‘So, M. Danjou, I had no other choice but to bring an action--which is what I have done. There was a general protest, all declaring that a lawsuit was out of the question and would bring ridicule upon the whole Society, to which he answered that he was exceedingly sorry to disoblige his colleagues, but his mind was made up. ‘Besides, the man is in prison and the proceedings have commenced.’ Never had the private assembly-room heard a roar like that which greeted this statement. Laniboire distinguished himself as usual among the most excited by shouting that the Académie ought to get rid of so dangerous a member. In the first heat of their anger some of the assembly began to discuss the question aloud. Could it be done? Could the Académie say to a member who had brought the whole body into an undignified position, ‘Go! I reverse my judgment. Deity as you are, I relegate you to the rank of a mere mortal’? Suddenly, either having caught a few words of the discussion, or by one of those strange intuitions which seem occasionally to come as an inspiration to the most hopelessly deaf, old Réhu, who had been keeping to himself, away from the fire for fear of a fit, remarked in his loud unmodulated voice, ‘During the Restoration, for reasons merely political, we turned out eleven members at once.’ The patriarch gave the usual little attesting movement of the head, calling to witness his contemporaries of the period, white busts with vacant eyes standing in rows on pedestals round the room. ‘Eleven! whew!’ muttered Danjou amid a great silence. And Laniboire, cynical as before, said ‘All societies are cowardly; it’s the natural law of self-preservation.’ Here Epinchard, who had been busy near the door with Picheral the Secretary, rejoined the rest, and observed in a weak voice, between two fits of coughing, that the Permanent Secretary was not the only person to blame in the matter, as would appear from the minutes of the proceedings of July 8, 1879, which should now be read. Picheral from his place, in his thin brisk voice, began at a great pace: _On July 8, 1879, Léonard-Pierre-Alexandre Astier-Réhu presented to the Académie Française a letter from Rotrou to Cardinal Richelieu respecting the statutes of the Society. The Académie, after an examination of this unpublished and interesting document, passed a vote of thanks to the donor, and decided to enter the letter of Rotrou upon the minutes. The letter is appended_ (at this point the Secretary slackened his delivery and put a malicious stress upon each word) _with all the errors of the original text, which, being such as occur in ordinary correspondence, confirm the authenticity of the document_. All stood motionless in the faded light that came through the glass, avoiding each other’s eyes and listening in utter amazement. ‘Shall I read the letter too?’ asked Picheral with a smile. He was much amused.