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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2578-8.txt b/2578-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1bd52a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/2578-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15756 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume +2 (of 6), by Hippolyte A. Taine + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6) + The French Revolution, Volume 1 (of 3) + +Author: Hippolyte A. Taine + +Annotator: Svend Rom + +Translator: John Durand, 1880 + +Posting Date: June 18, 2008 [EBook #2578] +Release Date: April, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRENCH REVOLUTION V1 *** + + + + +Produced by Svend Rom + + + + + +THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY FRANCE, VOLUME 2 + +THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, VOLUME 1. + + +by Hippolyte A. Taine + + + +CONTENTS: + +ANARCHY + +PREFACE + +BOOK FIRST. Spontaneous Anarchy. + +CHAPTER I. The Beginnings of Anarchy + +CHAPTER II. Paris up to the 14th of July + +CHAPTER III. Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS + +BOOK SECOND. The constituent Assembly, and the Result of its Labors + +CHAPTER I. The Constituent Assembly + +CHAPTER II. The Damage + +CHAPTER III. The Constructions--The Constitution of 1791. + +BOOK THIRD. The Application of the Constitution + +CHAPTER I. The Federations + +CHAPTER II. Sovereignty of Unrestrained Passions + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion + + + + +PREFACE + +This second part of "Les Origines de la France Contemporaine" will +consist of two volumes.--Popular insurrections and the laws of the +Constituent Assembly end in destroying all government in France; this +forms the subject of the present volume.--A party arises around +an extreme doctrine, grabs control of the government, and rules in +conformity with its doctrine. This will form the subject of the second +volume. + +A third volume would be required to criticize and evaluate the source +material. I lack the necessary space: I merely state the rule that I +have observed. The trustworthiest testimony will always be that of an +eyewitness, especially + +* When this witness is an honorable, attentive, and intelligent man, + +* When he is writing on the spot, at the moment, and under the dictate +of the facts themselves, + +* When it is obvious that his sole object is to preserve or furnish +information, + +* When his work instead of a piece of polemics planned for the needs +of a cause, or a passage of eloquence arranged for popular effect is a +legal deposition, a secret report, a confidential dispatch, a private +letter, or a personal memento. + +The nearer a document approaches this type, the more it merits +confidence, and supplies superior material.--I have found many of +this kind in the national archives, principally in the manuscript +correspondence of ministers, intendants, sub-delegates, magistrates, and +other functionaries; of military commanders, officers in the army, +and gendarmerie; of royal commissioners, and of the Assembly; of +administrators of departments, districts, and municipalities, besides +persons in private life who address the King, the National Assembly, or +the ministry. Among these are men of every rank, profession, education, +and party. They are distributed by hundreds and thousands over the +whole surface of the territory. They write apart, without being able to +consult each other, and without even knowing each other. No one is so +well placed for collecting and transmitting accurate information. None +of them seek literary effect, or even imagine that what they write will +ever be published. They draw up their statements at once, under the +direct impression of local events. Testimony of this character, of the +highest order, and at first hand, provides the means by which all other +testimony ought to be verified.--The footnotes at the bottom of the +pages indicate the condition, office, name, and address of those +decisive witnesses. For greater certainty I have transcribed as often as +possible their own words. In this way the reader, confronting the texts, +can interpret them for himself, and form his own opinions; he will have +the same documents as myself for arriving at his conclusions, and, if he +is pleased to do so, he may conclude otherwise. As for allusions, if he +finds any, he himself will have introduced them, and if he applies them +he is alone responsible for them. To my mind, the past has features of +its own, and the portrait here presented resembles only the France of +the past. I have drawn it without concerning myself with the discussions +of the day; I have written as if my subject were the revolutions of +Florence or Athens. This is history, and nothing more, and, if I may +fully express myself, I esteem my vocation of historian too highly to +make a cloak of it for the concealment of another. (December 1877). + + +***** + + + + +BOOK FIRST. SPONTANEOUS ANARCHY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF ANARCHY. + + + + +I.--Dearth the first cause. + + Bad crops. The winter of 1788 and 1789.--High price and poor + quality of bread.--In the provinces.--At Paris. + +During the night of July 14-15, 1789, the Duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt caused Louis XVI to be aroused to inform him of +the taking of the Bastille. "It is a revolt, then?" exclaimed the King. +"Sire!" replied the Duke; "it is a revolution!" The event was even more +serious. Not only had power slipped from the hands of the King, but also +it had not fallen into those of the Assembly. It now lay on the +ground, ready to the hands of the unchained populace, the violent and +over-excited crowd, the mobs, which picked it up like some weapon that +had been thrown away in the street. In fact, there was no longer any +government; the artificial structure of human society was giving way +entirely; things were returning to a state of nature. This was not a +revolution, but a dissolution. + +Two causes excite and maintain the universal upheaval. The first one is +food shortages and dearth, which being constant, lasting for ten years, +and aggravated by the very disturbances which it excites, bids fair to +inflame the popular passions to madness, and change the whole course of +the Revolution into a series of spasmodic stumbles. + +When a stream is brimful, a slight rise suffices to cause an overflow. +So was it with the extreme distress of the eighteenth century. A poor +man, who finds it difficult to live when bread is cheap, sees death +staring him in the face when it is dear. In this state of suffering the +animal instinct revolts, and the universal obedience which constitutes +public peace depends on a degree more or less of dryness or damp, heat +or cold. In 1788, a year of severe drought, the crops had been poor. In +addition to this, on the eve of the harvest,[1101] a terrible hail-storm +burst over the region around Paris, from Normandy to Champagne, +devastating sixty leagues of the most fertile territory, and causing +damage to the amount of one hundred millions of francs. Winter came on, +the severest that had been seen since 1709. At the close of December the +Seine was frozen over from Paris to Havre, while the thermometer stood +at 180 below zero. A third of the olive-trees died in Provence, and the +rest suffered to such an extent that they were considered incapable of +bearing fruit for two years to come. The same disaster befell Languedoc. +In Vivarais, and in the Cevennes, whole forests of chestnuts had +perished, along with all the grain and grass crops on the uplands. On +the plain the Rhone remained in a state of overflow for two months. +After the spring of 1789 the famine spread everywhere, and it increased +from month to month like a rising flood. In vain did the Government +order the farmers, proprietors, and corn-dealers to keep the markets +supplied. In vain did it double the bounty on imports, resort to all +sorts of expedients, involve itself in debt, and expend over forty +millions of francs to furnish France with wheat. In vain do individuals, +princes, noblemen, bishops, chapters, and communities multiply their +charities. The Archbishop of Paris incurring a debt of 400,000 livres, +one rich man distributing 40,000 francs the morning after the hailstorm, +and a convent of Bernardines feeding twelve hundred poor persons for six +weeks[1102]. But it had been too devastating. Neither public measures +nor private charity could meet the overwhelming need. In Normandy, where +the last commercial treaty had ruined the manufacture of linen and +of lace trimmings, forty thousand workmen were out of work. In many +parishes one-fourth of the population[1103] are beggars. Here, "nearly +all the inhabitants, not excepting the farmers and landowners, are +eating barley bread and drinking water;" there, "many poor creatures +have to eat oat bread, and others soaked bran, which has caused the +death of several children."--"Above all," writes the Rouen Parliament, +"let help be sent to a perishing people. . .. Sire, most of your +subjects are unable to pay the price of bread, and what bread is given +to those who do buy it "--Arthur Young,[1104] who was traveling through +France at this time, heard of nothing but the high cost of bread and the +distress of the people. At Troyes bread costs four sous a pound--that is +to say, eight sous of the present day; and unemployed artisans flock +to the relief works, where they can earn only twelve sous a day. In +Lorraine, according to the testimony of all observers, "the people are +half dead with hunger." In Paris the number of paupers has been trebled; +there are thirty thousand in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine alone. Around +Paris there is a short supply of grain, or it is spoilt[1105]. In the +beginning of July, at Montereau, the market is empty. "The bakers could +not have baked" if the police officers had not increased the price of +bread to five sous per pound; the rye and barley which the intendant +is able to send "are of the worst possible quality, rotten and in a +condition to produce dangerous diseases. Nevertheless, most of the small +consumers are reduced to the hard necessity of using this spoilt grain." +At Villeneuve-le-Roi, writes the mayor, "the rye of the two lots last +sent is so black and poor that it cannot be retailed without wheat." At +Sens the barley "tastes musty" to such an extent that buyers of it throw +the detestable bread, which it makes in the face of the sub-delegate. At +Chevreuse the barley has sprouted and smells bad; the "poor wretches," +says an employee, "must be hard pressed with hunger to put up with it." +At Fontainebleau "the barley, half eaten away, produces more bran than +flour, and to make bread of it, one is obliged to work it over several +times." This bread, such as it is, is an object of savage greed; "it +has come to this, that it is impossible to distribute it except through +wickets." And those who thus obtain their ration, "are often attacked on +the road and robbed of it by the more vigorous of the famished people." +At Nangis "the magistrates prohibit the same person from buying more +than two bushels in the same market." In short, provisions are so +scarce that there is a difficulty in feeding the soldiers; the minister +dispatches two letters one after another to order the cutting down +of 250,000 bushels of rye before the harvest[1106]. Paris thus, in +a perfect state of tranquility, appears like a famished city put on +rations at the end of a long siege, and the dearth will not be greater +nor the food worse in December 1870, than in July 1789. + +"The nearer the 14th of July approached," says an eyewitness,[1107] "the +more did the dearth increase. Every baker's shop was surrounded by a +crowd, to which bread was distributed with the most grudging economy. +This bread was generally blackish, earthy, and bitter, producing +inflammation of the throat and pain in the bowels. I have seen flour of +detestable quality at the military school and at other depots. I have +seen portions of it yellow in color, with an offensive smell; some +forming blocks so hard that they had to be broken into fragments +by repeated blows of a hatchet. For my own part, wearied with the +difficulty of procuring this poor bread, and disgusted with that offered +to me at the tables d'hôte, I avoided this kind of food altogether. In +the evening I went to the Café du Caveau, where, fortunately, they +were kind enough to reserve for me two of those rolls which are called +flutes, and this is the only bread I have eaten for a week at a time." + +But this resource is only for the rich. As for the people, to get bread +fit for dogs, they must stand in a line for hours. And here they fight +for it; "they snatch food from one another." There is no more work to +be had; "the work-rooms are deserted;" often, after waiting a whole +day, the workman returns home empty-handed. When he does bring back a +four-pound loaf it costs him 3 francs 12 sous; that is, 12 sous for the +bread, and 3 francs for the lost day. In this long line of unemployed, +excited men, swaying to and fro before the shop-door, dark thoughts are +fermenting: "if the bakers find no flour to-night to bake with, we shall +have nothing to eat to-morrow." An appalling idea;--in presence of which +the whole power of the Government is not too strong; for to keep order +in the midst of famine nothing avails but the sight of an armed force, +palpable and threatening. Under Louis XIV and Louis XV there had been +even greater hunger and misery; but the outbreaks, which were roughly +and promptly put down, were only partial and passing disorders. Some +rioters were at once hung, and others were sent to the galleys. The +peasant or the workman, convinced of his impotence, at once returned to +his stall or his plow. When a wall is too high one does not even think +of scaling it.--But now the wall is cracking--all its custodians, the +clergy, the nobles, the Third-Estate, men of letters, the politicians, +and even the Government itself, making the breach wider. The wretched, +for the first time, discover an issue: they dash through it, at first +in driblets, then in a mass, and rebellion becomes as universal as +resignation was in the past. + + + + +II.--Expectations the second cause + + Separation and laxity of the administrative forces.-- + Investigations of local assemblies. --The people become + aware of their condition.--Convocation of the States- + General.--Hope is born. The coincidence of early Assemblies + with early difficulties. + +It is just through this breach that hope steals like a beam of light, +and gradually finds its way down to the depths below. For the last fifty +years it has been rising, and its rays, which first illuminated the +upper class in their splendid apartments in the first story, and next +the middle class in their entresol and on the ground floor. They have +now for two years penetrated to the cellars where the people toil, and +even to the deep sinks and obscure corners where rogues and vagabonds +and malefactors, a foul and swarming herd, crowd and hide themselves +from the persecution of the law.--To the first two provincial assemblies +instituted by Necker in 1778 and 1779, Loménie de Brienne has in 1787 +just added nineteen others; under each of these are assemblies of the +arrondissement, under each assembly of the arrondissement are parish +assemblies[1108]. Thus the whole machinery of administration has been +changed. It is the new assemblies which assess the taxes and superintend +their collection; which determine upon and direct all public works; and +which form the court of final appeal in regard to matters in dispute. +The intendant, the sub-delegate, the elected representative[1109], thus +lose three-quarters of their authority. Conflicts arise, consequently, +between rival powers whose frontiers are not clearly defined; command +shifts about, and obedience is diminished. The subject no longer feels +on his shoulders the commanding weight of the one hand which, without +possibility of interference or resistance, held him in, urged him +forward, and made him move on. Meanwhile, in each assembly of the +parish arrondissement, and even of the province, plebeians, +"husband-men,"[1110] and often common farmers, sit by the side of lords +and prelates. They listen to and remember the vast figure of the taxes +which are paid exclusively, or almost exclusively, by them--the taille +and its accessories, the poll-tax and road dues, and assuredly on their +return home they talk all this over with their neighbor. These figures +are all printed; the village attorney discusses the matter with his +clients, the artisans and rustics, on Sunday as they leave the mass, +or in the evening in the large public room of the tavern. These little +gatherings, moreover, are sanctioned, encouraged by the powers above. +In the earliest days of 1788 the provincial assemblies order a board +of inquiry to be held by the syndics and inhabitants of each parish. +Knowledge is wanted in detail of their grievances. What part of the +revenue is chargeable to each impost? What must the cultivator pay and +how much does he suffer? How many privileged persons there are in the +parish, what is the amount of their fortune, are they residents, and +what their exemptions amount to? In replying, the attorney who holds the +pen, names and points out with his finger each privileged individual, +criticizes his way of living, and estimates his fortune, calculates the +injury done to the village by his immunities, inveighs against the taxes +and the tax-collectors. On leaving these assemblies the villager broods +over what he has just heard. He sees his grievances no longer singly as +before, but in mass, and coupled with the enormity of evils under which +his fellows suffer. Besides this, they begin to disentangle the causes +of their misery: the King is good--why then do his collectors take so +much of our money? This or that canon or nobleman is not unkind--why +then do they make us pay in their place?--Imagine that a sudden gleam of +reason should allow a beast of burden to comprehend the contrast between +the species of horse and mankind. Imagine, if you can, what its first +ideas would be in relation to the coachmen and drivers who bridle +and whip it and again in relation to the good-natured travelers and +sensitive ladies who pity it, but who to the weight of the vehicle add +their own and that of their luggage. + +Likewise, in the mind of the peasant, athwart his perplexed brooding, a +new idea, slowly, little by little, is unfolded:--that of an oppressed +multitude of which he makes one, a vast herd scattered far beyond the +visible horizon, everywhere ill used, starved, and fleeced. Towards the +end of 1788 we begin to detect in the correspondence of the intendants +and military commandants the dull universal muttering of coming +wrath. Men's characters seem to change; they become suspicious and +restive.--And just at this moment, the Government, dropping the reins, +calls upon them to direct themselves.[1111]. In the month of November +1787, the King declared that he would convoke the States-General. On the +5th of July 1788, he calls for memoranda (des mémoires) on this subject +from every competent person and body. On the 8th of August he fixes the +date of the session. On the 5th of October he convokes the notables, +in order to consider the subject with them. On the 27th of December he +grants a double representation to the Third-Estate, because "its cause +is allied with generous sentiments, and it will always obtain the +support of public opinion." The same day he introduces into the +electoral assemblies of the clergy a majority of curés[1112], "because +good and useful pastors are daily and closely associated with the +indigence and relief of the people," from which it follows "that they +are much more familiar with their sufferings" and necessities. On +the 24th January 1789, he prescribes the procedure and method of the +meetings. After the 7th of February writs of summons are sent out one +after the other. Eight days after, each parish assembly begins to draw +up its memorial of grievances, and becomes excited over the detailed +enumeration of all the miseries which it sets down in writing.--All +these appeals and all these acts are so many strokes, which reverberate, +in the popular imagination. "It is the desire of His Majesty," says the +order issued, "that every one, from the extremities of his kingdom, and +from the most obscure of its hamlets, should be certain of his wishes +and protests reaching him." Thus, it is all quite true: there can be +no mistake about it, the thing is sure. The people are invited to speak +out, they are summoned, and they are consulted. There is a disposition +to relieve them; henceforth their misery shall be less; better times +are coming. This is all they know about it. A few month after, in +July,[1113] the only answer a peasant girl can make to Arthur Young is, +"something was to be done by some great folks for such poor ones, but +she did not know who nor how." The thing is too complicated, beyond the +reach of a stupefied and mechanical brain.--One idea alone emerges, the +hope of immediate relief. The persuasion that one is entitled to it, the +resolution to aid it with every possible means. Consequently, an anxious +waiting, a ready fervor, a tension of the will simply due to the waiting +for the opportunity to let go and take off like a irresistible arrow +towards the unknown end which will reveal itself all of a sudden. Hunger +is to mark this sudden target out for them. + +The market must be supplied with wheat; the farmers and land-owners must +bring it; wholesale buyers, whether the Government or individuals, must +not be allowed to send it elsewhere. The wheat must be sold at a low +price; the price must be cut down and fixed, so that the baker can sell +bread at two sous the pound. Grain, flour, wine, salt, and provisions +must pay no more duties. Seignorial dues and claims, ecclesiastical +tithes, and royal or municipal taxes must no longer exist. On the +strength of this idea disturbances broke out on all sides in March, +April, and May. Contemporaries "do not know what to think of such +a scourge;[1114] they cannot comprehend how such a vast number of +criminals, without visible leaders, agree amongst themselves everywhere +to commit the same excesses just at the time when the States-General are +going to begin their sittings." The reason is that, under the ancient +régime, the conflagration was smoldering in a closed chamber; the great +door is suddenly opened, the air enters, and immediately the flame +breaks out. + + + + +III.--The provinces during the first six months of 1789 + + Effects of the famine. + +At first there are only intermittent, isolated fires, which are +extinguished or go out of themselves; but, a moment after, in the same +place, or very near it, the sparks again appear. Their number, like +their recurrence, shows the vastness, depth, and heat of the combustible +matter, which is about to explode. In the four months, which precede the +taking of the Bastille, over three hundred outbreaks may be counted in +France. They take place from month to month and from week to week, in +Poitou, Brittany, Touraine, Orléanais, Normandy, Ile-de-France, Picardy, +Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Nivernais, Auvergne, Languedoc, and +Provence. On the 28th of May the parliament of Rouen announces robberies +of grain, "violent and bloody tumults, in which men on both sides have +fallen," throughout the province, at Caen, Saint-Lô, Mortain, Granville, +Evreux, Bernay, Pont-Andemer, Elboeuf; Louviers, and in other sections +besides. On the 20th of April Baron de Bezenval, military commander +in the Central Provinces, writes: "I once more lay before M. Necker a +picture of the frightful condition of Touraine and of Orléanais. Every +letter I receive from these two provinces is the narrative of three +or four riots, which are put down with difficulty by the troops and +constabulary,"[1115]--and throughout the whole extent of the kingdom a +similar state of things is seen. The women, as is natural, are generally +at the head of these outbreaks. It is they who, at Montlhéry, rip open +the sacks of grain with their scissors. On learning each week, on market +day that the price of a loaf of bread advances three, four, or seven +sous, they break out into shrieks of rage: at this rate for bread, with +the small salaries of the men, and when work fails,[1116] how can a +family be fed? Crowds gather around the sacks of flour and the doors of +the bakers. Amidst outcries and reproaches some one in the crowd makes a +push; the proprietor or dealer is hustled and knocked down. The shop +is invaded, the commodity is in the hands of the buyers and of the +famished, each one grabbing for himself, pay or no pay, and running +away with the booty.--Sometimes a party is made up beforehand[1117] +At Bray-sur-Seine, on the 1st of May, the villagers for four leagues +around, armed with stones, knives, and cudgels, to the number of four +thousand, compel the metayers and farmers, who have brought grain with +them, to sell it at 3 livres, instead of 4 livres 10 sous the bushel. +They threaten to do the same thing on the following market-day: but the +farmers do not return, the storehouse remains empty. Now soldiers must +be at hand, or the inhabitants of Bray will be pillaged. At Bagnols, in +Languedoc, on the 1st and 2nd of April, the peasants, armed with cudgels +and assembled by tap of drum, "traverse the town, threatening to burn +and destroy everything if flour and money are not given to them." +They go to private houses for grain, divide it amongst themselves at a +reduced price, "promising to pay when the next crop comes round," and +force the Consuls to put bread at two sous the pound, and to increase +the day's wages four sous.--Indeed this is now the regular thing; it is +not the people who obey the authorities, but the authorities who obey +the people. Consuls, sheriffs, mayors, municipal officers, town-clerks, +become confused and hesitating in the face of this huge clamor; they +feel that they are likely to be trodden under foot or thrown out of the +windows. Others, with more firmness, being aware that a riotous crowd +is mad, and having scruples to spill blood; yield for the time being, +hoping that at the next market-day there will be more soldiers +and better precautions taken. At Amiens, "after a very violent +outbreak,"[1118] they decide to take the wheat belonging to the Jacobin +monks, and, protected by the troops, to sell it to the people at a third +below its value. At Nantes, where the town hall is attacked, they are +forced to lower the price of bread one sou per pound. At Angoulême, to +avoid a recourse to arms, they request the Comte d'Artois to renounce +his dues on flour for two months, reduce the price of bread, and +compensate the bakers. At Cette they are so maltreated they let +everything take its course; the people sack their dwellings and get the +upper hand; they announce by sound of trumpet that all their demands are +granted. On other occasions, the mob dispenses with their services and +acts for itself. If there happens to be no grain on the market-place, +the people go after it wherever they can find it--to proprietors and +farmers who are unable to bring it for fear of pillage; to convents, +which by royal edict are obliged always to have one year's crop in +store; to granaries where the Government keeps its supplies; and to +convoys which are dispatched by the intendants to the relief of famished +towns. Each for himself--so much the worse for his neighbor. The +inhabitants of Fougères beat and drive out those who come from Ernée +to buy in their market; a similar violence is shown at Vitré to the +in-habitants of Maine.[1119] At Sainte-Léonard the people stop the grain +started for Limoges; at Bost that intended for Aurillac; at Saint-Didier +that ordered for Moulins; and at Tournus that dispatched to Macon. In +vain are escorts added to the convoys; troops of men and women, armed +with hatchets and guns, put themselves in ambush in the woods along the +road, and seize the horses by their bridles; the saber has to be used to +secure any advance. In vain are arguments and kind words offered, "and +in vain even is wheat offered for money; they refuse, shouting out that +the convoy shall not go on." They have taken a stubborn stand, their +resolution being that of a bull planted in the middle of the road and +lowering his horns. Since the wheat is in the district, it is theirs; +whoever carries it off or withholds it is a robber. This fixed idea +cannot be driven out of their minds. At Chant-nay, near Mans,[1120] +they prevent a miller from carrying that which he had just bought to +his mill. At Montdragon, in Languedoc, they stone a dealer in the act of +sending his last wagon load elsewhere. At Thiers, workmen go in force +to gather wheat in the fields; a proprietor with whom some is found +is nearly killed; they drink wine in the cellars, and leave the taps +running. At Nevers, the bakers not having put bread on their counters +for four days, the mob force the granaries of private persons, of +dealers and religious communities. "The frightened corn-dealers part +with their grain at any price; most of it is stolen in the face of the +guards," and, in the tumult of these searches of homes, a number of +houses are sacked.--In these days woe to all who are concerned in the +acquisition, commerce, and manipulation of grain! Popular imagination +requires living beings to who it may impute its misfortunes, and on whom +it may gratify its resentments. To it, all such persons are monopolists, +and, at any rate, public enemies. Near Angers the Benedictine +establishment is invaded, and its fields and woods are devastated.[1121] +At Amiens "the people are arranging to pillage and perhaps burn the +houses of two merchants, who have built labor-saving mills." Restrained +by the soldiers, they confine themselves to breaking windows; but other +"groups come to destroy or plunder the houses of two or three persons +whom they suspect of being monopolists." At Nantes, a sieur Geslin, +being deputized by the people to inspect a house, and finding no wheat, +a shout is set up that he is a receiver, an accomplice! The crowd rush +at him, and he is wounded and almost cut in pieces.--It is very evident +that there is no more security in France; property, even life, is in +danger. The primary possession, food, is violated in hundreds of places, +and is everywhere menaced and precarious. The local officials everywhere +call for aid, declare the constabulary incompetent, and demand +regular troops. And mark how public authority, everywhere inadequate, +disorganized, and tottering, finds stirred up against it not only the +blind madness of hunger, but, in addition, the evil instincts which +profit by every disorder and the inveterate lusts which every political +commotion frees from restraint. + + + + +IV.--Intervention of ruffians and vagabonds. + +We have seen how numerous the smugglers, dealers in contraband salt, +poachers, vagabonds, beggars, and escaped convicts[1122] have become, +and how a year of famine increases the number. All are so many recruits +for the mobs, and whether in a disturbance or by means of a disturbance +each one of them fills his pouch. Around Caux,[1123] even up to the +environs of Rouen, at Roncherolles, Quévrevilly, Préaux, Saint-Jacques, +and in the entire surrounding neighborhood bands of armed bandits force +their way into the houses, particularly the parsonages, and lay their +hands on whatever they please. To the south of Chartres "three or four +hundred woodcutters, from the forests of Bellème, chop away everything +that opposes them, and force grain to be given up to them at their own +price." In the vicinity of Étampes, fifteen bandits enter the +farmhouses at night and put the farmer to ransom, threatening him with +a conflagration. In Cambrésis they pillage the abbeys of Vauchelles, of +Verger, and of Guillemans, the château of the Marquis de Besselard, the +estate of M. Doisy, two farms, the wagons of wheat passing along the +road to Saint-Quentin, and, besides this, seven farms in Picardy. +"The seat of this revolt is in some villages bordering on Picardy and +Cambrésis, familiar with smuggling operations and to the license of +that pursuit." The peasants allow themselves to be enticed away by the +bandits. Man slips rapidly down the incline of dishonesty; one who +is half-honest, and takes part in a riot inadvertently or in spite of +himself; repeats the act, allured on by impunity or by gain. In fact, +"it is not dire necessity which impels them;" they make a speculation of +cupidity, a new sort of illicit trade. An old soldier, saber in hand, a +forest-keeper, and "about eight persons sufficiently lax, put themselves +at the head of four or five hundred men, go off each day to three or +four villages. Here they force everybody who has any wheat to give it +to them at 24 livres," and even at 18 livres, the sack. Those among the +band, who say that they have no money, carry away their portion without +payment. Others, after having paid what they please, re-sell at a +profit, which amounts to even 45 livres the sack. This is a good +business, and one in which greed takes poverty for its accomplice. At +the next harvest the temptation will be similar: "they have threatened +to come and do our harvesting for us, and also to take our cattle and +sell the meat in the villages at the rate of two sous the pound."--In +every important insurrection there are similar evil-does and vagabonds, +enemies to the law, savage, prowling desperadoes, who, like wolves, roam +about wherever they scent a prey. It is they who serve as the directors +and executioners of public or private malice. Near Uzès twenty-five +masked men, with guns and clubs, enter the house of a notary, fire a +pistol at him, beat him, wreck the premises, and burn his registers +along with the title-deeds and papers which he has in keeping for the +Count de Rouvres. Seven of them are arrested, but the people are on +their side, and fall on the constabulary and free them.[1124]--They +are known by their acts, by their love of destruction for the sake of +destruction, by their foreign accent, by their savage faces and their +rags. Some of them come from Paris to Rouen, and, for four days, the +town is at their mercy.[1125] The stores are forced open, train wagons +are discharged, wheat is wasted, and convents and seminaries are put to +ransom. They invade the dwelling of the attorney-general, who has begun +proceedings against them, and want to tear him to pieces. They break his +mirrors and his furniture, leave the premises laden with booty, and go +into the town and its outskirts to pillage the manufactories and break +up or burn all the machinery.--Henceforth these constitute the new +leaders: for in every mob it is the boldest and least scrupulous +who march ahead and set the example in destruction. The example is +contagious: the beginning was the craving for bread, the end is murder +and arson; the savagery which is unchained adding its unlimited violence +to the limited revolt of necessity. + + + + +V.--Effect on the Population of the New Ideas. + +Bad as it is, this savagery might, perhaps, have been overcome, in spite +of the dearth and of the brigands; but what renders it irresistible is +the belief of its being authorized, and that by those whose duty it is +to repress it. Here and there words and actions of a brutal frankness +break forth, and reveal beyond the somber present a more threatening +future--After the 9th of January, 1789, among the mob which attacks the +Hôtel-de-Ville and besieges the bakers' shops of Nantes, "shouts of Vive +la Liberté![1126] mingled with those of Vive le Roi! are heard." A +few months later, around Ploërmel, the peasants refuse to pay tithes, +alleging that the memorial of their seneschal's court demands their +abolition. In Alsace, after March, there is the same refusal "in many +places;" many of the communities even maintain that they will pay no +more taxes until their deputies to the States-General shall have fixed +the precise amount of the public contributions. In Isère it is decided, +by proceedings, printed and published, that "personal dues" shall no +longer be paid, while the landowners who are affected by this dare +not prosecute in the tribunals. At Lyons, the people have come to the +conclusion "that all levies of taxes are to cease," and, on the 29th of +June, on hearing of the meeting of the three orders, "astonished by the +illuminations and signs of public rejoicing," they believe that the good +time has come." They think of forcing the delivery of meat to them at +four sous the pound, and wine at the same rate. The publicans insinuate +to them the prospective abolition of octrois.[1127] and that, meanwhile, +the King, in favor of the re-assembling of the three orders, has granted +three days' freedom from all duties at Paris, and that Lyons ought +to enjoy the same privilege." Upon this the crowd, rushing off to +the barriers, to the gates of Sainte-Claire and Perrache, and to the +Guillotière bridge, burn or demolish the bureaux, destroy the registers, +sack the lodgings of the clerks, carry off the money and pillage the +wine on hand in the depot. In the mean time a rumor has circulated all +round through the country that there is free entrance into the town for +all provisions. During the following days the peasantry stream in with +enormous files of wagons loaded with wine and drawn by several oxen, so +that, in spite of the re-established guard, it is necessary to let them +enter all day without paying the dues. It is only on the 7th of July +that these can again be collected.--The same thing occurs in the +southern provinces, where the principal imposts are levied on +provisions. There also the collections are suspended in the name of +public authority. At Agde,[1128] "the people, considering the so-called +will of the King as to equality of classes, are foolish enough to think +that they are everything and can do everything." Thus do they interpret +in their own way and in their own terms the double representation +accorded to the Third-Estate. They threaten the town, consequently, with +general pillage if the prices of all provisions are not reduced, and if +the duties of the province on wine, fish, and meat are not suppressed. +They also wish to nominate consuls who have sprung up out of their +body." The bishop, the lord of the manor, the mayor and the notables, +against whom they forcibly stir up the peasantry in the country, are +obliged to proclaim by sound of trumpet that their demands shall be +granted. Three days afterwards they exact a diminution of one-half of +the tax on grinding, and go in quest of the bishop who owns the mills. +The prelate, who is ill, sinks down in the street and seats himself on +a stone; they compel him forthwith to sign an act of renunciation, +and hence "his mill, valued at 15,000 livres, is reduced to 7,500 +livres."--At Limoux, under the pretext of searching for grain, they +enter the houses of the comptroller and tax contractors, carry off their +registers, and throw them into the water along with the furniture of +their clerks.--In Provence it is worse; for most unjustly, and through +inconceivable imprudence, the taxes of the towns are all levied on +flour. It is therefore to this impost that the dearness of bread is +directly attributed. Hence the fiscal agent becomes a manifest enemy, +and revolts on account of hunger are transformed into insurrections +against the State. + + + + +VI.--The first jacquerie in Province + + Feebleness or ineffectiveness of repressive measures. + +Here, again, political novelties are the spark that ignites the mass +of gunpowder. Everywhere, the uprising of the people takes place on +the very day on which the electoral assembly meets. From forty to +fifty riots occur in the provinces in less than a fortnight. Popular +imagination, like that of a child, goes straight to its mark. The +reforms having been announced, people think them accomplished and, to +make sure of them, steps are at once taken to carry them out. Now +that we are to have relief, let us relieve ourselves. "This is not an +isolated riot as usual," writes the commander of the troops;[1129] +"here the faction is united and governed by uniform principles; the same +errors are diffused through all minds. . . . . The principles impressed +on the people are that the King desires equality. No more bishops +or lords, no more distinctions of rank, no tithes, and no seignorial +privileges. Thus, these misguided people fancy that they are exercising +their rights, and obeying the will of the King."--The effect of sonorous +phrases is apparent. The people have been told that the States-General +were to bring about the "regeneration of the kingdom" The inference is +"that the date of their assembly was to be one of an entire and absolute +change of conditions and fortunes." Hence, "the insurrection against the +nobles and the clergy is as active as it is widespread." "In many +places it was distinctly announced that there was a sort of war declared +against landowners and property," and "in the towns as well as in the +rural districts the people persist in declaring that they will pay +nothing, neither taxes, duties, nor debts."--Naturally, the first +assault is against the piquèt, or flour-tax. At Aix, Marseilles, Toulon, +and in more than forty towns and market-villages, this is summarily +abolished; at Aupt and at Luc nothing remains of the weighing-house but +the four walls. At Marseilles the home of the slaughter-house contractor +and at Brignolles that of the director of the leather excise, are +sacked. The determination is "to purge the land of excise-men. "--This +is only a beginning; bread and other provisions must become cheap, and +that without delay. At Arles, the Corporation of sailors, presided over +by M. de Barras, consul, had just elected its representatives. By way of +conclusion to the meeting, they pass a resolution insisting that M. de +Barras should reduce the price of all comestibles. On his refusal, they +"open the window, exclaiming, 'We hold him, and we have only to throw +him into the street for the rest to pick him up.'" Compliance is +inevitable. The resolution is proclaimed by the town-criers, and at each +article which is reduced in price the crowd shout, "Vive le Roi, vive M. +Barras!"--One must yield to brute force. But the inconvenience is great +for, through the suppression of the flour-tax, the towns have no longer +a revenue. On the other hand, as they are obliged to indemnify the +butchers and bakers, Toulon, for instance, incurs a debt of 2,500 livres +a day. + +In this state of disorder, woe to those who are under suspicion of +having contributed, directly or indirectly, to the evils, which the +people endure! At Toulon a demand is made for the head of the mayor, who +signs the tax-list, and of the keeper of the records. They are trodden +under foot, and their houses are ransacked. At Manosque, the Bishop +of Sisteron, who is visiting the seminary, is accused of favoring +a monopolist. On his way to his carriage, on foot, he is hooted and +menaced. He is first pelted with mud, and then with stones. The consuls +in attendance, and the sub-delegate, who come to his assistance, are +mauled and repulsed. Meanwhile, some of the most furious begin, before +his eyes, "to dig a ditch to bury him in." Protected by five or six +brave fellows, amidst a volley of stones, and wounded on the head and +on many parts of his body, he succeeds in reaching his carriage. He is +finally only saved because the horses, which are likewise stoned, run +away. Foreigners, Italians, bandits, are mingled with the peasants and +artisans, and expressions are heard and acts are seen which indicate a +jacquerie.[1130] "The most excited said to the bishop, 'we are poor and +you are rich, and we mean to have all your property.'"[1131] Elsewhere, +"the seditious mob exacts contributions from all people in good +circumstances. At Brignolles, thirteen houses are pillaged from top to +bottom, and thirty others partly half.--At Aupt, M. de Montferrat, in +defending himself, is killed and "hacked to pieces."--At La Seyne, the +mob, led by a peasant, assembles by beat of drum. Some women fetch a +bier, and set it down before the house of a leading bourgeois, telling +him to prepare for death, and that "they will have the honor of burying +him." He escapes; his house is pillaged, as well as the bureau of +the flour-tax. The following day, the chief of the band "obliges the +principal inhabitants to give him a sum of money to indemnify, as he +states it, the peasants who have abandoned their work," and devoted the +day to serving the public.--At Peinier, the Président de Peinier, an +octogenarian, is "besieged in his chateau by a band of a hundred and +fifty artisans and peasants," who bring with them a consul and a notary. +Aided by these two functionaries, they force the president "to pass an +act by which he renounces his seignorial rights of every description +"--At Sollier they destroy the mills belonging to M. de Forbin-Janson. +They sack the house of his business agent, pillage the château, and +demolish the roof, chapel, altar, railings, and escutcheons. They enter +the cellars, stave in the casks, and carry away everything that can +be carried, "the transportation taking two days;" all of which cause +damages of a hundred thousand crowns to the marquis.--At Riez they +surround the episcopal palace with fagots, threatening to burn it, "and +compromise with the bishop on a promise of fifty thousand livres," and +want him to burn his archives.--In short, the sedition is social for it +singles out for attack all that profit by, or stand at the head of, the +established order of things. + +Seeing them act in this way, one would say that the theory of the +Contrat-Social had been instilled into them. They treat magistrates as +domestics, promulgate laws, and conduct themselves like sovereigns. +They exercise public power, and establish, summarily, arbitrarily, +and brutally, whatever they think to be in conformity with natural +right.--At Peinier they exact a second electoral assembly, and, for +themselves, the right of suffrage.--At Saint-Maximin they themselves +elect new consuls and officers of justice.--At Solliez they oblige the +judge's lieutenant to give in his resignation, and they break his +staff of office.--At Barjols "they use consuls and judges as their town +servants, announcing that they are masters and that they will themselves +administer justice."--In fact, they do administer it, as they understand +it--that is to say, through many exactions and robberies! One man has +wheat; he must share it with him who has none. Another has money; +he must give it to him who has not enough to buy bread with. On this +principle, at Barjols, they tax the Ursulin nuns 1,800 livres, carry off +fifty loads of wheat from the Chapter, eighteen from one poor artisan, +and forty from another, and constrain canons and beneficiaries to give +acquittances to their farmers. Then, from house to house, with club +in hand, they oblige some to hand over money, others to abandon their +claims on their debtors, "one to desist from criminal proceedings, +another to nullify a decree obtained, a third to reimburse the expenses +of a lawsuit gained years before, a father to give his consent to the +marriage of his son."--All their grievances are brought to mind, and we +all know the tenacity of a peasant's memory. Having become the master, +he redresses wrongs, and especially those of which he thinks himself the +object. There must be a general restitution; and first, of the feudal +dues which have been collected. They take of M. de Montmeyan's business +agent all the money he has as compensation for that received by him +during fifteen years as a notary. A former consul of Brignolles had, in +1775, inflicted penalties to the amount of 1,500 or 1,800 francs, which +had been given to the poor; this sum is taken from his strong box. +Moreover, if consuls and law officers are wrongdoers, the title deeds, +rent-rolls, and other documents by which they do their business +are still worse. To the fire with all old writings--not only office +registers, but also, at Hyères, all the papers in the town hall and +those of the principal notary.--In the matter of papers none are +good but new ones--those which convey some discharge, quittance, or +obligation to the advantage of the people. At Brignolles the owners of +the gristmills are constrained to execute a contract of sale by which +they convey their mills to the commune in consideration of 5,000 francs +per annum, payable in ten years without interest--an arrangement which +ruins them. On seeing the contract signed the peasants shout and cheer, +and so great is their faith in this piece of stamped paper that they at +once cause a mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in the Cordeliers. +Formidable omens these! Which mark the inward purpose, the determined +will, and the coming deeds of this rising power. If it prevails, its +first work will be to destroy all ancient documents, all title deeds, +rent-rolls, contracts, and claims to which force compels it to submit. +By force likewise it will draw up others to its own advantage, and the +scribes who do it will be its own deputies and administrators whom it +holds in its rude grasp. + +Those who are in high places are not alarmed; they even find that there +is some good in the revolt, inasmuch as it compels the towns to suppress +unjust taxation.[1132] The new Marseilles guard, formed of young men, is +allowed to march to Aubagne, "to insist that M. le lieutenant criminel +and M. l'avocat du Roi release the prisoners." The disobedience of +Marseilles, which refuses to receive the magistrates sent under letters +patent to take testimony, is tolerated. And better still, in spite +of the remonstrances of the parliament of Aix, a general amnesty is +proclaimed; "no one is excepted but a few of the leaders, to whom is +allowed the liberty of leaving the kingdom." The mildness of the King +and of the military authorities is admirable. It is admitted that the +people are children, that they err only through ignorance, that faith +must be had in their repentance, and, as soon as they return to order, +they must be received with paternal effusions.--The truth is, that the +child is a blind Colossus, exasperated by sufferings. hence whatever it +takes hold of is shattered--not only the local wheels of the provinces, +which, if temporarily deranged, may be repaired, but even the incentive +at the center which puts the rest in motion, and the destruction of +which will throw the whole machinery into confusion. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1101: Marmontel, "Mémoires," II. 221.--Albert Babeau, +"Histoire de la Révolution Française," I. 91, 187. (Letter by Huez Mayor +of Troyes, July 30, 1788.)--Archives Nationales, H. 1274. (Letter by M. +de Caraman, April 22, 1789.) H. 942 (Cahier des demandes des Etats de +Languedoc).--Buchez et Roux, "Histoire Parlementaire," I. 283.] + +[Footnote 1102: See "The Ancient Régime," p.34. Albert Babeau, I. 91. +(The Bishop of Troyes gives 12,000 francs, and the chapter 6,000, for +the relief workshops.)] + +[Footnote 1103: "The Ancient Regime," 350, 387.--Floquet, "Histoire du +Parlement de Normandie," VII. 505-518. (Reports of the Parliament of +Normandy, May 3,1788. Letter from the Parliament to the King, July 15, +1789.)] + +[Footnote 1104: Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," June 29th, July 2nd +and 18th--" Journal de Paris," January 2, 1789. Letter of the curé of +Sainte-Marguerite.] + +[Footnote 1105: Buchez and Roux, IV. 79-82. (Letter from the +intermediary bureau of Montereau, July 9, 1789; from the maire of +Villeneuve-le-Roi, July 10th; from M. Baudry, July 10th; from M. +Prioreau, July 11th, etc.)--Montjoie, "Histoire de la Révolution de +France," 2nd part, ch. XXI, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 1106: Roux et Buchez, ibid. "It is very unfortunate," writes +the Marquis d'Autichamp, "to be obliged to cut down the standing crops +ready to be gathered in; but it is dangerous to let the troops die of +hunger."] + +[Footnote 1107: Montjoie, "Histoire de la Révolution de France," +ch. XXXIX, V, 37.--De Goncourt, "La Société Française pendant la +Révolution," p. 5l3.--Deposition of Maillard (Criminal Inquiry of the +Châtelet concerning the events of October 5th and 6th).] + +[Footnote 1108: De Tocqueville, "L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution," +272-290. De Lavergne, "Les Assemblées provinciales," 109. Procès-verbaux +des assemblées provinciales, passim.] + +[Footnote 1109: A magistrate who gives judgment in a lower court in +cases relative to taxation. These terms are retained because there are +no equivalents in English. (Tr.)] + +[Footnote 1110: "Laboureurs,"--this term, at this epoch, is applied to +those who till their own land. (Tr.)] + +[Footnote 1111: Duvergier. "Collection des lois et décrets," I. 1 to 23, +and particularly p. 15.] + +[Footnote 1112: Parish priests. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 1113: Arthur Young, July 12th, 1789 (in Champagne).] + +[Footnote 1114: Montjoie, 1st part, 102.] + +[Footnote 1115: Floquet, "Histoire du Parlement de Normandie," VII. +508.--" Archives Nationales," H. 1453.] + +[Footnote 1116: Arthur Young, June 29th (at Nangis).] + +[Footnote 1117: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the Duc +de Mortemart, Seigneur of Bray, May 4th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, +intendant of Languedoc, April 15th.] + +[Footnote 1118: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, +M. d'Agay, April 30th; of the municipal officers of Nantes, January +9th; of the intendant, M. Meulan d'Ablois, June 22nd; of M. de +Ballainvilliers, April 15th.] + +[Footnote 1119: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Langeron, July 4th; of M. de Meulan d'Ablois, June 5th; "Minutes of +the meeting of la Maréchaussée de Bost," April 29th. Letters of M. de +Chazerat, May 29th; of M. de Bezenval, June 2nd; of the intendant, M. +Amelot, April 25th.] + +[Footnote 1120: '"Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of M. de +Bezenval, May 27th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, April 25th; of M. de +Foullonde, April 19th.] + +[Footnote 1121: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, +M. d'Aine, March 12th; of M. d'Agay, April 30th; of M. Amelot, April +25th; of the municipal authorities of Nantes, January 9th, etc.] + +[Footnote 1122: "The Ancient Régime," pp. 380-389.] + +[Footnote 1123: Floquet, VII. 508, (Report of February 27th).--Hippeau, +"La Gouvernement de Normandie," IV. 377. (Letter of M. Perrot, June +23rd.)--" Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. de Sainte-Suzanne, +April 29th. Ibid. F7, 3250. Letter of M. de Rochambeau, May 16th Ibid. +F7, 3250. Letter of the Abbé Duplaquet, Deputy of the Third Estate of +Saint-Quentin, May 17th. Letter of three husbandmen in the environs of +Saint-Quentin, May 14th.] + +[Footnote 1124: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Perigord, military commandant of Languedoc, April 22nd.] + +[Footnote 1125: Floquet, VII. 511 (from the 11th to the 14th July).] + +[Footnote 1126: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the municipal +authorities of Nantes, January 9th; of the sub-delegate of Ploërmel, +July 4th; ibid. F7, 2353. Letter of the intermediary commission of +Alsace, September 8th ibid. F7, 3227. Letter of the intendant, Caze de +la Bove, June 16th; ibid. H. 1453. Letter of Terray, intendant of Lyons, +July 4th; of the prévot des échevins, July 5th and 7th.] + +[Footnote 1127: (A tax on all goods entering a town. SR.)] + +[Footnote 1128: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the mayor and +councils of Agde, April 21st; of M. de Perigord, April 19th, May 5th.] + +[Footnote 1129: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. de +Caraman, March 23rd, 26th 27th 28th; of the seneschal Missiessy, March +24th; of the mayor of Hyères, March 25th, etc.; ibid. H. 1274; of M. de +Montmayran, April 2nd; of M. de Caraman, March 18th, April 12th; of +the intendant, M. de la Tour, April 2nd; of the procureur-géneral, M. +d'Antheman, April 17th, and the report of June 15th; of the municipal +authorities of Toulon, April 11th; of the sub-delegate of Manosque, +March 14th; of M. de Saint-Tropez, March 21st.--Minutes of the meeting, +signed by 119 witnesses, of the insurrection at Aix, March 5th, etc.] + +[Footnote 1130: An uprising of the peasants. The term is used to +indicate a country mob in contradistinction to a city or town mob.-Tr.] + +[Footnote 1131: "Archives Nationales," H.1274. Letter of M. de la Tour, +April 2nd (with a detailed memorandum and depositions).] + +[Footnote 1132: "Archives Nationales," H. 1274. Letter of M. de Caraman, +April 22nd:--"One real benefit results from this misfortune. . . The +well-to-do class is brought to sustain that which exceeded the strength +of the poor daily laborers. We see the nobles and people in good +circumstances a little more attentive to the poor peasants: they are now +habituated to speaking to them with more gentleness." M. de Caraman +was wounded, as well as his Son, at Aix, and if the Soldiery, who were +stoned, at length fired on the crowd, he did not give the order.--Ibid, +letter of M. d'Anthéman, April 17th; of M. de Barentin, June 11th.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY. + + + + +I.--Mob recruits in the vicinity + + Entry of vagabonds.--The number of paupers. + +INDEED it is in the center that the convulsive shocks are strongest. +Nothing is lacking to aggravate the insurrection--neither the liveliest +provocation to stimulate it, nor the most numerous bands to carry it +out. The environs of Paris all furnish recruits for it; nowhere are +there so many miserable wretches, so many of the famished, and so many +rebellious beings. Robberies of grain take place everywhere--at +Orleans, at Cosne, at Rambouillet, at Jouy, at Pont-Saint-Maxence, at +Bray-sur-Seine, at Sens, at Nangis.[1201] Wheat flour is so scarce at +Meudon, that every purchaser is ordered to buy at the same time an equal +quantity of barley. At Viroflay, thirty women, with a rear-guard of men, +stop on the main road vehicles, which they suppose to be loaded with +grain. At Montlhéry stones and clubs disperse seven brigades of the +police. An immense throng of eight thousand persons, women and men, +provided with bags, fall upon the grain exposed for sale. They force the +delivery to them of wheat worth 40 francs at 24 francs, pillaging the +half of it and conveying it off without payment. "The constabulary is +disheartened," writes the sub-delegate; "the determination of the people +is wonderful; I am frightened at what I have seen and heard."--After +the 13th of July, 1788, the day of the hail-storm, despair seized +the peasantry; well disposed as the proprietors may have been, it was +impossible to assist them. "Not a workshop is open;[1202] the noblemen +and the bourgeois, obliged to grant delays in the payment of their +incomes, can give no work." Accordingly, "the famished people are on +the point of risking life for life," and, publicly and boldly, they +seek food wherever it can be found. At Conflans-Saint-Honorine, Eragny, +Neuville, Chenevières, at Cergy, Pontoise, Ile-Adam, Presle, and +Beaumont, men, women, and children, the hole parish, range the country, +set snares, and destroy the burrows. "The rumor is current that the +Government, informed of the damage done by the game to cultivators, +allows its destruction. . . and really the hares ravaged about a fifth +of the crop. At first an arrest is made of nine of these poachers; but +they are released, "taking circumstances into account." Consequently, +for two months, there is a slaughter on the property of the Prince de +Conti and of the Ambassador Mercy d'Argenteau; in default of bread +they eat rabbits.--Along with the abuse of property they are led, by a +natural impulse, to attack property itself. Near Saint-Denis the woods +belonging to the abbey are devastated. "The farmers of the neighborhood +carry away loads of wood, drawn by four and five horses;" the +inhabitants of the villages of Ville-Parisis, Tremblay, Vert-Galant, +Villepinte, sell it publicly, and threaten the wood-rangers with a +beating. On the 15th of June the damage is already estimated at 60,000 +livres.--It makes little difference whether the proprietor has been +benevolent, like M. de Talaru,[1203] who had supported the poor on his +estate at Issy the preceding winter. The peasants destroy the dike which +conducts water to his communal mill; condemned by the parliament to +restore it, they declare that not only will they not obey. Should M. de +Talaru try to rebuild it they will return with three hundred armed men, +and tear it away the second time. + +For those who are most compromised Paris is the nearest refuge. For the +poorest and most exasperated, the door of nomadic life stands wide +open. Bands rise up around the capital, just as in countries where human +society has not yet been formed, or has ceased to exist. During the +first two weeks of May[1204] near Villejuif a band of five or six +hundred vagabonds strive to force Bicêtre and approach Saint-Cloud. They +arrive from thirty, forty, and sixty leagues off, from Champagne, from +Lorraine, from the whole circuit of country devastated by the hailstorm. +All hover around Paris and are there engulfed as in a sewer, the +unfortunate along with criminals, some to find work, others to beg and +to rove about under the injurious prompting of hunger and the rumors +of the public thoroughfares. During the last days of April,[1205] the +clerks at the tollhouses note the entrance of "a frightful number of +poorly clad men of sinister aspect." During the first days of May a +change in the appearance of the crowd is remarked. There mingle in it +"a number of foreigners, from all countries, most of them in rags, armed +with big sticks, and whose very aspect announces what is to be feared +from them." Already, before this final influx, the public sink is +full to overflowing. Think of the extraordinary and rapid increase of +population in Paris, the multitude of artisans brought there by recent +demolition and constructions. Think of all the craftsmen whom the +stagnation of manufactures, the augmentation of octrois, the rigor of +winter, and the dearness of bread have reduced to extreme distress. +Remember that in 1786 "two hundred thousand persons are counted whose +property, all told, has not the intrinsic worth of fifty crowns." +Remember that, from time immemorial, these have been at war with the +city watchmen. Remember that in 1789 there are twenty thousand poachers +in the capital and that, to provide them with work, it is found +necessary to establish national workshops. Remember "that twelve +thousand are kept uselessly occupied digging on the hill of Montmartre, +and paid twenty sous per day. Remember that the wharves and quays are +covered with them, that the Hôtel-de-Ville is invested by them, and +that, around the palace, they seem to be a reproach to the inactivity of +disarmed justice." Daily they grow bitter and excited around the doors +of the bakeries, where, kept waiting a long time, they are not sure of +obtaining bread. You can imagine the fury and the force with which they +will storm any obstacle to which their attention may be directed. + + + + +II. The Press. + + Excitement of the press and of opinion.--The people make + their choice. + +Such an obstacle has been pointed out to them during the last two years, +it is the Ministry, the Court, the Government, in short the entire +ancient régime. Whoever protests against it in favor of the people is +sure to be followed as far, and perhaps even farther, than he chooses +to lead.--The moment the Parliament of a large city refuses to register +fiscal edicts it finds a riot at its service. On the 7th of June 1788, +at Grenoble, tiles rain down on the heads of the soldiery, and the +military force is powerless. At Rennes, to put down the rebellious city, +an army and after this a permanent camp of four regiments of infantry +and two of cavalry, under the command of a Marshal of France, is +required.[1206]--The following year, when the Parliaments now side +with the privileged class, the disturbances again begin, but this time +against the Parliaments. In February 1789, at Besançon and at Aix, the +magistrates are hooted at, chased in the streets, besieged in the town +hall, and obliged to conceal themselves or take to flight.--If such +is the disposition in the provincial capitals, what must it be in the +capital of the kingdom? For a start, in the month of August, 1788, after +the dismissal of Brienne and Lamoignon, the mob, collected on the Place +Dauphine, constitutes itself judge, burns both ministers in effigy, +disperses the watch, and resists the troops: no sedition, as bloody as +this, had been seen for a century. Two days later, the riot bursts out +a second time; the people are seized with a resolve to go and burn the +residences of the two ministers and that of Dubois, the lieutenant of +police.--Clearly a new ferment has been infused among the ignorant and +brutal masses, and the new ideas are producing their effect. They have +for a long time imperceptibly been filtering downwards from layer +to layer After having gained over the aristocracy, the whole of the +lettered portion of the Third-Estate, the lawyers, the schools, all the +young, they have insinuated themselves drop by drop and by a thousand +fissures into the class which supports itself by the labor of its own +hands. Noblemen, at their toilettes, have scoffed at Christianity, and +affirmed the rights of man before their valets, hairdressers, purveyors, +and all those that are in attendance upon them. Men of letters, lawyers, +and attorneys have repeated, in the bitterest tone, the same diatribes +and the same theories in the coffee-houses and in the restaurants, on +the promenades and in all public places. They have spoken out before +the lower class as if it were not present, and, from all this eloquence +poured out without precaution, some bubbles besprinkle the brain of the +artisan, the publican, the messenger, the shopkeeper, and the soldier. + +Hence it is that a year suffices to convert mute discontent into +political passion. From the 5th of July 1787, on the invitation of the +King, who convokes the States-General and demands advice from everybody, +both speech and the press alter in tone.[1207] Instead of general +conversation of a speculative turn there is preaching, with a view +to practical effect, sudden, radical, and close at hand, preaching as +shrill and thrilling as the blast of a trumpet. Revolutionary pamphlets +appear in quick succession: "Qu'est-ce que le Tiers?" by Sieyès; +"Mémoire pour le Peuple Français," by Cerutti; "Considerations sur les +Intérêts des Tiers-Etat," by Rabtau Saint-Etienne; "Ma Pétition," by +Target; "Les Droits des Etats-généraux," by M. d'Entraigues, and, a +little later, "La France libre," par Camille Desmoulins, and others by +hundreds and thousands.[1208] All of which are repeated and amplified +in the electoral assemblies, where new-made citizens come to declaim and +increase their own excitement.[1209] The unanimous, universal and daily +shout rolls along from echo to echo, into barracks and into faubourgs, +into markets, workshops, and garrets. In the month of February, 1789, +Necker avows "that obedience is not to be found anywhere, and that +even the troops are not to be relied on." In the month of May, the +fisherwomen, and next the greengrocers, of the town market halls come to +recommend the interests of the people to the bodies of electors, and to +sing rhymes in honor of the Third-Estate. In the month of June pamphlets +are in all hands; "even lackeys are poring over them at the gates +of hotels." In the month of July, as the King is signing an order, a +patriotic valet becomes alarmed and reads it over his shoulder.--There +is no illusion here; it is not merely the bourgeoisie which ranges +itself against the legal authorities and against the established regime. +It is the entire people as well. The craftsmen, the shopkeepers and +the domestics, workmen of every kind and degree, the mob underneath the +people, the vagabonds, street rovers, and beggars, the whole multitude, +which, bound down by anxiety for its daily bread, had never lifted +its eyes to look at the great social order of which it is the lowest +stratum, and the whole weight of which it bears. + + + + +III.--The Réveillon affair. + +Suddenly the people stirs, and the superposed scaffolding totters. It +is the movement of a brute nature exasperated by want and maddened +by suspicion.--Have paid hands, which are invisible goaded it on from +beneath? Contemporaries are convinced of this, and it is probably the +case.[1210] But the uproar made around the suffering brute would alone +suffice to make it shy, and explain its arousal.--On the 21st of April +the Electoral Assemblies have begun in Paris; there is one in each +quarter, one for the clergy, one for the nobles, and one for the +Third-Estate. Every day, for almost a month, files of electors are seen +passing along the streets. Those of the first degree continue to meet +after having nominated those of the second: the nation must needs +watch its mandatories and maintain its imprescriptible rights. If this +exercise of their rights has been delegated to them, they still belong +to the nation, and it reserves to itself the privilege of interposing +when it pleases. A pretension of this kind travels fast; immediately +after the Third-Estate of the Assemblies it reaches the Third-Estate +of the streets. Nothing is more natural than the desire to lead one's +leaders: the first time any dissatisfaction occurs, they lay hands on +those who halt and make them march on as directed. On a Saturday, +April 25th,[1211] a rumor is current that Réveillon, an elector +and manufacturer of wall-paper, Rue Saint-Antoine, and Lerat, a +commissioner, have "spoken badly" at the Electoral Assembly of +Sainte-Marguerite. To speak badly means to speak badly of the people. +What has Réveillon said? Nobody knows, but popular imagination with +its terrible powers of invention and precision, readily fabricates or +welcomes a murderous phrase. He said that "a working-man with a wife and +children could live on fifteen sous a day." Such a man is a traitor, and +must be disposed of at once; "all his belongings must be put to fire and +sword." The rumor, it must be noted, is false.[1212] Réveillon pays +his poorest workman twenty-five sous a day, he provides work for three +hundred and fifty, and, in spite of a dull season the previous winter, +he kept all on at the same rate of wages. He himself was once a workman, +and obtained a medal for his inventions, and is benevolent and respected +by all respectable persons.--All this avails nothing; bands of vagabonds +and foreigners, who have just passed through the barriers, do not +look so closely into matters, while the Journeymen, the carters, the +cobblers, the masons, the braziers, and the stone-cutters whom they +go to solicit in their lodgings are just as ignorant as they are. When +irritation has accumulated, it breaks out haphazardly. + +Just at this time the clergy of Paris renounce their privileges in way +of imposts,[1213] and the people, taking friends for adversaries, add in +their invectives the name of the clergy to that of Réveillon. During +the whole of the day, and also during the leisure of Sunday, the +fermentation increases; on Monday the 27th, another day of idleness and +drunkenness, the bands begin to move. Certain witnesses encounter one of +these in the Rue Saint-Sévérin, "armed with clubs," and so numerous as +to bar the passage. "Shops and doors are closed on all sides, and the +people cry out, 'There's the revolt!'" The seditious crowd belch out +curses and invectives against the clergy, "and, catching sight of an +abbé, shout 'Priest!'" Another band parades an effigy of Réveillon +decorated with the ribbon of the order of St. Michael, which undergoes +the parody of a sentence and is burnt on the Place de Grève, after which +they threaten his house. Driven back by the guard, they invade that of +a manufacturer of saltpeter, who is his friend, and burn and smash his +effects and furniture.[1214] It is only towards midnight that the crowd +is dispersed and the insurrection is supposed to have ended. On the +following day it begins again with greater violence; for, besides the +ordinary stimulants of misery[1215] and the craving for license, they +have a new stimulant in the idea of a cause to defend, the conviction +that they are fighting "for the Third-Estate." In a cause like this each +one should help himself; and all should help each other. "We should be +lost," one of them exclaimed, "if we did not sustain each other." Strong +in this belief, they sent deputations three times into the Faubourg +Saint-Marceau to obtain recruits, and on their way, with uplifted clubs +they enrol, willingly or unwillingly, all they encounter. Others, at the +gate of Saint-Antoine, arrest people who are returning from the races, +demanding of them if they are for the nobles or for the Third-Estate, +and force women to descend from their vehicles and to cry "Vive le +Tiers-Etat "[1216]. Meanwhile the crowd has increased before Réveillon's +dwelling; the thirty men on guard are unable to resist; the house +is invaded and sacked from top to bottom; the furniture, provisions, +clothing, registers, wagons, even the poultry in the back-yard, all +is cast into blazing bonfires lighted in three different places; five +hundred louis d'or, the ready money, and the silver plate are stolen. +Several roam through the cellars, drink liquor or varnish at haphazard +until they fall down dead drunk or expire in convulsions. Against +this howling horde, a corps of the watch, mounted and on foot, is seen +approaching;[1217] also a hundred cavalry of the "Royal Croats," the +French Guards, and later on the Swiss Guards. "Tiles and chimneys are +rained down on the soldiers," who fire back four files at a time. The +rioters, drunk with brandy and rage, defend themselves desperately +for several hours; more than two hundred are killed, and nearly three +hundred are wounded; they are only put down by cannon, while the mob +keeps active until far into the night.--Towards eight in the evening, in +the rue Vieille-du-Temple, the Paris Guard continue to make charges in +order to protect the doors which the miscreants try to force. Two doors +are forced at half-past eleven o'clock in the Rue Saintonge and in the +Rue de Bretagne, that of a pork-dealer and that of a baker. Even to +this last wave of the outbreak which is subsiding we can distinguish the +elements which have produced the insurrection, and which are about +to produce the Revolution.--Starvation is one of these: in the Rue de +Bretagne the band robbing the baker's shop carries bread off to the +women staying at the corner of the Rue Saintonge.--Brigandage is +another: in the middle of the night M. du Châtelet's spies, gliding +alongside of a ditch, "see a group of ruffians" assembled beyond the +Barrière du Trône, their leader, mounted on a little knoll, urging them +to begin again; and the following days, on the highways, vagabonds are +saying to each other, "We can do no more at Paris, because they are +too sharp on the look-out; let us go to Lyons!" There are, finally, the +patriots: on the evening of the insurrection, between the Pont-au-Change +and the Pont-Marie, the half-naked ragamuffins, besmeared with dirt, +bearing along their hand-barrows, are fully alive to their cause; they +beg alms in a loud tone of voice, and stretch out their hats to the +passers, saying, "Take pity on this poor Third-Estate!"--The starving, +the ruffians, and the patriots, all form one body, and henceforth +misery, crime, and public spirit unite to provide an ever-ready +insurrection for the agitators who desire to raise one. + + + + +IV.--The Palais-Royal. + +But the agitators are already in permanent session. The Palais-Royal is +an open-air club where, all day and even far into the night, one excites +the other and urges on the crowd to blows. In this enclosure, protected +by the privileges of the House of Orleans, the police dare not enter. +Speech is free, and the public who avail themselves of this freedom seem +purposely chosen to abuse it.--The public and the place are adapted to +each other.[1218] The Palais-Royal, the center of prostitution, of +play, of idleness, and of pamphlets, attracts the whole of that uprooted +population which floats about in a great city, and which, without +occupation or home, lives only for curiosity or for pleasure--the +frequenters of the coffee-houses, the runners for gambling halls, +adventurers, and social outcasts, the runaway children or forlorn +hopefuls of literature, arts, and the bar, attorneys' clerks, students +of the institutions of higher learning, the curious, loungers, +strangers, and the occupants of furnished lodgings, these amounting, +it is said, to forty thousand in Paris. They fill the garden and the +galleries; "one would hardly find here one of what were called the +"Six Bodies,"[1219] a bourgeois settled down and occupied with his +own affairs, a man whom business and family cares render serious and +influential. There is no place here for industrious and orderly bees; it +is the rendezvous of political and literary drones. They flock into it +from every quarter of Paris, and the tumultuous, buzzing swarm covers +the ground like an overturned hive. "Ten thousand people," writes Arthur +Young,[1220] "have been all this day in the Palais-Royal;" the press +is so great that an apple thrown from a balcony on the moving floor of +heads would not reach the ground. The condition of these heads may +be imagined; they are emptier of ballast than any in France, the +most inflated with speculative ideas, the most excitable and the most +excited. In this pell-mell of improvised politicians no one knows who +is speaking; nobody is responsible for what he says. Each is there as +in the theater, unknown among the unknown, requiring sensational +impressions and strong emotions, a prey to the contagion of the passions +around him, borne along in the whirl of sounding phrases, of ready-made +news, growing rumors, and other exaggerations by which fanatics keep +outdoing each other. There are shouting, tears, applause, stamping and +clapping, as at the performance of a tragedy; one or another individual +becomes so inflamed and hoarse that he dies on the spot with fever and +exhaustion. In vain has Arthur Young been accustomed to the tumult of +political liberty; he is dumb-founded at what he sees.