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

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER II.

  ORLEANS ON THE THRONE.

  Four days later, namely, the 31st of July, Marik Lebrenn lay on his bed,sorely wounded. Bravely defending, with his father, his friends, and alittle army of workingmen of St. Denis Street, on the 28th, thebarricade raised by them the preceding day a few steps from the Lebrenndomicile, he had his arm broken by a ball. The wound, grave in itself,was further complicated by an attack of lockjaw, induced by the stiflingheat of those summer days. Thanks to the care of Doctor Delaberge, oneof his father's political friends and one of the heroes of July, Marikhad come safely through the lockjaw, in spite of its usual deadliness.But for the three days he had remained a prey to a violent delirium; hisreason had now returned to him hardly an hour ago.

  Beside his cot was seated his mother; his wife, bent over the bed, heldher infant in her arms.

  "How sweet it is to return to life between a mother and a darling wife,to embrace one's child, and moreover to feel that one has done his dutyas a patriot," murmured Marik feebly, but happily. "But where isfather?"

  "Father is unwounded. He went out, an hour ago, to be present at a finalmeeting with Monsieur Godefroy Cavaignac, the valiant democrat,"answered his mother.

  "And our friends, Martin, Duresnel, and General Oliver?"

  "You will see them all soon. Neither the General nor Monsieur Martin waswounded. Duresnel was grazed slightly by a bayonet."

  "And Castillon? And Duchemin?"

  Madam Lebrenn exchanged a look of intelligence with her daughter-in-law,who had gone to put her child in his cradle, and answered, "We have asyet no news of those brave champions, Castillon and Duchemin."

  "Then they must be badly hurt," exclaimed Marik, anxiously. "Castillonwould not have gone without coming to see me, for it was he who pickedme up when I fell, on the barricade."

  "Our friends are probably in some hospital," suggested his wife,soothingly. "But please, do not alarm yourself so; you are still veryweak, and strong excitement might be bad for you. We can only tell youthat your father is unscathed, and the insurrection victorious."

  "Victory rests with the people! It is well; and yet, what will it profitthem?"

  John Lebrenn and General Oliver now entered the sick-room. Madam Lebrennrose and said to her husband, with all a mother's joy: "Our son has comeentirely to himself, as the consequence of the long sleep which alreadyreassured us. About half an hour after you left he awoke with his headperfectly clear. Our last anxieties may now be set aside; theconvalescence begins well."

  Lebrenn walked quickly over to the bed, looked at Marik a moment, andthen embraced him tenderly, saying: "Here you are, out of danger, mydear son. Ah, what a weight was on my heart! The joy I feel consoles mefor our deception--"

  "My friend, I beg you--" interposed Madam Lebrenn. "The physician bademe shield our dear patient from all emotion."

  "Perhaps it would, indeed, be better to leave Marik in ignorance of theresult of our victory; but now it is impossible longer to hide from himthe truth."

  "You may tell me everything, dear father. Disillusionment is no doubtcruel, but we have already reckoned with that possibility in ourforecasts. Whatever the government may be which succeeds that of CharlesX, it will still be an improvement over the abhorred regime of theBourbons."

  "Well, then, my son, here is our disappointment: The Republic has beencrowded out by the intriguers of the bourgeoisie, and the Duke ofOrleans has been acclaimed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. In a fewdays the deputies will offer him the crown."

  "Our friends then let their guns cool after their success? And did notLafayette intervene in this matter of kingship?"

  "Here," replied John, "is how the comedy was played. Seeing thetriumphant progress of the insurrection, and recognizing that Charleswas as good as gone, his friends flocked over to the Orleanists. TheChamber of Deputies met last evening in the Bourbon Palace, in solemnsession. It was there that Lafitte, elected to the chairmanship of theAssembly, proposed outright to confer upon the Duke of Orleans theLieutenant-Generalship of the realm. The majority applauded, and named acommittee to go to the Chamber of Peers, also in session, and informthem of the decision of the deputies. The peers spared no enthusiasm inacclaiming the Lieutenant-Generalship of Orleans, in order to safeguardtheir own places, their titles, and their pensions. One single voiceprotested against this act of turpitude, that of Chateaubriand. At theCity Hall, meanwhile, a municipal committee was in waiting there beforethe arrival of Lafayette. It was composed of Casimir Perier, GeneralLobau, and Messieurs Schonen, Audrey of Puyraveau, and Mauguin. Thesetwo last republicans and anti-Orleanists urged upon the committee toinstitute a provisional government, but the majority would not hear ofit, wishing, on the contrary, like Casimir Perier, to treat with CharlesX; or, like General Lobau, to turn over the office to Orleans. In fact,Messieurs Semonville and Sussy having presented themselves in the nameof Charles X, who then proposed to abdicate in favor of the Duke ofBordeaux, Casimir Perier consented to listen to their overtures. ButAudrey of Puyraveau cried out indignantly, 'If you do not break off yourshameful negotiations, sir, I shall bring the people up here!' Hislanguage intimidated Perier, and the Bourbon go-betweens retired,followed by Mauguin's words, 'It is too late, gentlemen.'

