Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . well with our book as with the Revolutions deParis—you see nothing but a Simon-pure noble,with his titles of nobility for a collar and his privi-leges for a cravat, giving forth hearty guffaws oflaughter. Above one reads: An aristocrat trust-ing in counter-revolution. -Mirabeau had not attempted to stand by theKing openly in this matter of the civil constitutionof the clergy. Indeed he made so violent an on-slaught on the latter that he was elected presidentof the Jacobin Club.^ Yet in secret he continuedhis relations with the court, declaring that
Symbol and satire in the French Revolution . well with our book as with the Revolutions deParis—you see nothing but a Simon-pure noble,with his titles of nobility for a collar and his privi-leges for a cravat, giving forth hearty guffaws oflaughter. Above one reads: An aristocrat trust-ing in counter-revolution. -Mirabeau had not attempted to stand by theKing openly in this matter of the civil constitutionof the clergy. Indeed he made so violent an on-slaught on the latter that he was elected presidentof the Jacobin Club.^ Yet in secret he continuedhis relations with the court, declaring that the moreacts of folly the Assembly could be induced to com-mit the sooner there would come a revision of thewhole Constitution. The King and Queen weremeanwhile to increase their own popularity by vis-iting hospitals and asylums and seeking to improvethe condition of the working classes. There was tobe an extensive system of spies and secret agents toinfluence public opinion in favour of the monarchy, Plate 74, p. 157. Stern, ii., 219 Plate 73. A representation of the awful fate in store for the priest who will not take the civic oath. The wind whistles through his bones. 155 156 The French Revolution and a heavily subsidized press as well. When wereflect that Mirabeaus programme included incit-ing the clergy not to take the civic oath, it is diffi-cult to see in him anything but a common traitorto his cause. What Mirabeau merely planned to do for theKing was meanwhile being done on a large scalefor the opposite party, the leaders of which wereRobespierre, Petion and others. Their friendspacked the galleries in the Assembly, while theJacobin clubs disseminated their teachings through-out France. Those holding opposite opinions werehounded as execrable criminals. Whether or notthe Revolutions de Paris was paid for its goodoffices is not clear, but it keeps up its attacks on theKing and Queen like a gadfly. Louis is railed atfor not visiting the ruins of the Bastile; for a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcaricat, bookyear1912