[1221] According +to him, the excitement is "incredible. . . . We think sometimes that +Debrett's or Stockdale's shops at London are crowded; but they are mere +deserts compared to Desenne's and some others here, in which one can +scarcely squeeze from the door to the counter. . . . Every hour produces +its pamphlet; 13 came out to-day, 16 yesterday, and 92 last week. 95% of +these productions are in favor of liberty;" and by liberty is meant the +extinction of privileges, numerical sovereignty, the application of +the Contrat-Social, "The Republic", and even more besides, a universal +leveling, permanent anarchy, and even the jacquerie. Camille Desmoulins, +one of the orators, commonly there, announces it and urges it in precise +terms: + +"Now that the animal is in the trap, let him be battered to death... +Never will the victors have a richer prey. Forty thousand palaces, +mansions, and châteaux, two-fifth of the property of France, will be +the recompense of valor. Those who pretend to be the conquerors will be +conquered in turn. The nation shall be purged." + +Here, in advance, is the program of the Reign of Terror. + +Now all this is not only read, but declaimed, amplified, and turned +to practical account. In front of the coffee-houses "those who have +stentorian lungs relieve each other every evening."[1222] "They get +up on a chair or a table, they read the strongest articles on current +affairs, . . . the eagerness with which they are heard, and the thunder +of applause they receive for every sentiment of more than common +hardiness or violence against the present Government, cannot easily +be imagined." "Three days ago a child of four years, well taught and +intelligent, was promenaded around the garden, in broad daylight, at +least twenty times, borne on the shoulders of a street porter, crying +out, 'Verdict of the French people: Polignac exiled one hundred leagues +from Paris; Condé the same; Conti the same; Artois the same; the +Queen,--I dare not write it.'" A hall made of boards in the middle of +the Palais-Royal is always full, especially of young men, who carry +on their deliberations in parliamentary fashion: in the evening the +president invites the spectators to come forward and sign motions +passed during the day, and of which the originals are placed in the Café +Foy.[1223] They count on their fingers the enemies of the country; "and +first two Royal Highnesses (Monsieur and the Count d'Artois), three Most +Serene Highnesses (the Prince de Condé, Duc de Bourbon, and the Prince +de Conti), one favorite (Madame de Polignac), MM. de Vandreuil, de la +Trémoille, du Châtelet, de Villedeuil, de Barentin, de la Galaisière, +Vidaud de la Tour, Berthier, Foulon, and also M. Linguet." Placards are +posted demanding the pillory on the Pont-Neuf for the Abbeé Maury. +One speaker proposes "to burn the house of M. d'Espréménil, his wife, +children and furniture, and himself: this is passed unanimously."--No +opposition is tolerated. One of those present having manifested some +horror at such sanguinary motions, "is seized by the collar, obliged to +kneel down, to make an apology, and to kiss the ground. The punishment +inflicted on children is given to him; he is ducked repeatedly in one of +the fountain-basins, after which they him over to the mob, who roll him +in the mud." On the following day an ecclesiastic is trodden under foot, +and flung from hand to hand. A few days after, on the 22nd of June, +there are two similar events. The sovereign mob exercises all the +functions of sovereign authority, with those of the legislator those of +the judge, and those of the judge with those of the executioner.--Its +idols are sacred; if any one fails to show them respect he is guilty of +lése-majesté, and at once punished. In the first week of July, an abbé +who speaks ill of Necker is flogged; a woman who insults the bust of +Necker is stripped by the fishwomen, and beaten until she is covered +with blood. War is declared against suspicious uniforms. "On the +appearance of a hussar," writes Desmoulins, "they shout, 'There goes +Punch!' and the stone-cutters fling stones at him. Last night two +officers of the hussars, MM. de Sombreuil and de Polignac, came to the +Palais-Royal. . . chairs were flung at them, and they would have been +knocked down if they had not run away. The day before yesterday they +seized a spy of the police and gave him a ducking in the fountain. They +ran him down like a stag, hustled him, pelted him with stones, struck +him with canes, forced one of his eyes out of its socket, and finally, +in spite of his entreaties and cries for mercy, plunged him a second +time in the fountain. His torments lasted from noon until half-past +five o'clock, and he had about ten thousand executioners."--Consider +the effect of such a focal center at a time like this. A new power has +sprung up alongside the legal powers, a legislature of the highways +and public squares, anonymous, irresponsible, without restraint. It +is driven onward by coffeehouse theories, by strong emotions and +the vehemence of mountebanks, while the bare arms which have just +accomplished the work of destruction in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, form +its bodyguard and ministerial cabinet. + + + + +V.--Popular mobs become a political force. + + Pressure on the Assembly.--Defection of the soldiery. + +This is the dictatorship of a mob, and its proceedings, conforming to +its nature, consist in acts of violence, wherever it finds resistance, +it strikes.--The people of Versailles, in the streets and at the +doors of the Assembly, daily "come and insult those whom they call +aristocrats."[1224] On Monday, June 22nd, "d'Espréménil barely escapes +being knocked down; the Abbé Maury. . . owes his escape to the strength +of a curé, who takes him up in his arms and tosses him into the carriage +of the Archbishop of Arles." On the 23rd, "the Archbishop of Paris and +the Keeper of the Seals are hooted, railed at, scoffed at, and derided, +until they almost sink with shame and rage." So formidable is the +tempest of rage with which they are greeted, that Passeret, the King's +secretary, who accompanies the minister, dies of the excitement that +very day. On the 24th, the Bishop of Beauvais is almost knocked down by +a stone striking him on the head. On the 25th, the Archbishop of Paris +is saved only by the speed of his horses, the multitude pursuing him and +pelting him with stones. His mansion is besieged, the windows are all +shattered, and, notwithstanding the intervention of the French Guards, +the peril is so great that he is obliged to promise that he will join +the deputies of the Third-Estate. This is the way in which the rude hand +of the people effects a reunion of the Orders. It bears as heavily on +its own representatives as on its adversaries. "Although our hall was +closed to the public," says Bailly, "there were always more than six +hundred spectators."[1225] These were not respectful and silent, but +active and noisy, mingling with the deputies, raising their hands to +vote in all cases, taking part in the deliberations, by their applause +and hisses: a collateral Assembly which often imposes its own will on +the other. They take note of and put down the names of their opponents, +transmit them to the chair-bearers in attendance at the entrance of +the hall, and from them to the mob waiting for the departure of the +deputies, these names are from now considered as the names of public +enemies.[1226] Lists are made out and printed, and, at the Palais-Royal +in the evening, they become the lists of the proscribed.--It is under +this brutal pressure that many decrees are passed, and, amongst them, +that by which the commons declare themselves the National Assembly +and assume supreme power. The night before, Malouet had proposed to +ascertain, by a preliminary vote, on which side the majority was. In an +instant all those against had gathered around him to the number of three +hundred. "Upon which a mans springs out from the galleries, falls upon +him and takes him by the collar exclaiming, 'Hold your tongue, you false +citizen!'" Malouet is released and the guard comes forward, "but terror +has spread through the hall, threats are uttered against opponents, and +the next day we were only ninety." Moreover, the lists of their names +had been circulated; some of them, deputies from Paris, went to see +Bailly that very evening. One amongst them, "a very honest man and good +patriot," had been told that his house was to be set on fire. Now his +wife had just given birth to a child, and the slightest tumult +before the house would have been fatal. Such arguments are decisive. +Consequently, three days afterwards, at the Tennis-court, but one +deputy, Martin d'Auch, dares to write the word "opposing" after his +name. Insulted by many of colleagues, "at once denounced to the people +who had collected at the entrance of the building, he is obliged to +escape by a side door to avoid being cut to pieces," and, for several +days, to keep away from the meetings.[1227]--Owing to this intervention +of the galleries the radical minority, numbering about thirty,[1228] +lead the majority, and they do not allow them to free themselves.--On +the 28th of May, Malouet, having demanded a secret session to discuss +the conciliatory measures which the King had proposed, the galleries +hoot at him, and a deputy, M. Bourche, addresses him in very plain +terms. "You must know, sir, that we are deliberating here in the +presence of our masters, and that we must account to them for our +opinions." This is the doctrine of the Contrat-Social. Through timidity, +fear of the Court and of the privileged class, through optimism and +faith in human nature, through enthusiasm and the necessity of adhering +to previous actions, the deputies, who are novices, provincial, and +given up to theories, neither dare nor know how to escape from the +tyranny of the prevailing dogma.--Henceforth it becomes the law. All +the Assemblies, the Constituent, the Legislative, the Convention,[1229] +submit to it entirely. The public in the galleries is the admitted +representatives of the people, under the same title, and even under +a higher title, than the deputies. Now, this public is that of the +Palais-Royal, consisting of strangers, idlers, lovers of novelties, +Paris romancers, leaders of the coffee-houses, the future pillars of the +clubs, in short, the wild enthusiasts among the middle-class, just as +the crowd which threatens doors and throws stones is recruited from +among the wild enthusiasts of the lowest class. Thus by an involuntary +selection, the faction which constitutes itself a public power is +composed of nothing but violent minds and violent hands. Spontaneously +and without previous concert dangerous fanatics are joined with +dangerous brutes, and in the increasing discord between the legal +authorities this is the illegal league which is certain to overthrow +all. + +When a commanding general sits in council with his staff-officers and +his counselors, and discusses the plan of a campaign, the chief public +interest is that discipline should remain intact, and that intruders, +soldiers, or menials, should not throw the weight of their turbulence +and thoughtlessness into the scales which have to be cautiously +and firmly held by their chiefs. This was the express demand of the +Government;[1230] but the demand was not regarded; and against the +persistent usurpation of the multitude nothing is left to it but the +employment of force. But force itself is slipping from its hands, while +growing disobedience, like a contagion, after having gained the people +is spreading among the troops.--From the 23rd of June,[1231] two +companies of the French Guards refused to do duty. Confined to their +barracks, they on the 27th break out, and henceforth "they are seen +every evening entering the Palais-Royal, marching in double file." They +know the place well; it is the general rendezvous of the abandoned women +whose lovers and parasites they are.[1232] "The patriots all gather +around them, treat them to ice cream and wine, and debauch them in the +face of their officers."--To this, moreover, must be added the fact that +their colonel, M. du Châtelet, has long been odious to them, that he has +fatigued them with forced drills, worried them and diminished the number +of their sergeants; that he suppressed the school for the education of +the children of their musicians; that he uses the stick in punishing the +men, and picks quarrels with them about their appearance, their board, +and their clothing. This regiment is lost to discipline: a secret +society has been formed in it, and the soldiers have pledged themselves +to their ensigns not to act against the National Assembly. Thus the +confederation between them and the Palais-Royal is established.--On the +30th of June, eleven of their leaders, taken off to the Abbaye, write to +claim their assistance. A young man mounts a chair in front of the Café +Foy and reads their letter aloud; a band sets out on the instant, forces +the gate with a sledge-hammer and iron bars, brings back the prisoners +in triumph, gives them a feast in the garden and mounts guard around +them to prevent their being re-taken.--When disorders of this kind go +unpunished, order cannot be maintained; in fact, on the morning of the +14th of July, five out of six battalions had deserted.--As to the other +corps, they are no better and are also seduced. "Yesterday," Desmoulins +writes, "the artillery regiment followed the example of the French +Guards, overpowering the sentinels and coming over to mingle with +the patriots in the Palais-Royal. . .. We see nothing but the rabble +attaching themselves to soldiers whom they chance to encounter. 'Allons, +Vive le Tiers-Etat!' and they lead them off to a tavern to drink the +health of the Commons." Dragoons tell the officers who are marching +them to Versailles: "We obey you, but you may tell the ministers on our +arrival that if we are ordered to use the least violence against our +fellow-citizens, the first shot shall be for you." At the Invalides +twenty men, ordered to remove the cocks and ramrods from the guns stored +in a threatened arsenal, devote six hours to rendering twenty guns +useless; their object is to keep them intact for plunder and for the +arming of the people. + +In short, the largest portion of the army has deserted. However kind +a superior officer might be, the fact of his being a superior officer +secures for him the treatment of an enemy. The governor, "M. de +Sombreuil, against whom these people could utter no reproach," will soon +see his artillerists point their guns at his apartment, and will just +escape being hung on the iron-railings by their own hands. Thus the +force which is brought forward to suppress insurrection only serves to +furnish it with recruits. And even worse, for the display of arms +that was relied on to restrain the mob, furnished the instigation to +rebellion. + + + + +VI.--July 13th and 14th 1789. + +The fatal moment has arrived; it is no longer a government which falls +that it may give way to another; it is all government which ceases to +exist in order to make way for an intermittent despotism, for factions +blindly impelled on by enthusiasm, credulity, misery, and fear.[1233] +Like a tame elephant suddenly become wild again, the mob throws off it +ordinary driver, and the new guides who it tolerates perched on its neck +are there simply for show. In future it will move along as it pleases, +freed from control, and abandoned to its own feelings, instincts, and +appetites.--Apparently, there was no desire to do more than anticipate +its aberrations. The King has forbidden all violence; the commanders +order the troops not to fire;[1234] but the excited and wild animal +takes all precautions for insults; in future, it intends to be its own +conductor, and, to begin, it treads its guides under foot.--On the 12th +of July, near noon,[1235] on the news of the dismissal of Necker, a cry +of rage arises in the Palais-Royal; Camille Desmoulins, mounted on +a table, announces that the Court meditates "a St. Bartholomew of +patriots." The crowd embrace him, adopt the green cockade which he has +proposed, and oblige the dancing-saloons and theaters to close in sign +of mourning: they hurry off to the residence of Curtius, and take the +busts of the Duke of Orleans and of Necker and carry them about in +triumph.--Meanwhile, the dragoons of the Prince de Lambesc, drawn up on +the Place Louis-Quinze, find a barricade of chairs at the entrance +of the Tuileries, and are greeted with a shower of stones and +bottles.[1236] Elsewhere, on the Boulevard, before the Hôtel +Montmorency, some of the French Guards, escaped from their barracks, +fired on a loyal detachment of the "Royal Allemand."--The alarm bell is +sounding on all sides, the shops where arms are sold are pillaged, +and the Hôtel-de-Ville is invaded; fifteen or sixteen well-disposed +electors, who meet there, order the districts to be assembled and +armed.--The new sovereign, the people in arms and in the street, has +declared himself. + +The dregs of society at once come to the surface. During the night +between the 12th and 13th of July,[1237] "all the barriers, from the +Faubourg Saint-Antoine to the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, besides those of +the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques, are forced and set on +fire." There is no longer an octroi; the city is without a revenue just +at the moment when it is obliged to make the heaviest expenditures; but +this is of no consequence to the mob, which, above all things, wants +to have cheap wine. "Ruffians, armed with pikes and sticks, proceed +in several parties to give up to pillage the houses of those who are +regarded as enemies to the public welfare." "They go from door to door +crying, 'Arms and bread!' During this fearful night, the bourgeoisie +kept themselves shut up, each trembling at home for himself and those +belonging to him." On the following day, the 13th, the capital appears +to be given up to bandits and the lowest of the low. One of the +bands hews down the gate of the Lazarists, destroys the library and +clothes-presses, the pictures, the windows and laboratory, and rushes +to the cellars; where it staves in the casks and gets drunk: twenty-four +hours after this, about thirty of them are found dead and dying, drowned +in wine, men and women, one of these being at the point of childbirth. +In front of the house[1238] the street is full of the wreckage, and of +ruffians who hold in their hands, "some, eatables, others a jug, forcing +the passers-by to drink, and pouring out wine to all comers. Wine +runs down into the gutter, and the scent of it fills the air;" it is a +drinking bout: meanwhile they carry away the grain and flour which the +monks kept on hand according to law, fifty-two loads of it being +taken to the market. Another troop comes to La Force, to deliver those +imprisoned for debt; a third breaks into the Garde Meuble, carrying away +valuable arms and armour. Mobs assemble before the hotel of Madame de +Breteuil and the Palais-Bourbon, which they intend to ransack, in order +to punish their proprietors. M. de Crosne, one of the most liberal and +most respected men of Paris, but, unfortunately for himself a lieutenant +of the police, is pursued, escaping with difficulty, and his hotel is +sacked.--During the night between the 13th and 14th of May, the baker's +shops and the wine shops are pillaged; "men of the vilest class, armed +with guns, pikes, and turnspits, make people open their doors and give +them something to eat and drink, as well as money and arms." Vagrants, +ragged men, several of them "almost naked," and "most of them armed +like savages, and of hideous appearance;" they are "such as one does not +remember to have seen in broad daylight;" many of them are strangers, +come from nobody knows where.[1239] It is stated that there were +50,000 of them, and that they had taken possession of the principal +guard-houses. + +During these two days and nights, says Bailly, "Paris ran the risk of +being pillaged, and was only saved from the marauders by the National +Guard." Already, in the open street,[1240] "these creatures tore off +women's shoes and earrings," and the robbers were beginning to have +full sway.--Fortunately the militia organized itself and the principal +inhabitants and gentlemen enrolled themselves; 48,000 men are formed +into battalions and companies; the bourgeoisie buy guns of the vagabonds +for three livres apiece, and sabers or pistols for twelve sous. At last, +some of the offenders are hung on the spot, and others disarmed, and +the insurrection again becomes political. But, whatever its object, it +remains always wild, because it is in the hands of the mob. Dusaulx, its +panegyrist, confesses[1241] that "he thought he was witnessing the total +dissolution of society." There is no leader, no management. The electors +who have converted themselves into the representatives of Paris seem to +command the crowd, but it is the crowd which commands them. One of them, +Legrand, to save the Hôtel-de-Ville, has no other resource but to send +for six barrels of gun-powder, and to declare to the assailants that +he is about to blow everything into the air. The commandant whom they +themselves have chosen, M. de Salles, has twenty bayonets at his breast +during a quarter of an hour, and, more than once, the whole committee is +near being massacred. Let the reader imagine, on the premises where the +discussions are going on, and petitions are being made, "a concourse of +fifteen hundred men pressed by a hundred thousand others who are forcing +an entrance," the wainscoting cracking, the benches upset one over +another, the enclosure of the bureau pushed back against the president's +chair, a tumult such as to bring to mind 'the day of judgment," the +death-shrieks, songs, yells, and "people beside themselves, for the most +part not knowing where they are nor what they want."--Each district +is also a petty center, while the Palais-Royal is the main center. +Propositions, "accusations, and deputations travel to and fro from one +to the other, along with the human torrent which is obstructed or rushes +ahead with no other guide than its own inclination and the chances +of the way. One wave gathers here and another there, their strategy +consisting in pushing and in being pushed. Yet, their entrance is +effected only because they are let in. If they get into the Invalides it +is owing to the connivance of the soldiers.--At the Bastille, firearms +are discharged from ten in the morning to five in the evening against +walls forty feet high and thirty feet thick, and it is by chance that +one of their shots reaches an invalid on the towers. They are treated +the same as children whom one wishes to hurt as little as possible. The +governor, on the first summons to surrender, orders the cannon to be +withdrawn from the embrasures; he makes the garrison swear not to fire +if it is not attacked; he invites the first of the deputations to lunch; +he allows the messenger dispatched from the Hôtel-de-Ville to inspect +the fortress; he receives several discharges without returning them, and +lets the first bridge be carried without firing a shot.[1242] When, at +length, he does fire, it is at the last extremity, to defend the second +bridge, and after having notified the assailants that he is going to do +so. In short, his forbearance and patience are excessive, in conformity +with the humanity of the times. The people, in turn, are infatuated +with the novel sensations of attack and resistance, with the smell of +gunpowder, with the excitement of the contest; all they can think of +doing is to rush against the mass of stone, their expedients being on a +level with their tactics. A brewer fancies that he can set fire to this +block of masonry by pumping over it spikenard and poppy-seed oil mixed +with phosphorus. A young carpenter, who has some archaeological notions, +proposes to construct a catapult. Some of them think that they have +seized the governor's daughter, and want to burn her in order to make +the father surrender. Others set fire to a projecting mass of buildings +filled with straw, and thus close up the passage. "The Bastille was not +taken by main force," says the brave Elie, one of the combatants; "it +surrendered before even it was attacked,"[1243] by capitulation, on +the promise that no harm should be done to anybody. The garrison, being +perfectly secure, had no longer the heart to fire on human beings while +themselves risking nothing,[1244] and, on the other hand, they were +unnerved by the sight of the immense crowd. Eight or nine hundred +men only[1245] were concerned in the attack, most of them workmen or +shopkeepers belonging to the faubourg, tailors, wheelwrights, mercers +and wine-dealers, mixed with the French Guards. The Place de la +Bastille, however, and all the streets in the vicinity, were crowded +with the curious who came to witness the sight; "among them," says +a witness,[1246] "were a number of fashionable women of very good +appearance, who had left their carriages at some distance." To the +hundred and twenty men of the garrison looking down from their parapets +it seemed as though all Paris had come out against them. It is they, +also, who lower the drawbridge an introduce the enemy: everybody has +lost his head, the besieged as well as the besiegers, the latter more +completely because they are intoxicated with the sense of victory. +Scarcely have they entered when they begin the work of destruction, and +the latest arrivals shoot at random those that come earlier; "each +one fires without heeding where or on whom his shot tells." Sudden +omnipotence and the liberty to kill are a wine too strong for human +nature; giddiness is the result; men see red, and their frenzy ends in +ferocity. + +For the peculiarity of a popular insurrection is that nobody obeys +anybody; the bad passions are free as well as the generous ones; heroes +are unable to restrain assassins. Elie, who is the first to enter the +fortress, Cholat, Hulin, the brave fellows who are in advance, the +French Guards who are cognizant of the laws of war, try to keep their +word of honor; but the crowd pressing on behind them know not whom to +strike, and they strike at random. They spare the Swiss soldiers who +have fired at them, and who, in their blue smocks, seem to them to +be prisoners; on the other hand, by way of compensation, they fall +furiously on the invalides who opened the gates to them; the man who +prevented the governor from blowing up the fortress has his wrist +severed by the blow of a saber, is twice pierced with a sword and is +hung, and the hand which had saved one of the districts of Paris is +promenaded through the streets in triumph. The officers are dragged +along and five of them are killed, with three soldiers, on the spot, or +on the way. During the long hours of firing, the murderous instinct has +become aroused, and the wish to kill, changed into a fixed idea, +spreads afar among the crowd which has hitherto remained inactive. It is +convinced by its own clamor; a hue and cry is all that it now needs; the +moment one strikes, all want to strike. "Those who had no arms," says +an officer, "threw stones at me;[1247] the women ground their teeth and +shook their fists at me. Two of my men had already been assassinated +behind me. I finally got to within some hundreds of paces of the +Hôtel-de-Ville, amidst a general cry that I should be hung, when a head, +stuck on a pike, was presented to me to look at, while at. the same +moment I was told that it was that of M. de Launay," the governor.--The +latter, on going out, had received the cut of a sword on his right +shoulder; on reaching the Rue Saint-Antoine "everybody pulled his hair +out and struck him." Under the arcade of Saint-Jean he was already +"severely wounded." Around him, some said, "his head ought to be struck +off;" others, "let him be hung;" and others, "he ought to be tied to +a horse's tail." Then, in despair, and wishing to put an end to his +torments, he cried out, "Kill me," and, in struggling, kicked one of the +men who held him in the lower abdomen. On the instant he is pierced with +bayonets, dragged in the gutter, and, striking his corpse, they exclaim, +"He's a scurvy wretch (galeux) and a monster who has betrayed us; the +nation demands his head to exhibit to the public," and the man who +was kicked is asked to cut it off.--This man, an unemployed cook, a +simpleton who "went to the Bastille to see what was going on," thinks +that as it is the general opinion, the act is patriotic, and even +believes that he "deserves a medal for destroying a monster." Taking a +saber which is lent to him, he strikes the bare neck, but the dull +saber not doing its work, he takes a small black-handled knife from his +pocket, and, "as in his capacity of cook he knows how to cut meat," he +finishes the operation successfully. Then, placing the head on the end +of a three-pronged pitchfork, and accompanied by over two hundred +armed men, "not counting the mob," he marches along, and, in the Rue +Saint-Honoré, he has two inscriptions attached to the head, to indicate +without mistake whose head it is.--They grow merry over it: after filing +alongside of the Palais-Royal, the procession arrives at the Pont-Neuf, +where, before the statue of Henry IV., they bow the head three times, +saying, "Salute thy master!"--This is the last joke: it is to be found +in every triumph, and inside the butcher, we find the rogue. + + + + +VII.--Murders of Foulon and Berthier. + +Meanwhile, at the Palais-Royal, other buffoons, who with the levity of +gossips sport with lives as freely as with words, have drawn u. During +the night between the 13th and 14th of July, a list of proscriptions, +copies of which are hawked about. Care is taken to address one of +them to each of the persons designated, the Comte d'Artois, Marshal +de Broglie, the Prince de Lambesc, Baron de Bezenval, MM. de Breteuil, +Foulon, Berthier, Maury, d'Espréménil, Lefèvre d'Amécourt, and others +besides.[1248] A reward is promised to whoever will bring their heads to +the Café de Caveau. Here are names for the unchained multitude; all +that now is necessary is that some band should encounter a man who is +denounced; he will go as far as the lamppost at the street corner, but +not beyond it.--Throughout the day of the 14th, this improvised tribunal +holds a permanent session, and follows up its decisions with its +actions. M. de Flesselles, provost of the merchants and president of +the electors at the Hôtel-de-Ville, having shown himself somewhat +lukewarm,[1249] the Palais-Royal declares him a traitor and sends him +off to be hung. On the way a young man fells him with a pistol-shot, +others fall upon his body, while his head, borne upon a pike, goes to +join that of M. de Launay.--Equally deadly accusations and of equally +speedy execution float in the air and from every direction. "On the +slightest pretext," says an elector, "they denounced to us those whom +they thought opposed to the Revolution, which already signified the same +as enemies of the State. Without any investigation, there was only talk +of the seizure of their persons, the ruin of their homes, and the razing +of their houses. One young man exclaimed: 'Follow me at once, let us +start off at once to Bezenval's!'"--Their brains are so frightened, and +their minds so distrustful, that at every step in the streets "one's +name has to be given, one's profession declared, one's residence, and +one's intentions. . .. One can neither enter nor leave Paris without +being suspected of treason." The Prince de Montbarrey, advocate of the +new ideas, and his wife, are stopped in their carriage at the barrier, +and are on the point of being cut to pieces. A deputy of the nobles, on +his way to the National Assembly, is seized in his cab and conducted to +the Place de Grève; the corpse of M. de Launay is shown to him, and he +is told that he is to be treated in the same fashion.--Every life hangs +by a thread, and, on the following days, when the King had sent away +his troops, dismissed his Ministers, recalled Necker, and granted +everything, the danger remains just as great. The multitude, abandoned +to the revolutionaries and to itself, continues the same bloody antics, +while the municipal chiefs[1250] whom it has elected, Bailly, Mayor of +Paris, and Lafayette, commandant of the National Guard, are obliged to +use cunning, to implore, to throw themselves between the multitude and +the unfortunates whom they wish to destroy. + +On the 15th of July, in the night, a woman disguised as a man is +arrested in the court of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and so maltreated that she +faints away; Bailly, in order to save her, is obliged to feign anger +against her and have her sent immediately to prison. From the 14th to +the 22nd of July, Lafayette, at the risk of his life, saves with his +own hand seventeen persons in different quarters.[1251]--On the 22nd of +July, upon the denunciations which multiply around Paris like trains +of gunpowder, two administrators of high rank, M. Foulon, Councillor +of State, and M. Berthier, his son-in-law, are arrested, one near +Fontainebleau, and the other near Compiègne. M. Foulon, a strict +master,[1252] but intelligent and useful, expended sixty thousand francs +the previous winter on his estate in giving employment to the poor. M. +Berthier, an industrious and capable man, had officially surveyed +and valued Ile-de-France, to equalize the taxes, and had reduced the +overcharged quotas first one-eighth and then a quarter. But both of +these gentlemen have arranged the details of the camp against which +Paris has risen; both are publicly proscribed for eight days previously +by the Palais-Royal, and, with a people frightened by disorder, +exasperated by hunger, and stupefied by suspicion, an accused person is +a guilty one.--With regard to Foulon, as with Réveillon, a story is made +up, coined in the same mint, a sort of currency for popular circulation, +and which the people itself manufactures by casting into one tragic +expression the sum of its sufferings and rankling memories:[1253] "He +said that we were worth no more than his horses; and that if we had no +bread we had only to eat grass."--The old man of seventy-four is brought +to Paris, with a truss of hay on his head, a collar of thistles around +his neck, and his mouth stuffed with hay. In vain does the electoral +bureau order his imprisonment that he may be saved; the crowd yells out: +"Sentenced and hung!" and, authoritatively, appoints the judges. In +vain does Lafayette insist and entreat three times that the judgment be +regularly rendered, and that the accused be sent to the Abbaye. A new +wave of people comes up, and one man, "well dressed," cries out: "What +is the need of a sentence for a man who has been condemned for thirty +years?" Foulon is carried off; dragged across the square, and hung +to the lamp post. The cord breaks twice, and twice he falls upon the +pavement. Re-hung with a fresh cord and then cut down, his head is +severed from his body and placed on the end of a pike.[1254] Meanwhile, +Berthier, sent away from Compiègne by the municipality, afraid to +keep him in his prison where he was constantly menaced, arrives in a +cabriolet under escort. The people carry placards around him filled with +opprobrious epithets; in changing horses they threw hard black bread +into the carriage, exclaiming, "There, wretch, see the bread you made us +eat!" On reaching the church of Saint-Merry, a fearful storm of insults +burst forth against him. He is called a monopolist, "although he had +never bought or sold a grain of wheat." In the eyes of the multitude, +who has to explain the evil as caused by some evil-doer, he is the +author of the famine. Conducted to the Abbaye, his escort is dispersed +and he is pushed over to the lamp post. Then, seeing that all is lost, +he snatches a gun from one of his murderers and bravely defends himself. +A soldier of the "Royal Croats" gives him a cut with his saber across +the stomach, and another tears out his heart. As the cook, who had cut +off the head of M. de Launay, happens to be on the spot, they hand him +the heart to carry while the soldiers take the head, and both go to +the Hôtel-de-Ville to show their trophies to M. de Lafayette. On their +return to the Palais-Royal, and while they are seated at table in a +tavern, the people demand these two remains. They throw them out of the +window and finish their supper, whilst the heart is marched about below +in a bouquet of white carnations.--Such are the spectacles which this +garden presents where, a year before, "good society in full dress" came +on leaving the Opera to chat, often until two o'clock in the morning, +under the mild light of the moon, listening now to the violin of +Saint-Georges, and now to the charming voice of Garat. + + + + +VIII.--Paris in the hands of the people. + +Henceforth it is clear that no one is safe: neither the new militia nor +the new authorities suffice to enforce respect for the law. "They did +not dare," says Bailly,[1255] "oppose the people who, eight days before +this, had taken the Bastille."--In vain, after the last two murders, do +Bailly and Lafayette indignantly threaten to withdraw; they are forced +to remain; their protection, such as it is, is all that is left, and, if +the National Guard is unable to prevent every murder, it prevents some +of them. People live as they can under the constant expectation of fresh +popular violence. "To every impartial man," says Malouet, "the Terror +dates from the 14th of July".--On the 17th, before setting out for +Paris, the King attends communion and makes his will in anticipation +of assassination. From the 16th to the 18th, twenty personages of high +rank, among others most of those on whose heads a price is set by the +Palais-Royal, leave France: The Count d'Artois, Marshal de Broglie, the +Princes de Condé, de Conti, de Lambesc, de Vaudemont, the Countess +de Polignac, and the Duchesses de Polignac and de Guiche.--The day +following the two murders, M. de Crosne, M. Doumer, M. Sureau, the most +zealous and most valuable members of the committee on subsistence, all +those appointed to make purchases and to take care of the storehouses, +conceal themselves or fly. On the eve of the two murders, the notaries +of Paris, being menaced with a riot, had to advance 45,000 francs which +were promised to the workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; while the +public treasury, almost empty, is drained of 30,000 livres per day to +diminish the cost of bread.--Persons and possessions, great and small, +private individuals and public functionaries, the Government itself, +all is in the hands of the mob. "From this moment," says a deputy,[1256] +"liberty did not exist even in the National Assembly. . . France stood +dumb before thirty factious persons. The Assembly became in their hands +a passive instrument, which they forced to serve them in the execution +of their projects."--They themselves do not lead, although they seem to +lead. The great brute, which has taken the bit in its mouth, holds on to +it, and it's plunging becomes more violent. Not only do both spurs which +maddened it, I mean the desire for innovation and the daily scarcity +of food, continue to prick it on. But also the political hornets which, +increasing by thousands, buzz around its ears. And the license in which +it revels for the first time, joined to the applause lavished upon it, +urges it forward more violently each day. The insurrection is glorified. +Not one of the assassins is sought out. It is against the conspiracy of +Ministers that the Assembly institutes an inquiry. Rewards are bestowed +upon the conquerors of the Bastille; it is declared that they have saved +France. All honors are awarded to the people-to their good sense, their +magnanimity, and their justice. Adoration is paid to this new sovereign: +he is publicly and officially told, in the Assembly and by the press, +that he possesses every virtue, all rights and all powers. If he spills +blood it is inadvertently, on provocation, and always with an infallible +instinct. Moreover, says a deputy, "this blood, was it so pure?" The +greater number of people prefers the theories of their books to the +experience of their eyes; they persist in the idyll, which they have +fashioned for themselves. At the worst their dream, driven out from the +present, takes refuge in the future. To-morrow, when the Constitution is +complete, the people, made happy, will again become wise: let us endure +the storm, which leads us on to so noble a harbor. + +Meanwhile, beyond the King, inert and disarmed, beyond the Assembly, +disobeyed or submissive, appears the real monarch, the people--that is +to say, a crowd of a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand individuals +gathered together at random, on an impulse, on an alarm, suddenly and +irresistibly made legislators, judges, and executioners. A formidable +power, undefined and destructive, on which no one has any hold, and +which, with its mother, howling and misshapen Liberty, sits at the +threshold of the Revolution like Milton's two specters at the gates of +Hell. + + . . . Before the gates there sat + On either side a formidable shape; + The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, + but ended foul in many a scaly fold + Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd + With mortal sting: about her middle round + A cry of hell hounds never ceasing bark'd + With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung + A hideous peal: yet, when they list, would creep, + If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb, + And kennel there; yet there still bark'd and howl'd + Within unseen. . . + ........the other shape, + If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, + Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd + For each seem'd either: black it stood as night, + Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, + And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head + The likeness of a kingly crown had on. + + The monster moving onward came as fast, + With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1201: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. +Miron, lieutenant de police, April 26th; of M. Joly de Fleury, +procureur-général, May 29th; of MM. Marchais and Berthier, April 18th +and 27th, March 23rd, April 5th, May 5th.--Arthur Young, June 10th +and 29th. "Archives Nationales," H. 1453 Letter of the sub-delegate of +Montlhéry, April 14th.] + +[Footnote 1202: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the +sub-delegate Gobert, March 17th; of the officers of police, June +15th:--" On the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of March the inhabitants of +Conflans generally rebelled against the game law in relation to the +rabbit."] + +[Footnote 1203: Montjoie, 2nd part, ch. XXI. p.14 (the first week in +June). Montjoie is a party man; but he gives dates and details, and his +testimony, when it is confirmed elsewhere, deserves, to be admitted.] + +[Footnote 1204: Montjoie, 1st part, 92-101.--"Archives Nationales," +H. 1453. Letter of the officer of police of Saint-Denis: "A good many +workmen arrive daily from Lorraine as well as from Champagne," which +increases the prices.] + +[Footnote 1205: De Bezenval, "Mémoires," I.353. Cf. "The Ancient +Regime," p.509.--Marmontel, II, 252 and following pages.--De Ferrières, +I. 407.] + +[Footnote 1206: Arthur Young, September 1st, 1788] + +[Footnote 1207: Barrère, "Mémoires," I. 234.] + +[Footnote 1208: See, in the National Library, the long catalogue of +those which have survived.] + +[Footnote 1209: Malouet, I. 255. Bailly, I. 43 (May 9th and +19th).--D'Hezecques, "Souvenirs d'un page de Louis XV." 293.--De +Bezenval, I. 368.] + +[Footnote 1210: Marmontel, II, 249.--Montjoie, 1st part, p. 92.--De +Bezenval, I. 387: "These spies added that persons were seen exciting the +tumult and were distributing money."] + +[Footnote 1211: "Archives Nationales," Y.11441. Interrogatory of the +Abbé Roy, May 5th.--Y.11033, Interrogatory (April 28th and May 4th) +of twenty-three wounded persons brought to the Hôtel-Dieu--These two +documents are of prime importance in presenting the true aspect of the +insurrection; to these must be added the narrative of M. de Bezenval, +who was commandant at this time with M. de Châtelet. Almost all other +narratives are amplified or falsified through party bias.] + +[Footnote 1212: De Ferrières, vol. III. note A. (justificatory +explanation by Réveillon).] + +[Footnote 1213: Bailly I. 25 (April 26th).] + +[Footnote 1214: Hippeau, IV. 377 (Letters of M. Perrot, April 29th).] + +[Footnote 1215: Letter to the King by an inhabitant of the Faubourg +Saint-Antoine--"Do not doubt, sire, that our recent misfortunes are due +to the dearness of bread"] + +[Footnote 1216: Dampmartin, "Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes +yeux," etc. I. 25: "We turned back and were held up by small bands of +scoundrels, who insolently proposed to us to shout 'Vive Necker! Vive +le Tiers-Etat!'" His two companions were knights of St. Louis, and +their badges seemed an object of "increasing hatred." "The badge excited +coarse mutterings, even on the part of persons who appeared superior to +the agitators."] + +[Footnote 1217: Dampmartin, ibid. i. 25: "I was dining this very day at +the Hôtel d'Ecquevilly, in the Rue Saint-Louis." He leaves the house +on foot and witnesses the disturbance. "Fifteen to Sixteen hundred +wretches, the excrement of the nation, degraded by shameful vices, +covered with rags, and gorged with brandy, presented the most disgusting +and revolting spectacle. More than a hundred thousand persons of +both sexes and of all ages and conditions interfered greatly with the +operations of the troops. The firing soon commenced and blood flowed: +two innocent persons were wounded near me."] + +[Footnote 1218: De Goncourt, "La Société Française pendant la +Révolution." Thirty-one gambling-houses are counted here, while a +pamphlet of the day is entitled "Pétition des deux mill cent filles du +Palais-Royal."] + +[Footnote 1219: Montjoie, 2nd part, 144.--Bailly, II, 130.] + +[Footnote 1220: Arthur Young, June 24th, 1789.--Montjoie, 2nd part, 69.] + +[Footnote 1221: Arthur Young, June 9th, 24th, and 26th.--"La France +libre," passim, by C. Desmoulins.] + +[Footnote 1222: C. Desmoulins, letters to his father, and Arthur Young, +June 9th.] + +[Footnote 1223: Montjoie, 2nd part, 69, 77, 124, 144. C. Desmoulins, +letter, of June 24th and the following days.] + +[Footnote 1224: Etienne Dumont, "Souvenirs," p.72.--C. Desmoulins, +letter of; June 24th.--Arthur Young, June 25th.--Buchez and Roux, II. +28.] + +[Footnote 1225: Bailly, I. 227 and 179.--Monnier, "Recherches sur les +causes," etc. I. 289, 291; II.61;--Malouet, I. 299; II. 10.--"Actes +des Apôtres," V.43. (Letter of M. de Guillermy, July 31st, +1790).--Marmontel, I. 28: "The people came even into the Assembly, to +encourage their partisans, to select and indicate their victims, and to +terrify the feeble with the dreadful trial of open balloting."] + +[Footnote 1226: Manuscript letters of M. Boullé, deputy, to the +municipal authorities of Pontivy, from May 1st, 1789, to September 4th, +1790 (communicated by M. Rosenzweig, archivist at Vannes). June 16th, +1789: "The crowd gathered around the hall. . . was, during these days, +from 3,000 to 4,000 persons."] + +[Footnote 1227: Letters of M. Boullé, June 23rd. "How sublime the +moment, that in which we enthusiastically bind ourselves to the country +by a new oath!. . . . Why should this moment be selected by one of our +number to dishonor himself? His name is now blasted throughout France. +And the unfortunate man has children! Suddenly overwhelmed by public +contempt he leaves, and falls fainting at the door, exclaiming, 'Ah! +this will be my death!' I do not know what has become of him since. What +is strange is, he had not behaved badly up to that time, and he voted +for the Constitution."] + +[Footnote 1228: De Ferrières, I. 168.--Malouet, I. 298 (according to +him the faction did not number more than ten members),--idem II. +10.--Dumont, 250.] + +[Footnote 1229: "Convention nationale" governed France from 21st +September 1792 until Oct. 26th 1796. We distinguish between three +different assemblies, "la Convention Girondine" 1792-93, "the Mountain," +1793-94 and "la Thermidorienne," from 1794-1795. (SR).] + +[Footnote 1230: Declaration of June 23rd, article 15.] + +[Footnote 1231: Montjoie, 2nd part, 118.--C. Desmoulins, letters of June +24th and the following days. A faithful narrative by M. de Sainte-Fère, +formerly an officer in the French Guard, p.9.--De Bezenval, +III, 413.--Buchez and Roux, II. 35.--"Souvenirs", by PASQUIER +(Etienne-Dennis, duc), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, Librarie +Plon, Paris 1893..] + +[Footnote 1232: Peuchet ("Encyclopédie Méthodique," 1789, quoted by +Parent Duchâtelet): "Almost all of the soldiers of the Guard belong to +that class (the procurers of public women): many, indeed, only enlist in +the corps that they may live at the expense of these unfortunates."] + +[Footnote 1233: Gouverneur Morris, "Liberty is now the general cry; +authority is a name and no longer a reality." (Correspondence with +Washington, July 19th.)] + +[Footnote 1234: Bailly. I. 302. "The King was very well-disposed; his +measures were intended only to preserve order and the public peace. . +. Du Châtelet was forced by facts to acquit M. de Bezenval of attempts +against the people and the country."--Cf. Marmontel, IV. 183; Mounier, +II, 40.] + +[Footnote 1235: Desmoulins, letter of the 16th July. Buchez and Roux, +II. 83.] + +[Footnote 1236: Trial of the Prince de Lambesc (Paris, 1790), with the +eighty-three depositions and the discussion of the testimony.--It is the +crowd which began the attack. The troops fired in the air. But one +man, a sieur Chauvel, was wounded slightly by the Prince de Lambesc. +(Testimony of M. Carboire, p.84, and of Captain de Reinack, p. 101.) "M. +le Prince de Lambesc, mounted on a gray horse with a gray saddle without +holsters or pistols, had scarcely entered the garden when a dozen +persons jumped at the mane and bridle of his horse and made every effort +to drag him off. A small man in gray clothes fired at him with a pistol. +. . . The prince tried hard to free himself, and succeeded by making his +horse rear up and by flourishing his sword; without, however, up to this +time, wounding any one. . . . He deposes that he saw the prince strike +a man on the head with the flat of his saber who was trying to close the +turning-bridge, which would have cut off the retreat of his troops The +troops did no more than try to keep off the crowd which assailed them +with stones, and even with firearms, from the top of the terraces."--The +man who tried to close the bridge had seized the prince's horse with one +hand; the wound he received was a scratch about 23 lines long, which was +dressed and cured with a bandage soaked in brandy. All the details of +the affair prove that the patience and humanity of the officer, were +extreme. Nevertheless "on the following day, the 13th, some one posted a +written placard on the crossing Bussy recommending the citizens of Paris +to seize the prince and quarter him at once."--(Deposition of M. Cosson, +p.114.)] + +[Footnote 1237: Bailly, I. 3, 6.--Marmontel, IV. 310] + +[Footnote 1238: Montjoie, part 3, 86. "I talked with those who guarded +the château of the Tuileries. They did not belong to Paris. . . . A +frightful physiognomy and hideous apparel." Montjoie, not to be trusted +in many places, merits consultation for little facts of which he was an +eye-witness.--Morellet, "Mémoires," I. 374.--Dusaulx, "L'oeuvre des sept +jours," 352.--Revue Historique," March, 1876. Interrogatory of Desnot. +His occupation during the 13th of July (published by Guiffrey).] + +[Footnote 1239: Mathieu Dumas, "Mémoires," I. 531. "Peaceable people +fled at the sight of these groups of strange, frantic vagabonds. +Everybody closed their houses. . .. When I reached home, in the +Saint-Denis quarter, several of these brigands caused great alarm by +firing off guns in the air."] + +[Footnote 1240: Dusaulx, 379.] + +[Footnote 1241: Dusaulx, 359, 360, 361, 288, 336. "In effect their +entreaties resembled commands, and, more than once, it was impossible to +resist them."] + +[Footnote 1242: Dusaulx, 447 (Deposition of the invalides).--"Revue +Rétrospective," IV. 282 (Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two +Swiss Guards).] + +[Footnote 1243: Marmontel, IV. 317.] + +[Footnote 1244: Dusaulx, 454. "The soldiers replied that they would +accept whatever happened rather than cause the destruction of so great a +number of their fellow-citizens."] + +[Footnote 1245: Dusaulx, 447. The number of combatants, maimed, wounded, +dead, and living, is 825.--Marmontel, IV. 320. "To the number of +victors, which has been carried up to 800, people have been added who +were never near the place."] + +[Footnote 1246: "Memoires", by PASQUIER (Etienne-Dennis, duc, +1767-1862), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, Librarie Plon, Paris +1893. Vol. I. p.52. Pasquier was eye-witness. He leaned against the +fence of the Beaumarchais garden and looked on, with mademoiselle +Contat, the actress, at his side, who had left her carriage in the +Place-Royale.--Marat, "L'ami du peuple," No. 530. "When an unheard-of +conjunction of circumstances had caused the fall of the badly defended +walls of the Bastille, under the efforts of a handful of soldiers and +a troop of unfortunate creatures, most of them Germans and almost all +provincials, the Parisians presented themselves the fortress, curiosity +alone having led them there."] + +[Footnote 1247: Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two +Swiss.--Narrative of Cholat, wine-dealer, one of the +victors.--Examination of Desnot (who cut off the head of M. de Launay).] + +[Footnote 1248: Montjoie, part 3, 85.--Dusaulx, 355, 287, 368.] + +[Footnote 1249: Nothing more. No Witness states that he had seen the +pretended note to M. do Launay. According to Dusaulx, he could not have +had either the time or the means to write it.] + +[Footnote 1250: Bailly, II. 32, 74, 88, 90, 95, 108, 117, 137, 158, 174. +"I gave orders which were neither obeyed nor listened to. . . . They +gave me to understand that I was not safe." (July 15th.) "In these +sad times one enemy and one calumnious report sufficed to excite the +multitude. All who had formerly held power, all who had annoyed or +restrained the insurrectionists, were sure of being arrested."] + +[Footnote 1251: M. de Lafayette, "Mémoires," III. 264. Letter of July +16th, 1789. "I have already saved the lives of six persons whom they +were hanging in different quarters."] + +[Footnote 1252: Poujoulat. "Histoire de la Révolution Française," p.100 +(with supporting documents). Procès-verbaux of the Provincial Assembly, +lle-de-France (1787), p.127.] + +[Footnote 1253: For instance: "He is severe with his peasants."--"He +gives them no bread, and he wants them then to eat grass." "He wants +them to eat grass like horses."--"He has said that they could very well +eat hay, and that they are no better than horses."--The same story is +found in many of the contemporary jacqueries.] + +[Footnote 1254: Bailly, II. 108. "The people, less enlightened and as +imperious as despots, recognize no positive signs of good administration +but success."] + +[Footnote 1255: Bailly, II, 108, 95.--Malouet, II, 14.] + +[Footnote 1256: De Ferrières, I. 168.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + + +I.--Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + + Destruction of the Government.--To whom does real power + belong? + +However bad a particular government may be, there is something still +worse, and that is the suppression of all government. For, it is owing +to government that human wills form a harmony instead of chaos. +It serves society as the brain serves a living being. Incapable, +inconsiderate, extravagant, engrossing, it often abuses its position, +overstraining or misleading the body for which it should care, and which +it should direct. But, taking all things into account, whatever it may +do, more good than harm is done, for through it the body stands erect, +marches on and guides its steps. Without it there is no organized +deliberate action, serviceable to the whole body. In it alone do we find +the comprehensive views, knowledge of the members of which it consists +and of their aims, an idea of outward relationships, full and accurate +information, in short, the superior intelligence which conceives what is +best for the common interests, and adapts means to ends. If it falters +and is no longer obeyed, if it is forced and pushed from without by a +violent pressure, it ceases to control public affairs, and the social +organization retrogrades by many steps. Through the dissolution of +society, and the isolation of individuals, each man returns to his +original feeble state, while power is vested in passing aggregates that +like whirlwinds spring up from the human dust.--One may divine how this +power, which the most competent find it difficult to apply properly, is +exercised by bands of men springing out of nowhere. It is a matter of +supplies, of their possessions, price and distribution. It is a matter +of taxes, its proportion, apportionment and collection; of private +property, its varieties, rights, and limitations It is a problem of +public authority, its allocation and its limits; of all those delicate +cogwheels which, working into each other, constitute the great economic, +social, and political machine. Each band in its own canton lays its +rude hands on the wheels within its reach. They wrench or break them +haphazardly, under the impulse of the moment, heedless and indifferent +to consequences, even when the reaction of to-morrow crushes them in the +ruin that they cause to day. Thus do unchained Negroes, each pulling and +hauling his own way, undertake to manage a ship of which they have just +obtained mastery.--In such a state of things white men are hardly worth +more than black ones. For, not only is the band, whose aim is violence, +composed of those who are most destitute, most wildly enthusiastic, and +most inclined to destructiveness and to license. But also, as this band +tumultuously carries out its violent action, each individual the most +brutal, the most irrational, and most corrupt, descends lower than +himself, even to the darkness, the madness, and the savagery of the +dregs of society. In fact, a man who in the interchange of blows, would +resist the excitement of murder, and not use his strength like a +savage, must be familiar with arms. He must be accustomed to danger, be +cool-blooded, alive to the sentiment of honor, and above all, sensitive +to that stern military code which, to the imagination of the soldier, +ever holds out to him the provost's gibbet to which he is sure to rise, +should he strike one blow too many. Should all these restraints, inward +as well as outward, be wanting, the man plunges into insurrection. He is +a novice in the acts of violence, which he carries out. He has no +fear of the law, because he abolishes it. The action begun carries him +further than he intended to go. Peril and resistance exasperate his +anger. He catches the fever from contact with those who are fevered, +and follows robbers who have become his comrades.[1301] Add to this +the clamors, the drunkenness, the spectacle of destruction, the nervous +tremor of the body strained beyond its powers of endurance, and we +can comprehend how, from the peasant, the laborer, and the bourgeois, +pacified and tamed by an old civilization, we see all of a sudden spring +forth the barbarian. Or still worse, the primitive animal, the grinning, +sanguinary, wanton baboon, who giggles while he slays, and gambols over +the ruin he has accomplished. Such is the actual government to which +France is given up, and after eighteen months' experience, the best +qualified, most judicious and profoundest observer of the Revolution +will find nothing to compare it to but the invasion of the Roman Empire +in the fourth century.[1302] "The Huns, the Heruli, the Vandals, and the +Goths will come neither from the north nor from the Black Sea; they are +in our very midst." + + + + +II.--The provinces + + Destruction of old Authorities.--Inadequacy of new + Authorities + +When in a building the principal beam gives way, cracks follow and +multiply, and the secondary joists fall in one by one for lack of the +prop, which supported them. In a similar manner the authority of the +King being broken, all the powers, which he delegated, fall to the +ground.[1303] Intendants, parliaments, military commands, grand +provosts, administrative, judicial, and police functionaries in every +province, and of every branch of the service, who maintain order and +protect property, taught by the murder of M. de Launey, the imprisonment +of M. de Besenval, the flight of Marshal de Broglie, the assassinations +of Foullon and Bertier, know what it costs should they try to perform +their duties. Should it be forgotten local insurrections intervene, and +keep them in mind of it. + +The officer in command in Burgundy is a prisoner at Dijon, with a +guard at his door; and he is not allowed to speak with any one without +permission, and without the presence of witnesses.[1304] The Commandant +of Caen is besieged in the old palace and capitulates. The Commandant of +Bordeaux surrenders Château-Trompette with its guns and equipment. The +Commandant at Metz, who remains firm, suffers the insults and the orders +of the populace. The Commandant of Brittany wanders about his province +"like a vagabond," while at Rennes his people, furniture, and plate are +kept as pledges. As soon as he sets foot in Normandy he is surrounded, +and a sentinel is placed at his door.--The Intendant of Besançon takes +to flight; that of Rouen sees his dwelling sacked from top to bottom, +and escapes amid the shouts of a mob demanding his head.--At Rennes, the +Dean of the Parliament is arrested, maltreated, kept in his room with +a guard over him, and then, although ill, sent out of the town under an +escort.--At Strasbourg "thirty-six houses of magistrates are marked +for pillage."[1305]--At Besançon, the President of the Parliament is +constrained to let out of prison the insurgents arrested in a late +out-break, and to publicly burn the whole of the papers belonging to +the prosecution.--In Alsace, since the beginning of the troubles, the +provosts were obliged to fly, the bailiffs and manorial judges hid +themselves, the forest-inspectors ran away, and the houses of the guards +were demolished. One man, sixty years of age, is outrageously beaten and +marched about the village, the people, meanwhile, pulling out his hair; +nothing remains of his dwelling but the walls and a portion of the roof. +All his furniture and effects are broken up, burnt or stolen. He is +forced to sign, along with his wife, an act by which he binds himself +to refund all penalties inflicted by him, and to abandon all claims +for damages for the injuries to which he has just been subjected.--In +Franche-Comté the authorities dare not condemn delinquents, and the +police do not arrest them; the military commandant writes that "crimes +of every kind are on the increase, and that he has no means of punishing +them." Insubordination is permanent in all the provinces; one of the +provincial commissions states with sadness: + +"When all powers are in confusion and annihilated, when public force +no longer exists, when all ties are sundered, when every individual +considers himself relieved from all kinds of obligation, when public +authority no longer dares make itself felt, and it is a crime to have +been clothed with it, what can be expected of our efforts to restore +order?"[1306] + +All that remains of this great demolished State is forty thousand +groups of people, each separated and isolated, in towns and small market +villages where municipal bodies, elected committees, and improvised +National Guards strive to prevent the worst excesses.--But these local +chiefs are novices; they are human, and they are timid. Chosen by +acclamation they believe in popular rights; in the midst of riots they +feel themselves in danger. Hence, they generally obey the crowd. + +"Rarely," says one of the provincial commissions reports, "do the +municipal authorities issue a summons; they allow the greatest excesses +rather than enter upon prosecutions for which, sooner or later, they +may be held responsible by their fellow-citizens. . . . Municipal bodies +have no longer the power to resist anything." + +Especially in the rural districts the mayor or syndic, who is a farmer, +makes it his first aim to make no enemies, and would resign his place +if it were to bring him any "unpleasantness" with it. His rule in +the towns, and especially in large cities, is almost as lax and more +precarious, because explosive material is accumulated here to a much +larger extent, and the municipal officers, in their arm-chairs at the +town-hall, sit over a mine which may explode at any time. To-morrow, +perhaps, some resolution passed at a tavern in the suburbs, or some +incendiary newspaper just received from Paris, will furnish the +spark.--No other defense against the populace is at hand than the +sentimental proclamations of the National Assembly, the useless presence +of troops who stand by and look on, and the uncertain help of a National +Guard which will arrive too late. Occasionally these townspeople, who +are now the rulers, utter a cry of distress from under the hands of +the sovereigns of the street who grasp them by the throat. At +Puy-en-Velay,[1307] a town of twenty thousand inhabitants, the +présidial,[1308] the committee of twenty-four commissioners, a body of +two hundred dragoons, and eight hundred men of the guard of burgesses, +are "paralyzed, and completely stupefied, by the vile populace. A +mild treatment only increases its insubordination and insolence." This +populace proscribes whomsoever it pleases, and six days ago a gibbet, +erected by its hands, has announced to the new magistrates the fate that +awaits them. + +" What will become of us this winter," they exclaim, "in our +impoverished country, where bread is not to be had! We shall be the prey +of wild beasts!" + + + + +III.--Public feeling.--Famine + +These people, in truth, are hungry, and, since the Revolution, their +misery has increased. Around Puy-en-Velay the country is laid waste, +and the soil broken up by a terrible tempest, a fierce hailstorm, and +a deluge of rain. In the south, the crop proved to be moderate and even +insufficient. + +"To trace a picture of the condition of Languedoc," writes the +intendant,[1309] "would be to give an account of calamities of every +description. The panic which prevails in all communities, and which is +stronger than all laws, stops traffic, and would cause famine even in +the midst of plenty. Commodities are enormously expensive, and there is +a lack of cash. Communities are ruined by the enormous outlays to which +they are exposed: The payment of the deputies to the seneschal's court, +the establishment of the burgess guards, guardhouses for this militia, +and the purchase of arms, uniforms, and outlays in forming communes and +permanent councils. To this must be add the cost of the printing of all +kinds, and the publication of trivial deliberations. Further the loss +of time due to disturbances occasioned by these circumstances, and +the utter stagnation of manufactures and of trade." All these causes +combined "have reduced Languedoc to the last extremity."--In the Center, +and in the North, where the crops are good, provisions are not less +scarce, because wheat is not put in circulation, and is kept concealed. + +"For five months," writes the municipal assembly of Louviers,[1310] "not +a farmer has made his appearance in the markets of this town. Such a +circumstance was never known before, although, from time to time, high +prices have prevailed to a considerable extent. On the contrary, the +markets were always well supplied in proportion to the high price of +grain." + +In vain the municipality orders the surrounding forty-seven parishes to +provide them with wheat. They pay no attention to the mandate; each for +himself and each for his own house; the intendant is no longer present +to compel local interests to give way to public interests. + +"In the wheat districts around us," says a letter from one of the +Burgundy towns, "we cannot rely on being able to make free purchases. +Special regulations, supported by the civic guard, prevent grain from +being sent out, and put a stop to its circulation. The adjacent markets +are of no use to us. Not a sack of grain has been brought into our +market for about eight months." + +At Troyes, bread costs four sous per pound, at Bar-sur-Aube, and in the +vicinity, four and a half sous per pound. The artisan who is out of work +now earns twelve sous a day at the relief works, and, on going into the +country, he sees that the grain crop is good. What conclusion can he +come to but that the dearth is due to the monopolists, and that, if he +should die of hunger, it would be because those scoundrels have +starved him?--By virtue of this reasoning whoever has to do with these +provisions, whether proprietor, farmer, merchant or administrator, all +are considered traitors. It is plain that there is a plot against +the people: the government, the Queen, the clergy, the nobles are all +parties to it; and likewise the magistrates and the wealthy amongst the +bourgeoisie and the rich. A rumor is current in the Ile-de-France that +sacks of flour are thrown into the Seine, and that the cavalry horses +are purposely made to eat unripe wheat in stalk. In Brittany, it is +maintained that grain is exported and stored up abroad. In Touraine, it +is certain that this or that wholesale dealer allows it to sprout in his +granaries rather than sell it. At Troyes, a story prevails that another +has poisoned his flour with alum and arsenic, commissioned to do so +by the bakers.--Conceive the effect of suspicions like these upon a +suffering multitude! A wave of hatred ascends from the empty stomach to +the morbid brain. The people are everywhere in quest of their imaginary +enemies, plunging forward with closed eyes no matter on whom or on what, +not merely with all the weight of their mass, but with all the energy of +their fury. + + + + + +IV.--Panic. + + General arming. + +From the earliest of these weeks they were already alarmed. Accustomed +to being led, the human herd is scared at being left to itself; it +misses its leaders who it has trodden under foot; in throwing off their +trammels it has deprived itself of their protection. It feels lonely, +in an unknown country, exposed to dangers of which it is ignorant, and +against which it is unable to guard itself. Now that the shepherds are +slain or disarmed, suppose the wolves should unexpectedly appear!--And +there are wolves--I mean vagabonds and criminals--who have but just +issued out of the darkness. They have robbed and burned, and are to be +found at every insurrection. Now that the police force no longer puts +them down, they show themselves instead of keeping themselves concealed. +They have only to lie in wait and come forth in a band, and both life +and property will be at their mercy.--Deep anxiety, a vague feeling of +dread, spreads through both town and country: towards the end of July +the panic, like a blinding, suffocating whirl of dusts, suddenly sweeps +over hundreds of leagues of territory. The brigands are coming! They are +burning the crops! They are only six leagues off, and then only two--the +refugees who have run away from the disorder prove it. + +On the 28th of July, at Angoulême,[1311] the alarm bell is heard about +three o'clock in the afternoon; the drums beat to arms, and cannon are +mounted on the ramparts. The town has to be put in a state of defense +against 15,000 bandits who are approaching, and from the walls a cloud +of dust on the road is discovered with terror. It proves to be the +post-wagon on its way to Bordeaux. After this the number of brigands +is reduced to 1,500, but there is no doubt that they are ravaging the +country. At nine o'clock in the evening 20,000 men are under arms, and +thus they pass the night, always listening without hearing anything. +Towards three o'clock in the morning there is another alarm, the church +bells ringing and the people forming a battle array. They are convinced +that the brigands have burned Ruffec, Vernenil, La Rochefoucauld, and +other places. The next day countrymen flock in to give their aid against +bandits who are still absent. "At nine o'clock," says a witness, "we had +40,000 men in the town, to whom we showed our gratitude." As the bandits +do not show themselves, it must be because they are concealed; a hundred +horsemen, a large number of men on foot, start out to search the forest +of Braçonne, and to their great surprise they find nothing. But the +terror is not allayed; "during the following days a guard is kept +mounted, and companies are enrolled among the townsmen," while Bordeaux, +duly informed, dispatches a courier to offer the support of 20,000 men +and even 30,000. "What is surprising," adds the narrator, is that at ten +leagues off in the neighborhood, in each parish, a similar disturbance +took place, and at about the same hour."--All that is required is that a +girl, returning to the village at night, should meet two men who do +not belong to the neighborhood. The case is the same in Auvergne. Whole +parishes, on the strength of this, betake themselves at night to the +woods, abandoning their houses, and carrying away their furniture; "the +fugitives trod down and destroyed their own crops; pregnant women were +injured in the forests, and others lost their wits." Fear lends them +wings. Two years after this, Madame Campan was shown a rocky peak on +which a woman had taken refuge, and from which she was obliged to be let +down with ropes.--The people at last return to their homes, and resume +their usual routines. But such large masses are not unsettled with +impunity; a tumult like this is, in itself, a lively source of alarm. As +the country did rise, it must have been on account of threatened danger +and if the peril was not due to brigands, it must have come from some +other quarter. Arthur Young, at Dijon and in Alsace,[1312] hears at the +public dinner tables that the Queen had formed a plot to undermine the +National Assembly and to massacre all Paris. Later on he is arrested in +a village near Clermont, and examined because he is evidently conspiring +with the Queen and the Comte d'Entraigues to blow up the town and send +the survivors to the galleys. + +No argument, no experience has any effect against the multiplying +phantoms of an over-excited imagination. Henceforth every commune, and +every man, provide themselves with arms and keep them ready for use. The +peasant searches his hoard, and "finds from ten to twelve francs for +the purchase of a gun." "A national militia is found in the poorest +village." Burgess guards and companies of volunteers patrol all the +towns. Military commanders deliver arms, ammunition, and equipment, +on the requisition of municipal bodies, while, in case of refusal, +the arsenals are pillaged, and, voluntarily or by force, four +hundred thousand guns thus pass into the hands of the people in six +months.[1313] Not content with this they must have cannon. Brest +having demanded two, every town in Brittany does the same thing; +their self-esteem is at stake as well as a need of feeling themselves +strong.--They lack nothing now to render themselves masters. All +authority, all force, every means of constraint and of intimidation +is in their hands, and in theirs alone; and these sovereign hands have +nothing to guide them in this actual interregnum of all legal powers, +but the wild or murderous suggestions of hunger or distrust. + + + + +V.--Attacks on public individuals and public property. + + At Strasbourg.--At Cherbourg.--At Mauberge.--At Rouen.--At + Besançon.--At Troyes. + +It would take too much space to recount all the violent acts which were +committed,--convoys arrested, grain pillaged, millers and corn merchants +hung, decapitated, slaughtered, farmers called upon under the threats of +death to give up even the seed reserved for sowing, proprietors ransomed +and houses sacked.