Revolution and Reaction - A (very) French Victoria II Interactive AAR

[Marschalk]

The Duke of Saint-Aignan stands up from the Ultraroyalist benches of the Chamber of Peers and, clearing his throat, holds the maiden speech.

"Monsieur President de la Chaimbre des Pairs."

"It has been known to me that recently two petitions regarding national education have been authored by members of the Other Chamber. One of them has been authored by right honorable Député du Norde and the other by the most reverend Bishop of Montauban."

"It is without doubt that the intentions of both of these gentlemen are noble and aimed at a cause that is important for all of us - upbringing of the future generations."

"However it is my firm belief that we, Peers of France, should support, if His Christian Majesty chooses to propose these bills to the legislative assembly, the proposal authored by the Bishop of Montauban."

"First of all, the projects tabled by good Deputy du Norde are much more costly and ambitious than we can currently afford. The necessities so finely stated in the Other Chamber - restoration of our borders, upkeep of the Royal Armies and restructuring of the national economy and administration, as well correction of the injustices and harms caused by the wars and revolution to private property and rights of the subjects of His Majesty - ask for us to be modest in our expectations towards luxuries such as higher education. The right honorable Député du Norde claims that the educationary institutions under his proposal are largely self-reliant. However, if we look through his petition, we would see that its obliges the Government to fund the construction and upkeep of a number of Universités and Grandes École, and the construction of many Collèges Royaux and Écoles Populaire, reopening all these instituions which have been closed during the revolution! While the upkeep the Universities and the Grand École would be the direct responsibility of the Royal Government, the other education institutions are to be funded from the communal and departmental purses. Moreover, if the communes and departments are unable to fund these institutions, the Royal Government would have once again to step in!"

"It is my belief that, rather supporting this extensively ambitious and costly educational project, it is better currently to concentrate on the primary education, which is most important for a common working Frenchman. It, without doubt, would cost us less and is more realistic. If necessary, we could in this case combine different sources of financing - the funds belonging to the Roman Catholic Church in France, the funds of the central government as allocated by the Ministry of Finance and the funds of the departments and communities in which these primary parish schools would be located. Thus the financial burden on each of this entities would be lessened."

"Secondly, I believe that is important for us not only give the children of France certain sums of formal knowledge, but to raise them as pious, virtuous and diligent subjects of His Christian Majesty. We, alas, know many examples, when the schools, placed in the hands of irreligious haughty followers of the radical philosophers, have become the source of destructive revolutionary ideas, corrupting clear souls of our innocent children. Therefore it is only reasonable, should we want our national education to be based on order and morals, not chaos and amorality, to call the good clergymen of the Roman Catholic Church to our aide. They have experience, educating the children of France for hunderds of years - and thanks to them, thanks to the parish schools, the young Frenchmen would become harmonious people, loyal to their God and King."

"I know that the proposal of right honorable Député du Norde includes religious education as part of the educational curriculum, but it does not provide any guarantees that men of cloth would play a leading role in such education even on most basic level, that they would significantly represented in the schools or that their views would be truly taken into account."

"Therefore I suggest that the Peers of France should support the proposal of the Bishop of Montauban, should it be tabled by His Catholic Majesty or his Ministers."

"Thank you for your time."

- Claude Louis Marie de Beauvilliers, Duc de Saint-Aignan

 

[99KingHigh]

In accordance with the rules of the Charter, Angoulême releases Emile-Charles Pêche-lame de Couteau and provides him with a steed to Paris.

 

[ManuelD'Garkia]

Le Républicain Révolutionnaire.
6 Fructidor XXIII

The Ancien Régime have returned.
​

- Brothers, fellow Republicans and Revolutionaries, our fears have come true, as if it wasn't enough with the return with the Borbons and their tries to fake they care for the people stablishing two Chambers of advice, they have shown even more of their tyrany as the voting for the Chamber of Deputies is only avalible for the rich and the landowners, and that opened the way for the sole answer for that election, the reactionaries, the Ultradogs, have taken complete power, asserting even more the power of a crown that we don't want nor need.

