Louis XVII.
The tremendous cannonading, however, had a singular effect upon the inhabitants of the great public hospital of Charenton, in which it may be remembered Louis XVII. had been, as in mockery, confined. His majesty2 of demeanor3, his calm deportment, the reasonableness of his pretensions4, had not failed to strike with awe5 and respect his four thousand comrades of captivity6. The Emperor of China, the Princess of the Moon, Julius Caesar, Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, the Pope of Rome, the Cacique of Mexico, and several singular and illustrious personages who happened to be confined there, all held a council with Louis XVII.; and all agreed that now or never was the time to support his legitimate7 pretensions to the Crown of France. As the cannons8 roared around them, they howled with furious delight in response. They took counsel together: Dr. Pinel and the infamous9 jailers, who, under the name of keepers, held them in horrible captivity, were pounced10 upon and overcome in a twinkling. The strait-waistcoats were taken off from the wretched captives languishing11 in the dungeons12; the guardians13 were invested in these shameful14 garments, and with triumphant15 laughter plunged16 under the Douches. The gates of the prison were flung open, and they marched forth17 in the blackness of the storm!
***
On the third day, the cannonading was observed to decrease; only a gun went off fitfully now and then.
***
On the fourth day, the Parisians said to one another, “Tiens! ils sont fatigues18, les cannoniers des forts!”— and why? Because there was no more powder?— Ay, truly, there WAS no more powder.
There was no more powder, no more guns, no more gunners, no more forts, no more nothing. THE FORTS HAD BLOWN EACH OTHER UP. The battle-roar ceased. The battle-clouds rolled off. The silver moon, the twinkling stars, looked blandly19 down from the serene20 azure,— and all was peace — stillness — the stillness of death. Holy, holy silence!
Yes: the battle of Paris was over. And where were the combatants? All gone — not one left!— And where was Louis Philippe? The venerable Prince was a captive in the Tuileries; the Irish Brigade was encamped around it: they had reached the palace a little too late; it was already occupied by the partisans21 of his Majesty Louis XVII.
That respectable monarch22 and his followers23 better knew the way to the Tuileries than the ignorant sons of Erin. They burst through the feeble barriers of the guards; they rushed triumphant into the kingly halls of the palace; they seated the seventeenth Louis on the throne of his ancestors; and the Parisians read in the Journal des Debats, of the fifth of November; an important article, which proclaimed that the civil war was concluded:—
“The troubles which distracted the greatest empire in the world are at an end. Europe, which marked with sorrow the disturbances24 which agitated25 the bosom26 of the Queen of Nations, the great leader of Civilization, may now rest in peace. That monarch whom we have long been sighing for; whose image has lain hidden, and yet oh! how passionately27 worshipped, in every French heart, is with us once more. Blessings28 be on him; blessings — a thousand blessings upon the happy country which is at length restored to his beneficent, his legitimate, his reasonable sway!
“His Most Christian29 Majesty Louis XVII. yesterday arrived at his palace of the Tulleries, accompanied by his august allies. His Royal Highness the Duke of Orleans has resigned his post as Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, and will return speedily to take up his abode30 at the Palais Royal. It is a great mercy that the children of his Royal Highness, who happened to be in the late forts round Paris, (before the bombardment which has so happily ended in their destruction,) had returned to their father before the commencement of the cannonading. They will continue, as heretofore, to be the most loyal supporters of order and the throne.
“None can read without tears in their eyes our august monarch’s proclamation.
“‘Louis, by &c.—
“‘My children! After nine hundred and ninety-nine years of captivity, I am restored to you. The cycle of events predicted by the ancient Magi, and the planetary convolutions mentioned in the lost Sibylline31 books, have fulfilled their respective idiosyncrasies, and ended (as always in the depths of my dungeons I confidently expected) in the triumph of the good Angel, and the utter discomfiture32 of the abominable33 Blue Dragon.
