Page:Works of Heinrich Heine 07.djvu/155

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FRENCH AFFAIRS.
135

plays his part of roi-citoyen, and wears the citizen dress appropriate to it; but it is generally known that under his modest felt hat he wears an altogether unpretentious (unmassgebliche) crown of the usual pattern, and that in his umbrella he hides the most absolute sceptre. It is only when their nearest and dearest interests are discussed, or when some stinging word awakes their ire, that these men forget their studied parts and show themselves as they really are. These interests are, first of all, those of a pecuniary nature, and all must yield to them, as may be seen in the discussion of the Budget. The sarcasms by which the Republican feeling betrayed itself in the Chamber of Deputies are well known. The discussions of the word sujet were not so insignificant and casual as they have in Germany been supposed to be. This expression, even in the beginning of the first Revolution, caused expectorations by which the Republican spirit of the age expressed itself. How men raged when this word once accidentally escaped in a speech by poor Louis XVI.! As a comparison with this our time, I have read the journals of those days, and the tone of 1790 has not grown feebler (verhallt), but nobler. Nor are the Philippistes devoid of guile when they by such sarcasms irritate the Opposition. They took good care last year not to call the Tuileries the chateau, and the Moniteur was expressly directed to speak