With the only legal body, even if powerless, completely controled by the authoritarian reactionaries, it is obvios that the journey towards the Dark Ages is inminent, and we, the free people of France, have the duty to don't let that happen. We have fought for our rights before, we have achieved freedom andequality before, lets do it again, lets recover what is ours, our freedom, our rights, our République.

In the times of most need is when we most show our bravery and our determination to stand for our believes, we shall fight, in the streets, in the alleys, in the palaces and the fields, we must fight in Paris and in all of France.

Our time is coming and our cause is right, let Le Marseillaise be sung again in the streets of Paris and lets raise the tri-colour again, for Liberté, Égalite, Fraternité, we shall not surrender.

And remember,
Vive la Révolution, vive la République!

 

[etranger01]

Henri Jules de Bourbon, Deputy of Seine, takes the floor of the Chamber, blinking the faint glaze out of his eyes following M. Durand's interminable speech.

"It is unseemly, during this period of unrest and confusion, in which much remains unsettled, to deluge His Majesty the King with various and intemperate proposals on our pet issues. Both of these education proposals ignore the stark reality of our situation in favor of an ideal world where new governmental experiments can be undertaken without consequence. The nation is still very much in a state of unrest. Why, then, propose frivolous petitions that have no reasonable chance of being implemented when the very social fabric of France is in danger?

I urge the members of this chamber to set aside their pet issues, to take a deep breath, and to acknowledge that we have yet to achieve real peace. This is not business as usual -- there is no usual yet. Any petition to His Majesty or His Majesty's government should reflect the extraordinary nature of the times in which we live and should directly address the very real day-to-day problems we face, rather than far-off issues and fancies that have no place in the discourse of today."

M. de Bourbon resumes his seat.

 

[Dadarian]

Le Boucher is free
​

The prison guards were quiet, suddenly humble, during his release. Stump forcing his one arm to his coat to flap in the wind, le Boucher smiled. Turning to the general populace (at the great chagrin of the prison) le Boucher gave a great, primal yell. Like barbaric beasts in cages, the prison responded with hoots and hollers.

"I am le Boucher, I am Toulouse, I am the Guardian of the King, the Hand of the Bourbons, the Knife of the Ultraroyaliste! I am great, watch me soar!"

With a stride of pride, a gallop of ego, and a giddy step, le Boucher stood aloft on the horse (having rejected a carriage as "a privilege of nobles") and waving his hat, gave chase to Paris, like a Lifeguard leading one last charge.

However, for le Boucher, this is simply the beginning.

 

[etranger01]

The Petition for National Justice​

I. Any man found to have voted for or otherwise endorsed the death of His Majesty Louis XVII, Her Majesty Marie Antoinette, or any other member of the royal family shall be charged with treason. Should he be proven guilty, that man's life and properties shall be forfeit.

II. Any man found to have played a role in the death of Louis Antoine, the Duke of Enghien, or in his kidnapping or entrapment, shall be charged with treason. Should he be proven guilty, that man's life and properties shall be forfeit.

III. Any man found to have played a role in the extrajudicial murders carried out by the Committee of Puhlic Safety, the Convention, or any other interregnum body, shall be charged with murder. Should he be proven guilty, that man's life shall be forfeit.

IV. Any man who had previously served the Republic or the Empire in any public capacity, whether bureaucratic or political or martial, shall be required to swear an oath of allegiance to His Majesty Louis XVIII and to the Kingdom of France, and shall be required to forswear any previous allegiances or affinities to those late bodies. Should he refuse, he shall be exiled from the Kingdom, his properties forfeit, until such time as such an oath is taken.

V. The Minister of Justice shall be empowered to prosecute any additional crimes against the legal code of France committed against the Kingdom or people of France during the interregnum that may not be covered by the language of this bill. He shall have 90 days from the entry of this bill into law to issue such charges.

VII. Should a person not be charged with a specific crime under the legal code of France, he or she shall be considered to have been fully pardoned of all interregnum-related offenses against the Kingdom and the people and shall not be subject to further prosecution. This clause shall only pertain to those individuals who have publicly sworn loyalty to the King and the Kingdom.

