Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . st! There were banners with the names of thedead and others with recitals of the Kings iniqui-ties. These names and these sentiments, we aretold, first desolated the hearts of the onlookers,but then roused them to the highest pitch ofindignation against the authors of so many was a touching group of women in whiteand black who bore the petition for Louis XVIsdethronement that had been drawn up after theflight to Varennes, and it was explained that a wholeyear of liberty would have been gained had it beenheeded at the time. France would
Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . st! There were banners with the names of thedead and others with recitals of the Kings iniqui-ties. These names and these sentiments, we aretold, first desolated the hearts of the onlookers,but then roused them to the highest pitch ofindignation against the authors of so many was a touching group of women in whiteand black who bore the petition for Louis XVIsdethronement that had been drawn up after theflight to Varennes, and it was explained that a wholeyear of liberty would have been gained had it beenheeded at the time. France would have beendelivered of a despot who was the born enemy ofthe rights of man. A huge sarcophagus containing the bodies ofthe fallen (possibly they were merely symbolicalbodies) approached, drawn by oxen, throughclouds of incense. The swords of the patriotswho formed the escort were twined with oak leaves,and the inscriptions on their banners breathedterrible threats of vengeance and exhorted widowsand mothers to weep for their slain. There was. Plate 117. A portrait of Robespierre. From an oil painting. 269 270 The French Revolution an image of Liberty and another of Law, theescort of Law being made up of judges. Such celebrations undoubtedly were a means offanning revolutionary passions into flame. Buthere, as on many another similar occasion, one seesthe ropes and pulleys behind the scenes. Had itnot been for a body of agitators who made it theirchief occupation to hound and lure others on,the Revolution might have ended with the com-pletion of the Constitution. The Revolutions deParis itself is authority for the statement that allthis display of patriotism at the fete in honourof the tenth of August failed of its effect; that theproper sadness and holy indignation were notdisplayed by the spectators; that the mourning wasevidenced more in the garments than in the faces;that an air of dissipation and even of noisy joyformed too great a contrast to the symbols ofgrief; that the d
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcaricat, bookyear1912
