Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/470

 432 Readings in European History 404. The Declaration of Pillnitz (August 27, 1791). Infamous legislators, vile scoundrels, monsters satiated with gold and blood, privileged brigands who traffic with the monarch, with our fortunes, our rights, our liberty, and our lives ! You thought to strike terror into the hearts of patri- otic writers and paralyze them with fright at the sight of the punishments you inflict. I flatter myself that they will not soften. As for The Friend of the People, you know that for a long time your decrees directed against the Declaration of Rights have been waste paper to him. Could he but rally at his call two thousand determined men to save the coun- try, he would proceed at their head to tear out the heart of the infernal Mottier in the midst of his battalions of slaves. He would burn the monarch and his minions in his palace, and impale you on your seats and bury you in the burning ruins of your lair. The flight of the king, his arrest at Varennes, and the agitation which accompanied and followed the affair led the queen's brother, the Emperor Leopold, to issue, in concert with the king of Prussia, the Declaration of Pillnitz. This was regarded by the French as an expres- sion of sympathy for the Emigres and as a promise to form a European alliance for the purpose of undoing the Revolution in France. To those who signed the decla- ration it was, however, scarcely more than an empty- threat, which they had little idea of carrying out. His Majesty the Emperor and his Majesty the king of Prussia, having given attention to the wishes and represen- tations of Monsieur [the brother of the king of France], and of Monsieur le Comte d'Artois, jointly declare that they regard the present situation of his Majesty the king of France as a matter of common interest to all the sovereigns of Europe. They trust that this interest will not fail to be recognized by the powers, whose aid is solicited ; and that in consequence they will not refuse to employ, in conjunc- tion with their said majesties, the most efficient means, in