Chapter 9: Friends of the Youth Club

Shortly after this conversation, Darcy gave Joseph two plays—Shakespeare's Timon of Athens and Milton's Samson Agonistes—plus quite a few other poems and things.

"This is some of the stuff I've had pent up here for the past two years, and it's been backlogged for almost six months. You know, where do I have that much free time for 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 leave and was returning to Corsica, Darcy said this to him.

"Joseph, I hope your father is okay, and you'll be back soon." Another student, named Rafa, also said, "You always give us a lot of inspiration in our discussions. Your absence will dull our club meetings."

"Rafa's right, we can't bear you leaving our club." Another man named Clovis said that, being like Joseph, he was completely dependent on the scholarship for his livelihood, so emotionally, he was closer to Joseph.

The club Rafa was talking about is a small group called "Youth Friends." It consists of a group of young people with very different lifestyles and attitudes, but all of them are dissatisfied with reality and full of all kinds of naive imaginations about the future. As a matter of fact, there are quite a number of such youths in the various schools in France today. Joseph knew that many of these youths, who nowadays seem childish and whose ideas are all ridiculously naive, later became the leading figures of the Revolution, and that their cliques, which nowadays seem to be no more than a small circle of young boys getting together to get high on themselves, became the political parties of later times. The famous Jacobins, for example, started out as nothing more than a club.

The "Young Friends" was, in fact, the prototype of such a party, although its members were diverse, ranging from well-to-do aristocrats like Darcy to tighy-fisted aristocrats like Joseph to well-to-do businessmen's sons like Rafa to the sons of poor families like Clovis. Those members have different personalities: Darcy is outgoing and flamboyant; Rafa is sophisticated and easy-going; and Clovis usually doesn't say much but is determined and decisive when it comes to doing things. But on one thing, they all agree, and that is that the system in France today is so unfair that it must be changed. It's just that there's not yet a complete unity of opinion on exactly how the change should be made.

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

Clovis, on the other hand, was opposed to any monarchy, and one of his uncles fought the British in North America in his day, along with General Lafayette. From him, Clovis heard countless things about the thirteen colonies. So, he became a staunch supporter of the republic. He was opposed to any monarch and was adamant that France should be a republic.

As for Rafa, he felt that, in theory, a republic was certainly the best and most consistent with the principle of equality for all. This is, in fact, consistent with the teachings of Christ as well. "In the beginning, the prophet Moses was against monarchy." Here's what Rafa says about it. On the other hand, he argued, "Monarchy is a French tradition, and the common people are used to being ruled by kings, so we can't completely disregard the French tradition and the habits of the common people. So a constitutional monarchy is not an unaacceptable compromise."

As for Joseph, he did not appear to be particularly concerned about the regime; he was more concerned with the rights of the individual.

"I don't care who rules the country; whether he/she is a king/queen or a president, my main concern is that his/her power must be restrained from interfering with my freedoms and rights at will. One of the points in the American Declaration of Independence that I strongly agree with is the right of the people to overthrow tyranny. The only power that is recognized by all the people is legitimate power. From that point of view, I respect whatever choice the French people make."

That's actually a pretty well-rounded statement, especially the last one. But the youth of this age, who have not been subjected to the latter-day nastiness of the information age, the "Internet," feel instead that Joseph also has a point. But it misses the most crucial part of the sentence: who are the people, and who represents the people?

Joseph, after all, is a traverser. He has seen a lot of the practice of various political systems in the latter half of the world and has the experience of being a keyboard warrior pointing the way in the past in the internet forums so that he can say one, two, or three about the advantages and disadvantages of the various political systems. He can also make everyone else feel that it is somewhat justified. As a matter of fact, compared with those who have seen a lot of things in the latter days, those young people in the "Young Friends" club are much simpler and easier to fool. So, while these men still have some political differences today, Joseph has managed to turn his views into a common platform for the entire club. And he himself became the spiritual leader of this club. Now he's leaving Paris for a while. Several of his classmates then took the time off work and came to the foyer to see him off.

"Joseph, you shouldn't worry too much about the financial problems." Rafa adds, "It is much easier to find a chance to make money in Paris than in the other provinces. Come back to Paris as soon as you're done at home. There's always a way for all of us together. Well, Joseph, if you are very short of money now, I can still get a little money for you from my father—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?" Clovis asked.

"Thats true. But my father can spare money when he really needs to spend it." Rafa shooks his head, "you don't know, he'll keep a tight rein on every copper I have, and on top of being well fed, I can't even have one glass of beer if I want to. Because according to that old man, drinking beer is not as efficient as black bread in filling your stomach. But on the other hand, the old man said to me as he walked me into school, 'Rafa, you know that the Louis the Great School is one of the best, and there are only two typers of people who can study there. One category is people whose families are very rich or well-established, and the other category is very talented people. Rafa, you know I'm frugal, and I also think frugality is a virture. But do you really think that I'm rich because I'm thriftier than everyone else? No, it's not. It's because I know where money is spent most efficiently. First, you can learn a lot of skills here, a lot of skills that I can't teach you; second, you can meet a lot of 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 I never mince words when it comes to things like this."

"Rafa," cried Darcy, "Your father is a truly marvelous fellow! Perhaps I should introduce my uncle to your father. They can definitely become friends."

"Ah, Darcy, if you could arrange for my father to meet your uncle Lavoisier, he would be willing to pay for us all to drink champagne for that. But you'd better think about it, because my father will more than likely use this thing to make more money." Rafa replied, "Besides, my father would certainly not be friends with your uncle; his only friends are Golden Louis coins."

"Rafa, are you sure 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 not to be questioned. Secondoly, there were only a handful of people he knew who were both loyal and capable of recognizing whether or not a person had talent and virtue, and I was certainly one of them. Besides, my father said, 'There's no such thing as a sure-fire way to make a profit in business. There's no such thing as a sure-fire way to lose money. Taking risks is supposed to be part of doing business." Rafa replied, "I think, although it is not certain, that you, Joseph, may one day make a name for yourself in the future."

"Ah, Rafael, I'll make a name for myself too. You give me a little investment too," Darcy yelled with a smile.

Rafa looked at Darcy and laughed loudly. "Mr. Darcy, I believe that you might be famous one day 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," Darcy said as he put on a chagrined expression.

"Joseph, be sure to come back." Clovis said this as he shook Darcy's hand.

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

When he said this, he raised his hat on his head to several men, then turned and got into the stagecoach.

.....

Carlos's condition is deteriorating rapidly. By the time Joseph returned to Corsica, he was in a state of death. 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 doctor was completely helpless at this point. In this day and age, bloodletting is still basically the only way for European doctors to deal with more serious illnesses. And stomach cancer, even in the latter days, can kill someone if it's not treated on time. And in this day and age, there is neither the technological capacity to detect it in advance nor to treat it after it has been detected. So by this time, the doctor told everyone dryly, "What Mr. Carlo needs right now is not a doctor, but a priest."

Napoleon also returned, and he had arrived a day before Joseph. By the time Joseph returned, the family was all together. By the evening of that day. Carlo was temporarily awake again, 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 flickered from his wife's to his children's, and finally to Joseph's.

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

"Father, I'm here," Joseph said in a low voice.

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