Since his return from Boiscoran, he had kept close in his house; and he had just made up his mind not to leave the house that day, when some one rang his bell furiously. A moment later Dr. Seignebos fell into the room like a bombshell.
“I know what brings you, doctor,” said M. Daubigeon. “You come about that order I have given concerning Cocoleu.”
“Yes, indeed, sir! That order is an insult.”
“I have been asked to give it as a matter of necessity, by M. Galpin.”
“And why did you not refuse? You alone are responsible for it in my eyes. You are commonwealth attorney, consequently the head of the bar, and superior to M. Galpin.”
M. Daubigeon shook his head and said,—
“There you are mistaken, doctor. The magistrate in such a case is independent of myself and of the court. He is not even bound to obey the attorney-general, who can make suggestions to him, but cannot give him orders. M. Galpin, in his capacity as examining magistrate, has his independent jurisdiction, and is armed with almost unlimited power. No one in the world can say so well as an examining magistrate what the poet calls,—
“‘Such is my will, such are my orders, and my will is sufficient.’
“‘Hoc volo, hoc jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas.’”
For once Dr. Seignebos seemed to be convinced by M. Daubigeon’s words. He said,—