Part 79 (1/2)
”In other words, of sacrificing the Republic to senseless fears!” cried Marik.
”History will severely reproach Lafayette for that defection, that lack of faith in the principles he supported, which he propagated for half a century,” continued Marik's father. ”But, his character not being equal to the dizzy height of the position whither events had wafted him, he slipped; and promised his support to the Orleanists. In July, 1830, as in the old days of Thermidor, our enemies have defeated us by their quickness, although we had right and the people on our side. The Commune should at that time have triumphed over the scoundrels of the Convention, the same as to-day the City Hall should have triumphed over the intrigues of the Bourbon Palace. May this new lesson be studied and taken 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 a Const.i.tution. She will accord to the provisional government no right but that to consult the nation. The people should not, and can not, alienate its sovereignty. No more royalty. Let the executive power be delegated to an elected President, responsible and subject to recall. The legislative power should be reposed in an a.s.sembly elected by universal suffrage. For these principles we have just exposed our lives and shed our 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 live Lafayette!' But at that moment a singular procession arrived at the City Hall. It was headed by a coach in which sat Monsieur Lafitte, whose bad leg prevented him from walking. Then came the Duke of Orleans, on horseback, attended by Generals Gerard, Sebastiani, and others, and followed by the committee of the deputies who had named him Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. The prince was pale and uneasy, although he affected to smile at the throngs of combatants, who still carried their arms. Their att.i.tude, their words, became more and more threatening. Some guns were even leveled at this man who, after the combat, came to usurp the sovereignty of the people. But a feeling of humanity soon raised them again, and a few minutes later the Duke appeared on the balcony of the City Hall with Lafayette. The latter embraced 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 three days! It is for this that we risked our lives, that you shed your blood, my son--and that our old friends Castillon and d.u.c.h.emin died valiantly, as did so many other patriots.”
”Great heaven! Father, what say you! Castillon--d.u.c.h.emin--both dead!”
In agony at his unfortunate words, Lebrenn turned to his wife: ”Our son did not know, then, the fate of our friends?”
”Poor old Castillon--I loved him so,” sobbed Marik, while his tears poured upon the pillow. ”Brave d.u.c.h.emin--how did he meet his end?”
”In spite of his age,” said General Oliver, who had so far been a silent spectator of the scene, ”he did not leave my side the whole day of the 27th. His patriotic fervor seemed to double his strength. That night he went home with me. At daybreak of the 28th we rejoined, in Prouvaires Street, the citizens who were defending the barricades there. The colonel who commanded the attack, despairing of ever capturing the barricade, attempted to demolish it with his cannon. A piece was brought up, and at the first round a bullet rebounded and tore into d.u.c.h.emin's thigh. He fell, crying 'Long live the Republic!' Then he forced a smile on his lips, and with his last breath said to me, 'I die like an old republican cannonier. Long live the Commune!'”
Just then a servant entered, and said to Lebrenn, ”Sir, one of the workingmen 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 his comrades of St. Denis Street. His head was wrapped in a b.l.o.o.d.y 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 inquire after him,” he said.
”My son's condition is causing us no uneasiness,” Madam Lebrenn answered. ”Be pleased to take a seat beside his bed, for you also are wounded.”
”I received a saber cut on the head and a bayonet thrust in the leg. But they 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, heartily pressing the proffered hand. ”Only I am sorry to have to come alone to see you, because the two comrades who accompanied me here--the other evening--”
”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 bring to families!”
”Here, dear son, is how the political farce was wound up,” began John Lebrenn again, to complete his interrupted account. ”The majority of the 221 opposition deputies, typified in Casimir Perier, Dupin, Sebastiani, Guizot, Thiers, and a few other reprobates, were terrified when they saw the insurrection on the 28th grow to formidable proportions. For, had it been defeated, the 221 would have been taken as its instigators, and, as such, a.s.suredly condemned for high treason either to death or to life imprisonment; on the other hand, if it was successful, they dreaded the establishment of the Republic. To conjure off this double peril, they declared in their special sessions that they still regarded Charles X as the legitimate King, and that if he would revoke the ordinances and discharge his minister, they would at all costs stand for the continuation of the elder branch. Penetrated by this thought, they went to Marshal Marmont on the 28th to beg him to cease firing, declaring that if the ordinances were repealed, Paris would return 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 counted on the intervention of G.o.d. The stupid monarch and his minister did not begin to recognize the gravity of their situation till the evening of the 29th, when the troops, thoroughly routed, beat a retreat upon St.
Cloud. Then the ordinances were repealed, and Messieurs Mortemart and Gerard were appointed ministers. Charles imagined that these concessions would mollify the insurrectionists, and cause them to throw down their arms.”