CHAPTER V.
THE CONSPIRATORS ACCOUNT.
On being left together, the six masked men and the chairman whisperedamong themselves.
"Let all come in," said Cagliostro, for he was the Master; "I am readyto make the report I promised."
The door was instantly opened: the members of the league walked in; tocrowd the hall once more.
Hardly was the door closed behind the last before the Master saidholding up his hand quickly like one who knew the value of time, andwished not to lose a second:
"Brothers, there may be some here who were present at a meeting heldjust twenty years ago, a couple of miles from Danenfels, in a cavern ofThunder Mountain, five miles from the Rhine; if so, let the venerableupholders of the Great Cause which we have embraced, signify the same byholding up the hand, saying: 'I was there!'"
Five or six hands were held above the throng and as many voices cried:"I was there."
"So far good," continued the speaker; "the others are in the Templeabove, or scattered over the earth, working at the common and holy work,for it is that of all mankind. Twenty years ago, this work which we havepursued in its different periods was scarce commenced. The light wasat its dawning and the steadiest eyes beheld the future only throughthe cloud which none but the eyes of the chosen could pierce. At thatmeeting, I explained by what miracle death did not exist for me, itbeing merely for man forgetfulness of the past, or rather how, duringtwenty centuries, I had dwelt in succeeding bodies for my immortal soul.Slowly I saw peoples pass from slavery to serfdom, from serfdom to thestate of those aspirations for freedom which precede it. Like the starsof the night hinting what a sun can be, we have seen the republics trytheir rules, at Genoa, Venice, Switzerland; but this is not what weneeded.
"A great country was wanted to give the impetus, a wheel in which shouldbe cogged all the others, a planet which should illumine the world."
A cheering murmur ran through the audience and Cagliostro proceeded withan inspired air:
"Heaven indicated to me, France. Indeed, having tried all systems, sheappeared likely to suit our purpose, and we decided on her being firstfreed. But look back on France twenty years ago, and grant that it wasgreat boldness or rather sublime faith to undertake such a task. InLouis XV.'s hands so weakly, it was still the realm of Louis XIV., anaristocratic kingdom, where the nobles had all the rights and the richall the privileges. At the head was a man who represented at once thelowest and the loftiest, the grandest and the paltriest, heaven and themasses. With a word he could make you wealthy or a beggar, happy ormiserable, free or captive, keep you living or send you to death.
"He had three grandsons, young princes called to succeed him. Chance hadit that he whom nature designated was also the choice of the people, ifthe people had any choice at the epoch. He was accounted kind, just,honest, learned, almost a lover of wisdom. In order to quench the warswhich the fatal succession of Charles II. enkindled, the daughter ofMaria Theresa was chosen for his wife: the two nations were to beindissolubly united which are the counterbalances west and east ofEurope, France and Austria. So calculated Maria Theresa the foremostpolitician of Europe.
"It was at this period, none the less, when France, supported onAustria, Spain and Italy, was to enter on a new and desired reign thatwe determined--not that she should be the chief of kingdoms but that theFrench should be the first people free.
"It was demanded who would be the new Theseus to rush into the den ofthis Minotaur, thread the innumerable turnings of the maze while guidedby the light of Truth, and face the royal monster. I replied it shouldbe me. Some eager spirits, uneasy characters, wanted to know how longa time it would take to accomplish the first period of my enterprise,divided into three portions, and I required twenty years. They cried outagainst that. Can you understand this? man had been serf or slave fortwenty centuries, and he mocked at me because I wanted twenty years tomake him free!"
He looked upon the meeting, where his last words had provoked ironicalsmiles.
"In short, I obtained the twenty years. I gave my brothers the famousdevice: 'Lilia Pedibus Destrue--the Lilies shall be trodden underfoot!'and I set to work, urging all to do likewise. I entered France underarches of triumph; the rose and the laurel made the road from Strasburgto Paris one trellis garlanded with flowers. Everybody was shouting:'Long live the Dauphiness! our future Queen!' Now, far from me to takecredit to myself for the initiative or the merit of events; the Builderhad planned all this and He laid each stone well and truly. He allowedthis humble mason who officiates in this fane to see the Hand divinelywielding the Line and the Level and, praise unto Him! I have done somelevelling: the rocks have been removed off the way, the bridge has beenthrown over the flood, and the gulfs have been filled up so that thecar has rolled smoothly. List brothers, to what has been performed in ascore of years.
"Parliaments broken up: Louis XV., called once the Well-Beloved, diesamid general scorn! The Queen, after seven years, unfruitful wedlock,gives birth to children whose paternity is contested, so that she isdefamed as mother of the Crown Prince, and dishonored as a woman in thecase of the Diamond Necklace.
