The Countess De Charny - Volume II (43 page)

Lep,lanc, Administrator of the Department. Dubois, Administrator of the Dcpartmnt. Damoreau, Ricave, Renard.

Thus, on the 21st of January, 1793, Louis XVI. died

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and was buried. He was thirty-nine years, five months, and three days old. He reigned eighteen years, and was a prisoner five months and eight days.

His hist wish was not fulfilled, for his blood brought misery not upon France alone but upon all Europe.

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CHAPTER XLI.

CAGLIOSTRO’S ADVICE.

The following evening while pikemen were running wildly through the deserted but brilliantly lighted streets of Paris, which looked all the more desolate by reason of this illumination, flourishiug tattered handkerchiefs and shirts stained with blood on the ends of their weapons, and shouting : ” The tyrant ‘s dead ! Look at the tyrant’s blood ! ” two men were alone together in a house in the Rue Saint-Honore.

Both were equally silent, but in manner and appearance they were utterly unlike.

One, dressed in black and evidently overwhelmed with grief, was seated at a table with his bowed head resting on his hands.

The other, who was clad in the garb of a well-to-do farmer, was striding excitedly up and down the room. There was a heavy cloud upon his scarred forehead, his eye was gloomy, and every time he passed the table in his walk to and fro, he cast a furtive glance at the silent man on the opposite side of it.

How long the men had been thus occupied, we cannot say; but at last, the man in rustic attire seemed to become weary of this silence, and pausing in front of the man whose face was buried in his hands, he said : —

“Well, Citizen Gilbert, you think me a brigand for voting for the king’s death. I suppose.”

The man dressed in black looked up and, sliaking his head sadly, replied : —

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“No, Billot, no. You are no more a brigand than I am an aristocrat. You voted according to your sense of rigLt, and I voted according to mine, only I voted for life, and you voted for death. It is an awful thing to take from any man that which no human power is able to restore.”

” So you consider despotism inviolable, and a desire for freedom, rebellion!” exclaimed Billot. “According to you, there is no such thing as justice here below, except for kings, that is, — for tyrants. What is left for the people? The privilege of serving and obeying. And you say this, you, the pupil of Jean Jacques Kousseau, and a citizen of the United States.”

” I did not say that, Billot. It would be an insult to the human race.”

“See here, Gilbert, I want to put a plain question or two to you. Do you admit that a nation which justly considers itself oppressed, has a right to abolish its church, to depose or supersede its rulers, and fight for freedom with all its might? “

“Undoubtedly.”

” Then has it also a right to consolidate the results of its victory? “

“Yes, Billot, it has an incontestable right to do so; but consolidation is not effected by violence and murder. Have you forgotten the command: ‘Thou shalt not kill thy fellow-man’?”

“But the king is not my fellow-man; he is my enemy,” cried Billot. “I remember well how my poor mother used to read to me in the Bible about what Samuel said to the Israelites when they wanted a king.”

“I remember that too, Billot. Nevertheless, Samuel consecrated Saul. He did not kill him.”

“Oh, if I attempt to argue with one of your learning, I shall be worsted, of course. Only let me ask you this: Had we a right to take the Bastille? ” “Yes.” “When the king tried to deprive the people of freedom

CAGLIOSTKO’S ADVICE. 353

of speech had we any right to hold that meeting in the Tennis Court?”

“Yes.”

” When the king tried to flee the country had we any right to arrest him at Varennes?”

“Yes.”

“And when we found out that he was corresponding with refugees and conspiring against us with foreigners, even after he had sworn to support the Constitution, had n’t we a right to straighten things out, and give him to understand that we would have no more of it, as we did on the 20th of June?”

“Yes.”

“And when he refused to sanction the expression of the people’s will, hadn’t we a right to take possession of the Tuileries and abolish the monarchy? “

“Yes.”

” But if the king continued to fight against Liberty even while he was confined in the Temple, had we or had we not a right to summon him before the Convention and try him? “

“You had.”

“But if we had a right to try him, we also had a right to condemn him, it seems to me.”

” Yes, to exile, banishment, or even continual imprisonment. In fact to anything except death.”

