ther say nothing more;
he had nothing to add to his testimony; it was all his fault.

He left with an increased reputation, while Clerambault was supposed
to have sheltered himself behind his devoted henchman. The press
unhesitatingly accused Clerambault of cowardice, and meanwhile the
case dragged on, Clerambault appearing every day to answer useless
questions, with no decision in sight. It might have been supposed that
a man accused without proofs, and subject for so long to injurious
suspicions, would have been entitled to the sympathy of the public;
but on the contrary everyone was more down on him than before; they
blamed him because he was not already convicted. All sorts of absurd
stories were in circulation about him; it was asserted that experts
had discovered through the shape of some letters misprinted in a
pamphlet of Clerambault's that it had come from a German press, and
this humbug was readily swallowed by men who were supposed to be
intelligent, before the war,--only four years ago, but it seemed
centuries.

So all these worthy folks passed sentence on a fellow-citizen on the
slightest information; it was not the first time, and it will not be
the last. The best opinion was indignant that he should still be at
liberty, and reactionary papers, fearing that their prey would escape,
tried to intimidate justice by loud accusations, and demanded that
the case should be removed from the civil court and brought before
a court-martial. This excitement soon developed into one of those
paroxysms which in Paris are generally brief but violent; for this
sensible people does go crazy periodically. It may be asked why
men who are kind for the most part, and naturally given to mutual
tolerance, not to say indifference, should have these explosions of
furious fanaticism, when they seem to lose all feeling as well as
common-sense. Some will tell you that this people is feminine in its
virtues, as well as in its vices, that the delicate nerves and fine
sensibility which cause it to excel in matters of taste and art also
make it susceptible to attacks of hysteria, but I am of opinion
that any people is manly only by accident, if by a man you mean a
reasonable creature--a flattering but baseless idea. Men only use
their reason from time to time, and are soon worn out by the effort of
thinking; so those do them a favour who act for them, encouraging them
in the direction of the least effort, and not much is required to hat