[1314] These outrages, unpunished, tolerated and even +excused or badly suppressed, are constantly repeated, and are, at first, +directed against public men and public property. As is commonly the +case, the rabble head the march and stamp the character of the whole +insurrection. + +On the 19th of July, at Strasbourg, on the news of Necker's return to +office, it interprets after its own fashion the public joy, which +it witnesses. Five or six hundred beggars,[1315] their numbers soon +increased by the petty tradesmen, rush to the town hall, the magistrates +only having time to fly through a back door. The soldiers, on their +part, with arms in their hands, allow all these things to go on, while +several of them spur the assailants on. The windows are dashed to pieces +under a hailstorm of stones, the doors are forced with iron crowbars, +and the populace enter amid a burst of acclamations from the spectators. +Immediately, through every opening in the building, which has a facade +frontage of eighty feet, "there is a shower of shutters, sashes, +chairs, tables, sofas, books and papers, and then another of tiles, +boards, balconies and fragments of wood-work." The public archives are +thrown to the wind, and the surrounding streets are strewed with them; +the letters of enfranchisement, the charters of privileges, all the +authentic acts which, since Louis XIV, have guaranteed the liberties of +the town, perish in the flames. Some of the rabble in the cellars stave +in casks of precious wine; fifteen thousand measures of it are lost, +making a pool five feet deep in which several are drowned. Others, +loaded with booty, go away under the eyes of the soldiers without +being arrested. The havoc continues for three days; a number of houses +belonging to some of the magistrates "are sacked from garret to cellar." +When the honest citizens at last obtain arms and restore order, they are +content with the hanging of one of the robbers; although, in order to +please the people, the magistrates are changed and the price of bread +and meat is reduced.--It is not surprising that after such tactics, and +with such rewards, the riot should spread through the neighborhood far +and near: in fact, starting from Strasbourg it overruns Alsace, while in +the country as in the city, there are always drunkards and rascals found +to head it. + +No matter where, be it in the East, in the West, or in the North, the +instigators are always of this stamp. At Cherbourg, on the 21st of +July,[1316] the two leaders of the riot are "highway robbers," who place +themselves at the head of women of the suburbs, foreign sailors, the +populace of the harbor, and it includes soldiers in workmen's smocks. +They force the delivery of the keys of the grain warehouses, and +wreck the dwellings of the three richest merchants, also that of M. de +Garantot, the sub-delegate: "All records and papers are burnt; at M. de +Garantot's alone the loss is estimated at more than 100,000 crowns at +least."--The same instinct of destruction prevails everywhere, a sort +of envious fury against all who possess, command, or enjoy anything. +At Maubeuge, on the 27th of July, at the very assembly of the +representatives of the commune,[1317] the rabble interferes directly in +its usual fashion. A band of nail and gun-makers takes possession of the +town-hall, and obliges the mayor to reduce the price of bread. Almost +immediately after this another band follows uttering cries of death, +and smashes the windows, while the garrison, which has been ordered out, +quietly contemplates the damage done. Death to the mayor, to all rulers, +and to all employees! The rioters force open the prisons, set the +prisoners free, and attack the tax-offices. The octroi offices are +demolished from top to bottom: they pull down the harbor offices and +throw the scales and weights into the river. All the custom and +excise stores are carried off; and the officials are compelled to give +acquaintances. The houses of the registrar and of the sheriff, that of +the revenue comptroller, two hundred yards outside the town, are sacked; +the doors and the windows are smashed, the furniture and linen is torn +to shreds, and the plate and jewelry is thrown into the wells. The same +havoc is committed in the mayor's town-house, also in his country-house +a league off. "Not a window, not a door, not one article or eatable," +is preserved; their work, moreover, is conscientiously done, without +stopping a moment, "from ten in the evening up to ten in the morning on +the following day." In addition to this the mayor, who has served +for thirty-four years, resigns his office at the solicitation of the +well-disposed but terrified people, and leaves the country.--At +Rouen, after the 24th of July,[1318] a written placard shows, by its +orthography and its style, what sort of intellects composed it and what +kind of actions are to follow it: + +"Nation, you have here four heads to strike off, those of Pontcarry +(the first president), Maussion (the intendant), Godard de Belboeuf (the +attorney-general), and Durand (the attorney of the King in the town). +Without this we are lost, and if you do not do it, people will take you +for a heartless nation." + +Nothing could be more explicit. The municipal body, however, to whom +the Parliament denounces this list of proscriptions, replies, with its +forced optimism, that + +"no citizen should consider himself or be considered as proscribed; he +may and must believe himself to be safe in his own dwelling, satisfied +that there is not a person in the city who would not fly to his rescue." + +This is equal to telling the populace that it is free to do as it +pleases. On the strength of this the leaders of the riot work on in +security for ten days. One of them is a man named Jourdain, a lawyer of +Lisieux, and, like most of his brethren, a demagogue in principles; the +other is a strolling actor from Paris named Bordier, famous in the part +of harlequin,[1319] a bully in a house of ill-fame, "a night-rover +and drunkard, and who, fearing neither God nor devil," has taken up +patriotism, and comes down into the provinces to play tragedy, and that, +tragedy in real life. The fifth act begins on the night of the 3rd of +August, with Bordier and Jourdain as the principal actors, and behind +them the rabble along with several companies of fresh volunteers. A +shout is heard, "Death to the monopolists! death to Maussion! we must +have his head!" They pillage his hotel: many of them become intoxicated +and fall asleep in his cellar. The revenue offices, the toll-gates of +the town, the excise office, all buildings in which the royal revenue is +collected, are wrecked. Immense bonfires are lighted in the streets and +on the old market square; furniture, clothes, papers, kitchen utensils, +are all thrown in pell-mell, while carriages are dragged out and tumbled +into the Seine. It is only when the town-hall is attacked that the +National Guard, beginning to be alarmed, makes up its mind to seize +Bordier and some others. The following morning, however, at the shout of +Carabo, and led by Jourdain, the prison is forced, Bordier set free, and +the intendant's residence, with its offices, is sacked a second time. +When, finally, the two rascals are taken and led to the scaffold, the +populace is so strongly in their favor as to require the pointing of +loaded cannon on them to keep them down.--At Besançon,[1320] on the 13th +of August, the leaders consist of the servant of an exhibitor of +wild animals, two goal-birds of whom one has already been branded in +consequence of a riot, and a number of "inhabitants of ill-repute," who, +towards evening, spread through the town along with the soldiers. The +gunners insult the officers they meet, seize them by the throat and want +to throw them into the Doubs. Others go to the house of the commandant, +M. de Langeron, and demand money of him; on his refusing to give it +they tear off their cockades and exclaim, "We too belong to the +Third-Estate!" in other words, that they are the masters: subsequently +they demand the head of the intendant, M. de Caumartin, forcibly enter +his dwelling and break up his furniture. On the following day the rabble +and the soldiers enter the coffee-houses, the convents, and the inns, +and demand to be served with wine and eatables as much as they want, and +then, heated by drink, they burn the excise offices, force open several +prisons, and set free all the smugglers and deserters. To put an end to +this saturnalia a grand banquet in the open air is suggested, in which +the National Guard is to fraternize with the whole garrison; but the +banquet turns into a drinking-bout, entire companies remaining under the +tables dead drunk; other companies carry away with them four hogsheads +of wine, and the rest, finding themselves left in the lurch, are +scattered abroad outside the walls in order to rob the cellars of the +neighboring villages. The next day, encouraged by the example set them, +a portion of the garrison, accompanied by a number of workmen, repeat +the expedition in the country. Finally, after four days of this orgy, to +prevent Besançon and its outskirts from being indefinitely treated as a +conquered country, the burgess guard, in alliance with the soldiers who +have remained loyal, rebel against the rebellion, go in quest of +the marauders and hang two of them that same evening.--Such is +rioting![1321] an irruption of brute force which, turned loose on the +habitations of men, can do nothing but gorge itself, waste, break, +destroy, and do damage to itself; and if we follow the details of local +history, we see how, in these days, similar outbreaks of violence might +be expected at any time. + +At Troyes,[1322] on the 18th of July, a market-day, the peasants refuse +to pay the entrance duties; the octroi having been suppressed at Paris, +it ought also to be suppressed at Troyes. The populace, excited by this +first disorderly act, gather into a mob for the purpose of dividing the +grain and arms amongst themselves, and the next day the town-hall is +invested by seven or eight thousand men, armed with clubs and stones. +The day after, a band, recruited in the surrounding villages, armed +with flails, shovels, and pitch-forks, enters under the leadership of +a joiner who marches at the head of it with a drawn saber; fortunately, +"all the honest folks among the burgesses "immediately form themselves +into a National Guard, and this first attempt at a Jacquerie is put +down. But the agitation continues, and false rumors constantly keep +it up.--On the 29th of July, on the report being circulated that five +hundred "brigands" had left Paris and were coming to ravage the country, +the alarm bell sounds in the villages, and the peasants go forth armed. +Henceforth, a vague idea of some impending danger fills all minds; the +necessity of defense and of guarding against enemies is maintained. +The new demagogues avail themselves of this to keep their hold on the +people, and when the time comes, to use it against their chiefs.--It is +of no use to assure the people that the latter are patriots; that the +recently welcomed Necker with enthusiastic shouts; that the priests, the +monks, and canons were the first to adopt the national cockade; that +the nobles of the city and its environs are the most liberal in France; +that, on the 20th of July, the burgess guard saved the town; that +all the wealthy give to the national workshops; that Mayor Huez, "a +venerable and honest magistrate," is a benefactor to the poor and to +the public. All the old leaders are objects of distrust.--On the 8th +of August, a mob demands the dismissal of the dragoons, arms for +all volunteers, bread at two sous the pound, and the freedom of all +prisoners. On the 19th of August the National Guard rejects its old +officers as aristocrats, and elects new ones. On the 27th of August, the +crowd invade the town-hall and distribute the arms amongst themselves. +On the 5th of September, two hundred men, led by Truelle, president of +the new committee, force the salt depot and have salt delivered to them +at six sous per pound.--Meanwhile, in the lowest quarters of the city, +a story is concocted to the effect that if wheat is scarce it is +because Huez, the mayor, and M. de St. Georges, the old commandant, are +monopolists, and now they say of Huez what they said five weeks before +of Foulon, that "he wants to make the people eat hay." The many-headed +brute growls fiercely and is about to spring. As usual, instead of +restraining him, they try to manage him. + +"You must put your authority aside for a moment," writes the deputy of +Troyes to the sheriffs," and act towards the people as to a friend; be +as gentle with them as you would be with your equals, and rest assured +that they are capable of responding to it." + +Thus does Huez act, and he even does more, paying no attention to their +menaces, refusing to provide for his own safety and almost offering +himself as a sacrifice. + +"I have wronged no one," he exclaimed; "why should any one bear me +ill-will?" + +His sole precaution is to provide something for the unfortunate poor +when he is gone: he bequeaths in his will 18,000 livres to the poor, +and, on the eve of his death, sends 100 crowns to the bureau of charity. +But what avail self-abnegation and beneficence against blind, insane +rage! On the 9th of September, three loads of flour proving to be +unsound, the people collect and shout out, + +"Down with the flour-dealers! Down with machinery! Down with the mayor! +Death to the mayor, and let Truelle be put in his place!" + +Huez, on leaving his court-room, is knocked down, murdered by kicks and +blows, throttled, dragged to the reception hall, struck on his head +with a wooden-shoe and pitched down the grand staircase. The municipal +officers strive in vain to protect him; a rope is put around his neck +and they begin to drag him along. A priest, who begs to be allowed at +least to save his soul, is repulsed and beaten. A woman jumps on +the prostrate old man, stamps on his face and repeatedly thrusts her +scissors in his eyes. He is dragged along with the rope around his neck +up to the Pont de la Selle, and thrown into the neighboring ford, and +then drawn out, again dragged through the streets and in the gutters, +with a bunch of hay crammed in his mouth.[1323] + +In the meantime, his house as well as that of the lieutenant of police, +that of the notary Guyot, and that of M. de Saint-Georges, are sacked; +the pillaging and destruction lasts four hours; at the notary's house, +six hundred bottles of wine are consumed or carried off; objects of +value are divided, and the rest, even down to the iron balcony, is +demolished or broken; the rioters cry out, on leaving, that they have +still to burn twenty-seven houses, and to take twenty-seven heads. "No +one at Troyes went to bed that fatal night."--During the succeeding +days, for nearly two weeks, society seems to be dissolved. Placards +posted about the streets proscribe municipal officers, canons, divines, +privileged persons, prominent merchants, and even ladies of charity; the +latter are so frightened that they throw up their office, while a number +of persons move off into the country; others barricade themselves in +their dwellings and only open their doors with saber in hand. Not +until the 26th does the orderly class rally sufficiently to resume the +ascendancy and arrest the miscreants.--Such is public life in France +after the 14th of July: the magistrates in each town feel that they are +at the mercy of a band of savages and sometimes of cannibals. Those of +Troyes had just tortured Huez after the fashion of Hurons, while those +of Caen did worse; Major de Belzance, not less innocent, and under sworn +protection,[1324] was cut to pieces like Laperouse in the Fiji Islands, +and a woman ate his heart. + + + + +VI.--Taxes are no longer paid. + + Devastation of the Forests.--The new game laws. + +It is, under such circumstances, possible to foretell whether taxes come +in, and whether municipalities that sway about in every popular breeze +will have the authority to collect the odious revenues.--Towards the end +of September,[1325] I find a list of thirty-six committees or municipal +bodies which, within a radius of fifty leagues around Paris, refuse +to ensure the collection of taxes. One of them tolerates the sale +of contraband salt, in order not to excite a riot. Another takes the +precaution to disarm the employees in the excise department. In a +third the municipal officers were the first to provide themselves with +contraband salt and contraband tobacco. + +At Peronne and at Ham, the order having come to restore the toll-houses, +the people destroy the soldiers' quarters, conduct all the employees +to their homes, and order them to leave within twenty-four hours, under +penalty of death. After twenty months' resistance Paris will end the +matter by forcing the National Assembly to give in and by obtaining the +final suppression of its octroi.[1326]--Of all the creditors whose hand +each one felt on his shoulders, that of the exchequer was the heaviest, +and now it is the weakest; hence this is the first whose grasp is to +be shaken off; there is none which is more heartily detested or which +receives harsher treatment. Especially against collectors of the +salt-tax, custom-house officers, and excisemen the fury is universal. +These, everywhere,[1327] are in danger of their lives and are obliged to +fly. At Falaise, in Normandy, the people threaten to "cut to pieces +the director of the excise." At Baignes, in Saintonge, his house is +devastated and his papers and effects are burned; they put a knife to +the throat of his son, a child six years of age, saying, "Thou must +perish that there may be no more of thy race." For four hours the clerks +are on the point of being torn to pieces; through the entreaties of the +lord of the manor, who sees scythes and sabers aimed at his own +head, they are released only on the condition that they "abjure +their employment."--Again, for two months following the taking of +the Bastille, insurrections break out by hundreds, like a volley +of musketry, against indirect taxation. From the 23rd of July the +Intendant of Champagne reports that "the uprising is general in almost +all the towns under his command." On the following day the Intendant of +Alençon writes that, in his province, "the royal dues will no longer be +paid anywhere." On the 7th of August, M. Necker states to the National +Assembly that in the two intendants' districts of Caen and Alençon it +has been necessary to reduce the price of salt one-half; that "in +an infinity of places" the collection of the excise is stopped or +suspended; that the smuggling of salt and tobacco is done by "convoys +and by open force" in Picardy, in Lorraine, and in the Trois-Évêchés; +that the indirect tax does not come in, that the receivers-general and +the receivers of the taille are "at bay" and can no longer keep their +engagements. The public income diminishes from month to month; in the +social body, the heart, already so feeble, faints; deprived of the +blood which no longer reaches it, it ceases to propel to the muscles the +vivifying current which restores their waste and adds to their energy. + +"All controlling power is slackened," says Necker, "everything is a prey +to the passions of individuals." Where is the power to constrain them +and to secure to the State its dues?--The clergy, the nobles, wealthy +townsmen, and certain brave artisans and farmers, undoubtedly pay, and +even sometimes give spontaneously. But in society those who possess +intelligence, who are in easy circumstances and conscientious, form a +small select class; the great mass is egotistic, ignorant, and needy, +and lets its money go only under constraint; there is but one way to +collect the taxes, and that is to extort them. From time immemorial, +direct taxes in France have been collected only by bailiffs and +seizures; which is not surprising, as they take away a full half of the +net income. Now that the peasants of each village are armed and form +a band, let the collector come and make seizures if he dare!--" +Immediately after the decree on the equality of the taxes," writes the +provincial commission of Alsace,[1328] "the people generally refused +to make any payments, until those who were exempt and privileged should +have been inscribed on the local lists." In many places the peasants +threaten to obtain the reimbursement of their installments, while in +others they insist that the decree should be retrospective and that the +new rate-payers should pay for the past year. "No collector dare send an +official to distrain; none that are sent dare fulfill their mission."--" +It is not the good bourgeois" of whom there is any fear, "but the rabble +who make the latter and every one else afraid of them;" resistance and +disorder everywhere come from "people that have nothing to lose."--Not +only do they shake off taxation, but they usurp property, and declare +that, being the Nation, whatever belongs to the Nation belongs to +them. The forests of Alsace are laid waste, the seignorial as well as +communal, and wantonly destroyed with the wastefulness of children or +of maniacs. "In many places, to avoid the trouble of removing the woods, +they are burnt, and the people content themselves with carrying off the +ashes."--After the decrees of August 4th, and in spite of the law which +licenses the proprietor only to hunt on his own grounds, the impulse +to break the law becomes irresistible. Every man who can procure a gun +begins operations;[1329] the crops which are still standing are trodden +under foot, the lordly residences are invaded and the palings are +scaled; the King himself at Versailles is wakened by shots fired in his +park. Stags, fawns, deer, wild boars, hares, and rabbits, are slain by +thousands, cooked with stolen wood, and eaten up on the spot. There is +a constant discharge of musketry throughout France for more than two +months, and, as on an American prairie, every living animal belongs to +him who kills it. At Choiseul, in Champagne, not only are all the hares +and partridges of the barony exterminated, but the ponds are exhausted +of fish; the court of the chateau even is entered, to fire on the +pigeon-house and destroy the pigeons, and then the pigeons and fish, of +which they have too many, are offered to the proprietor for sale--It +is "the patriots" of the village with "smugglers and bad characters" +belonging to the neighborhood who make this expedition; they are seen +in the front ranks of every act of violence, and it is not difficult +to foresee that, under their leadership, attacks on public persons +and public property will be followed by attacks on private persons and +private property. + + + + +VII.--Attack upon private individuals and private property. + + Aristocrats denounced to the people as their enemies. + --Effect of news from Paris.--Influence of the village + attorneys.--Isolated acts of violence.--A general rising of + the peasantry in the east.--War against the castles, feudal + estates, and property.--Preparations for other Jacqueries. + +Indeed, an outlawed class already exists, they are called "aristocrats." +This deadly term, applied at first to the nobles and prelates in the +States-General who declined to take part in the reunion of the three +orders, is extended so as to embrace all whose titles, offices, +alliances, and manner of living distinguish them from the multitude. +That which entitled them to respect is that which marks them out as +objects of ill-will; while the people, who, though suffering from their +privileges, did not regard them personally with hatred, are now taught +to consider them as their enemies. Each, on his own estate, is +held accountable for the evil designs attributed to his brethren at +Versailles, and, on the false report of a plot at the center, the +peasants classify him as one of the conspirators.[1330] Thus does the +peasant jacquerie commence, and the fanatics who have fanned the flame +in Paris are to do the same in the provinces. "You wish to know the +authors of the agitation," writes a sensible man to the committee +of investigation; "you will find them amongst the deputies of the +Third-Estate," and especially among the attorneys and advocates. "These +dispatch incendiary letters to their constituents, which letters +are received by municipal bodies alike composed of attorneys and of +advocates.... they are read aloud in the public squares, while copies of +them are distributed among all the villages. In these villages, if any +one knows how to read besides the priest and the lord of the manor, it +is the legal practitioner," the born enemy of the lord of the manor, +whose place he covets, vain of his oratorical powers, embittered by +his power, and never failing to blacken everything.[1331] It is highly +probable that he is the one who composes and circulates the placards +calling on the people, in the King's name, to resort to violence.--At +Secondigny, in Poitou, on the 23rd of July,[1332] the laborers in the +forest receive a letter "which summons them to attack all the country +gentlemen round about, and to massacre without mercy all those who +refuse to renounce their privileges.... promising them that not only +will their crimes go unpunished, but that they will even be rewarded." +M. Despretz-Montpezat, correspondent of the deputies of the nobles, +is seized, and dragged with his son to the dwelling of the +procurator-fiscal, to force him to give his signature; the inhabitants +are forbidden to render him assistance "on pain of death and fire." +"Sign," they exclaim, "or we will tear out your heart, and set fire to +this house!" At this moment the neighboring notary, who is doubtless an +accomplice, appears with a stamped paper, and says to him, "Monsieur, +I have just come from Niort, where the Third-Estate has done the same +thing to all the gentlemen of the town; one, who refused, was cut to +pieces before our eyes."--"We are compelled to sign renunciations of our +privileges, and give our assent to one and the same taxation, as if +the nobles had not already done so." The band gives notice that it will +proceed in the same fashion with all the chateaux in the vicinity, and +terror precedes or follows them. "Nobody dares write," M. Despretz +sends word; "I attempt it at the risk of my life."--Nobles and prelates +become objects of suspicion everywhere; village committees open their +letters, and they have to suffer their houses to be searched.[1333] They +are forced to adopt the new cockade: to be a gentleman, and not wear it, +is to deserve hanging. At Mamers, in Maine, M. de Beauvoir refuses to +wear it, and is at the point of being put into the pillory and felled. +Near La F1èche, M. de Brissac is arrested, and a message is sent +to Paris to know if he shall be taken there, "or be beheaded in the +meantime." Two deputies of the nobles, MM. de Montesson and de Vassé who +had come to ask the consent of their constituents to their joining the +Third-Estate, are recognized near Mans; their honorable scruples and +their pledges to the constituents are considered of no importance, nor +even the step that they are now taking to fulfill them; it suffices that +they voted against the Third-Estate at Versailles; the populace pursues +them and breaks up their carriages, and pillages their trunks.--Woe to +the nobles, especially if they have taken any part in local rule, and +if they are opposed to popular panics! M. Cureau, deputy-mayor of +Mans,[1334] had issued orders during the famine, and, having retired to +his chateau of Nouay, had told the peasants that the announcement of +the coming of brigands was a false alarm; he thought that it was not +necessary to sound the alarm bell, and all that was necessary was that +they should remain quiet. Accordingly he is set down as being in league +with the brigands, and besides this he is a monopolist, and a buyer of +standing crops. The peasants lead him off; along with his son-in-law, M. +de Montesson, to the neighboring village, where there are judges. On the +way "they dragged their victims on the ground, pummeled them, trampled +on them, spit in their faces, and besmeared them with filth." M. de +Montesson is shot, while M. Cureau is killed by degrees; a carpenter +cuts off the two heads with a double-edged ax, and children bear them +along to the sound of drums and violins. Meanwhile, the judges of the +place, brought by force, draw up an official report stating the finding +of thirty louis and several bills of the Banque d'Escompte in the +pockets of M. de Cureau, on the discovery of which a shout of triumph is +set up: this evidence proves that they were going to buy up the standing +wheat!--Such is the course of popular justice. Now that the Third-Estate +has become the nation, every mob thinks that it has the right to +pronounce sentences, which it carries out, on lives and on possessions. + +These explosions are isolated in the western, central and southern +provinces; the conflagration, however, is universal in the east. On a +strip of ground from thirty to fifty leagues broad, extending from +the extreme north down to Provence. Alsace, Franche-Comté, Burgundy, +Mâconnais, Beaujolais, Auvergne, Viennois, Dauphiny, the whole of this +territory resembles a continuous mine which explodes at the same time. +The first column of flame which shoots up is on the frontiers of Alsace +and Franche-Comté, in the vicinity of Belfort and Vésoul, a feudal +district, in which the peasant, over-burdened with taxes, bears the +heavier yoke with greater impatience. An instinctive argument is going +on in his mind without his knowing it. "The good Assembly and the good +King want us to be happy, suppose we help them! They say that the King +has already relieved us of the taxes, suppose we relieve ourselves +of paying rents! Down with the nobles! They are no better than the +tax-collectors!"--On the 16th of July, the chateau of Sancy, belonging +to the Princesses de Beaufremont, is sacked, and on the 18th those of +Lure, Bithaine, and Molans.[1335] On the 29th, an accident which occurs +with some fire-works at a popular festival at the house of M. de Mesmay, +leads the lower class to believe that the invitation extended to +them was a trap, and that there was a desire to get rid of them by +treachery.[1336] Seized with rage they set fire to the chateau, and +during the following week[1337] destroy three abbeys, ruin eleven +chateaux and pillage others. "All records are destroyed, the registers +and court-rolls are carried off; and the deposits violated."--Starting +from this spot, "the hurricane of insurrection" stretches over the +whole of Alsace from Huningue to Landau.[1338] The insurgents display +placards, signed Louis, stating that for a certain lapse of time they +shall be permitted to exercise justice themselves, and, in Sundgau, a +well-dressed weaver, decorated with a blue belt, passes for a prince, +the King's second son. They begin by falling on the Jews, their +hereditary leeches; they sack their dwellings, divide their money among +themselves, and hunt them down like so many fallow-deer. At Bâle alone, +it is said that twelve hundred of these unfortunate fugitives arrived +with their families.--The distance between the Jew creditor and the +Christian proprietor is not great, and this is soon cleared. Remiremont +is only saved by a detachment of dragoons. Eight hundred men attack +the chateau of Uberbrünn. The abbey of Neubourg is taken by storm. At +Guebwiller, on the 31st of July, five hundred peasants, subjects of the +abbey of Murbach, make a descent on the abbot's palace and on the house +of the canons. Cupboards, chests, beds, windows, mirrors, frames, even +the tiles of the roof and the hinges of the casements are hacked +to pieces: "They kindle fires on the beautiful inlaid floors of the +apartments, and there burn up the library and the title-deeds." The +abbot's superb carriage is so broken up that not a wheel remains entire. +"Wine streams through the cellars. One cask of sixteen hundred measures +is half lost; the plate and the linen are carried off."--Society is +evidently being overthrown, while with the power, property is changing +hands. + +These are their very words. In Franche-Comte[1339] the inhabitants of +eight communes come and declare to the Bernardins of Grâce-Dieu and of +Lieu-Croissant "that, being of the Third-Estate, it is time now for the +people to rule over abbots and monks, considering that the domination +of the latter has lasted too long," and thereupon they carry off all +the titles to property and to rentals belonging to the abbey in their +commune. In Upper Dauphiny, during the destruction of M. de Murat's +chateau, a man named Ferréol struck the furniture with a big stick, +exclaiming, "Hey, so much for you, Murat; you have been master a good +while, now it's our turn!"[1340] Those who rifle houses, and steal like +highway robbers, think that they are defending a cause, and reply to +the challenge, "Who goes there?" "We are for the brigand +Third-Estate!"--Everywhere the belief prevails that they are clothed +with authority, and they conduct themselves like a conquering horde +under the orders of an absent general. At Remiremont and at Luxeuil +they produce an edict, stating that "all this brigandage, pillage, and +destruction" is permitted. In Dauphiny, the leaders of the bands +say that they possess the King's orders. In Auvergne, "they follow +imperative orders, being advised that such is his Majesty's will." +Nowhere do we see that an insurgent village exercises personal vengeance +against its lord. If the people fire on the nobles they encounter, it is +not through personal hatred. They are destroying the class, and do not +pursue individuals. They detest feudal privileges, holders of charters, +the cursed parchments by virtue of which they are made to pay, but not +the nobleman who, when he resides at home, is of humane intentions, +compassionate, and even often beneficent. At Luxeuil, the abbot, who +is forced with uplifted ax to sign a relinquishment of his seignorial +rights over twenty-three estates, has dwelt among them for forty-six +years, and has been wholly devoted to them.[1341] In the canton of +Crémieu, "where the havoc is immense," all the nobles, write the +municipal officers, are "patriots and benevolent." In Dauphiny, the +engineers, magistrates, and prelates, whose chateaux are sacked, were +the first to espouse the cause of the people and of public liberties +against the ministers. In Auvergne, the peasants themselves "manifest a +good deal of repugnance to act in this way against such kind masters." +But it must be done; the only concession which can be made in +consideration of the kindness which had been extended to them is, not to +burn the chateau of the ladies of Vanes, who had been so charitable; but +they burn all their title-deeds, and torture the business agent at three +different times by fire, to force him to deliver a document which +he does not possess; they then only withdraw him from the fire +half-broiled, because the ladies, on their knees, implore mercy for +him. They are like the soldiers on a campaign who execute orders +with docility, for which necessity is the only plea, and who, without +regarding themselves as brigands, commit acts of brigandage. + +But here the situation is more tragic, for it is war in the midst of +peace, a war of the brutal and barbaric multitude against the highly +cultivated, well-disposed and confiding, who had not anticipated +anything of the kind, who had not even dreamt of defending themselves, +and who had no protection. The Comte de Courtivron, with his family, +was staying at the watering-place of Luxeuil with his uncle, the Abbé +of Clermont-Tonnerre, an old man of seventy years. On the 19th of July, +fifty peasants from Fougerolle break into and demolish everything in the +houses of an usher and a collector of the excise. Thereupon the mayor +of the place intimates to the nobles and magistrates who are taking the +waters, that they had better leave the house in twenty-four hours, as +"he had been advised of an intention to burn the houses in which they +were staying," and he did not wish to have Luxeuil exposed to this +danger on account of their presence there. The following day, the guard, +as obliging as the mayor, allows the band to enter the town and to force +the abbey: the usual events follow, renunciations are extorted, records +and cellars are ransacked, plate and other effects are stolen. M. de +Courtivron escaping with his uncle during the night, the alarm bell +is sounded and they are pursued, and with difficulty obtain refuge +in Plombières. The bourgeoisie of Plombières, however, for fear of +compromising themselves, oblige them to depart. On the road two hundred +insurgents threaten to kill their horses and to smash their carriage, +and they only find safety at last at Porentruy, outside of France. +On his return, M. de Courtivron is shot at by the band which has just +pillaged the abbey of Lure, and they shout out at him as he passes, +"Let's massacre the nobles!" Meanwhile, the chateau of Vauvilliers, to +which his sick wife had been carried, is devastated from top to bottom; +the mob search for her everywhere, and she only escapes by hiding +herself in a hay-loft. Both are anxious to fly into Burgundy, but word +is sent them that at Dijon "the nobles are blockaded by the people," and +that, in the country, they threaten to set their houses on fire.--There +is no asylum to be had, either in their own homes nor in the homes of +others, nor in places along the roads, fugitives being stopped in all +the small villages and market-towns. In Dauphiny[1342] "the Abbess of +St. Pierre de Lyon, one of the nuns, M. de Perrotin, M. de Bellegarde, +the Marquis de la Tour-du-Pin, and the Chevalier de Moidieu, are +arrested at Champier by the armed population, led to the Côte +Saint-André, confined in the town-hall, whence they send to Grenoble +for assistance," and, to have them released, the Grenoble Committee is +obliged to send commissioners. Their only refuge is in the large cities, +where some semblance of a precarious order exists, and in the ranks of +the City Guards, which march from Lyons, Dijon, and Grenoble, to keep +the inundation down. Throughout the country scattered chateaux are +swallowed up by the popular tide, and, as the feudal rights are often in +plebeian hands, it insensibly rises beyond its first overflow.--There +is no limit to an insurrection against property. This one extends from +abbeys and chateaux to the "houses of the bourgeoisie."[1343] The grudge +at first was confined to the holders of charters; now it is extended to +all who possess anything. Well-to-do farmers and priests abandon their +parishes and fly to the towns. Travelers are put to ransom. Thieves, +robbers, and returned convicts, at the head of armed bands, seize +whatever they can lay their hands on. Cupidity becomes inflamed by such +examples; on domains which are deserted and in a state of confusion, +where there is nothing to indicate a master's presence, all seems to +lapse to the first comer. A small farmer of the neighborhood has carried +away wine and returns the following day in search of hay. All the +furniture of a chateau in Dauphin is removed, even to the hinges of the +doors, by a large reinforcement of carts.--" It is the war of the +poor against the rich," says a deputy, "and, on the 3rd of August, the +Committee on Reports declares to the National Assembly "that no kind of +property has been spared." In Franche-Comté, "nearly forty chateaux and +seignorial mansions have been pillaged or burnt."[1344] From Lancers +to Gray about three out of five chateaux are sacked. In Dauphin +twenty-seven are burned or destroyed; five in the small district of +Viennese, and, besides these, all the monasteries--nine at least in +Auvergne, seventy-two, it is said, in Mâconnais and Beaujolais, without +counting those of Alsace. On the 31st of July, Lally-Tollendal, on +entering the tribune, has his hands full of letters of distress, with +a list of thirty-six chateaux burnt, demolished, or pillaged, in one +province, and the details of still worse violence against persons:[1345] + +"in Languedoc, M. de Barras, cut to pieces in the presence of his +wife who is about to be confined, and who is dead in consequence; in +Normandy, a paralytic gentleman left on a burning pile and taken off +from it with his hands burnt; in Franche-Comté, Madame de Bathilly +compelled, with an ax over her head, to give up her title-deeds and even +her estate; Madame de Listenay forced to do the same, with a pitchfork +at her neck and her two daughters in a swoon at her feet; Comte de +Montjustin, with his wife, having a pistol at his throat for three +hours; and both dragged from their carriage to be thrown into a pond, +where they are saved by a passing regiment of soldiers; Baron de +Montjustin, one of the twenty-two popular noblemen, suspended for an +hour in a well, listening to a discussion whether he shall be dropped +down or whether he should die in some other way; the Chevalier d'Ambly, +torn from his chateau and dragged naked into the village, placed on a +dung-heap after having his eyebrows and all his hair pulled out, while +the crowd kept on dancing around him." + +In the midst of a disintegrated society, under the semblance only of a +government, it is manifest that an invasion is under way, an invasion +of barbarians which will complete by terror that which it has begun by +violence, and which, like the invasions of the Normans in the tenth and +eleventh centuries, ends in the conquest and dispossession of an entire +class. In vain the National Guard and the other troops that remain loyal +succeed in stemming the first torrent; in vain does the Assembly hollow +out a bed for it and strive to bank it in by fixed boundaries. The +decrees of the 4th of August and the regulations which follow are but so +many spiders' webs stretched across a torrent. The peasants, moreover, +putting their own interpretation on the decrees, convert the new laws +into authority for continuing in their course or beginning over again. +No more rents, however legitimate, however legal! + +"Yesterday,"[1346] writes a gentleman of Auvergne, we were notified +that the fruit-tithe (percières) would no longer be paid, and that the +example of other provinces was only being followed which no longer, even +by royal order, pay tithes." In Franche-Comté "numerous communities +are satisfied that they no longer owe anything either to the King or to +their lords. . . . The villages divide amongst themselves the fields and +woods belonging to the nobles."-- + +It must be noted that charter-holding and feudal titles are still intact +in three-fourths of France, that it is the interest of the peasant to +ensure their disappearance, and that he is always armed. To secure a +new outbreak of jacqueries, it is only necessary that central control, +already thrown into disorder, should be withdrawn. This is the work of +Versailles and of Paris; and there, at Paris as well as at Versailles, +some, through lack of foresight and infatuation, and others, through +blindness and indecision--the latter through weakness and the former +through violence--all are laboring to accomplish it. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1301: Dusaulx, 374. "I remarked that if there were a few +among the people at that time who dared commit crime, there were several +who wished it, and that every one endured it."--" Archives Nationales," +DXXIX, 3. (Letter of the municipal authorities of Crémieu, Dauphiny, +November 3, 1789.) "The care taken to lead them first to the cellars +and to intoxicate them, can alone give a conception of the incredible +excesses of rage to which they gave themselves up in the sacking and +burning of the chateaux."] + +[Footnote 1302: Mercure de France, January 4, 1792. ("Revue politique de +l'année 1791," by Mallet du Pan.)] + +[Footnote 1303: Albert Babeau, I. 206. (Letter of the deputy Camuzet +de Belombre, August 22, 1789.) The executive power is absolutely gone +to-day."--Gouverneur Morris, letter of July 31, 1789: "This country is +now as near in a state of anarchy as it is possible for a community to +be without breaking up."] + +[Footnote 1304: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Amelot, +July 24th; H. 784, of M. de Langeron, October 16th and 18th.--KK. +1105. correspondence of M. de Thiard, October 7th and 30th, September +4th.--Floquet, VII. 527, 555.--Guadet, "Histoire des Girondins" (July +29, 1789).] + +[Footnote 1305: M. de Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353 (July +18th).--Sauzay, "Histoire de la Persécution Révolutionnaire dans le +Département de Doubs," I. 128 (July 19th.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, +3253. (Letter of the deputies of the provincial commission of Alsace, +September 8th.) D. XXIX. I. note of M. de Latour-du-Pin, October +28, 1789.--Letter of M. de Langeron, September 3rd; of Breitman, +garde-marteau, Val Saint-Amarin (Upper Alsace), July 26th.] + +[Footnote 1306: Léonce de Lavergne, 197. (Letter of the intermediate +commission of Poitou, the last month in 1789.)--Cf. Brissot (Le patriote +français, August, 1789). "General insubordination prevails in the +provinces because the restraints of executive power are no longer felt. +What were but lately the guarantees of that power? The intendants, +tribunals, and the army. The intendants are gone, the tribunals are +silent, and the army is against the executive power and on the side of +the people. Liberty is not a nourishment for unprepared stomachs."] + +[Footnote 1307: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of the +clergy, consuls, présidial-councillors and principal merchants of +Puy-en-Velay, September 16, 1789.)--H. 1453. (letter of the Intendant +or Alençon, July 18th). "I must not leave you in ignorance of the +multiplied outbreaks we have in all parts of my jurisdiction. The +impunity with which they flatter themselves, because the judges are +afraid of irritating the people by examples of severity, only emboldens +them. Mischief-makers, confounded with honest folks, spread false +reports about particular persons whom they accuse of concealing grain, +or of not belonging to the Third-Estate, and, under this pretext, they +pillage their houses, taking whatever they can find, the owners only +avoiding death by flight."] + +[Footnote 1308: A body of magistrates forming one of the lower +tribunals.] + +[Footnote 1309: "Archives Nationales," H. 942. (Observations of M. de +Ballainvilliers, October 30, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 1310: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 1. Letter of the +municipal assembly of Louviers, the end of August, 1789.--Letter of +the communal assembly of Saint-Bris (bailiwick of Auxerre), +September 25th.--Letter of the municipal officers of Ricey-Haut, near +Bar-sur-Seine, August 25th; of the Chevalier d'Allouville, September +8th.] + +[Footnote 1311: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. I. Letter of +M. Briand-Delessart (Angoulême, August 1st).--Of M. Bret, +Lieutenant-General of the provostship of Mardogne, September 5th.--Of +the Chevalier de Castellas (Auvergue), September 15th (relating to the +night between the 2nd and 3rd of August).--Madame Campan, II. 65.] + +[Footnote 1312: Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," July 24th and 31st, +August 13th and 19th.] + +[Footnote 1313: De Bouillé, 108.--"Archives Nationales," KK. 1105. +Correspondence of M. deThiard, September 20, 1789 (apropos of one +hundred guns given to the town of Saint-Brieuc). "They are not of the +slightest use, but this passion for arms is a temporary epidemic which +must be allowed to subside of itself. People are determined to believe +in brigands and in enemies, whereas neither exist."--September 25th, +"Vanity alone impels them, and the pride of having cannon is their sole +motive."] + +[Footnote 1314: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. Amelot, +July 17th and 24th. "Several wealthy private persons of the town +(Auxonne) have been put to ransom by this band, of which the largest +portion consists of ruffians."--Letter of nine cultivators of Breteuil +(Picardy) July 23rd (their granaries were pillaged up to the last grain +the previous evening). "They threaten to pillage our crops and set our +barns on fire as soon as they are full. M. Tassard, the notary, has been +visited in his house by the populace, and his life has been threatened." +Letter of Moreau, Procureur du Roi at the Senechal's Court at +Bar-le-Duc, September 15, 1789, D, XXIX, 1. "On the 27th of July the +people rose and most cruelly assassinated a merchant trading in wheat. +On the 27th and 28th his house and that of another were sacked," etc.] + +[Footnote 1315: Chronicle of Dominick Schmutz ("Revue d'Alsace," V. +III. 3rd series). These are his own expressions: Gesindel, +Lumpen-gesindel.--De Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353.--Arthur Young (an +eye-witness), July 21st.--Of Dampmartin (eye-witness), I. 105. M. de +Rochambeau shows the usual indecision and want of vigor: whilst the mob +are pillaging houses and throwing things out of the windows, he passes +in front of his regiments (8,000 men) drawn up for action, and says, "My +friends, my good friends, you see what is going on. How horrible! Alas! +these are your papers, your titles and those of your parents." The +soldiers smile at this sentimental prattle.] + +[Footnote 1316: Dumouriez (an eye-witness), book III. ch. 3.--The trial +was begun and judgment given by twelve lawyers and an assessor, whom the +people, in arms, had themselves appointed.--Hippeau, IV. 382.] + +[Footnote 1317: "Archives Nationales," F7 3248. (Letter of the mayor, M. +Poussiaude de Thierri, September 11th.)] + +[Footnote 1318: Floquet, VII. 551.] + +[Footnote 1319: De Goncourt, "La Société française pendant la +Révolution," 37.] + +[Footnote 1320: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the +officers of the bailiwick of Dôle, August 24th.--Sauzay I. 128.] + +[Footnote 1321: There is a similar occurrence at Strasbourg, a few days +after the sacking of the town-hall. The municipality having given each +man of the garrison twenty sous, the soldiers abandon their post, set +the prisoners free at the Pont-Couvert, feast publicly in the streets +with the women taken out of the penitentiary, and force innkeepers and +the keepers of drinking-places to give up their provisions. The shops +are all closed, and, for twenty-four hours, the officers are not obeyed. +(De Dampmartin, I. 105.)] + +[Footnote 1322: Albert Babeau, I. 187-273.--Moniteur, II. 379. (Extract +from the provost's verdict of November 27, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 1323: Moniteur, ibid. Picard, the principal murderer, +confessed "that he had made him suffer a great deal; that the said +sieur Huez did not die until they came near the Chaudron Inn; that he +nevertheless intended to make him suffer more by stabbing him in the +neck at the corner of each street, (and) by contriving it so that he +might do it often, as long as there was life in him; that the day on +which M. Huez died yielded him ten francs, together with the neck-buckle +of M. Hues, found on him when he was arrested in his flight."] + +[Footnote 1324: Mercure de France,, September 26, 1789. Letters of the +officers of the Bourbon regiment and of members of the general committee +of Caen.--Floquet, VII. 545.] + +[Footnote 1325: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453.--Ibid. D. XXIX. I. Note +of M. de la Tour-du-Pin, October 28th.] + +[Footnote 1326: Decree, February 5, 1789, enforced May 1st following.] + +[Footnote 1327: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the count +de Montausier, August 8th, with notes by M. Paulian, director of the +excise (an admirable letter, modest and liberal, and ending by demanding +a pardon for people led astray).--H. 1453. Letter of the attorney of the +election district of Falaise, July 17th, etc.--Moniteur, I. 303, 387, +505 (sessions of August 7th and 27th and of September 23rd). "The royal +revenues are diminishing steadily."--Buchez and Roux, III. 219 (session +of October 24, 1789). Discourse of a deputation from Anjou: "Sixty +thousand men are armed; the barriers have been destroyed, the clerks' +horses have been sold by auction; the employees have been told to +withdraw from the province within eight days. The inhabitants have +declared that they will not pay taxes so long as the salt-tax exists.] + +[Footnote 1328: "Archives Nationales," F7 3253 (Letter of September 8, +1789).] + +[Footnote 1329: Arthur Young, September 30th. "It is being said that +every rusty gun in Provence is at work, killing all sorts of birds; +the shot has fallen five or six times in my chaise and about my +ears."--Beugnot, I.142.--"Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of +the Chevalier d'Allonville, September 8, 1789 (Near Bar-sur-Aube). "The +peasants go in armed bands into the woods belonging to the Abbey of +Trois-Fontaines, which they cut down. They saw up the oaks and transport +them on wagons to Pont-Saint-Dizier, where they sell them. In other +places they fish in the ponds and break the embankments."] + +[Footnote 1330: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the +assessor of the police of Saint-Flour, October 3, 1789. On the 31st +of July, a rumor is spread that the brigands are coming. On the 1st of +August the peasants arm themselves. "They amuse themselves by drinking, +awaiting the arrival of the brigands; the excitement increases to such +an extent as to make them believe that M. le Comte d'Espinchal had +arrived in disguise the evening before at Massiac, that he was the +author of the troubles disturbing the province at this time, and that he +was concealed in his chateau." On the strength of this shots are fired +into the windows, and there are searches, etc.] + +[Footnote 1331: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX, I, Letter of Etienne +Fermier, Naveinne, September 18th (it is possible that the author, +for the sake of caution, took a fictitious name).--The manuscript +correspondence of M. Boullé, deputy of Pontivy, to his constituents, +is a type of this declamatory and incendiary writing.--Letter of the +consuls, priests, and merchants of Puy-en-Velay, September 16th.--" The +Ancient Régime," p. 396.] + +[Footnote 1332: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of M. +Despretz-Montpezat, a former artillery officer, July 24th (with several +other signatures). On the same day the alarm bell is sounded In fifty +villages on the rumor spreading that 7,000 brigands, English and Breton, +were invading the country.] + +[Footnote 1333: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of +Briand-Delessart, August 1st (domiciliary visits to the Carmelites +of Angoulême where it is pretended that Mme. de Polignac has just +arrived.--Beugnot, I. 140.--Arthur Young, July 20th, etc.--Buchez and +Roux, IV. 166. Letter of Mamers, July 24th; of Mans, July 26th.] + +[Footnote 1334: Montjoie, ch. LXXII, p. 93 (according to acts of legal +procedure). There was a soldier in the band who had served under M. de +Montesson and who wanted to avenge himself for the punishments he had +undergone in the regiment.] + +[Footnote 1335: Mercure de France, August 20th (Letter from Vésoul, +August 13th).] + +[Footnote 1336: M. de Memmay proved his innocence later on, and was +rehabilitated by a public decision after two years' proceedings (session +of June 4, 1791; Mercure of June 11th).] + +[Footnote 1337: Journal des Débats et Décrets, I. 258. (Letter of the +municipality of Vésoul, July 22nd.--Discourse of M. de Toulougeon, July +29th.)] + +[Footnote 1338: De Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353.--"Archives +Nationales," F7, 3253. (Letter of M. de Rochamheau, August +4th.)--Chronicle of Schmutz (ibid. ), p. 284. "Archives Nationales," D. +XXIX. I. (Letter of Mme. Ferrette, of Remiremont, August 9th.)] + +[Footnote 1339: Sauzay, I. 180. (Letters of monks, July 22nd and 26th.)] + +[Footnote 1340: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of M. de +Bergeron, attorney to the présidial of Valence, August 28th, with the +details of the verdict stated.) Official report of the militia of Lyons, +sent to the president of the National Assembly, August 10th. (Expedition +to Serrière, in Dauphiny, July 31st.)] + +[Footnote 1341: Letter of the Count of Courtivron, deputy substitute +(an eye-witness).--"Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the +municipal officers of Crémieu (Dauphiny), November 3rd. Letter of the +Vicomte de Carbonnière (Auvergne), August 3rd.--Arthur Young, July 30th +(Dijon) says, apropos of a noble family which escaped almost naked +from its burning chateau, "they were esteemed by the neighbors; +their virtues ought to have commanded the love of the poor, for whose +resentment there was no cause."] + +[Footnote 1342: "Archives Nationales," XXIX. I. (Letter of the +commission of the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.)] + +[Footnote 1343: "Désastres du Mâconnais," by Puthod de la Maison-Rouge +(August, 1789). "Ravages du Mâconnais."--Arthur Young, July +27th.--Buchez and Roux, IV. 215, 214.--Mercure de France, September +12, 1789. (Letter by a volunteer of Orleans.) "On the 15th of August, +eighty-eight ruffians, calling themselves reapers, present themselves at +Bascon, in Beauce, and, the next day, at a chateau in the neighborhood, +where they demand within an hour the head of the son of the lord of the +manor, M. Tassin, who can only redeem himself by a contribution of 1,600 +livres and the pillaging of his cellars.] + +[Footnote 1344: Letter of the Count de Courtivron.--Arthur Young, July +31st.--Buchez and Roux, II. 243.--Mercure de France, August 15, 1789 +(sitting of the 8th, discourse of a deputy from Dauphiné.)--Mermet, +"Histoire de la Ville de Vienne," 445--" Archives Nationales," ibid. +(Letter of the commission of the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.)--"The +list of burnt or devastated chateaux is immense." The committee already +cites sixteen of them.--Puthod de la Maison-Rouge, ibid.: "Were all +devastated places to be mentioned, it would be necessary to cite the +whole province" (Letter from Mâcon). "They have not the less destroyed +most of the chateaux and bourgeois dwellings, either burning them and or +else tearing them down."] + +[Footnote 1345: Lally-Tollendal, "Second Letter to my Constituents," +104.] + +[Footnote 1346: Doniol, "La Révolution et la Féodalité," p.60 (a few +days after the 4th of August).--"Archives Nationales," H. 784. Letters +of M. de Langeron, military commander at Besançon, October 16th and +18th.--Ibid. , D. XXIX. I. Letter of the same, September 3rd.--Arthur +Young (in Provence, at the house of Baron de la Tour-d'Aignes). "The +baron is an enormous sufferer by the Revolution; a great extent of +country which belonged in absolute right to his ancestors, has been +granted for quit-rents, ceus, and other feudal payments, so that there +is no comparison between the lands retained and those thus granted by +his family. . . . The solid payments which the Assembly have declared +to be redeemable are every hour falling to nothing, without a shadow +of recompense. . . The situation of the nobility in this country is +pitiable; they are under apprehensions that nothing will be left them, +but simply such houses as the mob allows to stand unburned; that the +small farmers will retain their farms without paying the landlord his +half of the produce; and that, in case of such a refusal, there is +actually neither law nor authority in the country to prevent it. This +chateau, splendid even in ruins, with the fortune and lives of the +owners, is at the mercy of an armed rabble."] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS. + + + + +I.--Paris. + + Powerlessness and discords of the authorities.--The people, + king. + +The powerlessness, indeed, of the heads of the Government, and the +lack of discipline among all its subordinates, are much greater in the +capital than in the provinces.--Paris possesses a mayor, Bailly; but +"from the first day, and in the easiest manner possible,"[1401] his +municipal council, that is to say, "the assembly of the representatives +of the commune, has accustomed itself to carry on the government alone, +overlooking him entirely." There is a central administration, the +municipal council, presided over by the mayor; but, "at this time, +authority is everywhere except where the preponderating authority should +be; the districts have delegated it and at the same time retained it;" +each of them acts as if it were alone and supreme.--There are secondary +powers, the district-committees, each with its president, its clerk, its +offices, and commissioners; but the mobs of the street march on without +awaiting their orders; while the people, shouting under their" windows, +impose their will on them;--in short, says Bailly again, "everybody knew +how to command, but nobody knew how to obey." + +"Imagine," writes Loustalot[1402] himself; "a man whose feet, hands, and +limbs possessed each its own intelligence and will, whose one leg would +wish to walk when the other one wanted to rest, whose throat would close +when the stomach demanded food, whose mouth would sing when the eyelids +were weighed down with sleep; and you will have a striking picture of +the condition of things in the capital" + +There are "sixty Republics"[1403] in Paris; each district is an +independent, isolated power, which receives no order without criticizing +it, always in disagreement and often in conflict with the central +authority or with the other districts. It receives denunciations, orders +domiciliary visits, sends deputations to the National Assembly, passes +resolutions, posts its bills, not only in its own quarter but throughout +the city, and sometimes even extends its jurisdiction outside of Paris. +Everything comes within its province, and particularly that which +ought not to do so.--On the 18th of July, the district of +Petits-Augustins[1404] "decrees in its own name the establishment of +justices of the peace," under the title of tribunes, and proceeds at +once to elect its own, nominating the actor Molé. On the 30th, that of +the Oratoire annuls the amnesty which the representatives of the commune +in the Hôtel-de-Ville had granted, and orders two of its members to go +to a distance of thirty leagues to arrest M. de Bezenval. On the 19th of +August, that of Nazareth issues commissions to seize and bring to Paris +the arms deposited in strong places. From the beginning each assembly +sent to the Arsenal in its own name, and "obtained as many cartridges +and as much powder as it desired." Others claim the right of keeping a +watchful eye over the Hôtel-de-Ville and of reprimanding the National +Assembly. The Oratoire decides that the representatives of the commune +shall be invited to deliberate in public. Saint-Nicholas des Champs +deliberates on the veto and begs the Assembly to suspend its vote.--It +is a strange spectacle, that of these various authorities each +contradicting and destroying the other. To-day the Hôtel-de-Ville +appropriates five loads of cloth which have been dispatched by the +Government, and the district of Saint-Gervais opposes the decision of +the Hôtel-de-Ville. To-morrow Versailles intercepts grain destined +for Paris, while Paris threatens, if it is not restored, to march on +Versailles. I omit the incidents that are ridiculous:[1405] anarchy +in its essence is both tragic and grotesque, and, in this universal +breaking up of things, the capital, like the kingdom, resembles a +bear-garden when it does not resemble a Babel. + +But behind all these discordant authorities the real sovereign, who is +the mob, is very soon apparent.--On the 15th of July it undertakes the +demolition of the Bastille of its own accord, and this popular act is +sanctioned; for it is necessary that appearances should be kept up; +even to give orders after the blow is dealt, and to follow when it is +impossible to lead.[1406] A short time after this the collection of +the octroi at the barriers is ordered to be resumed; forty armed +individuals, however, present themselves in their district and say, that +if guards are placed at the octroi stations, "they will resist force +with force, and even make use of their cannon."--On the false rumor that +arms are concealed in the Abbey of Montmartre, the abbess, Madame de +Montmorency, is accused of treachery, and twenty thousand persons invade +the monastery.--The commander of the National Guard and the mayor are +constantly expecting a riot; they hardly dare absent themselves a day +to attend the King fête at Versailles. As soon as the multitude can +assemble in the streets, an explosion is imminent. "On rainy days," says +Bailly, "I was quite at my ease."--It is under this constant pressure +that the Government is carried on; and the elect of the people, the most +esteemed magistrates, those who are in best repute, are at the mercy of +the throng who clamor at their doors. In the district of St. Roch,[1407] +after many useless refusals, the General Assembly, notwithstanding all +the reproaches of its conscience and the resistance of its reason, is +obliged to open letters addressed to Monsieur, to the Duke of Orleans, +and to the Ministers of War, of Foreign Affairs, and of the Marine. In +the committee on subsistence, M. Serreau, who is indispensable and who +is confirmed by a public proclamation, is denounced, threatened, +and constrained to leave Paris. M. de la Salle, one of the strongest +patriots among the nobles, is on the point of being murdered for having +signed an order for the transport of gunpowder;[1408] the multitude, in +pursuit of him, attach a rope to the nearest street-lamp, ransack the +Hôtel-de-Ville, force every door, mount into the belfry, and seek for +the traitor even under the carpet of the bureau and between the legs of +the electors, and are only stayed in their course by the arrival of the +National Guard. + +The people not only sentence but they execute, and, as is always the +case, blindly. At Saint-Denis, Chatel, the mayor's lieutenant, whose +duty it is to distribute flour, had reduced the price of bread at +his own expense: on the 3rd of August his house is forced open at two +o'clock in the morning, and he takes refuge in a steeple; the mob follow +him, cut his throat and drag his head along the streets.--Not only do +the people execute, but they pardon--and with equal discernment. On the +11th of August, at Versailles, as a parricide is about to be broken on +the wheel, the crowd demand his release, fly at the executioner, and set +the man free.[1409] Veritably this is sovereign power like that of the +oriental sovereign who arbitrarily awards life or death! A woman who +protests against this scandalous pardon is seized and comes near being +hung; for the new monarch considers as a crime whatever is offensive to +his new majesty. Again, he receives public and humble homage. The +Prime Minister, on imploring the pardon of M. de Bezenval at the +Hôtel-de-Ville, in the presence of the electors and of the public, has +put it in appropriate words: + +"It is before the most unknown, the obscurest citizen of Paris that I +prostrate myself; at whose feet I kneel." + +A few days before this, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and at Poissy, the +deputies of the National Assembly not only kneel down in words, but +actually, and for a long time, on the pavement in the street, and +stretch forth their hands, weeping, to save two lives of which only +one is granted to them.--Behold the monarch by these brilliant signs! +Already do the young, who are eager imitators of all actions that are +in fashion, ape them in miniature; during the month which follows the +murder of Berthier and Foulon, Bailly is informed that the gamins in the +streets are parading about with the heads of two cats stuck on the ends +of two poles.[1410] + + + + +II.--The distress of the people. + + The dearth and the lack of work.--How men of executive + ability are recruited. + +A pitiable monarch, whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more +miserable than he was before! Bread is always scarce, and before the +baker's doors the row of waiting people does not diminish. In vain +Bailly passes his nights with the committee on supplies; they are always +in a state of terrible anxiety. Every morning for two months there is +only one or two days' supply of flour, and often, in the evening, there +is not enough for the following morning.[1411] The life of the capital +depends on a convoy which is ten, fifteen, twenty leagues off; and which +may never arrive: one convoy of twenty carts is pillaged on the 18th of +July, on the Rouen road; another, on the 4th of August, in the vicinity +of Louviers. Were it not for Salis' Swiss regiment, which, from the 14th +of July to the end of September, marches day and night as an escort, +not a boat-load of grain would reach Paris from Rouen.[1412]--The +commissaries charged with making purchases or with supervising the +expeditions are in danger of their lives. Those who are sent to +provinces are seized, and a column of four hundred men with cannon has +to be dispatched to deliver them. The one who is sent to Rouen learns +that he will be hung if he dares to enter the place. At Mantes a mob +surrounds his cabriolet, the people regarding whoever comes there for +the purpose of carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with +difficulty out of a back door and returns on foot to Paris.--From the +very beginning, according to a universal rule, the fear of a short +supply helps to augment the famine. Every one lays in a stock for +several days; on one occasion sixteen loaves of four pounds each are +found in an old woman's garret. The bakings, consequently, which are +estimated according to the quantity needed for a single day, become +inadequate, and the last of those who wait at the bakers' shops for +bread return home empty-handed.--On the other hand the appropriations +made by the city and the State to diminish the price of bread simply +serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for it; the countrymen +flock in thither, and return home loaded to their villages. At +Saint-Denis, bread having been reduced to two sous the pound, none +is left for the inhabitants. To this constant anxiety add that of +unemployment. Not only is there no certainty of there being bread at the +bakers' during the coming week, but many know that they will not have +money in the coming week with which to buy bread. Now that security has +disappeared and the rights of property are shaken, work is wanting. The +rich, deprived of their feudal dues, and, in addition thereto of their +rents, have reduced their expenditure; many of them, threatened by the +committee of investigation, exposed to domiciliary visits, and liable to +be informed against by their servants, have emigrated. In the month of +September M. Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports in +fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants. In the month of October +ladies of high rank, refugees in Rome, send word that their domestics +should be discharged and their daughters placed in convents. Before the +end of 1789 there are so many fugitives in Switzerland that a house, +it is said, brings in more rent than it is worth as capital. With this +first emigration, which is that of the chief spendthrifts, the Count +d'Artois, Prince de Conti, Duc de Bourbon, and so many others, the +opulent foreigners have left, and, at the head of them, the Duchesse +de l'Infantado, who spent 800,000 livres a year. There are only three +Englishmen in Paris. + +It used to be a city of luxury, it was the European hot-house of costly +and refined pleasures, but once the glass was broken then the delicate +plants perish, their lovers leave, and there is no employment now for +the innumerable hands which cultivated them. Fortunate are they who at +the relief works obtain a miserable sum by handling a pick-axe! "I saw," +says Bailly, "mercers, jewellers, and merchants implore the favor of +being employed at twenty sous the day." Enumerate, if you can, in one or +two recognized callings, the hands which are doing nothing:[1413] 1,200 +hair-dressers keep about 6,000 journeymen; 2,000 others follow the same +calling in private-houses; 6,000 lackeys do but little else than this +work. The body of tailors is composed of 2,800 masters, who have under +them 5,000 workmen. "Add to these the number privately employed--the +refugees in privileged places like the abbeys of Saint-Germain and +Saint-Marcel, the vast enclosure of the Temple, that of Saint-John the +Lateran, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and you will find at least +12,000 persons cutting, fitting, and sewing." How many in these two +groups are now idle! How many others are walking the streets, such +as upholsterers, lace-makers, embroiderers, fan-makers, gilders, +carnage-makers, binders, engravers, and all the other producers of +Parisian nick-nacks! For those who are still at work how many days are +lost at the doors of bakers' shops and in patrolling as National +Guards! Gatherings are formed in spite of the prohibitions of the +Hôtel-de-Ville,[1414] and the crowd openly discuss their miserable +condition: 3,000 journeymen-tailors near the Colonnade, +as many journeymen-shoemakers in the Place Louis XV., the +journeymen-hairdressers in the Champs-Elysees, 4,000 domestics without +places on the approaches to the Louvre,--and their propositions are on a +level with their intelligence. Servants demand the expulsion from +Paris of the Savoyards who enter into competition with them. +Journeymen-tailors demand that a day's wages be fixed at forty sous, and +that the old-clothes dealers shall not be allowed to make new ones. The +journeymen-shoemakers declare that those who make shoes below the fixed +price shall be driven out of the kingdom. Each of these irritated and +agitated crowds contains the germ of an outbreak--and, in truth, these +germs are found on every pavement in Paris: at the relief works, which +at Montmartre collect 17,000 paupers; in the Market, where the bakers +want to hang the flour commissioners, and at the doors of the bakers, +of whom two, on the 14th of September and on the 5th of October, are +conducted to the lamp post and barely escape with their lives.--In this +suffering, mendicant crowd, enterprising men become more numerous every +day: they consist of deserters, and from every regiment; they reach +Paris in bands, often 250 in one day. There, "caressed and fed to the +top of their bent,"[1415] having received from the National Assembly +50 livres each, maintained by the King in the enjoyment of their +advance-money, entertained by the districts, of which one alone incurs +a debt of 14,000 livres for wine and sausages furnished to them, "they +accustom themselves to greater expense," to greater license, and are +followed by their companions. "During the night of the 31st of July the +French Guards on duty at Versailles abandon the custody of the King and +betake themselves to Paris, without their officers, but with their arms +and baggage," that "they may take part in the cheer which the city of +Paris extends to their regiment." At the beginning of September, 16,000 +deserters of this stamp are counted.[1416] Now, among those who commit +murder these are in the first rank; and this is not surprising when we +take the least account of their antecedents, education, and habits. It +was a soldier of the "Royal Croat" who tore out the heart of Berthier. +They were three soldiers of the regiment of Provence who forced the +house of Chatel at Saint-Denis, and dragged his head through +the streets. It is Swiss soldiers who, at Passy, knock down the +commissioners of police with their guns. Their headquarters are at the +Palais-Royal, amongst women whose instruments they are, and amongst +agitators from whom they receive the word of command. Henceforth, all +depends on this word, and we have only to contemplate the new popular +leaders to know what it will be. + + + + +III.--The new popular leaders. + + Their ascendancy.--Their education.--Their sentiments. + --Their situation.--Their councils.--Their denunciations. + +Administrators and members of district assemblies, agitators of +barracks, coffee-houses, clubs and public thoroughfares, writers of +pamphlets, penny-a-liners are multiplying as fast as buzzing insects are +hatched on a sultry night. After the 14th of July thousands of jobs have +become available for released ambitions; "attorneys, notaries' +clerks, artists, merchants, shopkeepers, comedians and especially +advocates;[1417] each wants to be either an officer, a director, a +councillor, or a minister of the new reign; while journals, which are +established by dozens,[1418] form a permanent tribune, where speakers +come to court the people to their personal advantage." Philosophy, +fallen into such hands, seems to parody itself; and nothing equals its +emptiness, unless it be its mischievousness and success. Lawyers, in +the sixty assembly districts, roll out the high-sounding dogmas of the +revolutionary catechism. This or that one, passing from the question +of a party wall to the constitution of empires, becomes the improvised +legislator, so much the more inexhaustible and the more applauded as +his flow of words, showered upon his hearers, proves to them that every +capacity and every right are naturally and legitimately theirs. + +"When that man opened his mouth," says a cold-blooded witness, "we were +sure of being inundated with quotations and maxims, often apropos of +street lamp posts, or of the stall of a herb-dealer. His stentorian +voice made the vaults ring; and after he had spoken for two hours, +and his breath was completely exhausted, the admiring and enthusiastic +shouts which greeted him amounted almost to frenzy. Thus the orator +fancied himself a Mirabeau, while the spectators imagined themselves the +Constituent Assembly, deciding the fate of France." + +The journals and pamphlets are written in the same style. Every brain +is filled with the fumes of conceit and of big words; the leader of the +crowd is he who raves the most, and he guides the wild enthusiasm which +he increases. + +Let us consider the most popular of these chiefs; they are the green or +the dry fruit of literature, and of the bar. The newspaper is the +stall which every morning offers them for sale, and if they suit the +overexcited public it is simply owing to their acid or bitter flavor. +Their empty, unpracticed minds are wholly void of political conceptions; +they have no capacity or practical experience. Desmoulins is twenty-nine +years of age, Loustalot twenty-seven, and their intellectual ballast +consists of college reminiscences, souvenirs of the law schools, and the +common-places picked up in the houses of Raynal and his associates. +As to Brissot and Marat, who are ostentatious humanitarians, their +knowledge of France and of foreign countries consists in what they have +seen through the dormer windows of their garrets, and through utopian +spectacles. In minds like these, empty or led astray, the Contrat-Social +could not fail to become a gospel; for it reduces political science to +a strict application of an elementary axiom which relieves them of all +study, and hands society over to the caprice of the people, or, in other +words, delivers it into their own hands.