Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . romising letters had beenfound in a secret hiding place—an iron safe letinto the wall. There was mystery about the dis-covery. The man who had made the safe hadinformed Roland, and Roland had kept the papersin his possession for more than two hours beforeimforming the committee appointed to search forsuch evidence. Had Roland tampered with theletters for his own purposes and extracted suchones as would have compromised his Girondistfriends? Or it is possible that other documentswere inserted in order to make the case more plainagainst the King? Loui
Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . romising letters had beenfound in a secret hiding place—an iron safe letinto the wall. There was mystery about the dis-covery. The man who had made the safe hadinformed Roland, and Roland had kept the papersin his possession for more than two hours beforeimforming the committee appointed to search forsuch evidence. Had Roland tampered with theletters for his own purposes and extracted suchones as would have compromised his Girondistfriends? Or it is possible that other documentswere inserted in order to make the case more plainagainst the King? Louis XVI at his trial deniedtheir authenticity and urged that the letters besubmitted to an expert in handwriting; but thishis accusers refused to permit.\ Among the secrets revealed by the iron safe wasthat of Mirabeaus dealings with the court. In aninstant the great mans glory faded to an ashengrey. We have a remarkable cartoon, entitledRoyal Correspondence. The doors of thegreat cupboard are thrown open and the skeleton Plate 121, p. Plate 121. A cartoon representing the opening of the secret iron safe, and showing Roland and the man who had betrayed the secret facing the skeleton of Mirabeau, which holds the crown in one hand and a bag of money in the other. 283 284 The French Revolution of Mirabeau appears throned on the books andpapers. One hand rests on the royal crown, inthe other is a bag of money. Roland, in the corner,spreads out his hands in amazement, while above,Louis XVI, as a serpent, vomits into a cap ofLiberty. One can imagine to what frenzied denunciationsof Louis these revelations gave rise. He is amonster who has been fattening on crime. With hisAustrian pantheress he had plotted the annihila-tion of those in authority as well as of the JacobinClub—yes, he had intended to set fire to Paris andreduce it to a heap of ruins and of corpses. Onepaper regrets that the holy wrath of the country has not yet sent to the guillotine Louis Neroand Medicis Antoin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcaricat, bookyear1912
