A Conspiracy of the Carbonari | Page 5

great hour of vengeance and deliverance is approaching. The great Society of the Carbonari, whose devoted members you are--"
"Whose great and venerated head you are," replied General Massena, with a low bow.
"The Society of the Carbonari," Colonel Oudet continued, without heeding Massena's words, "the Society of the Carbonari watches its faithless member, the renegade son of the Revolution, the Emperor Napoleon, and will soon have an opportunity to avenge his perfidy. Keep your hands on your swords and be watchful; strive to spread the spirit of our order more and more through the army; initiate more and more soldiers into our league as brothers; be mindful of the great object: we will free France from the C?sarism forced upon her. Look around you in your circles and seek the hand which will be ready to make the renegade son of the society vanish from the world."
"He is the scourge of our native land," said one of the generals. "His restless ambition constantly plunges us into new wars, rouses the hatred of all Europe against France, and this hatred will one day burst into bright flames and plunge France into destruction."
"He is destroying the prosperity of the country for generations," said another; he is robbing wives of their husbands, fathers of their sons, labor of sturdy arms. The fields lie untilled, the workshops are deserted, trade is prostrate, and all this to gratify a single man's desire for war."
"Therefore it is necessary to make this one man harmless," said a third. "If no hand is found to slay him, there are arms strong enough to seize him, bind him, and deliver him to those whose prison doors are always open to receive the hated foe who blockades their harbors denies their goods admittance to France and all the countries he has conquered and everywhere confronts them as their bitter enemy."
"Yes, England is ready and watchful," whispered another. "She promises those who have the courage to dare the great deed, a brilliant reward; she offers a million florins and perpetual concealment of their names, as soon as the Emperor Napoleon is delivered to her."
"Then let us seek men who are bold, ambitious, resolute, and money-loving enough to venture such a deed," said Colonel Oudet. "Form connections with those who hate him; be cautious, deliberate and beware of traitors."
"We will be cautious and deliberate," they all replied submissively; "we will beware of traitors."
"But while determining to free France from the ambitious conqueror who is leading her to destruction," said Colonel Oudet, "we must consider what is to be done when the great work is accomplished, when the tyrant is removed. It is evident to you all that the present condition of affairs ought not to last. France now depends upon a single life; a single person forms her dynasty, and when he sinks into the grave, France will be exposed to caprice, to chance; every door to intrigue will be opened. We must secure France from every peril. We have now seen, for the first time, that the proud emperor is only a mere mortal. Had the bullet which wounded his foot at Regensburg struck his head, France would probably be, at the present moment, in the midst of civil war, and the Legitimists, the Republicans, and the adherents of Napoleon would dispute the victory with each other. We must try to avert the most terrible of all misfortunes, civil war; the emperor is not merely mortal; we do not merely have to consider his death, but we must also know what is to happen in case our plan succeeds and he is placed in captivity. We must have ready the successor, the successor who will at once render the Republic and the return of the Bourbons alike impossible. Do any of you know a successor thus qualified?"
"I know one," replied General Marmont.
"And I! And I! And I!"
"General Marmont," said Oudet, "you spoke first. Will you tell us the name of the person who seems to you worthy to be Napoleon's successor?"
"I do not venture to speak until the head of the Carbonari has named the man whom he has chosen."
"Then you did not hear me request you to speak," said Oudet, in a tone of stern rebuke. "Speak, Marmont, but it will be better to exercise caution and not let the walls themselves hear what we determine. So form a circle around me, and let one after another put his lips to my ear and whisper the name of him who should be Napoleon's successor."
Marshals and generals obeyed the command and formed a close circle around Oudet, whose tall, slender figure towered above them all, and whose handsome pale face, with its enthusiastic blue eyes, formed a strange contrast to the grave, defiant countenances which encircled him.
"Marmont, do you begin!" said Oudet,