--Hence they demolish all +that remains of social institutions, and push on equalization until +everything is brought down to the same level. + +"With my principles," writes Desmoulins,[1419] "is associated the +satisfaction of putting myself where I belong, of showing my strength to +those who have despised me, of lowering to my level all whom fortune has +placed above me: my motto is that of all honest people: 'No superiors!'" + +Thus, under the great name of Liberty, each vain spirit seeks its +revenge and finds its nourishment. What is sweeter and more natural than +to justify passion by theory, to be factious in the belief that this is +patriotism, and to cloak the interests of ambition with the interests of +humanity? + +Let us picture to ourselves these directors of public opinion as they +were three months earlier: Desmoulins, a briefless barrister, living in +furnished lodgings with petty debts, and on a few louis extracted from +his relations. Loustalot, still more unknown, was admitted the previous +year to the Parliament of Bordeaux, and has landed at Paris in search of +a career. Danton, another second-rate lawyer, coming out of a hovel in +Champagne, borrowed the money to pay his expenses, while his stinted +household is kept up only by means of a louis which is given to him +weekly by his father-in-law, who is a coffee-house keeper. Brissot, a +strolling Bohemian, formerly employee of literary pirates, has roamed +over the world for fifteen years, without bringing back with him either +from England or America anything but a coat out at elbows and false +ideas; and, finally, Marat; a writer that has been hissed, an abortive +scholar and philosopher, a misrepresenter of his own experiences, caught +by the natural philosopher Charles in the act of committing a scientific +fraud, and fallen from the top of his inordinate ambition to the +subordinate post of doctor in the stables of the Comte d'Artois.--At the +present time, Danton, President of the Cordeliers, can arrest any one he +pleases in his district, and his violent gestures and thundering voice +secure to him, till something better turns up, the government of his +section of the city. A word of Marat's has just caused Major Belzunce at +Caen to be assassinated. Desmoulins announces, with a smile of triumph, +that "a large section of the capital regards him as one among the +principal instigators of the Revolution, and that many even go so far as +to say that he is the author of it." Is it to be supposed that, borne so +high by such a sudden jerk of fortune, they wish to put on the drag and +again descend? and is it not clear that they will aid with all +their might the revolt which hoists them towards the loftiest +summits?--Moreover, the brain reels at a height like this; suddenly +launched in the air and feeling as if everything was tottering around +them, they utter exclamations of indignation and terror, they see plots +on all sides, imagine invisible cords pulling in an opposite direction, +and they call upon the people to cut them. With the full weight of their +inexperience, incapacity, and improvidence, of their fears, credulity, +and dogmatic obstinacy, they urge on popular attacks, and their +newspaper articles or discourses are all summed up in the following +phrases: + +"Fellow-citizens, you, the people of the lower class, you who listen +to me, you have enemies in the Court and the aristocracy. The +Hôtel-de-Ville and the National Assembly are your servants. Seize your +enemies with a strong hand, and hang them, and let your servants know +that they must quicken their steps!" + +Desmoulins styles himself "District-attorney of the gallows,"[1420] and +if he at all regrets the murders of Foulon and Berthier, it is because +this too expeditious judgment has allowed the proofs of conspiracy to +perish, thereby saving a number of traitors: he himself mentions twenty +of them haphazard, and little does he care whether he makes mistakes. + +"We are in the dark, and it is well that faithful dogs should bark, even +at all who pass by, so that there may be no fear of robbers." + +From this time forth Marat[1421] denounces the King, the ministers, +the administration, the bench, the bar, the financial system and the +academies, all as "suspicious;" at all events the people only suffer on +their account. + +"The Government is monopolizing grain, to make us to pay through the +nose for a poisonous bread." + +The Government, again, through a new conspiracy is about to blockade +Paris, so as to starve it with greater ease. Utterances of this kind, +at such a time, are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to kindle +the flames of rage and cruelty. To this frightened and fasting crowd the +agitators and newspaper writers continue to repeat that it must act, +and act alongside of the authorities, and, if need be, against them. +In other words, We will do as we please; we are the sole legitimate +masters; + +"in a well-constituted government, the people as a body are the real +sovereign: our delegates are appointed only to execute our orders; what +right has the clay to rebel against the potter?" + +On the strength of such principles, the tumultuous club which occupies +the Palais-Royal substitutes itself for the Assembly at Versailles. +Has it not all the titles for this office? The Palais-Royal "saved the +nation" on the 12th and 13th of July. The Palais-Royal, "through its +spokesmen and pamphlets," has made everybody and even the soldiers +"philosophers." It is the house of patriotism, "the rendezvous of the +select among the patriotic," whether provincials or Parisians, of all +who possess the right of suffrage, and who cannot or will not exercise +it in their own district. "It saves time to come to the Palais-Royal. +There is no need there of appealing to the President for the right to +speak, or to wait one's time for a couple of hours. The orator proposes +his motion, and, if it finds supporters, mounts a chair. If he is +applauded, it is put into proper shape. If he is hissed, he goes away. +This was the way of the Romans." Behold the veritable National Assembly! +It is superior to the other semi-feudal affair, encumbered with "six +hundred deputies of the clergy and nobility," who are so many intruders +and who "should be sent out into the galleries."--Hence the pure +Assembly rules the impure Assembly, and "the Café Foy lays claim to the +government of France." + + + + +IV.--Intervention by the popular leaders with the Government. + + Their pressure on the Assembly. + +On the 30th of July, the harlequin who led the insurrection at Rouen +having been arrested, "it is openly proposed at the Palais Royal[1422] +to go in a body and demand his release."--On the 1st of August, Thouret, +whom the moderate party of the Assembly have just made President, is +obliged to resign; the Palais-Royal threatens to send a band and murder +him along with those who voted for him, and lists of proscriptions, +in which several of the deputies are inscribed, begin to be +circulated.--From this time forth, on all great questions-the abolition +of the feudal system, the suppression of tithes, a declaration of the +rights of man, the dispute about the Chambers, the King's power of +veto,[1423] the pressure from without inclines the balance: in this +way the Declaration of Rights, which is rejected in secret session by +twenty-eight bureaus out of thirty, is forced through by the tribunes in +a public sitting and passed by a majority.--Just as before the 14th of +July, and to a still greater extent, two kinds of compulsion influence +the votes, and it is always the ruling faction which employs both its +hands to throttle its opponents. On the one hand this faction takes post +on the galleries in knots composed nearly always of the same persons, +"five or six hundred permanent actors," who yell according to understood +signals and at the word of command.[1424] Many of these are French +Guards, in civilian clothes, and who relieve each other: previously +they have asked of their favorite deputy "at what hour they must come, +whether all goes on well, and whether he is satisfied with those fools +of parsons (calotins) and the aristocrats." Others consist of low women +under the command of Théroigne de Méricourt, a virago courtesan, who +assigns them their positions and gives them the signal for hooting +or for applause. Publicly and in full session, on the occasion of the +debate on the veto, "the deputies are applauded or insulted by the +galleries according as they utter the word 'suspensive,' or the word +'indefinite.' "Threats," (says one of them) "circulated; I heard +them on all sides around me." These threats are repeated on going out: +"Valets dismissed by their masters, deserters, and women in rags," +threaten the refractory with the lamp post, "and thrust their fists in +their faces. In the hall itself, and much more accurately than before +the 14th of July, their names are taken down, and the lists, handed +over to the populace," travel to the Palais-Royal, from where they +are dispatched in correspondence and in newspapers to the +provinces.[1425]--Thus we see the second means of compulsion; each +deputy is answerable for his vote, at Paris, with his own life, and, +in the province, with those of his family. Members of the former +Third-Estate avow that they abandon the idea of two Chambers, because +"they are not disposed to get their wives' and children's throats cut." +On the 30th of August, Saint-Hurugue, the most noisy of the Palais-Royal +barkers, marches off to Versailles, at the head of 1,500 men, to +complete the conversion of the Assembly. This garden club indeed, from +the heights of its great learning, integrity, and immaculate reputation, +decides that the ignorant, corrupt, and doubtful deputies must be got +rid of." That they are such cannot be questioned, because they defend +the royal sanction; there are over 600 and more, 120 are deputies of the +communes, who must be expelled to begin with, and then must be brought +to judgment.[1426] In the meantime they are informed, as well as the +Bishop of Langres, President of the National Assembly, that "15,000 men +are ready to light up their chateaux and in particular yours, sir." +To avoid all mistake, the secretaries of the Assembly are informed +in writing that '2,000 letters" will be sent into the provinces to +denounce to the people the conduct of the malignant deputies: "Your +houses are held as a surety for your opinions: keep this in mind, and +save yourselves!" At last, on the morning of the 1st of August, five +deputations from the Palais-Royal, one of them led by Loustalot, march +in turn to the Hôtel-de-Ville, insisting that the drums should be beaten +and the citizens be called together for the purpose of changing the +deputies, or their instructions, and of ordering the National Assembly +to suspend its discussion on the veto until the districts and provinces +could give expression to their will: the people, in effect, alone being +sovereign, and alone competent, always has the right to dismiss or +instruct anew its servants, the deputies. On the following day, August +2nd, to make matters plainer, new delegates from the same Palais-Royal +suit gestures to words; they place two fingers on their throats, on +being introduced before the representatives of the commune, as a hint +that, if the latter do not obey, they will be hung. + +After this it is vain for the National Assembly to make any show of +indignation, to declare that it despises threats, and to protest its +independence; the impression is already produced. "More than 300 members +of the communes," says Mounier, "had decided to support the absolute +veto." At the end of ten days most of these had gone over, several of +them through attachment to the King, because they were afraid of "a +general uprising," and "were not willing to jeopardize the lives of the +royal family." But concessions like these only provoke fresh extortions. +The politicians of the street now know by experience the effect of +brutal violence on legal authority. Emboldened by success and by +impunity, they reckon up their strength and the weakness of the latter. +One blow more, and they are undisputed masters. Besides, the issue is +already apparent to clear-sighted men. When the agitators of the public +thoroughfares, and the porters at the street-corners, convinced of their +superior wisdom, impose decrees by the strength of their lungs, of their +fists, and of their pikes, at that moment experience, knowledge, good +sense, cool-blood, genius, and judgment, disappear from human affairs, +and things revert back to chaos. Mirabeau, in favor of the veto for +life, saw the crowd imploring him with tears in their eyes to change his +opinion: + +"Monsieur le Comte, if the King obtains this veto, what will be the use +of a National Assembly? We shall all be slaves "[1427] + +Outbursts of this description are not to be resisted, and all is lost. +Already, near the end of September, the remark applies which Mirabeau +makes to the Comte de la Marck: + +"Yes, all is lost; the King and Queen will be swept away, and you will +see the populace trampling on their lifeless bodies." + +Eight days after this, on the 5th and 6th of October, it breaks out +against both King and Queen, against the National Assembly and the +Government, against all government present and to come; the violent +party which rules in Paris obtains possession of the chiefs of France +to hold them under strict surveillance, and to justify its intermittent +outrages by one permanent outrage. + + + + +V.--The 5th and 6th of October. + +Once more, two different currents combine into one torrent to hurry the +crowd onward to a common end.--On the one hand are the cravings of the +stomach, and women excited by the famine: + +"Now that bread cannot be had in Paris, let us go to Versailles and +demand it there; once we have the King, Queen, and Dauphin in the midst +of us, they will be obliged to feed us;" we will bring back "the Baker, +the Bakeress, and the Baker's boy." --On the other hand, there is +fanaticism, and men who are pushed on by the need to dominate. + +"Now that our chiefs yonder disobey us,--let us go and make them obey us +forthwith; the King is quibbling over the Constitution and the Rights of +Man--make him approve them; his guards refuse to wear our cockade--make +them accept it; they want to carry him off to Metz--make him come to +Paris, here, under our eyes and in our hands, he, and the lame Assembly +too, will march straight on, and quickly, whether they like it or not, +and always on the right road."--Under this confluence of ideas the +expedition is arranged.[1428] Ten days before this, it is publicly +alluded to at Versailles. On the 4th of October, at Paris, a woman +proposes it at the Palais-Royal; Danton roars at the Cordeliers; +Marat, "alone, makes as much noise as the four trumpets on the Day of +Judgment." Loustalot writes that a second revolutionary paroxysm is +necessary." "The day passes," says Desmoulins, "in holding councils at +the Palais-Royal, and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the ends of +the bridges, and on the quays... in pulling off the cockades of but one +color.... These are torn off and trampled under foot with threats of the +lamp post, in case of fresh offense; a soldier who is trying to +refasten his, changes his mind on seeing a hundred sticks raised against +him."[1429] These are the premonitory symptoms of a crisis; a huge ulcer +has formed in this feverish, suffering body, and it is about to break. + +But, as is usually the case, it is a purulent concentration of the most +poisonous passions and the foulest motives. The vilest of men and +women were engaged in it. Money was freely distributed. Was it done by +intriguing subalterns who, playing upon the aspirations of the Duke of +Orleans, extracted millions from him under the pretext of making him +lieutenant-general of the kingdom? Or is it due to the fanatics who, +from the end of April, clubbed together to debauch the soldiery, and +stir up a body of ruffians for the purpose of leveling and destroying +everything around them?[1430] There are always Machiavellis of the +highways and of houses of ill-fame ready to excite the foul and the +vile of both sexes. On the first day that the Flemish regiment goes into +garrison at Versailles an attempt is made to corrupt it with money and +women. Sixty abandoned women are sent from Paris for this purpose, while +the French Guards come and treat their new comrades. The latter have +been treated at the Palais-Royal, while three of them, at Versailles, +exclaim, showing some crown pieces of six livres, "What a pleasure it +is to go to Paris! one always comes back with money!" In this way, +resistance is overcome beforehand. As to the attack, women are to be the +advanced guard, because the soldiers will scruple to fire at them; +their ranks, however, will be reinforced by a number of men disguised +as women. On looking closely at them they are easily recognized, +notwithstanding their rouge, by their badly-shaven beards, and by their +voices and gait.[1431] No difficulty has been found in obtaining men +and women among the prostitutes of the Palais-Royal and the military +deserters who serve them as bullies. It is probable that the former lent +their lovers the cast-off dresses they had to spare. At night all will +meet again at the common rendezvous, on the benches of the National +Assembly, where they are quite as much at home as in their own +houses.[1432]--In any event, the first band which marches out is of this +stamp, displaying the finery and the gaiety of the profession; "most of +them young, dressed in white, with powdered hair and a sprightly air;" +many of them "laughing, singing, and drinking," as they would do at +setting out for a picnic in the country. Three or four of them are known +by name--one brandishing a sword, and another, the notorious Théroigne. +Madeleine Chabry Louison, who is selected to address the King, is a +pretty grisette who sells flowers, and, no doubt, something else, at the +Palais-Royal. Some appear to belong to the first rank in their calling, +and to have tact and the manners of society--suppose, for instance, +that Champfort and Laclos sent their mistresses. To these must be added +washerwomen, beggars, bare-footed women, and fishwomen, enlisted for +several days before and paid accordingly. This is the first nucleus, +and it keeps on growing; for, by compulsion or consent, the +troop incorporates into it, as it passes along, all the women it +encounters--seamstresses, portresses, housekeepers, and even respectable +females, whose dwellings are entered with threats of cutting off +their hair if they do not fall in. To these must be added vagrants, +street-rovers, ruffians and robbers--the lees of Paris, which accumulate +and come to the surface every time agitation occurs: they are to be +found already at the first hour, behind the troop of women at the +Hôtel-de-Ville. Others are to follow during the evening and in the +night. Others are waiting at Versailles. Many, both at Paris and +Versailles, are under pay: one, in a dirty whitish vest, chinks gold and +silver coin in his hand.--Such is the foul scum which, both in front and +in the rear, rolls along with the popular tide; whatever is done to stem +the torrent, it widens out and will leave its mark at every stage of its +overflow. + +The first troop, consisting of four or five hundred women, begin +operations by forcing the guard of the Hôtel-de-Ville, which is +unwilling to make use of its bayonets. They spread through the rooms +and try to burn all the written documents they can find, declaring that +there has been nothing but scribbling since the Revolution began.[1433] +A crowd of men follow after them, bursting open doors, and pillaging +the magazine of arms. Two hundred thousand francs in Treasury notes are +stolen or disappear; several of the ruffians set fire to the building, +while others hang an abbé. The abbé is cut down, and the fire +extinguished only just in time: such are the interludes of the popular +drama. In the meantime, the crowd of women increases on the Place de +Grève, always with the same unceasing cry, "Bread!" and "To Versailles!" +One of the conquerors of the Bastille; the usher Maillard, offers +himself as a leader. He is accepted, and taps his drum; on leaving +Paris, he has seven or eight thousand women with him, and, in addition, +some hundreds of men; by dint of remonstrances, he succeeds in +maintaining some kind of order amongst this rabble as far as +Versailles.--But it is a rabble notwithstanding, and consequently so +much brute force, at once anarchical and imperious. On the one hand, +each, and the worst among them, does what he pleases--which will be +quite evident this very evening. On the other hand, its ponderous mass +crushes all authority and overrides all rules and regulations--which is +at once apparent on reaching Versailles.--Admitted into the Assembly, at +first in small numbers, the women crowd against the door, push in with a +rush, fill the galleries, then the hall, the men along with them, armed +with clubs, halberds, and pikes, all pell-mell, side by side with the +deputies, taking possession of their benches, voting along with them, +and gathering about the President, who, surrounded, threatened, and +insulted, finally abandons the position, while his chair is taken by +a woman.[1434] A fishwoman commands in a gallery, and about a hundred +women around her shout or keep silence at her bidding, while she +interrupts and abuses the deputies: + +"Who is that speaker there? Silence that blabbermouth; he does not know +what he is talking about. The question is how to get bread. Let papa +Mirabeau speak--we want to hear him." + +A decree on subsistence having been passed, the leaders demand something +in addition; they must be allowed to enter all places where they suspect +any monopolizing to be going on, and the price of "bread must be fixed +at six sous the four pounds, and meat at six sous per pound." + +"You must not think that we are children to be played with. We are ready +to strike. Do as you are bidden." + +All their political injunctions emanate from this central idea. And +further: + +"Send back the Flemish regiment--it is a thousand men more to feed, and +they take bread out of our mouths."--"Punish the aristocrats, who hinder +the bakers from baking." "Down with the skull-cap; the priests are the +cause of our trouble!"--"Monsieur Mounier, why did you advocate that +villainous veto? Beware of the lamp post!" + +Under this pressure, a deputation of the Assembly, with the President at +its head, sets out on foot, in the mud, through the rain, and watched by +a howling escort of women and men armed with pikes: after five hours +of waiting and entreaty, it wrings from the King, besides the decree on +subsistence, about which there was no difficulty, the acceptance, +pure and simple, of the Declaration of Rights, and his sanction to the +constitutional articles.--Such is the independence of the King and the +Assembly.[1435] Thus are the new principles of justice established, the +grand outlines of the Constitution, the abstract axioms of political +truth under the dictatorship of a crowd which extorts not only blindly, +but which is half-conscious of its blindness. + +"Monsieur le President," some among the women say to Mounier, who +returns with the Royal sanction, "will it be of any real use to us? will +it give poor folks bread in Paris?" + +Meanwhile, the scum has been bubbling up around the chateau; and the +abandoned women subsidized in Paris are pursuing their calling.[1436] +They slip through into the lines of the regiment drawn on the square, in +spite of the sentinels. Théroigne, in an Amazonian red vest, distributes +money among them. + +"Side with us," some say to the men; "we shall soon beat the King's +Guards, strip off their fine coats and sell them." + +Others lie sprawling on the ground, alluring the soldiers, and make such +offers as to lead one of them to exclaim, "We are going to have a jolly +time of it!" Before the day is over, the regiment is seduced; the women +have, according to their own idea, acted for a good motive. When a +political idea finds its way into such heads, instead of ennobling them, +it becomes degraded there; its only effect is to let loose vices which a +remnant of modesty still keeps in subjection, and full play is given to +luxurious or ferocious instincts under cover of the public good.--The +passions, moreover, become intensified through their mutual interaction; +crowds, clamor, disorder, longings, and fasting, end in a state of +frenzy, from which nothing can issue but dizzy madness and rage.--This +frenzy began to show itself on the way. Already, on setting out, a woman +had exclaimed, + +"We shall bring back the Queen's head on the end of a pike!"[1437] + +On reaching the Sèvres bridge others added, + +"Let us cut her throat, and make cockades of her entrails!" + +Rain is falling; they are cold, tired, and hungry, and get nothing to +eat but a bit of bread, distributed at a late hour, and with difficulty, +on the Place d'Armes. One of the bands cuts up a slaughtered horse, +roasts it, and consumes it half raw, after the manner of savages. It is +not surprising that, under the names of patriotism and "justice," savage +ideas spring up in their minds against "members of the National Assembly +who are not with the principles of the people," against "the Bishop +of Langres, Mounier, and the rest." One man in a ragged old red coat +declares that "he must have the head of the Abbé Maury to play nine-pins +with." But it is especially against the Queen, who is a woman, and in +sight, that the feminine imagination is the most aroused. + +"She alone is the cause of the evils we endure.... she must be killed, +and quartered." --Night advances; there are acts of violence, and +violence engenders violence. + +"How glad I should be," says one man, "if I could only lay my hand on +that she-devil, and strike off her head on the first curbstone!" + +Towards morning, some cry out, + +"Where is that cursed cat? We must eat her heart out... We'll take +off her head, cut her heart out, and fry her liver!" --With the first +murders the appetite for blood has been awakened; the women from Paris +say that "they have brought tubs to carry away the stumps of the +Royal Guards," and at these words others clap their hands. Some of the +riffraff of the crowd examine the rope of the lamp post in the court of +the National Assembly, and judging it not to be sufficiently strong, are +desirous of supplying its place with another "to hang the Archbishop +of Paris, Maury, and d'Espréménil."--This murderous, carnivorous rage +penetrates even among those whose duty it is to maintain order, one +of the National Guard being heard to say that "the body-guards must be +killed to the last man, and their hearts torn out for a breakfast." + +Finally, towards midnight, the National Guard of Paris arrives; but +it only adds one insurrection to another, for it has likewise mutinied +against its chiefs.[1438] + +"If M. de Lafayette is not disposed to accompany us," says one of the +grenadiers, "we will take an old grenadier for our commander." + +Having come to this decision, they sought the general at the +Hôtel-de-Ville, and the delegates of six of the companies made their +instructions known to him. + +"General, we do not believe that you are a traitor, but we think that +the Government is betraying us.... The committee on subsistence is +deceiving us, and must be removed. We want to go to Versailles to +exterminate the body-guard and the Flemish regiment who have trampled +on the national cockade. If the King of France is too feeble to wear +his crown, let him take it off; we will crown his son and things will go +better." + +In vain Lafayette refuses, and harangues them on the Place de Grève; in +vain he resists for hours, now addressing them and now imposing silence. +Armed bands, coming from the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marceau, +swell the crowd; they take aim at him; others prepare the lamp-post. He +then dismounts and endeavors to return to the Hôtel-de-Ville, but his +grenadiers bar the way: + +"Morbleu, General, you will stay with us; you will not abandon us!" + +Being their chief it is pretty plain that he must follow them; which +is also the sentiment of the representatives of the commune at the +Hôtel-de-Ville, who send him their authorization, and even the order to +march, "seeing that it is impossible for him to refuse." + +Fifteen thousand men thus reach Versailles, and in front of and along +with them thousands of ruffians, protected by the darkness. On this side +the National Guard of Versailles, posted around the chateau, together +with the people of Versailles, who bar the way against vehicles, have +closed up every outlet.[1439] The King is prisoner in his own palace, +he and his, with his ministers and his court, and with no defense. For, +with his usual optimism, he has confided the outer posts of the chateau +to Lafayette's soldiers, and, through a humanitarian obstinacy which he +is to maintain up to the last,[1440] he has forbidden his own guards +to fire on the crowd, so that they are only there for show. With common +right in his favor, the law, and the oath which Lafayette had just +obliged his troops to renew, what could he have to fear? What could be +more effective with the people than trust in them and prudence? And by +playing the sheep one is sure of taming brutes! + +From five o'clock in the morning they prowl around the palace-railings. +Lafayette, exhausted with fatigue, has taken an hour's repose,[1441] +which hour suffices for them.[1442] A populace armed with pikes and +clubs, men and women, surrounds a squad of eighty-eight National Guards, +forces them to fire on the King's Guards, bursts open a door, seizes +two of the guards and chops their heads off. The executioner, who is a +studio model, with a heavy beard, stretches out his blood-stained hands +and glories in the act; and so great is the effect on the National Guard +that they move off; through sensibility, in order not to witness such +sights: such is the resistance! In the meantime the crowd invade the +staircases, beat down and trample on the guards they encounter, and +burst open the doors with imprecations against the Queen. The Queen runs +off; just in time, in her underclothes; she takes refuge with the King +and the rest of the royal family, who have in vain barricaded themselves +in the oeil-de-Boeuf, a door of which is broken in: here they stand, +awaiting death, when Lafayette arrives with his grenadiers and saves +all that can be saved--their lives, and nothing more. For, from the crowd +huddled in the marble court the shout rises, "To Paris with the King!" a +command to which the King submits. + +Now that the great hostage is in their hands, will they deign to accept +the second one? This is doubtful. On the Queen approaching the balcony +with her son and daughter, a howl arises of "No children!" They want to +have her alone in the sights of their guns, and she understands that. At +this moment M. de Lafayette, throwing the shield of his popularity over +her, appears on the balcony at her side and respectfully kisses her +hand. The reaction is instantaneous in this over-excited crowd. Both +the men and especially the women, in such a state of nervous tension, +readily jump from one extreme to another, rage bordering on tears. A +portress, who is a companion of Maillard's,[1443] imagines that she +hears Lafayette promise in the Queen's name "to love her people and be +as much attached to them as Jesus Christ to his Church." People sob and +embrace each other; the grenadiers shift their caps to the heads of the +body-guard. Everything will be fine: "the people have won their King +back."--Nothing is to be done now but to rejoice; and the cortege moves +on. The royal family and a hundred deputies, in carriages, form the +center, and then comes the artillery, with a number of women bestriding +the cannons; next, a convoy of flour. Round about are the King's Guards, +each with a National Guard mounted behind him; then comes the National +Guard of Paris, and after them men with pikes and women on foot, on +horseback, in cabs, and on carts; in front is a band bearing two severed +heads on the ends of two poles, which halts at a hairdresser's, in +Sèvres, to have these heads powdered and curled;[1444] they are made to +bow by way of salutation, and are daubed all over with cream; there are +jokes and shouts of laughter; the people stop to eat and drink on the +road, and oblige the guards to clink glasses with them; they shout and +fire salvos of musketry; men and women hold each other's hands and +sing and dance about in the mud.--Such is the new fraternity: a funeral +procession of legal and legitimate authorities, a triumph of brutality +over intelligence, a murderous and political Mardi-gras, a formidable +masquerade which, preceded by the insignia of death, drags along with it +the heads of France, the King, the ministers, and the deputies, that it +may constrain them to rule to until according to its frenzy, that it may +hold them under its them pikes until it is pleased to slaughter them. + + + + +VI.--The Government and the nation in the hands of the revolutionary +party. + +This time there can be no mistake: the Reign of Terror is fully and +firmly established. On this very day the mob stops a vehicle, in which +it hopes to find M. de Virieu, and declares, on searching it, that "they +are looking for the deputy to massacre him, as well as others of whom +they have a list."[1445] Two days afterwards the Abbé Grégoire tells +the National Assembly that not a day passes without ecclesiastics being +insulted in Paris, and pursued with "horrible threats." Malouet is +advised that "as soon as guns are distributed among the militia, the +first use made of them will be to get rid of those deputies who are bad +citizens," and among others of the Abbé Maury. "The moment I stepped out +into the streets," writes Mounier, "I was publicly followed. It was a +crime to be seen in my company. Wherever I happened to go, along +with two or three of my companions, it was stated that an assembly of +aristocrats was forming. I had become such an object of terror that they +threatened to set fire to a country-house where I had passed twenty-four +hours; and, to relieve their minds, a promise had to be given that +neither myself nor my friends should be again received into it." In one +week five or six hundred deputies have their passports[1446] made out, +and hold themselves ready to depart. During the following month one +hundred and twenty give in their resignations, or no longer appear +in the Assembly. Mounier, Lally-Tollendal, the Bishop of Langres, and +others besides, quit Paris, and afterwards France. Mallet du Pan writes, +"Opinion now dictates its judgment with steel in hand. Believe or die is +the anathema which vehement spirits pronounce, and this in the name +of Liberty. Moderation has become a crime." After the 7th of October, +Mirabeau says to the Comte de la Marck: + +"If you have any influence with the King or the Queen, persuade them +that they and France are lost if the royal family does not leave Paris. +I am busy with a plan for getting them away." + +He prefers everything to the present situation, "even civil war;" +for "war, at least, invigorates the soul," while here, "under the +dictatorship of demagogues, we are being drowned in slime." Given up +to itself, Paris, in three months, "will certainly be a hospital, and, +perhaps, a theater of horrors." Against the rabble and its leaders, it +is essential that the King should at once coalesce "with his people," +that he should go to Rouen, appeal to the provinces, provide a Centre +for public opinion, and, if necessary, resort to armed resistance. +Malouet, on his side, declares that "the Revolution, since the 5th of +October, "horrifies all sensible men, and every party, but that it +is complete and irresistible." Thus the three best minds that are +associated with the Revolution--those whose verified prophecies attest +genius or good sense; the only ones who, for two or three years, and +from week to week, have always predicted wisely, and who have employed +reason in their demonstrations--these three, Mallet du Pan, Mirabeau, +Mabuet, agree in their estimate of the event, and in measuring its +consequences. The nation is gliding down a declivity, and no one +possesses the means or the force to arrest it. The King cannot do it: +"undecided and weak beyond all expression, his character resembles those +oiled ivory balls which one vainly strives to keep together."[1447] And +as for the Assembly, blinded, violated, and impelled on by the theory +it proclaims, and by the faction which supports it, each of its grand +decrees only renders its fall the more precipitate. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1401: Bailly, "Mémoires," II. 195, 242.] + +[Footnote 1402: Elysée Loustalot, journalist, editor of the paper +"Révolutions de Paris," was a young lawyer who had shown a natural +genius for innovative journalism. He was to die already in 1790. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 1403: Montjoie, ch. LXX, p. 65.] + +[Footnote 1404: Bailly, II. 74, 174, 242, 261, 282, 345, 392.] + +[Footnote 1405: Such as domiciliary visits and arrests apparently made +by lunatics. ("Archives de la Préfecture de Police de Paris.")--And +Montjoie, ch. LXX. p.67. Expedition of the National Guard against +imaginary brigands who are cutting down the crops at Montmorency and the +volley fired in the air.--Conquest of Ile-Adam and Chantilly.] + +[Footnote 1406: Bailly, II. 46, 95, 232, 287, 296.] + +[Footnote 1407: "Archives de la Préfecture de Police," minutes of the +meeting of the section of Butte des Moulins, October 5, 1789.] + +[Footnote 1408: Bailly, II. 224.--Dusaulx, 418, 202, 257, 174, 158. The +powder transported was called poudre de traite (transport); the people +understood it as poudre de traître (traitor). M. de la Salle was near +being killed through the addition of an r. It is he who had taken +command of the National Guard on the 13th of July.] + +[Footnote 1409: Floquet, VII. 54. There is the same scene at Granville, +in Normandy, on the 16th of October. A woman had assassinated her +husband, while a soldier who was her lover is her accomplice; the woman +was about to be hung and the man broken on the wheel, when the populace +shout, "The nation has the right of pardon," upset the scaffold, and +save the two assassins.] + +[Footnote 1410: Bailly, II. 274 (August 17th).] + +[Footnote 1411: Bailly, II, 83, 202, 230, 235, 283, 299.] + +[Footnote 1412: Mercure de France, the number for September 26th.--De +Goncourt, p. 111.] + +[Footnote 1413: Mercier, "Tableau de Paris," I, 58; X. 151.] + +[Footnote 1414: De Ferrières, I. 178.--Buchez and Roux, II. 311, +316.--Bai11y, II. 104, 174, 207, 246, 257, 282.] + +[Footnote 1415: Mercure de France, September 5th, 1789. Horace Walpole's +Letters, September 5, 1789.--M. de Lafayette, "Mémoires," I. 272. During +the week following the 14th of July, 6,000 soldiers deserted and went +over to the people, besides 400 and 800 Swiss Guards and six battalions +of the French Guards, who remain without officers, and do as they +please. Vagabonds from the neighboring villages flock in, and there are +more than "30,000 strangers and vagrants" in Paris.] + +[Footnote 1416: Bailly, II. 282. The crowd of deserters was so great +that Lafayette was obliged to place a guard at the barriers to keep them +from entering the city. "Without this precaution the whole army would +have come in."] + +[Footnote 1417: De Ferrières, I. 103.--De Lavalette, I. 39.--Bailly, I. +53 (on the lawyers). "It may be said that the success of the Revolution +is due to this class."--Marmontel, II. 243 "Since the first elections +of Paris, in 1789, I remarked," he says, "this species of restless +intriguing men, contending with each other to be heard, impatient to +make themselves prominent....It is well known what interest this body +(the lawyers) had to change Reform into Revolution, the Monarchy into +a Republic; the object was to organize for itself a perpetual +aristocracy."--Buchez and Roux, II. 358 (article by C. Desmoulins). "In +the districts everybody exhausts his lungs and his time in trying to be +president, vice-president, secretary or vice-secretary"] + +[Footnote 1418: Eugène Hatin, "Histoire de la Presse," vol. V. p. 113. +"Le Patriote français" by Brissot, July 28, 1789.--"L'Ami du Peuple," +by Marat, September 12, 1789.--"Annales patriotiques et littéraires," by +Carra and Mercier, October 5, 1789,--"Les Révolutions de Paris," chief +editor Loustalot, July 17th, 1789.--"Le Tribun du peuple," letters +by (middle of 1789).--"Révolutions de France et de Brabant," by C. +Desmoulins, November 28, 1789; his "France libre" (I believe of the +month of August, and his "Discours de la Lanterne" of the month of +September).--"The Moniteur" does not make its appearance until November +24, 1789. In the seventy numbers which follow, up to February 3, 1790, +the debates of the Assembly were afterwards written out, amplified, and +put in a dramatic form. All numbers anterior to February 3, 1790, are +the result of a compilation executed in the year IV. The narrative part +during the first six months of the Revolution is of no value. The report +of the sittings of the Assembly is more exact, but should be revised +sitting by sitting and discourse by discourse for a detailed history +of the National Assembly. The principal authorities which are really +contemporary are, "Le Mercure de France," "Le Journal de Paris," "Le +point de Jour" by Barrère, the "Courrier de Versailles," by Gorsas, the +"Courrier de Provence" by Mirabeau, the "Journal des Débats et Décrets," +the official reports of the National assembly, the "Bulletin de +l'Asemblée Nationale," by Marat, besides the newspapers above cited +for the period following the 14th of July, and the speeches, which are +printed separately.] + +[Footnote 1419: C. Desmoulins, letters of September 20th and of +subsequent dates. (He quote, a passage from Lucan in the sense +indicated).--Brissot, "Mémoires," passim.--Biography of Danton by +Robinet. (See the testimony of Madame Roland and of Rousselin de +Saint-Albin.)] + +[Footnote 1420: "Discours de la Lanterne." See the epigraph of the +engraving.] + +[Footnote 1421: Buchez and Roux; III. 55; article of Marat, October lst. +"Sweep all the suspected men out of the Hôtel-de-Ville. . . . . Reduce +the deputies of the communes to fifty; do not let them remain in office +more than a month or six weeks, and compel them to transact business +only in public."--And II. 412, another article by Marat.--Ibid. III. +21. An article by Loustalot.--C. Desmoulins, "Discours de la Lanterne," +passim.--Bailly, II. 326.] + +[Footnote 1422: Mounier, "Des causes qui ont empêche les Français d'être +libre," I. 59.--Lally-Tollendal, second letter, 104.--Bailly, II. 203.] + +[Footnote 1423: De Bouillé, 207.--Lally-Tollendal, ibid, 141, +146.--Mounier, ibid., 41, 60.] + +[Footnote 1424: Mercure de France, October 2, 1790 (article of Mallet du +Pan: "I saw it"). Criminal proceedings at the Châtelet on the events of +October 5th and 6th. Deposition of M. Feydel, a deputy, No. 178.----De +Montlosier, i. 259.--Desmoulins (La Lanterne). "Some members of the +communes are gradually won over by pensions, by plans for making a +fortune and by flattery. Happily, the incorruptible galleries are always +on the side of the patriots. They represent the tribunes of the people +seated on a bench in attendance on the deliberations of the Senate and +who had the veto. They represent the metropolis and, fortunately, it +is under the batteries of the metropolis that the constitution is being +framed." (C. Desmoulins, simple-minded politician, always let the cat +out of the bag.)] + +[Footnote 1425: "Procédure du Châtelet," Ibid. Deposition of M. Malouet +(No. 111). "I received every day, as well as MM. Lally and Mounier, +anonymous letters and lists of proscriptions on which we were inscribed. +These letters announced a prompt and violent death to every deputy that +advocated the authority of the King."] + +[Footnote 1426: Buchez and Roux, I. 368, 376.---Bailly, II. 326, +341.--Mounier, ibid., 62, 75.] + +[Footnote 1427: Etienne Dumont, 145.--Correspondence between Comte de +Mirabeau and Comte de la Marck.] + +[Footnote 1428: "Procédure criminelle du Châtelet," Deposition +148.--Buchez and Roux, III. 67, 65. (Narrative of Desmoulins, article +of Loustalot.) Mercure de France, number for September 5, 1789. "Sunday +evening, August 30, at the Palais-Royal, the expulsion of several +deputies of every class was demanded, and especially some of those from +Dauphiny... They spoke of bringing the King to Paris as well as the +Dauphin. All virtuous citizens, every incorruptible patriot, was +exhorted to set out immediately for Versailles."] + +[Footnote 1429: These acts of violence were not reprisals; nothing of +the kind took place at the banquet of the body-guards (October 1st). +"Amidst the general joy," says an eye-witness, "I heard no insults +against the National Assembly, nor against the popular party, nor +against anybody. The only cries were 'Vive le Roi! Vive la Reine! +We will defend them to the death!'" (Madame de Larochejacquelein, +p.40.--Ibid. Madame Campan, another eye-witness.)--It appears to be +certain, however, that the younger members of the National Guard at +Versailles turned their cockades so as to be like other people, and it +is also probable that some of the ladies distributed white cockades. +The rest is a story made up before and after the event to justify the +insurrection.--Cf. Lerol, "Histoire de Versailles," II. 20-107. Ibid. +p. 141. "As to that proscription of the national cockade, all witnesses +deny it." The originator of the calumny is Gorsas, editor of the +Courrier de Versailles.] + +[Footnote 1430: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 88, 110, +120, 126, 127, 140, 146, 148.--Marmontel, "Mémoires," a conversation +with Champfort, in May, 1789.--Morellet, "Mémoires," I. 398. (According +to the evidence of Garat, Champfort gave all his savings, 3,000 livres, +to defray the expenses of maneuvers of this description.)--Malouet +(II. 2). knew four of the deputies "who took direct part in this +conspiracy."] + +[Footnote 1431: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." 1st. On the Flemish +soldiers. Depositions 17, 20, 24, 35, 87, 89, 98.--2nd. On the men +disguised as women. Depositions 5, 10, 14, 44, 49, 59, 60, 110, +120, 139, 145, 146, 148. The prosecutor designates six of them to +be seized.--3rd. On the condition of the women of the expedition. +Depositions 35, 83, 91, 98, 146, and 24.--4th. On the money distributed. +Depositions 49, 56, 71, 82, 110, 126.] + +[Footnote 1432: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 61. +"During the night scenes, not very decent, occurred among these people, +which the witness thought it useless to relate."] + +[Footnote 1433: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 35, 44, +81.--Buchez and Roux, III. 120. (Minutes of the meeting of the Commune, +October 5th.) Journal de Paris, October 12th. A few days after, M. Pic, +clerk of the prosecutor, brought "a package of 100,000 francs which he +had saved from the enemies' hands," and another package of notes was +found thrown, in the hubbub, into a receipt-box.] + +[Footnote 1434: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 61, +77, 81, 148, 154.--Dumont, 181.--Mounier, "Exposé justificatif," and +specially "Fait relatif à la dernière insurrection."] + +[Footnote 1435: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 168. The +witness sees on leaving the King's apartment "several women dressed as +fish-wives, one of whom, with a pretty face, has a paper in her hand, +and who exclaims as she holds it up, 'He! F..., we have forced the guy +to sign.' "] + +[Footnote 1436: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 89, 91, +98. "Promising all, even raising their petticoats before them."] + +[Footnote 1437: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet," Depositions 9, 20, +24, 30, 49, 61, 82, 115, 149, 155.] + +[Footnote 1438: Procédure criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 7, 30, +35, 40.--Cf. Lafayette, "Mémoires," and Madame Campan, "Mémoires."] + +[Footnote 1439: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 24. +A number of butcher-boys run after the carriages issuing from the +Petite-Ecurie shouting out, "Don't let the curs escape!"] + +[Footnote 1440: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 101, 91, +89, and 17. M. de Miomandre, a body-guard, mildly says to the ruffians +mounting the staircase: "My friends, you love your King, and yet you +come to annoy him even in his palace!"] + +[Footnote 1441: Malouet, II. 2. "I felt no distrust," says Lafayette in +1798; "the people promised to remain quiet."] + +[Footnote 1442: "Procédure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 9, 16, +60, 128, 129, 130, 139, 158, 168, 170.--M. du Repaire, body-guard, being +sentry at the railing from two o'clock in the morning, a man passes his +pike through the bars saying, "You embroidered b. . . , your turn +will come before long." M. de Repaire, "retires within the sentry-box +without saying a word to this man, considering the orders that have been +issued not to act."] + +[Footnote 1443: "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 82, +170--Madame Campan. II. 87.--De Lavalette, I.33.--Cf. Bertrand de +Molleville, Mémoires.] + +[Footnote 1444: Duval, "Souvenirs de la Terreur," I. 78. (Doubtful in +almost everything, but here he is an eye-witness. He dined opposite the +hair-dresser's, near the railing of the Park of Saint-Cloud.)--M. de +Lally-Tollendal's second letter to a friend. "At the moment the King +entered his capital with two bishops of his council with him in the +carriage, the cry was heard, 'Off to the lamp post with the bishops!'"] + +[Footnote 1445: De Montlosier, I. 303.--Moniteur, sessions of the 8th, +9th, and 10th of October.--Malouet, II. 9, 10, 20.--Mounier, Recherches +sur les Causes, etc., and "Addresse aux Dauphinois."] + +[Footnote 1446: De Ferrières, I. 346. (On the 9th of October, 300 +members have already taken their passports.) Mercure de France, No. of +the 17th October. Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I. 116, +126, 364.] + +[Footnote 1447: Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I.175. +(The words of Monsieur to M. de la Marck.)] + + + + + +BOOK SECOND. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, AND THE RESULT OF ITS LABORS. + + + + +CHAPTER I.--CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THE FRAMING OF GOOD LAWS. + +Among the most difficult undertakings in this world is the formulation +of a national constitution, especially if this is to be a complete and +comprehensive work. To replace the old structures inside which a great +people has lived by a new, different, appropriate and durable set of +laws, to apply a mold of one hundred thousand compartments on to the +life of twenty-six million people, to construct it so harmoniously, +adapt it so well, so closely, with such an exact appreciation of their +needs and their faculties, that they enter it of themselves and move +about it without collisions, and that their spontaneous activity +should at once find the ease of familiar routine,--is an extraordinary +undertaking and probably beyond the powers of the human mind. In any +event, the mind requires all its powers to carry the undertaking out, +and it cannot protect itself carefully enough against all sources of +disturbance and error. An Assembly, especially a Constituent Assembly, +requires, outwardly, security and independence, inwardly, silence +and order, and generally, calmness, good sense, practical ability and +discipline under competent and recognized leaders. Do we find anything +of all this in the Constituent Assembly? + + + + +I.--These conditions absent in the Assembly + + Causes of disorder and irrationality--The place of meeting + --The large number of deputies--Interference of the galleries + --Rules of procedure wanting, defective, or disregarded.--The + parliamentary leaders--Susceptibility and over-excitement of + the Assembly--Its paroxysms of enthusiasm.--Its tendency to + emotion.--It encourages theatrical display--Changes which + these displays introduce in its good intentions. + +We have only to look at it outwardly to have some doubts about it. At +Versailles, and then at Paris, the sessions are held in an immense hall +capable of seating 2,000 persons, in which the most powerful voice must +be strained in order to be heard. It is not calculated for the moderate +tone suitable for the discussion of business; the speaker is obliged to +shout, and the strain on the voice communicates itself to the mind; the +place itself suggests declamation; and this all the more readily because +the assemblage consists of 1,200, that is to say, a crowd, and almost +a mob. 'At the present day (1877), in our assemblies of five or six +hundred deputies, there are constant interruptions and an incessant +buzz; there is nothing so rare as self-control, and the firm resolve to +give an hour's attention to a discourse opposed to the opinions of the +hearers.--What can be done here to compel silence and patience? Arthur +Young on different occasions sees "a hundred members on the floor at +once," shouting and gesticulating. "Gentlemen, you are killing me!" says +Bailly, one day, sinking with exhaustion. Another president exclaims in +despair, "Two hundred speaking at the same time cannot be heard; will +you make it impossible then to restore order in the Assembly?" The +rumbling, discordant din is further increased by the uproar of the +galleries.[2101] + +"In the British Parliament," writes Mallet du Pan, "I saw the +galleries cleared in a trice because the Duchess of Gordon happened +unintentionally to laugh too loud." + +Here, the thronging crowd of spectators, stringers, delegates from the +Palais-Royal, soldiers disguised as citizens, and prostitutes collected +and marshaled, applaud, clap their hands, stamp and hoot, at their +pleasure. This is carried to so great an extent that M. de +Montlosier ironically proposes "to give the galleries a voice in +the deliberations."[2102] Another member wishes to know whether the +representatives are so many actors, whom the nation sends there to +endure the hisses of the Paris public. Interruptions, in fact, take +place as in a theater, and, frequently, if the members do not give +satisfaction, they are forced to desist. On the other hand, the deputies +who are popular with this energetic audience, on which they keep and +eye, are actors before the footlights: they involuntarily yield to its +influence, and exaggerate their ideas as well as their words to be in +unison with it. Tumult and violence, under such circumstances, become +a matter of course, and the chances of an Assembly acting wisely are +diminished by one-half; on becoming a club of agitators, it ceases to be +a conclave of legislators. + +Let us enter and see how this one proceeds. Thus encumbered, thus +surrounded and agitated, does it take at least those precautions without +which no assembly of men can govern itself. When several hundred persons +assemble together for deliberation, it is evident that some sort of an +internal police is necessary; first of all, some code of accepted usage, +some written precedents, by which its acts may be prepared and defined, +considered in detail, and properly passed. The best of these codes it +ready to hand: at the request of Mirabeau, Romilly has sent over the +standing orders of the English House of Commons.[2103] But with the +presumption of novices, they pay no attention to this code; they imagine +it is needless for them; they will borrow nothing from foreigners; they +accord no authority to experience, and, not content with rejecting the +forms it prescribes, "it is with difficulty they can be made to follow +any rule whatever." They leave the field open to the impulsiveness of +individuals; any kind of influence, even that of a deputy, even of one +elected by themselves, is suspected by them; hence their choice of a +new president every fortnight.--They submit to no constraint or control, +neither to the legal authority of a parliamentary code, nor to the moral +authority of parliamentary chiefs. They are without any such; they are +not organized in parties; neither on one side nor on the other is a +recognized leader found who fixes the time, arranges the debate, draws +up the motion, assigns parts, and gives the rein to or restrains +his supporters. Mirabeau is the only one capable of obtaining this +ascendancy; but, on the opening of the Assembly, he is discredited by +the notoriety of his vices, and, towards the last, is compromised by his +connections with the Court. No other is of sufficient eminence to have +any influence; there is too much of average and too little of superior +talent.--Their self-esteem is, moreover, as yet too strong to allow any +concessions. Each of these improvised legislators has come satisfied +with his own system, and to submit to a leader to whom he would entrust +his political conscience, to make of him what three out of four of these +deputies should be, a voting machine, would require an apprehension of +danger, some painful experience, an enforced surrender which he is far +from realizing.[2104] For this reason, save in the violent party, each +acts as his own chief, according to the impulse of the moment, and the +confusion may be imagined. Strangers who witness it, lift their hands in +pity and astonishment. "They discuss nothing in their Assembly," +writes Gouverneur Morris,[2105] "One large half of the time is spent +in hallowing and bawling.... Each Man permitted to speak delivers the +Result of his Lubrications," amidst this noise, taking his turn as +inscribed, without replying to his predecessor, or being replied to by +his successor, without ever meeting argument by argument; so that while +the firing is interminable, "all their shots are fired in the air." +Before this "frightful clatter" can be reported, the papers of the day +are obliged to make all sorts of excisions, to prune away "nonsense," +and reduce the "inflated and bombastic style." Chatter and clamor, that +is the whole substance of most of these famous sittings. + +"You would hear," says a journalist, "more yells than speeches; the +sittings seemed more likely to end in fights than in decrees... . Twenty +times I said to myself, on leaving, that if anything could arrest and +turn the tide of the Revolution, it would be a picture of these meetings +traced without caution or adaptation... All my efforts were therefore +directed to represent the truth, without rendering it repulsive. Out +of what had been merely a row, I concocted a scene... I gave all the +sentiments, but not always in the same words. I translated their yells +into words, their furious gestures into attitudes, and when I could not +inspire esteem, I endeavored to rouse the emotions." + +There is no remedy for this evil; for, besides the absence of +discipline, there is an inward and fundamental cause for the disorder. +These people are too susceptible. They are Frenchmen, and Frenchmen +of the eighteenth century; brought up in the amenities of the utmost +refinement, accustomed to deferential manners, to constant kind +attentions and mutual obligations, so thoroughly imbued with the +instinct of good breeding that their conversation seems almost insipid +to strangers.[2106]--And suddenly they find themselves on the thorny +soil of politics, exposed to insulting debates, flat contradictions, +venomous denunciation, constant detraction and open invective; engaged +in a battle in which every species of weapon peculiar to a parliamentary +life is employed, and in which the hardiest veterans are scarcely able +to keep cool. Judge of the effect of all this on inexperienced, highly +strung nerves, on men of the world accustomed to the accommodations +and amiabilities of universal urbanity. They are at once beside +themselves.--And all the more so because they never anticipated a +battle; but, on the contrary, a festival, a grand and charming idyll, in +which everybody, hand in hand, would assemble in tears around the throne +and save the country amid mutual embraces. Necker himself arranges, like +a theater, the chamber in which the sessions of the Assembly are to +be held.[2107] "He was not disposed to regard the Assemblies of the +States-General as anything but a peaceful, imposing, solemn, august +spectacle, which the people would enjoy;" and when the idyll suddenly +changes into a drama, he is so frightened that it seems to him as if a +landslide had occurred that threatened, during the night, to break +down the framework of the building.--At the time of the meeting of the +States-General, everybody is delighted; all imagine that they are about +to enter the promised land. During the procession of the 4th of May, + +"tears of joy," says the Marquis de Ferrières, "filled my eyes... . In a +state of sweet rapture I beheld France supported by Religion" exhorting +us all to concord. "The sacred ceremonies, the music, the incense, the +priests in their sacrificial robes, that dais, that orb radiant with +precious stones. .. I called to my mind the words of the prophet... . My +God, my country, and my countrymen, all were one with myself!" + +Such emotions repeatedly explode in the course of the session, and +resulted in the passage of laws which no one could have imagined. + +"Sometimes,"[2108] writes the American ambassador, "a speaker gets up +in the midst of a deliberation, makes a fine discourse on a different +subject, and closes with a nice little resolution which is carried with +a hurrah. Thus, in considering the plan of a national bank proposed by +M. Necker, one of them took it into his head to move that every member +should give his silver buckles, which was agreed to at once, and the +honorable mover laid his upon the table, after which the business went +on again." + +Thus, over-excited, they do not know in the morning what they will do +in the afternoon, and they are at the mercy of every surprise. When they +are seized with these fits of enthusiasm, infatuation spreads over all +the benches; prudence gives way, all foresight disappears and every +objection is stifled. During the night of the 4th of August,[2109] +"nobody is master of himself. The Assembly presents the spectacle of an +inebriated crowd in a shop of valuable furniture, breaking and smashing +at will whatever they can lay their hands on." + +"That which would have required a year of care and reflection," says +a competent foreigner, "was proposed, deliberated over, and passed by +general acclamation. The abolition of feudal rights, of titles, of the +privileges of the provinces, three articles which alone embraced a whole +system of jurisprudence and statesmanship, were decided with ten or +twelve other measures in less time than is required in the English +Parliament for the first reading of an important bill." + +"Such are our Frenchmen," says Mirabeau again, "they spend a month in +disputes about syllables, and overthrow, in a single night, the whole +established system of the Monarchy!"[2110] + +The truth is, they display the nervousness of women, and, from one end +of the Revolution to the other, this excitability keeps on increasing. + +Not only are they excited, but the pitch of excitement must be +maintained, and, like the drunkard who, once stimulated, has recourse +again to strong waters, one would say that they carefully try to expel +the last remnants of calmness and common sense from their brains. They +delight in pompous phrases, in high-sounding rhetoric, in declamatory +sentimental strokes of eloquence: this is the style of nearly all their +speeches, and so strong is their taste, they are not satisfied with +the orations made amongst themselves. Lally and Necker, having made +"affecting and sublime" speeches at the Hôtel-de-Ville, the Assembly +wish them to be repeated before them:[2111] this being the heart of +France, it is proper for it to answer to the noble emotions of all +Frenchmen. Let this heart throb on, and as strongly as possible, for +that is its office, and day by day it receives fresh impulses. Almost +all sittings begin with the reading of flattering addresses or of +threatening denunciations. The petitioners frequently appear in person, +and read their enthusiastic effusions, their imperious advice, their +doctrines of dissolution. To-day it is Danton, in the name of Paris, +with his bull visage and his voice that seems a tocsin of insurrection; +to-morrow, the vanquishers of the Bastille, or some other troop, with a +band of music which continues playing even into the hall. The meeting is +not a conference for business, but a patriotic opera, where the eclogue, +the melodrama, and sometimes the masquerade, mingle with the cheers and +the clapping of hands.[2112]--A serf of the Jura is brought to the +bar of the Assembly aged one hundred and twenty years, and one of the +members of the cortège, "M. Bourbon de la Crosnière, director of a +patriotic school, asks permission to take charge of an honorable old +man, that he may be waited on by the young people of all ranks, and +especially by the children of those whose fathers were killed in the +attack on the Bastille." [2113] Great is the hubbub and excitement. The +scene seems to be in imitation of Berquin,[2114] with the additional +complication of a mercenary consideration. + +But small matters are not closely looked into, and the Assembly, under +the pressure of the galleries, stoops to shows, such as are held +at fairs. Sixty vagabonds who are paid twelve francs a head, in the +costumes of Spaniards, Dutchmen, Turks, Arabs, Tripolitans, Persians, +Hindus, Mongols, and Chinese, conducted by the Prussian Anacharsis +Clootz, enter, under the title of Ambassadors of the Human Race, to +declaim against tyrants, and they are admitted to the honors of the +sitting. On this occasion the masquerade is a stroke devised to hasten +and extort the abolition of nobility.[2115] At other times, there is +little or no object in it; its ridiculousness is inexpressible, for the +farce is played out as seriously and earnestly as in a village award +of prizes. For three days, the children who have taken their first +communion before the constitutional bishop have been promenaded through +the streets of Paris; at the Jacobin club they recite the nonsense they +have committed to memory; and, on the fourth day, admitted to the bar +of the Assembly, their spokesman, a poor little thing of twelve years, +repeats the parrot-like tirade. He winds up with the accustomed oath, +upon which all the others cry out in their piping, shrill voices, "We +swear!" As a climax, the President, Trejlhard, a sober lawyer, replies +to the little gamins with perfect gravity in a similar strain, employing +metaphors, personifications, and everything else belonging to the +stock-in-trade of a pedant on his platform: + +"You merit a share in the glory of the founders of liberty, prepared as +you are to shed your blood in her behalf." + +Immense applause from the "left" and the galleries, and a decree +ordering the speeches of both president and children to be printed. The +children, probably, would rather have gone out to play; but, willingly +or unwillingly, they receive or endure the honors of the sitting.[2116] + +Such are the tricks of the stage and of the platform by which the +managers here move their political puppets. Emotional susceptibility, +once recognized as a legitimate force, thus becomes an instrument +of intrigue and constraint. The Assembly, having accepted theatrical +exhibitions when these were sincere and earnest, is obliged to tolerate +them when they become mere sham and buffoonery. At this vast national +banquet, over which it meant to preside, and to which, throwing the +doors wide open, it invited all France, its first intoxication was +due to wine of a noble quality; but it has touched glasses with the +populace, and by degrees, under the pressure of its associates, it has +descended to adulterated and burning drinks, to a grotesque unwholesome +inebriety which is all the more grotesque and unwholesome, because it +persists in believing itself to be reason. + + + + +II.--Inadequacy of its information. + + Its composition--The social standing and culture of the + larger number--Their incapacity. Their presumption + --Fruitless advice of competent men.--Deductive politics + --Parties--The minority; its faults--The majority; its + dogmatism. + +If reason could only resume its empire during the lucid intervals! +But reason must exist before it can govern, and in no French Assembly, +except the two following this, have there ever been fewer political +intellects.--Strictly speaking, with careful search, there could +undoubtedly be found in France, in 1789, five or six hundred experienced +men, such as the intendants and military commanders of every province; +next to these the prelates, administrators of large dioceses the members +of the local "parlements," whose courts gave them influence, and who, +besides judicial functions, possessed a portion of administrative power; +and finally, the principal members of the Provincial Assemblies, all of +them influential and sensible people who had exercised control over +men and affairs, at once humane, liberal, moderate, and capable of +understanding the difficulty, as well as the necessity, of a great +reform; indeed, their correspondence, full of facts, stated with +precision and judgment, when compared with the doctrinaire rubbish of +the Assembly, presents the strongest possible contrast.--But most of +these lights remain under a bushel; only a few of them get into the +Assembly; these burn without illuminating, and are soon extinguished in +the tempest.' I. The venerable Machault is not there, nor Malesherbes; +there are none of the old ministers or the marshals of France. Not one +of the intendants is there, except Malouet, and by the superiority of +this man, the most judicious of the Assembly, one can judge the services +which his colleagues would have rendered. Out of two hundred and +ninety-one members of the clergy,[2117] there are indeed forty-eight +bishops or archbishops and thirty-five abbots or canons, but, being +prelates and with large endowments, they excite the envy of their order, +and are generals without any soldiers. We have the same spectacle among +the nobles. Most of them, the gentry of the provinces, have been elected +in opposition to the grandees of the Court. Moreover, neither the +grandees of the Court, devoted to worldly pursuits, nor the gentry of +the provinces, confined to private life, are practically familiar with +public affairs. A small group among them, twenty-eight magistrates +and about thirty superior officials who have held command or have been +connected with the administration, probably have some idea of the peril +of society; but it is precisely for this reason that they seem to be +behind the age and remain without influence.--In the Third-Estate, out +of five hundred and seventy-seven members, only ten have exercised +any important functions, those of intendant, councillor of state, +receiver-general, lieutenant of police, director of the mint, and others +of the same category. The great majority is composed of unknown lawyers +and people occupying inferior positions in the profession, notaries, +royal attorneys, register commissaries, judges and assessors of; +the présidial, bailiffs and lieutenants of the bailiwick, simple +practitioners confined from their youth to the narrow circle of an +inferior jurisdiction or to a routine of scribbling, with no escape +but philosophical excursions in imaginary space under the guidance of +Rousseau and Raynal. There are three hundred and seventy-three of this +class, to whom may be added thirty-eight farmers and husbandmen, fifteen +physicians, and, among the manufacturers, merchants, and capitalists, +some fifty or sixty who are their equals in education and in political +capacity. Scarcely one hundred and fifty proprietors are here from the +middle class.[2118] To these four hundred and fifty deputies, whose +condition, education, instruction, and mental range qualified them for +being good clerks, prominent men in a commune, honorable fathers of a +family, or, at best, provincial academicians, add two hundred and eight +curés, their equals; this makes six hundred and fifty out of eleven +hundred and eighteen deputies, forming a positive majority, which, +again, is augmented by about fifty philosophical nobles, leaving out the +weak who follow the current, and the ambitious who range themselves on +the strong side.--We may divine what a chamber thus made up can do, and +those who are familiar with such matters prophesy what it will do.[2119] + +"There are some able men in the National Assembly," writes the American +minister, "yet the best heads among them would not be injured by +experience, and, unfortunately, there are great numbers who, with much +imagination, have little knowledge, judgment, or reflection." + +It would be just as sensible to select eleven hundred notables from an +inland province and entrust them to the repair of an old frigate. They +would conscientiously break the vessel up, and the frigate they would +construct in its place would founder before it left port. + +If they would only consult the pilots and professional +shipbuilders!--There are several of such to be found around them, whom +they cannot suspect, for most of them are foreigners, born in free +countries, impartial, sympathetic, and, what is more, unanimous. The +Minister of the United States writes, two months before the convocation +of the States-General:[2120] + +"I, a republican, and just, as it were, emerged from that Assembly which +has formed one of the most republican of republican constitutions,--I +preach incessantly respect for the prince, attention to the rights of +the nobility, and moderation, not only in the object, but also in the +pursuit of it." + +Jefferson, a democrat and radical, expresses himself no differently. At +the time of the oath of the Tennis Court, he redoubles his efforts to +induce Lafayette and other patriots to make some arrangement with the +King to secure freedom of the press, religious, liberty, trial by jury, +the habeas corpus, and a national legislature,--things which he could +certainly be made to adopt,--and then to retire into private life, and +let these institutions act upon the condition of the people until they +had rendered it capable of further progress, with the assurance that +there would be no lack of opportunity for them to obtain still more. + +"This was all," he continues, "that I thought your countrymen able to +bear soberly and usefully." + +Arthur Young, who studies the moral life of France so conscientiously, +and who is so severe in depicting old abuses, cannot comprehend the +conduct of the Commons. + +"To set aside practice for theory... in establishing the interests of a +great kingdom, in securing freedom to 25,000,000 of people, seems to me +the very acme of imprudence, the very quintessence of insanity." + +Undoubtedly, now that the Assembly is all-powerful, it is to be hoped +that it will be reasonable: + +"I will not allow myself to believe for a moment that the +representatives of the people can ever so far forget their duty to +the French nation, to humanity, and their own fame, as to suffer +any inordinate and impracticable views--any visionary or theoretic +systems--... to turn aside their exertions from that security which is +in their hands, to place on the chance and hazard of public commotion +and civil war the invaluable blessings which are certainly in their +power. I will not conceive it possible that men who have eternal fame +within their grasp will place the rich inheritance on the cast of a die, +and, losing the venture, be damned among the worst and most profligate +adventurers that ever disgraced humanity." + +As their plan becomes more definite the remonstrances become more +decided, and all the expert judges point out to them the importance of +the wheels which they are willfully breaking. + +"As they have[2121] hitherto felt severely the authority exercised over +them in the name of their princes, every limitation of that authority +seems to them desirable. Never having felt the evils of too weak an +executive, the disorders to be apprehended from anarchy make as yet no +impression"--"They want an American Constitution,[2122] but with a +King instead of a President, without reflecting they have no American +citizens to support that Constitution... If they have the good sense +to give the nobles, as nobles, some portion of the national power, this +free constitution will probably last, But otherwise it will degenerate +either into a pure monarchy, or a vast republic, or a democracy. Will +the latter last? I doubt it. I am sure that it will not, unless the +whole nation is changed." + +A little later, when they renounce a parliamentary monarchy to put in +its place "a royal democracy," it is at once explained to them that such +an institution applied to France can produce nothing but anarchy, and +finally end in despotism. + +"Nowhere[2123] has liberty proved to be stable without a sacrifice of +its excesses, without some barrier to its own omnipotence... . Under +this miserable government... the people, soon weary of storms, and +abandoned without legal protection to their seducers or to their +oppressors, will shatter the helm, or hand it over to some audacious +hand that stands ready to seize it." + +Events occur from month to month in fulfillment of these predictions, +and the predictions grow gloomier and more gloomy. It is a flock of wild +birds:[2124] + +"It is very difficult to guess whereabouts the flock will settle when +it flies so wild... . This unhappy country, bewildered in the pursuit +of metaphysical whims, presents to our moral view a mighty ruin. The +Assembly, at once master and slave, new in power, wild in theory, raw in +practice, engrossing all functions without being able to exercise any, +has freed that fierce, ferocious people from every restraint of religion +and respect... . Such a state of things cannot last... The glorious +opportunity is lost and for this time, at least, the Revolution has +failed." + +We see, from the replies of Washington, that he is of the same opinion. +On the other side of the Channel, Pitt, the ablest practician, and +Burke, the ablest theorist, of political liberty, express the same +judgment. Pitt, after 1789, declares that the French have overleaped +freedom. After 1790, Burke, in a work which is a prophecy as well as a +masterpiece, points to military dictatorship as the termination of the +Revolution, "the most completely arbitrary power that has ever appeared +on earth." Nothing is of any effect. With the exception of the small +powerless group around Malouet and Mounier, the warnings of Morris, +Jefferson, Romilly, Dumont, Mallet du Pan, Arthur Young, Pitt and Burke, +all of them men who have experience of free institutions, are received +with indifference or repelled with disdain. Not only are our new +politicians incapable, but they think themselves the contrary, and their +incompetence is aggravated by their infatuation. + +"I often used to say, "writes Dumont,[2125] "that if a hundred persons +were stopped at haphazard in the streets of London, and a hundred in the +streets of Paris, and a proposal were made to them to take charge of the +Government, ninety-nine would accept it in Paris and ninety-nine would +refuse it in London... The Frenchman thinks that all difficulties can +be overcome by a little quickness of wit. Mirabeau accepted the post of +reporter to the Committee on Mines without having the slightest tincture +of knowledge on the subject." + +In short, most of them enter politics "like the gentleman who, on being +asked if he knew how to play on the harpsichord, replied, 'I cannot +tell, I never tried, but I will see.'" + +"The Assembly had so high an opinion of itself, especially the left side +of it, that it would willingly have undertaken the framing of the Code +of Laws for all nations... Never has so many men been seen together, +fancying that they were all legislators, and that they were there to +correct all the errors of the past, to remedy all mistakes of the human +mind, and ensure the happiness of all ages to come. Doubt had no +place in their minds, and infallibility always presided over their +contradictory decrees."