BOOK VII

THE ABSOLUTION:--SECOND PHASE: THE OATH

I

FOR AN OATH, AN OATH AND A HALF

What is Louis Bonaparte? He is perjury personified; he is mental
reservation incarnate, felony in flesh and bone; he is a false oath
wearing a general's hat, and calling himself Monseigneur.

Well! what is it that he demands of France, this man-ambuscade? An
oath.

An oath!

Indeed, after the 20th of December, 1848, and the 2nd of December,
1851, after the inviolate representatives of the people had been
arrested and hunted down; after the confiscation of the Republic, after
the _coup d'etat_, one might have expected from this malefactor an
honest cynical laugh at the oath, and that this Sbrigani would say to
France: "Oh, yes! it is true! I did pledge my word of honour. It is
very funny. Let us say no more about such nonsense."

Not so: he requires an oath.

And so, mayors, gendarmes, judges, spies, prefects, generals,
_sergents-de-ville_, _gardes champetres_, commissaries of police,
magistrates, office-holders, Senators, Councillors of State,
legislators, clerks, it is said, it is his will, this idea has passed
through his head, he will have it so, it is his good pleasure; lose no
time, start off, you to the registrar, you to a confessional, you under
the eye of your brigadier, you to the minister, you, Senators, to the
Tuileries, to the salon of the marshals, you, spies, to the prefecture
of police, you, first presidents and solicitors-general to M.
Bonaparte's ante-chamber; hasten in carriages, on foot, on horseback,
in gown, in scarf, in court dress, in uniform, gold-laced, bespangled,
embroidered, beplumed, with cap on head, ruff at the neck, sash around
the waist, and sword by the side; place yourselves, some before the
plaster bust, others before the man himself; very good, there you are,
all of you, none are missing; look him well in the face, reflect,
search your conscience, your loyalty, your decency, your religion; take
off your glove, raise your hand, and take oath to his perjury, swear
fealty to his treason.

Have you done it? Yes! Ah, what a precious farce!

So Louis Bonaparte takes the oath _au serieux_. True, he believes in my
word, in yours, in ours, in theirs; he believes everybody's word but
his own. He demands that everybody about him shall swear, and he orders
them to be loyal. It pleases Messalina to be surrounded by virgins.
Capital!

He requires all to be honourable; you must unde