At the end of it, the director of the hospital entered his carriage
and drove to the city hall, in whose largest chamber a committee of
the Public Safety officials were holding a public meeting. With
earnest and urgent words the revered and universally valued
physician gave the report about the visits which he had made at the
Temple for some days at the command of the authorities, and about
the condition of affairs there. Petion the elder, the presiding
officer of the committee, listened to the report with a grave
repose, and the picture of the low health of the "little Capet,"
while he paid the most marked attention to that part of the report
which concerned the Simons.
"Citizen Simon has deserved much of the country, and he is one of
the most faithful supporters of the one and indivisible republic,"
said Petion, when Doctor Naudin ended his report. "The republic
must, like a grateful mother, show gratitude to her loyal sons, and
care for them tenderly. So tell us, Citizen Naudin, what must be
done in order to restore health to Citizen Simon and his wife."
"They are both sick from the same cause, and, therefore, they both
require the same remedy. That remedy is, a change of air and a
change of location. Let Simon have another post, where he shall be
allowed to exercise freely out of doors, and where he shall not be
compelled to breathe only the confined air of a cell; and let his
wife not be forced to listen to the whining and the groaning of the
little sick Capet.
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