"
"I am glad to hear it, Monsignore; and I will answer for it
that a judicious, well-considered reform--slowly
progressive, of course, as everything is at Rome--will
produce excellent results in a few years. It is not in a day
that you can expect to change the face of things; but you
know the gardener is not discouraged by the certainty that
the tree he plants to-day will not produce fruit for the
next five years. The morals of your soldiers are, as you
say, none of the best: I hear it said everywhere that an
honest peasant thinks it a dishonour to wear your uniform.
When you can hold out a future to your men, you need no
longer recruit them from the dregs of the population. The
soldier will have some feeling of personal dignity when he
ceases to find himself exposed to contempt. These poor
fellows are looked down upon by everybody, even by the
servants of small families. They breathe an atmosphere of
scorn, which may be termed the _malaria_ of honour. Relieve
them, Monsignore; they ask nothing better."
"Do you think, then, the means are to be found of giving us
an army as proud and as faithful as the French army? That
were a secret for which the Cardinal would pay a high
price."
"I offer it to you for nothing, Monsignore. France has
always been the most military country in Europe; but in the
last century the French soldier was no better than yours.
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