 

[TJDS]

Préfet et Deputé Victor Durand du Nord:
​

«Monsieur Président de la Chambre,»

«First, I wish to rise in this Chamber to reiterate my previous points made to the Député de Gers and to react what has been said in the Other Place by his supporters, as I believe again, falsehoods seem to reign in regards to the practical applicability of the two proposals. The Grand Education Petition is, as I have said in my previous statement to this Chamber, the most executable of the two proposals, as it, which both the Député de Gers and the Duc de Saint-Aignan seem to forget, shall not be rushed towards complete implementation, as the proposal of the Député de Gers, and shall be implemented having taken into account the wise suggestions and findings of the Education Commission on the matters regarding the proposal.»

«Second, regarding the comments of the Duc de Saint-Aignan, most Institutions of Learning, unlike his suggestion, already exist and have only be repaired by the Government for their complete use in the future and most also control enough land and other ventures which, through tax exemption, can sustain the colleges. What the Duc forgets, however, is that the proposal of the Député de Gers is entirely outside the bounds of the Royal Treasury regarding the burdens it is able to bear, as the Church of France, already largely paid for the by the Royal Government, is far from able to sustain any real educational effort, be it tomorrow, be it in ten years.»

«Lastly, regarding his points on the religiosity of the proposed education system, he has recognized himself that the system proposed in the Grand Education Petition is adequately able to provide Religious Education and adequately invites Clergymen in the running of the Institution of Learning and therefore any arguments on the basis of religious education do not merit or need a response.»

«Regarding the comments of the Député de Seine, I shall address them with the fact that this Petition wishes to preemptively solve the legislative and executive hurdles French Education shall face when it is fully implemented, , as the groundwork of the education system, formed by the investigations and reports by the Commissions and Committees of Education, shall take time to be fully completed, appreciated and reviewed. It is therefore that we wish to tackle the problem now.»

 

[Dadarian]

With a great air of importance, ego barely stuffed into his stuffy, ragged hat, le Boucher gave a bow.

"Gentleman, Lords, Men of Import, I see this nation is in a period of chaos. A subject to a great many Prussian and Austrian soldier loot our land, British and Russian troops, although refined, continue their occupation. Radicals, Republicans, and Bonapartistes grace the visages of power, print their filth freely, and present themselves as viable opponents to the One True Monarch. While cultured men do what they wish and will, the rest of us need to bring about a change.

We need to address this once and for all. To which, I present the following bills.

Spoiler: Petition on the Elimination of Improper Print

1) All newspapers must be vetted by the government in order to continue their existence.
2) All future newspapers must be vetted by the Minister of the Interior in order to establish.
3) All newspapers found 'improper' by the government are disestablished.
4) All property of improper newspapers are forfeit.
5) All owners of improper newspapers will face criminal charges for sedation.

Spoiler: Petition on the End of Occupation

This body agrees, wholeheartedly, to oppose the continued occupation of domestic soil by foreign agents. The government is to meet with the Occupying Powers, settle a final peace, and remove all foreign soldiers by 1816. If this is not done, the government will face a vote of non-confidence by the house.

Spoiler: Petition on Bonapartistes in the Civil Service and Military

1) All civil servants and officers of the military will be vetted in order to attain their loyalty to the Crown.
2) This process will be conducted by a special body appointed by the King, or delegated by him to his government.
3) All civil servants and officers who are found to be of unacceptable loyalties will be barred from continued and future service in either the civil service or the military.

 

[TJDS]

With a great air of importance, ego barely stuffed into his stuffy, ragged hat, le Boucher gave a bow.

"Gentleman, Lords, Men of Import, I see this nation is in a period of chaos. A subject to a great many Prussian and Austrian soldier loot our land, British and Russian troops, although refined, continue their occupation. Radicals, Republicans, and Bonapartistes grace the visages of power, print their filth freely, and present themselves as viable opponents to the One True Monarch. While cultured men do what they wish and will, the rest of us need to bring about a change.

We need to address this once and for all. To which, I present the following bills.

Spoiler: Act on the Elimination of Improper Print

1) All newspapers must be vetted by the government in order to continue their existence.
2) All future newspapers must be vetted by the Minister of the Interior in order to establish.
3) All newspapers found 'improper' by the government are disestablished.
4) All property of improper newspapers are forfeit.
5) All owners of improper newspapers will face criminal charges for sedation.