“‘When the bombarding began, and the powers of darkness commenced their hellish gunpowder34 evolutions, I was close by — in my palace of Charenton, three hundred and thirty-three thousand miles off, in the ring of Saturn35 — I witnessed your misery37. My heart was affected38 by it, and I said, “Is the multiplication-table a fiction? are the signs of the Zodiac mere39 astronomers’ prattle40?”
“‘I clapped chains, shrieking41 and darkness, on my physician, Dr. Pinel. The keepers I shall cause to be roasted alive. I summoned my allies round about me. The high contracting Powers came to my bidding: monarchs42 from all parts of the earth; sovereigns from the Moon and other illumined orbits; the white necromancers, and the pale imprisoned43 genii. I whispered the mystic sign, and the doors flew open. We entered Paris in triumph, by the Charenton bridge. Our luggage was not examined at the Octroi. The bottle-green ones were scared at our shouts, and retreated, howling: they knew us, and trembled.
“‘My faithful Peers and Deputies will rally around me. I have a friend in Turkey — the Grand Vizier of the Mussulmans: he was a Protestant once — Lord Brougham by name. I have sent to him to legislate44 for us: he is wise in the law, and astrology, and all sciences; he shall aid my Ministers in their councils. I have written to him by the post. There shall be no more infamous mad-houses in France, where poor souls shiver in strait-waistcoats.
“‘I recognized Louis Philippe, my good cousin. He was in his counting-house, counting out his money, as the old prophecy warned me. He gave me up the keys of his gold; I shall know well how to use it. Taught by adversity, I am not a spendthrift, neither am I a miser36. I will endow the land with noble institutions instead of diabolical45 forts. I will have no more cannon1 founded. They are a curse and shall be melted — the iron ones into railroads; the bronze ones into statues of beautiful saints, angels, and wise men; the copper46 ones into money, to be distributed among my poor. I was poor once, and I love them.
“‘There shall be no more poverty; no more wars; no more avarice47; no more passports; no more custom-houses; no more lying: no more physic.
“‘My Chambers48 will put the seal to these reforms. I will it. I am the king.
(Signed) ‘Louis.’”
“Some alarm was created yesterday by the arrival of a body of the English Foot-Guard under the Duke of Jenkins; they were at first about to sack the city, but on hearing that the banner of the lilies was once more raised in France, the Duke hastened to the Tuileries, and offered his allegiance to his Majesty. It was accepted: and the Plush Guard has been established in place of the Swiss, who waited on former sovereigns.”
“The Irish Brigade quartered in the Tuileries are to enter our service. Their commander states that they took every one of the forts round Paris, and having blown them up, were proceeding49 to release Louis XVII., when they found that august monarch, happily, free. News of their glorious victory has been conveyed to Dublin, to his Majesty the King of the Irish. It will be a new laurel to add to his green crown!”
And thus have we brought to a conclusion our history of the great French Revolution of 1884. It records the actions of great and various characters; the deeds of various valor50; it narrates51 wonderful reverses of fortune; it affords the moralist scope for his philosophy; perhaps it gives amusement to the merely idle reader. Nor must the latter imagine, because there is not a precise moral affixed52 to the story, that its tendency is otherwise than good. He is a poor reader, for whom his author is obliged to supply a moral application. It is well in spelling-books and for children; it is needless for the reflecting spirit. The drama of Punch himself is not moral: but that drama has had audiences all over the world. Happy he, who in our dark times can cause a smile! Let us laugh then, and gladden in the sunshine, though it be but as the ray upon the pool, that flickers53 only over the cold black depths below!
The End
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1
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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guardians
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| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fatigues
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| n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服 | |
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blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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partisans
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| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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sibylline
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| adj.预言的；神巫的 | |
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discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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Saturn
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| n.农神，土星 | |
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miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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legislate
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| vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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50
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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51
narrates
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| v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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52
affixed
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| adj.[医]附着的，附着的v.附加( affix的过去式和过去分词 )；粘贴；加以；盖（印章） | |
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53
flickers
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| 电影制片业； （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的名词复数 ) | |
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