the good man of Neuilly the reputation of being the best in Europe: the king had said so.