The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER XXXII.

  AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM!

  It was forty-five days after the visit of Billaud-Varenne to JohnLebrenn; that is to say, it was the 8th Thermidor of the year II (July26, 1794). Alone in his parlor, towards eight o'clock in the evening,advocate Desmarais now paced up and down in agitation, now sankpensively into a chair, his face between his hands. The anguish andterror which for two years had dogged the hypocrite's steps hadcompletely whitened his hair. His sallow, atrabilious features disclosedthe tortures of his soul. Throwing himself into the arm-chair, worn out,he muttered to himself:

  "They insist upon coming! Such a session on my premises! I tremble tothink of it--I may be sent to the guillotine to-morrow if Robespierretriumphs. Curses upon my wife and daughter who deserted me! Yet, aplague on my weakness, there is not a day goes by but I regret theunworthy creatures! How happy I was in my family. I loved my daughter, Ilove her still, as much as it is possible to love a creature on thisearth. With what tenderness she would have surrounded my old age. Ishould have been consoled, comforted; for from my daughter I had nosecrets, and her confidences gladdened my heart. My God, 'tis I that amunhappy!"

  After this outburst the lawyer remained for a long time silent anddejected. Then, rising of a sudden, he shouted: "That infamous Lebrenn!It is he who is the cause of my woes. He came to bring trouble under myroof."

  The advocate's soliloquy was cut short by the entrance of a lackey, whoannounced that several citizens desired audience with him.

  "Show them in," answered the lawyer; and as the servant vanished headded, mentally: "The devil take Fouche, who conceived the idea ofchoosing my house for the meeting place of his friends--a perilous honorI wish I had the power of declining."

  Soon there were introduced into the parlor the Convention membersTallien, Durand-Maillane, and Fouche; the reverend Father Morletaccompanied them. The three Representatives of the people belonged tothe bloc formed against Robespierre. Durand-Maillane was a member of theRight, or royalist side of the Assembly. Tallien was from the Mountain;while Fouche, an ex-monk of the Oratory, was a Terrorist. A more ignoblephysiognomy than Fouche's it would be impossible to imagine. It was ahang-dog face, hedged about with tow-hair, and seamed with vice,treachery, dishonesty, baseness, and cruelty unrestrained. A cynicalsmirk raised one corner of his thin mouth. He was the first to enter theadvocate's parlor. Leading up the Jesuit Morlet, he said:

  "Allow me, citizen colleague, to introduce to you a former priest, thereverend Father Morlet. He is of the Society of Jesus, as I was of theOrder of the Oratory. Cassock and frock go together."

  "But," replied the attorney, very uneasily, as he returned the Jesuit'ssalute, "the object of the conference which brings us together can notbe discussed before witnesses."

  "The reverend is one of us," answered Fouche. "He comes from London, andwill give us information of the greatest importance. His head answersfor his discretion; he is a dissident priest. And so, let us get towork."

  Fouche, Durand-Maillane, Tallien, Abbot Morlet and advocate Desmaraisthereupon seated themselves about a round table. Desmarais was madechairman, and the conference began.

  "I ask the floor," said Durand-Maillane, "to state the question, and toestablish the conditions upon which as spokesman of the leaders of theRight, I am empowered to pledge here the assistance of my politicalfriends, royalists, clericals, and conservatives."

  "You have the floor," said the chairman.

  Durand-Maillane continued:

  "Gentlemen, none of you is unaware that in presenting the law of the22nd Prairial to the Convention six weeks ago Robespierre hoped toobtain for the Committee of Public Safety, and under control of three ofits members, the right to pass judgment upon the Representatives of thepeople without consulting the Assembly. Whence it follows that, by meansof the signatures of St. Just and Couthon, Robespierre would be able atany time to send before the revolutionary tribunal, that is to say, tothe scaffold, those members of the Convention whom he wished to be ridof. The law of Prairial threatened particularly the Terrorists; itseffect would soon have extended to the other parties. It is necessarythat we examine and discuss the most significant passages ofRobespierre's speech to-day in the Convention, in order to decide whatwe are to do to temper its effect and conjure away the danger whichoverhangs us. Here are the particular points of the speech."

  Durand-Maillane drew a paper from his pocket and read:

  "'The counter-revolution has made its appearance in all parties. Theconspirators have pushed us, in spite of ourselves, _to violentmeasures, which their crimes alone rendered necessary_. This system isthe work of the foreigners, who proposed it through the venal medium ofChabot, Lhuilier, Hebert, and a number of other scoundrels. Every effortmust be made _to restore the Republic to a natural and mild rule_; thiswork has not yet commenced. Slacken the reins of the Revolution for amoment, and you will see military despotism seize upon it, and overturnthe maligned national representation; a century of civil wars andcalamities will desolate our country, and we would die for not havingseized the moment marked by history for the founding of liberty. Aye, wewould deliver up our country to calamities without number, and thepeople's maledictions will fall upon our memory, which should remaindear to the human race....

