The Miserable World

Chapter 47 Part One (46)
Canuel，O'Mahoney，and De Chappedelaine were preparing the sketch，to some extent with Monsieur's approval，of what was to become later on'The Conspiracy of the Bord de l'Eau'——of the waterside.L'Epingle Noire was already plotting in his own quarter.Delaverderie was conferring with Trogoff.
M.Decazes，who was liberal to a degree，reigned.
Chateaubriand stood every morning at his window at No.27 Rue Saint-Dominique，clad in footed trousers，and slippers，with a madras kerchief knotted over his gray hair，with his eyes fixed on a mirror，a complete set of dentist's instruments spread out before him，cleaning his teeth，which were charming，while he dictated The Monarchy according to the Charter to M.Pilorge，his secretary.
Criticism，assuming an authoritative tone，preferred Lafon to Talma.
M.de Feletez signed himself A.；M.Hoffmann signed himself Z.Charles Nodier wrote Therese Aubert.Divorce was abolished.
Lyceums called themselves colleges.The collegians，decorated on the collar with a golden fleur-de-lys，fought each other apropos of the King of Rome.
The counter-police of the chateau had denounced to her Royal Highness Madame，the portrait，everywhere exhibited，of M.the Duc d'Orleans，who made a better appearance in his uniform of a colonel-general of hussars than M.the Duc de Berri，in his uniform of colonel-general of dragoons——a serious inconvenience.
The city of Paris was having the dome of the Invalides regilded at its own expense.
Serious men asked themselves what M.de Trinquelague would do on such or such an occasion；M.Clausel de Montals differed on divers points from M.Clausel de Coussergues；M.de Salaberry was not satisfied.
The comedian Picard，who belonged to the Academy，which the comedian Moliere had not been able to do，had The Two Philiberts played at the Odeon，upon whose pediment the removal of the letters still allowed THEATRE OF THE EMPRESS to be plainly read.
People took part for or against Cugnet de Montarlot.
Fabvier was factious；Bavoux was revolutionary.The Liberal，Pelicier，published an edition of Voltaire，with the following title：

Works of Voltaire，of the French Academy.'That will attract purchasers，'said the ingenious editor.
The general opinion was that M.Charles Loyson would be the genius of the century；envy was beginning to gnaw at him——a sign of glory；and this verse was composed on him：——

'Even when Loyson steals，one feels that he has paws.'
As Cardinal Fesch refused to resign，M.de Pins，Archbishop of Amasie，administered the diocese of Lyons.
The quarrel over the valley of Dappes was begun between Switzerland and France by a memoir from Captain，afterwards General Dufour.
Saint-Simon，ignored，was erecting his sublime dream.
There was a celebrated Fourier at the Academy of Science，whom posterity has forgotten；and in some garret an obscure Fourier，whom the future will recall.Lord Byron was beginning to make his mark；a note to a poem by Millevoye introduced him to France in these terms：

a certain Lord Baron.
David d'Angers was trying to work in marble.
The Abbe Caron was speaking，in terms of praise，to a private gathering of seminarists in the blind alley of Feuillantines，of an unknown priest，named Felicite-Robert，who，at a latter date，became Lamennais.A thing which smoked and clattered on the Seine with the noise of a swimming dog went and came beneath the windows of the Tuileries，from the Pont Royal to the Pont Louis XV.；it was a piece of mechanism which was not good for much；a sort of plaything，the idle dream of a dream-ridden inventor；an utopia——a steamboat.
The Parisians stared indifferently at this useless thing.
M.de Vaublanc，the reformer of the Institute by a coup d'etat，the distinguished author of numerous academicians，ordinances，and batches of members，after having created them，could not succeed in becoming one himself.The Faubourg Saint-Germain and the pavilion de Marsan wished to have M.Delaveau for prefect of police，on account of his piety.Dupuytren and Recamier entered into a quarrel in the amphitheatre of the School of Medicine，and threatened each other with their fists on the subject of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Cuvier，with one eye on Genesis and the other on nature，tried to please bigoted reaction by reconciling fossils with texts and by making mastodons flatter Moses.
M.Francois de Neufchateau，the praiseworthy cultivator of the memory of Parmentier，made a thousand efforts to have pomme de terre[potato]pronounced parmentiere，and succeeded therein not at all.The Abbe Gregoire，ex-bishop，ex-conventionary，ex-senator，had passed，in the royalist polemics，to the state of'Infamous Gregoire.'The locution of which we have made use——passed to the state of——has been condemned as a neologism by M.Royer Collard.
Under the third arch of the Pont de Jena，the new stone with which，the two years previously，the mining aperture made by Blucher to blow up the bridge had been stopped up，was still recognizable on account of its whiteness.Justice summoned to its bar a man who，on seeing the Comte d'Artois enter Notre Dame，had said aloud：

'Sapristi！

I regret the time when I saw Bonaparte and Talma enter the Bel Sauvage，arm in arm.'A seditious utterance.
Six months in prison.
Traitors showed themselves unbuttoned；men who had gone over to the enemy on the eve of battle made no secret of their recompense，and strutted immodestly in the light of day，in the cynicism of riches and dignities；deserters from Ligny and Quatre-Bras，in the brazenness of their well-paid turpitude，exhibited their devotion to the monarchy in the most barefaced manner.
This is what floats up confusedly，pell-mell，for the year 1817，and is now forgotten.
(End of this chapter)