Lot n° 343
Estimation :
400 - 600
EUR
"LORD, SAVE THE KING." Manuscript entitled "Domine Salvum Fa - Lot 343
"LORD, SAVE THE KING." Manuscript entitled "Domine Salvum Fac Regem" Royalist and polemical testimony recounting the revolutionary events of October 6-7, 1789, when King Louis XVI and the Royal Family were forcibly brought back to Paris, escorted by General LA FAYETTE and the Crowd. The King, Queen and Dauphin were taken to the Tuileries. "October 21st 1789. O Sorrow!... I am going to have the horror of tracing for my century the most odious Conspiracy with which the splendors of Monarchy are soiled. It's a question of attacking a popular party, it's a question of grouping around the throne the true friends, the true protectors of the Nation; should lightning fall on my head, should the famous magic lantern wait for me as its last victim, I will be the historian of the mysteries of iniquity we have just witnessed... Peoples of France, to what extremity are you going to reduce yourselves? Recall if you can without shuddering that disastrous night, that appalling night when you directed your march on the palace of your Kings: Recall those gloomy moments; ... You-alliez, perhaps animated by unknown impulses, carry the iron, the flame in all the kingdom, your fathers, your masters, your brothers. Throated by your bloody hands, you were about to turn France into a theater of horror and despair! .... Paris October 15, 1789. Another revolution, my friend, let's hope it's the last... Louis XVI reigns over Paris, undivided, untroubled. We did need a protector and Lieutenants-Généraux. Mr. Necker, Mr. Archbishop of Bordeaux, Mr. Montmorin, Mr. de La Fayette have served us well, listen carefully to what follows; ... What did we want? no doubt by stirring up the People, the women, by running out of bread, ... by making the people rise up against Mr. Necker, Mr. Bailly, Mr. La Fayette, ... the lantern ready, the Women on their way to Versailles. Everything was going as well as could be expected, but unfortunately Mr. Necker, and above all the Archbishop of Bordeaux, were opposed to the King's departure. He comes to Paris, and the whole machine goes haywire... Paris October 18, 1789. The crank is still turning, Mon cher Ami, as I write to you, the kingdom of France is being played for pay or no pay in the Tuileries, the Duke of Orleans has been arrested in Boulogne... October 19, 1789... Chance has provided me with valuable information for those who will sooner or later chisel the burlesque and tragic history of our Revolution. I promise myself to silently gather all the material... the cherished word of our good King, and then will be a true national reorganization, composed neither of aristocrats nor democrats but of socrates... before the new sages, the day of vengeance will arrive. I am not afraid, my friend, to make these predictions, and I publish my entire philippic without fear... that French events will not keep your prudence asleep. Remember that your enemies are constantly on the watch... The King in Paris; in your prayers to the supreme being who watches over our preservation, add these four touching words: Domine Salvum Fac Regem (Lord, save the King)." (Extracts)
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