"Certainly Count André is the right man, he is honourable and worthy; but let us talk no more of politics just now," said Boakoam.
"God preserve us from this mania of politics, unreasonable and inopportune! We can gain nothing by it, and it has already been the cause of many evils. True politics are agriculture, science, economy, and the amelioration of morals."
"You are right, Monsieur le Comte," said a listener. "But what is to be done when, in spite of ourselves, the youth and the city rise in arms and draw us in?"
"Youth has courage and action. Imitate them. If you do not wish a revolution, proclaim it loudly; not in any half way. I understand perfectly the blind but heroic ardour of these young men who offer their blood for their country. It is necessary that we have equal energy to arrest this patriotic uprising, that we do not give them encouragement by our inertia, our weakness."
"Then we are lost," cried a voice.
"Oh, not when we have just concluded an alliance with the Jews!" replied Boakoam. "The Jews will certainly save us."
This pleasantry caused a ripple of laughter.
"That which is certain," gravely replied the invalid, "is that they have more sense than we. They have proved it."
"They will not lend us their good sense as they have loaned us their money," remarked Boakoam. "They know that it is a capital which we lack, and on which we could not pay them interest."
"Where is the time when we did not know the Jews save as stewards and brokers! One could then pluck the extortioner by the beard."