I wear the laurels of the Republic, I am the Republic, you can see resolve in my eyes, determination on my lips, sadness and loss in my heart. Though I wear the cloak of office I am vulnerable; my armor, only decorative, does not cover my heart. My defenceless heart has been broken.
It was not easy; nothing worth while is ever easy. And let’s not count the sacrifices made; that ledger full of woe runs deep into the red. No, my people have paid dearly for their freedom and I hope that their investment pays the dividends they hoped for; if not for themselves, most assuredly for their children.
Though many people bought our freedom through blood; I also bled… bled tears, bled hope, bled innocence. It is the hard men and women that made me bleed; it is those who value the result above the method to achieve it, that break my heart. My right-hand man here is one of them. His hollow eyes have seen much suffering, his intemperate mouth has ordered so much more in revenge. How can he retreat from the horror he has created, now that we have won. He Sees enemies everywhere because that is all he knows… I’m afraid he will not show mercy to either friend or foe.
Though winning the Republic was hard, making the republic just, will be equally hard. There are men among us who only lust for power. They mouth the principles of the Republic but mask their real intentions, their only desire is for power and wealth. They are the ones that I fear the most, because they scheme my enslavement. They stand around the periphery and take advantage of every crisis to further their agenda. They will connive to be your saviour, and in the end make themselves more important than the Republic. Your hard-won rights will be trumped out of your hands, and the values we fought for, eroded away.
So you now know why I sit here in this fountain; frozen in time, a reminder of the sacrifices made, but more importantly, a call to vigilance so our gains will not be squandered.
Author’s Note: This is the Monument aux Girondins at the Place des Quinconces, located in Bordeaux, France. It is one of the most spectacular fountains I’ve seen.