- July 28: 1794 – French Revolution: Maximilien de Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (pictured left and right respectively), architects of the Reign of Terror, were executed after having been arrested the previous day.
The Brits appear themselves quite snide
And unrefined as Regicides;
Sleepless was Charles the first alright
In Whitehall on his final night.
Before his window sang the rabble
And he was trundled to the scaffold.
Not much nicer were the French.
In a fiacre they rushed
Lou Capet to the chopping bench;
They gave him no Calèche
As was the due etiquette
For such a Magisterial Head.
But even worse for Antoinette
She only got a wagonette!
In lieu of dame and chamberlain
A sans-cullotte was in her train;
Widow Capet so high and mighty
With that old Hapsburg under-bitey!
But what about those pushy Reds!
They rushed Tsar Nicholas out of bed
As if to get his fam in
toto
To pose for a nice family photo!
If you thought camera-men were quick
You’ve never seen a Bolshevik.
But while the Soviets pushed along
The Chinese sung with Mao Zedong.
Forget a family to get rid of
The whole Han culture cut its head off.
How Unconfucian! With manners dread
They sing-a-long “the East is Red”.
But have the French learned politesse?
A ’68 will pass a test…
But barely pass – a mark that falls
Short of the standards of de Gaulle.
But maybe one or two learned manners
When they switched red for green banners.
French, British, Commies! They are wholly
Without tact; such tact is only
For the Amer'can – he’ll remain tactful
As long as Terror is attackable.
To the American tact sees
That only friendliness can please.
Act chummy and hop in the car
And drive out to the country, far
-With a cheerful smile – out past the border
To some lone camp called something or other
And there the bad guy’s treated fairly
And kept happy and living (barely).
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