Spoiler: White Paper on the End of Occupation

This body agrees, wholeheartedly, to oppose the continued occupation of domestic soil by foreign agents. The government is to meet with the Occupying Powers, settle a final peace, and remove all foreign soldiers by 1816. If this is not done, the government will face a vote of non-confidence by the house.

Spoiler: Act on Bonapartistes in the Civil Service and Military

1) All civil servants and officers of the military will be vetted in order to attain their loyalty to the Crown.
2) This process will be conducted by a special body appointed by the King, or delegated by him to his government.
3) All civil servants and officers who are found to be of unacceptable loyalties will be barred from continued and future service in either the civil service or the military.

«Monsieur Président de la Chambre,»

«Does the Député for Toulouse know he has, by proposing laws in this Chamber, acted in violation of the Charter of 1814 of the King he professes to support?»

~ Deputy Victor Durand

 

[Dadarian]

"Does the Deputy of No One Cares understand that he is to focus on matters that shouldn't be addressed until after we're done our occupation while real men do real work.

Of course, Bonapartistes like this Deputy would do well to oppose real action, as it would undermine the one true King in order to bring about their Tyrant once more."

 

[TJDS]

"Does the Deputy of No One Cares understand that he is to focus on matters that shouldn't be addressed until after we're done our occupation while real men do real work.

Of course, Bonapartistes like this Deputy would do well to oppose real action, as it would undermine the one true King in order to bring about their Tyrant once more."

«Monsieur Président de la Chambre,»

«So the Député de Toulouse call violation of His Majesty's own Charter of 1814 real action? I would be most concerned as Representative of His Majesty's Government when his... most violent loyalists see violation of the laws as personally directed by His Majesty as real and just action and opposition to such views and adherrance to the Charter as Bonapartism.»

~ Deputy Victor Durand

 

[Dadarian]

"No address regarding this deputies loyalties. No dispute. This man, a liberal, a revolutionary, a pawn of the Tyrant in the Low Country, seeks to lecture me on my place.

I will not bow before your petty rules, pawn. I will not see the King's Peace disrupted by intentional misdirection in this Place. My path is vindicated before God! Hide behind those fanciful words, for they are what help you keep France weak for His coming."

 

[TJDS]

"No address regarding this deputies loyalties. No dispute. This man, a liberal, a revolutionary, a pawn of the Tyrant in the Low Country, seeks to lecture me on my place.

I will not bow before your petty rules, pawn. I will not see the King's Peace disrupted by intentional misdirection in this Place. My path is vindicated before God! Hide behind those fanciful words, for they are what help you keep France weak for His coming."

«Monsieur Président de la Chambre,»

«I move the Deputy is removed from this seating of the Chamber unless he retracts the previous statements which can only be deemed to be highly unparliamentary, to say nothing of his violation of the Charter in this Chamber, let alone in Toulouse itself.»

~ Deputy Victor Durand

 

[Dadarian]

"I retract my statements and rename my acts to petitions.

Say Monsieur Durand, where exactly do you live?"

 

[LordTempest]

((Private))

*The Député for the Seine sinks into his chair, rolls his eyes to high heaven and lets off a slight sigh at the unfolding argument between the Députees of Nord and Toulouse*

"Who is this escaped mental patient and why does he have a seat in the Chamber?" He wonders to himself. "It's a damn shame Soult didn't hold out for a little longer, Wellington might've been forced to starve the bastards out." Cathars, Calvinists, Bonapartists and now this insane gentleman. "There must be something in the water in Occitania" he concluded privately, before resolving to himself never to set foot anywhere in France south of Lyon so long as he lives. Or at least, not to sample any of the local beverages.

 

[Shynka]

Two arched figures advanced along the country road, their dark navy cloaks skimming the wiry yellow grass. The path crept down a hill into a deep valley, at the bottom of which a large country house was enclosed by barns, sheds and a stables. The feet of the men sneaking along it kicked up dry dust. A solitary light shimmered in the top window of the house. The lone guard was deep in sleep. The fence was tall but thin; it took two kicks to break enough panels to crawl through. The men advanced alongside it for a few dozen yards, seeking refuge from any prying eyes behind a large rosebush. The first one pulled from under his cloak six long sticks, with damp rags on top. The second carefully removed from his pockets two small bottles. He uncapped one, and both men recoiled at the stench – it smelled vaguely of hell. He poured it onto one of the improvised torches, as his companion held it as far from himself as he could. He slowly removed the wax cap from the second bottle, making sure to not spill a gram. The chemicals cost his employer more than it would cost to kill and replace the both of them, he warned as he outlined the mission to them. A powder, colourless in this dark night but bright red in sunlight, made contact with the soaked rag. Flames came to life.

