"Two months before he was all-powerful, Louis Napoleon was entirely without the least importance.
"Victor Hugo mounted the tribune. He failed to achieve success. He was listened to as Felix Pyat was listened to, but he did not obtain as much applause. `I don＇t like his ideas,＇ Vaulabelle said to me, speaking of Felix Pyat,＇ but he is one of the greatest writers and the greatest orator of France.＇ Edgar Quinet, in spite of his exceptional and powerful intelligence, was held in no esteem whatever. He had been popular for awhile before the opening of the Assembly; in the Assembly he had no popularity.