Page:Crainquebille, Putois, Riquet and other profitable tales, 1915.djvu/219

 Rh "I have his judgments here, collected in a little volume with commentaries by Henri Leyret. When these judgments were pronounced they provoked the indignation of austere magistrates and virtuous legislators. They are stamped with noble thoughts and tender kindness. They are full of pity, they are human, they are virtuous. In the Law Courts President Magnaud was thought not to have a judicial mind, and the friends of Monsieur Méline accused him of lacking respect for property. And it is true that the considerations on which the judgments of President Magnaud repose are singular, for at every line one meets the thoughts of an independent mind and the sentiments of a generous heart."

Taking from the table a little crimson volume, Monsieur Bergeret turned over the pages and read:

"Honesty and delicacy are two virtues infinitely easier to practise when one lacks nothing than when one is destitute of everything."

"That which cannot be avoided ought not to be punished."

"In order to judge equitably the crime or the poor the judge should for the moment forget his own