-- + +This is because they have a theory and because, according to their +notion, this theory renders special knowledge unnecessary. Herein they +are thoroughly sincere, and it is of set purpose that they reverse all +ordinary modes of procedure. Up to this time a constitution used to be +organized or repaired like a ship. Experiments were made from time to +time, or a model was taken from vessels in the neighborhood; the first +aim was to make the ship sail; its construction was subordinated to its +work; it was fashioned in this or that way according to the materials on +hand; a beginning was made by examining these materials, and trying to +estimate their rigidity, weight, and strength.--All this is reactionary; +the age of Reason has come and the Assembly is too enlightened to drag +on in a rut. In conformity with the fashion of the time it works by +deduction, after the method of Rousseau, according to an abstract notion +of right, of the State and of the social compact.[2126] According to +this process, by virtue of political geometry alone, they shall have the +perfect vessel and since it perfect it follows that it will sail, and +that much better than any empirical craft.--They legislate according +to this principle, and one may imagine the nature of their discussions. +There are no convincing facts, no pointed arguments; nobody would +ever imagine that the speakers were gathered together to conduct real +business. Through speech after speech, strings of hollow abstractions +are endlessly renewed as in a meeting of students in rhetoric for the +purpose of practice, or in a society of old bookworms for their own +amusement. On the question of the veto "each orator in turn, armed with +his portfolio, reads a dissertation which has no bearing whatever" on +the preceding one, which makes a "sort of academical session,"[2127] +a succession of pamphlets fresh every morning for several days. On the +question of the Rights of Man fifty-four speakers are placed on the +list. + +"I remember," says Dumont, "that long discussion, which lasted for +weeks, as a period of deadly boredom,--vain disputes over words, a +metaphysical jumble, and most tedious babble; the Assembly was turned +into a Sorbonne lecture-room," and all this while chateaux were burning, +while town-halls were being sacked, and courts dared no longer hold +assize, while the distribution of wheat was stopped, and while society +was in course of dissolution. In the same manner the theologians of the +Easter Roman Empire kept up their wrangles about the uncreated light of +Mount Tabor while Mahomet II was battering the walls of Constantinople +with his cannon.--Ours, of course, are another sort of men, juvenile +in feeling, sincere, enthusiastic, even generous, and further, more +devoted, laborious, and in some cases endowed with rare talent. But +neither zeal, nor labor, nor talent are of any use when not employed in +the service of a sound idea; and if in the service of a false one, the +greater they are the more mischief they do. + +Towards the end of the year 1789, there can be not doubt of this; +and the parties now formed reveal their presumption, improvidence, +incapacity, and obstinacy. "This Assembly," writes the American +ambassador,[2128] "may be divided into three parties;-- + +one called the aristocrats, consists of the high clergy, the +parliamentary judges, and such of the nobility as think they ought to +form a separate order." This is the party which offers resistance to +follies and errors, but with follies and errors almost equally great. +In the beginning "the prelates,[2129] instead of conciliating the curés, +kept them at a humiliating distance, affecting distinctions, exacting +respect," and, in their own chamber, "ranging themselves apart on +separate benches." The nobles, on the other hand, the more to alienate +the commons, began by charging these with, "revolt, treachery, and +treason," and by demanding the use of military force against them. Now +that the victorious Third-Estate has again overcome them and overwhelms +them with numbers, they become still more maladroit, and conduct the +defense much less efficiently than the attack. "In the Assembly," says +one of them, "they do not listen, but laugh and talk aloud;" they +take pains to embitter their adversaries and the galleries by their +impertinence. "They leave the chamber when the President puts the +question and invite the deputies of their party to follow them, or +cry out to them not to take part in the deliberation: through this +desertion, the clubbists become the majority, and decree whatever they +please." It is in this way that the appointment of judges and bishops +is withdrawn from the King and assigned to the people. Again, after the +return from Varennes, when the Assembly finds out that the result of its +labors is impracticable and wants to make it less democratic, the whole +of the right side refuses to share in the debates, and, what is worse, +votes with the revolutionaries to exclude the members of the Constituent +from the Legislative Assembly. Thus, not only does it abandon its +own cause, but it commits self-destruction, and its desertion ends in +suicide.-- + +A second party remains, "the middle party,"[2130] which consists of +well-intentioned people from every class, sincere partisans of a good +government; but, unfortunately, they have acquired their ideas of +government from books, and are admirable on paper. But as it happens +that the men who live in the world are very different from imaginary men +who dwell in the heads of philosophers, it is not to be wondered at if +the systems taken out of books are fit for nothing but to be upset by +another book. Intellects of this stamp are the natural prey of utopians. +Lacking the ballast of experience they are carried away by pure logic +and serve to enlarge the flock of theorists.--The latter form the third +party, which is called the "enragés (the wild men), and who, at the +expiration of six months, find themselves "the most numerous of all." + +"It is composed," says Morris, "of that class which in America is known +by the name of pettifogging lawyers, together with a host of curates and +many of those persons who in all revolutions throng to the standard +of change because they are not well.[2131] This last party is in close +alliance with the populace and derives from this circumstance very great +authority." + +All powerful passions are on its side, not merely the irritation of the +people tormented by misery and suspicion, not merely the ambition and +self-esteem of the bourgeois, in revolt against the ancient régime, +but also the inveterate bitterness and fixed ideas of so many suffering +minds and so many factious intellects, Protestants, Jansenists, +economists, philosophers, men who, like Fréteau, Rabout-Saint-Etienne, +Volney, Sieyès, are hatching out a long arrears of resentments or hopes, +and who only await the opportunity to impose their system with all the +intolerance of dogmatism and of faith. To minds of this stamp the past +is a dead letter; example is no authority; realities are of no account; +they live in their own Utopia. Sieyès, the most important of them all, +judges that "the whole English constitution is charlatanism, designed +for imposing on the people;"[2132] he regards the English "as children +in the matter of a constitution," and thinks that he is capable of +giving France a much better one. Dumont, who sees the first committees +at the houses of Brissot and Clavières, goes away with as much anxiety +as "disgust." + +"It is impossible," he says, "to depict the confusion of ideas, the +license of the imagination, the burlesque of popular notions. One +would think that they saw before them the world on the day after the +Creation." + +They seem to think, indeed, that human society does not exist, and that +they are appointed to create it. Just as well might ambassadors "of +hostile tribes, and of diverse interests, set themselves to arrange +their common lot as if nothing had previously existed." There is no +hesitation. They are satisfied that the thing can be easily done, and +that, with two or three axioms of political philosophy, the first man +that comes may make himself master of it. Immoderate conceit of this +kind among men of experience would seem ridiculous; in this assembly of +novices it is a strength. A flock which has lost its way follows those +who appears to forge ahead; they are the most irrational but they +are the most confident, and in the Chamber as in the nation it is the +daredevils who become leaders. + + + + +III.--The Power Of Simple, General Ideas. + + Ascendancy of the revolutionary party--Theory in its favor-- + The constraint thus imposed on men's minds--Appeal to the + passions--Brute force on the side of the party--It profits + by this--Oppression of the minority. + +Two advantages give this party the ascendancy, and these advantages are +of such importance that henceforth whoever possesses them is sure of +being master.--In the first place the prevailing theory is on the +side of the revolutionaries, and they alone are, in the second place, +determined thoroughly to apply it. This party, therefore, is the only +one which is consistent and popular in the face of adversaries who are +unpopular and inconsequent. Nearly all of the latter, indeed, defenders +of the ancient régime, or partisans of a limited monarchy, are likewise +imbued with abstract principles and philosophical speculation. The most +refractory nobles have advocated the rights of man in their memorials. +Mounier, the principal opponent of the demagogues, was the +leader of the commons when they proclaimed themselves to be the +National--Assembly.[2133] This is enough: they have entered the narrow +defile which leads to the abyss. They had no idea of it at the first +start, but one step leads to another, and, willing or unwilling, they +march on, or are pushed on. When the abyss comes in sight it is too +late; they have been driven there by the logical results of their own +concessions; they can do nothing but wax eloquent and indignant; +having abandoned their vantage ground, they find no halting-place +remaining.--There is an enormous power in general ideas, especially +if they are simple, and appeal to the passions. None are simpler than +these, since they are reducible to the axiom which assumes the rights +of man, and subordinate to them every institution, old or new. None are +better calculated to inflame the sentiments, since the doctrine enlists +human arrogance and pride in its service, and, in the name of justice, +consecrates all the demands of independence and domination. Consider +three-fourths of the deputies, immature and prejudiced, possessing no +information but a few formulas of the current philosophy, with no thread +to guide them but pure logic, abandoned to the declamation of lawyers, +to the wild utterances of the newspapers, to the promptings of +self-esteem, to the hundred thousand tongues which, on all sides, at the +bar of the Assembly, at the tribune, in the clubs, in the streets, in +their own breasts, repeat unanimously to them, and every day, the same +flattery: + +"You are sovereign and omnipotent. Right is vested in you alone. The +King exists only to execute your will. Every order, every corporation, +every power, every civil or ecclesiastical association is illegitimate +and null the moment you declare it to be so. You may even transform +religion. You are the fathers of the country. You have saved France, you +will regenerate humanity. The whole world looks on you in admiration; +finish your glorious work--forward, always forward." + +Superior good sense and rooted convictions could alone stand firm +against this flood of seductions and solicitations; but vacillating and +ordinary men are carried away by it. In the harmony of applause which +rises, they do not hear the crash of the ruins they produce. In any +case, they stop their ears, and shun the cries of the oppressed; they +refuse to admit that their work could possibly bring about evil results; +they accept the sophisms and untruths which justify it; they allow the +assassinated to be calumniated in order to excuse the assassins; they +listen to Merlin de Douay, who, after three or four jacqueries, when +pillaging, arson, and murder are going on in all the provinces, has just +declared in the name of the Committee on Feudalism[2134] that "a law +must be presented to the people, the justice of which may enforce +silence on the feudatory egoists who, for the past six months, so +indecently protest against plunder; the wisdom of which may restore to +a sense of duty the peasant who has been led astray for a moment by +his resentment of a long oppression." And when Raynal, the surviving +patriarch of the philosophic party, one day, for a wonder, takes +the plain truth with him into their tribune, they resent his +straightforwardness as an outrage, and excuse it solely on the ground of +his imbecility. An omnipotent legislator cannot depreciate himself; like +a king he is condemned to self-admiration in his public capacity. "There +were not thirty deputies amongst us," says a witness, "who thought +differently from Raynal," but "in each other's presence the credit of +the Revolution, the perspective of its blessings, was an article of +faith which had to be believed in;" and, against their own reason, +against their conscience, the moderates, caught in the net of their own +acts, join the revolutionaries to complete the Revolution. + +Had they refused, they would have been compelled; for, to obtain the +power, the Assembly has, from the very first, either tolerated +or solicited the violence of the streets. But, in accepting +insurrectionists for its allies, it makes them masters, and henceforth, +in Paris as in the provinces, illegal and brutal force becomes the +principal power of the State. "The triumph was accomplished through the +people; it was impossible to be severe with them;"[2135] hence, when +insurrections were to be put down, the Assembly had neither the courage +nor the force necessary. "They blame for the sake of decency; they frame +their deeds by expediency." and in turn justly undergo the pressure +which they themselves have sanctioned against others. Only three or four +times do the majority, when the insurrection becomes too daring--after +the murder of the baker François, the insurrection of the Swiss Guard at +Nancy, and the outbreak of the Champ de Mars--feel that they themselves +are menaced, vote for and apply martial law, and repel force with force. +But, in general, when the despotism of the people is exercised only +against the royalist minority, they allow their adversaries to be +oppressed, and do not consider themselves affected by the violence which +assails the party of the "right:" they are enemies, and may be given +up to the wild beasts. In accordance with this, the "left" has made its +arrangements; its fanaticism has no scruples; it is principle, it is +absolute truth that is at stake; this must triumph at any cost. Besides, +can there be any hesitation in having recourse to the people in the +people's own cause? A little compulsion will help along the good cause, +and hence the siege of the Assembly is continually renewed. This was the +practice already at Versailles before the 6th of October, while now, at +Paris, it is kept up more actively and with less disguise. + +At the beginning of the year 1790,[2136] the band under pay comprises +seven hundred and fifty effective men, most of them deserters or +soldiers drummed out of their regiments, who are at first paid five +francs and then forty sous a day. It is their business to make or +support motions in the coffee-houses and in the streets, to mix with +the spectators at the sittings of the sections, with the groups at the +Palais-Royal, and especially in the galleries of the National-Assembly, +where they are to hoot or applaud at a given signal. Their leader is a +Chevalier de Saint-Louis, to whom they swear obedience, and who receives +his orders from the Committee of Jacobins. His first lieutenant at the +Assembly is a M. Saule, "a stout, small, stunted old fellow, formerly an +upholsterer, then a charlatan hawker of four penny boxes of grease (made +from the fat of those that had been hung--for the cure of diseases of +the kidneys) and all his life a sot.... who, by means of a tolerably +shrill voice, which was always well moistened, has acquired some +reputation in the galleries of the Assembly." In fact, he has forged +admission tickets he has been turned out; he has been obliged to resume +"the box of ointment, and travel for one or two months in the provinces +with a man of letters for his companion." But on his return, "through +the protection of a groom of the Court, he obtained a piece of ground +for a coffee-house against the wall of the Tuileries garden, almost +alongside of the National Assembly," and now it is at home in his +coffee-shop behind his counter that the hirelings of the galleries "come +to him to know what they must say, and to be told the order of the day +in regard to applause." Besides this, he is there himself; "it is he +who for three years is to regulate public sentiment in the galleries +confided to his care, and, for his useful and satisfactory services, +the Constituent Assembly will award him a recompense," to which the +Legislative Assembly will add "a pension of six hundred livres, besides +a lodging in an apartment of the Feuillants." + +We can divine how men of this stamp, thus compensated, do their work. +From the top of the galleries[2137] they drown the demands of the +"right" by the force of their lungs; this or that decree, as, for +instance, the abolition of titles of nobility, is carried, "not by +shouts, but by terrific howls."[2138] On the arrival of the news of the +sacking of the Hôtel de Castries by the populace, they applaud. On the +question coming up as to the decision whether the Catholic faith shall +be dominant, "they shout out that the aristocrats must all be hung, and +then things will go on well." Their outrages not only remain unpunished, +but are encouraged: this or that noble who complains of their hooting +is called to order, while their interference and vociferations, their +insults and their menaces, are from this time introduced as one of the +regular wheels of legislative operations. Their pressure is still worse +outside the Chamber.[2139] The Assembly is obliged several times to +double its guard. On the 27th of September, 1790, there are 40,000 +men around the building to extort the dismissal of the Ministers, and +"motions for assassination" are made under the windows, On the 4th of +January, 1791, whilst on a call of the house the ecclesiastical deputies +pass in turn to the tribune, to take or refuse the oath to the civil +constitution of the clergy, a furious clamor ascends in the Tuileries, +and even penetrates into the Chamber. "To the lamp post with all those +who refuse!" On the 27th of September, 1790, M. Dupont, economist, +having spoken against the assignats, is surrounded on leaving the +Chamber and hooted at, hustled, pushed against the basin of the +Tuileries, into which he was being thrown when the guard rescued him. On +the 21st of June, 1790, M. de Cazalès just misses "being torn to pieces +by the people."[2140] Deputies of the "right" are threatened over and +over again by gestures in the streets and in the coffee-houses; effigies +of them with ropes about the neck are publicly displayed. The Abbé Maury +is several times on the point of being hung: he saves himself once by +presenting a pistol. Another time the Vicomte de Mirabeau is obliged +to draw his sword. M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, having voted against the +annexation of the Comtat to France, is assailed with chairs and clubs +in the Palais-Royal, pursued into a porter's room and from thence to his +dwelling; the howling crowd break in the doors, and are only repelled +with great difficulty. It is impossible for the members of the "right" +to assemble together; they are "stoned" in the church of the Capuchins, +then in the Salon Français in the Rue Royale, and then, to crown the +whole, an ordinance of the new judges shuts up their hall, and punishes +them for the violence which they have to suffer.[2141] In short they are +at the mercy of the mob. The most moderate, the most liberal, and the +most manly both in heart and head, Malouet, declares that "in going to +the Assembly he rarely forgot to carry his pistols with him."[2142] +"For two years," he says, "after the King's flight, we never enjoyed one +moment of freedom and security." + +" On going into a slaughter-house," writes another deputy, "you see some +animals at the entrance which still have a short time to live, until +the hour comes to dispatch them. Such was the impression which the +assemblage of nobles, bishops, and parliamentarians[2143] on the right +side made on my mind every time I entered the Assembly, the executioners +of the left side permitting them to breathe a little longer." + +They are insulted and outraged even upon their benches; "placed +between peril within and peril without, between the hostility of the +galleries,"[2144] and that of the howlers at the entrance, "between +personal insults and the abbey of Saint-Germain, between shouts of +laughter celebrating the burning of their chateaux and the clamors +which, thirty times in a quarter of an hour, cry down their opinions," +they are given over and denounced "to the ten thousand Cerberuses" of +the journals and of the streets, who pursue them with their yells and +"cover them with their slaver." Any expedient is good enough for putting +down their opposition, and, at the end of the session, in full Assembly, +they are threatened with "a recommendation to the departments," which +means the excitement of riots and of the permanent jacquerie of the +provinces against them in their own houses.--Parliamentary strategy +of this sort, employed uninterruptedly for twenty-nine months, finally +produces its effect. Many of the weak are gained over;[2145] even on +characters of firm temper fear has a hold; he who would march under fire +with head erect shuddered at the idea of being dragged in the gutter by +the rabble; the brutality of the populace always exercises a material +ascendancy over finely strung nerves. On the 12th of July, 1791,[2146] +the call of the house decreed against the absentees proves that one +hundred and thirty-two deputies no longer appear in their places. Eleven +days before, among those who take no further part in the proceedings. +Thus, before the completion of the Constitution, the whole of the +opposition, more than four hundred members, over one-third of the +Assembly, is reduced to flight or to silence. By dint of oppression, the +revolutionary party has got rid of all resistance, while the violence +which gave to it ascendancy in the streets, now gives to it equal +ascendance within the walls of Parliament. + + + + +IV.--Refusal to supply the ministry + + Effects of this mistake--Misconception of the situation--The + committee of investigation--Constant alarms--Effects of + ignorance and fear on the work of the Constituent Assembly. + +Generally in an omnipotent assembly, when a party takes the lead and +forms a majority, it furnishes the Ministry; and this fact suffices +to give, or to bring back to it, some glimpse of common sense. For its +leaders, with the Government in their own hands, become responsible for +it, and when they propose or pass a law, they are obliged to anticipate +its effect. Rarely will a Secretary of War or of the Navy adopt a +military code which goes to establish permanent disobedience in the +army or in the navy. Rarely will a Secretary of the Treasury propose an +expenditure for which there is not a sufficient revenue, or a system of +taxation that provides no returns. Placed where full information can +be procured, daily advised of every details, surrounded by skillful +counselors and expert clerks, the chiefs of the majority, who thus +become heads of the administration, immediately drop theory for +practice; and the fumes of political speculation must be pretty dense +in their minds if they exclude the multiplied rays of light which +experience constantly sheds upon them. Let the most stubborn of +theorists take his stand at the helm of a ship, and, whatever be the +obstinacy of his principles or his prejudices, he will never, unless he +is blind or led by the blind, persist in steering always to the right +or always to the left. Just so after the flight to Varennes, when the +Assembly, in full possession of the executive power, directly controls +the Ministry, it comes to recognize for itself that its constitutional +machine will not work, except in the way of destruction; and it is the +principal revolutionaries, Barnave, Duport, the Lameths, Chapelier, and +Thouret,[2147] who undertake to make alterations in the mechanisms so +as to lessen its friction. But this source of knowledge and reason, +however, to which they are momentarily induced to draw, in spite of +themselves and too late, has been turned off by themselves from the very +beginning. On the 6th of November, 1789, in deference to principle +and in dread of corruption, the Assembly had declared that none of +its members should hold ministerial office. We see it in consequence +deprived of all the instruction which comes from direct contact with +affairs, surrendered without any counterpoise to the seductions +of theory, reduced by its own decision to become a mere academy of +legislation only. + +Nay, still worse, through another effect of the same error, it condemns +itself by its own act to constant fits of panic. For, having allowed +the power which it was not willing to assume to slip into indifferent or +suspect hands, it is always uneasy, and all its decrees bear an uniform +stamp, not only of the willful ignorance within which it confines +itself, but also of the exaggerated or chimerical fears in which its +life is passed.--Imagine a ship conveying a company of lawyers, literary +men, and other passengers, who, supported by a mutinous and poorly fed +crew, take full command, but refuse to select one of their own number +for a pilot or for the officer of the watch. The former captain +continues to nominate them; through very shame, and because he is a +good sort of man, his title is left to him, and he is retained for the +transmission of orders. If these orders are absurd, so much the worse +for him; if he resists them, a fresh mutiny forces him to yield; and +even when they cannot be executed, he has to answer for their being +carried out. In the meantime, in a room between decks, far away from the +helm and the compass, our club of amateurs discuss the equilibrium of +floating bodies, decree a new system of navigation, have the ballast +thrown overboard, crowd on all sail, and are astonished to find that +the ship heels over on its side. The officer of the watch and the pilot +must, evidently, have managed the maneuver badly. They are accordingly +dismissed and others put in their place, while the ship heels over +farther yet and begins to leak in every joint. Enough: it is the +fault of the captain and the old staff of officers, They are not +well-disposed; for a beautiful system of navigation like this ought to +work well; and if it fails to do so, it is because some one interferes +with it. It is positively certain that some of those people belonging +to the former régime must be traitors, who would rather have the ship +go down than submit; they are public enemies and monsters. They must +be seized, disarmed, put under surveillance, and punished.--Such is the +reasoning of the Assembly. Evidently, to reassure it, a message from the +Minister of the Interior chosen by the Assembly, to the lieutenant of +police whom he had appointed, to come to his office every morning, would +be all that was necessary. But it is deprived of this simple resource by +its own act, and has no other expedient than to appoint a committee of +investigation to discover crimes of "treason against the nation."[2148] +What could be more vague than such a term? What could be more +mischievous than such an institution?--Renewed every month, deprived of +special agents, composed of credulous and inexperienced deputies, this +committee, set to perform the work of a Lenoir or a Fouché, makes up for +its incapacity by violence, and its proceedings anticipate those of +the Jacobine inquisition.[2149] Alarmist and suspicious, it encourages +accusations, and, for lack of plots to discover, it invents them. +Inclinations, in its eyes, stand for actions, and floating projects +become accomplished outrages. On the denunciation of a domestic who has +listened at a door, on the gossip of a washerwoman who has found a scrap +of paper in a dressing-gown, on the false interpretation of a letter, +on vague indications which it completes and patches together by +the strength of its imagination, it forges a coup d'état, makes +examinations, domiciliary visits, nocturnal surprises and arrests;[2150] +it exaggerates, blackens, and comes in public session to denounce the +whole affair to the National Assembly. First comes the plot of the +Breton nobles to deliver Brest to the English;[2151] then the plot for +hiring brigands to destroy the crops; then the plot of 14th of July to +burn Paris; then the plot of Favras to murder Lafayette, Necker, and +Bailly; then the plot of Augeard to carry off the King, and many others, +week after week, not counting those which swarm in the brains of the +journalists, and which Desmoulins, Fréron, and Marat reveal with a +flourish of trumpets in each of their publications. + +"All these alarms are cried daily in the streets like cabbages +and turnips, the good people of Paris inhaling them along with the +pestilential vapors of our mud."[2152] + +..............Now, in this aspect, as well as in a good many others, the +Assembly is the people; satisfied that it is in danger,[2153] it makes +laws as the former make their insurrections, and protects itself by +strokes of legislation as the former protects itself by blows with +pikes. Failing to take hold of the motor spring by which it might direct +the government machine, it distrusts all the old and all the new wheels. +The old ones seem to it an obstacle, and, instead of utilizing them, +it breaks them one by one--parliaments, provincial states, religious +orders, the church, the nobles, and royalty. The new ones are +suspicious, and instead of harmonizing them, it puts them out of gear +in advance--the executive power, administrative powers, judicial +powers, the police, the gendarmerie, and the army.[2154] Thanks to +these precautions it is impossible for any of them to be turned against +itself; but, also, thanks to these precautions, none of them can perform +their functions.[2155] + +In building, as well as in destroying, the Assembly had two bad +counselors, on the one hand fear, on the other hand theory; and on the +ruins of the old machine which it had demolished without discernment, +the new machine, which it has constructed without forecast, will work +only to its own ruin. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2101: Arthur Young, June 15, 1789.--Bailly, passim,--Moniteur, +IV. 522 (June 2, 1790).--Mercure de France (Feb. 11 1792).] + +[Footnote 2102: Moniteur, v. 631 (Sep. 12, 1790), and September 8th +(what is said by the Abbé Maury).--Marmontel, book XIII. 237.--Malouet, +I. 261.--Bailly, I. 227.] + +[Footnote 2103: Sir Samuel Romilly, "Mémoires," I. 102, 354.--Dumont, +158. (The official rules bear are dated July 29, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 2104: Cf. Ferrières, I. 3. His repentance is affecting.] + +[Footnote 2105: Letter from Morris to Washington, January 24, 1790 See +page 382, "A diary of the French revolution", Greenwood Press, Westport, +Conn. 1972.--Dumont 125--Garat, letter to Condorcet.] + +[Footnote 2106: Arthur Young, I. 46. "Tame and elegant, uninteresting +and polite, the mingled mass of communicated ideas has power neither +to offend nor instruct..... All vigor of thought seems excluded from +expression..... Where there is much polish of character there is little +argument."--Cabinet des Estampes. See engravings of the day by Moreau, +Prieur, Monet, representing the opening of the States-General. All the +figures have a graceful, elegant, and genteel air.] + +[Footnote 2107: Marmontel, book XIII. 237.--Malouet, I. 261.--Ferrières, +I. 19.] + +[Footnote 2108: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790.--Likewise (De +Ferrières, I.71) the decree on the abolition of nobility was not the +order of the day, and was carried by surprise.] + +[Footnote 2109: Ferrières, I. 189.--Dumont, 146.] + +[Footnote 2110: Letter of Mirabeau to Sieyès, June 11, 1790. "Our nation +of monkeys with the throats of parrots."--Dumont, 146. "Sieyès and +Mirabeau always entertained a contemptible opinion of the Constituent +Assembly."] + +[Footnote 2111: Moniteur, I, 256, 431 (July 16 and 31, 1789).--Journal +des Débats et Décrets, 105, July 16th "A member demands that M. de Lally +should put his speech in writing. The whole Assembly has repeated this +request."] + +[Footnote 2112: Moniteur. (March 11, 1790). "A nun of St. Mandé, brought +to the bar of the house, thanks the Assembly for the decree by which +the cloisters are opened, and denounces the tricks, intrigues, and +even violence exercised in the convents to prevent the execution of +the decree."--Ibid. March 29, 1790. See the various addresses which are +read. "At Lagnon, the mother of a family assembled her ten children, +and swore with them and for them to be loyal to the nation and to +the King."--Ibid. June 5, 1790. "M. Chambroud reads the letter of the +collector of customs of Lannion, in Brittany, to a priest, a member +of the National Assembly. He implores his influence to secure the +acceptance of his civic oath and that of all his family, ready to wield +either the censer, the cart, the scales, the sword, or the pen." On +reading a number of these addresses the Assembly appears to be a +supplement of the Petites Affiches (a small advertising journal in +Paris).] + +[Footnote 2113: Moniteur, October 23, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2114: A well-known writer of children's stories.-- +21Tr.] + +[Footnote 2115: Ferrières, II. 65 (June 10,1790).--De Montlosier, I. +402. "One of these puppets came the following day to get his money +of the Comte de Billancourt, mistaking him for the Duc de Liancourt. +'Monsieur,' says he, 'I am the man who played the Chaldean yesterday.'"] + +[Footnote 2116: Buchez and Roux, X. 118 (June 16, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2117: See the printed list of deputies, with the indication of +their baillage or sénéchaussée, quality, condition, and profession.] + +[Footnote 2118: De Bouillé, 75.--When the King first saw the list of the +deputies, he exclaimed," What would the nation have said if I had made +up my council or the Notables in this way?" (Buchez and Roux, IV. 39.)] + +[Footnote 2119: Gouverneur Morris, July 31, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2120: Gouverneur Morris, February 25, 1789.--Lafayette, +"Mémoires," V. 492. Letter of Jefferson, February 14, 1815.--Arthur +Young, June 27 and 29, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2121: Morris, July 1, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2122: Morris, July 4, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2123: Mallet du Pan, Mercure, September 26, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2124: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790; November 22, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2125: Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + +[Footnote 2126: Sir Samuel. Romilly, "Mémoirs," I. 102. "It was their +constant course first, decree the principle and leave the drawing up +of what they had so resolved (or, as they called it, la rédaction) for +later. It is astonishing how great an influence it had on their debates +and measures".--Ibid. I. 354. Letter by Dumont, June 2, 1789. "They +prefer their own folly to all the results of British experience. They +revolt at the idea of borrowing anything from our government, which is +scoffed at here as one of the iniquities of human reason; although they +admit that you have two or three good laws; but that you should presume +to have a constitution is not to be sustained."] + +[Footnote 2127: Dumont, 138, 151.] + +[Footnote 2128: Morris, January 24, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2129: Marmontel, XII. 265.--Ferrières,. I. 48¸ II. 50, 58, +126.--Dumont, 74.] + +[Footnote 2130: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790.--According to +Ferrières this party comprised about three hundred members.] + +[Footnote 2131: Here Ambassador Morris describes the kind of man who +should form the backbone of all later revolutions whether communist or +fascist ones. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2132: Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + +[Footnote 2133: De Lavergne, "Les Assemblées Provinciales," 384. +Deliberations of the States of Dauphiny, drawn up by Mournier and signed +by two hundred gentlemen (July, 1788). "The rights of man are derived +from nature alone, and are independent of human conventions."] + +[Footnote 2134: Report by Merlin de Douai, February 8, 1790, +p.2.--Malouet, II, 51.] + +[Footnote 2135: Dumont, 133.--De Montlosier, I, 355, 361.] + +[Footnote 2136: Bertrand de Molleville, II. 221 (according to a police +report).--Schmidt, "Tableaux de la Révolution," I. 215. (Report of the +agent Dutard, May 13, 1793)--Lacretelle, "Dix Ans d'Epreuves," p.35. "It +was about midnight when we went out in the rain, sleet, and snow, in the +piercing cold, to the church of the Feuillants, to secure places for the +galleries of the Assembly, which we were not to occupy till noon on the +following day. We were obliged, moreover, to contend for them with a +crowd animated by passions, and even by interests, very different from +our own. We were not long in perceiving that a considerable part of the +galleries was under pay, and that the scenes of cruelty which gave pain +to us were joy to them. I cannot express the horror I felt on hearing +those women, since called tricoteuses, take a delight in the already +homicidal doctrines of Robespierre, enjoying his sharp voice and +feasting their eyes on his ugly face, the living type of envy." (The +first months of 1790.)] + +[Footnote 2137: Moniteur, V. 237 (July 26, 1790); V. 594. (September 8, +1790); V. 631 (September 12, 1790); VI. 310 (October 6, 1790). (Letter +of the Abbé Peretti.)] + +[Footnote 2138: De Ferrières, II. 75.--Moniteur, VI. 373 (September 6, +1790).--M. de Virieu. "Those who insult certain members and hinder the +freedom of debate by hooting or applause must be silenced. Is it the +three hundred spectators who are to be our judges, or the nation?" M. +Chasset, President: "Monsieur opinionist, I call you to order. You speak +of hindrances to a free vote; there has never been anything of the kind +in this Assembly."] + +[Footnote 2139: Sauzay, I 140. Letter of M. Lompré, liberal deputy, to +M. Séguin, chanoine (towards the end of November, 1789). "The service +becomes more difficult every day; we have become objects of popular +fury, and, when no other resource was left to us to avoid the tempest +but to get rid of the endowments of the clergy, we yielded to force. It +had become a pressing necessity, and I should have been sorry to have +had you still here, exposed to the outrages and violence with which I +have been repeatedly threatened."] + +[Footnote 2140: Mercure de France, Nos. of January 15, 1791; October 2, +1790; May 14,1791.--Buchez and Roux, V. 343 (April 13, 1790); VII. +76 (September 2, 1790); X. 225 ( June 21, 1791).--De Montlosier, I. +357.--Moniteur, IV, 427.] + +[Footnote 2141: Archives of the Police, exposed by the Committee of the +district of Saint-Roch. Judgment of the Police Tribunal, May 15, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2142: Malouet, II. 68.--De Montlosier, II. 217, 257 (Speech of +M. Lavie, September 18, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2143: I.e. members of the old local parlements.] + +[Footnote 2144: Mercure, October 1, 1791. (Article by Mallet du Pan.)] + +[Footnote 2145: Malouet II. 66. "Those only who were not intimidated +by insults or threats, nor by actual blows, could come forward as +opponents."] + +[Footnote 2146: Buchez and Roux, X. 432, 465.] + +[Footnote 2147: Malouet, II, 153.] + +[Footnote 2148: Decrees of July 23rd and 28th, 1789.--"Archives +Nationales." Papers of Committee of Investigation, passim. Among other +affairs see that of Madame de Persan (Moniteur, V. 611, sitting of +September 9, 1790), and that of Malouet ("Mémoires" II. 12).] + +[Footnote 2149: Buchez and Roux, IV. 56 (Report of Garan de Coulon); V. +49 (Decision of the Committee of Investigation, December 28, 1789).] + +[Footnote 2150: The arrests of M. de Riolles, M. de Bussy, etc., of +Madame de Jumilhac, of two other ladies, one at Bar-le-Duc and the other +of Nancy, etc.] + +[Footnote 2151: Sitting of July 28, 1789, the speeches of Duport and +Rewbell, etc.--Mercure, No. of January 1, 1791 (article by Mallet +du Pan).--Buchez and Roux, V. 146l "Behold five or six successive +conspiracies--that of the sacks of flour, that of the sacks of money, +etc." (Article by Camille Desmoulins.)] + +[Footnote 2152: "Archives de la Préfecture de Police." Extract from the +registers of the deliberations of the Conseil-Général of the district +of Saint-Roch, October 10 1789: Arrête: to request all the men in the +commune to devote themselves, with all the prudence, activity, and force +of which they are capable, to the discovery, exposure, and publication +of the horrible plots and infernal treachery which are constantly +meditated against the inhabitants of the capital; to denounce to the +public the authors, abettors, and adherents of the said plots, whatever +their rank may be; to secure their persons and insure their punishment +with all the rigor which outrages of this kind call for. The commandant +of the battalion and the district captains come daily to consult with +the committee. "While the alarm lasts, the first story of each house is +to be lighted with lamps during the night: all citizens of the district +are requested to be at home by ten o'clock in the evening at the +latest, unless they should be on duty... . All citizens are invited +to communicate whatever they may learn or discover in relation to the +abominable plots which are secretly going on in the capital."] + +[Footnote 2153: Letter of M. de Guillermy, July 31, 1790 ("Actes des +Apôtres," V. 56). "During these two nights (July 13th and 14th, 1789) +that we remained in session I heard one deputy try to get it believed +that an artillery corps had been ordered to point its guns against our +hall; another, that it was undermined, and that it was to be blown up; +another went so far as to declare that he smelt powder, upon which M. le +Comte de Virieu replied that power had no odor until it was burnt."] + +[Footnote 2154: Dumont, 351. "Each constitutional law was a party +triumph."] + +[Footnote 2155: Here Taine indicates how subversive parties may proceed +to weaken a nation prior to their take-over.(SR.)] + + + + +CHAPTER II. DESTRUCTION. + + + + +I.--Two principal vices of the ancient régime. + + Two principal reforms proposed by the King and the + privileged classes.--They suffice for actual needs.-- + Impracticable if carried further. + +In the structure of the old society there were two fundamental vices +which called for two reforms of corresponding importance.[2201] + +In the first place, those who were privileged having ceased to render +the services for which the advantages they enjoyed constituted their +compensation and their privileges were no longer anything but a +gratuitous charge imposed on one portion of the nation for the benefit +of the other. Hence the necessity for suppressing them. + +In the second place, the Government, being absolute, made use of public +resources as if they were its own private property, arbitrarily and +wastefully;[2202] it was therefore necessary to impose upon it some +effective and regular restraints. + +To render all citizens equal before taxation, to put the purse of the +tax-payers into the hands of their representatives, such was the twofold +operation to be carried out in 1789; and the privileged class as well +as the King willingly lent themselves to it. Not only, in this respect, +were the memorials of nobles and clergy in perfect harmony, but the +monarch himself; in his declaration of the 23rd of June, 1789, decreed +the two articles. Henceforth, every tax or loan was to obtain the +consent of the States-General; this consent was to be renewed at each +new meeting of the States; the public estimates were to be annually +published, discussed, specified, apportioned, voted on and verified by +the States; there were to be no arbitrary assessments or use of public +funds; allowances were to be specially assigned for all separate +services, the household of the King included. In each province or +district-general, there was to be an elected Provincial Assembly, +one-half composed of ecclesiastics and nobles, and the other half of +members of the Third-Estate, to apportion general taxes, to manage local +affairs, to decree and direct public works, to administer hospitals, +prisons, workhouses, and to continue its function, in the interval of +the sessions, through an intermediary commission chosen by itself; so +that, besides the principal control of the center, there were to be +thirty subordinate controlling powers at the extremities. There was +to be no more exemption or distinction in the matter of taxation; the +roadtax (covée) was to be abolished, also the right of franc-fief[2203] +imposed on plebeians; the rights of mortmain,[2204] subject to +indemnity, and internal customs duties. There was to be a reduction of +the captaincies, a modification of the salt-tax and of the excise, +the transformation of civil justice, too costly for the poor, and of +criminal justice, too severe for the humbler classes. Here we have, +besides the principal reform, equalization of taxes; the beginning and +inducement of the more complete operation which is to strike off the +last of the feudal manacles. Moreover; six weeks later, on the 4th of +August; the privileged, in an outburst of generosity, come forward +of their own accord to cut off or undo the whole of them. This double +reform thus encountered no obstacles, and, as Arthur Young reported to +his friends, it merely required one vote to have it adopted.[2205] + +This was enough; for all real necessities were now satisfied. On the one +hand, through the abolition of privileges in the matter of taxation, +the burden of the peasant and, in general, on the small tax-payer +was diminished one-half, and perhaps two thirds; instead of paying +fifty-three francs on one hundred francs of net income, he paid no more +than twenty-five or even sixteen;[2206] an enormous relief, and one +which, with the proposed revision of the excise and salt duties, made a +complete change in his condition. Add to this the gradual redemption +of ecclesiastical and feudal dues: and after twenty years the peasant, +already proprietor of a fifth of the soil, would, without the violent +events of the Revolution, in any case have attained the same degree of +independence and well-being which he was to achieve by passing through +it. On the other hand, through the annual vote on the taxes, not only +were waste and arbitrariness in the employment of the public funds put +a stop to, but also the foundations of the parliamentary system of +government were laid: whoever holds the purse-strings is, or becomes, +master of the rest; henceforth in the maintenance or establishment of +any service, the assent of the States was to be necessary. Now, in the +three Chambers which the three orders were thenceforward to form, there +were two in which the plebeians predominated. Public opinion, moreover, +was on their side, while the King, the true constitutional monarch, far +from possessing the imperious inflexibility of a despot, did not now +possess the initiative of an ordinary person. Thus the preponderance +fell to the communes, and they could legally, without any collision, +execute multiply, and complete, with the aid of the prince and through +him, all useful reforms.[2207]--This was enough; for human society, +like a living body, is seized with convulsions when it is subjected to +operations on too great a scale, and these, although restricted, were +probably all that France in 1789 could endure. To equitably reorganize +afresh the whole system of direct and indirect taxation; to revise, +recast, and transfer to the frontiers the customs-tariffs; to suppress, +through negotiations and with indemnity, feudal and ecclesiastical +claims, was an operation of the greatest magnitude, and as complex as +it was delicate. Things could be satisfactorily arranged only through +minute inquiries, verified calculations, prolonged essays, and mutual +concessions. In England, in our day, a quarter of a century has been +required to bring about a lesser reform, the transformation of tithes +and manorial-rights; and time likewise was necessary for our Assemblies +to perfect their political education,[2208] to get of their theories, to +learn, by contact with practical business, and in the study of details, +the distance which separates speculation from practice; to discover that +a new system of institutions works well only through a new system of +habits, and that to decree a new system of habits is tantamount to +attempting to build an old house.--Such, however, is the work they +undertake. They reject the King's proposals, the limited reforms, the +gradual transformations. According to them, it is their right and their +duty to re-make society from top to bottom. Such is the command of pure +reason, which has discovered the Rights of Man and the conditions of the +Social Contract. + + + + +II--Nature of societies, and the principle of enduring constitutions. + +Apply the Social Contract, if you like, but apply it only to those for +whom it was drawn up. These were abstract beings, belonging neither to +a period nor to a country, perfect creatures hatched out under the +magic wand of a metaphysician. They had as a matter of fact come into +existence by removing all the characteristics which distinguish one man +from another,[2209] a Frenchman from a Papuan, a modern Englishman from +a Briton in the time of Caesar, and by retaining only the part which is +common to all.[2210] The essence thus obtained is a prodigiously meager +one, an infinitely curtailed extract of human nature, that is, in the +phraseology of the day, + +"A BEING WITH A DESIRE TO BE HAPPY AND THE FACULTY OF REASONING," + +nothing more and nothing else. After this pattern several million +individuals, all precisely alike, have been prepared while, through a +second simplification, as extraordinary as the first one, they are all +supposed to be free and all equal, without a past, without kindred, +without responsibility, without traditions, without customs, like so +many mathematical units, all separable and all equivalent, and then it +is imagined that, assembled together for the first time, these proceed +to make their primitive bargain. From the nature they are supposed to +possess and the situation in which they are placed, no difficulty is +found in deducing their interests, their wills, and the contract between +them. But if this contract suits them, it does not follow that it suits +others. On the contrary, if follows that is does not suit others; the +inconvenience becomes extreme on its being imposed on a living society; +the measure of that inconvenience will be the immensity of the distance +which divides a hollow abstraction, a philosophical phantom, an empty +insubstantial image from the real and complete man. + +In any event we are not here considering a specimen, so reduced and +mutilated as to be only an outline of a human being; no, we are to the +contrary considering Frenchmen of the year 1789. It is for them alone +that the constitution is being made: it is therefore they alone who +should be considered; they are manifestly men of a particular species, +having their peculiar temperament, their special aptitudes, their own +inclinations, their religion, their history, all adding up into a mental +and moral structure, hereditary and deeply rooted, bequeathed to them by +the indigenous stock, and to which every great event, each political +or literary phase for twenty centuries, has added a growth, a +transformation or a custom. It is like some tree of a unique species +whose trunk, thickened by age, preserves in its annual rings and in its +knots, branches, and curvatures, the deposits which its sap has made +and the imprint of the innumerable seasons through which it has passed. +Using the philosophic definition, so vague and trite, to such an +organism, is only a puerile label teaching us nothing.--And all the more +because extreme diversities and inequalities show themselves on this +exceedingly elaborate and complicated background,--those of age, +education, faith, class and fortune; and these must be taken into +account, for these contribute to the formation of interests, passions, +and dispositions. To take only the most important of these, it is clear +that, according to the average of human life,[2211] one-half of the +population is composed of children, and, besides this, one-half of the +adults are women. In every twenty inhabitants eighteen are Catholic, +of whom sixteen are believers, at least through habit and tradition. +Twenty-five out of twenty-six millions of Frenchmen cannot read, one +million at the most being able to do so; and in political matters only +five or six hundred are competent. As to the condition of each class, +its ideas, its sentiments, its kind and degree of culture, we should +have to devote a large volume to a mere sketch of them. + +There is still another feature and the most important of all. These men +who are so different from each other are far from being independent, or +from contracting together for the first time. They and their ancestors +for eight hundred years form a national body, and it is because they +belong to this body that they live, multiply, labor, make acquisitions, +become enlightened and civilized, and accumulate the vast heritage of +comforts and intelligence which they now enjoy. Each in this community +is like the cell of an organized body; undoubtedly the body is only +an accumulation of cells, but the cell is born, subsists, develops and +attains its individual ends only be the healthy condition of the whole +body. Its chief interest, accordingly, is the prosperity of the whole +organism, and the fundamental requirement of all the little fragmentary +lives, whether they know it or not, is the conservation of the +great total life in which they are comprised as musical notes in a +concert.--Not only is this a necessity for them, but it is also a duty. +We are all born with a debt to our country, and this debt increases +while we grow up; it is with the assistance of our country, under the +protection of the law, upheld by the authorities, that our ancestors +and parents have given us life, property, and education. Each person's +faculties, ideas, attitudes, his or her entire moral and physical being +are the products to which the community has contributed, directly or +indirectly, at least as tutor and guardian. By virtue of this the state +is his creditor, just as a destitute father is of his able-bodied son; +it can lay claim to nourishment, services, and, in all the force or +resources of which he disposes, it deservedly demands a share.--This he +knows and feels, the notion of country is deeply implanted within him, +and when occasion calls for it, it will show itself in ardent emotions, +fueling steady sacrifice and heroic effort.--Such are veritable +Frenchmen, and we at once see how different they are from the simple, +indistinguishable, detached monads which the philosophers insist on +substituting for them. Their association need not be created, for it +already exists; for eight centuries they have a "common weal" (la chose +publique). The safety and prosperity of this common weal is at once +their interest, their need, their duty, and even their most secret wish. +If it is possible to speak here of a contract, their quasi-contract is +made and settled for them beforehand. The first article, at all events, +is stipulated for, and this overrides all the others. The nation must +not be dissolved. Public authorities must, accordingly, exist, and +these must be respected. If there are a number of these, they must be +so defined and so balanced as to be of mutual assistance, instead of +neutralizing each other by their opposition. Whatever government is +adopted, it must place matters in the hands best qualified to conduct +them. The law must not exist for the advantage of the minority, nor for +that of the majority, but for the entire community.--In regard to this +first article no one must derogate from it, neither the minority nor +the majority, neither the Assembly elected by the nation, nor the nation +itself, even if unanimous. It has no right arbitrarily to dispose of the +common weal, to put it in peril according to its caprice, to subordinate +it to the application of a theory or to the interest of a single class, +even if this class is the most numerous. For, that which is the common +weal does not belong to it, but to the whole community, past, present, +and to come. Each generation is simply the temporary manager and +responsible trustee of a precious and glorious patrimony which it has +received from the former generation, and which it has to transmit to +the one that comes after it. In this perpetual endowment, to which all +Frenchmen from the first days of France have brought their offerings, +there is no doubt about the intentions of countless benefactors; they +have made their gifts conditionally, that is, on the condition that the +endowment should remain intact, and that each successive beneficiary +should merely serve as the administrator of it. Should any of the +beneficiaries, through presumption or levity, through rashness or +one-sidedness, compromise the charge entrusted to them, they wrong +all their predecessors whose sacrifices they invalidate, and all their +successors whose hopes they frustrate. Accordingly, before undertaking +to frame a constitution, let the whole community be considered in its +entirety, not merely in the present but in the future, as far as the +eye can reach. The interest of the public, viewed in this far-sighted +manner, is the end to which all the rest must be subordinate, and for +which a constitution provides. A constitution, whether oligarchic, +monarchist, or aristocratic, is simply an instrument, good if it attains +this end, and bad if it does not attain it, and which, to attain it, +must, like every species of mechanism, vary according to the ground, +materials, and circumstances. The most ingenious is illegitimate if it +dissolves the State, while the clumsiest is legitimate if it keeps the +State intact. There is none that springs out of an anterior, universal, +and absolute right. According to the people, the epoch, and the degree +of civilization, according to the outer or inner condition of things, +all civil or political equality or inequality may, in turn, be or cease +to be beneficial or hurtful, and therefore justify the legislator in +removing or preserving it. It is according to this superior and salutary +law, and not according to an imaginary and impossible contract, that he +is to organize, limit, delegate and distribute from the center to +the extremities, through inheritance or through election, through +equalization or through privilege, the rights of the citizen and the +power of the community. + + + + +III.--The estates of a society. + + Political aptitude of the aristocracy.--Its disposition in + 1789.--Special services which it might have rendered.--The + principle of the Assembly as to original equality. + --Rejection of an Upper Chamber.--The feudal rights of the + aristocracy.--How far and why they were worthy of respect. + --How they should have been transformed.--Principle of the + Assembly as to original liberty.--Distinction established by + it in feudal dues; application of its principle.--The + lacunae of its law.--Difficulties of redemption.--Actual + abolition of all feudal liens.--Abolition of titles and + territorial names.--Growing prejudice against the + aristocracy.--Its persecutions.--The emigration. + +Was it necessary to begin by making a clean sweep, and was it advisable +to abolish or only to reform the various orders and corporations?--Two +prominent orders, the clergy and the nobles, enlarged by the ennobled +plebeians who had grown wealthy and acquired titled estates, formed a +privileged aristocracy side by side with the Government, whose favors it +might receive on the condition of seeking them assiduously and with +due acknowledgment, privileged on its own domains, and taking advantage +there of all rights belonging to the feudal chieftain without performing +his duties. This abuse was evidently an enormous one and had to +be ended. But, it did not follow that, because the position of the +privileged class on their domains and in connection with the Government +was open to abuse, they should be deprived of protection for person and +property on their domains, and of influence and occupation under the +Government.--A favored aristocracy, when it is unoccupied and renders +none of the services which its rank admits of, when it monopolizes all +honors, offices, promotions, preferences, and pensions,[2212] to the +detriment of others not less needy and deserving, is undoubtedly a +serious evil. But when an aristocracy is subject to the common law, when +it is occupied, especially when its occupation is in conformity with its +aptitudes, and more particularly when it is available for the formation +of an upper elective chamber or an hereditary peerage, it is a vast +service.--In any case it cannot be irreversibly suppressed; for, +although it may be abolished by law, it is reconstituted by facts. The +legislator must necessarily choose between two systems, that which lets +it lie fallow, or that which enables it to be productive, that which +drives it away from, or that which rallies it round, the public service. +In every society which has lived for any length of time, a nucleus of +families always exists whose fortunes and importance are of ancient +date. Even when, as in France in 1789, this class seems to be exclusive, +each half century introduces into it new families; judges, governors, +rich businessmen or bankers who have risen to the tope of the social +ladder through the wealth they have acquired or through the important +offices they have filled; and here, in the medium thus constituted, the +statesman and wise counselor of the people, the independent and able +politician is most naturally developed.--Because, on the one hand, +thanks to his fortune and his rank, a man of this class is above all +vulgar ambitions and temptations. He is able to serve gratis; he is not +obliged to concern himself about money or about providing for his family +and making his way in the world. A political mission is no interruption +to his career; he is not obliged, like the engineer, merchant, or +physician, to sacrifice either his business, his advancement, or his +clients. He can resign his post without injury to himself or to +those dependent on him, follow his own convictions, resist the noisy +deleterious opinions of the day, and be the loyal servant, not the +low flatterer of the public. Whilst, consequently, in the inferior or +average conditions of life, the incentive is self-interest, with him the +grand motive is pride. Now, amongst the deeper feelings of man there is +none which is more adapted for transformation into probity, patriotism, +and conscientiousness; for the first requisite of the high-spirited +man is self-respect, and, to obtain that, he is induced to deserve it. +Compare, from this point of view, the gentry and nobility of England +with the "politicians" of the United States.--On the other hand, +with equal talents, a man who belongs to this sphere of life enjoys +opportunities for acquiring a better comprehension of public affairs +than a poor man of the lower classes. The information he requires is +not the erudition obtained in libraries and in private study. He must +be familiar with living men, and, besides these, with agglomerations +of men, and even more with human organizations, with States, with +Governments, with parties, with administrative systems, at home and +abroad, in full operation and on the spot. There is but one way to reach +this end, and that is to see for himself, with his own eyes, at once +in general outline and in details, by intercourse with the heads of +departments, with eminent men and specialists, in whom are gathered up +the information and the ideas of a whole class. Now the young do not +frequent society of this description, either at home or abroad, except +on the condition of possessing a name, family, fortune, education and a +knowledge of social observances. All this is necessary to enable a +young man of twenty to find doors everywhere open to him to be received +everywhere on an equal footing, to be able to speak and to write three +or four living languages, to make long, expensive, and instructive +sojourns in foreign lands, to select and vary his position in the +different branches of the public service, without pay or nearly so, and +with no object in view but that of his political culture Thus brought up +a man, even of common capacity, is worthy of being consulted. If he is +of superior ability, and there is employment for him, he may become a +statesman before thirty; he may acquire ripe capacities, become prime +Minister, the sole pilot, alone able, like Pitt, Canning, or Peel, to +steer the ship of State between the reefs, or give in the nick of time +the touch to the helm which will save the ship.--Such is the service to +which an upper class is adapted. Only this kind of specialized stud farm +can furnish a regular supply of racers, and, now and then, the favorite +winner that distances all his competitors in the European field. + +But in order that they may prepare and educate themselves for this +career, the way must be clear, and they must not be compelled to travel +too repulsive a road. If rank, inherited fortune, personal dignity, and +refined manners are sources of disfavor with the people; if, to obtain +their votes, he is forced to treat as equals electoral brokers of low +character; if impudent charlatanism, vulgar declamation, and servile +flattery are the sole means by which votes can be secured, then, as +nowadays in the United States, and formerly in Athens, the aristocratic +body will retire into private life and soon settle down into a state +of idleness. A man of culture and refinement, born with an income of a +hundred thousand a year, is not tempted to become either manufacturer, +lawyer, or physician. For want of other occupation he loiters about, +entertains his friends, chats, indulges in the tastes and hobbies of an +amateur, is bored or enjoys himself. As a result one of society's great +forces is thus lost to the nation. In this way the best and largest +acquisition of the past, the heaviest accumulation of material and +of moral capital, remain unproductive. In a pure democracy the upper +branches of the social tree, not only the old ones but the young ones, +remain sterile. When a vigorous branch passes above the rest and +reaches the top it ceases to bear fruit. The élite of the nation is thus +condemned to constant and irremediable failures because it cannot find +a suitable outlet for its activity. It wants no other outlet, for in all +directions its rival, who are born below it, can serve as usefully and +as well as itself. But this one it must have, for on this its aptitudes +are superior, natural, unique, and the State which refuses to employ +it resembles the gardener who in his fondness for a plane surface would +repress his best shoots.[2213]--Hence, in the constructions which aim to +utilize the permanent forces of society and yet maintain civil equality, +the aristocracy is brought to take a part in public affairs by the +duration and gratuitous character of its mission, by the institution of +an hereditary character, by the application of various machinery, all +of which is combined so as to develop the ambition, the culture, and +the political capacity of the upper class, and to place power, or the +control of power, in its hands, on the condition that it shows itself +worthy of exercising it.--Now, in 1789, the upper class was not unworthy +of it. Members of the parliaments, the noblemen, bishops, capitalists, +were the men amongst whom, and through whom, the philosophy of the +eighteenth century was propagated. Never was an aristocracy more +liberal, more humane, and more thoroughly converted to useful +reforms;[2214] many of them remain so under the knife of the guillotine. +The magistrates of the superior tribunals, in particular, traditionally +and by virtue of their institution, were the enemies of excessive +expenditure and the critics of arbitrary acts. As to the gentry of the +provinces, "they were so weary," says one of them,[2215] "of the Court +and the Ministers that most of them were democrats." For many years, +in the Provincial Assemblies, the whole of the upper class, the clergy, +nobles, and Third-Estate, furnishes abundant evidence of its good +disposition, of its application to business, its capacity and even +generosity. Its mode of studying, discussing, and assigning the local +taxation indicates what it would have done with the general budget had +this been entrusted to it. It is evident that it would have protected +the general taxpayer as zealously as the taxpayer of the province, +and kept as close an eye upon the public purse at Paris as on that of +Bourges or of Montauban.--Thus were the materials of a good chamber +ready at hand, and the only thing that had to be done was to convene +them. On having the facts presented to them, its members would have +passed without difficulty from a hazardous theory to common-sense +practice, and the aristocracy which had enthusiastically given an +impetus to reform in its saloons would, in all probability, have carried +it out effectively and with moderation in the Parliament. + +Unhappily, the Assembly is not providing a Constitution for contemporary +Frenchmen, but for abstract beings. Instead of seeing classes in society +one placed above the other, it simply sees individuals in juxtaposition; +its attention is not fixed on the advantage of the nation, but on the +imaginary rights of man. As all men are equal, all must have an equal +share in the government. There must be no orders in a State, no avowed +or concealed political privileges, no constitutional complications or +electoral combinations by which an aristocracy, however liberal and +capable, may put its hands upon any portion of the public power.--On +the contrary, because it was once privileged to enjoy important and +rewarding public employment, the candidacy of the upper classes is now +suspect. All projects which, directly or indirectly, reserve or provide +a place for it, are refused: At first the Royal Declaration, which, in +conformity with historical precedents, maintained the three orders in +three distinct chambers, and only summoned them to deliberate together +"on matters of general utility." Then the plan of the Constitutional +Committee, which proposed a second Chamber, appointed for life by the +King on the nomination of the Provincial Assemblies. And finally the +project of Mounier who proposed to confide to these same Assemblies the +election of a Senate for six years, renewed by thirds every two years. +This Senate was to be composed of men of at least thirty-five years of +age, and with an income in real property of 30,000 livres per annum. The +instinct of equality is too powerful and a second Chamber is not wanted, +even if accessible to plebeians. Through it,[2216] + +"The smaller number would control the greater;"... "we should fall +back on the humiliating distinctions" of the ancient regime; "we should +revivify the germ of an aristocracy which must be exterminated.".... +"Moreover, whatever recalls or revives feudal Institutions is bad, and +an Upper Chamber is one of its remnants." ...."If the English have +one, it is because they have been forced to make a compromise with +prejudice." + +The National Assembly, sovereign and philosophic, soars above their +errors, their trammel; and their example. The depository of truth, it +has not to receive lessons from others, but to give them, and to offer +to the world's admiration the first type of a Constitution which is +perfect and in conformity with principle, the most effective of any in +preventing the formation of a governing class; in closing the way to +public business, not only to the old noblesse, but to the aristocracy +of the future; in continuing and exaggerating the work of absolute +monarchy; in preparing for a community of officials and administrators; +in lowering the level of humanity; in reducing to sloth and brutalizing +or blighting the elite of the families which maintain or raise +themselves; and in withering the most precious of nurseries, that in +which the State recruits its statesmen.[2217] + +Excluded from the Government, the aristocracy is about to retire +into private life. Let us follow them to their estates: Feudal rights +instituted for a barbarous State are certainly a great draw-back in a +modern State. If appropriate in an epoch when property and sovereignty +were fused together, when the Government was local, when life was +militant, they form an incongruity at a time when sovereignty and +property are separated, when the Government is centralized, when the +regime is a pacific one. The bondage which, in the tenth century, +was necessary to re-established security and agriculture, is, in the +eighteenth century, purposeless thralldom which impoverishes the soil +and fetters the peasant. But, because these ancient claims are liable +to abuse and injurious at the present day, it does not follow that they +never were useful and legitimate, nor that it is allowable to abolish +them without indemnity On the contrary, for many centuries, and, on +the whole, so long as the lord of the manor resided on his estates this +primitive contract was advantageous to both parties, and to such an +extent that it has led to the modern contract. Thanks to the pressure of +this tight bandage, the broken fragments of the community can be +again united, and society once more recover its solidity, force, +and activity.