I then pursued the enemy to the top of a hill, where a most noble
edifice dazzled my sight; noble and sacred it was but now converted
to the vilest purposes, their monument _de grands hommes_, a Christian
church that these Saracens had perverted into abomination. I burst open
the doors, and entered sword in hand. Here I observed all the National
Assembly marching round a great altar erected to Voltaire; there was
his statue in triumph, and the fishwomen with garlands decking it, and
singing "Ca ira!" I could bear the sight no longer; but rushed upon
these pagans, and sacrificed them by dozens on the spot. The members
of the Assembly, and the fishwomen, continued to invoke their great
Voltaire, and all their masters in this monument _de grands hommes_,
imploring them to come down and succour them against the Aristocrats and
the sword of Munchausen. Their cries were horrible, like the shrieks
of witches and enchanters versed in magic and the black art, while
the thunder growled, and storms shook the battlements, and Rousseau,
Voltaire, and Beelzebub appeared, three horrible spectres; one all
meagre, mere skin and bone, and cadaverous, seemed death, that hideous
skeleton; it was Voltaire, and in his hand were a lyre and a dagger. On
the other side was Rousseau, with a chalice of sweet poison in his hand,
and between them was their father Beelzebub!
I shuddered at the sight, and with all the enthusiasm of rage, horror,
and piety, rushed in among them. I seized that cursed skeleton Voltaire,
and soon compelled him to renounce all the errors he had advanced;
and while he spoke the words, as if by magic charm, the whole assembly
shrieked, and the pandemonium began to tumble in hideous ruin on their
heads.
I returned in triumph to the palace, where the Queen rushed into my
arms, weeping tenderly. "Ah, thou flower of nobility," cried she, "were
all the nobles of France like thee, we should never have been brought to
this!"
I bade the lovely creature dry her eyes, and with the King and Dauphin
ascend my carriage, and drive post to Mont-Medi, as not an instant was
to be lost. They took my advice and drove away. I conveyed them within
a few miles of Mont-Medi, when the King, thanking me for my assistance,
hoped I would not trouble myself any farther, as he was then, he
presumed, out of danger; and the Queen also, with tears in her eyes,
thanked me on her knees, and presented the Dauphin for my blessing. In
short, I left the King eating a mutton chop. I advised him not to delay,
or he would certainly be taken, and setting spurs to my horse, wished
them a good evening, and returned to England. If the King remained too
long at table, and was taken, it was not my fault.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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