Times of Change?

My health is failing and my life is coming to an end. And I feel the need to write down my last thoughts. I have lived a rich life and I do not complain. I have seen an age of many changes. I have seen kings rule our beautiful country. Good and merciful kings but tyrants as well. Then everything seemed to break down with the revolution. Many beloved friends found a dire end, dying in their blood for old and new values and rights or duties. Our world has irreversibly changed. But is it for the better, I ask myself. Do I leave this world a better place for the coming generations? Well, my friends, what do you think? Of all the things, the old and the new, what will continue, what will fall to dust within a few decades? Tell me quickly, that I may rest and die in peace!

The Reign of Terror

My heart is broken, my eyes weep day and night, and I am so desperate. My master, our beloved King Louis XVI, is dead! Those savage Jacobins sacrificed him to strengthen their grip on the country. I am on the run too. I sent my wife and my children to relatives in the Savoy Alps, but it's too dangerous for me to stay with them. There are Sansculottes everywhere, no one can be trusted, I fear for my life. Hopefully I reach the Atlantic coast and find a place on a ship to England. I read an English newspaper yesterday and found this cartoon. “A family of Sans-Culottes refreshing after the fatigues of the day”. The papers also write that Robespierre has set up a reign of terror. Why do you think he did this? How has your life changed in the past few weeks and what is your personal opinion of his measures? Are they really necessary to “save the Revolution”?