INTRODUCTION.

...the most respectable of associations, that which aims to present before my fellow men the map of their true titles, and to ensure that, struck by the greatness of their origin, they neglect nothing to revive their privileges and recover their former glory. The author uses legalistic and noble language—"titles," "privileges," "glory"—to describe the spiritual inheritance he believes humanity has lost and must reclaim.

Readers, you would be mistaken, however, if you sought here only recreational subjects intended solely for your distraction; expect even less to find only flattering and deceitful portraits that nourish your illusions and your vanity. Many others, without my help, will act as flatterers and accomplices to your delusions.

I come to exercise toward man, my fellow, a more truthful and severe ministry; I come to perform the important ministry of manoriginal: "ministère de l'homme." In the author's philosophy, this refers to the sacred duty humans have to act as intermediaries of truth for one another and for the rest of creation.. Now, the human family is not like those kings who are showered with incense and deceived by false praise; and the man who is about to speak to you honors his species too much, and respects himself too much, ever to play the deceptive role of a courtieroriginal: "courtisan." A person who attends a royal court, often associated in this period with flattery and lack of sincerity. toward a man and a brother.

Before continuing, see then if you feel the courage and the strength to join your voice to mine, so that we may together lament the evils we share.

The happiness that should belong to our species now only appears among us as a rarity and a wonder. Our tears are today the only signs of our brotherhood; we are no longer kin except through misfortune. Such is this fatal rede-