Mr. Attorney, I have quoted all the passages by whose aid you have
attempted to constitute a misdemeanor--which accusation is now
shattered. You developed before the audience what seemed to you
convincing, and have had a fair opportunity. Happily we had the book and
the defense knew the book; if he had not known it, his position, allow
me to tell you, would have been very awkward. I am called upon to
explain such and such passages to myself and to add others for the
benefit of the audience. If I had not possessed the book, as I do, the
defense had been difficult. Now, I can show you, through a faithful
analysis of the romance, that far from being considered a lascivious
work, it should be considered, on the contrary, eminently moral. After
doing this, I took the passages that have been the motive for police
correction, and after I followed the cuttings with what preceded and
what succeeded, the accusation became so weak that you are in revolt the
moment I have finished reading them! These same passages that you
stamped as recriminating, I have used an equal right to quote myself,
for the purpose of showing you the folly of the accusation.