Page:A French Volunteer of the War of Independence.djvu/178

154 of the Paris Militia, and the General Fairfax of the French Revolution. Many proposals were made to me to join my old comrades in arms, and serve under the orders of this general. My attachment to him was not so great that I felt forced to follow him in any path which it seemed right to him to take, and I refused. It has been wisely said that, in a time of revolution, to do your duty is not so difficult as to know your duty. I knew mine, and I did it; I should have acted the same could I have foreseen future events. The worst of all positions is to be between the hammer and the anvil, which in France, at that time, meant to be between the Revolution and the Monarchy. A choice had to be made. It appeared to me that I could best assist the cause of the Monarchy by emigrating; to many other people,—and I do not blame them,—it appeared that it could best be helped by their staying in France; some of them, indeed, could not do otherwise. I will not discuss the matter; thousands of pages might be written and the question still remain