HOW FAR CULPABLE AS MAYOR. 215 





result. He shows himself, on the contrary, deeply humili- 

 ated. And he will not foil in future to oppose every 

 undertaking that might turn out to the honour of 

 science. Crowds of such incidents occur to the mind. 

 Are we to infer thence, that we ought to be afraid of see- 

 ing the administration of a town given up to the station- 

 ary and exclusive spirit of the old Eschevinage to 

 people who have learnt nothing and studied nothing ? 

 Such is not the result of these long reflections. I wished 

 to enable people to foresee the struggle, not the defeat. I 

 even hasten to add, that by the side of the surly, harsh, 

 rude, positive Eschevin, the type of whom, to say the 

 truth, is fortunately becoming rare, an honourable class 

 of citizens exists, who, content with a moderate fortune 

 laboriously acquired, live retired, charm their leisure with 

 study, and magnanimously place themselves, without any 

 interested views, at the service of the community. 

 Everywhere similar auxiliaries fight courageously for 

 truth as soon as they perceive it. Bailly constantly ob- 

 tained their concurrence ; as is proved by some touching 

 testimonies of gratitude and sympathy. As to the coun- 

 sellors who so often occasioned trouble, confusion, and 

 anarchy in the Hotel de Yille in the years '89 and '90, I 

 am inclined to blame the virtuous magistrate for havin- 



O O 



so patiently, so diffidently endured their ridiculous preten- 

 sions, their unbearable assumption of power. 



From the earliest steps in the important study of na- 

 ture, it becomes evident that facts unveiled to us in the 

 lapse of centuries, are but a very small fraction, if we 

 compare them with those that still remain to be discov- 

 ered. Placing ourselves in that point of view, deficiency 

 in diffidence would just be the same as deficiency in 

 judgment. But, by the side of positive diffidence, if I 