  "A deputation headed by the two Garnier-Page brothers was sent toGeneral Lafayette to offer him the supreme command of the NationalGuards of the kingdom; which he accepted. From that moment it was adictatorship. The General went to the City Hall, amid the transports ofthe people; he could do anything; he was master, and could have carriedthe revolution to its logical conclusion! But, with the exception ofMauguin and Audrey of Puyraveau, the municipal committee, insubordinating itself to Lafayette, contrived to frustrate any suchintention on his part by at once flattering and frightening him, posinghim in his own eyes as the supreme arbiter of the situation, and showinghim the responsibility that was falling upon him and the calamitiesready to loose themselves upon France if he did not attach himself tothe Duke of Orleans; whom, they went on with much ado to show, was able,by an unhoped-for piece of good fortune, to restore order and liberty,while as to the Republic--that was anarchy, that was civil war, that waswar with Europe! These words at once tickled Lafayette's vanity anddisturbed his honest conscience. He saw before him a role of a certaindegree of grandeur, that of sacrificing his personal convictions to thepeace of the country."

  "In other words, of sacrificing the Republic to senseless fears!" criedMarik.

  "History will severely reproach Lafayette for that defection, that lackof faith in the principles he supported, which he propagated for half acentury," continued Marik's father. "But, his character not being equalto the dizzy height of the position whither events had wafted him, heslipped; and promised his support to the Orleanists. In July, 1830, asin the old days of Thermidor, our enemies have defeated us by theirquickness, although we had right and the people on our side. The Communeshould at that time have triumphed over the scoundrels of theConvention, the same as to-day the City Hall should have triumphed overthe intrigues of the Bourbon Palace. May this new lesson be studied andtaken to heart by the revolutionists of the future."

  "Malediction on the Conservative deputies! They deserve to be shot!"

  "Our program contained in substance this: 'France is free, she wants aConstitution. She will accord to the provisional government no right butthat to consult the nation. The people should not, and can not, alienateits sovereignty. No more royalty. Let the executive power be delegatedto an elected President, responsible and subject to recall. Thelegislative power should be reposed in an Assembly elected by universalsuffrage. For these principles we have just exposed our lives and shedour blood, and we will uphold them at need by a new insurrection.'"

  "What effect had the reading of this program?" asked Marik.

  "It was applauded by the small number who could hear it. Some cried out,in their simplicity, 'That's the program of Lafayette! Long liveLafayette!' But at that moment a singular procession arrived at
the CityHall. It was headed by a coach in which sat Monsieur Lafitte, whose badleg prevented him from walking. Then came the Duke of Orleans, onhorseback, attended by Generals Gerard, Sebastiani, and others, andfollowed by the committee of the deputies who had named himLieutenant-General of the kingdom. The prince was pale and uneasy,although he affected to smile at the throngs of combatants, who stillcarried their arms. Their attitude, their words, became more and morethreatening. Some guns were even leveled at this man who, after thecombat, came to usurp the sovereignty of the people. But a feeling ofhumanity soon raised them again, and a few minutes later the Dukeappeared on the balcony of the City Hall with Lafayette. The latterembraced the Duke, and presented him to the people, with the words:

  "'Here, my friends, is the best of Republics--'

  "Such was the result for which the people of Paris had fought for threedays! It is for this that we risked our lives, that you shed your blood,my son--and that our old friends Castillon and Duchemin died valiantly,as did so many other patriots."

  "Great heaven! Father, what say you! Castillon--Duchemin--both dead!"

  In agony at his unfortunate words, Lebrenn turned to his wife: "Our sondid not know, then, the fate of our friends?"

  "Poor old Castillon--I loved him so," sobbed Marik, while his tearspoured upon the pillow. "Brave Duchemin--how did he meet his end?"

