"Well, kings should go back from time to time to the source of their authority—election; but this time they have cut a branch from the tree, a link from the chain. They should have elected Henry V., not Louis Philippe."
"A sad wish for the poor child! The Henrys are unfortunate: they have been poisoned or assassinated."
"Well," said Chateaubriand, "it is better to die by the poniard than from exile: it is quicker, and you suffer less."
"You will not return to France?"
"Possibly, to defend the duchess de Berri if she is tried."
"And if not?"
"Then," said Chateaubriand, throwing bread into the water, "I shall continue to feed my ducks."
John Esten Cooke.