“A second courier has arrived. The infatuated Crane has made common
cause with the Prince, and forever forfeited the respect of Frenchmen.
A detachment of the 520th Leger has marched in pursuit of the pretender
and his dupes. Go, Frenchmen, go and conquer! Remember that it is our
rights you guard, our homes which you march to defend; our laws which
are confided to the points of your unsullied bayonets;--above all, our
dear, dear sovereign, around whose throne you rally!
“Our feelings overpower us. Men of the 520th, remember your watchword is
Gemappes,--your countersign, Valmy.”
“The Emperor of Russia and his distinguished family quitted the
Tuileries this day. His Imperial Majesty embraced his Majesty the King
of the French with tears in his eyes, and conferred upon their RR. HH.
the Princes of Nemours and Joinville, the Grand Cross of the Order of
the Blue Eagle.”
“His Majesty passed a review of the Police force. The venerable monarch
was received with deafening cheers by this admirable and disinterested
body of men. Those cheers were echoed in all French hearts. Long, long
may our beloved Prince be among us to receive them!”
CHAPTER II.
HENRY V. AND NAPOLEON III.
Sunday, February 30th.
We resume our quotations from the Debats, which thus introduces a third
pretender to the throne:--
“Is this distracted country never to have peace? While on Friday we
recorded the pretensions of a maniac to the great throne of France;
while on Saturday we were compelled to register the culpable attempts
of one whom we regard as a ruffian, murderer, swindler, forger, burglar,
and common pickpocket, to gain over the allegiance of Frenchmen--it
is to-day our painful duty to announce a THIRD invasion--yes, a third
invasion. The wretched, superstitious, fanatic Duke of Bordeaux has
landed at Nantz, and has summoned the Vendeans and the Bretons to mount
the white cockade.
“Grand Dieu! are we not happy under the tricolor? Do we not repose under
the majestic shadow of the best of kings? Is there any name prouder than
that of Frenchman; any subject more happy than that of our sovereign?
Does not the whole French family adore their father? Yes. Our lives, our
hearts, our blood, our fortune, are at his disposal: it was not in vain
that we raised, it is not the first time we have rallied round, the
august throne of July. The unhappy Duke is most likely a prisoner by
this time; and the martial court which shall be called upon to judge one
infamous traitor and pretender, may at the same moment judge another.
Away with both! let the ditch of Vincennes (which has been already fatal
to his race) receive his body, too, and with it the corpse of the other
pretender. Thus will a great crime be wiped out of history, and the
manes of a slaughtered martyr avenged!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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