  "In spite of his age," said General Oliver, who had so far been a silentspectator of the scene, "he did not leave my side the whole day of the27th. His patriotic fervor seemed to double his strength. That night hewent home with me. At daybreak of the 28th we rejoined, in ProuvairesStreet, the citizens who were defending the barricades there. Thecolonel who commanded the attack, despairing of ever capturing thebarricade, attempted to demolish it with his cannon. A piece was broughtup, and at the first round a bullet rebounded and tore into Duchemin'sthigh. He fell, crying 'Long live the Republic!' Then he forced a smileon his lips, and with his last breath said to me, 'I die like an oldrepublican cannonier. Long live the Commune!'"

  Just then a servant entered, and said to Lebrenn, "Sir, one of theworkingmen who was here four days ago is come to ask news of Marik."

  "Let him come in," replied the young man's father.

  It was the artisan who, on the 27th, had acted as spokesman for hiscomrades of St. Denis Street. His head was wrapped in a bloody bandage;he was also wounded in the leg, and supported himself as with a cane,with the scabbard of a cavalry saber.

  "I heard that your son was wounded, Monsieur Lebrenn. I came to inquireafter him," he said.

  "My son's condition is causing us no uneasiness," Madam Lebrennanswered. "Be pleased to take a seat beside his bed, for you also arewounded."

  "I received a saber cut on the head and a bayonet thrust in the leg. Butthey will be healed in a day or two."

  Marik held out his hand to the workman, and said: "Thanks to you,citizen, for thinking of me. Thank you for your mark of sympathy."

  "Oh, that's nothing, Monsieur Marik," replied the workman, heartilypressing the proffered hand. "Only I am sorry to have to come alone tosee you, because the two comrades who accompanied me here--the otherevening--"

  "They are also wounded?" asked John Lebrenn hastily.

  "They are dead, sir," sighed the workman.

  "Still martyrs! How much blood Kings cause to flow! What woes they bringto families!"

  "Here, dear son, is how the political farce was wound up," began JohnLebrenn again, to complete his interrupted account. "The majority ofthe 221 opposition deputies, typified in Casimir Perier, Dupin,Sebastiani, Guizot, Thiers, and a few other reprobates, were terrifiedwhen they saw the insurrection on the 28th grow to formidableproportions. For, had it been defeated, the 221 would have been taken asits instigators, and, as such, assuredly condemned for high treasoneither to death or to life imprisonment; on the other hand, if it wassuccessful, they dreaded the establishment of the Republic. To conjureoff this double peril, they declared in their special sessions that theystill regarded Charles X as the legitimate King, and that if he wouldrevoke the ordinances and discharge his minister, they would at allcosts stand for the continuation of the elder branch. Penetrated by thisthought, they went to Marshal Marmont on the 28th to beg him to ceasefiring, declaring that if the ordinances were repealed, Paris wouldreturn to its duty. The Prince of Polignac, full of faith in his army,would listen to no proposition on the 27th nor on the 28th. He countedon the intervention of God. The stupid monarch and his minister did notbegin to recognize the gravity of their situation till the evening ofthe 29th, when the troops, thoroughly routed, beat a retreat upon St.Cloud. Then the ordinances were repealed, and Messieurs Mortemart andGerard were appointed ministers. Charles imagined that these concessionswould mollify the insurrectionists, and cause them to throw down theirarms."

  "And what sort of a role did James Lafitte play through all this?" againinquired Marik.

  "The minority of the deputies convened at his house, and, from the 28thon, they judged the kingship of Charles to be at an end. Thenceforward,yielding to the counsel of Beranger, they labored actively for the Dukeof Orleans. The rich bourgeoisie, the big commercial men, and a certainnumber of military chieftains, Gerard and Lobau among them, also ralliedto the Orleanist party, desiring a new kingdom under which they hoped toplace the actual government in the hands of a bourgeois oligarchy. Thehouse of James Lafitte was thus the center of the Orleanistwire-pullings. You asked my advice," continued Lebrenn to theworkingman, "in the name of your comrades, before entering the fight. Inthe light of our present set-back, do you regret having assisted in therevolution?"

  "No, Monsieur Lebrenn; I have no regret for having taken up arms. Nodoubt we have not obtained what we sought, a government of the people.But is it nothing to have cleaned out the Bourbons who wished to enslaveus? If we did not get the Republic this time, we at least know how to goabout driving out a King and defeating his army. We shall appeal to thespirit of insurrection!"