“And why not to death? “

” Because though guilty so far as the result of his actions was concerned he was not guilty in intent. You look at these matters from the people’s standpoint, my dear Billot; he, from his standpoint, — the standpoint of royalism. Was he a tyrant? No. Was he an oppressor of the people? No. An accomplice of the aristocrats? Xo. An enemy of Liberty? No.”

“So you, too, judge him from a royalist’s standpoint, do you? ” asked Billot.

“No, for from a royalist’s point of view, I should have to absolve him entirely.”

VOL. IV. —23

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” But did vou not absolve him when you voted to spare Ms life? “

“Yes, but with imprisonment for life. Billot, believe me, I speak the truth when I tell you, I was forced to think more favourably of him and to judge him far more leniently than I wished. A man of the people, or to speak more correctly, a son of the people, I had a prefer-ence for the popular side. You saw the king from afar off; you did not have the opportunity to judge of his real character that I did. Dissatisfied with the part assigned him, he was dragged one -way by the Assemblj^, and another way by an ambitious wife. He was urged to adopt one course by the selfish refugees, and another by his brothers, who went about everywhere inciting persons to oppose the Revolution in his name. You say he was not your fellow-man, but your enemy. Well, your enemy was defeated, and civilised men do not kill vanquished foes. A murder in cold blood is not an act of justice, but an immolation. You have just invested royalty with the glory of martyrdom and have made justice seem too much like vengeance. Be careful! Charles I. was beheaded, but Charles II. became king; James II. was banished from England, and his son, too, died in exile. You have over-done the matter, Billot, and have alienated from Republicanism for fifty, perhaps even a hundred, years that immense portion of the human race who judge Revolutions solely with the heart. Believe me, my friend, it is the Republicans who should most deeply deplore the death of Louis XVT., for his blood is sure to be required of them, and will cost them their Republic eventually.”

“There is a good deal of truth in what you say, Gilbert,” responded a voice from the doorway.

The two men started and turned simultaneously. Then they exclaimed as if with one accord, ” Cagliostro ! “

“Yes, of course,” he answered. “But there is also considerable truth in what Billot says.”

“Alas! that is just the trouble,” said Gilbert; “the

CAGLIOSTRO’S ADVICE. 355

subject we are discussing has two sides, and each person looking only at one side is necessarily obliged to believe himself in the right.”

“Yes, but he ought also to be willing to let it be said that lie is wrong,” responded Cagliostro.

“Tell us what you think about the matter,” said Gilbert.

“Yes, tell us what you think,” exclaimed Billot.

“So you have tried the prisoner, and I am to sit in judgment upon the trial,” said Cagliostro. “If you had condemned the king you would have done right; but you condemned the man, and there you made a great mistake.”

“I do not understand,” said Billot.

“Listen, and our friend will explain,” interrupted Gilbert.

” The king ought to have been killed while he was at Versailles or the Tuileries,” continued Cagliostro; “while he was surrounded by his throng of courtiers and his Swiss Guards, and while he was a stranger to his people. He ought to have been killed on the 6th of October or the 10th of August, for then he was a tyrant! But after being confined in the Temple for five months, in constant communication with the common people, — eating before everybody, sleeping before everybody; the comrade of the workman, the mechanic, and the petty shopkeeper, — he was elevated by his very apparent abasement to the dignity of true manhood, and consequently should have been treated like a man, that is to say, banished or imiDrisoned.”

“I did not understand you,” Billot remarked to Gilbert, “but I do understand Citizen Cagliostro.”

“During these five months of imprisonment, the king was certainly seen in a most attractive and touching and flattering light. He proved himself to be a good husband, a good father, and a good man. The fools! I thought they had more sense. They regenerated him , — they remodelled him. As the sculptor hews the statue from the block of marble, blow by blow, so through the agency of mi.sl’or-356 LA COMTESSE DE CHARNY.

tune after misfortune, tliis prosaic and commonplace being, neither bad nor good, self-indulgent and yet the greatest of bigots, — out of this dull nature was moulded a marvel of courage, patience, and resignation, which has now been mounted on a pedestal of grief. This poor king’s nature became so broadened, and elevated, and sanctified, that it even came to pass that his wife loved him. And who would have believed, my dear Gilbert, in October, 1789, or even last August, that the queen would ever love her husband?”