--In any event, that the institution, like all human +institutions, took its rise in violence and was corrupted by abuses is +of little consequence; the State, for eight hundred years, recognized +these feudal claims, and, with its own consent and the concurrence of +its Courts, they were transmitted, bequeathed, sold, mortgaged, and +exchanged, like any other species of property. Only two or three +hundred, at most, now remained in the families of the original +proprietors. "The largest portion of the titled estates," says a +contemporary,[2218] "have become the property of capitalists, merchants, +and their descendants; the fiefs, for the most part, being in the +hands of the bourgeois of the towns." All the fiefs which, during two +centuries past, have been bought by new men, now represent the economy +and labor of their purchasers.--Moreover; whoever the actual holders +may be, whether old or whether new men, the State is under obligation to +them, not only by general right--and because, from the beginning, it +is in its nature the guardian of all property,--but also by a special +right, because it has itself sanctioned this particular species of +property. The buyers of yesterday paid their money only under its +guarantee; its signature is affixed to the contract, and it has bound +itself to secure to them the enjoyment of it. If it prevents them +from doing so, let it make them compensation; in default of the thing +promised to them, it owes them the value of it. Such is the law in cases +of expropriation for public utility; in 1834, for instance, the English, +for the legal abolition of slavery, paid to their planters the sum of +£20,000,000. --But that is not sufficient: when, in the suppression +of feudal rights, the legislator's thoughts are taken up with the +creditors, he has only half performed his task; there are two sides to +the question, and he must likewise think of the debtors. If he is +not merely a lover of abstractions and of fine phrases, if that which +interests him is men and not words, if he is bent upon the effective +enfranchisement of the cultivator of the soil, he will not rest content +with proclaiming a principle, with permitting the redemption of rents, +with fixing the rate of redemption, and, in case of dispute, with +sending parties before the tribunals. He will reflect that the +peasantry, jointly responsible for the same debt will find difficulty +in agreeing among themselves; that they are afraid of litigation; that, +being ignorant, they will not know how to set about it; that, being +poor, they will be unable to pay; and that, under the weight of discord, +distrust, indigence, and inertia, the new law will remain a dead letter, +and only exasperate their cupidity or kindle their resentment. In +anticipation of this disorder the legislator will come to their +assistance; he will interpose commissions of arbitration between them +and the lord of the manor; he will substitute a scale of annuities for a +full and immediate redemption; he will lend them the capital which they +cannot borrow elsewhere; he will establish a bank, rights, and a mode of +procedure,--in short, as in Savoy in 1771, in England in 1845,[2219] and +in Russia in 1861, he will relieve the poor without despoiling the rich; +he will establish liberty without violating the rights of property; he +will conciliate interests and classes; he will not let loose a brutal +peasant revolt (Jacquerie) to enforce unjust confiscation; and he will +terminate the social conflict not with strife but with peace. + +It is just the reverse in 1789 In conformity with the doctrine of the +social contract, the principle is set up that every man is born free, +and that his freedom has always been inalienable. If he formerly +submitted to slavery or to serfdom, it was owing to his having had a +knife at his throat; a contract of this sort is essentially null and +void. So much the worse for those who have the benefit of it at the +present day; they are holders of stolen property, and must restore it to +the legitimate owners. Let no one object that this property was acquired +for cash down, and in good faith; they ought to have known beforehand +that man and his liberty are not commercial matters, and that unjust +acquisitions rightly perish in their hands.[2220] Nobody dreams that +the State which was a party to this transaction is the responsible +guarantor. Only one scruple affects the Assembly; its jurists and +Merlin, its reporter, are obliged to yield to proof; they know that +in current practice, and by innumerable ancient and modern titles, the +noble in many cases is nothing but an ordinary lessor, and that if, in +those cases, he collects his dues, it is simply in his capacity as a +private person, by virtue of a mutual contract, because he has given a +perpetual lease of a certain portion of his land; and he has given +it only in consideration of an annual payment in money or produce, or +services, together with another contingent claim which the farmer pays +in case of the transmission of the lease. These two obligations could +not be canceled without indemnity; if it were done, more than one-half +of the proprietors in France would be dispossessed in favor of the +farmers. Hence the distinction which the Assembly makes in the feudal +dues.--On the one hand it abolishes without indemnity all those dues +which the noble receives by virtue of being the local sovereign, the +ancient proprietor of persons and the usurper of public powers; all +those which the lessee paid as serf, subject to rights of inheritance, +and as former vassal or dependent. On the other hand, it maintains +and decrees as redeemable at a certain rate all those which the noble +receives through his title of landed proprietor and of simple lessor; +all those which the lessee pays by virtue of being a free contracting +party, former purchaser, tenant, farmer or grantee of landed estate.--By +this division it fancies that it has respected lawful ownership by +overthrowing illegitimate property, and that in the feudal scheme of +obligations, it has separated the wheat from the chaff.[2221] + +But, through the principle, the drawing up and the omissions of its +law, it condemns both to a common destruction; the fire on which it has +thrown the chaff necessarily burns up the wheat.--Both are in fact bound +up together in the same sheaf. If the noble formerly brought men under +subjection by the sword, it is also by the sword that he formerly +acquired possession of the soil. If the subjection of persons is invalid +on account of the original stain of violence, the usurpation of the soil +is invalid for the same reason. And if the sanction and guarantee of +the State could not justify the first act of brigandage, they could not +justify the second; and, since the rights which are derived from unjust +sovereignty are abolished without indemnity, the rights which are +derived from unjust proprietorship should be likewise abolished without +compensation.----The Assembly, with remarkable imprudence, had declared +in the preamble to its law that "it abolished the feudal system +entirely," and, whatever its ulterior reservations might be, the fiat +has gone forth. The forty thousand sovereign municipalities to which the +text of the decree is read pay attention only to the first article, and +the village attorney, imbued with the rights of man, easily proves to +these assemblies of debtors that they owe nothing to their creditors. +There must be no exceptions nor distinctions: no more annual rents, +field-rents, dues on produce, nor contingent rents, nor lord's dues and +fines, or fifths.[2222] If these have been maintained by the Assembly, +it is owing to misunderstanding, timidity, inconsistency, and on all +sides, in the rural districts, the grumbling of disappointed greed or of +unsatisfied necessities is heard:[2223] + +"You thought that you were destroying feudalism, while your redemption +laws have done just the contrary. . . . Are you not aware that what was +called a Seigneur was simply an unpunished usurper? . . . That detestable +decree of 1790 is the ruin of lease-holders. It has thrown the villages +into a state of consternation. The nobles reap all the advantage of +it. . . Never will redemption be possible. Redemption of unreal claims! +Redemption of dues that are detestable!" + +In vain the Assembly insists, specifies and explains by examples and +by detailed instructions the mode of procedure and the conditions of +redemption. Neither the procedure nor its conditions are practicable. It +has made no provisions for facilitating the agreement of parties and +the satisfaction of feudal liens, no special arbitrators, nor bank for +loans, nor system of annuities. And worse still, instead of clearing the +road it has barred it by legal arrangements. The lease-holder is not +to redeem his annual rent without at the same time compounding for the +contingent rent: he is not allowed on his own to redeem his quota since +he is tied up in solidarity with the other partners. Should his hoard +be a small one, so much the worse for him. Not being able to redeem the +whole, he is not allowed to redeem a part. Not having the money with +which to relieve himself from both ground-rents and lord's dues he +cannot relieve himself from ground-rents. Not having the money to +liquidate the debt in full of those who are bound along with him-self, +he remains a captive in his ancient chains by virtue of the new law +which announces to him his freedom. + +In the face of these unexpected trammels the peasant becomes furious: +His fixed idea, from the outbreak of the Revolution, is that he no +longer owes anything to anybody, and, among the speeches, decrees, +proclamations, and instructions which rumor brings to his ears, he +comprehends but one phrase, and is determined to comprehend no other, +and that is, that henceforth his obligations are removed. He does not +swerve from this, and since the law hinders, instead of aiding him, he +will break the law. In fact, after the 4th of August, 1789, feudal dues +cease to be collected. The claims which are maintained are not enforced +any more than those which are suppressed. Whole communities come and +give notice to the lord of the manor that they will not pay any more +rent. Others, with sword in hand, compel him to give them acquittances. +Others again, to be more secure, break open his safe, and throw his +title-deeds into the fire.[2224] Public force is nowhere strong enough +to protect him in his legal rights. Officers dare not serve writs, the +courts dare not give judgment, administrative bodies dare not decree in +his favor. He is despoiled through the connivance, the neglect, or +the impotence of all the authorities which ought to defend him. He is +abandoned to the peasants who fell his forests, under the pretext that +they formerly belonged to the commune; who take possession of his +mill, his wine-press, and his oven, under the pretext that territorial +privileges are suppressed.[2225] Most of the gentry of the provinces are +ruined, without any resource, and have not even their daily bread; for +their income consisted in seignorial rights, and in rents derived from +their real property, which they had let on perpetual leases, and now, +in accordance with the law, one-half of this income ceases to be paid, +while the other half ceases to be paid in spite of the law. One hundred +and twenty-three millions of revenue, representing two thousand millions +and a half of capital in the money of that time, double, at least, that +of the present day, thus passes as a gift, or through the toleration of +the National Assembly, from the hands of creditors into those of their +debtors. To this must be added an equal sum for revenue and capital +arising from the tithes which are suppressed without compensation, and +by the same stroke.--This is the commencement of the great revolutionary +operation, that is to say, of the universal bankruptcy which, directly +or indirectly, is to destroy all contracts, and abolish all debts in +France. Violations of property, especially of private property, cannot +be made with impunity. The Assembly desired to lop off only the +feudal branch; but, in admitting that the State can annul, without +compensation, the obligations which it has guaranteed, it put the ax to +the root of the tree, and other rougher hands are already driving it in +up to the haft. + +Nothing now remains to the noble but his title, his territorial name, +and his armorial bearings, which are innocent distinctions, since they +no longer confer any jurisdiction or pre-eminence upon him, and which, +as the law ceases to protect him, the first comer may borrow with +impunity. Not only, moreover, do they do no harm, but they are even +worthy of respect. With many of the nobles the title of the estate +covers the family name, the former alone being made use of. If one +were substituted for the other, the public would have difficulty in +discovering M. de Mirabeau, Lafayette, and M. de Moutmorency, under the +new names Riquetti, M. Mottié, and M. Bouchard. Besides, it would be +wrong to the bearer of it, to whom the abolished title is a legitimate +possession, often precious, it being a certificate of quality and +descent, an authentic personal distinction of which he cannot be +deprived without losing his position, rank, and worth, in the human +world around him.--The Assembly, however, with a popular principle +at stake, gives no heed to public utility, nor to the rights of +individuals. The feudal system being abolished, all that remains of +it must be got rid of. A decree is passed that "hereditary nobility is +offensive to reason and to true liberty;" that, where it exists, "there +is no political equality."[2226] Every French citizen is forbidden to +assume or retain the titles of prince, duke, count, marquis, chevalier, +and the like, and to bear any other than the "true name of his family;" +he is prohibited from making his servants wear liveries, and from having +coats-of-arms on his house or on his carriage. In case of any infraction +of this law a penalty is inflicted upon him equal to six times the sum +of his personal taxes; he is to be struck off the register of citizens, +and declared incapable of holding any civil or military office. There +is the same punishment if to any contract or acquittance he affixes his +accustomed signature; if; through habit or inadvertence, he adds the +title of his estate to his family name--if; with a view to recognition, +and to render his identity certain, he merely mentions that he once bore +the former name. Any notary or public officer who shall write, or allow +to be written, in any document the word ci-devant (formerly) is to be +suspended from his functions. Not only are old names thus abolished, but +an effort is made to efface all remembrance of them. In a little while, +the childish law will become a murderous one. It will be but a little +while and, according to the terms of this same decree, a military +veteran of seventy-seven years, a loyal servant of the Republic, and a +brigadier-general under the Convention, will be arrested on returning to +his native village, because he has mechanically signed the register of +the revolutionary committee as Montperreux instead of Vannod, and, for +this infraction, he will be guillotined along with his brother and his +sister-in-law.[2227] + +Once on this road, it is impossible to stop; for the principles which +are proclaimed go beyond the decrees which are passed, and a bad law +introduces a worse. The Constituent Assembly[2228] had supposed that +annual dues, like ground-rents, and contingent dues, like feudal duties +(lods et rentes), were the price of an ancient concession of land, and, +consequently, the proof to the contrary is to be thrown upon the tenant. +The Legislative Assembly is about to assume that these same rentals +are the result of an old feudal usurpation, and that, consequently, the +proof to the contrary must rest with the proprietor. His rights cannot +be established by possession from time immemorial, nor by innumerable +and regular acquittances; he must produce the act of enfeoffment which +is many centuries old, the lease which has never, perhaps, been written +out, the primitive title already rare in 1720,[2229] and since stolen +or burnt in the recent jacqueries: otherwise he is despoiled without +indemnity. All feudal claims are swept away by this act without +exception and without compensation. + +In a similar manner, the Constituent Assembly, setting common law aside +in relation to inheritances ab intestato, had deprived all eldest sons +and males of any advantages.[2230] The Convention, suppressing the +freedom of testamentary bequest, prohibits the father from disposing +of more than one-tenth of his possessions; and again, going back to the +past, it makes its decrees retrospective: every will opened after the +14th of July, 1789, is declared invalid if not in conformity with +this decree; every succession from the 14th of June, 1789, which is +administered after the same date, is re-divided if the division has not +been equal; every donation which has been made among the heirs after the +same date is void. Not only is the feudal family destroyed in this way, +but it must never be reformed. The aristocracy, being once declared a +venomous plant, it is not sufficient to prime it away, but it must be +extirpated, not only dug up by the root, but its seed must be crushed +out.--A malignant prejudice is aroused against it, and this grows from +day to day. The stings of self-conceit, the disappointments of ambition, +and envious sentiments have prepared the way. Its hard, dry kernel +consists of the abstract idea of equality. All around revolutionary +fervor has caused blood to flow, has embittered tempers, intensified +sensibilities, and created a painful abscess which daily irritation +renders still more painful. Through steadily brooding over a purely +speculative preference this has become a fixed idea, and is becoming +a murderous one. It is a strange passion, one wholly of the brains, +nourished by magniloquent phrases, but the more destructive, because +phantoms are created out of words, and against phantoms no reasoning nor +actual facts can prevail. This or that shopkeeper who, up to this time, +had always formed his idea of nobles from his impressions of the members +of the Parliament of his town or of the gentry of his canton, now +pictures them according to the declamations of the club and the +invectives of the newspapers. The imaginary figure, in his mind, has +gradually absorbed the living figure: he no longer sees the calm and +engaging countenance, but a grinning and distorted mask. Kindliness or +indifference is replaced by animosity and distrust; they are overthrown +tyrants, ancient evil-doers, And enemies of the public; he is satisfied +beforehand and without further investigation that they are hatching +plots. If they avoid being caught, it is owing to their address and +perfidy, and they are only the more dangerous the more inoffensive +they appear. Their sub-mission is merely a feint, their resignation +hypocrisy, their favorable disposition, treachery. Against these +conspirators who cannot be touched the law is inadequate; let us stretch +it in practice, and as they wince at equality let us try to make them +bow beneath the yoke. + +In fact, illegal persecution precedes legal prosecution; the privileged +person who, by the late decrees, seems merely to be brought within the +pale of the common law, is, in fact; driven outside of it. The King, +disarmed, is no longer able to protect him; the partial Assembly repels +his complaints; the committee of inquiry regards him as a culprit +when he is simply oppressed. His income, his property, his repose, his +freedom, his home, his life, that of his wife and of his children, are +in the hands of an administration elected by the crowd, directed by +clubs, and threatened or violated by the mob. He is debarred from the +elections. The newspapers denounce him. He undergoes domiciliary +visits. In hundreds of places his chateau is sacked; the assassins and +incendiaries who depart from it with their hands full and steeped in +blood are not prosecuted, or are shielded by an amnesty:[2231] it is +established by innumerable precedents that he may be run down with +impunity. To prevent him from defending himself, companies of the +National Guard come and seize his arms: he must become a prey, and +an easy prey, like game kept back in its enclosure for an approaching +hunt.--In vain he abstains from provocation and reduces himself to +the standing of a private individual. In vain does he patiently endure +numerous provocations and resist only extreme violence. I have read +many hundreds of investigations in the original manuscripts, and almost +always I have admired the humanity of the nobles, their forbearance, +their horror of bloodshed. Not only are a great many of them men of +courage and all men of honor, but also, educated in the philosophy of +the eighteenth century, they are mild, sensitive, and deeds of violence +are repugnant to them. Military officers especially are exemplary, their +great defect being their weakness: rather than fire on the crowd they +surrender the forts under their command, and allow themselves to be +insulted and stoned by the people. For two years,[2232] "exposed to a +thousand outrages, to defamation, to daily peril, persecuted by clubs +and misguided soldiers," disobeyed, menaced, put under arrest by their +own men, they remain at their post to prevent the ranks from being +broken up; "with stoic perseverance they put up with contempt of their +authority that they may preserve its semblance, their courage is of that +rarest kind which consists in remaining at the post of duty, impassive +beneath both affronts and blows.--Through a wrong of the greatest +magnitude, an entire class which have no share in the favors of +the Court, and which suffered as many injuries as any of the common +plebeians, is confounded with the titled parasites who besiege the +antechambers of Versailles. Twenty-five thousand families, "the nursery +of the army and the fleet," the elite of the agricultural proprietors, +also many gentlemen who look after and turn to account the little +estates on which they live, and "who have not left their homes a year in +their lives," become the pariahs of their canton.[2233] After 1789, they +begin to feel that their position is no longer tenable.[2234] + +" It is absolutely in opposition to the rights of man," says another +letter from Franche-Comté, "to find one's self in perpetual fear of +having one's throat cut by scoundrels who are daily confounding liberty +with license." + +"I never knew anything so wearying," says another letter from Champagne, +"as this anxiety about property and security. Never was there a better +reason for it. A moment suffices to let loose an intractable population +which thinks that it may do what it pleases, and which is carefully +sustained in that error." + +"After the sacrifices that we have made," says a letter from Burgundy, +"we could not expect such treatment. I thought that our property would +be the last violated because the people owed us some return for staying +at home in the country to expend among them the few resources that +remain to us. . . (Now), I beg the Assembly to repeal the decree on +emigration; otherwise it may be said that people are purposely kept here +to be assassinated. . . In case it should refuse to do us this justice, +I should be quite as willing to have it decree an act of proscription +against us, for we should not then be lulled to sleep by the protection +of laws which are doubtless very wise, but which are not respected +anywhere." + +" It is not our privileges," say several others, "it is not our nobility +that we regret; but how is the persecution to which we are abandoned to +be supported? There is no safety for us, for our property, or for our +families. Wretches who are our debtors, the small farmers who rob us of +our incomes, daily threaten us with the torch and the lamp post. We do +not enjoy one hour of repose; not a night that we are certain to +pass through without trouble. Our persons are given up to the vilest +outrages, our dwellings to an inquisition of armed tyrants; we are +robbed of our rentals with impunity, and our property is openly +attacked. We, being now the only people to pay imposts, are unfairly +taxed; in various places our entire incomes would not suffice to pay +the quota which crushes us. We can make no complaint without incurring +the risk of being massacred. The tribunals and the administrative +bodies, the tools of the multitude, daily sacrifice us to its attacks. +Even the Government seems afraid of compromising itself by claiming the +protection of the laws on our behalf. It is sufficient to be pointed +out as an aristocrat to be without any security. If our peasants, in +general, have shown more honesty, consideration, and attachment toward +us, every bourgeois of importance, the wild members of clubs, the vilest +of men who sully a uniform, consider themselves privileged to insult us, +and these wretches go unpunished and are protected! Even our religion +is not free. One of our number has had his house sacked for having shown +hospitality to an old curé of eighty belonging to his parish who refused +to take the oath. Such is our fate. We are not so base as to endure it. +Our right to resist oppression is not due to a decree of the National +Assembly, but to natural law. We are going to leave, and to die if +necessary. But to live under such a revolting anarchy! Should it not be +broken up we shall never set foot in France again!" + +The operation is successful. The Assembly, through its decrees and +institutions, through the laws it enacts and the violence which it +tolerates, has uprooted the aristocracy and cast it out of the country. +The nobles, now the reverse of privileged, cannot remain in a country +where, while respecting the law, they are really beyond its pale. Those +who first emigrated on the 15th of July, 1789, along with the Prince de +Condé, received at their houses the evening before they left a list of +the proscribed on which their names appeared, and a reward was +promised to whoever would bring their heads to the cellar of the +Palais-Royal--Others, in larger numbers, left after the occurrences +of the 6th of October.--During the last months of the Constituent +Assembly,[2235] + +"the emigration goes on in companies composed of men of every condition. +. . . Twelve hundred gentlemen have left Poitou alone; Auvergne, +Limousin, and ten other provinces have been equally depopulated of their +landowners. There are towns in which nobody remains but common workmen, +a club, and the crowd of devouring office-holders created by the +Constitution. All the nobles in Brittany have left, and the emigration +has begun in Normandy, and is going on in the frontier provinces. + +"More than two-thirds of the army will be without officers." On being +called upon to take the new oath in which the King's name is purposely +omitted, "six thousand officers send in their resignation." + +The example gradually becomes contagious; they are men of the sword, and +their honor is at stake. Many of them join the princes at Coblentz, +and subsequently do battle against France in the belief that they are +contending only against their executioners. + +The treatment of the nobles by the Assembly is the same as the treatment +of the Protestants by Louis XIV.[2236] In both cases the oppressed are a +superior class of men. In both cases France has been made uninhabitable +for them. In both cases they are reduced to exile, and they are +punished because they exiled them selves. In both cases it ended in a +confiscation of their property, and in the penalty of death to all who +should harbor them. In both cases, by dint of persecution, they are +driven to revolt. The insurrection of La Vendée corresponds with the +insurrection of the Cévennes; and the emigrants, like the refugees of +former times, will be found under the flags of Prussia and of England. +One hundred thousand Frenchmen driven out at the end of the seventeenth +century, and one hundred thousand driven out at the end of the +eighteenth century! Mark how an intolerant democracy completes the work +of an intolerant monarchy. The moral aristocracy was mowed down in the +name of uniformity; the social aristocracy is mowed down in the name of +equality. For the second time, an absolute principle, and with the same +effect, buries its blade in the heart of a living society. + +The success is complete. One of the deputies of the Legislative +Assembly, early in its session, on being informed of the great increase +in emigration, joyfully exclaims, + +"SO MUCH THE BETTER; FRANCE IS BEING PURGED!" + +She is, in truth, being depleted of one-half of her best blood. + + + + +IV.--Abuse and lukewarmness in 1789 in the ecclesiastical bodies. + + How the State used its right of overseeing and reforming + them.--Social usefulness of corporations.--The sound part in + the monastic institution.--Zeal and services of nuns.--How + ecclesiastical possessions should be employed.--Principle of + the Assembly as to private communities, feudal rights and + trust-funds.--Abolition and expropriation all corporations. + --Uncompensated suppression of tithes.--Confiscation of + ecclesiastical possessions.--Effect on the Treasury and on + expropriated services.--The civil constitution of the + clergy.--Rights of the Church in relation to the State. + --Certainty and effects of a conflict.--Priests considered as + State-functionaries.--Principal stipulations of the law. + --Obligations of the oath.--The majority of priests refuse to + take it.--The majority of believes on their side. + --Persecution of believers and of priests. + + +There remained the corporate, ecclesiastic, and lay bodies, and, +notably, the oldest, most opulent, and most considerable of all the +regular and secular clergy.--Grave abuses existed here also, for, the +institution being founded on ancient requirements, had not accommodated +itself to new necessities.[2237] There were too many episcopal sees, +and these were arranged according to the Christian distribution of +the population in the fourth century; a revenue still more badly +apportioned--bishops and abbés with one hundred thousand livres a year, +leading the lives of amiable idlers, while curés, overburdened with +work, have but seven hundred; in one monastery nineteen monks instead +of eighty, and in another four instead of fifty;[2238] a number of +monasteries reduced to three or to two inhabitants, and even to one; +almost all the congregations of men going to decay, and many of them +dying out for lack of novices;[2239] a general lukewarmness among the +members, great laxity in many establishments, and with scandals in some +of them; scarcely one-third taking an interest in their calling, while +the remaining two-thirds wish to go back to the world,[2240]--it is +evident from all this that the primitive inspiration has been diverted +or has cooled; that the endowment only partially fulfills its ends; +that one-half of its resources are employed in the wrong way or +remain sterile; in short, that there is a need of reformation in the +body.--That this ought to be effected with the co-operation of the State +and even under its direction is not less certain. For a corporation +is not an individual like other individuals, and, in order that it may +acquire or possess the privileges of an ordinary citizen, something +supplementary must be added, some fiction, some expedient of the law. +If the law is disposed to overlook the fact that a corporation is not a +natural personage, if it gives to it a civil personality, if it declares +it to be capable of inheriting, of acquiring and of selling, if it +becomes a protected and respected proprietor, this is due to the favors +of the State which places its tribunal and gendarmes at its service, and +which, in exchange for this service, justly imposes conditions on it, +and, among others, that of being useful and remaining useful, or at +least that of never becoming harmful. Such was the rule under the +Ancient Régime, and especially since the Government has for the last +quarter of a century gradually and efficaciously worked out a reform. +Not only, in 1749, had it prohibited the Church from accepting land, +either by donation, by testament, or in exchange, without royal +letters-patent registered in Parliament; not only in 1764 had it +abolished the order of Jesuits, closed their colleges and sold their +possessions, but also, since 1766, a permanent commission, formed by +the King's order and instructed by him, had lopped off all the dying and +dead branches of the ecclesiastical tree.[2241] There was a revision of +the primitive Constitutions; a prohibition to every institution to have +more than two monasteries at Paris and more than one in other towns; a +postponement of the age for taking vows--that of sixteen being no longer +permitted--to twenty-one for men and eighteen for women; an obligatory +minimum of monks and nuns for each establishment, which varies from +fifteen to nine according to circumstances; if this is not kept up there +follows a suppression or prohibition to receive novices: owing to +these measures, rigorously executed, at the end of twelve years +"the Grammontins, the Servites, the Celestins, the ancient order of +Saint-Bénédict, that of the Holy Ghost of Montpellier, and those +of Sainte-Brigitte, Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, Saint-Ruff, and +Saint-Antoine,"--in short, nine complete congregations had disappeared. +At the end of twenty years three hundred and eighty-six establishments +had been suppressed, the number of monks and nuns had diminished +one-third, the larger portion of possessions which had escheated were +usefully applied, and the congregations of men lacked novices and +complained that they could not fill up their ranks. If the monks were +still found to be too numerous, too wealthy, and too indolent, it was +merely necessary to keep on in this way; before the end of the century, +merely by the application of the edict, the institution would be +brought back, without brutality or injustice, within the scope of the +development, the limitations of fortune, and the class of functions +acceptable to a modern State. + +But, because these ecclesiastical bodies stood in need of reform it does +not follow that it was necessary to destroy them, nor, in general, +that independent institutions are detrimental to a nation. Organized +purposely for a public service, and possessing, nearly or remotely under +the supervision of the State, the faculty of self-administration, these +bodies are valuable organs and not malign tumors. + +In the first place, through their institution, a great public benefit +is secured without any cost to the government--worship, scientific +research, primary or higher education, help for the poor, care of the +sick--all set apart and sheltered from the cuts which public financial +difficulties might make necessary, and supported by the private +generosity which, finding a ready receptacle at hand, gathers together, +century after century, its thousands of scattered springs: as an +example, note the wealth, stability, and usefulness of the English and +German universities. + +In the second place, their institution furnishes an obstacle to the +omnipotence of the State; their walls provide a protection against the +leveling standardization of absolute monarchy or of pure democracy. A +man can here freely develop himself without donning the livery of +either courtier or demagogue, he can acquire wealth, consideration and +authority, without being indebted to the caprices of either royal or +popular favor; he can stand firm against established or prevailing +opinions sheltered by associates bound by their esprit de corps. Such, +at the present day (1885), is the situation of a professor at Oxford, +Göttingen, and Harvard Such, under the Ancient Régime, were a bishop, a +member of the French Parliaments, and even a plain attorney. What can +be worse than universal bureaucracy, producing a mechanical and servile +uniformity! Those who serve the public need not all be Government +clerks; in countries where an aristocracy has perished, bodies of this +kind are their last place of refuge. + +In the third place, through such institutions, distinct original +societies may come to be inside the great commonplace world. Here +special personalities may find the only existence that suits them. If +devout or laborious, not only do these afford an outlet for the deeper +needs of conscience, of the imagination, of activity, and of discipline, +but also they serve as dikes which restrain and direct them in a channel +which will lead to the creation of a masterpiece of infinite value. In +this way thousands of men and women fulfill at small cost, voluntarily +and gratis, and with great effect, the least attractive and more +repulsive social needs, thus performing in human society the role which, +inside the ant-hill, we see assigned to the sexless worker-ant.[2242] + +Thus, at bottom, the institution was really good, and if it had to be +cauterized it was merely essential to remove the inert or corrupted +parts and preserve the healthy and sound parts.--Now, if we take only +the monastic bodies, there were more than one-half of these entitled +to respect. I omit those monks, one-third of whom remained zealous and +exemplary-the Benedictines, who continue the "Gallia Christiana," with +others who, at sixty years of age, labor in rooms without a fire; +the Trappists, who cultivate the ground with their own hands, and the +innumerable monasteries which serve as educational seminaries, bureaus +of charity, hospices for shelter, and of which all the villages in their +neighborhood demand the conservation by the National Assembly.[2243] +I have to mention the nuns, thirty-seven thousand in fifteen hundred +convents. Here, except in the twenty-five chapters of canonesses, which +are a semi-worldly rendezvous for poor young girls of noble birth, +fervor, frugality, and usefulness are almost everywhere incontestable. +One of the members of the Ecclesiastical Committee admits in the +Assembly tribunal that, in all their letters and addresses, the nuns ask +to be allowed to remain in their cloisters; their entreaties, in fact, +are as earnest as they are affecting.[2244] One Community writes, + +"We should prefer the sacrifice of our lives to that of our calling +. . . . This is not the voice of some among our sisters, but of all. The +National Assembly has established the claims of liberty-would it prevent +the exercise of these by the only disinterested beings who ardently +desire to be useful, and have renounced society solely to be of greater +service to it?" + +"The little contact we have with the world," writes another "is the +reason why our contentment is so little known. But it is not the less +real and substantial. We know of no distinctions, no privileges amongst +ourselves; our misfortunes and our property are in common. One in heart +and one in soul. . . we protest before the nation, in the face of heaven +and of earth, that it is not in the power of any being to shake our +fidelity to our vows, which vows we renew with still more ardor than +when we first pronounced them."[2245] + +Many of the communities have no means of subsistence other than the work +of their own hands and the small dowries the nuns have brought with +them on entering the convent. So great, however is their frugality and +economy, that the total expenditure of each nun does not surpass 250 +livres a year. The Annonciades of Saint-Amour say, + +"We, thirty-three nuns, both choristers and those of the white veil, +live on 4,400 livres net income, without being a charge to our families +or to the public. . . If we were living in society, our expenses would +be three times as much;" and, not content with providing for themselves, +they give in charity. + +Among these communities several hundreds are educational establishments; +a very great number give gratuitous primary instruction.--Now, in 1789, +there are no other schools for girls, and were these to be suppressed, +every avenue of instruction and culture would be closed to one of the +two sexes, forming one-half of the French population. Fourteen thousand +sisters of charity, distributed among four hundred and twenty convents, +look after the hospitals, attend upon the sick, serve the infirm, +bring up foundlings, provide for orphans, lying-in women, and repentant +prostitutes. The "Visitation" is an asylum for "those who are not +favored by nature,"--and, in those days, there were many more of the +disfigured than at present, since out of every eight deaths one was +caused by the smallpox. Widows are received here, as well as girls +without means and without protection, persons "worn out with the +agitation of the world," those who are too feeble to support the battle +of life, those who withdraw from it wounded or invalid, and "the rules +of the order, not very strict, are not beyond the health or strength +of the most frail and delicate." Some ingenious device of charity thus +applies to each moral or social sore, with skill and care, the proper +and proportionate dressing. And finally, far from falling off, nearly +all these communities are in a flourishing state, and whilst among the +establishments for men there are only nine, on the average, to each, +in those for women there is an average of twenty-four. Here, at +Saint-Flour, is one which is bringing up fifty boarders; another, at +Beaulieu, instructs one hundred; another, in Franche-Comté, has charge +of eight hundred abandoned children.[2246]--Evidently, in the presence +of such institutions one must pause, however little one may care for +justice and the public interest; and, moreover, because it is useless +to act rigorously against them the legislator crushes them in vain, for +they spring up again of their own accord; they are in the blood of every +Catholic nation. In France, instead of thirty-seven thousand nuns, at +the present day (1866) there are eighty-six thousand-that is to say, +forty-five in every ten thousand women instead of twenty-eight.[2247] + +In any case, if the State deprives them of their property, along with +that of other ecclesiastical bodies, it is not the State that ought +to claim the spoil.--The State is not their heir, and their land, +furniture, and rentals are in their very nature devoted to a special +purpose, although they have no designated proprietor. This treasure, +which consists of the accumulations of fourteen centuries, has been +formed, increased, and preserved, in view of a certain object. The +millions of generous, repentant, or devout souls who have made a gift +of it, or have managed it, did so with a certain intention. It was their +desire to ensure education, beneficence, and religion, and nothing else. +Their legitimate intentions should not be frustrated: the dead have +rights in society as well as the living, for it is the dead who have +made the society which the living enjoy, and we receive their heritage +only on the condition of executing their testamentary act.--Should +this be of ancient date, it is undoubtedly necessary to make a liberal +interpretation of it; to supplement its scanty provisions, and to take +new circumstances into consideration. The requirements for which it +provided have often disappeared; for instance, after the destruction of +the Barbary pirates, there were no more Christians to be ransomed; and +only by transferring an endowment can it be perpetuated.--But if, in the +original institution, several accessory and special clauses have become +antiquated, there remains the one important, general intention, which +manifestly continues imperative and permanent, that of providing for a +distinct service, either of charity, of worship, or of instruction. Let +the administrators be changed, if necessary, also the apportionment of +the legacy bequeathed, but do not divert any of it to services of an +alien character; it is inapplicable to any but that purpose or to others +strictly analogous. The four milliards of investment in real property, +the two hundred millions of ecclesiastical income, form for it an +express and special endowment. This is not a pile of gold abandoned on +the highway, which the exchequer can appropriate or assign to those who +live by the roadside. Authentic titles to it exist, which, declaring its +origin, fix its destination, and your business is simply to see that +it reaches its destination. Such was the principle under the ancient +régime, in spite of grave abuses, and under forced exactions. When the +ecclesiastical commission suppressed an ecclesiastical order, it was not +for the purpose of making its possessions over to the public treasury, +but to apply these to seminaries, schools, and hospitals. In 1789, the +revenues of Saint-Denis supported Saint-Cyr; those of Saint Germain went +to the Economats, and the Government, although absolute and needy, was +sufficiently honest to adjust that confiscation was robbery. The greater +our power, the greater the obligation to be just, and honesty always +proves in the end to be the best policy.--It is, therefore, both just +and useful that the Church, as in England and in America, that superior +education, as in England and in Germany, that special instruction, as in +America, and that diverse endowments for public assistance and utility, +should be unreservedly secured in the maintenance of their heritage. The +State, as testamentary executor of this inheritance, strangely abuses +its mandate when it pockets the bequest in order to choke the deficit of +its own treasury, risking it in bad speculations, and swallowing it +up in its own bankruptcy, until of this vast treasure, which has been +heaped up for generations for the benefit of children, the infirm, +the sick and the poor, not enough is left to pay the salary of a +school-mistress, the wages of a parish nurse, or for a bowl of broth in +a hospital.[2248] + +The Assembly remains deaf to all these arguments, and that which makes +its refuse to listen is not financial distress.--The Archbishop of Aix, +M. de Boisjelin, offered, in the name of the clergy, to liquidate +at once the debt of three hundred millions, which was urgent, by a +mortgage-loan of four hundred millions on the ecclesiastical property, +which was a very good expedient; for at this time the credit of the +clergy is the only substantial one. It generally borrows at less than +five per cent., and more money has always been offered to it than it +wanted, whilst the State borrows at ten per cent., and, at this moment, +there are no lenders.--But, to our new revolutionary statesmen, +the cost-benefit of a service is of much less consequence than the +application of a principle. In conformity with the Social Contract they +establish the maxim that in the State there is no need of corporate +bodies: they acknowledge nothing but, on the one hand, the State, the +depositary of all public powers, and, on the other hand, a myriad of +solitary individuals. Special associations, specific groups, collateral +corporations are not wanted, even to fulfill functions which the State +is incapable of fulfilling. "As soon as one enters a corporation," says +and orator, "one must love it as one loves a family;"[2249] whereas +the affections and obedience are all to be monopolized by the State. +Moreover, on entering into an order a man receives special aid and +comfort from it, and whatever distinguishes one man from another, is +opposed to civil equality. Hence, if men are to remain equal and become +citizens they must be deprived of every rallying point that might +compete with that of the State, and give to some an advantage over +others. All natural or acquired ties, consequently, which bound men +together through geographical position, through climate, history, +pursuits, and trade, are sundered. The old provinces, the old provincial +governments, the old municipal administrations, parliaments, guilds +and masterships, all are suppressed. The groups which spring up most +naturally, those which arise through a community of interests, are +all dispersed, and the broadest, most express, and most positive +interdictions are promulgated against their revival under any pretext +whatever.[2250] France is cut up into geometrical sections like a +chess-board, and, within these improvised limits, which are destined +for a long time to remain artificial, nothing is allowed to subsist +but isolated individuals in juxtaposition. There is no desire to spare +organized bodies where the cohesion is great, and least of all that +of the clergy. "Special associations," says Mirabeau,[2251] "in the +community at large, break up the unity of its principles and destroy +the equilibrium of its forces. Large political bodies in a State are +dangerous through the strength which results from their coalition and +the resistance which is born out of their interests." ii--That of the +clergy, besides, is inherently bad,[2252] because "its system is in +constant antagonism to the rights of man." An institution in which a +vow of obedience is necessary is "incompatible" with the constitution. +Congregations "subject to independent chiefs are out of the social pale +and incompatible with public spirit." As to the right of society over +these, and also over the Church, this is not doubtful. "Corporate bodies +exist only through society, and, in destroying them, society merely +takes back the life she has imparted to them." "They are simply +instruments fabricated by the law.[2253] What does the workman do +when the tool he works with no longer suits him? He breaks or alters +it."--This primary sophism being admitted the conclusion is plain. Since +corporate bodies are abolished they no longer exist, and since they no +longer exist, they cannot again become proprietors. + +"Your aim was to destroy ecclesiastical orders,[2254] because their +destruction was essential to the safety of the State. If the clergy +preserve their property, the clerical order is not destroyed: you +necessarily leave it the right of assembling; you sanction its +independence." In no case must ecclesiastics hold possessions. "If they +are proprietors they are independent, and if they are independent they +will associate this independence with the exercise of their functions." +The clergy, cost what it will, must be in the hands of the State, as +simple functionaries and supported by its subsidies. It would be too +dangerous for a nation, "to admit in its bosom as proprietors a large +body of men to whom so many sources of credit already give so great +power. As religion is the property of all, its ministers, through this +fact alone, should be in the pay of the nation;" they are essentially +"officers of morality and instruction," and "salaried" like judges and +professors. Let us fetch them back to this condition of things, which +is the only one compatible with the rights of man, and ordain that +"the clergy, as well as all corporations and bodies with power of +inheritance, are now, and shall be for ever incapable of holding any +personal or landed estate."[2255] + +Who, now, is the legitimate heir of all these vacated possessions? +Through another sophism, the State, at once judge and party in the +cause, assigns them to the State: + +"The founders presented them to the Church, that is to say, to the +nation."[2256] "Since the nation has permitted their possession by +the clergy, she may re-demand that which is possessed only through her +authorization." "The principle must be maintained that every nation is +solely and veritably proprietor of the possessions of its clergy." + +This principle, it must be noted, as it is laid down, involves the +destruction of ecclesiastical and lay corporations, along with the +confiscation of all their possessions, and soon we shall see appearing +on the horizon the final and complete decree[2257] by which the +Legislative Assembly, + +"considering that a State truly free should not suffer any corporation +within its bosom, not even those which, devoted to public instruction, +deserve well of the country," not even those "which are solely devoted +to the service of the hospitals-and the relief of the sick," suppresses +all congregations, all associations of men or of women, lay or +ecclesiastical, all endowments for pious, charitable, and missionary +purposes, all houses of education, all seminaries and colleges, and +those of the Sorbonne and Navarre. Add to these the last sweep of the +broom: under the Legislative Assembly the division of all communal +property, except woods: under the Convention, the abolition of all +literary societies, academies of science and of literature, the +confiscation of all their property, their libraries, museums, and +botanical gardens; the confiscation of all communal possessions +not previously divided; and the confiscation of all the property of +hospitals and other philanthropic establishments.[2258]--The abstract +principle, proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly, reveals, by degrees, +its exterminating virtues. France now, owing to it, contains nothing but +dispersed, powerless, ephemeral individuals, and confronting them, +the State, the sole, the only permanent body that has devoured all +the others, a veritable Colossus, alone erect in the midst of these +insignificant dwarfs. + +Substituted for the others, it is henceforth to perform their duties, +and spend the money well which they have expended badly.--In the first +place, it abolishes tithes, not gradually and by means of a process of +redemption, as in England, but at one stroke, and with no indemnity, +on the ground that the tax, being an abusive, illegitimate impost, a +private tax levied by individuals in cowl and cassock on others in +smock frocks, is a vexatious usurpation, and resembles the feudal +dues. It is a radical operation, and in conformity with principle. +Unfortunately, the puerility of the thing is so gross as to defeat its +own object. In effect, since the days of Charlemagne, all the estates +in the country which have been sold and resold over and over again +have always paid tithes, and have never been purchased except with this +charge upon them, which amounts to about one-seventh of the net revenue +of the country. Take off this tax and one-seventh is added to the +income of the proprietor, and, consequently, a seventh to his capital. A +present is made to him of one hundred francs if his land is worth seven +hundred-francs, and of one thousand if it is worth seven thousand, +of ten thousand if it is worth seventy thousand, and of one hundred +thousand if it is worth seven hundred thousand. Some people gain six +hundred thousand francs by this act, and thirty thousand francs in +Income.[2259] Through this gratuitous and unexpected gift, one hundred +and twenty-three millions of revenue, and two milliards and a half of +capital, is divided among the holders of real estate in France, and in +a manner so ingenious that the rich receive the most. Such is the effect +of abstract principles. To afford a relief of thirty millions a year +to the peasants in wooden shoes, an assembly of democrats adds thirty +millions a year to the revenue of wealthy bourgeois and thirty millions +a year to opulent nobles. The first part of this operation moreover, is +but another burden to the State; for, in taking off the load from +the holders of real property, it has encumbered itself, the State +henceforth, without pocketing a penny, being obliged to defray the +expenses of worship in their place.--As to the second part of the +operation, which consists in the confiscation of four milliards of real +estate, it proves, after all, to be ruinous, although promising to +be lucrative. It makes the same impression on our statesmen that the +inheritance of a great estate makes on a needy and fanciful upstart. +Regarding it as a bottomless well of gold, he draws upon it without +stint and strives to realize all his fancies; as he can afford to pay +for it all, he is free to smash it all. It is thus that the Assembly +suppresses and compensates magisterial offices to the amount of four +hundred and fifty millions; financial securities and obligations to the +amount of three hundred and twenty-one millions; the household charges +of the King, Queen, and princes, fifty-two millions; military services +and encumbrances, thirty-five millions; enfeoffed tithes, one hundred +millions, and so on.[2260] "In the month of May, 1789," says Necker, +"the re-establishment of order in the finances were mere child's-play." +At the end of a year, by dint of involving itself in debt, by increasing +its expenses, and by abolishing or abandoning its income, the State +lives now on the paper-currency it issues, eats up its capital, and +rapidly marches onward to bankruptcy. Never was such a vast inheritance +so quickly reduced to nothing, and to less than nothing. + +Meanwhile, we can demonstrate, from the first few months, what use the +administrators will be able to make of it, and the manner in which +they will endow the service to which it binds them.--No portion of this +confiscated property is reserved for the maintenance of public worship, +or to keep up the hospitals, asylums, and schools. Not only do all +obligations and all productive real property find their way into the +great national crucible to be converted into assignats[2261], but a +number of special buildings, all monastic real estate and a portion +of the ecclesiastical real estate, diverted from its natural course, +becomes swallowed up in the same gulf. At Besançon,[2262] three churches +out of eight, with their land and treasure, the funds of the chapter, +all the money of the monastic churches, the sacred vessels, shrines, +crosses, reliquaries, votive offerings, ivories, statues, pictures, +tapestry, sacerdotal dresses and ornaments, plate, jewels and precious +furniture, libraries, railings, bells, masterpieces of art and of piety, +all are broken up and melted in the Mint, or sold by auction for almost +nothing. This is the way in which the intentions of the founders and +donors are carried out.--How are so many communities, which are deprived +of their rentals, to support their schools, hospices, and asylums? Even +after the decree[2263] which, exceptionally and provisionally, orders +the whole of their revenue to be accounted for to them, will it be paid +over now that it is collected by a local administration whose coffers +are always empty, and whose intentions are almost always hostile? Every +establishment for benevolent and educational purposes is evidently +sinking, now that the special streams which nourished them run into and +are lost in the dry bed of the public treasury.[2264] Already, in 1790, +there are no funds with which to pay the monks and nuns their small +pensions for their maintenance. In Franche-Comté the Capuchins of Baume +have no bread, and, to live, they are obliged to re-sell, with the +consent of the district, a portion of the stores of their monastery +which had been confiscated. The Ursuline nuns of Ornans live on the +means furnished them by private individuals in order to keep up the only +school which the town possesses. The Bernardine nuns of Pontarlier are +reduced to the lowest stage of want: "We are satisfied," the district +reports, "that they have nothing to put into their mouths. We have +to contribute something every day amongst ourselves to keep them +from starving."[2265] Only too thankful are they when the local +administration gives them something to eat, or allows others to give +them something. In many places it strives to famish them, or takes +delight in annoying them. In March, 1791, the department of Doubs, in +spite of the entreaties of the district, reduces the pension of the +Visitant nuns to one hundred and one livres for the choristers, and +fifty for the lay-sisters. Two months before this, the municipality of +Besançon, putting its own interpretation on the decree which allowed +nuns to dress as they pleased, enjoins them all, including even the +sisters of charity, to abandon their old costume, which few among them +had the means of replacing.--Helplessness, indifference, or malevolence, +such are the various dispositions which are encountered among the new +authorities whose duty it is to support and protect them. To let loose +persecution there is now only needed a decree which puts the civil power +in conflict with religious convictions. That decree is promulgated, +and, on the 12th of July, 1790, the Assembly establishes the civil +constitution of the clergy. + +Notwithstanding the confiscation of ecclesiastical property, and +the dispersion of the monastic communities, the main body of the +ecclesiastical corps remains intact: seventy thousand priests +ranged under the bishops, with the Pope in the center as the +commander-in-chief. There is no corporation more solid, more +incompatible, or more attacked. For, against it are opposed implacable +hatreds and fixed opinions: the Gallicanism of the jurists who, from +St. Louis downwards, are the adversaries of ecclesiastical power; the +doctrine of the Jansenists who, since Louis XIII., desire to bring back +the Church to its primitive form; and the theory of the philosophers +who, for sixty years, have considered Christianity as a mistake and +Catholicism as a scourge. At the very least the institution of a clergy +in Catholicism is condemned, and they think that they are moderate if +they respect the rest. + +"WE MIGHT CHANGE THE RELIGION," + +say the deputies in the tribune.[2266] Now, the decree affects +neither dogma nor worship; it is confined to a revision of matters of +discipline, and on this particular domain which is claimed for the +civil power, it is pretended that demolition and re-construction may +be effected at discretion without the concurrence of the ecclesiastical +power. + +Here there is an abuse of power, for an ecclesiastical as well as civil +society has the right to choose its own form, its own hierarchy, its own +government.--On this point, every argument that can be advanced in favor +of the former can be repeated in favor of the latter, and the moment one +becomes legitimate the other becomes legitimate also. The justification +for a civil or of a religious community or society may be the +performance of a long series of services which, for centuries, it has +rendered to its members, the zeal and success with which it discharges +its functions, the feelings of gratitude they entertain for it, the +importance they attribute to its offices, the need they have of it, and +their attachment to it, the conviction imprinted in their minds that +without it they would be deprived of a benefit upon which they set more +store than upon any other. This benefit, in a civil society, is the +security of persons and property. In the religious society it is +the eternal salvation of the soul. iii In all other particulars the +resemblance is complete, and the titles of the Church are as good as +those of the State. Hence, if it be just for one to be sovereign and +free on its own domain, it is just for the other to be equally sovereign +and free, If the Church encroaches when it assumes to regulate the +constitution of the State, then the State also encroaches when it +pretends to regulate the constitution of the Church. If the former +claims the respect of the latter on its domain, the latter must show +equal respect for the former on its ground. The boundary-line between +the two territories is, undoubtedly, not clearly defined and frequent +contests arise between the two. Sometimes these may be forestalled or +terminated by each shutting itself up within a wall of separation, and +by their remaining as much as possible indifferent to each other, as +is the case in America. At another, they may, by a carefully considered +contract,[2267] each accord to the other specific rights on the +intermediate zone, and both exercise their divided authority on that +zone, which is the case in France. In both cases, however, the two +powers, like the two societies, must remain distinct. It is necessary +for each of them that the other should be an equal, and not a +subordinate to which it prescribes conditions. Whatever the civil system +may be, whether monarchical or republican, oligarchic or democratic, the +Church abuses its credit when it condemns or attacks it. Whatever may be +the ecclesiastical system, whether papal, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or +congregational, the State abuses its strength when, without the assent +of the faithful, it abolishes their systems or imposes a new one upon +them. Not only does it violate right, but its violence, most frequently, +is fruitless. It may strike as it will, the root of the tree is beyond +its reach, and, in the unjust war which it wages against an institution +as vital as itself, it often ends in getting the worst of it. + +Unfortunately, the Assembly, in this as in other matters, being +preoccupied with principles, fails to look at practical facts; and, +aiming to remove only the dead bark, it injures the living trunk.--For +many centuries, and especially since the Council of Trent, the vigorous +element of Catholicism is much less religion itself than the Church. +Theology has retired into the background, while discipline has come +to the front. Believers who, according to Church law, are required to +regard spiritual authority as dogma, in fact attach their faith to the +spiritual authority much more than to the dogma.-- + +Catholic Faith insists, in relation to discipline as well as to dogma, +that if one rejects the decision of the Roman Church one ceases to be a +Catholic; that the constitution of the Church is monarchical, that the +ordaining of priests and bishops is made from above so that without +communion with the Pope, its supreme head, one is schismatic and that no +schismatic priest legitimately can perform a holy service, and that no +true faithful may attend his service or receive his blessings without +committing a sin.--It is a fact that the faithful, apart from a few +Jansenists, are neither theologians nor canonists; that they read +neither prayers nor scriptures, and if they accept the creed, it is in +a lump, without investigation, confiding in the hand which presents it; +that their obedient conscience is in the keeping of this pastoral guide; +that the Church of the third century is of little consequence to them; +and that, as far as the true form of the actual Church goes, the doctor +whose advice they follow is not St. Cyprian, of whom they know nothing, +but their visible bishop and their living curé. Put these two premises +together and the conclusion is self-evident: it is clear that they will +not believe that they are baptized, absolved, or married except by this +curé authorized by this bishop. Let others be put in their places +whom they condemn, and you suppress worship, sacraments, and the most +precious functions of spiritual life to twenty-four millions of French +people, to all the peasantry, all the children, and to almost all the +women; you stir up in rebellion against you the two greatest forces +which move the mind, conscience and habit.--And observe the result of +this. You not only convert the State into a policeman in the service +of heresy, but also, through this fruitless and tyrannous attempt of +Gallican Jansenism, you bring into permanent discredit Gallican maxims +and Jansenist doctrines. You cut away the last two roots by which a +liberal sentiment still vegetated in orthodox Catholicism. You throw the +clergy back on Rome; you attach them to the Pope from whom you wish to +separate them, and deprive them of the national character which you +wish to impose on them. They were French, and you render them +Ultramontane.[2268] They excited ill-will and envy, and you render them +sympathetic and popular. They were a divided body, and you give them +unanimity. They were a straggling militia, scattered about under several +independent authorities, and rooted to the soil through the possession +of the ground; thanks to you, they are to become a regular, manageable +army, emancipated from every local attachment, organized under one head, +and always prepared to take the field at the word of command. Compare +the authority of a bishop in his diocese in 1789 with that of a bishop +sixty years later. In 1789, the Archbishop of Besançon, out of fifteen +hundred offices and benefices, had the patronage of one hundred, In +ninety-three incumbencies the selections were made by the metropolitan +chapter; in eighteen it was made by the chapter of the Madeleine; +in seventy parishes by the noble founder or benefactor. One abbé had +thirteen incumbencies at his disposal, another thirty-four, another +thirty-five, a prior nine, an abbess twenty; five communes directly +nominated their own pastor, while abbeys, priories and canonries were in +the hands of the King.[2269] At the present day (1880) in a diocese the +bishop appoints all the curés or officiating priests, and may deprive +nine out of ten of them; in the diocese above named, from 1850 to +1860, scarcely one lay functionary was nominated without the consent or +intervention of the cardinal-archbishop.[2270] To comprehend the spirit, +discipline, and influence of our contemporary clergy, go back to the +source of it, and you will find it in the decree of the Constituent +Assembly. A natural organization cannot be broken up with impunity; it +forms anew, adapting itself to circumstances, and closes up its ranks in +proportion to its danger. + +But even if, according to the maxims of the Assembly, faith and worship +are free, as far as the sovereign State is concerned, the churches are +subjects.--For these are societies, administrations, and hierarchies, +and no society, administration, or hierarchy may exist in the State +without entering into its--departments under the title of subordinate, +delegate, or employee. A priest is now essentially a salaried officer +like the rest, a functionary[2271] presiding over matters pertaining to +worship and morality. If the State is disposed to change the number, the +mode of nomination, the duties and the posts of its engineers, it is not +bound to assemble its engineers and ask their permission, least of all +that of a foreign engineer established at Rome. If it wishes to change +the condition of "its ecclesiastical officers," its right to do so +is the same, and therefore unquestioned. There is no need of asking +anybody's consent in the exercise of this right, and it allows no +interference between it and its clerks. The Assembly refuses to call a +Gallican council; it refuses to negotiate with the Pope, and, on its +own authority alone, it recasts the whole Constitution of the Church. +Henceforth this branch of the public administration is to be organized +on the model of the others.--In the first place[2272] the diocese is to +be in extent and limits the same as the French department; consequently, +all ecclesiastical districts are marked out anew, and forty-eight +episcopal sees disappear.--In the second place, the appointed bishop is +forbidden "to refer to the Pope to obtain any confirmation whatever." +All he can do is to write to him "in testimony of the unity of faith and +of the communion which he is to maintain with him." The bishop is thus +no longer installed by his canonical chief, and the Church of France +becomes schismatic.--In the third place, the metropolitan or bishop is +forbidden to exact from the new bishops or curés "any oath other than +that they profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion." Assisted +by his council he may examine them on their doctrine and morals, and +refuse them canonical installation, but in this case his reasons must +be given in writing, and he signed by himself and his council. His +authority, in other respects, does not extend beyond this for it is the +civil tribunal which decides between contending parties. Thus is the +catholic hierarchy broken up; the ecclesiastical superior has his hands +tied; if he still delegates sacerdotal functions it is only as a matter +of form. Between the curé and the bishop subordination ceases to exist +just as it has ceased to exist between the bishop and the Pope, and +the Church of France becomes Presbyterian.--The people now, in effect, +choose their own ministers, as they do in the Presbyterian church; the +bishop is appointed by the electors of the department, the cure by the +district electors, and, what is an extraordinary aggravation, these need +not be of his communion. It is of no consequence whether the electoral +Assembly contains, as at Nîmes, Montauban, Strasbourg, and Metz, a +notable proportion of Calvinists, Lutherans, and Jews, or whether its +majority, furnished by the club, is notoriously hostile to Catholicism, +and even to Christianity itself. The bishop and the curé must be chosen +by the electoral body; the Holy Ghost dwells with it, and with the +civil tribunals, and these may install its elect in spite of any +resistance.--To complete the dependence of the clergy, every bishop is +forbidden to absent himself more than fifteen days without permission +from the department; every curé the same length of time without the +permission of the district, even to attend upon a dying father or to +undergo the operation of lithotomy. In default of this permission his +salary is suspended: as a functionary under salary, he owes all his time +to his bureau, and if he desires a leave of absence he must ask for +it from his chiefs in the Hôtel-de-Ville.[2273]--He must assent to all +these innovations, not only with passive obedience, but by a solemn +oath. All old or new ecclesiastics, archbishops, bishops, curés, vicars, +preachers, hospital and prison chaplains, superiors and directors of +seminaries, professors of seminaries and colleges, are to state in +writing that they are ready to take this oath: moreover, they must take +it publicly, in church, "in the presence of the general council, the +commune, and the faithful," and promise "to maintain with all their +power" a schismatic and Presbyterian Church.--For there can be no doubt +about the sense and bearing of the prescribed oath. It was all very +well to incorporate it with a broader one, that of maintaining the +Constitution. But the Constitution of the clergy is too clearly +comprised in the general Constitution, like a chapter in a book, and to +sign the book is to sign the chapter. Besides, in the formula to which +the ecclesiastics in the Assembly are obliged to swear in the tribune, +the chapter is precisely indicated, and no exception or reservation is +allowed.[2274] The Bishop of Clermont, with all those who have accepted +the Constitution in full, save the decrees affecting spiritual matters, +are silenced. Where the spiritual begins and where it ends the Assembly +knows better than they, for it has defined this, and it imposes its +definition on canonist and theologian; it is, in its turn, the Pope, and +all consciences must bow to its decision. Let them take the "oath, pure +and simple," or if they do not they are 'refractory." The fiat goes +forth, and the effect of it is immense, for, along with the clergy, the +law reaches to laymen. On the one hand, all the ecclesiastics who refuse +the oath are dismissed. If they continue "to interfere with public +functions which they have personally or corporately exercised" they +"shall be prosecuted as disturbers of the peace, and condemned as +rebels against the law," deprived of all rights as active citizens, +and declared incompetent to hold any public office. This is the penalty +already inflicted on the nonjuring bishop who persists in considering +himself a bishop, who ordains priests and who issues a pastoral letter. +Such is soon to be the penalty inflicted on the nonjuring curé who +presumes to hear confession or officiate at a mass.[2275] On the other +hand, all citizens who refuse to take the prescribed oath, all electors, +municipal officers, judges and administrative agents, shall lose +their right of suffrage, have their functions revoked, and be declared +incompetent for all public duties.[2276] The result is that scrupulous +Catholics are excluded from every administrative post, from all +elections, and especially from ecclesiastical elections; from which +it follows that, the stronger one's faith the less one's share in the +choice of a priest.[2277]--What an admirable law, that which, under the +pretext of doing away with ecclesiastical abuses, places the faithful, +lay or clerical, outside the pale of the law! + +This soon becomes apparent. One hundred and thirty four archbishops, +bishops, and coadjutors refuse to take the oath; there are only four +of them who do so, three of whom, MM. de Talleyrand, de Jarente, and +de Brienne, are unbelievers and notorious for their licentiousness; the +others are influenced by their consciences, above all, by their esprit +de corps and a point of honor. Most of the curés rally around this staff +of officers. In the diocese of Besançon,[2278] out of fourteen hundred +priests, three hundred take the oath, a thousand refuse it, and eighty +retract. In the department of Doubs, only four consent to swear. In the +department of Lozère, there are only "ten out of two hundred and fifty." +It is stated positively," writes the best informed of all observers that +everywhere in France two-thirds of the ecclesiastics have refused the +oath, or have only taken it with the same reservations as the Bishop of +Clermont." + +Thus, out of seventy thousand priests, forty-six thousand are turned +out of office, and the majority of their parishioners are on their side. +This is apparent in the absence of electors convoked to replace them: +at Bordeaux only four hundred and fifty came to the poll out of nine +hundred, while elsewhere the summons brings together only "a third or +a quarter" In many places there are no candidates, or those elected +decline to accept. They are obliged, in order to supply their places, +to hunt up unfrocked monks of a questionable character. There are two +parties, after this, in each parish; two faiths, two systems of +worship, and permanent discord. Even when the new and the old curés are +accommodating, their situations bring them into conflict. To the former +the latter are "intruders." To the latter the former are "refractories." +By virtue of his being a guardian of souls, the former cannot dispense +with telling his parishioners that the intruder is excommunicated, that +his sacraments are null or sacrilegious, and that it is a sin to attend +his mass. By virtue of his being a public functionary, the latter does +not fail to write to the authorities that the "refractory" entraps the +faithful, excites their consciences, saps the Constitution, and that +he ought to be put down by force. In other words, the former draws +everybody away from the latter, while the latter sends the gendarmes +against the former, and persecution begins.