"The new King consecrated under the name of Louis the Desired, impotentin politics as in love, tries one utopia after another, until he reachesnational bankruptcy, and has all kinds of ministers down to a Calonne.The Assembly of Worthies decrees the States General Congress, whichappointed by universal suffrage, declares itself the National Assembly.The clergy and nobility are overcome by the other classes; the Bastileis stormed and the foreign troops driven out of the capital; the nightof Aug. 4th, 1789, shows the aristocracy that they are reduced tonothing; on the 5th and 6th October, the King and Queen are shown thatroyalty is nothing; on the 14th of July, 1790, the unity of France isshown to the world.
"The princes are deprived of popularity by their absconding; theKing's brother loses his hold by the Favras conspiracy showing that hecasts off his friends to save his neck. Lastly, the Constitution issworn unto, on the Altar of the Country; the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives sits on a chair on the level with the King's; it is theLaw and the Nation sitting side by side; attentive Europe leans towardsus, silently watching--all who do not applaud are trembling. Now, is notFrance the cornerstone on which Free Europe shall be laid, the wheelwhich turns all the machine, the sun which shall illuminate the OldWorld?"
"Yea, yea, yea!" shouted all voices.
"But, brothers," continued the magician, "do you believe the work isso far advanced that we may leave it to get on by itself? Although theConstitution has been sworn to, can we trust to the royal vow?"
"Nay, nay, nay," cried every voice.
"Then we begin the second stage of the revolutionary work," pursuedCagliostro. "As your eyes see, I perceive with delight that theFederation of 1790 is not the goal but a halting-place: after therepose the court will recommence the task of counter-revolution: letus also gird up our loins and start afresh. No doubt for timid heartsthere will be hours of weakening and of distrust; often the beam fromthe All-seeing Eye will seem to be eclipsed--the Hand that beckons uswill cease to be seen. More than once during the second period, thecause will appear injured, even lost, by some unforeseen and fortuitousaccident; all will seem to show that we are wrong; circumstanceswill look as if unfavorable; our enemies will have some triumph, ourfellow-citizens will be ungrateful. After many real fatigues andapparent uselessness, many will ask themselves if they have not goneastray on the bad path.
"No, brothers, no; I tell you at this hour for the words to ringeverlastingly in your ears, in victory as a blast of trumpets, indefeat as the rallying cry--No! leading races have their providentialmission which must be unerringly accomplished. The Arch-Designer laiddown the road and found it true and straight; His mysterious goalcannot be revealed until it is attained in its full splendor; the cloudmay obscure it and we think it gone; an idea may recoil but, like theold-time knights, it is but to set the lance in rest and rush forward tohurl over the dragon.
"Bro
thers, brothers, our goal is the bonfire on the high mount, believedextinct because the ridge concealed it as we sank in the vale: then theweaklings muttered as they halted and whined: 'We have no beacon--we areblundering in the dark: let us stay where we are; what is the good ofgetting lost?' But the strong hearts keep right on confidently smiling,and soon will the light on the height reappear, albeit it may disappearagain, but each time it is brighter and clearer because it is more near!
"Thus will it be with the chosen band who, struggling, pressing on,persevering and above all believing in the Republic to be, arriveat the foot of the lighthouse of which the radiance will join thatcast across the Atlantic by the Republic which we have also helped tothrow off the tyrant's yoke. Let us swear, brothers, for ourselvesand our descendants, since the eternal idea and principle serves manya generation, never to stop until we establish on this temple of theArchitect the holy device of which we have conquered one portion:'Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.'"
The speech was hailed with uproarious approbation.
"But do not confine it to France solely: inscribe it on the banner ofmankind as the whole world's motto. And now, brothers, go out upon yourtask, which is great, so great that, through whatever vale of tears andof the shadow of death you must pass, your descendants will envy theholy errand you shall have accomplished, and like the crusaders whobecame more and more numerous and eager as their foregoers were slain,they march over the road whitened by the bones of their fathers. Be ofgood cheer, apostles; courage, pilgrims of freedom; courage, soldiers,Apostles, converts! pilgrims, march on! soldiers, fight!"
Cagliostro stopped, but that would have happened from the applause.Three times the cheering rose and was extinguished in the gloomy vaultslike an earthquake's rumbling. Then the six masked men bowed to him oneafter another, kissed his hand and retired. Each of the brothers, bowingunto the platform where the new Peter the Hermit preached the renewal ofthe political crusade, passed out, repeating the motto:
"We shall Trample the Lilies under."
As the last went forth, the lamps were extinguished.
Alone remained the Arch-Revolutionist, buried in the bowels of theearth, lost in silence and darkness like those divinities of the Indies,into whose mysteries he asserted himself to have been initiated twothousand years before.