I recall one of my oldest ideas. The Czar is the leader and spiritual father of a hundred and fifty million men. An atrocious responsibility which is only apparent. Perhaps he is not responsible to God, but rather to a few human beings. If the poor of his empire are oppressed during his reign, if immense catastrophes result from that reign, who knows if the servant charged with shining his boots is not the real and sole person guilty? In the mysterious dispositions of the Profundity, who is really Czar, who is king, who can boast of being a mere servant?
— Léon Bloy
Notes from a Room 
Wow, Leon Bloy! Very glad to have found your site, which I’ll add to my links. Where does this quote come from?
Gilbert Alter-Gilbert is letting me run a Bloy translation either on my blog or the upcoming print off-shoot. I’ll let you know.
Thanks Will. Yes, do let me know. I did go through a little Bloy phase a couple of years ago, but this is actually from Borges’ essay on him (‘Mirrors of the Enigma’), and he’s airy about his sources.