whether we be Italians or Frenchmen, misery concerns us all. 
Ever since history has been written, ever since philosophy has meditated,
misery has been the garment of the human race; the moment has
at length arrived for tearing off that rag, and for replacing,
upon the naked limbs of the Man-People, the sinister fragment
of the past with the grand purple robe of the dawn. 

If this letter seems to you of service in enlightening some
minds and in dissipating some prejudices, you are at liberty
to publish it, sir.  Accept, I pray you, a renewed assurance
of my very distinguished sentiments. 

VICTOR HUGO. 

The end of Project Gutenberg etext of "Les Miserables"