"Be pleased, Sir, to use the word recruitment."
"Ah! I had forgotten; how easy it is in some countries to perpetuate and hand down the most unpopular things by changing their names!"
"Thus, droits reunis have become contributions indirectes."
"And gendarmes have taken the name of gardes municipaux."
"In short, you would disarm the country on the faith of a utopian theory."
"I said that I should disband the army—not that I would disarm the country. On the contrary, I intend to give it invincible force."
"And how can you give consistency to this mass of contradictions?"
"I should call upon all citizens to take part in the service."
"It would be well worth while to dispense with the services of some of them, in order to enrol all."
"You surely have not made me a minister in order to leave things as they are. On my accession to power, I should say, like Richelieu, 'State maxims are changed.' And my first maxim, the one I should employ as the basis of my administration, would be this: Every citizen must prepare for two things—to provide for his own subsistence, and to defend his country."