Guy de Maupassant

The guilty man was defended by a very young lawyer, a beginner, who
spoke thus:

"The facts are undeniable, gentlemen of the jury. My client, an
honest man, an irreproachable employee, gentle and timid, assassinated
his employer in a moment of anger which seems to me incomprehen-
sible. If you will allow me, I would like to look into the psychology of
the crime, so to speak, without wasting any time or attempting to ex-
cuse anything. We shall then be able to judge better.

" John Nicholas Lougère is the son of very honorable people, who
made of him a simple, respectful man.

"That is his crime: respect! It is a sentiment, gentlemen, which we of
today no longer know, of which the name alone seems to exist while its
power has disappeared. It is necessary to enter certain old, modest
families to find this severe tradition, this religion of a thing or of a man,
this sentiment where belief takes on a sacred character, this faith which
doubts not, nor smiles, nor entertains a suspicion.

"One cannot be an honest man, a truly honest man in the full force
of the term, and be respectful. The man who respects has his eyes
closed. He believes. We others, whose eyes are wide open upon the
world, who live here in this hall of justice, this purger of society, where
all infamy runs aground, we others who are the confidants of shame, the
devoted defenders of all human meanness, the support, not to say the
supporters, of male and female sharpers, from a prince to a tramp,

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