chapter 9 friends of the friends of youth club

　It was shortly after this conversation that Armand handed Joseph two plays - Shakespeare's Tamen of Athens and Milton's Rex Samson - plus quite a few other poems and whatnot.

　　"This is some of the stuff I've had backlogged up here for the past two years, and it's been backlogged for almost six months ... You know, where do I get that much time to do this? It's been delayed anyway, so you don't have to rush, take your time, there's just as little hurry over there anyway." After handing them over to Joseph, who had just taken his vacation and was preparing to return to Corsica, Amand said this to him.

　　"Joseph, I hope your father is okay and you'll be back soon." Another wearing student called Rafa chimed in, "You always have a lot to give us in our discussions. Our club gatherings have been dulled by your absence."

　　"Rafa is right, we can't do without you in our club." Another small man named Onore said, he was emotionally closer to Joseph as he was completely dependent on the scholarship for his livelihood, just like Joseph.

　　The club Rafa was talking about was a small group called "Friends of Youth". It consists of a group of young people with very different lifestyles and attitudes, but all dissatisfied with reality and full of naïve visions of the future. In fact, there are many such young people in the schools of France today.

　　Joseph knew that many of these young people, who nowadays seem to be very childish and their ideas are ridiculously naïve, later became the leaders of the Revolution; and their small circles, which nowadays seem to be nothing more than children getting together to enjoy themselves, also became political parties later on. The famous Jacobins, for example, began as a club.

　　The "Friends of Youth" was in fact a prototype of such a political party, although its members were diverse, ranging from well-to-do aristocrats like Armand, to tight-fisted aristocrats like Joseph, to well-to-do merchants like Rafa, and to poor people like Aurelio. Though those members of it also had different personalities: Amang was outgoing and pompous; Rafa was sophisticated and easy-going; and Oreno usually didn't say much but was firm and decisive when it came to things. But they all agreed on one thing: that the present system in France was so unfair that it must be changed. Only on the question of how exactly to change, everyone's views have not yet been completely unified.

　　The influence of Voltaire can be clearly seen in Amand. Like Voltaire, he liked to satirize the Church with harsh language, but in terms of the system of government, he appreciated the English style, constitutional monarchy, and usually liked to talk about the "Glorious Revolution" and the Bill of Rights when discussing political issues.

　　Aurelio, on the other hand, was opposed to any monarchy, as he had an uncle who had fought with General Lafayette against the British in North America. From him, Oreno heard countless things about the United States. So he became a staunch supporter of the republic. He was opposed to any monarch and firmly believed that France should become a republic.

　　As for Raffa, he felt that, in theory, a republic was certainly the best and most in keeping with the principle of equality of all men. This was in fact in line with the teachings of Christ. "In the beginning the prophet Moses had opposed monarchy." This is how Lucian put it. But on the other hand, he argued, "Monarchy is a French tradition, and the common people are used to being ruled by kings, so we cannot completely disregard the traditions of France and the habits of the common people. Therefore constitutional monarchy is not an unacceptable compromise."

　　As for Joseph, he showed that he was not particularly concerned with the system of government; he was more concerned with the rights of the individual:

　　"I don't care who rules the country, whether he be a king or a president, my chief concern is that his power must be restrained from interfering with my liberties and rights as he pleases. The North American Declaration of Independence contains an idea with which I strongly agree, that the people have the right to overthrow tyranny. Only power that is recognized by all the people is legitimate power. From that point of view, I respect any choice the people of France make."

　　This was actually quite a rounded statement, especially the last one. But the youth of this era, who had not endured the black talk of a certain country's foreign ministry in later times, instead felt that what Joseph said was also very reasonable. But ignored the most critical place in this sentence, that is, who is the people, who represents the people.

　　After all, Joseph is a cross over, the latter days of the practice of various systems of government he has seen a lot, but also has the experience of the previous in the bar forum as a keyboard warrior pointing the way, so for the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems of government can say a two or three, and can make other people feel that there is some sense.

　　In fact, compared to those who have seen a lot of things in later generations, those young people in the "Friends of Youth" club are much simpler and easier to deceive. Therefore, although these people still have some political differences, but Joseph has successfully turned his own views into the common program of the whole club. And he, himself, has thus become the spiritual leader of this club. Now he was leaving Paris for a while. Several of his classmates then took leave and came to the station to see him off.