***

‘Monsieur Chevrier, how can I convince you?’ Grimaced the Comte, bending over the oak table. Across from the ugly, round and odour ridden Count of Saint-Germain sat a tall, thin and handsome man. His clothing was expensive, his jewellery exquisite. He looked upon the Count with a hint of disdain in his emerald green eyes.

‘I am afraid my opinion is quite made up.’ His voice was smooth, confident. The glass of wine in front of him was full, the meat offered sat untouched. He had no desire for the Counts hospitality. ‘With all the respect, Monsieur de Saint-Germain, we will never be compatible politically.’

‘So you deny the right of our Righteous King to rule, Monsieur?’ The Count fired back, desperate. His fat fingers were wrapped around his glass so tightly that they turned pale as snow. His eyes started deep into Monsieur Chevrier, but he was unfazed.

‘A desperate tactic. I am just as loyal as you are – I’ve just accepted the turn of the century.’ The insult was said so softly that the Count did not register it at first. What infuriated the old man was that the rich, young landowner in front of him was entirely unshaken. He cared nothing for the Counts rank, or the fact he was a representative for the Department, or that he ate lunch with Artois. To him Saint-Germain was the lowest form of life, an artefact of times that should have gone long ago but somehow crawled back.

‘So it is. Do not expect any favours from me, Monsieur. I heard you doubled your cattle count this year, but let me assure you, wealth alone will not guarantee your wellbeing. Even men like yourself are capable of experiencing peril. When the God throws a challenge at you it is good to have a voice in Paris, and you’ll have none.’ Saint-Germain stood up carelessly, letting his cup tumble onto the desk. He pointed his small hand at the door. Chevrier smiled slightly, bowed, and walked out, stopping only in the door to throw the Count a look of disdain mixed with pity.

***

‘Quick.’ The man instructed his companion. They held all the torches together, letting the fire spread. The light illuminated the deep amber leaves of the rose bush, piercing through it. If the guard had not drunk half a bottle of cheap wine to celebrate his brother’s marriage, he would have foiled their plans there and then. The men grabbed three torches each and left their cover, running along the smooth cobblestones, still hunched, waddling slightly. If not for their deeply malicious intent, it would have made for great comedy. The first approached the long barn; its sides were made out of caked mud, but inside it was lined with straw that was drying for a fortnight. He threw the first torch onto the thatched roof, another two insides. The flames spread rapidly, dancing along the thin building, consuming everything. The cattle were suddenly disturbed; in their small pens they had no chance of escape. Screams filled the valley, as the figure skulked away, through the fence and into the nearby fields.

The second man had a harder mission. By the time he reached his objective, the large house, the first cattle begun to wake up and scream. A dog, somewhere in the other end, howled furiously, running out into the courtyard. People begun to wake up inside the house just as the shadow approached the bottom story windows; he pelted the first torch inside, ran a few paces, shattered the glass and threw the second inside another room. His mission was to throw the third onto the large piles of hay next to the stables, hopefully catching it and a few other buildings alight, but he was foiled. The brave, stupid dog, which they expected to be scared enough of the flaming barn to stay absent throughout the affair, was on him nearly instantly. It bit deep into his arm, and he screamed, falling onto his ass. He swung the other torch at the beast frantically, finally causing it to retreat after the flaming end cracked against the skull. The front door of the mansion, which was already leaking smoke through the window, slammed open.

