Of these two powers in conflict, Intelligentsia and Force, which seemed to win in the course of the same century?

One does not encounter there an influence comparable to the plenary dictatorships of the previous century. One said 'King Voltaire' but nobody says 'King Chateaubriand', who only dreamt of this sceptre, nor 'King Lamartine' nor 'King Balzac', who similarly aspired to tyranny. One did not say 'King Hugo'. The latter had to content himself with the title of 'father', and of whom? Of poets, only the people of his profession.

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