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Untitled Article
Mirabeau , I often thought that I enjoyed the satisfaction of an * obscure individual , who had changed his children at nurse , and introduced them into a great family /—p . 77 . Referring to the oratipn on bankruptcy , in which Mirabeau rose to sublimity , Dumont says , c Those who heard this discourse will never forget it ; he excited such a sensation of terror , that his auditors thought they saw a gulf yawning to devour them , and heard the groans of those it had swallowed . The effect was the
more striking , as this speech was a sudden rejoinder which could not be prepared , and which he owed entirely to his own resources . " * —p . 70 . What but the loftiest eloquence , inspired by genius , could have dictated to Mirabeau the memorable words which he addressed to the Marquis of Dreuz Brize , when he presented himself , in the
name of the king , to call upon the Assembly to separate . « Go , tell your master that we are here by the will of the people , and that we will not depart unless by the force of bayonets . ' The following is Dumont ' s account of the deplorable blunder of the court , which may be ascribed to the generalship of the Comte d'Artois ( Charles X . ) * The day that the king went down to the Assembly , I was at the palace to see the magnificent procession .
I well remember the lowering , and at the same time triumphant faces of many who came to the castle ; they wished to look calm , but their emotion was evident , in spite of themselves . The Comte d'Artois looked proud , the king mournful : the crowd was great , and the silence profound . When the king got into his
coach , the drums were heard , and there was a clangor of different instruments , but not one shout of applause , not one vive le rau Fear alone restrained the expression of dissatisfaction ; at last the vast body was put in motion ; the royal household , the guards , the officers of the cavalry , all advanced towards the hall of the States-General , where the three orders , distrustful of one another ,
were awaiting , in mute indignation , the result of this important day . Never were more violent antagonist passions contained in the same walls . The ' * spectacle 3 ' precisely the same as at the opening of the States-General , but what a difference in the
feelings ! The first was a national fete , the revival of liberty ; in the latter case , the pomp which had before charmed the eyes now struck the people with terror ; the brilliancy of the nobility , the splendour of the throne , the display of royal pomp , were all as a funeral procession/—p . 65 .
What is going on at this day in the political world appears like the repetition of the course of events so faithfully described by Dumont , the same acts of weakness , the same of ostentation and of folly , the same discomfiture , the same humiliation , and the same popular heroism . The remarks of Mr . Dumont are distinguished by a profound and sincere esteem for Mirabeau . by great accuracy as to facts ,
Untitled Article
Mirabeau . & 3 $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1832, page 533, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1818/page/29/
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