Zanoni — Edward Bulwer-Lytton

discomposed. “But how could one expect gallantry from such a scarecrow! ” “Citizen, I beg to avise thee! that thou art treading on my feet. I beg thy pardon, but now I look at thine, I see the hall is not wide enough for them.” “Ho! Citizen Nicot,” cried a Jacobin, shouldering his formidable bludgeon, “ and what brings thee hither? —thinkest thou that Hébert’s crimes are forgotten already? Off, sport of Nature! and thank the Htre Supréme that he made thee insignificant enough to be forgiven.” “ A pretty face to look out of the National Window,” ? said the woman whose robe the painter had ruffled. “ Citizens,” said Nicot, white with passion, but constraining himself so that his words seemed to come from grinded teeth, “I have the honor to inform you that I seek the Représentant upon business of the utmost importance to the public and himself; and,” he added slowly and malignantly, glaring round, “I call all good citizens to be my witnesses when I shall complain to Robespierre of the reception bestowed on me by some amongst you.” There was in the man’s look and his tone of voice so much of deep and concentrated malignity, that the idlers drew back; and as the remembrance of the sudden ups and downs of revolutionary life occurred to

The courteous use of the plural was proscribed at Paris. The Societés Populaires had decided that whoever used it should be prosecuted as suspect et adulateur! At the door of the public administrations and popular societies was written up, “Ici on s’honore du Citoyen, et on se tutoye”!!!* Take away Murder from the French Revolution. and it becomes the greatest farce ever played before the angels! - 2 The Guillotine.

a * Here they respect the title of Citizen, and they ¢ee and ¢hou one another, *

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them, several voices were lifted to assure the squalid and ragged painter that nothing was farther from their thoughts than to offer affront to a citizen whose very appearance proved him to be an exemplary sans-culotte. Nicot received these apologies in sullen silence, and, folding his arms, leaned against the wall, waiting in grim patience for his admission. The loiterers talked to each other in separate knots of two and three; and through the general hum rang the clear, loud, careless whistle of the tall Jacobin who stood guard by the stairs. Next to Nicot, an old woman and a young virgin were muttering in earnest whispers, and the atheist painter chuckled inly to overhear their discourse. “T assure thee, my dear,” said the crone, with a mysterious shake of head, “that the divine Catherine Theot, whom the impious now persecute, is really inspired, There can be no doubt that the elect, of whom Dom Gerle and the virtuous Robespierre are destined to be the two grand prophets, will enjoy eternal life here, and exterminate all their enemies, There is no doubt of it, — not the least! ” “How delightful! ” said the girl; “ce cher Robespierre ! — he does not look very long-lived either! ” “The greater the miracle,” said the old woman. “I am just eighty-one, and I don’t feel a day older since Catherine Theot promised me I should be one of the elect! ” Here the women were jostled aside by some newcomers, who talked loud and eagerly. “ Yes,” cried a brawny man, whose garb denoted him to be a butcher, with bare arms, and a cap of liberty on his head; “Iam come to warn Robespierre, They lay a snare for him; they offer him the Palais

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National. On ne peut étre ami du peuple et habiter un palais.” + “No, indeed,” answered a cordonnier ; “I like him best in his little lodging with the menwisier: it looks like one of ws.” Another rush of the crowd, and a new group were thrown forward in the vicinity of Nicot. And these men gabbled and chattered faster and louder than the rest. “But my plan is — ” “ Au diable with your plan! I tell you my scheme is fas »” P “ Nonsense!” cried a third. “When Robespierre understands my new method of making gunpowder, the enemies of France shall — ” “Bah! who fears foreign enemies?” interrupted a fourth; ‘‘the enemies to be feared are at home. My new guillotine takes off fifty heads at a time! ” “ But my new Constitution! ” exclaimed a fifth. “My new Religion, citizen! ” murmured, complacently, a sixth. “ Sacré mille tonnerres, silence! ” roared forth one of the Jacobin guard. And the crowd suddenly parted as a fierce-looking man, buttoned up to the chin, his sword rattling by his side, his spurs clinking at his heel, descended the stairs, — his cheeks swollen and purple with intemperance, his eyes dead and savage as a vulture’s. There was a still pause, as all, with pale cheeks, made way for the relentless Henriot.? Scarce had this gruff and iron

1 “ No one can be a friend of the people, and dwell in a palace.” — Papiers inédits trouvés chez Robespierre, etc., vol. ii. p. 132. 2.Or Hanriot. It is singular how undetermined are not only the characters of the French Revolution, but even the spelling of their

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