Quentin, Lille, Avesnes, Cosne, Chalons, Macon,
Lyons, Montpellier, Rouen, etc. In many parts there was a great display
of feelings and intentions most hostile to royalty and the dynasty. On
several occasions--at Lille, for example--the keenest members of the
parliamentary opposition, Odilon Barrot and his friends, withdrew, soon
after taking their places at table, because the others absolutely
refused to dissemble their hostility to the Crown and the King. At other
banquets, notably at Dijon, the ideas and passions of 1793 unblushingly
reappeared. They defended Robespierre and the Reign of Terror. The "Red
Republic" openly flaunted its colors and hopes. The attack upon monarchy
and the dynasty ranged itself, it is true, behind the parliamentary
opposition, but like Galatea running away:
"_Et se cupit ante videri_."
It had succeeded well enough in making itself seen. The Government could
no longer shut their eyes. They had tolerated the banquets so long as
they could believe, or seem to believe, that the parliamentary
opposition directed, or at least ruled, the movement.
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