“But,” said Necker, “their republic of the United States does not alarm me much, and I willingly accept such a form of government.”
“Yes, but between America and ourselves there is a deep gulf. America is a new country, without prejudices, without aristocratic privileges, without monarchy. It has a fertile soil, productive land, and virgin forests; America, which is situated between a sea which serves as an outlet for its commerce, and an immense solitude which is a source of wealth to its population, while France,—just consider how much it would be necessary to destroy in France before France can resemble America!”
“But, in fine, what do you intend to prove by this?”
“I mean to point out to you the path into which we are inevitably forced. But I would endeavor to advance into it without causing any shock, by placing the king at the head of the movement.”
“As a standard?”
“No, but as a shield.”
“A shield!” observed Necker, smiling. “You know but little of the king if you wish to make him play such a part.”
“Pardon me,—I know him well. Oh, gracious heaven! I know full well he is a man similar to a thousand others whom I have seen at the head of small districts in America; he is a good man without majesty, incapable of resistance, without originality of mind. But what would you have? Were it only for his sacred title, he would still be a rampart against those men of whom I was speaking to you a short time ago; and however weak the rampart may be, we like it better than no defence at all.
“I remember in our wars with the savage tribes of North America,” continued Gilbert, “I remember having passed whole nights behind a clump of bulrushes, while the enemy was on the opposite bank of the river, and firing upon us.
“A bulrush is certainly no great defence. Still, I must frankly acknowledge to you, Monsieur de Necker, that my heart beat more freely behind those large green tubes, which were cut through by the bullets as if they were thread papers, than it did in the open field. Well, then, the king is my rush. It allows me to see the enemy, and it prevents the enemy from seeing me. That is the reason why I am a republican at New York or at Philadelphia, but a royalist in France. There our dictator was named Washington. Here, God knows what he will be named: either dagger or scaffold.”
“You seem to view things in colors of blood, Doctor.”
“You would see them in the same light as myself, if you had been, as I was, on the Place de Grève to-day.”
“Yes, that is true; I was told that a massacre had taken place there.”
“There is something magnificent, do you see, in the people; but it is when well disposed. Oh, human tempests!” exclaimed Gilbert, “how much do you surpass in fury all the tempests of the skies!”
Necker became thoughtful.
“Why can I not have you near me, Doctor?” said he; “you would be a useful counsellor in time of need.”
“Near you, Monsieur de Necker? I should not be so useful to you, nor so useful to France, as where I wish to go.”
“And where do you wish to go?”
“Listen to me, sir; near the throne itself there is a great enemy of the throne; near the king there is a great enemy of the king; it is the queen. Poor woman! who forgets that she is the daughter of Maria Theresa, or rather, who only remembers it in a vain-glorious point of view; she thinks to save the king, and ruins more than the king, for she destroys the monarchy. Well, it is necessary that we who love the king, we who love France, should unite together to neutralize her power, and to annihilate her influence.”
“Well, then, do as I said, sir: remain with me, assist me.”
“If I were to remain near you, we should have but one sphere of action; you would be I, and I should be you. We must separate our forces, sir, and then they will acquire a double weight.”