‘Halt! Scum!’ Yelled the tall man. He held in his hand a pistol, pointed at the bundle of rags crawling pathetically away from his door. He saw the man’s dirty toothless face, looked into his eyes. The jumbled figure searched for something in his robes. But the trigger finger would not squeeze. Chevrier, never a soldier, had not taken someone’s life before. He saw a pistol emerge from beneath the rags, but still could not fire. He was in a trance. His young daughter finally pulled on his trousers, scared. His pistol went off with a thud. The bullet went right through the figure on the ground, but it remained alive. In a delirium of pain, the arsonist managed to line up his own shot more accurately; the bullet went through Chevriers neck, splattering the wall with blood. He dropped to the floor, clutching at his neck, as his young daughter broke into tears. Madame Chevrier’s screams were mixed with those of the animals slowly being consumed by the blaze. The villain’s torso covered in blood, he stood up and ran, heaving like a drunkard. He was never meant to kill Chevrier, just his animals. The mansion was made of bricks, the fires started far away from the bedrooms. The family was meant to make it out fine. He never meant to kill Chevrier.

Blood poured onto the smooth cobblestone, onto the dusty road, onto the yellow grass. He ran for an hour, without a sight of his companion, before dropping to the ground. As his brain slowly decayed, deprived of oxygen, his last hallucinations showed him only the innocent Monsieur Chevrier.

 

[Firehound15]

The Petition for National Justice​

I. Any man found to have voted for or otherwise endorsed the death of His Majesty Louis XVII, Her Majesty Marie Antoinette, or any other member of the royal family shall be charged with treason. Should he be proven guilty, that man's life and properties shall be forfeit.

II. Any man found to have played a role in the death of Louis Antoine, the Duke of Enghien, or in his kidnapping or entrapment, shall be charged with treason. Should he be proven guilty, that man's life and properties shall be forfeit.

III. Any man who had previously served the late Republic or the late Empire in any public capacity, whether bureaucratic or political or martial, shall be required to swear an oath of allegiance to His Majesty Louis XVIII and to the Kingdom of France, and shall be required to forswear any previous allegiances or affinities to those late bodies. Should he refuse, he shall be exiled from the Kingdom, his properties forfeit, until such time as such an oath is taken.

IV. The Minister of Justice shall be empowered to prosecute any additional crimes committed against the Kingdom or people of France during the interregnum that may not be covered by the language of this bill.

"I wholeheartedly support the proposal of my fellow Deputy and all the elements included therein with one particular exception - namely that I believe specifying the 'late Republic' and 'late Empire' would result in the acceptance and acknowledgment of a great number of intolerable, disloyal figures would go without the justice which this petition aims to exact upon their ilk. Should this be amended to establish mandates for all men who had previously served the Republic and Empire, I could guarantee my support. In the absence of such an amendment, however, I feel as though this petition does not do nearly enough to guarantee that the authority and legitimacy of His Majesty is maintained in opposition to both Bonaparte and the Jacobins."


Alexandre de Berstett,
Deputy from Bas-Rhin

 

[Marschalk]

"Monsieur President de la Chaimbre des Pairs."

"I am generally in support of the petition presented in the Other Place by the right honorable Député de Seine, but I believe that it should be widened and include all people who were, during the dark years, members of the Convention, officials of the Committee for Public Safety, revolutionary tribunals or other extraordinary organs of oppression created by the jacobin regime, as well people who have participated in executions or arrests of the servants of the rightful King during the bonapartist "empire". For we know that not only the martyr King Louis XVI, or his blessed family, or the noble Duke of Enghien were the victims of the revolutionary tyrants - many people, be they aristocrats or commoners, clergymen or laymen, were put to death by the radical dictatorship, simply for their loyalty to the cause of Bourbons. Their deaths should not be left unpunished."

- Claude Louis Marie de Beauvilliers, Duc de Saint-Aignan

 

[Syriana]

The Rehabilitation of France in the Society of States

An Essay

​

NO marriage in history has ever been so unhappy and disastrous as that of France and Bonaparte. Such an unnatural union, conceived in intrigue and executed in force, could never yield a fortunate outcome. Twice deceived into consummation and twice spurned, France has been denuded of her honour by the Corsican tyrant, who leaves behind a widow of scant reputation. Such a metaphor is not supplied merely to add colour to the dreary affairs of politics, but because the French predicament is indeed most similar to that of a woman scorned by an unworthy rogue: in the society of States, much as in the society of Man, she is regarded not so much as an innocent as a proven recidivist who, without supervision, shall inevitably regress to poor habits.