　　"Joseph, don't worry too much about your finances." Rafa added, "It's much easier to find a chance to make money in Paris than in the provinces. Come back to Paris as soon as you can after your family business is over. There's always a way for all of us to be together. Well, Joseph, if you are very short of money now, I can still get a little money for you from my father; not too much, but two or three hundred francs will not be a problem. And it's interest-free."

　　"Rafa, didn't you say your father was stingy?" Oreno asked.

　　"That's true. But my father can be spare when he really needs to spend money." Rafa shook his head, "You don't know, he would strictly control every copper I had, and on top of being well-fed, I couldn't even have one more beer if I wanted to. Because according to that old man, drinking beer is not as efficient as black bread in filling up the stomach.

　　But on the other hand, that old man said to me as he escorted me into the school, 'Rafa, you know that the Louis the Great School is one of the best schools, and there are only two types of people who can study here. One category is people whose families are very rich or very powerful, and the other category is people who are very talented. Rafa, you know that I'm very thrifty, and I think that thrift is a virtue. But do you really think that I'm rich because I'm more frugal than other people? No, it's not. It's because I know where money is spent most efficiently. I paid my way through the door to send you to the Louis the Great School for two purposes.

　　First, you will learn many skills here, many skills that I cannot teach you; second, you will meet many capable people there and become friends with them, which will make it easier for you to do what you want to do in the future. So in such things I never stint.'"

　　"Rafa," cried Armand, "your father is a truly remarkable fellow! Perhaps I should introduce my uncle to your father. They must be friends."

　　"Ah, Armand, if you could arrange for my father to get acquainted with Lord Lavoisier, he would be willing to pay for us all to drink champagne for that purpose. You had better think about it, though, because my father would more than likely use the affair to make more money." Lucien replied, "Besides, my father would certainly not be friends with your uncle; his only friend is Louis Kim."

　　"Rafa, are you sure that your father would consider me a talented man worth investing in?" Joseph asked again.

　　"That's certainly true, because I think so, and my father thinks, first, that my loyalty to him is unquestionable. Secondly, there are only a handful of people he knows who are both loyal and capable of recognizing whether or not a person is talented and has a future, and I am certainly one of them. Besides, my father said, 'There's no such thing as a certainty of making a profit in business, there's a certainty of a loss. Taking risks is supposed to be part of doing business.'" Rafa replied, "I think, though not sure, that you, Joseph, may be the one to make a name for yourself in the future."

　　"Ah, Rafa, I will be famous too. You give me a little investment too." Amand yelled with a smile.

　　Lucien looked at Armand and laughed, "Fellow Armand, I believe that you might be famous someday as well. But my father said, 'A poet, even a famous one, is not a good investment. At least, not while he's still alive.'"

　　"Hell, that's actually so similar to what my uncle said." Armand said, putting on a chagrined expression.

　　"Joseph, be sure to come back." Oreno held his hand and said so.

　　"I'll be back as soon as possible if possible." Joseph replied.

　　With these words, he raised the hat on his head to a few people, then turned and got into the stagecoach.

　　...

　　Carlo's condition was progressing quickly. By the time Joseph returned to Corsica, he was already in a state of mass. For most of the day, he was in a coma, and the time he was able to come to his senses was no more than two hours a day. The doctors were at their wits' end.

　　In this era, the European doctors for serious diseases, basically only bloodletting this one way. Stomach cancer, even in later times, if it is not detected in time, it will kill people. And in this era, there is neither the technical ability to detect it in advance, nor the technical ability to treat it after detection. So by this time, the doctor told everyone quite dryly, "What Monsieur Carlo needs today is not a doctor, but a priest."

　　Napoleon also returned, arriving a day before Joseph. By the time Joseph returned, the family was all there. By the evening of that day, Carlo had once again come to his senses for the time being, and the priest was at his side as he began to say his last prayers for him, his wife holding his hand, and his children all gathered around him. His eyes flicked from his wife, to his children, and finally to Joseph.

　　"Joseph ...," Carlo said in a weak voice.

　　"Father, I'm here." Joseph said.

　　"Take care of the family ..." were the last words Carlo said to Joseph.