--In a strange reversal, +it is the majority which undergoes persecution, and the minority which +carries it out. The mass of the constitutional curé is, everywhere, +deserted.[2279] In La Vendée there are ten or twelve present in the +church out of five or six hundred parishioners; on Sundays and holidays +whole villages and market-towns travel from one to two leagues off to +attend the orthodox mass, the villagers declaring that "if the old curé +can only be restored to them, they will gladly pay a double tax." In +Alsace, "nine tenths, at least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize +the legally sworn priests." The same spectacle presents itself in +Franche-Comté, Artois, and in ten of the other provinces.--Finally, as +in a chemical composition, the analysis is complete. Those who believe, +or who recover their belief, are ranged around the old curé; all who, +through conviction or tradition, hold to the sacraments, all who, +through faith or habit, wish or feel a need to attend the mass. The +auditors of the new curé consist of unbelievers, deists, the indifferent +members of the clubs and of the administration, who resort to the church +as to the Hôtel-de-ville or to a popular meeting, not through religious +but through political zeal, and who support the "intruder" in order to +sustain the Constitution. All this does not secure to him very fervent +followers, but it provides him with very zealous defenders; and, in +default of the faith which they do not possess, they give the force +which is at their disposal. All means are proper against an intractable +bishop or curé; not only the law which they aggravate through their +forced interpretation of it and through their arbitrary verdicts, but +also the riots which they stir up by their instigation and which they +sanction by their toleration.[2280] He is driven out of his parish, +consigned to the county town, and kept in a safe place. The Directory of +Aisne denounces him as a disturber of the public peace, and forbids +him, under severe penalties, from administering the sacraments. The +municipality of Cahors shuts up particular churches and orders the +nonjuring ecclesiastics to leave the town in twenty-four hours. The +electoral corps of Lot denounces them publicly as "ferocious brutes," +incendiaries, and provokers of civil war. The Directory of the Bas-Rhin +banishes them to Strasbourg or to fifteen leagues from the frontier. +At Saint-Leon the bishop is forced to fly. At Auch the archbishop is +imprisoned; at Lyons M. de Boisboissel, grand vicar, is confined in +Pierre-Encize, for having preserved an archiepiscopal mandate in his +house; brutality is everywhere the minister of intolerance. A certain +cure of Aisne who, in 1789, had fed two thousand poor, having presumed +to read from his pulpit a pastoral charge concerning the observance of +Lent, the mayor seizes him by the collar and prevents him from going to +the altar; "two of the National Yeomanry" draw their sabers on him, and +forthwith lead him away bareheaded, not allowing him to return to his +house, and drive him to a distance of two leagues by beat of drum and +under escort. At Paris, in the church of Saint-Eustache, the curé is +greeted with outcries, a pistol is pointed at his head, he is seized by +the hair, struck with fists, and only reaches the sacristy through +the intervention of the National Guard. In the church of the Théatins, +rented by the orthodox with all legal formality, a furious band +disperses the priests and their assistants, upsets the altar and +profanes the sacred vessels. A placard, posted up by the department, +calls upon the people to respect the law, "I saw it," says an +eye-witness, "torn down amidst imprecations against the department, the +priests, and the devout. One of the chief haranguers, standing on the +steps terminated his speech by stating that schism ought to be stopped +at any cost, that no worship but his should be allowed, that women +should be whipped and priests knocked on the head." And, in fact, "a +young lady accompanied by her mother is whipped on the steps of +the church." Elsewhere nuns are the sufferers, even the sisters of +Saint-Vincent de Paul; and, from April, 1793, onward; the same outrages +on modesty and against life are propagated from town to town. At Dijon, +rods are nailed fast to the gates of all the convents; at Montpellier, +two or three hundred ruffians, armed with large iron--bound sticks, +murder the men and outrage the women.--Nothing remains but to put +the gangsters under the shelter of an amnesty, which is done by the +Constituent Assembly, and to legally sanction the animosity of local +administrations, which is done by the Legislative Assembly.[2281] +Henceforth the nonjuring ecclesiastics are deprived of their sustenance; +they are declared "suspected of revolt against the law and of evil +intentions against the country."--Thus, says a contemporary Protestant, +"on the strength of these suspicions and these intentions, a Directory, +to which the law interdicts judicial functions, may arbitrarily drive +out of his house the minister of a God of peace and charity, grown gray +in the shadow of the altar" Thus, "everywhere, where disturbances occur +on account of religious opinions, and whether these troubles are due +to the frantic scourgers of the virtuous sisters of charity or to the +ruffians armed with cow-hides who, at Nîmes and Montpellier, outrage all +the laws of decorum and of liberty for six whole months, the non-juring +priests are to be punished with banishment. Torn from their families +whose means of living they share, they are sent away to wander on the +highways, abandoned to public pity or ferocity the moment any scoundrel +chooses to excite a disturbance that he can impute to them."--Thus we +see approaching the revolt of the peasantry, the insurrections of Nîmes, +Franche-Comté, la Vendée and Brittany, emigration, transportation; +imprisonment, the guillotine or drowning for two thirds of the clergy of +France, and likewise for myriads of the loyal, for husbandmen, artisans, +day-laborers, seamstresses, and servants, and the humblest among the +lower class of the people. This is what the laws of the Constituent +Assembly are leading to.--In the institution of the clergy, as in that +of the nobles and the King, it demolished a solid wall in order to +dig through it an open door, and it is nothing strange if the whole +structure tumbles down on the heads of its inmates. The true course was +to respect, to reform, to utilize rank and corporations: all that the +Assembly thought of was the abolition of these in the name of abstract +equality and of national sovereignty. In order to abolish these it +executed, tolerated, or initiated all the attacks on persons and on +property. Those it is about to commit are the inevitable result of those +which it has already committed; for, through its Constitution, bad is +changed to worse, and the social edifice, already half in ruins through +the clumsy havoc that is effected in it, will fall in completely under +the weight of the incongruous or extravagant constructions which it +proceeds to extemporize. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2201: Cf. "The Ancient Régime," books I. and V.] + +[Footnote 2202: Perhaps we are here at the core of why all regimes end +up becoming corrupt, inefficient and sick; their leaders take their +privileges for granted and become more and more inattentive to the work +which must be done if the people are to be kept at work and possible +adversaries kept under control. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2203: A special tax paid the king by a plebeian owning a fief. +(TR)] + +[Footnote 2204: The right to an income from trust funds. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2205: Arthur Young, I. 209, 223. "If the communes steadily +refuse what is now offered to them, they put immense and certain +benefits to the chance of fortune, to that hazard which may make +posterity curse instead of bless their memories as real patriots who had +nothing in view but the happiness of their country."] + +[Footnote 2206: According to valuations by the Constituent Assembly, +the tax on real estate ought to bring 240,000,000 francs, and provide +one-fifth of the net revenue of France, estimated at 1,200,000,000. +Additionally, the personal tax on movable property, which replaced +the capitation, ought to bring 60,000,000. Total for direct taxation, +300,000,000, or one-fourth--that is to say, twenty-five per cent, of the +net revenue.--If the direct taxation had been maintained up to the rate +of the ancient régime (190,000,000, according to Necker's report in +May, 1689), this impost would only have provided one-sixth of the net +revenue, or sixteen percent.] + +[Footnote 2207: Dumont, 267. (The words of Mirabeau three months before +his death:) "Ah, my friend, how right we were at the start when we +wanted to prevent the commons from declaring themselves the National +Assembly! That was the source of the evil. They wanted to rule the King, +instead of ruling through him."] + +[Footnote 2208: Gouverneur Morris, April 29, 1789 (on the principles of +the future constitution), "One generation at least will be required to +render the public familiar with them."] + +[Footnote 2209: Cf. "The Ancient Régime," book II, ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2210: French women did not obtain the right to vote until +1946. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2211: According to Voltaire ("L'Homme aux Quarante Écus"), the +average duration of human life was only twenty-three years.] + +[Footnote 2212: Mercure, July 6, 1790. According to the report of +Camus (sitting of July 2nd), the official total of pensions amounted to +thirty-two millions; but if we add the gratuities and allowances out of +the various treasuries, the actual total was fifty-six millions.] + +[Footnote 2213: I note that today in 1998, 100 years after Taine's +death, Denmark, my country, has had total democracy, that is universal +suffrage for women and men of 18 years of age for a considerable time, +and a witty author has noted that the first rule of our unwritten +constitution is that "thou shalt not think that thou art important". I +have noted, however, that when a Dane praises Denmark and the Danes even +in the most excessive manner, then he is not considered as a chauvinist +but admired as being a man of truth. In spite of the process of +'democratization' even socialist chieftains seem to favor and protect +their own children, send them to good private schools and later abroad +to study and help them to find favorable employment in the party or with +the public services. A new élite is thus continuously created by the +ruling political and administrative upper class. (SR.).] + +[Footnote 2214: "The Ancient Régime," p.388, and the following pages.-- +"Le Duc de Broglie," by M. Goizot, p. 11. (Last words of Prince Victor de +Broglie, and the opinions of M. d'Argenson.)] + +[Footnote 2215: De Ferrières, I. p.2.] + +[Footnote 2216: Moniteur, sitting of September 7, 1790, I. 431-437. +Speeches, of MM. de Sillery, de Lanjuinais, Thouret, de Lameth, and +Rabaut-Saint-Etienne. Barnave wrote in 1791: "It was necessary to be +content with one single chamber; the instinct of equality required it. A +second Chamber would have been the refuge of the aristocrats."] + +[Footnote 2217: Lenin should later create an elite, an aristocracy +which, under his leadership was to become the Communist party. Lenin +could not have imagined or at least would not have been concerned that +the leadership of this party would fall into the hands of tyrants later, +under the pressure of age and corruption, to be replaced by the KGB and +later the FSB. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2218: "De Bouillé," p. 50: "All the old noble families, save +two or three hundred, were ruined."] + +[Footnote 2219: Cf. Doniol, "La Révolution et la Féodalité."] + +[Footnote 2220: Moniteur, sitting of August 6, 1789. Speech of Duport: +"Whatever is unjust cannot last. Similarly, no compensation for these +unjust rights can be maintained." Sitting of February 27, 1790. M. +Populus: "As slavery could not spring from a legitimate contract, +because liberty cannot be alienated, you have abolished without +indemnity hereditary property in persons." Instructions and decree of +June 15-19, 1791: "The National Assembly has recognized in the most +emphatic manner that a man never could become the proprietor of another +man, and consequently, that the rights which one had assumed to have +over the person of the other, could not become the property of the +former." Cf. the diverse reports of Merlin to the Committee of Feudality +and the National Assembly.] + +[Footnote 2221: Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et Décrets." Laws of the +4-11 August, 1789; March 15-28, 1790; May 3-9, 1790; June 15-19, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2222: Agrier percières--terms denoting taxes paid in the shape +of shares of produce. Those which follow: lods, rentes, quint, requint +belong to the taxes levied on real property. 22Tr.] + +[Footnote 2223: Doniol ("Noveaux cahiers de 1790"). Complaints of the +copy-holders of Rouergues and of Quercy, pp. 97-105.] + +[Footnote 2224: See further on, book III. ch. II. § 4 and also ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2225: Moniteur, sitting of March 2, 1790. Speech by Merlin: +"The peasants have been made to believe that the annulation of the +banalities (the obligation to use the public mill, wine-press, and oven, +which belonged to the noble) carried along with it the loss to the +noble of all these; the peasants regarding themselves as proprietors of +them."] + +[Footnote 2226: Moniteur; sitting of June 9, 1790. Speech of M. Charles +de Lameth--Duvergier (laws of June 19-23 1790; September 27 and October +16, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2227: Sauzay, V. 400--410.] + +[Footnote 2228: Duvergier, laws of June 15-19, 1791; of June 18--July 6, +1792; of August 25-28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 2229: "Institution du Droit Français," par Argou, I.103. +(He wrote under the Regency.) "The origin of most of the feoffs is so +ancient that, if the seigneurs were obliged to produce the titles of the +original concession to obtain their rents, there would scarcely be one +able to produce them. This deficiency is made up by common law."] + +[Footnote 2230: Duvergier (laws of April 8-15, 1791; March 7-11; October +26, 1791; January 6-10, 1794).--Mirabeau had already proposed to reduce +the disposable portion to one-tenth.] + +[Footnote 2231: See farther on, book III, ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2232: Mercure, September 10, 1791. Article by Mallet du +Pan.--Ibid. October 15, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2233: Should Hitler or Lenin have read and understood the +consequences of these events they would have deduced that given the +command from official sources or recognized leaders ordinary people all +over the world could easily be tempted to attack any group, being it +Jews, Protestants, Hindus or foreigners. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2234: "Archives Nationales," II. 784. Letters of M. de +Langeron, October 16 and 18, 1789.--Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," +letters addressed to the Chevalier de Poterats, July, 1790.--"Archives +Nationales," papers of the Committee on Reports, bundle 4, letter of M. +le Belin-Chatellenot to the to the President of the National Assembly, +July 1, 1791.--Mercure, October 15, 1791. Article by Mallet du Pan: +"Such is literally the language of these emigrants; I do not add a +word."--Ibid. May 15, 1790. Letter of the Baron de Bois d'Aizy, April +29,1790, demanding a decree of protection fur the nobles. "We shall know +(then) whether we are outlawed or are of any account in the rights of +man written out with so much blood, or whether, finally, no other option +is left to us but that of carrying to distant skies the remains of our +property and our wretched existence."] + +[Footnote 2235: Mercure, October 15, 1791, and September 10, 1791. Read +the admirable letter of the Chevalier de Mesgrigny, appointed colonel +during the suspension of the King, and refusing his new rank.] + +[Footnote 2236: Cf. the "Mémoires" of M. de Boustaquet, a Norman +gentleman.] + +[Footnote 2237: Cf. "The Ancient Régime," books I. and II.] + +[Footnote 2238: Boivin--Champeaux, "Notice Historique sur la Révolution +dans le Département de L'Eure," the register of grievances. In 1788, at +Rouen, there was not a single profession made by men. In the monastery +of the Deux-Amants the chapter convoked in 1789 consisted of two +monks.--"Archives Nationales," papers of the ecclesiastic committee, +passim.] + +[Footnote 2239: "Apologie de l'État Religieux" (1775), with statistics. +Since 1768 the decline is "frightful." "It is easy to foresee that +in ten or twelve years most of the regular bodies will be absolutely +extinct, or reduced to a state of feebleness akin to death."] + +[Footnote 2240: Sanzay, I. 224 (November, 1790). At Besançon, out of 266 +monks, "79 only showed any loyalty to their engagements or any affection +for their calling." Others preferred to abandon it, especially all the +Dominicans but five, all but one of the bare footed Carmelites, and all +the Grand Carmelites. The same disposition is apparent throughout the +department, as, for instance, with the Benedictines of Cluny except one, +all the Minimes but three, all the Capuchins but five, the Bernandins, +Dominicans, and Augustins, all preferring to leave.--Montalembert, "Les +Moines d'Occident," introduction, pp. 105-164. Letter of a Benedictine +of Saint-Germain-des-Prés to a Benedictine of Vannes. "Of all the +members of your congregation which come here to lodge, I have scarcely +found one capable of edifying us. You may probably say the same of those +who came to you from our place."--Cf. in the "Mémoires" of Merlin de +Thionville the description of the Chartreuse of Val St. Pierre.] + +[Footnote 2241: Ch. Guerin, "Revue des Questions Historiques" (July 1, +1875; April 1, 1876).--Abbé Guettée, "Histoire de l'Eglise de France," +XII, 128. ("Minutes of the meeting of l'Assemblée du Clergé," in +1780.)--"Archives nationales," official reports and memorandums of the +States-General in 1789. The most obnoxious proceeding to the chiefs of +the order is the postponement of the age at which vows may be taken, +it being, in their view, the ruin of their institutions.--"The Ancient +Régime," p. 403.] + +[Footnote 2242: In order for a modern uninstructed non-believing reader +to understand the motivation which moved thousands of self-less sisters +and brothers to do their useful and kind work read St. Matthew chapter +25, verses 31 to 46 where Jesus predicts how he will sit in judgment on +mankind and separate the sheep from the goats. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2243: "The Ancient Régime," P.33--Cf. Guerin "The monastery +of the Trois-Rois, in the north of Franche-Comté, founded four villages +collected from foreign colonists. It is the only center of charity and +civilization in a radius of three leagues. It took care of two hundred +of the sick in a recent epidemic; it lodges the troops which pass from +Alsace into Franche-Comté, and in the late hailstorm it supplied the +whole neighborhood with food."] + +[Footnote 2244: Moniteur, sitting of February 13,1790. (Speech of +the Abbé de Montesquiou).--Archives Nationales," papers of the +Ecclesiastical Committee, DXIX. 6, Visitation de Limoges, DXIX. 25, +Annonciades de Saint-Denis; ibid. Annonciades de Saint Amour, Ursulines +d'Auch, de Beaulieu, d'Eymoutier, de la Ciotat, de Pont Saint-Esprit, +Hospitalières d'Ernée, de Laval; Sainte Claire de Laval, de Marseilles, +etc. "] + +[Footnote 2245: Sauzay, I. 247. Out of three hundred and seventy-seven +nuns at Doubs, three hundred and fifty-eight preferred to remain as they +were, especially at Pontarlier, all the Bernardines, Annonciades, +and Ursulines; at Besançon, all the Carmelites, the Visitandines, the +Annonciades, the Clarisses, the Sisters of Refuge, the Nuns of the +Saint-Esprit and, save one, all the Benedictine Nuns.] + +[Footnote 2246: "Archives Nationales." Papers of the Ecclesiastical +Committee, passim.--Suzay, I. 51.--Statistics of France for 1866.] + +[Footnote 2247: In 1993 this number has once more fallen, and continues +to fall, to 55 900. "Quid", 1996 page 623. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2248: Felix Rocquain, "La France aprés le 18 Brumaire." +(Reports of the Councillors of State dispatched on this service, +passim).] + +[Footnote 2249: Moniteur, October 24, 1789. (Speech of Dupont de +Nemours.) All these speeches, often more fully reported and with various +renderings, may be found in "Les Archives Parlementaires," 1st series, +vols. VIII. and IX.] + +[Footnote 2250: Duvergier, decree of June 14-17, 1791. "The annihilation +of every corporation of citizens of any one condition or profession +being on of the foundation-stones of the French constitution, it is +forbidden to re-establish these de-facto under any pretext or +form whatever. Citizens of a like condition or profession, such as +contractors, shopkeepers, workmen of all classes, and associates in +any art whatever shall not, on assembling together, appoint either +president, or secretaries, or syndics, discuss or pass resolutions, or +frame any regulations in relation to their assumed common interests."] + +[Footnote 2251: Moniteur, sitting of November 2nd, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2252: Moniteur, sitting of February 12, 1790. Speeches of +Dally d'Agier and Barnave.] + +[Footnote 2253: Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by Garat; +February 12, 1790, speech by Pétion; October 30, 1789, speech by +Thouret.] + +[Footnote 2254: Moniteur, sitting of November 2, 1789. Speech by +Chapelier; October 24, 1789, speech by Garat; October 30, 1789, speech +by Mirabeau, and the sitting of August 10, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2255: Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by +Thouret.] + +[Footnote 2256: Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by +Treilhard; October 24th, speech by Garat; October 30, speech by +Mirabeau.--On the 8th of August, 1789, Al. de Lameth says in the +tribune: "When an foundation was set up, it is to the nation, which the +grant was given."] + +[Footnote 2257: Duvergier, laws of August 18, 1792; August 8-14, 1793; +July 11, 1794; July 14, 1792; August 24, 1793.] + +[Footnote 2258: Moniteur, sitting of July 31, 1792. Speech of M. +Boistard; the property of the hospitals, at this time was estimated at +eight hundred millions.--Already in 1791 (sitting of January 30th) M. +de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said to the Assembly: "Nothing will more +readily restore confidence to the poor than to see the nation assuming +the right of rendering them assistance." He proposes to decree; +accordingly, that all hospitals and places of beneficence be placed +under the control of the nation. (Mercure, February 12, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 2259: Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by +Sieyès.--The figures given here are deduced from the statistics already +given in the "Ancient Régime."] + +[Footnote 2260: Moniteur, v. 571. sitting of September 4, 1790. Report of +the Committee on Finances--V. 675, sitting of September 17, 1790. Report +by Necker.] + +[Footnote 2261: A Revolutionary Government promissory bank note. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2262: Sauzay, I. 228 (from October 10, 1790, to February 20, +1791). "The total weight of the spoil of the monastic establishments in +gold, silver, and plated ware, sent to the Mint amounted to more than +525 kilograms (for the department)."] + +[Footnote 2263: Duvergier, law of October 8-14.] + +[Footnote 2264: Moniteur, sitting of June 3,1792. Speech of M. Bernard, +in the name of the committee of Public Assistance: "Not a day passes +in which we do not receive the saddest news from the departments on +the penury of their hospitals."--Mercure de France, December 17, 1791, +sitting of December 5. A number of deputies of the Department of the +North demand aid for their hospitals and municipalities. Out of 480,000 +livres revenue there remains 10,000 to them. "The property of the +Communes is mortgaged, and no longer affords them any resources. 280,000 +persons are without bread."] + +[Footnote 2265: Sauzay, I. 252 (December 3, 1790. April 13, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2266: Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speeches by Camus, +Treilhard, etc.] + +[Footnote 2267: But on the assumption that all religion has been +invented by human beings for their own comfort or use, then what would +be more natural than clever rulers using their power to influence the +religious authorities to their own advantage. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2268: Ultramontane: Extreme in favoring the Pope's supremacy. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2269: Sauzay, I. 168.] + +[Footnote 2270: Personal knowledge, as I visited Besançon four times +between 1863 and 1867.] + +[Footnote 2271: Moniteur, sitting of May 30, 1790, and others following. +(Report of Treilhard, speech by Robespierre.)] + +[Footnote 2272: Duvergier, laws of July 12th-August 14th; November +14-25, 1790; January 21-26, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2273: Moniteur, sitting of May 31, 1790. Robespierre, in +covert terms, demands the marriage of priests.--Mirabeau prepared a +speech in the same sense, concluding that every priest and monk should +be able to contract marriage; on the priest or monk presenting himself +with his bride before the curé, the latter should be obliged to +give them the nuptial benediction etc. Mirabeau wrote, June 2, 1790: +"Robespierre... has juggled me out of my motion on the marriage of +priests."--In general the germ of all the laws of the Convention is +found in the Constituent Assembly. (Ph. Plan, "Un Collaborateur de +Mirabeau," p.56, 144.)] + +[Footnote 2274: Duvergier, laws of November 27th--December 26, 1790; +February 5th, March 22nd, and April 5, 1791.--Moniteur, sitting of +November 6, 1790, and those that follow, especially that of December +27th. "I swear to maintain with all my power the French Constitution +and especially the decrees relating to the Civil Constitution of the +clergy."--Cf. sitting of January 2, 1791, speech by the Bishop of +Clermont.] + +[Footnote 2275: Duvergier, law of May 7, 1791, to maintain the right +of nonjuring priests to perform mass in national or private edifices. +(Demanded by Talleyrand and Sieyès.)] + +[Footnote 2276: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. Letter of M. de +Château-Randon, deputy of la Lozère, May 28, 1791. After the decree +of May 23rd, all the functionaries of the department handed in their +resignations.] + +[Footnote 2277: Duvergier, law of May 21-29, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2278: Sauzay, I. 366, 538 to 593, 750.--"Archives Nationales," +F7, 3235, Letter of M. de Chânteau-Randon, May 10, 1791.--Mercure, +April 23rd, and April 16, 1701. Articles of Mallet du Pan, letter from +Bordeaux, March 20, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2279: Buchez and Roux, XII, 77. Report of Gallois and Gensonné +sent to La Vendée and the Deux Sévres (July 25, 1791).--" Archives +Nationales," F7, 3253, letter of the Directory of the Bas-Rhin (letter +of January 7, 1792).--" Le District de Machecoul de 1788 à 1793," by +Lallier.--" Histoire de Joseph Lebon," by Paris.--Sauzay, vol. I. and +II. in full.] + +[Footnote 2280: Mercure, January 15th, April 23rd, May 16th and 30th, +June 1st, November 23rd, 1791.--"Le District de Machecoul," by Lallier, +173.--Sauzay, I. 295.--Lavirotte, "Annales d'Arnay-le-Duc" (February 5, +1792).--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Petition of a number of the +inhabitants of Montpellier, November 17, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2281: Duvergier, decree of November 29, 1791.--Mercure, +November 30, 1791 (article by Mallet du Pan).] + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE CONSTRUCTIONS--THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791. + +That which is called a Government is a concert of powers, each with a +distinct function, and all working towards a final and complete end. The +merit of a Government consists in the attainment of this end; the worth +of a machine depends upon the work it accomplishes. The important thing +is not to produce a good mechanical design on paper, but to see that the +machine works well when set up on the ground. In vain might its founders +allege the beauty of their plan and the logical connection of their +theorems; they are not required to furnish either plan or theorems, but +an instrument. + +Two conditions are requisite to render this instrument serviceable and +effective. In the first place, the public powers must harmonize with +each other, if not, one will neutralize the other; in the second place +they must be obeyed, or they are null. + +The Constituent Assembly made no provision for securing this harmony +or this obedience. In the machine which it constructed the motions all +counteract each other; the impulse is not transmitted; the gearing is +not complete between the center and the extremities; the large central +and upper wheels turn to no purpose; the innumerable small wheels near +the ground break or get out of order: the machine, by virtue of its own +mechanism, remains useless, over-heated, under clouds of waste steam, +creaking and thumping in such a matter as to show clearly that it must +explode. + + + + +I.--Powers of the Central Government. + + The Assembly on the partition of power.--Rupture of every + tie between the Legislature and the King.--The Assembly on + the subordination of the executive power.--How this is + nullified.--Certainty of a conflict.--The deposition of the + King is inevitable. + +Let us first consider the two central powers, the Assembly and +the King.--Ordinarily when distinct powers of different origin are +established by a Constitution, it makes, in the case of conflict between +them, a provision for an arbiter in the institution of an Upper Chamber. +Each of these powers, at least, has a hold on the other. The Assembly +must have one on the King: which is the right to refuse taxation. The +King must have one on the Assembly: which is the right of dissolving it. +Otherwise, one of the two being disarmed, the other becomes omnipotent, +and, consequently, insane. The peril here is as great for an omnipotent +Assembly as it is for an absolute King. If the former is desirous of +remaining in its right mind, it needs repression and control as much +as the latter. If it is proper for the Assembly to restrain the King +by refusing him subsidies, it is proper for him to be able to defend +himself by appealing to the electors.--But, besides these extreme +measures, which are dangerous and rarely resorted to, there is another +which is ordinarily employed and is safe, that is, the right for the +King to take his ministers from the Chamber. Generally, the leaders +of the majority form the ministry, their nomination being the means of +restoring harmony between the King and Assembly; they are at once men +belonging to the Assembly and men belonging to the King. Through this +expedient not only is the confidence of the Assembly assured, since the +Government remains in the hands of its leaders, but also it is under +restraint because these become simultaneously both powerful and +responsible. Placed at the head of all branches of the service, they +are, before proposing it or accepting it, in a position to judge whether +a law is useful and practicable. Nothing is so healthy for a majority +as a ministry composed of its own chiefs; nothing is so effective in +repressing rashness or intemperance. A railway conductor is not willing +that his locomotive should be deprived of coal, nor to have the rails he +is about to run on broken up.--This arrangement, with all its drawbacks +and inconveniences, is the best one yet arrived at by human experience +for the security of societies against despotism and anarchy. For the +absolute power which establishes or saves them may also oppress or +exhaust them, there is a gradual substitution of differentiated powers, +held together through the mediation of a third umpire, caused by +reciprocal dependence and an which is common to both. + +Experience, however, is unimportant to the members of the Constituent +Assembly; under the banner of principles they sunder one after another +all the ties which keep the two powers together harmoniously.--There +must not be an Upper Chamber, because this would be an asylum or a +nursery for aristocrats. Moreover, "the nation being of one mind," it +is averse to "the creation of different organs." So, applying ready-made +formulas and metaphors, they continue to produce ideological definitions +and distinctions. + +The King must not have a hold on the legislative body: the executive +is an arm, whose business it is to obey; it is absurd for the arm to +constrain or direct the head. Scarcely is the monarch allowed a delaying +veto. Sieyès here enters with his protest declaring that this is a +"lettre de cachet[2301] launched against the universal will," and +there is excluded from the action of the veto the articles of the +Constitution, all money-bills, and some other laws.--Neither the monarch +nor the electors of the Assembly are to convoke the Assembly; he has no +voice in or oversight of the details of its formation; the electors are +to meet together and vote without his summons or supervision. Once the +Assembly is elected he can neither adjourn nor dissolve it. He cannot +even propose a law;[2302] per-mission is only granted to him "to invite +it to take a subject into consideration." He is limited to his executive +duties; and still more, a sort of wall is built up between him and the +Assembly, and the opening in it, by which each could take the other's +hand, is carefully closed up. The deputies are forbidden to become +ministers throughout the term of their service and for two years +afterwards. This is because fears are entertained that they might +be corrupted through contact with the Court, and, again, whoever +the ministers might be, there is no disposition to accept their +ascendancy.[2303] If one of them is admitted into the Assembly it is not +for the purpose of giving advice, but to furnish information, reply to +interrogatories, and make protestations of his zeal in humble terms +and in a dubious position.[2304] By virtue of being a royal agent he +is under suspicion like the King himself, and he is sequestered in his +bureau as the King is sequestered in his palace.--Such is the spirit +of the Constitution: by force of the theory, and the better to secure a +separation of the powers,[2305] a common understanding between them +is for ever rendered impossible, and to make up for this impossibility +there remains nothing but to make one the master and the other the +clerk. + +This they did not fail to do, and for greater security, the latter +is made an honorary clerk, The executive power is conferred on him +nominally and in appearance; he does not possess it in fact, care having +been taken to place it in other hands.--In effect, all executive agents +and all secondary and local powers are elective. The King has no voice, +directly or indirectly, in the choice of judges, public prosecutors, +bishops, curés, collectors and assessors of the taxes, commissaries of +police, district and departmental administrators, mayors, and municipal +officers. At most, should an administrator violate a law, he may annul +his acts and suspend him; but the Assembly, the superior power, has the +right to cancel this suspension.--As to the armed force, of which he is +supposed to be the commander-in-chief, this escapes from him entirely: +the National Guard is not to receive orders from him; the gendarmerie +and the troops are bound to respond to the requisitions of the municipal +authorities, whom the King can neither select nor displace: in short, +local action of any kind--that is to say, all effective action--is +denied to him.--The executive instrument is purposely destroyed. The +connection which existed between the wheels of the extremities and the +central shaft is broken, and henceforth, incapable of distributing its +energy, this shaft, in the hands of the monarch, stands still or +else turns to no purpose. The King, "supreme head of the general +administration, of the army, and of the navy, guardian of public peace +and order, hereditary representative of the nation," is without the +means, in spite of his lofty titles, of directly applying his pretended +powers, of causing a schedule of assessments to be drawn up in a +refractory commune, of compelling payment by a delinquent tax-payer, of +enforcing the free circulation of a convoy of grain, of executing +the judgment of a court, of suppressing an outbreak, or of securing +protection to persons and property. For he can bring no constraint to +bear on the agents who are declared to be subordinate to him; he has +no resources but those of warning and persuasion. He sends to each +Departmental Assembly the decrees which he has sanctioned, requesting +it to transmit them and cause them to be carried out; he receives its +correspondence and bestows his censure or approval--and that is all. +He is merely a powerless medium of communication, a herald or public +advertiser, a sort of central echo, sonorous and empty, to which news +is brought, and from which laws depart, to spread abroad like a common +rumor. Such as he is, and thus diminished, he is still considered to +be too strong. He is deprived of the right of pardon, "which severs the +last artery of monarchical government."[2306] All sorts of precautions +are taken against him. He cannot declare war without a decree of the +Assembly; he is obliged to bring war to an end on the decree of the +Assembly; he cannot make a treaty of peace, an alliance, or a commercial +treaty, without the ratification of these by the Assembly. It is +expressly declared that he is to nominate but two-thirds of the +rear-admirals, one-half of the lieutenant-generals, field-marshals, +captains of Vessels and colonels of the gendarmerie, one-third of the +colonels and lieutenant-colonels of the line, and a sixth of the naval +lieutenants. He must not allow troops to stay or pass within 30,000 +yards of the Assembly. His guard must not consist of more than 1,800 +men, duly verified, and protected against his seductions by the civil +oath. The heir-presumptive must not leave the country without the +Assembly's assent. It is the Assembly which is to regulate by law +the education of his son during minority.--All these precautions are +accompanied with threats. There are against him five possible causes +of dethronement; against his responsible Ministers, eight causes for +condemnation to from twelve to twenty years of constraint, and eight +grounds for condemnations to death.[2307] Everywhere between the lines +of the Constitution, we read the constant disposition to assume an +attitude of defense, the secret dread of treachery, the conviction that +executive power, of whatever kind, is in its nature inimical to the +public welfare.--For withholding the nomination of judges, the reason +alleged is that "the Court and the Ministers are the most contemptible +portion of the nation."[2308] If the nomination of Ministers is +conceded, it is on the ground that" Ministers appointed by the people +would necessarily be too highly esteemed." The principle is that "the +legislative body alone must possess the confidence of the people," that +royal authority corrupts its depository, and that executive power is +always tempted to commit abuses and to engage in conspiracies. If it +is provided for in the Constitution it is with regret, through the +necessity of the case, and on the condition of its being trammeled by +impediments; it will prove so much the less baneful in proportion as it +is restrained, guarded, threatened, and denounced.--A position of this +kind is manifestly intolerable; and only a man as passive as Louis XVI. +could have put up with it. Do what he will, however, he cannot make it +a tenable one. In vain does he scrupulously adhere to the Constitution, +and fulfill it to the letter. Because he is powerless the Assembly +regards him as lukewarm, and imputes to him the friction of the machine +which is not under his control. If he presumes once to exercise his veto +it is rebellion, and the rebellion of an official against his superior, +which is the Assembly; the rebellion of a subject against his Sovereign, +which is the people. In this case dethronement is proper, and the +Assembly has only to pass the decree; the people have simply to +execute the act, and the Constitution ends in a Revolution.--A piece +of machinery of this stamp breaks down through its own movement. In +conformity with the philosophic theory the two wheels of government must +be separated, and to do this they have to be disconnected and +isolated one from the other. In conformity with the popular creed, the +driving-wheel must be subordinated and its influence neutralized: to +do this it is necessary to reduce its energy to a minimum, break up its +connections, and raise it up in the air to turn round like a top, or to +remain there as an obstacle to something else. It is certain that, +after much ill-usage as a plaything, it will finally be removed as a +hindrance. + + + + +II.--The Creation Of Popular Democracy. + + Administrative powers.--The Assembly on the hierarchy. + --Grades abolished.--Collective powers.--Election introduced, + and the influence of subordinates in all branches of the + service.--Certainty of disorganization.--Power in the hands + of municipal bodies. + +Let us leave the center of government and go to the extremities, and +observe the various administrations in working operation.[2309] + +For any service to work well and with precision, there must be a +single and unique chief who can appoint, pay, punish and dismiss his +subordinates.--For, on the one hand, he stands alone and feels his +responsibility; he brings to bear on the management of affairs a degree +of attention and consistency, a tact and a power of initiation of which +a committee is incapable; corporate follies or defects do not involve +any one in particular, and authority is effective only when it is in one +hand.--On the other hand, being master, he can rely on the subalterns +whom he has himself selected, whom he controls through their hopes +or fears, and whom he discharges if they do not perform their duties; +otherwise he has no hold on them and they are not instruments to be +depended on. Only on these conditions can a railway manager be sure that +his pointsmen are on the job. Only on these conditions can the foreman +of a foundry engage to execute work by a given day. In every public or +private enterprise, direct, immediate authority is the only known, the +only human and possible way to ensure the obedience and punctuality of +agents.--Administration is thus carried on in all countries, by one or +several series of functionaries, each under some central manager who +holds the reins in his single grasp.[2310] + +This is all reversed in the new Constitution. In the eyes of our +legislators obedience must be spontaneous and never compulsory, and, in +the suppression of despotism, they suppress government. The general rule +in the hierarchy which they establish is that the subordinates should be +independent of their superior, for he must neither appoint nor displace +them: the only right he has is to give them advice and remonstrate +with them.[2311] At best, in certain cases, he can annul their acts and +inflict on them a provisional suspension of their functions, which can +be contested and is revocable.[2312] We see, thus, that none of the +local powers are delegated by the central power; the latter is simply +like a man without either hands or arms, seated in a gilt chair. The +Minister of the Finances cannot appoint or dismiss either an assessor or +a collector; the Minister of the Interior, not one of the departmental, +district, or communal administrators; the Minister of Justice, not one +judge or public prosecutor. The King, in these three branches of the +service, has but one officer of his own, the commissioner whose duty +it is to advocate the observance of the laws in the courts, and, on +sentence being given, to enforce its execution.--All the muscles of +the central power are paralyzed by this stroke, and henceforth each +department is a State apart, living by itself. + +An similar amputation, however, in the department itself, has cut +away all the ties by which the superior could control and direct his +subordinate.--If the administrators of the department are suffered to +influence those of the district, and those of the district those of the +municipality, it is only, again, in the way of council and solicitation. +Nowhere is the superior a commander who orders and constrains, but +everywhere a censor who gives warnings and scolds. To render this +already feeble authority still more feeble at each step of the +hierarchy, it is divided among several bodies. These consist of +superposed councils, which administer the department, the district, +and the commune. There is no directing head in any of these councils. +Permanency and executive functions throughout are vested in the +directories of four or eight members, or in bureaus of two, three, +four, six, and even seven members whose elected chief, a president +or mayor,[2313] has simply an honorary primacy. Decision and action, +everywhere blunted, delayed, or curtailed by talk and the processes +of discussion, are brought forth only after the difficult, tumultuous +assent of several discordant wills.[2314] Elective and collective as +these powers are, measures are still taken to guard against them. Not +only are they subject to the control of an elected council, one-half +renewable every two years, but, again, the mayor and public prosecutor +of the commune after serving four years, and the procureur-syndic of +the department or district after eight years service, and the district +collector after six years' service, are not re-elected. Should these +officials have deserved and won the confidence of the electors, +should familiarity with affairs have made them specially competent and +valuable, so much the worse for affairs and the public; they are not +to be anchored to their post.[2315] Should their continuance in office +introduce into the service a spirit of order and economy, that is of no +consequence; there is danger of their acquiring to much influence, and +the law sends them off as soon as they become expert and entitled to +rule.--Never has jealousy and suspicion been more on the alert against +power, even legal and legitimate. Sapping and mining goes on even +in services which are recognized as essential, as the army and the +gendarmerie.[2316] In the army, on the appointment of a non-commissioned +officer, the other non-commissioned officers make up a list of +candidates, and the captain selects three, one of whom is chosen by +the colonel. In the choice of a sub-lieutenant, all the officers of +the regiment vote, and he who receives a majority is appointed. In the +gendarmerie, for the appointment of a gendarme, the directory of the +department forms a list; the colonel designates five names on it, +and the directory selects one of them. For the choice of a corporal, +quartermaster or lieutenant, there is, besides the directory and the +colonel, another intervention, that of the officers, both commissioned +and non-commissioned. It is a system of elective complications and +lot-drawings; one which, giving a voice in the choice of officers to the +civil authorities and to military subordinates, leaves the colonel with +only a third or one-quarter of his former ascendancy. In relation to the +National Guard, the new principle is applied without any reservation. +All the officers and non-commissioned officers up to the grade of +captain are elected by their own men. All the superior officers are +elected by the inferior officers. All under-officers and all inferior +and superior officers are elected for one year only, and are not +eligible for re-election until after an interval of a year, during which +they must serve in the ranks.[2317]--The result is manifest: command, in +every civil and in every military order, becomes upset; subalterns are +no longer precise and trustworthy instruments; the chief no longer has +any practical hold on them; his orders, consequently, encounter only +tame obedience, doubtful deference, sometimes even open resistance; +their execution remains dilatory, uncertain, incomplete, and at +length is utterly neglected; a latent and soon flagrant system of +disorganization is instituted by the law. Step by step, in the hierarchy +of Government, power has slipped downwards, and henceforth belongs by +virtue of the Constitution to the authorities who sit at the bottom of +the ladder. It is not the King, or the minister, or the directory of the +department or of the district who rules, but its municipal officers; +and their sway is as omnipotent as it can be in a small independent +republic. They alone have the "strong hand" with which to search the +pockets of refractory tax-payers, and ensure the collection of the +revenue; to seize the rioter by the throat, and protect life and +property; in short, to convert the promises and menaces of the law +into acts. Every armed force, the National Guard, the regulars, and the +gendarmerie, must march on their requisition. They alone, among the body +of administrators, are endowed with this sovereign right; all that the +department or the district can do is to invite them to exercise it. It +is they who proclaim martial law. Accordingly, the sword is in their +hands.[2318] Assisted by commissioners who are appointed by the +council-general of the commune, they prepare the schedule of taxation +of real and personal property, fix the quota of each tax-payer, adjust +assessments, verify the registers and the collector's receipts, audit +his accounts, discharge the insolvent, answer for returns and authorize +prosecutions.[2319] Private purses are, in this way, at their mercy, +and they take from them whatever they determine to belong to the +public.--With the purse and the sword in their hands they lack nothing +that is necessary to make them masters, and all the more because the +application of every law belongs to them; because no orders of the +Assembly to the King, of the King to the ministers, of ministers to the +departments, of departments to the districts, of the districts to +the communes, brings about any real local result except through them; +because each measure of general application undergoes their special +interpretation, and can always be optionally disfigured, softened, +or exaggerated according to their timidity, inertia, violence or +partiality. Moreover, they are not long in discovering their strength. +We see them on all sides arguing with their superiors against district, +departmental, and ministerial orders, and even against the Assembly +itself; alleging circumstances; lack of means, their own danger and the +public safety, failing to obey, acting for themselves, openly disobeying +and glorying in the act,[2320] and claiming, as a right, the omnipotence +which they exercise in point of fact. Those of Troyes, at the festival +of the Federation, refuse to submit to the precedence of the department +and claim it for themselves, as "immediate representatives of the +people." Those of Brest, notwithstanding the reiterated prohibitions of +their district, dispatch four hundred men and two cannon to force the +submission of a neighboring commune to a cure' who has taken the oath. +Those of Arnay-le-Duc arrest Mesdames (the King's aunts), in spite +of their passport signed by the ministers, hold them in spite of +departmental and district orders, persist in barring the way to them +in spite of a special decree of the National Assembly, and send two +deputies to Paris to obtain the sanction of their decision. What with +arsenals pillaged, citadels invaded, convoys arrested, couriers +stopped, letters intercepted, constant and increasing insubordination, +usurpations without truce or measure, the municipalities arrogate +to themselves every species of license on their own territory and +frequently outside of it. Henceforth, forty thousand sovereign bodies +exist in the kingdom. Force is placed in their hands, and they make good +use of it. They make such good use of it that one of them, the commune +of Paris, taking advantage of its proximity, lays siege to, mutilates, +and rules the National Convention, and through it France. + + + + +III.--Municipal Kingdoms. + + The Municipal bodies.--Their great task.--Their incapacity. + --Their feeble authority.--Insufficiency of their means of + action.--The role of the National Guard.-- + +Let us follow these municipal kings into their own domain: the burden +on their shoulders is immense, and much beyond what human strength can +support. All the details of executive duty are confided to them; they +have not to busy themselves with a petty routine, but with a complete +social system which is being taken to pieces, while another is +reconstructed in its place.--They are in possession of four milliards of +ecclesiastical property, real and personal, and soon there will be two +and a half milliards of property belonging to the emigrants, which must +be sequestered, valued, managed, inventoried, divided, sold, and the +proceeds received. They have seven or eight thousand monks and thirty +thousand nuns to displace, install, sanction, and provide for. They have +forty-six thousand ecclesiastics, bishops, canons, curés, and vicars, +to dispossess, replace, often by force, and later on to expel, intern, +imprison, and support. They are obliged to discuss, trace out, teach +and make public new territorial boundaries, those of the commune, of the +district and of the department. They have to convoke, lodge, and protect +the numerous primary and secondary Assemblies, to supervise their +operations, which sometimes last for weeks. They must install those +elected by them, justices of the peace, officers of the National Guard, +judges, public prosecutors, curés, bishops, district and departmental +administrators. They are to form new lists of tax-payers, apportion +amongst themselves, according to a new system of impost, entirely +new real and personal taxes, decide on claims, appoint an assessor, +regularly audit his accounts and verify his books, aid him with force, +use force in the collection of the excise and salt duties, which being +reduced, equalized, and transformed in vain by the National Assembly, +afford no returns in spite of its decrees. They are obliged to find the +funds for dressing, equipping, and arming the National Guard, to step in +between it and the military commanders, and to maintain concord between +its diverse battalions. They have to protect forests from pillage, +communal land from being invaded, to maintain the octroi, to protect +former functionaries, ecclesiastics, and nobles, suspected and +threatened, and, above all, to provide, no matter how, provisions for +the commune which lacks food, and consequently, to raise subscriptions, +negotiate purchases at a distance and even abroad, organize escorts, +indemnify bakers, supply the market every week notwithstanding +the dearth, the insecurity of roads, and the resistance of +cultivators.--Even an absolute chief; sent from a distance and from +high place, the most energetic and expert possible, supported by the +best-disciplined and most obedient troops, would scarcely succeed in +such an undertaking; and there is instead only a municipality which has +neither the authority, the means, the experience, the capacity, nor the +will. + +In the country, says an orator in the tribune,[2321] "the municipal +officers, in twenty thousand out of forty thousand municipalities, do +not know how to read or write." The curé, in effect, is excluded from +such offices by law, and, save in La Vendée and the noble is excluded by +public opinion. Besides, in many of the provinces, nothing but patois +is spoken.[2322] French, especially the philosophic and abstract +phraseology of the new laws and proclamations, remains gibberish +to their inhabitants. They cannot possibly understand and apply the +complicated decrees and fine-spun instructions which reach them from +Paris. They hurry off to the towns, get the duties of the office imposed +on them explained and commented on in detail, try to comprehend, imagine +they do, and then, the following week, come back again without having +understood anything, either the mode of keeping state registers, +the distinction between feudal rights which are abolished and those +retained, the regulations they should enforce in cases of election, +the limits which the law imposes as to their powers and subordination. +Nothing of all this finds its way into their rude, untrained brains; +instead of a peasant who has just left his oxen, there is needed here a +legal adept aided by a trained clerk.--Prudential considerations must +be added to their ignorance. They do not wish to make enemies for +themselves in their commune, and they abstain from any positive action, +especially in all tax matters. Nine months after the decree on the +patriotic contribution, "twenty-eight thousand municipalities are +overdue, not having (yet) returned either rolls or estimates."[2323] At +the end of January, 1792, "out of forty thousand nine hundred and eleven +municipalities, only five thousand four hundred and forty-eight have +deposited their registers; two thousand five hundred and eighty rolls +only are definitive and in process of collection. A large number have +not even begun their sectional statements."[2324]--It is much worse +when, thinking that they do understand it, they undertake to do their +work. In their minds, incapable of abstraction, the law is transformed +and deformed by extraordinary interpretations. We shall see what it +becomes when it is brought to bear on feudal dues, on the forests, on +communal rights, on the circulation of corn, on the taxes on provisions, +on the supervision of the aristocrats, and on the protection of persons +and property. According to them, it authorizes and invites them to do +by force, and at once, whatever they need or desire for the time +being.--The municipal officers of the large boroughs and towns, more +acute and often able to comprehend the decrees, are scarcely in a +better condition to carry them out effectively. They are undoubtedly +intelligent, inspired by the best disposition, and zealous for the +public welfare. During the first two years of the Revolution it is, on +the whole, the best informed and most liberal portion of the bourgeoisie +which, in the department as in the district, undertakes the management +of affairs. Almost all are men of the law, advocates, notaries, and +attorneys, with a small number of the old privileged class imbued +with the same spirit, a canon at Besançon, a gentleman at Nîmes. Their +intentions are of the very best; they love order and liberty, they give +their time and their money, they hold permanent sessions and accomplish +an incredible amount of work, and they often voluntarily expose +themselves to great danger.--But they are bourgeois philosophers, and, +in this latter particular, similar to their deputies in the National +Assembly, and, with this twofold character, as incapable as their +deputies of governing a disintegrated nation. In this twofold character +they are ill-disposed towards the ancient régime, hostile to Catholicism +and feudal rights, unfavorable to the clergy and the nobility, inclined +to extend the bearing and exaggerate the rigor of recent decrees, +partisans of the Rights of Man, and, therefore, humanitarians and +optimists, disposed to excuse the misdeeds of the people, hesitating, +tardy and often timid in the face of an outbreak--in short, admirable +writers, exhorters, and reformers, but good for nothing when it comes to +breaking heads and risking their own bones. They have not been brought +up in such a way as to become men of action in a single day. Up to +this time they have always lived as passive administrators, as quiet +individuals, as studious men and clerks, domesticated, conversational, +and polished, to whom words concealed facts, and who, on their evening +promenade, warmly discussed important principles of government, without +any consciousness of the practical machinery which, with a police-system +for its ultimate wheel, rendered themselves, their promenade, and their +conversation perfectly secure. They are not imbued with that sentiment +of social danger which produces the veritable chief; the man who +subordinates the emotions of pity to the exigencies of the public +service. They are not aware that it is better to mow down a hundred +conscientious citizens rather than let them hang a culprit without +a trial. Repression, in their hands, is neither prompt, rigid, nor +constant. They continue to be in the Hôtel-de-Ville what they were +when they went into it, so many jurists and scribes, fruitful in +proclamations, reports, and correspondence. Such is wholly their role, +and, if any amongst them, with more energy, desires to depart from it, +he has no hold on the commune which, according to the Constitution, he +has to direct, and on that armed force which is entrusted to him with a +view to insure the observance of the laws. + +To insure respect for authority, indeed, it must not spring up on the +spot and under the hands of its subordinates. It loses its prestige and +independence when those who create it are precisely those who have to +submit to it. For, in submitting to it, they remember that they have +created it. This or that candidate among them who has but lately +solicited their suffrages is now a magistrate who issues orders, and +this sudden transformation is their work. It is with difficulty that +they pass from the role of sovereign electors to that of docile subjects +of the administration, and recognize a commander in one of their own +creatures.[2325] On the contrary, they will submit to his control only +in their own fashion, reserving to themselves in practice the powers the +right to which they have conferred on him. + +"We gave him his place, and he must do as we want him to do." + +Such popular reasoning is the most natural in the world. It is as +applicable to the municipal officer wearing his scarf as to the officer +in the National Guard wearing his epaulettes; the former as well as +the latter being conferred by the arbitrary voice of the electors, and +always seeming to them a gift which is revocable at their pleasure. The +superior always, and more particularly in times of danger or of great +public excitement, seems, if directly appointed by those whom he +commands, to be their clerk.--Such is municipal authority at this epoch, +intermittent, uncertain, and weak; and all the weaker because the sword, +whose hilt the men of the Hôtel-de-Ville seem to hold, does not always +leave its scabbard at their bidding. They alone are empowered to summon +the National Guard, but it does not depend on them, and it is not at +their disposal. To obtain its support it is needful that its independent +chiefs should be willing to respond to their requisition; that the men +should willingly obey their elected officers; that these improvised +soldiers should consent to quit their plow, their stores, their +workshops and offices, to lose their day, to patrol the streets at +night, to be pelted with stones, to fire on a riotous crowd whose +enmities and prejudices they often share. Undoubtedly, they will fire on +some occasions, but generally they will remain quiet, with their arms +at rest; and, at last, they will grow weary of a trying, dangerous, and +constant service, which is disagreeable to them, and for which they are +not fitted. They will not answer the summons, or, if they do, they will +come too late, and in too small a number. In this event, the regulars +who are sent for, will do as they do and remain quiet, following their +example, while the municipal magistrate, into whose hands the sword has +glided, will be able to do no more than make grievous reports, to his +superiors of the department or district, concerning the popular violence +of which he is a powerless witness.--In other cases, and especially in +the country, his condition is worse. The National Guard, preceded by its +drums, will come and take him off to the town hall to authorize by his +presence, and to legalize by his orders, the outrages that it is about +to commit. He marches along seized by the collar, and affixes his +signature at the point of the bayonet. In this case not only is his +instrument taken away from him, but it is turned against of holding it +by the hilt, he feels the point: the armed force which he ought to make +use of makes use of him. + + + + +IV.--On Universal Suffrage. + + The National Guard as electors.--Its great power.--Its + important task.--The work imposed on active citizens.--They + avoid it. + +Behold, then, the true sovereign, the elector, both National Guard and +voter. They are the kings designed by the Constitution; there he is, +in every hierarchical stage, with his suffrage, with which to delegate +authority, and his gun to assure its exercise.--Through his free +choice he creates all local powers, intermediary, central, legislative, +administrative, ecclesiastical, and judiciary. He appoints directly, and +in the primary assemblies, the mayor, the municipal board, the public +prosecutor and council of the commune, the justice of the peace and +his assessors, and the electors of the second degree. Indirectly, and +through these elected electors, he appoints the administrators and +procureurs-syndics of both district and department, the civil and +criminal judges, the public prosecutor, bishops, and priests, the +members of the National Assembly and jurors of the higher National +Court[2326]. All these commissions which he issues are of short date, +the principal ones, those of municipal officer, elector, and deputy, +having but two years to run; at the end of this brief term their +recipients are again subject to his vote, in order that, if he is +displeased with them, he may replace them by others. He must not be +fettered in his choice; in every well-conducted establishment the +legitimate proprietor must be free easily and frequently to renew his +staff of clerks. He is the only one in whom confidence can be placed, +and, for greater security, all arms are given up to him. When his +clerks wish to employ force he is the one to place it at their disposal. +Whatever he desired as elector he executes as National Guard. On two +occasions he interferes, both times in a decisive manner; and his +control over the legal powers is irresistible because these are born out +of his vote and are obeyed only through his support.--But these rights +are, at the same time, burdens. The Constitution describes him as an +"active citizen," and this he eminently is or should be, since public +action begins and ends with him, since everything depends on his +zeal and capacity, since the machine is good and only works well +in proportion to his discernment, punctuality, calmness, firmness, +discipline at the polls, and in the ranks. The law requires his +services incessantly day and night, in body and mind, as gendarme and as +elector.--How burdensome this service of gendarme must be, can be judged +by the number of riots. How burdensome that of elector must be, the list +of elections will show. + +In February, March, April, and May, 1789, there are prolonged parish +meetings, for the purpose of choosing electors and writing out +grievances, also bailiwick meetings of still longer duration to choose +deputies and draw up the memorial. During the months of July and August, +1789, there are spontaneous gatherings to elect or confirm the municipal +bodies; other spontaneous meetings by which the militia is formed and +officered; and then, following these, constant meetings of this same +militia to fuse themselves into a National Guard, to renew officers and +appoint deputies to the federative assemblies. In December, 1789, and +January, 1790, there are primary meetings, to elect municipal officers +and their councils. In May, 1790, there are primary and secondary +meetings, to appoint district and departmental administrators. In +October, 1790, there are primary meetings, to elect the justice of the +peace and his assessors, also secondary meetings, to elect the district +courts. In November, 1790, there are primary meetings, to renew +one-half of the municipal bodies. In February and March, 1791, there +are secondary meetings, to nominate the bishop and curés. In June, July, +August, September, 1791, there are primary and secondary meetings, +to renew one-half of the district and departmental administrators, to +nominate the president, the public prosecutor, and the clerk of the +criminal court, and to choose deputies. In November, 1791, there are +primary meetings to renew one-half of the municipal council. Observe +that many of these elections drag along because the voters lack +experience, because the formalities are complicated, and because +opinions are divided. In August and September, 1791, at Tours, they are +prolonged for thirteen days;[2327] at Troyes, in January, 1790, instead +of three days they last for three weeks; at Paris, in September and +October, 1791, only for the purpose of choosing deputies, they last +for thirty-seven days; in many places their proceedings are contested, +annulled, and begun over again. To these universal gatherings, which +put all France in motion, we must add the local gatherings by which a +commune approves or gainsays its municipal officers, makes claims on the +department, on the King, or on the Assembly, demands the maintenance +of its parish priest, the provisioning of its market, the arrival +or dispatch of a military detachment,--and think of all that these +meetings, petitions, and nominations presuppose in the way of +preparatory committees and preliminary meetings and debates! Every +public representation begins with rehearsals in secret session. In the +choice of a candidate, and, above all, of a list of candidates; in +the appointment in each commune of from three to twenty-one municipal +officers, and from six to forty-two notables; in the selection of twelve +district administrators and thirty-six departmental administrators, +especially as the list must be of a double length and contain twice +as many officers as there are places to fill, immediate agreement is +impossible. In every important election the electors are sure to be in +a state of agitation a month beforehand, while four weeks of discussion +and caucus is not too much to give to inquiries about candidates, and to +canvassing voters. Let us add, accordingly, this long preface to each +of the elections, so long and so often repeated, and now sum up the +troubles and disturbances, all this loss of time, all the labor which +the process demands. Each convocation of the primary assemblies, summons +to the town-hall or principal town of the canton, for one or for several +days, about three million five hundred thousand electors of the first +degree. Each convocation of the assemblies of the second class compels +the attendance and sojourn at the principal town of the department, and +again in the principal town of the district, of about three hundred and +fifty thousand elected electors. Each revision or re-election in the +National Guard gathers together on the public square, or subjects to +roll-call at the town-hall, three or four millions of National +Guards. Each federation, after exacting the same gathering or the same +roll-call, sends delegates by hundreds of thousands to the principal +towns of the districts and departments, and tens of thousands to +Paris.--The powers thus instituted at the cost of so great an effort, +require an equal effort to make them work; one branch alone of the +administration[2328] keeps 2,988 officials busy in the departments, +6,950 in the districts, 1,175,000 in the communes--in all, nearly one +million two hundred thousand administrators, whose places, as we have +seen above, are no sinecures. Never did a political machine require so +prodigious an expenditure of force to set it up and keep it in motion. +In the United States, where it is now (around 1875) deranged by its own +action, it has been estimated that, to meet the intentions of the law +and keep each wheel in its proper place, it would be necessary for each +citizen to give one whole day in each week, or on-sixth of his time, +to public business. In France, under the newly adopted system, where +disorder is universal, where the duty of National Guard is added to and +complicates that of elector and administrator, I estimate that two days +would be necessary. This is what the Constitution comes to, this is its +essential and supreme requirement: each active citizen has to give up +one-third of his time to public affairs. + +Now, these twelve hundred thousand administrators and three or four +million electors and National Guards, are just the men in France who +have the least leisure. The class of active citizens, indeed, comprises +about all the men who labor with their hands or with their heads. +The law exempts only domestics devoted to personal service or common +laborers who, possessing no property or income, earn less than +twenty-one sous a day. Every journeyman-miller, the smallest farmer, +every village proprietor of a cottage or of a vegetable-garden, any +ordinary workman, votes at the primary meetings, and may become a +municipal officer. Again, if he pays ten francs a year direct tax, if he +is a farmer or yeomen on any property which brings him in four hundred +francs, if his rent is one hundred and fifty francs, he may become an +elected elector and an administrator of the district or department. +According to this standard the eligible are innumerable; in Doubs, in +1790,[2329] they form two-thirds of the active citizens. Thus, the +way to office is open to all, or almost all, and the law has taken no +precaution whatever to reserve or provide places for the elite, who +could best fill them. On the contrary, the nobles, the ecclesiastical +dignitaries, the members of the parliaments, the grand functionaries of +the ancient regime, the upper class of the bourgeoisie, almost all the +rich who possess leisure, are practically excluded from the elections +by violence, and from the various offices by public opinion: they +soon retire into private life, and, through discouragement or disgust, +through monarchical or religious scruples, abandon entirely a public +career.--The burden of the new system falls, accordingly, on the most +occupied portion of the community: on merchants, manufacturers, agents +of the law, employees, shopkeepers, artisans, and cultivators. They +are the people who must give up one-third of their time already +appropriated, neglect private for public business, leave their harvests, +their bench, their shop, or their briefs to escort convoys and patrol +the highways, to run off to the principal town of the canton, district, +or department, and stay and sit there in the town-hall,[2330] subject +to a deluge of phrases and papers, conscious that they are forced to +gratuitous drudgery, and that this drudgery is of little advantage to +the public.--For the first six months they do it with good grace; their +zeal in penning memorials, in providing themselves with arms against +"brigands," and in suppressing taxes, rents, and tithes, is active +enough. But now that this much is obtained or extorted, decreed as a +right, or accomplished in fact, they must not be further disturbed. They +need the whole of their time: they have their crops to get in, their +customers to serve, their orders to give, their books to make up, their +credits to adjust, all which are urgent matters, and neither ought to be +neglected or interrupted. Under the lash of necessity and of the crisis +they have put their backs to it, and, if we take their word for it, they +hauled the public cart out of the mud; but they had no idea of putting +themselves permanently in harness to drag it along themselves. Confined +as this class has been for centuries to private life, each has his own +wheelbarrow to trundle along, and it is for this, before all and above +all, that he holds himself responsible. From the beginning of the year +1790 the returns of the votes taken show that as many are absent as +present; at Besançon there are only nine hundred and fifty-nine voters +out of thirty-two hundred inscribed; four months after this more than +one-half of the electors fail to come to the polls;[2331] and throughout +France, even at Paris, the indifference to voting keeps on increasing. +Puppets of such an administration as that of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. do +not become Florentine or Athenian citizens in a single night. The hearts +and heads of three or four millions of men are not suddenly endowed with +faculties and habits which render them capable of diverting one-third of +their energies to work which is new, disproportionate, gratuitous, and +supererogatory.