The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1897-06-07

- ~ =.
| With. thai Oinfnous sentence the
empire III france crumb les into an
archy and ii the silence Of that
midnight Eouf, while the king III
false securNy slept in his palace,
the mob ii the street began that
most awfnE tragedy 81 the eigha
teenth ceEtury and the morning
dawned hpan the Reign Of Terror
The despptism 81 the feudal sys-
TEN fingered long iii France; Kings
had exhausted the national resources
il unWarrauted wars; public credit
was low; Gle nobility and clergy
who owned awo-t thirds 81 the proper
| ty were exeEapt from taxation with
Tout hope mgh had grown desperate
and had ab&ndoned honest labor be-
cause 1t ental He'd unbearable burdens
/ In that civilization distinction was
reditary She rich remained rich,
the poor remained poor. This was
the lash that drove men to madness
They who had borne the heat Of the
lday and upheld the burden of the
lstruggle, had now fallen beneath it's
weight. The march of humanity
had ceased Earth's toiIers had
given up the battle be life for the
struggle of death. Their wrongs
must BE rigllted In revolution.
i Who are cheese communists2 They
are the Wearers of rags and the
EgnaWers of trusts, the diggers Of
i coal and the drawers of water, all
driven to dfA dgery and Wretched-
mess heirs 40 ingratitude whose old
] age shall loesS with the sunken eye
l.of want, ans cursing God, shall
hungry die The soul of France had
sdescended Unto the abyss where
Being no lot ger cast its shadow; she
4 felt only thE Tain drops trinkl down:
i and saw ONLY the cleaning rainbow
! of creation hat originated from no
lsun and he& Id only the roar of the
j everlasting storm which no one
governs, ami looked upward for the
4 Divine Eye and saw only the black,
bottomless glaring Deaths eye
socket.
Voltaire, gRosseau and Helvetius
were there. What field for scepti-
cism in religion, III government!
j What a graveyard for faith in man
/ and in mans lot! What time in
which to preach the funeral Of all
4 things true, Beautiful and good, and
I. What.a birtH hour for sin, despair
and DISSOLUTION! This suffering
| through maAy years has transform
q ed the French heart Of flesh into a
heart iof stone. Hence the appalling
1 stoicism in the midst of terrible
scenes, the women calmly knitting
under the shadow of the guillotine !;
hence the ear deaf to the drip Of
human bloodOand the awful compos-
4 ure amid the wall of women and the
i cry of babesl Tt was retribution too
long delayed; it was the grim smile
Eof an aYenging fate.
i There then is logic in the coming
Of the French Revolution. Prophets
4 of it's dawn were abroad in the land
4 ere Louis commanded the people to
Ieat grass in the absence of food.
& The Daniels at the court of the
modern Belshazzar were translating
the writing on the wall, but the
message fell upon deaf ears or was
/ lost inithe revelry of the imperial
palace. But the sad day has come.
France is bankrupt. Why council
/ a land tax? The nobility who own
two-thiTds Of the land must not con
tribute to the support 81 the govern
lment Call the States General and
!, Get pc voice Of the ,aaan peak Iii
the hush Of the hour Id lie veices
silent for 50 many dreary years,
lstartles! How unreal How II
comes from below like the voice Of
/ the lion amos from above like the
| voiceaofthundAr 'Danton, Mirabeau
land RobespieIfe the heroic riders Of
this wild tempest are here. No
room for reason now Away with
compromise! In vain the last yes
4 tige of feudaliSm is renowned; in
4 vain tithes, tributes, titles. immunii--
ties and privileges are given up as a
!: peace Offering rs the clamoring null
/ titude. France has sown to the
wind and must reap the WhirIwind;
; the torch has been struck and the
| confagration is ablaze; the volcanic
crater has broken and the lightnings
are playing about its brow; the
j spirits Of dead men are appealing
from long made graves, The hour
i strikes Fire and flood and storm
n are thine, Oh France! 4,
1. 1t was the tempest, the confagra-
ton, the. volcano of human passion