  "The day of retribution will come, my friend," declared Lebrenn. "A fewelected men, chosen not by the rank and file of the citizens, but by asmall party representing the privilege of riches, has decided upon theform of government for France and has offered the crown to LouisPhilippe. They have stained themselves with the guilt of usurping thesovereignty of the people, which is single, indivisible, andinalienable. To this usurpation we shall reply by a permanent conspiracyuntil the day of that new revolution when shall be proclaimed theRepublican government, which alone is compatible with the sovereignty ofthe people, which alone is capable of striking off the material andmental shackles of the proletariat. The Commune, and the Federationunder the Red Flag! Neither priests, nor Kings, nor masters!"

  "On that day," re-echoed the stalwart proletarian at Marik's bedside,"we shall all rise in arms, and cry:

  "Long live the Republic! Long live the Commune!"

  CONCLUSION

  I, John Lebrenn, concluded the writing of this account on the 29th ofDecember, 1831, the eve of the day on which a daughter was born to myson Marik; she was named Velleda, in memory of our Gallic nationality.

  To you, Marik, my beloved son, I bequeath this chronicle, along with thesword I received from General Hoche the day of the battle ofWeissenburg. You will join them to the other legends and relics of ourfamily, and you will bequeath them, in your turn, to your son Sacrovir.You will add to these scrolls the history of whatever new events maybefall in your time, and our posterity will continue, from generation togeneration, these our domestic annals.

  And now sons of Joel, courage, perseverance, hope--not only hope, butcertitude. In spite of the transient eclipses of the star of theRepublic since the beginning of this century, in spite of thedisappointment of which we were the victims in 1830, in spite of all thetrials which we, and our children, perhaps, have yet to undergo, thefuture of the world belongs to the principle of Democracy.

  * * * * *

  I, Marik Lebrenn, inscribe here, with unspeakable anguish
, the date ofApril 17, 1832, the evil day on which my beloved father and mother, bothat the same hour, although some distance from each other, died under thescourge of the cholera. They retained to the end the serenity of theirunsullied lives, and went to await us in those mysterious worlds wherewe shall at last be reborn, to continue to live in mind and body, andfollow there our eternal existence.

  THE END.

  FOOTNOTES:

  [1] See "The Pocket Bible," the sixteenth of this series.

  [2] See "The Iron Arrow Head," the tenth of this series.

  [3] This speech, which clearly shows the social tendencies of the mostradical party in 1789, is here reproduced almost literally from Luchet,_Essays on the Illuminati_, chap. V, p. 23.

  [4] See, for details of these scenes, and the questions and discourse ofthe initiators, Luchet's _Essays on the Illuminati_, chap. V. p. 23, andfollowing; also Robinson, _Proofs of a Conspiracy against All theReligions and all the Governments of Europe_, vol. I, p. 114 andfollowing.

  [5] See the preceding work in this series, "The Blacksmith's Hammer."

  [6] The old palace of the Bourbons, now abandoned to cheap lodgings andhucksters' booths.

  [7] All the persons and facts cited in this story as of historicimportance, are authentic.

  [8] For an exactly parallel line of conduct, see that of Abbot Le Roy,at the time of the invasion of Reveillon's paper factory in the St.Antoine suburb, as given in the admirable _History of the Revolution_ byLouis Blanc. We are glad to render here this public testimony of oursympathy and old friendship for an illustrious campaign in exile.

  [9] Mirabeau's death was for long attributed to poison.

  [10] The correspondence found at the Tuileries, in the Iron Cupboard, onAugust 10, 1792, and the correspondence of the Count of Lamark,published in our day, establish superabundantly the treason of Mirabeau.

  [11] See "The Abbatial Crosier," volume eight in this series.

  [12] See "The Infant's Skull," volume eleven in this series.

  [13] As each year started anew on the autumnal equinox, the dates varieda little from those here given. Those given are for the first year ofthe era. September, 1792, to September, 1793.

  [14] The name for the paper notes issued by the Convention.

  [15] Department of War, Sec. III, Correspondence, 1793-1794.

  [16] This note is historic.

  [17] It is fallaciously that tradition reports the attempted suicide ofRobespierre. He was assaulted by the gendarme Herda. See the _Monitor_,session of the 10th Thermidor.

  [18] The first care of the Royalists in the Convention, the day afterthe 9th Thermidor, was not to decree liberty to the suspects, but to goin person to open the prisons, whence flocked forth a horde ofrecalcitrant priests and blood-stained counter-revolutionaries.