ditations. But I ought to add, also, that I have built up my system on
the example of that house. The admirable fortress I allude to belonged
to a young councillor of state, who was mad with love and jealousy.

As soon as he learned that there existed a man who was exclusively
occupied in bringing to perfection the institution of marriage in
France, he had the generosity to open the doors of his mansion to me and
to show me his gyneceum. I admired the profound genius which so cleverly
disguised the precautions of almost oriental jealousy under the elegance
of furniture, beauty of carpets and brightness of painted decorations. I
agreed with him that it was impossible for his wife to render his home a
scene of treachery.

"Sir," said I, to this Othello of the council of state who did not seem
to me peculiarly strong in the _haute politique_ of marriage, "I have no
doubt that the viscountess is delighted to live in this little Paradise;
she ought indeed to take prodigious pleasure in it, especially if you
are here often. But the time will come when she will have had enough of
it; for, my dear sir, we grow tired of everything, even of the sublime.
What will you do then, when madame, failing to find in all your
inventions their primitive charm, shall open her mouth in a yawn, and
perhaps make a request with a view to the exercise of two rights, both
of which are indispensable to her happiness: individual liberty, that
is, the privilege of going and coming according to the caprice of her
will; and the liberty of the press, that is, the privilege of writing
and receiving letters without fear of your censure?"

Scarcely had I said these words when the Vicomte de V----- grasped my
arm tightly and cried:

"Yes, such is the ingratitude of woman! If there is any thing more
ungrateful than a king, it is a nation; but, sir, woman is more
ungrateful than either of them. A married woman treats us as the
citizens of a constitutional monarchy treat their king; every measure
has been taken to give these citizens a life of prosperity in a
prosperous country; the government has taken all the pains in the world
with its gendarmes, its churches, its ministry and all the paraphernalia
of its military forces, to prevent the people from dying of hunger, to
light the cities by gas at the expense of the citizens, to give warmth
to every one by means of the sun which shines at the forty-fifth degree
of latitude, and to forbid every one, exceptin