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CHAPTER XVIII
A RECRUDESCENCE
OF DIVINE RIGHT
End of the dictatorship. A whole European system crum-
bled away.
The Empire sank into a gloom which resembled that of
the Roman world as it expired. Again we behold the abyss,
as in the days of the barbarians; only the barbarism of 1815,
which must be called by its pet name of the counter-rev-
olution, was not long breathed, soon fell to panting, and
halted short. The Empire was bewept,— let us acknowledge
the fact,—and bewept by heroic eyes. If glory lies in the
sword converted into a sceptre, the Empire had been glory
in person. It had diffused over the earth all the light which
tyranny can give a sombre light. We will say more; an ob-
scure light. Compared to the true daylight, it is night. This
disappearance of night produces the effect of an eclipse.
Louis XVIII. re-entered Paris. The circling dances of the
8th of July effaced the enthusiasms of the 20th of March.
The Corsican became the antithesis of the Bearnese. The flag
on the dome of the Tuileries was white. The exile reigned.
596 Les Miserables
