[7] Gregory, Bishop of Tours, says of Clovis, the first Frankish King by Divine right:
"Having killed several other Kings besides, and even some of his closest relatives, Clovis extended his power over all the Gauls. Nevertheless, having one day assembled his men, he is reported to have spoken thus of the relatives he had himself caused to be executed and murdered:--'Woe is me, I am left a wanderer among wanderers, and I have no relatives who, in case of need could come to my assistance.' Not that he was grieved over their death," adds the Bishop of Tours, "but he held this language to discover whether there remained anyone _whom he could still put to death_."--Gregory of Tours, _History of the Franks_, book II, chapter XLII.
Still this Gallic bishop slurs over the terrible hypocrisy of the Frankish conqueror, sullied with thefts, murders, incest, and fratricide. He says:
"Thus each day God caused the enemies of Clovis to fall into his hands, and extended his kingdom, because he walked with a pure heart before Him, and did what was agreeable in the eyes of God." (book II, chapter XL).
On the character of some of the early bishops themselves, Gregory sheds this light:
"Salone and Sagitaire, Bishops of Embrun and Gap, once masters of their bishoprics, began to distinguish themselves with a senseless fury by usurpations, murders, adulteries, and other excesses." (book V, chapter XXI).
[8] The White Terror, the massacre in the south of France, the executions without appeal which followed the first restoration of Kings by Divine right, are well known to all. It did not stop there.
On October 27, 1815, Monsieur Pasquler read in the Chamber a report on the projected law on seditious speeches and writings:
"We would pronounce," he declared, "the penalty of _hard labor_ against all seditious slogans, speeches or writings if delivered individually.
"_Death_, if they are the result of concerted action.
"_The same penalty as for parricide_ if they have any noticeable effect."
Another, Monsieur C----, rose, and in concert with two of his royalist colleagues proposed with great insistence that the penalty of death be made applicable to all who hoisted the tricolored flag.
[9] This portrait of courage is justified by the heroic death of two young girls, about eighteen years old, who, their hair flowing to the winds, their arms bare, held their place on a barricade near St. Denis Street in June, 1848.