

AN EPISODE OF JULY 1830. m 87 



" Napoleon II. and the Republic are two different things ! ' replied 

 the young man, " I don't understand this/' 



" Vive la Charte," was the rejoinder. 



<c Another change !" cried Pierre, " la Charte signifies the govern- 

 ment of Charles X." 



" No, no, la Charte is liberty." 



<f Yes," added a man in a smock-frock, " and Liberty is the Re- 

 public." 



" And the Republic is the son of Napoleon," said an old ex-Garde 

 Imperiale. 



A cry of " Vive le due d 1 'Orleans !" was now heard. 



In the midst of this turmoil Pierre entered the city, and was soon 

 in the hottest of the fight. He was still in the dark as to the real 

 cause of the horrid strife, but he drank swore loaded and fired 

 again and again, cut and slashed in every direction, shouting Vive 

 la Charte ! to which the groans of the dying responded mournfully. 



He thus reached the Boulevard, and took his post behind a barri- 

 cade, formed of magnificent trees which had been cut down in full 

 leaf, blood-stained paving-stones, and broken carriages. A lad about 

 twelve years old was amusing himself in the midst of the sanguinary 

 drama, by playing the horn of an omnibus which had been over- 

 turned : the child of disorder laughed at the strange music, which 

 formed a warlike accompaniment to the rolling of the drums, and the 

 shouts of the combatants. Pierre looked at hinrand laughed also : 

 both made a sport of the work of destruction ! 



At length the shades of night overspread the horizon the roaring 

 of the cannon ceased, the tocsins awful tones no longer vibrated on 

 the ear : there were no more shouts no more murders. The barri- 

 caded streets were deserted, and the silence of the grave had suc- 

 ceeded to the war-cry. 



Pierre was not in a condition to avail himself of this favourable mo- 

 ment to repair to his mother's dwelling : at dawn of day, he lay 

 stretched upon the unpaved ground, in a state of complete intoxi- 

 cation. Suddenly a man shook him rudely 



" To arms, comrade, to arms !" 



Pierre, thus violently aroused, started up, rubbed his eyes, and 

 cast a heavy, stupid look around. 



" Yes, yes, I understand ; we must fight, eh ! very well, I am 

 ready. What are we to fight for to-day ?" 



" For the same thing as yesterday Five la Charte!" 



"And the Republic?" 



" 'Tis the same thing." 



" And the King of Rome ?" 



" The same the same ; you have been told so twenty times over." 



" I can't, for the life of me, comprehend them," muttered Pierre; 

 " what do they want ? c'est cgal let us fight away." 



An individual, named Jacques, had followed Pierre closely during 

 the whole of the preceding day. This man was the very personifi- 

 cation of a firebrand, for he kept up the flame of rebellion wherever 

 he passed. He was one of those stubby, brawny men, whose frames 

 denote great bodily strength, whilst their hard features announce 