  "'The conclusion is, What are we to do? Our duty! What objection can beraised to one's speaking the truth and consenting to die for it? Let itbe said, then, that there is _a conspiracy against the public liberty,which owes its force to a criminal coalition that is intriguing in thevery heart of the Convention_; that this coalition has accomplices inthe Committee of General Surety and in the bureaus of this committee,which it dominates;--that the enemies of the Republic have set thiscommittee up against the Committee of Public Safety, thus constituting agovernment within a government;--that _members of the Committee ofPublic Safety are in the plot_;--that the coalition thus formed isworking for the destruction of patriots and of the fatherland. What isthe remedy for this evil? _Punish the traitors_, reorganize the bureausof the Committee of General Surety, purge the Committee itself, andsubordinate it to the Committee of Public Safety; _purge the Committeeof Public Safety itself_; establish unity of government under thesupreme authority of the National Convention, which should be the centerand the judge; _suppress all factions by the weight of nationalauthority_, and rear upon their ruins the power of justice and liberty.Such are the principles the hour demands. If it is impossible to advancethem without earning the epithet Ambitious, I shall conclude thatprinciples are outlawed, that tyranny reigns among us,--but not that Ishould keep quiet; for how can one object to a man who is right, and whoknows how to die for his country? I am made to fight crime, not togovern it. The time is not yet come when men of worth can serve thecountry fearlessly. The defenders of liberty are no better than exiles,so long as there exists the horde of rogues and rascals.'

  "So, gentlemen, to sum up this harangue of Robespierre's, we find outthat 'it is necessary to bring back the Republic to a milder rule, tocheck the bloodshed, to purge the Convention and the Committees, to wipeout factions by the weight of national authority, and to combat crime,because the defenders of liberty are but exiles as long as the horde ofrogues and rascals exists.' There remains no one, it seems, outside ofRobespierre and the Jacobins, capable of defending, preserving andstrengthening the Republic. Therefore we, royalists and clericals, havedecided to form a coalition with the Terrorists and the Mountain for thepurpose of sending Robespierre to the scaffold, and, along with him, themost active spirits of the Jacobin party."

  "I declare my approval of all the previous speaker has said," observedMorlet the Jesuit. "Robespierre is the enemy not only of us Catholicsand royalists, but also of the Terrorists and Mountainists here present,and of several of their friends, who insist upon living in splendor,peace and happiness at the popular expense."

  "Robespierre to-morrow will attempt to hold a 'day,' with the support ofCommandant Henriot and the Commune. His designs must be frustrated,"added Tallien.
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  "The surest way of reaching our end," Fouche advised, "is to drown St.Just's voice when he mounts the tribunal to complete the speech ofRobespierre. He will want to speak in defense of his partner. Our crieswill redouble: 'Down with the tyrant!' 'Down with the dictator!' 'Deathto St. Just and Robespierre!'"

  "It is decided, then," asked Durand-Maillane, "that from the beginningof the session we are to interrupt St. Just and Robespierre, and demandof the Assembly their immediate arrest? Who will start the ball?"

  "I will," volunteered Tallien.

  "Collot D'Herbois, Robespierre's implacable enemy, is in the chairto-morrow. The affair will go roundly," Desmarais plucked up heartenough to say.

  "It is probable," continued the Jesuit, "that the Convention will notconfine itself to packing to the guillotine Robespierre, St. Just,Couthon, Lebas, and the other leaders of this truculent party of virtue.It may add to the batch several of the most rabid Jacobins from outsideof the Convention."

  "We shall rid ourselves at once of the big guns of the club, and theJacobins in the Commune, Fleuriot-Lescot the Mayor, Coffinhal, and theirconsorts," chuckled Tallien.

  "I greatly desire," the Jesuit put in, "for motives of my own, to seeincluded in that batch a certain John Lebrenn, who has been made memberof the General Council of the Commune since his return from the army."

  At the mention of the name Fouche turned to Desmarais and said, with aleer, "Hey, colleague, the reverend Father demands your son-in-law!"

  To which Desmarais grandiosely replied: "Brutus gave his own son--andthis Lebrenn is not even of my family. I grant you the Jacobin's head."

  "To-morrow, messieurs, let us be present at the Assembly before theopening of the session, in order to prepare our colleagues of the Rightand the Center for what we expect of them," suggested Durand-Maillane.

  "Fouche and I," acquiesced Tallien, "will take care of the Mountain andthe Terrorists."

  So it was arranged. The cabal then broke up, while Jesuit Morlet said tohimself:

  "The Republic is lost. The sacrifice of the Jacobins delivers it up tous, bound hand and foot--_ad majorem Dei gloriam!_ to the greater gloryof God! May France perish, and our holy Order triumph!"

  During this mental invocation of the Jesuit's, Desmarais showed his fourguests to the door and returned to his parlor alone. For some time hebrooded somber and silent in his arm chair. At last he muttereddefiantly:

  "Was it I who demanded the guillotining of my son-in-law? After all, itwill be but justice; I will have returned him evil for evil. Is he not,truly speaking, the prime cause of my torments? After his death mydaughter and wife will return to me. Everything will be for the best!"