r Christian name--Clementine: I doubt whether she
had any other. Next morning she came with her mother, an old hag,
dissipation and drunkenness written in every line of her face. But the
child herself was perfectly innocent--at any rate, as innocent as she
could be with such a parent, and tractable to a degree. After a little
while the old woman, tired of twirling her thumbs, disgusted, perhaps,
at my want of hospitality in not offering her refreshments, left off
accompanying her, Clementine came henceforth alone.

"My studio was in the Rue de Fleurus in those days, and on the wall hung
a very handsome bronze Christ on a velvet panel and in a dark satin
frame. Curiously enough, I often caught the mother watching it; it
seemed to have an irresistible fascination for her: and, one day, while
the child was dressing, after two or three hours of hard work, she
suddenly exclaimed, 'That's why my mother will not come here; she says
she'd commit a robbery. She never leaves off talking about it. I wonder
whether you'd like to part with it, M. David? A Christ like that would
be beautiful in our attic. It would comfort and cheer me. If you like,
I'll buy it of you. Of course, I have no money, but you can deduct it
from my sittings. You can have as many as you like, not only for this
statue, but for any other you may want later on.'

"We democrats, professed republicans, and more than suspected
revolutionaries, are not credited by the majority with a great reverence
for religious dogma; we are generally branded as absolute freethinkers,
not to say atheists. This is frequently a mistake.[73] I have no
occasion to recite my _credo_ to you, but a great many of the
republicans of '89 and of to-day were and are believers. At any rate, I
fondly imagined that the Christ for which the mother and child were
longing might exercise some salutary influence on their lives, so I
simply took down the frame and its contents and handed them to her. She
staggered under the weight. 'You want that Christ,' I said; 'here it is:
and when you are tempted to do evil look at it, and think of me, who
gave it you as a present.'

[Footnote 73: It is a mistake. Not to mention Camille
Desmoulins, who, when asked his age by his judge, replied, "The
age of another _sans-culotte_, Jesus." Esquiros frequently
spoke of "that good patriot, Christ;" Lammenais began the draft
of his constitution with "In the name of the Fa