The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic: A Tale of The French RevolutionSue, Eugène
History
The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic: A Tale of The French Revolution
Sue, Eugène
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Fiction
I know my forces. Soon your chastisement will serve as a memorable
example to posterity! That is how a man must speak to you in whom
you at first inspired pity. Accuse no one of conspiracy against
your infernal Constitution. The King did not give the orders that
have been given: I alone have ordered everything. Against me, then,
whet your daggers and prepare your poisons. You shall answer for
the days of the King to all the Kings of the world. Touch a hair
of his head, and there will not remain one stone upon another in
Paris. I know the roads. I shall conduct the foreign armies.
Farewell, messieurs; I end without comment. You know my sentiments.
MARQUIS OF BOUILLE.
These insults, these menaces, addressed to the Revolution, to France in
the name of all the Kings of the world by a royalist confidant and
accomplice of Louis XVI, by a general who, "knowing the roads, would
lead the foreign armies upon Paris, of which he would not leave one
stone upon another," unveiled, with brutal frankness, the plan of the
federated sovereigns. Nevertheless, such was the blindness of the
National Assembly that instead of declaring the deposition of Louis XVI
and bringing him before their bar, they contented themselves with
decreeing: "That a guard be given to the King to be responsible for his
person, and that the accomplices of his flight be examined by the
committee-men of the Assembly, who will also hear the statements of
Louis XVI and the Queen."
We went, Victoria and I, to the Elysian Fields, about six in the evening
of the 25th of June, to be present at the entry of Louis into his good
city of Paris.
A vast concourse of people covered the Elysian Fields and Louis XV
Place. After great effort we succeeded in drawing near to the double
cordon formed by the National Guard to allow a free passage to the royal
cortege. A murmur beginning in the distance and drawing nearer and
nearer announced the arrival of the King. General Lafayette passed by at
a gallop, escorted by a brilliant staff of blue-bonnets, on his way to
meet the carriages.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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