“'Come, gentlemen,' said the gay young prince, 'a bumper to our worthy
friend, whom, with God's blessing, I shall see restored right soon to
his fitting rank and station. Yes, De Gency! my word upon it, the next
evening I sup here I shall bring with me his Majesty's own signature to
these title-deeds. Make place, gentlemen, and let him sit down!'
“But poor Jacotot was too much excited by his feelings of joy and
gratitude, and he rushed from the room in a torrent of tears.
“The evening the prince spoke of never came. Soon after that commenced
the troubles to the royal family; the dreadful events of Versailles; the
flight to Varennes; the 10th August,--a horrible catalogue I cannot bear
to trace. There, yonder, where now the groups are loitering, or sitting
around in happy knots, there died Louis the Sixteenth. The prince I
spoke of is an exile: they call him Louis the Eighteenth; but he is a
king without a kingdom.
“But Jacotot lives on in hope. He has waded through all the terrors of
the Revolution; he has seen the guillotine erected almost before his
door and beheld his former friends led one by one to the slaughter.
Twice was he himself brought forth, and twice was his life spared by
some admirer of his cuisine. But perhaps all his trials were inferior
to the heart-burning with which he saw the places once occupied by the
blood of Saint Louis now occupied by the _canaille_ of the Revolution.
Marat and Robespierre frequented his house; and Barras seldom passed
a week without dining there. This, I verily believe, was a heavier
affliction than any of his personal sufferings; and I have often heard
him recount, with no feigned horror, the scenes which took place among
the _incroyables_, as they called themselves, whose orgies he contrasted
so unfavorably with the more polished excesses of his regal visitors.
Through all the anarchy of that fearful period; through the scarce less
sanguinary time of the Directory; through the long, dreary oppression of
the consulate; and now, in the more grinding tyranny of the Empire, he
hopes, ay, still hopes on, that the day will come when from the hands of
the king himself he shall receive his long-buried rank, and stand forth
a De Gency. Poor fellow! there is something noble and manly in the long
struggle with fortune,--in that long-sustained contest in which he would
never admit defeat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account