urging in the Assembly this decree of
banishment, said: "As to the king, we shall keep him; _and you know
for what?_"
The Duke of Chartres, who very fully comprehended the peril in which
his father's family was involved, urged him to avail himself of the
decree of banishment, which opened an honorable avenue of escape for
him, and all his family, from France.
"You will assuredly," said he to his father, "find yourself in an
appalling situation. Louis XVI. is about to be accused before an
assembly of which you are a member. You must sit before the king as
his judge. Reject the ungracious duty; withdraw, with your family,
to America, and seek a calm retreat, far from the enemies of France,
and there await the return of happier days."
But the Duke of Orleans did not deem it consistent with his honor to
desert his post in the hour of danger. Yet the arguments urged by his
son were so strong that he desired him to consult an influential
member of the Assembly upon the subject. The deputy replied:
"I am incompetent to give your father any advice. Our positions are
dissimilar. I myself seek redress for personal injuries. Your father,
the Duke of Orleans, ought to obey the dictates of his conscience as
a prince, and the dictates of duty as a citizen."
This undecided answer led the Duke of Orleans to the decision that,
in the prominent position which he occupied as a citizen of rank and
wealth, he could not with honor abandon his country in her hour of
peril. The Duke of Chartres desisted from any further solicitation,
and, oppressed with much anxiety, returned to the army.
The badge of the Bourbons was a white banner. The insurgents, if we
may so call the opponents, of all varieties of opinions, who assailed
the ancient despotism, at the siege of the Bastile, wore red
cockades. But very many were in favor of monarchy who were also in
favor of constitutional liberty. Blue had been, in ancient times, the
royal color, and they adopted that. Others, who were in favor of the
Bourbons, and advocated reform only, not revolution, adopted white,
the livery of the Bourbons. Thus arose the celebrated tri-color flag,
which became the emblem of all in France who adopted the principles
of political liberalism, whether monarchists or republicans. The
white banner of the Bourbons and the tri-color of the revolutionists
thus became arrayed against each other.
It was well known that there was a strong party in favor of placing
th
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