A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry

Author:H. G. Parry [Parry, H. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316459082
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2020-06-23T00:00:00+00:00


Paris

August 1792

News of Thomas Clarkson’s conviction caused a stir in the French Assembly of Magicians. For a while, it looked indeed as though France could declare war on England, despite the British ambassador’s assurances that the revolution on Saint-Domingue had been wholly unsupported by the British government. If the warmongers had been able to blame anyone other than Clarkson, perhaps they would have done it. But Brissot, still the strongest proponent of war in the Assembly, was also president of France’s abolition society—which, moreover, he had founded after visiting Clarkson in London. The society had never been very successful, and was largely inactive now, but it would still look very strange for the Girondins to demand retaliation for an act committed by Brissot’s friend in accordance with his own principles. Besides, the Girondins were cautious about free magic. They wanted to declare war on Britain, but not in a way that might entail the breaking of the Concord, as accusing the British government of an act of magic against France would almost certainly do.

Robespierre was inclined to think the Saint-Domingue rebellion was indeed supported by the British government, but for once he wasn’t inclined to argue. He had emerged as the leader of the antiwar movement. Despite having no official presence in the Assembly, his voice was one of the most powerful in France. He and Brissot had been friends not so long ago; now they were carrying out an exhausting, dragged-out war of public opinion by speech and by pamphlet. The worst of it was that Robespierre was still doing so with very little mesmerism—enough to keep him in the public eye, but not enough to change things. His benefactor had not budged on the death of the king.

“You want to end the warmongering and turn France’s energies elsewhere,” his benefactor said late one night. “You won’t end it by words.”

“I might,” Robespierre said. “If you gave me more magic.”

“You won’t. The king himself has written to the major European powers in secret, asking them to invade and reinstate him. He won’t let the war stop as long as he has a say in the matter.”

“I know.” Robespierre had no proof of this, but he believed it was true, and for him that was the same thing. “I’ve told everyone that. They don’t believe me—at least, not enough of them.”

“If we lose the war, with France as it stands, we’ll have a monarchy again. Everything you’ve achieved will be lost. You know this.”

“I know,” Robespierre repeated. He folded his arms tightly and tried not to shiver. The garden in his dreams was always so cold now. Presumably, that was his benefactor’s anger. It seeped into his bones and stayed there throughout the hot summer’s days.

He still wasn’t ready to overthrow the monarchy, much less kill the king. He was the Incorruptible. The power he held was based on his own image of himself as a pillar of virtue. The idea of committing an act of violence against the royal family was unthinkable.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.