The essential task of the grand restoration, equal even to the rescuing of our fiscal situation, is the rehabilitation of the French image. What must be achieved is the fundamental transformation of the foreign perception, from that of a disgraced ingenue to a proud and stately matron. If a State cannot be trusted by its peers, then it should at least be respected. France is afforded neither trust nor respect. For all her inherent greatness, she can never again act in liberation until she has retrieved the esteem of Europe.

To this end, let us begin with the disavowal of war as a method of policy. Although war is a crucible of masculine virtue, it is also a means by which a virtuous population might be overawed into feminine passivity. The Corsican despot grew fat on wars. A string of victories quelled dissent against his despotism, even as the flower of French youth were scythed down upon foreign fields, and as the finances of the nation creaked at the sinews under the weight of war without end. Little did the people know that every great triumph was merely a prelude to the inevitable denouement of Waterloo. Three million men were marshalled into battle by Bonapartism. Near half that number never survived to know peace. And what did they procure by their heroic sacrifice? The modern France, her frontiers barely adjusted from that of 1789.

Bonaparte squandered every ephemeral gain made by France in war by immediately rushing head-long into the next adventure. Were the last twenty-five years never to have occurred, the only difference would be that over a million Frenchmen still lived, and Paris would not be under foreign capture. There is a lesson to be observed here. The Corsican made war his legacy, and it consumed both him and this country. The restoration must make peace. I do not mean to suggest that she should refrain from defending herself – far from it. But she must not succumb to the same failure of imagination that enabled France to be at a continuous state of war for near a quarter century.

It is not just to conserve our finances and our humanity that we should avoid war, although those are surely laudable objectives in their own right. It is to display the new mould of our restored government. A sovereign State does not justify itself through conflict. It is not so insecure and enfeebled that it must sedate its people with visions of martial grandeur. It is strong by its own right, and ungoverned by tempestuous passions. France the Mistress was dragged from one episode to another; France the Matron has no time for such childishness.

When France has demonstrated that she is no longer at the whims of demagogues and dictators, she shall recover the international regard that is her birth right. She shall be trusted. And being trusted, she shall with time erase the stain of the Corsican nightmare, relieve the penalties inflicted upon her, and emerge once more as prosperous and powerful. We repose our faith in His Majesty. He, above all, understands the necessity of patience – for he has endured in exile for half of his life. He never wavered in the pursuit of the restoration, and we trust now that he shall not waver in the pursuit of a peace with honour. If the Corsican was the dishonest scoundrel, then the King is the kindly father, forgiving his daughter of her transgressions and restoring her dignity.​

Seneca​

 

[ThaHoward]

((@LordTempest letter to Tremblay)).

Spoiler

M.Tremblay,

I wrote you a letter, did you recieve it or were it not to your liking? Eitherway I made an article in Le Censeur.

I write to you as I get the feeling I somehow know you, alltough I am not certain why. A red flower come to my mind for a reason. Anyway seeing that connection and that you, as I, not only represent, but also are a Doctrinarie (from my understanding) I want you to put forth a petition on my behalf. The reason why I can't do it myself, is I am still in Tolouse. Do not be afraid I am in a nice retreat on my own will waiting for the investigation to conclude. Now hopefully you will receive the letter before it's too late and to put it forth on my behalf.

Spoiler: Second letter holding the petition

Petition to Pardon the Verdéts.

1: Anyone who associate as a Verdet, are a member or have taken up arms on their behalf are to pardoned if they turn themself in.
2: When they turn themself in they are to be granted amnesty for their crimes.
3: They are to show remorse for the crimes they have done against France.
4: Weapons, propaganda, uniforms and other treasonous material are to be turned in.
5: They are to swear an oath to distance themself from the movement and recognize it as a criminal organization.
6: There will be no political persecution of those who redeem themself.
7: The Verdets are hereby recognized by the state as a criminal organization, and those who continue to follow this doctrine are to face the consequences for past crimes and future stability.
Conclusion: This petition focus on national reconciliation and to bury the war hatchet to move forward for the prosperity of our great nation.

I would be glad if you spoke for my behalf, if you also believe you could amend it to make it even better feel free to do so.

-Deputy of the Seine Lothaire Lévuyer.