” Oh, if I had only thought of all this ! ” murmured Billot.

“But what would you have done about it?” asked Gilbert.

“What would T have done? I would have killed him either in July or October, three years ago, or else last August.”

“Yes, but you didn’t do it,” rejoined Cagliostro, after a moment’s silence. “You voted for death. Billot. You, Gilbert, voted for life. Now, will you listen to one last word of advice? You, Gilbert, only had yourself elected to the Convention in order to fulfil a duty. You, Billot, had yourself elected in order to secure your revenge. Duty and vengeance having both been accomplished you are no longer needed here. My advice to you, therefore, is to go away at once.”

Both men gazed wonderingly at Cagliostro.

“Yes,” he resumed; “neither one of you is really a partisan. You are men of good common sense and sound judgment. Now the king is dead the political parties will find themselves drawn up face to face, and they will soon destroy each other. Which will succumb first, I do not know; but this much I do know, they will both go down, one after the other. To-morrow, Gilbert, your leniency towards the king will be regarded as a crime; but in a short time, your severity, Billot, will be considered equally culpable. Believe me, Billot, in this im-CAGLIOSTEO’S ADVICE. 357

pending conflict between hatred, fear, revenge, and fanaticism, few will escape unscathed. Some will be smirched with mire and others with blood. So flee, my friends, flee!”

“But France?” asked Gilbert. “Yes, France?” repeated Billot.

” Oh, France is to all intents and purposes saved. Her foreign foes are defeated, the enemies within her borders are virtually dead, for fraught with danger as the guillotine may be for the future, it is unquestionably a formidable power in the present. The death of Louis XVI. exposes us to the wrath of the other monarchies, and imbues the Republic with the convulsive and desperate energy of a nation under sentence of death. Look at Atliens in ancient times! Look at Holland in modern times! All indecision must cease from to-day. The Revolution holds the axe in one hand and the tricoloured flag in the other now. Go! Before the axe is laid aside, the aristocrats will lose their heads. Before the tricoloured flag is laid down France will have all Europe at her feet. Depart, my friends, depart! “

“God is my witness that I shall not regret leaving France if her future is what you predict. But where shall we go?”

“Ingrate!” cried Cagliostro, “have you forgotten your fosterland, — America? Have you forgotten its immense lakes, its virgin forests and prairies boundless as the ocean? Do you not feel the need — you who can rest — of the tranquillising influences of nature after the terrible ordeal through which you have passed? “

“Will you accompany me. Billot?” asked Gilbert, rising.

“Will you forgive me?” asked Billot, advancing a step towards Gilbert.

The two men threw themselves into each other’s arms.

“Very well,” said Gilbert, “we will go.”

“And when?” inquired Cagliostro. ”’ In — in a week’s time.”

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Cagliostro shook his head.

“You will start this evening,” said he.

“And why this evening? “

“Because I leave to-morrow.”

“Where are you going? “

“You will know some day.”

“But how can we go? “

“The ship ‘Franklin’ sails for America in thirty-six hours.”

“But our passports? “

“Here they are.”

“And my son?” asked Gilbert.

Cagliostro stepped to the door, and opened it.

“Come in, Sebastian, your father wants you,” he called out.

The lad entered and sprang into his father’s arms.

“A post-chaise is all that is wanting,” remarked Gilbert.

“And mine is harnessed and at the door,” replied Cagliostro.

Gilbert walked to a secretary where there were a thousand louis, — about five thousand dollars in the common purse, — and motioned Billot to take his share.

“Have we enough?” asked Billot.

“We have enough, and more than enough to buy an entire province.”

Billot glanced around him with a rather embarrassed air.

“What are you looking for, my friend?” asked Gilbert.

” I am looking for something that would n’t be of much use to me, even if I found it, as 1 don’t know how to write.”

Gilbert smiled, opened a desk, took up a pen, dipped it in the ink :