In a session of the Academie Francaise in November 1843, an argument erupted between two distinguished Victors, the philosopher and educationalist Victor Cousin and the novelist Victor Hugo. The discussion began with a somewhat arcane debate on the merits and demerits of writing double consonants, but it soon developed into a heated exchange about the state of the language in general, with Cousin proclaiming that the recent changes French was undergoing were nothing but decay. When Hugo questioned his reasoning, Cousin replied that he even knew exactly when the rot began. 'The decay of the French language,' he declared, 'started in 1789,' to which Hugo famously retorted: 'A quelle heure, s'il vous plait?'