human
No, you are mistaken, my dear Constant. No, I am not against the Republic. Quite on the contrary, those who know me know with what ardor I adopted the principles of '89. But I have a horror of sans-culottism, and vulgar loves. As soon as it became apparent that Liberty, instead of being the most chaste and beautiful of women, was a mere vulgar courtesan who passed from Marat's arms to those of Danton, and thence to Robespierre's, my respect for her ceased. Let there be no more princes, no more dukes, no more counts, no more marquises; I am perfectly willing. Citizen is a fine title when it is addressed to Cato; citizeness is even more noble when Cornelia is its object. But to be on intimate terms with my laundress, and to talk familiarly with my coachman, is more than I can agree to. Equality is a fine thing, but the word equality needs to be defined. If it signifies that education must be equal for all at the expense of the government, then it is most excellent; that all men shall be equal before the law, still more excellent. But if it means that all French citizens shall be of the same height, cut, and physical appearance, then it becomes the law of Procrustes, and not a proclamation of the rights of man. If I had to choose between the law of Lycurgus and that of Solon, between Sparta and Athens, I should choose Athens, and, furthermore, the Athens of Pericles, and not that of Pisistratus.
gpt
Well! replied the handsome young man to whom this social sally was addressed, with his witty smile, and who was none other than Benjamin Constant,
human
Her decline? With Pericles? It seems to me that on the contrary I choose her in all her splendor.
gpt
Yes; but, madame, nothing begins with splendor. Splendor is the fruit which is preceded by the buds, the flowers, and the leaves. You will have none of Pisistratus, and you are wrong. It was he who, in placing himself at the head of the poorer classes, prepared the future greatness of Athens. As for his two sons, Hipparchus and Hippias, I abandon them to you. But Aclysthenes, who increased the number of senators to five hundred, as our Convention has just done, began the period of the great Persian wars. Miltiades defeated the Persians at Marathon; Pichegru has just conquered the Prussians and the Austrians. Themistocles destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis; Moreau has just captured the Dutch fleet by a cavalry charge. It is even more original. The liberty of Greece sprang from the very wars which seemed to threaten her with inevitable destruction, as ours has from our war with foreign powers. Then it was that the privileges were extended; then it was that the archons and magistrates were chosen from all classes irrespective of degree. Moreover, you forget that Æschylus was born during this fertile period. Illuminated by the unconscious divination of power, he created the character of Prometheus; or, in other words, the revolt of man against tyranny--Æschylus, the younger brother of Homer, who seems nevertheless the elder.
human
Bravo! bravo! said a voice.
gpt
You are strong in literature, upon my word. But in the meantime they are cutting one another's throats in the Section Le Peletier and the Quartier Feydeau. There, just hear the bells! They have returned from Rome.
human
Ah! is it you, Barbé-Marbois, said Madame de Staël, addressing a man in the forties, very handsome, but with the pomposity and vapidity which is so often met with in palaces and among diplomats--a very honest man for all that, and the son-in-law of William Moore, the president and governor of Pennsylvania.
gpt
Where do you come from?
human
Straight from the Convention.
gpt
And what are they doing there?
human
Arguing. They have outlawed the Sectionists and are arming the patriots. As for the Sectionists, they have already found the bells, which proves that they are monarchists in disguise. To-morrow they will find their guns, and then there will be a fine rumpus.
gpt
What can you expect? asked a man with straight hair, hollow temples, livid skin, and a crooked mouth; a man who was ugly with the twofold ugliness of man and beast.
human
I kept telling them at the Convention, 'As long as you do not have an organized police and a minister of police--one who is not only appointed to the office but fitted for it--things will go to the devil.' Well, I who have a dozen fellows under me for the pleasure of it--I who am an amateur policeman because I like the business--I am better informed than they.
gpt
And what do you know, Monsieur Fouché?
human
Faith, madame, I know that the Chouans have been convoked from all parts of the kingdom, and that the day before yesterday, at Lemaistre's house--you know Lemaistre, baroness?
gpt
Is he not the agent of the princes?
human
That's the man. Well, the Jura and the Morbihan shook hands there.
gpt
Which means--?
human
Which means that Cadoudal renewed his vow of fidelity, and the Count de Sainte-Hermine his oath of vengeance.
gpt
We know who Cadoudal is, replied Madame de Staël.
human
He is a Chouan, who, after fighting in the Vendée, has crossed the Loire; but who is this Comte de Sainte-Hermine?
gpt
The Comte de Sainte-Hermine is a young noble who belongs to one of the best families of the Jura. He is the second of three sons. His father was guillotined, his mother died of grief, his brother was shot at Auenheim, and he has sworn to avenge his father and his brother. The mysterious president of the Section Le Peletier, the famous Morgan who insulted the Convention in its own hall of assembly, do you know who he is?
human
No.
gpt
Well, he is the man.
human
Really, Monsieur Fouché, said Benjamin Constant,
gpt
And if I were, replied Fouché,
human
Paris would be quieter than it is now. I ask you, is it not perfectly absurd to quail before the Sections? Menou ought to be shot.
gpt
Citizen, said Madame Krüdener, who affected republican forms of speech,
human
He knows that one minim is worth two crotchets,