They will rise
against their noble oppressors and burn castles and perhaps do murder.
They will force the astonished bourgeoisie and upper classes to take
notice of them and indirectly they will impress a significant social
character upon the achievements of the Revolution.
[Sidenote: Role of the Foreign Powers]
Finally, the foreign monarchs must be watched, for they will be
intensely interested in the story as it unfolds. If the French people
be permitted with impunity to destroy the very basis of divine-right
monarchy and to overturn the whole social fabric of the "old regime,"
how long, pray, will it be before Prussians, or Austrians, or Russians
shall be doing likewise? With some thought for Louis XVI and a good
deal of thought for themselves, the monarchs will call each other
"brother" and will by and by send combined armies against the
revolutionaries in France. At that very time the success of the
Revolution will be achieved, for all classes, save only the handful of
the privileged, will unite in the cause of France, which incidentally
becomes the cause of humanity.
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