"'The man of wealth and pride
Takes up a space that many poor supplied--
Space for his lake, his park's extended bounds,
Space for his horses, equipage, and hounds;
The robe that wraps his limbs in silken sloth
Has robb'd the neighboring fields of half their growth;
His seat, where solitary sports are seen,
Indignant spurns the cottage from the green;
Around the world each needful product flies,
For all the luxuries the world supplies:
While thus the land adorn'd for pleasure--all
In barren splendor feebly waits the fall.'"
As Mr. Jefferson finished quoting the lines, the sound of voices and
exclamations of astonishment came to the gentlemen from the other side
of the curtain. Looking into the salon they saw Monsieur de St. Aulaire
surrounded by a little group of ladies and gentlemen. He was speaking
quite audibly, so that his words reached the astonished group in the
embrasure of the window.
"'Tis the latest from the Club des Enrages--the King abdicates
to-morrow!" He passed on amid a chorus of dismayed ejaculations.
"What is this?" said Mr. Jefferson, in alarm.
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