--A fallacy of monstrous duplicity lies at the basis +of the political theories of the day and of those which were +invented during the following ten years. Arbitrarily, and without any +examination, a certain weight and resistance are attributed to the human +metal employed. It is found on trial to have ten times less resistance +and twenty times more weight than was supposed. + + + + +V.--The Ruling Minority. + + The restless minority.--Its elements.--The clubs.--Their + ascendancy.--How they interpret the Rights of Man.--Their + usurpations and violence. + +In default of the majority, who shirk their responsibilities, it is the +minority which does the work and assumes the power. The majority having +resigned, the minority becomes sovereign, and public business, abandoned +by the hesitating, weak, and absent multitude, falls into the hands of +the resolute, energetic, ever-present few who find the leisure and +the disposition to assume the responsibility. In a system in which all +offices are elective, and in which elections are frequent, politics +becomes a profession for those who subordinate their private interests +to it, and who find it of personal advantage; every village contains +five or six men of this class, every borough twenty or thirty, every +town its hundreds and Paris its many thousands.[2332] These are +veritable active citizens They alone give all their time and attention +to public matters, correspond with the newspapers and with the deputies +at Paris, receive and spread abroad the party watchword on every +important question, hold caucuses, get up meetings, make motions, draw +up addresses, overlook, rebuke, or denounce the local magistrates, form +themselves into committees, publish and push candidates, and go into +the suburbs and the country to canvass for votes. They hold the power +in recompense for their labor, for they manage the elections, and are +elected to office or provided with places by the successful candidates. +There is a prodigious number of these offices and places, not only those +of officers of the National Guard and the administrators of the commune, +the district, and the department, whose duties are gratuitous, +or little short of it, but a quantity of others which are +paid,[2333]--eighty-three bishops, seven hundred and fifty deputies, +four hundred criminal judges, three thousand and seven civil judges, +five thousand justices of the peace, twenty thousand assessors forty +thousand communal collectors, forty-six thousand curés, without counting +the accessory or insignificant places which exist by tens and hundreds +of thousands, from secretaries, clerks, bailiffs and notaries, to +gendarmes, constables, office-clerks, beadles, grave-diggers, and +keepers of sequestered goods. The pasture is vast for the ambitious; it +is not small for the needy, and they seize upon it. Such is the rule in +pure democracies: hence the swarm of politicians in the United States. +When the law incessantly calls all citizens to political action, there +are only a few who devote themselves to it; these become expert in this +particular work, and, consequently, preponderant. But they must be paid +for their trouble, and the election secures to them their places because +they manage the elections. + +Two sorts of men furnish the recruits for this dominant minority: on +the one hand the enthusiasts, and on the other those who have no social +position. Towards the end of 1789, moderate people, who are minding +their own business, retire into privacy, and are daily less disposed to +show themselves. The public square is occupied by others who, through +zeal and political passion, abandon their pursuits, and by those who, +finding themselves hampered in their social sphere, or repelled from +ordinary circles, were merely awaiting a new opening to take a fresh +start. In these utopian and revolutionary times, there is no lack of +either class. Flung out by handfuls, the dogma of popular sovereignty +falls like a seed scattered around, to end up vegetating in heated +brains, in the narrow and rash minds which, once possessed by an +idea, adhere to it and are mastered by it. It falls amongst a class of +reasoners who, starting from a principle, dash forward like a horse +who has had blinders put on. This is especially the case with the legal +class, whose profession accustoms them to deductions; nor less with the +village attorney, the unfrocked monk, the "intruding" and excommunicated +curé, and above all, the journalist and the local orator, who, for +the first time in his life, finds that he has an audience, applause, +influence and a future before him. These are the only people who can do +the complicated and constant work which the new Constitution calls for; +for they are the only men whose desires are unlimited, whose dreams are +coherent, whose doctrine is explicit, whose enthusiasm is contagious, +who cherish no scruples, and whose presumption is unbounded. Thus has +the rigid will been wrought and tempered within them, the inward spring +of energy which, being daily more tightly wound up, urges them on to +propaganda and to action.--During the second half of the year 1790 we +see them everywhere following the example of the Paris Jacobins, styling +themselves friends of the Constitution, and grouping themselves together +in popular associations. Each town and village gives birth to a club of +patriots who regularly every evening, or several times a week, meet "for +the purpose of co-operating for the safety of the commonwealth."[2334] +This is a new and spontaneous organ,[2335] an cancer and a parasite, +which develops itself in the social body alongside of its legal +organizations. Its growth insensibly increases, attracting to itself the +substance of the others, employing them for its own ends, substituting +itself for them, acting by and for itself alone, a sort of omnivorous +outgrowth the encroachment of which is irresistible, not only because +circumstances and the working of the Constitution nourish it, but also +because its germ, deposited at a great depth, is a living portion of the +Constitution itself. + +For, placed at the head of the Constitution, as well as of the decrees +which are attached to it, stands the Declaration of the Rights of Man. +According to this, and by the avowal of the legislators themselves, +there are two parts to be distinguished in the law, the one superior, +eternal, inviolable, which is the self-evident principle, and the other +inferior, temporary, and open to discussion, which comprehends more or +less exact or erroneous applications of this principle. No application +of the law is valid if it derogates from the principle. No institution +or authority is entitled to obedience if it is opposed to the rights +which it aims to guarantee. These sacred rights, anterior to all +society, take precedence of every social convention, and whenever we +would know if a legal order is legitimate, we have merely to ascertain +if it is in conformity with natural right. Let us, accordingly, in every +doubtful or difficult case, refer to this philosophic gospel, to +this incontestable catechism, this primordial creed proclaimed by the +National Assembly.--The National Assembly itself invites us to do so. +For it announces that + +"ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole +causes of public misfortune, and of the corruption of governments." + +It declares that + +"the object of every political association is the preservation of +natural and imprescriptible rights." + +It enumerates them, "in order that the acts of legislative power and +the acts of executive power may at once be compared with the purpose +of every political institution." It desires "that every member of the +social body should have its declaration constantly in mind."--Thus we +are told to control all acts of application by the principle, and +also we are provided with the rule by which we may and should accord, +measure, or even refuse our submission to, deference for, and toleration +of established institutions and legal authority. + +What are these superior rights, and, in case of dispute, who will decide +as arbitrator?--There is nothing here like the precise declarations +of the American Constitution,[2336] those positive prescriptions which +serve to sustain a judicial appeal, those express prohibitions which +prevent beforehand certain species of laws from being passed, which +prescribe limits to public powers, which mark out the province not to be +invaded by the State because it is reserved to the individual. + +On the contrary, in the declaration of the national Assembly, most of +the articles are abstract dogmas,[2337] metaphysical definitions, more +or less literary axioms, that is to say, more or less false, now vague +and now contradictory, open to various interpretations and to opposite +constructions, These are good for platform display but bad in practice, +mere stage effect, a sort of pompous standard, useless and heavy, which, +hoisted in front of the Constitutional house and shaken every day +by violent hands, cannot fail soon to tumble on the heads of passers +by.[2338]--Nothing is done to ward off this visible danger. There is +nothing here like that Supreme Court which, in the United States, guards +the Constitution even against its Congress, and which, in the name of +the Constitution, actually invalidates a law, even when it has passed +through all formalities and been voted on by all the powers; +which listens to the complaints of the individual affected by an +unconstitutional law; which stays the sheriff's or collector's hand +raised against him, and which above their heads gives judgment on his +interests and wrongs. Ill-defined and discordant laws are proclaimed +without any provision being made for their interpretation, application +or sanction. No means are taken to have them specially expounded. No +district tribunal is assigned to consider the claims which grow out of +them, to put an end to litigation legally, peacefully, on a last appeal, +and through a final decision which becomes a precedent and fixes the +loose sense of the text. All this is made the duty of everybody, that is +to say of those who are disposed to charge themselves with it,--in other +words, the active minority in council assembled.--Thus, in each town +or village it is the local club which, by the authorization of the +legislator himself, becomes the champion, judge, interpreter and +administrator of the rights of man, and which, in the name of these +superior rights, may protest or rebel, as it seems best, not only +against the legitimate acts of legal powers, but also against the +authentic text of the Constitution and the Laws.[2339] + +Consider, indeed, these rights as they are proclaimed, along with +the commentary of the speaker who expounds them at the club before an +audience of heated and daring spirits, or in the street to the rude +and fanatical multitude. Every article in the Declaration is a dagger +pointed at human society, and the handle has only to be pressed to +make the blade enter the flesh.[2340] Among "these natural and +imprescriptible rights" the legislator has placed "resistance to +oppression." We are oppressed: let us resist and take up arms. According +to this legislator, "society has the right to bring every public agent +of the Administration to account." Let us away to the Hôtel-de-Ville, +and interrogate our lukewarm or suspected magistrates, and watch their +sessions to see if they prosecute priests and disarm the aristocrats; +let us stop their intrigues against the people; let us force these +slow clerks to hasten their steps.--According to this legislator +"all citizens have the right to take part in person, or through their +representatives, in the formation of the law." There must thus be no +more electors privileged by their payment of a three-franc tax. Down +with the new aristocracy of active citizens! Let us restore to the +two millions of proletarians the right of suffrage, of which the +Constitution has unjustly defrauded them!--According to this legislator, +"men are born and remain free, and equal in their rights." Consequently, +let no one be excluded from the National Guard; let everybody, even +the pauper, have some kind of weapon, a pike or gun, to defend his +freedom!--In the very terms of the Declaration, "the law is the +expression of the universal will." Listen to these clamors in the open +streets, to these petitions flowing in from the towns on all sides; +behold the universal will, the living law which abolishes the written +law! On the strength of this the leader of a few clubs in Paris are to +depose the King, to violate the Legislative Assembly and decimate the +National Convention.--In other terms, the turbulent, factious minority +is to supplant the sovereign nation, and henceforth there is nothing to +hinder it from doing what it pleases just when it pleases. The operation +of the Constitution has given to it the reality of power, while the +preamble of the Constitution clothes it with the semblance of right. + + + + +VI.--Summary of the work of the Constituent Assembly. + +Such is the work of the Constituent Assembly. In several of its laws, +especially those which relate to private interests, in the institution +of civil regulations, in the penal and rural codes,[2341] in the +first attempts at, and the promise of, a uniform civil code, in the +enunciation of a few simple regulations regarding taxation, procedure, +and administration, it planted good seed. But in all that relates to +political institutions and social organization its proceedings are those +of an academy of Utopians, and not those of practical legislators.--On +the sick body entrusted to it, it performed amputations which were as +useless as they were excessive, and applied bandages as inadequate as +they were injurious. With the exception of two or three restrictions +admitted inadvertently, and the maintenance of the show of royalty, also +the obligation of a small electoral qualification, it carried out its +principle to the end, the principle of Rousseau. It deliberately refused +to consider man as he really was under its own eyes, and persisted +in seeing nothing in him but the abstract being created in books. +Consequently, with the blindness and obstinacy characteristic of a +speculative surgeon, it destroyed, in the society submitted to its +scalpel and its theories, not only the tumors, the enlargements, and the +inflamed parts of the organs, but also the organs themselves, and even +the vital governing centers around which cells arrange themselves to +recompose an injured organ. That is, the Assembly destroyed on the one +hand the time-honored, spontaneous, and lasting societies formed by +geographical position, history, common occupations and interests, and +on the other, those natural chiefs whose name, repute, education, +independence, and earnestness designated them as the best qualified to +occupy high positions. In one direction it despoils and permits the +ruin and proscription of the superior class, the nobles, the members of +Parliament, and the upper middle class. In another it dispossesses and +breaks up all historic or natural corporations, religious congregations, +clerical bodies, provinces, parliaments, societies of art and of all +other professions and pursuits. This done, every tie or bond which +holds men together is found to be severed; all subordination and every +graduated scale of rank have disappeared. There is no longer rank and +file, or commander-in-chief. Nothing remains but individual particles, +26 millions of equal and disconnected atoms. Never was so much +disintegrated matter, less capable of resistance, offered to hands +undertaking to mold it. Harshness and violence will be sufficient to +ensure success. These brutal hands are ready for the work, and the +Assembly which has reduced the material to powder has likewise +provided the mortar and pestle. As awkward in destruction as it is in +construction, it invents for the restoration of order in a society which +is turned upside down a machine which would, of itself, create +disorder in a tranquil society. The most absolute and most concentrated +government would not be strong enough to effect without disturbance a +similar equalization of ranks, the same dismemberment of associations, +and the same displacement of property. No social transformation can +be peacefully accomplished without a well-commanded army, obedient and +everywhere present, as was the case in the emancipation of the Russian +serfs by Emperor Alexander. The new Constitution,[2342] on the contrary, +reduces the King to the position of an honorary president, suspected +and called in question by a disorganized State. Between him and the +legislative body it interposes nothing but sources of conflict, and +suppresses all means of concord. The monarch has no hold whatever on the +administrative departments which he must direct; the mutual independence +of the powers, from the center to the extremities of the State, +everywhere produces indifference, negligence, and disobedience between +the injunctions issued and their execution. France is a federation of +forty thousand municipal sovereignties, in which the authority of legal +magistrates varies according to the caprice of active citizens. These +active citizens, too heavily loaded, shy away from the performance +of public duty; in which a minority of fanatics and ambitious men +monopolize the right to speak, to vote, all influence, the power and +all action. They justify their multiple ursurpations, their unbridled +despotism, and their increasing encroachments by the Declaration of +the Rights of Man. The masterpiece[2343] of ideal abstractions and +of practical absurdities is accomplished. In accordance with the +Constitution spontaneous anarchy becomes legalized anarchy. The latter +is perfect; nothing finer of the kind has been seen since the ninth +century. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2301: The name for the dreaded secret Royal warrant of arrest. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2302: The initiative rests with the King on one point: war +cannot be decreed by the Assembly except on his formal and preliminary +proposition. This exception was secured only after a violent struggle +and a supreme effort by Mirabeau.] + +[Footnote 2303: Speech by Lanjuinais, November 7, 1789. "We determined +on the separation of the powers. Why, then, should the proposal he made +to us to unite the legislative power with the executive power in the +persons of the ministers?"] + +[Footnote 2304: See the attendance of the Ministers before the +Legislative Assembly.] + +[Footnote 2305: "Any society in which the separation of the powers +is not clearly defined has no constitution." (Declaration of Rights, +article XVI.)--This principle is borrowed from a text by Montesquieu, +also from the American Constitution. In the rest the theory of Rousseau +is followed.] + +[Footnote 2306: Mercure de France, an expression by Mallet du Pan.] + +[Footnote 2307: Constitution of 1791, ch. II. articles 5, 6, 7.--Decree +of September 25--October 6, 1791, section III. articles, 8 to 25.] + +[Footnote 2308: Speeches by Barnave and Roederer in the constituent +Assembly.--Speeches by Barnave and Duport in the Jacobin Club.] + +[Footnote 2309: Principal texts. (Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et +Decrets.")--Laws on municipal and administrative organization, December +14 and 22, 1789; August 12-20, 1790; March 12, 1791. On the municipal +organization of Paris, May 21st, June 27, 1790.--Laws on the +organization of the Judiciary, August 16-24, 1790; September 16-29, +1791; September 29, October 21, 1791.--Laws on military organization, +September 23, October 29, 1790; January 16, 1791; July 27, 28, +1791--Laws on the financial organization, November 14-24,.1790; November +23, 1790; March 17, 1791; September 26, October 2, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2310: The removal of such managerial authority has since the +second World war taken place inside the United Nations and other Western +public administrations and seems to be the aim of much communist trade +union effort. The result has everywhere been added cost and decreased +efficiency. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2311: This principle has been introduced in Western +educational systems when clever self-appointed psychologists told +parents and teacher alike that they could and should not punish their +children but only talk and explain to them. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2312: This description fits the staff regulations of the +United Nations secretariat in which I served for 32 years. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2313: Decrees of December 14 and December 22, 1789: "In +municipalities reduced to three members (communes below five hundred +inhabitants), all executive functions shall belong to the mayor alone."] + +[Footnote 2314: Could it be that Lenin took note of this and had it +this translated in Russian and made use of it in his and later in +Stalin's schools for international revolutionaries. It would in any +case have weakened the Bourgeois Capitalist countries. In any case such +measures have been introduced both in the international organizations +and in most Western Democratic Governments after World War II. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2315: This was in the United Nations called 'Rotation' and +made the administration of missions and forces difficult, expensive and +inefficient. This rotation was also used in the Indian and other armies +in order to prevent the officers to reach an understanding or achieve +any power over the troops under their command. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2316: Laws of September 23--October 29, 1790; January 16, +1791. (Titles II. And VII.)--Cf. the legal prescriptions in relation +to the military tribunals. In every prosecuting or judicial jury +one-seventh of the sworn members are taken from the non-commissioned +officers, and one-seventh from the soldiers, and again, according to the +rank of the accused, the number of those of the same rank is doubled.] + +[Footnote 2317: Law of July 28th, August 12, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2318: Laws of November 24, 1789 (article 52), August 10-14, +1789.--Instruction of August 10-20, 1790; § 8--Law of October 21, +November 21, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2319: Laws of November 14 and 23, 1790; January 13th, +September 26th, October 9, 1792.] + +[Footnote 2320: Albert Babeau, I. 327 (Féte of the Federation, July 14, +1790).--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3215 (May 17,1791, Deliberation of +the council-general of the commune of Brest. May 17 and 19, Letters of +the directory of the district).--Mercure, March 5, 1791. "Mesdames +are stopped until the return of the two deputies, whom the Republic +of Arnay-le-Duc has sent to the representatives of the nation to +demonstrate to them the necessity of keeping the king's aunts in the +kingdom."] + +[Footnote 2321: Moniteur, X. 132. Speech by M. Labergerie, November 8, +1791.] + +[Footnote 2322: At Montauban, in the intendant's salon, the ladies of +the place spoke patois only, the grandmother of the gentleman who has +informed me of this fact did not understand any other language.] + +[Footnote 2323: Moniteur, V.163, sitting of July 18, 1791. Speech by M. +Lecoulteux, reporter.] + +[Footnote 2324: Moniteur, XI. 283, sitting of February 2, 1792. Speech +by Cambon: "They go away thinking that they understand what is explained +to them, but return the following day to obtain fresh explanations. The +attorneys refuse to give the municipalities any assistance, stating that +they know nothing about these matters."] + +[Footnote 2325: The same may happen when a subordinate is promoted to be +placed in charge of his or her former equals and colleagues. This is why +it is often preferably to transfer someone who is recognized as being of +superior talent whenever a promotions is to take place. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2326: Law of May 11-15, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2327: Minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Assembly of the +Department of Indre-et-Loire (1791, printed).] + +[Footnote 2328: De Ferrières, I. 367.] + +[Footnote 2329: Suzay, I, 191 (21,711 are eligible out of 32,288 +inscribed citizens).] + +[Footnote 2330: Official report of the Electoral Assembly of the +Department of Indre-et-Loire, Aug. 27, 1791. "A member of the Assembly +made a motion that all the members composing it should be indemnified +for the expenses which would be incurred by their absence from home and +the long sojourn they had to make in the town where the Assembly was +held. He remarked that the inhabitants of the country were those who +suffered the most, their labor being their sole riches; that if no +attention was paid to this demand, they would be obliged, in spite of +their patriotism, to withdraw and abandon their important mission; that +the electoral assemblies would then be deserted, or would be composed of +those whose resources permitted them to make this sacrifice."] + +[Footnote 2331: Sauzay, I. 147, 192.] + +[Footnote 2332: For the detail of these figures, see vol. II. Book IV.] + +[Footnote 2333: De Ferrières, I. 367. Cf. The various laws above +mentioned.] + +[Footnote 2334: Constant, "Histoire d'un Club Jacobin en Province" +(Fontainebleau) p.15. (Procés-verbaux of the founding of the clubs of +Moret, Thomery, Nemours, and Montereau.)] + +[Footnote 2335: Later to change and become socialist and communist +parties everywhere. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2336: Cf. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 +(except the first phrase, which is a catchword thrown out for the +European philosophers).--Jefferson proposed a Declaration of Rights for +the Constitution of March 4, 1789, but it was refused. They were content +to add to it the eleven amendments which set forth the fundamental +rights of the citizen.] + +[Footnote 2337: Article I. "Men are born and remain free and equal in +rights common to all. Social distinctions are founded solely on public +utility." The first phrase condemns the hereditary royalty which is +sanctioned by the Constitution. The second phrase can be used to +legitimate hereditary monarchy and an aristocracy.--Articles 10 and 11 +bear upon the manifestations of religious convictions and on freedom of +speech and of the press. By virtue of these two articles worship, +speech, and the press may be made subject to the most repressive +restrictions, etc.] + +[Footnote 2338: The International Bill of Human Rights of 1948 is quite +different from the one approved in 1789. In 1948 there is no more any +mention of any "right to resistance to oppression", there is a softening +of the position on the right of property and new rights, to free +education, to a country, to rest and leisure, to a high standard of +health and to an adequate standard of living have been introduced. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2339: Stalin and his successors organized such a system of +"clubs" world-wide which even today remain active as "protectors" of the +environment, refugees, prisoners, animals and the environment. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2340: Buchez and Roux, XI. 237. (Speech by Malouet in relation +to the revision, August 5, 1791.) "You constantly tempt the people with +sovereignty without giving them the immediate use of it."] + +[Footnote 2341: Decrees of September 25--October 6, 1791; September +28--October 6, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2342: Impartial contemporaries, those well qualified to judge, +agree as to the absurdity of the Constitution. "The Constitution was a +veritable monster. There was too much of monarchy in it for a republic, +and too much of a republic for a monarchy. The King was a side-dish, un +hors d'oeuvre, everywhere present in appearance but without any actual +power." (Dumont, 339.) "It is a general and almost universal conviction +that this Constitution is inexecutable. The makers of it to a man +condemn it." (G. Morris, September 30, 1791.) "Every day proves more +clearly that their new Constitution is good for nothing." (ibid. +December 27, 1791.) Cf. The sensible and prophetic speech made by +Malouet (August 5, 1791, Buchez and Roux, XI. 237).] + +[Footnote 2343: Taine's vivid description is likely to have encouraged +any radical revolutionary having the luck to read his explicit +description of how to proceed with the destruction of a naïve corrupt +capitalist, bourgeois society. (SR.)] + + + + + +BOOK THIRD. THE APPLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. [3101] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + + +I.--The Federations. + + Popular application of philosophic theory.--Idyllic + celebration of the Contrat-Social.--The two strata of the + human mind.--Permanent disorder. + +If there ever was an Utopia which seemed capable of realization, or, +what is still more to the purpose, was really applied, converted into a +fact, fully established, it is that of Rousseau, in 1789 and during the +three following years. For, not only are his principles embodied in the +laws, and the Constitution throughout animated with his spirit, but it +seems as if the nation looked upon his ideological gambols, his abstract +fiction, as serious. This fiction it carried out in every particular. A +social contract, at one spontaneous and practical, an immense +gathering of men associating together freely for the first time for the +recognition of their respective rights, forming a specific compact, +and binding themselves by a solemn oath: such is the social recipe +prescribed by the philosophers, and which is carried out to the letter. +Moreover, as this recipe is esteemed infallible, the imagination is +worked upon and the sensibilities of the day are brought into play. +It is admitted that men, on again becoming equals, have again become +brothers.[3102] A sudden and amazing harmony of all volitions and +all intelligences will restore the golden age on earth. It is proper, +accordingly, to regard the social contract as a festival, an affecting, +sublime idyll, in which, from one end of France to the other, all, hand +in hand, should assemble and swear to the new compact, with song, with +dance, with tears of joy, with shouts of gladness, the worthy beginning +of public felicity. With unanimous assent, indeed, the idyll is +performed as if according to a written program. + +On the 29th of November, 1789, at Etoile, near Valence, the federations +began.[3103] Twelve thousand National Guards, from the two banks of the +Rhône, promise "to remain for ever united, to insure the circulation of +grain, and to maintain the laws passed by the National Assembly." On the +13th of December, at Montélimart, six thousand men, the representatives +of 27 000 other men, take a similar oath and confederate themselves with +the foregoing.--Upon this the excitement spreads from month to month +and from province to province. Fourteen towns of the bailiwicks of +Franche-Comté form a patriotic league. At Pontivy, Brittany enters into +federal relations with Anjou. One thousand National Guards of Vivarais +and Languedoc send their delegates to Voute. 48 000 in the Vosges send +their deputies to Epinal. During February, March, April, and May, 1790, +in Alsace, Champagne, Dauphiny, Orléanais, Touraine, Lyonnais, and +Provence, there is the same spectacle. At Draguignan eight thousand +National Guards take the oath in the presence of 20 000 spectators. At +Lyons 50 000 men, delegates of more than 500 000 others take the civic +oath.--But local unions are not sufficient to complete the organization +of France; a general union of all Frenchmen must take place. Many of the +various National Guards have already written to Paris for the purpose of +affiliating themselves with the National Guard there; and, one the 5th +of June, the Parisian municipal body having proposed it, the Assembly +decrees the universal federation. It is to take place on the 14th +of July, everywhere on the same day, both at the center and at the +extremities of the kingdom. There is to be one in the principal town +of each district and of each department, and one in the capital. To +the latter each body of the National Guards is to send deputies in +the proportion of one man to every two hundred; and each regiment one +officer, one non-commissioned officer, and four privates. Fourteen +thousand representatives of the National Guard of the provinces appear +on the Champ de Mars, the theater of the festival; also eleven to twelve +thousand representatives of the land and marine forces, besides +the National Guard of Paris, and sixty thousand spectators on the +surrounding slopes, with a still greater crowd on the heights of +Chaillot and of Passy. All rise to their feet and swear fidelity to the +nation, to the law, to the King and to the new Constitution. When the +report of the cannon is heard which announces the taking of the oath, +those of the Parisians who have remained at home, men, women, and +children, raise their hands in the direction of the Champ de Mars +and likewise make their affirmation. In every principal town of every +district, department, and commune in France there is the same oath on +the same day. Never was there a more perfect social compact heard of. +Here, for the first time in the world, everybody beholds a veritable +legitimate society, for it is founded on free pledges, on solemn +stipulations, and on actual consent. They possess the authentic act and +the dated official report of it.[3104] + +There is still something more--the time and the occasion betoken a union +of all hearts. The barriers which have hitherto separated men from each +other are all removed and without effort. Provincial antagonisms are +now to cease: the confederates of Brittany and Anjou write that they +no longer desire to be Angevins and Bretons, but simply Frenchmen. All +religious discords are to come to an end: at Saint-Jean-du-Gard, near +Alais, the Catholic curé and the Protestant pastor embrace each other at +the altar; the pastor occupies the best seat in the church, and at the +Protestant meeting-house the curé has the place of honor, and listens to +the sermon of the pastor.[3105] Distinctions of rank and condition will +no longer exist; at Saint-Andéol "the honor of taking the oath in the +name of the people is conferred on two old men, one ninety-three and +the other ninety-four years of age, one a noble and a colonel of the +National Guard, and the other a simple peasant." At Paris, two hundred +thousand persons of all conditions, ages, and sexes, officers and +soldiers, monks and actors, school-boys and masters, dandies and +ragamuffins, elegant ladies and fishwives, workmen of every class and +the peasants from the vicinity, all flocked to the Champ de Mars to dig +the earth which was not ready, and in a week, trundling wheelbarrows and +handling the pick-ax as equals and comrades, all voluntarily yoked in +the same service, converted a flat surface into a valley between two +hills.--At Strasbourg, General Luckner, commander-in-chief, worked a +whole afternoon in his shirt-sleeves just like the commonest laborer. +The confederates are fed, housed, and have their expenses paid +everywhere on all the roads. At Paris the publicans and keepers of +furnished houses lower their prices of their own accord, and do not +think of robbing their new guests. "The districts," moreover, "feast the +provincials to their heart's content.[3106] There are meals every day +for from twelve to fifteen hundred people." Provincials and Parisians, +soldiers and bourgeois, seated and mingled together, drink each other's +health and embrace. The soldiers, especially, and the inferior officers +are surrounded, welcomed, and entertained to such an extent that they +lose their heads, their health, and more besides. One "old trooper, who +had been over fifty years in the service, died on the way home, used up +with cordials and excess of pleasure." In short, the joy is excessive, +as it should be on the great day when the wish of an entire century +is accomplished.--Behold ideal felicity, as displayed in the books +and illustrations of the time! The natural man buried underneath an +artificial civilization is disinterred, and again appears as in early +days, as in Tahiti, as in philosophic and literary pastorals, as in +bucolic and mythological operas, confiding, affectionate, and happy. +"The sight of all these beings again restored to the sweet sentiments of +primitive brotherhood is an exquisite delight almost too great for the +soul to support," and the Frenchman, more light-hearted and far more +childlike than he is to-day, gives himself up unrestrainedly to his +social, sympathetic, and generous instincts. Whatever the imagination +of the day offers him to increase his emotions, all the classical, +rhetorical, and dramatic material at his command, are employed for +the embellishment of his festival. Already wildly enthusiastic, he +is anxious to increase his enthusiasm.--At Lyons, the fifty thousand +confederates from the south range themselves in line of battle around an +artificial rock, fifty feet high, covered with shrubs, and surmounted by +a Temple of Concord in which stands a huge statue of Liberty; the +steps of the rock are decked with flags, and a solemn mass precedes the +administration of the oath.--At Paris, an alter dedicated to the nation +is erected in the middle of the Champ de Mars, which is transformed +into a colossal circus. The regular troops and the federations of the +departments stand in position around it, the King being in front +with the Queen and the dauphin, while near them are the princes and +princesses in a gallery, and the members of the National Assembly in +an amphitheater; two hundred priests, draped in their albs and with +tricolored belts, officiate around Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun; three +hundred drums and twelve hundred musicians all play at once; forty piece +of cannon are discharged at one volley, and four hundred thousand cheers +go up as if from one threat. Never was such an effort made to intoxicate +the senses and strain the nerves beyond their powers of endurance!--The +moral machine is made to vibrate to the same and even to a greater +extent. For more than a year past, harangues, proclamations, addresses, +newspapers and events have daily added one degree more to the pressure. +On this occasion, thousands of speeches, multiplied by myriads of +newspapers, carry the enthusiasm to the highest pitch. Declamation foams +and rolls along in a steady stream of rhetoric everywhere throughout +France.[3107] In this state of excitement the difference between +magniloquence and sincerity, between the false and the true, between +show and substance, is no longer distinguishable. The Federation becomes +an opera which is seriously played in the open street--children have +parts assigned them in it; it occurs to no one that they are puppets, +and that the words taken for an expression of the heart are simply +memorized speeches that have been put into their mouths. At Besançon, +on the return of the confederates, hundreds of "youthful citizens" from +twelve to fourteen years of age,[3108] in the national uniform, "with +sword in hand," march up to the standard of Liberty. Three little girls +from eleven to thirteen years old and two little boy of nine years +each pronounce "a discourse full of fire and breathing nothing but +patriotism;" after which, a young lady of fourteen, raising her voice +and pointing to the flag, harangues in turn the crowd, the deputies, the +National Guard, the mayor, and the commander of the troops, the scene +ending with a ball. This is the universal finale--men and women, +children and adults, common people and men of the world, chiefs and +subordinates, all, everywhere, frisk about as in the last act of a +pastoral drama. At Paris,--writes an eye-witness, "I saw chevaliers of +Saint-Louis and chaplains dancing in the street with people belonging +to their department."[3109] At the Champ de Mars, on the day of the +Federation, notwithstanding that rain was falling in torrents, "the +first arrivals began to dance, and those who came after them, joining +in, formed a circle which soon spread over a portion of the Champ +de Mars. . . .Three hundred thousand spectators kept time with their +hands." On the following days dancing is kept up on the Champ de Mars +and in the streets, and there is drinking and carousing; "there was +a ball with refreshments at the Corn-Exchange, and on the site of the +Bastille."--At Tours, where fifty-two detachments from the neighboring +provinces are collected, about four o'clock in the afternoon,[3110] +through an irresistible outburst of insane gaiety, "the officers, +inferior officers, and soldiers, pell-mell, race through the streets, +some with saber in hand and others dancing and shouting 'Vive le Roi!' +'Vive la Nation!' flinging up their hats and compelling every one +they met to join in the dance. One of the canons of the cathedral, who +happens to be passing quietly along, has a grenadier's cap put on his +head," and is dragged into the circle, and after him two monks; "they +are often embraced," and then allowed to depart. The carriages of the +mayor and the Marquise de Montausier arrive; people mount up behind, +get inside, and seat themselves in front, as many as can find room, +and force the coachmen to parade through the principal streets in this +fashion. There is no malice in it, nothing but sport and the overflow of +spirits. "Nobody was maltreated or insulted, although almost every one +was drunk."--Nevertheless, there is one bad symptom: the soldiers of +the Anjou regiment leave their barracks the following day and "pass +the whole night abroad, no one being able to hinder them." And there is +another of still graver aspect; at Orleans, after the companies of +the National Militia had danced on the square in the evening, "a large +number of volunteers marched in procession through the town with +drums, shouting out with all their might that the aristocracy must be +destroyed, and that priests and aristocrats should be strung up to the +lamp post. They enter a suspected coffee-house, drive out the inmates +with insults, lay hands on a gentleman who is supposed not to have cried +out as correctly and as lustily as themselves, and come near to hanging +him.[3111]--Such is the fruit of the philosophy and the attitudes of the +eighteenth century. Men believed that, for the organization of a +perfect society and the permanent establishment of freedom, justice, and +happiness on earth, an inspiration of sentiments and an act of the will +would suffice. The inspiration came and the act was fulfilled; they have +been carried away, delighted, affected and out of their minds. Now comes +the reaction, when they have to fall back upon themselves. The effort +has succeeded in accomplishing all that it could accomplish, namely, a +deluge of emotional demonstrations and slogans, a verbal and not a real +contract ostentatious fraternity skin-deep, a well-meaning masquerade, +an outpouring of feeling evaporating through its own pageantry--in +short, an agreeable carnival of a day's duration. + +The reason is that in the human mind there are two strata. One +superficial, of which men are conscious, the other deep down, of which +they are unconscious.[3112] The former unstable and vacillating like +shifting sand, the latter stable and fixed like a solid rock, to which +their caprices and agitation never descend. The latter alone determines +the general inclination of the soil, the main current of human activity +necessarily following the bent thus prepared for it.--Certainly embraces +have been interchanged and oaths have been taken; but after, as before +the ceremony, men are just what many centuries of administrative +thralldom and one century of political literature have made them. Their +ignorance and presumption, their prejudices, hatreds, and distrusts, +their inveterate intellectual and emotional habits are still preserved. +They are human, and their stomachs need to be filled daily. They have +imagination, and, if bread be scarce, they fear that they may not get +enough of it. They prefer to keep their money rather than to give +it away. For this reason they spurn the claims which the State and +individuals have upon them as much as possible. They avoid paying their +debts. They willingly lay their hands on public property which is badly +protected; finally they are disposed to regard gendarmes and proprietors +as detrimental, and all the more so because this has been repeated to +them over and over again, day after day, for a whole year.--On the other +hand there is no change in the situation of things. They are ever living +in a disorganized community, under an impracticable constitution, the +passions which sap public order being only the more stimulated by the +semblance of fraternity under which they seemed to be allayed. Men +cannot be persuaded with impunity that the millennium has come, for +they will want to enjoy it immediately, and will tolerate no deception +practiced on their expectations. In this violent state, fired by +boundless expectations, all their whims appear reasonable and all +their opinions rational. They are no longer able to find faults with +or control themselves. In their brain, overflowing with emotions and +enthusiasm, there is no room but for one intense, absorbing, fixed idea. +Each is confident and over-confident in his own opinion; all become +impassioned, imperious, and intractable. Having assumed that all +obstacles are taken out of the way, they grow indignant at each obstacle +they actually encounter. Whatever it may be, they shatter it on the +instant, and their over-excited imagination covers with the fine name of +patriotism their natural appetite for despotism and domination. + +France, accordingly, in the three years which follow the taking of the +Bastille, presents a strange spectacle. In the words we find charity +and in the laws symmetry; while the actual events present a spectacle of +disorder and violence. Afar, is the reign of philosophy; close up is the +chaos of the Carlovingian era. + +"Foreigners," remarks an observer,[3113] "are not aware that, with a +great extension of political rights, the liberty of the individual is in +law reduced to nothing, while in practice it is subject to the caprice +of sixty thousand constitutional assemblies; that no citizen enjoys any +protection against the annoyances of these popular assemblies; that, +according to the opinions which they entertain of persons and things, +they act in one place in one way and in another place in another way. +Here, a department, acting for itself and without referring elsewhere, +puts an embargo on vessels, while another orders the expulsion of a +military detachment essential for the security of places devastated +by ruffians; and the minister, who responds to the demands of those +interested, replies: 'Such are the orders of the department.' Elsewhere +are administrative bodies which, the moment the Assembly decrees relief +of consciences and the freedom of nonjuring priests, order the latter +out of their homes within 24 hours. Always in advance of or lagging +behind the laws; alternately bold and cowardly; daring all things when +seconded by public license, and daring nothing to repress it; eager to +abuse their momentary authority against the weak in order to acquire +titles to popularity in the future; incapable of maintaining order +except at the expense of public safety and tranquility; entangled in +the reins of their new and complex administration, adding the fury of +passion to incapacity and inexperience; such are, for the most part, +the men sprung from nothing, void of ideas and drunk with pretension, +on whom now rests responsibility for public powers and resources, the +interest of security, and the foundations of the power of government. +In all sections of the nation, in every branch of the administration, in +every report, we detect the confusion of authorities, the uncertainty +of obedience, the dissolution of all restraints, the absence of all +resources, the deplorable complication of enervated springs, without any +of the means of real power, and, for their sole support, laws which, +in supposing France to be peopled with men without vices or passions, +abandon humanity to its primitive state of independence." + +A few months after this, in the beginning of 1792, Malouet sums up all +in one phrase: + +"It is the Government of Algiers without the Dey." + + + + +II.--Independence of the municipalities. + + The causes of their initiative.--Sentiment of danger. + --Issy-l'Evêque in 1789.--Exalted pride.--Brittany in 1790. + --Usurpations of the municipalities.--Capture of the + citadels.--Violence increased against their commanders. + --Stoppage of convoys.--Powerlessness of the Directories and + the ministers.--Marseilles in 1790. + +Things could not work otherwise. For, before the 6th of October, and the +King's captivity in Paris, the Government had already been destroyed. +Now, through the successive decrees of the Assembly, it is legally done +away with, and each local group is left to itself.--The intendants have +fled, military commanders are not obeyed, the bailiwicks dare hold no +courts, the parliaments are suspended, and seven months elapse before +the district and department administrations are elected, a year before +the new judgeships are instituted, while afterwards, as well as before, +the real power is in the hands of the communes.--The commune must arm +itself, appoint its own chiefs, provide its own supplies, protect itself +against brigands, and feed its own poor. It has to sell its national +property, install the constitutional priest, and, amidst so many eager +passions and injured interest, accomplish the transformation by which +a new society replaces the ancient one. It alone has to ward off the +perpetual and constantly reviving dangers which assail it or which it +imagines. These are great, and it exaggerates them. It is inexperienced +and alarmed. It is not surprising that, in the exercise of its +extemporized power, it should pass beyond its natural or legal limit, +and without being aware of it, overstep the metaphysical line which the +Constitution defines between its rights and the rights of the State. +Neither hunger, fear, rage, nor any of the popular passions can wait; +there is no time to refer to Paris. Action is necessary, immediate +action, and, with the means at hand, they must save themselves as well +as they can. This or that mayor of a village is soon to find himself a +general and a legislator. This or that petty town is to give itself +a charter like Laon or Vezelay in the twelfth century. "On the 6th +of October, 1789,[3114] near Autun, the market-town of Issy-l'Evêque +declares itself an independent State. The parish assembly is convoked +by the priest, M. Carion, who is appointed member of the administrative +committee and of the new military staff. In full session he secures the +adoption of a complete code, political, judiciary, penal and military, +consisting of sixty articles. Nothing is overlooked; we find ordinances +concerning + +"the town police, the laying out of streets and public squares, +the repairs of prisons, the road taxes and price of grain, the +administration of justice, fines, confiscations, and the diet of the +National Guards." + +He is a provincial Solon,[3115] zealous for the public welfare, and a +man of executive power, he expounds his ordinances from the pulpit, and +threatens the refractory. He passes decrees and renders judgments in the +town-hall: outside the town limits, at the head of the National Guard, +saber in hand, he will enforce his own decisions. He causes it to be +decided that, on the written order of the committee, every citizen may +be imprisoned. He imposes and collects taxes; he has boundary walls +torn down; he goes in person to the houses of cultivators and makes +requisitions for grain; he seizes the convoys which have not deposited +their quote in his own richly stored granaries. One day, preceded by +a drummer, he marches outside the walls, makes proclamation of "his +agrarian laws," and proceeds at once to the partition of the territory, +and, by virtue of the ancient communal or church property rights, +to assign to himself a portion of it. All this is done in public and +consciously, the notary and the scrivener being called in to draw up the +official record of his acts; he is satisfied that human society has come +to an end, and that each local group has the right to begin over again +and apply in its own way the Constitution which it has accorded to +itself without reference to anybody else.--This man, undoubtedly, talks +too loudly, an proceeds too quickly; and first the bailiwick, next the +Châtelet, and afterwards the National Assembly temporarily put a stop +to his proceedings; but his principle is a popular one, and the forty +thousand communes of France are about to act like so many distinct +republics, under the sentimental and constantly more powerless +reprimands of the central authority. + +Excited and invigorated by a new sentiment, men now abandon themselves +to the proud consciousness of their own power and independence. Nowhere +is greater satisfaction found than among the new local chiefs, the +municipal officers and commanders of the National Guard, for never +before has such supreme authority and such great dignity fallen upon +men previously so submissive and so insignificant.--Formerly the +subordinates of an intendant or sub-delegate, appointed, maintained, and +ill-used by him, kept aloof from transactions of any importance, +unable to defend themselves except by humble protestations against the +aggravation of taxation, concerned with precedence and the conflicts +of etiquette,[3116] plain townspeople or peasants who never dreamt of +interfering in military matters, henceforth become sovereigns in all +military and civil affairs. This or that mayor or syndic of a little +town or parish, a petty bourgeois or villager in a blouse, whom the +intendant or military commander could imprison at will, now orders +a gentleman, a captain of dragoons, to march or stand still, and the +captain stands still or marches at his command. On the same bourgeois +or villager depends the safety of the neighboring chateau, of the large +land-owner and his family, of the prelate, and of all the prominent +personages of the district in order that they may be out of harm's way +he must protect them; they will be pillaged if, in case of insurrection, +he does not send troops and the National Guard to their assistance. It +is he who, lending or refusing public force to the collection of +their rents, gives them or deprives them of the means of living. He +accordingly rules, and on the sole condition of ruling according to the +wishes of his equals, the vociferous multitude, the restless, dominant +mob which has elected him.--In the towns, especially, and notably in the +large towns, the contrast between what he was and what he is immense, +since to the plenitude of his power is added the extent of his +jurisdiction. Judge of the effect on his brain in cities like those of +Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rouen and Lyons, where he holds in his +hand the lives and property of eighty or a hundred thousand men. And +the more as, amid the municipal officers of the towns, three-quarters +of them, prosecutors or lawyers, are imbued with the new dogmas, and are +persuaded that in themselves alone, the directly elected of the +people, is vested all legitimate authority. Bewildered by their recent +elevation, distrustful as upstarts, in revolt against all ancient or +rival powers, they are additionally alarmed by their imagination and +ignorance, their minds being vaguely disturbed by the contrast between +their role in the past and their present role: anxious on their own +account, they find no security but in abuse and use of power. The +municipalities, on the strength of the reports emanating from the +coffee-houses, decide that the ministry are traitors. With an obstinacy +of conviction and a boldness of presumption alike extraordinary, they +believe that they have the right to act without and against their +orders, and against the orders of the National Assembly itself, as +if, in the now disintegrated France, each municipality constituted the +nation. + +Thus, if the armed force of the country is now obedient to any body, it +is to them and to them alone, and not only the National Guard, but also +the regular troops which, placed under the orders of municipalities by +a decree of the National Assembly,[3117] will comply with no other. +Military commanders in the provinces, after September, 1787, declare +themselves powerless; when they and the municipality give orders, it +is only those of the municipality which the troops recognize. "However +pressing may be the necessity for moving the troops where their +presence is required, they are stopped by the resistance of the village +committee."[3118] "Without any reasonable motive," writes the commander +of the forces in Brittany, "Vannes and Auray made opposition to the +detachment which I thought it prudent to send to Belle-Ile, to replace +another one. . . The Government cannot move without encountering +obstacles. . . . The Minister of War no longer has the direction of the +army. . . . No orders are executed. . . Every one wants to command, and +no one to obey. . . How could the King, the Government, or the Minister +of War send troops where they are wanted if the towns believe that they +have the right to countermand the orders given to the regiments and +change their destination?"-And it is still worse, for, "on the false +supposition of brigands and conspiracies which do not exist,[3119] the +towns and villages make demands on me for arms and even cannon. . . The +whole of Brittany will soon be in a frightful belligerent state on this +account, for, having no real enemies, they will turn their arms against +each other."--This is of no consequence. The panic is an "epidemic." +People are determined to believe in "brigands and enemies." At Nantes, +the assertion is constantly repeated that the Spaniards are going to +land, that the French regiments are going to make an attack, that an +army of brigands is approaching, that the castle is threatened, that +it is threatening, and that it contains too many engines of war. The +commandant of the province writes in vain to the mayor to reassure +him, and to explain to him that "the municipality, being master of +the chateau, is likewise master of its magazine. Why then should it +entertain fear about that which is in its own possession? Why should +any surprise be manifested at an arsenal containing arms and +gunpowder?"--Nothing is of any effect. The chateau is invaded; two +hundred workmen set to work to demolish the fortifications; they listen +only to their fears, and cannot exercise too great precaution. However +inoffensive the citadels may be, they are held to be dangerous; however +accommodating the commanders may be, they are regarded with suspicion. +The people chafe against the bridle, relaxed and slack as it is. It +is broken and cast aside, that it may not be used again when occasion +requires. Each municipal body, each company of the National Guard, +wants to reign on its own plot of ground out of the way of any foreign +control; and this is what is called liberty. Its adversary, therefore, +is the central power. This must be disarmed for fear that it may +interpose. On all sides, with a sure and persistent instinct, through +the capture of fortresses, the pillage of arsenals, the seduction of the +soldiery, and the expulsion of generals, the municipality ensures its +omnipotence by guaranteeing itself beforehand against all repression. + +At Brest the municipal authorities insist that a naval officer shall be +surrendered to the people, and on the refusal of the King's lieutenant +to give him up, the permanent committee orders the National Guard to +load its guns.[3120] At Nantes the municipal body refuses to recognize +M. d'Hervilly, sent to take command of a camp, and the towns of the +province write to declare that they will suffer no other than the +federated troops on their territory. At Lille the permanent committee +insists that the military authorities shall place the keys of the town +in its keeping every evening, and, a few months after this, the National +Guard, joined by mutinous soldiers, seize the citadel and the person of +Livarot, its commander. At Toulon the commander of the arsenal, M. +de Rioms, and several naval officers, are put in the dungeon. At +Montpellier the citadel is surprised, and the club writes to the +National Assembly to demand its demolition. At Valence, the commandant, +M. de Voisin, on taking measures of defense, is massacred, and +henceforth the municipality issues all orders to the garrison. At +Bastia, Colonel de Rully falls under a shower of bullets, and the +National Guard takes possession of the citadel and the powder magazine. +These are not passing outbursts: at the end of two years the same +insubordinate spirit is apparent everywhere.[3121] In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly seek to transfer the Nassau +regiment from Metz. Sedan refuses to receive it; while Thionville +declares that, if it comes, she will blow up the bridges, and Sarrebuis +threatens, if it approaches, that it will open fire on it. At Caen +neither the municipality nor the directory dares enforce the law which +assigns the castle to the troops of the line; the National Guard refuses +to leave it, and forbids the director of the artillery to inspect the +munitions.--In this state of things a Government subsists in name +but not in fact, for it no longer possesses the means of enforcing +obedience. Each commune arrogates to itself the right of suspending +or preventing the execution of the simplest and most urgent orders. +Arnay-le-Duc, in spite of passports and legal injunctions, persists in +retaining Mesdames; Arcis-sur-Aube retains Necker, and Montigny is about +to retain M. Caillard, Ambassador of France.[3122]--In the month of +June, 1791, a convoy of eighty thousand crowns of six livres sets out +from Paris for Switzerland; this is a repayment by the French Government +to that of Soleure; the date of payment is fixed, the itinerary marked +out; all the necessary documents are provided; it is important that it +should arrive on the day when the bill falls due. But they have +counted without the municipalities and the National Guards. Arrested at +Bar-sur-Aube, it is only at the end of a month, and on a decree of the +National Assembly, that the convoy can resume its march. At Belfort it +is seized again, and it still remains there in the month of November. In +vain has the directory of the Bas-Rhin ordered its release; the Belfort +municipality paid no attention to the order. In vain the same directory +dispatches a commissioner, who is near being cut to pieces. The personal +interference of General Luckner, with the strong arm, is necessary, +before the convoy can pass the frontier, after five months of +delay.[3123] In the month of July 1791, a French vessel on the way from +Rouen to Caudebec, said to be loaded with kegs of gold and silver, is +stopped. On the examination being made, it has a right to leave; its +papers are all correct, and the department enjoins the district to +respect the law. The district, however, replies that it is impossible, +since "all the municipalities on the banks of the Seine have armed +and are awaiting the passing of the vessel," and the National Assembly +itself is obliged to pass a decree that the vessel shall be discharged. + +If the rebellion of the small communes is of this stamp, what must be +that of the larger ones?[3124] The departments and districts summon the +municipality in vain; it disobeys or pays no attention to the summons. + +"Since the session began," writes the directory of Saône-et-Loire; "the +municipality of Maçon has taken no step in relation to us which has not +been an encroachment. It has not uttered a word, which has not been an +insult. It has not entered upon a deliberation which has not been an +outrage." + +"If the regiment of Aunis is not ordered here immediately," writes the +directory of Calvados, "if prompt and efficient measures are not taken +to provide us with an armed force, we shall abandon a post which we can +not longer hold due to insubordination, license, contempt for all the +authorities. We shall in this case be unable to perform the duties which +were imposed upon us." + +The directory of the Bouches-du-Rhone, on being attacked, flies before +the bayonets of Marseilles. The members of the directory of Gers, in +conflict with the municipality of Auch, are almost beaten to death. As +to the ministers, who are distrusted by virtue of their office, they are +still less respected than the directories, They are constantly denounced +to the Assembly, while the municipalities send back their dispatches +without deigning to open them,[3125] and, towards the end of 1791, their +increasing powerlessness ends in complete annihilation. We can judge +of this by one example. In the month of December 1791, Limoges is not +allowed to carry away the grain, which it had just purchased in Indre, +a force of sixty horsemen being necessary to protect its transportation. +The directory of Indre at once calls upon the ministers to furnish them +with this small troop.[3126] After trying for three weeks, the minister +replies that it is out of his power; he has knocked at all doors in +vain. "I have pointed out one way," he says, "to the deputies of your +department in the National Assembly, namely, to withdraw the 20th +regiment of cavalry from Orleans, and I have recommended them to broach +the matter to the deputies of Loiret." The answer is still delayed: +the deputies of the two departments have to come to an agreement, for, +otherwise, the minister dares not displace sixty men to protect a convoy +of grain. It is plain enough that there is no longer any executive +power. There is no longer a central authority. There is no longer a +France, but merely so many disintegrated and independent communes, like +Orleans and Limoges, which, through their representatives, carry on +negotiations with each other, one to secure itself from a deficiency of +troops, and the other to secure itself from a want of bread. + +Let us consider this general dissolution on the spot, and take up a case +in detail. On the 18th of January 1790, the new municipal authorities +of Marseilles enter upon their duties. As is generally the case, the +majority of the electors have had nothing to do with the balloting. +The mayor, Martin, having been elected by only an eighth of the active +citizens.[3127] If, however, the dominant minority is a small one, it +is resolute and not inclined to stop at trifles. "Scarcely is it +organized,"[3128] when it sends deputies to the King to have him +withdraw his troops from Marseilles. The King, always weak and +accommodating, finally consents; and, the orders to march being +prepared, the municipality is duly advised of them. But the municipality +will tolerate no delay, and immediately "draws up, prints, and issues +a denunciation to the National Assembly" against the commandant and +the two ministers who, according to it, are guilty of having forged or +suppressed the King's orders. In the meantime it equips and fortifies +itself as for a combat. At its first establishment the municipality +broke up the bourgeois guard, which was too great a lover of order, and +organized a National Guard, in which those who have no property are +soon to be admitted. "Daily additions are made to its military +apparatus;[3129] entrenchments and barricades at the Hôtel-de-Ville, +are increasing, the artillery is increased; the town is filled with the +excitement of a military camp in the immediate presence of an enemy." +Thus, in possession of force, it makes use of it, and in the first place +against justice.--A popular insurrection had been suppressed in the +month of August 1789, and the three principal leaders, Rebecqui, Pascal, +and Granet, had been imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. They are the +friends of the municipal authorities, and they must be set free. At +the demand of this body the affair is taken out of the hands of the +grand-prévôt and put into those of the sénéchaussée, the former, +meanwhile, together with his councilors, undergoing punishment for +having performed their duty. The municipality, on its own authority, +forbids them from further exercise of their functions. They are publicly +denounced, "threatened with poniards, the scaffold, and every species of +assassination." [3130] No printer dares publish their defense, for fear +of "municipal annoyances." It is not long before the royal procureur and +a councillor are reduced to seeking refuge in Fort Saint-Jean, while the +grand-prévôt after having resisted a little longer, leaves Marseilles +in order to save his life. As to the three imprisoned men, the municipal +authorities visit them in a body and demand their provisional release. +One of them having made his escape, they refuse to give the commandant +the order for his re-arrest. The other two triumphantly leave the +chateau on the 11th of April, escorted by eight hundred National Guards. +They go, for form's sake, to the prisons of the sénéchaussée but the +next day are set at liberty, and further prosecution ceases. As an +offset to this, M. d'Ambert, colonel in the Royal Marine, guilty of +expressing himself too warmly against the National Guard, although +acquitted by the tribunal before which he was brought, can be set +at liberty only in secret and under the protection of two thousand +soldiers. The populace want to burn the house of the criminal lieutenant +that dared absolve him. The magistrate himself is in danger, and is +forced to take refuge in the house of the military commander.[3131] +Meanwhile, printed and written papers, insulting libels by the municipal +body and the club, the seditious or violent discussions of the district +assemblies, and a lot of pamphlets, are freely distributed among the +people and the soldiers: the latter are purposely stirred up in advance +against their chiefs.--In vain are the officers mild, conciliatory, and +cautious. In vain does the commander-in-chief depart with a portion of +the troops. The object now is to dislodge the regiment occupying +the three forts. The club sets the ball in motion, and, forcibly or +otherwise, the will of the people must be carried out. On the 29th of +April, two actors, supported by fifty volunteers, surprise a sentinel +and get possession of Notre-Dame de la Garde. On the same day, +six thousand National Guards invest the forts of Saint-Jean and +Saint-Nicolas. The municipal authorities, summoned to respect the +fortresses, reply by demanding the opening of the gates to the National +Guard, that it may do duty jointly with the soldiers. The commandants +hesitate, refer to the law, and demand time to consult their superiors. +A second requisition, more urgent, is made; the commandants are held +responsible for the disturbances they provoke by their refusal. If they +resist they are declared promoters of civil war.[3132] They accordingly +yield and sign a capitulation. One among them, the Chevalier de +Beausset, major in Fort Saint-Jean, is opposed to this, and refuses his +signature. On the following day he is seized as he is about to enter the +Hôtel-de-Ville, and massacred, his head being borne about on the end of +a pike, while the band of assassins, the soldiers, and the rabble dance +about and shout over his remains.--" It is a sad accident," writes the +municipality.[3133] How does it happen that, "after having thus far +merited and obtained all praise, a Beausset, whom we were unable to +protect against the decrees of Providence, should sully our laurels? +Having had nothing to do with this tragic affair, it is not for us +to prosecute the authors of it." Moreover, he was "culpable. . .. +rebellious, condemned by public opinion, and Providence itself seems to +have abandoned him to the irrevocable decrees of its vengeance."--As to +the taking of the forts, nothing is more legitimate. "These places were +in the hands of the enemies of the State, while now they are in the +hands of the defenders of the Constitution of the empire. Woe to +whoever would take them from us again, to convert them into a focus of +counter-revolution "--M. de Miran, commandant of the province, has, it +is true, made a demand for them. But, "is it not somewhat pitiable to +see the requisition of a Sieur de Miran, made in the name of the King he +betrays, to surrender to his Majesty's troops places which, henceforth +in our hands, guarantee public security to the nation, to the law, and +to the King?" In vain does the King, at the request of the National +Assembly,[3134] order the municipality to restore the forts to the +commandants, and to make the National Guards leave them. The municipal +authorities become indignant, and resist. According to them the wrong +is all on the side of the commandant and the ministers. It is the +commandants who, "with the threatening equipment of their citadels, +their stores of provisions and of artillery, are disturbers of the +public peace. What does the minister mean by driving the national troops +out of the forts, in order to entrust their guardianship to foreign +troops? His object is apparent in this plan. . . . he wants to kindle +civil war."--"All the misfortunes of Marseilles originate in the secret +under-standing existing between the ministers and the enemies of the +State." The municipal corps is at last obliged to evacuate the forts, +but it is determined not to give them up. The day following that on +which it receives the decree of the National Assembly, it conceives the +design of demolishing them. On the 17th of May, two hundred laborers, +paid in advance, begin the work of destruction. To save appearances the +municipal body betakes itself at eleven o'clock in the morning to the +different localities, and orders them to stop. But, on its departure, +the laborers keep on; and, at six o'clock in the evening, a resolution +is passed that, "to prevent the entire demolition of the citadel, it +is deemed advisable to authorize only that of the part overlooking the +town." On the 18th of May the Jacobin club, at once agent, accomplice, +and councilor of the municipal body, compels private individuals to +contribute something towards defraying the expenses of the demolition. +It "sends round to every house, and to the syndics of all corporations, +exacting their quotas, and making all citizens subscribe a document by +which they appear to sanction the action of the municipal body, and to +express their thanks to it. People had to sign it, pay, and keep silent. +Woe to any one that refused!" On the 20th of May the municipal body +presumes to write to the Assembly, that "this threatening citadel, this +odious monument of a stupendous despotism, is about to disappear." To +justify its disobedience, it takes occasion to remark, "that the love of +country is the most powerful and most enduring of an empire's ramparts." +On the 28th of May it secures the performance in two theaters of a piece +representing the capture of the forts of Marseilles, for the benefit +of the men engaged in their demolition. Meanwhile, it has summoned +the Paris Jacobins to its support; it has proposed to invite the Lyons +federation and all the municipalities of the kingdom to denounce the +minister. It has forced M. de Miran, threatened with death and watched +by a party in ambush on the road, to quit Aix, and then demands his +recall.[3135] Only on the 6th of June does it decide, at the express +command of the National Assembly, to suspend the almost completed +demolition.--Authorities to which obedience is due could not be treated +more insolently. The end, however, is attained; there is no longer a +citadel, and the troops have departed; the regiment commanded by Ernest +alone remains, to be tampered with, insulted, and then sent off. It is +ordered to Aix, and the National Guard of Marseilles will go there to +disarm and disband it. Henceforth the municipal body has full sway. It +"observes only those laws which suit it, makes others to its own liking, +and, in short, governs in the most despotic and arbitrary manner."[3136] +And not only at Marseilles, but throughout the department where, under +no authority but its own, it undertakes armed expeditions and makes +raids and sudden attacks. + + + + +III.--Independent Assemblies. + + Why they took the initiative.--The people in council. + --Powerlessness of the municipalities.--the violence to which + they are subject.--Aix in 1790.--Government disobeyed and + perverted everywhere. + +Were it but possible for the dissolution to stop here! But each commune +is far from being a tranquil little state under the rule of a body +of respected magistrates. The same causes which render municipalities +rebellious against the central authority render individuals rebellious +against local authority. They also feel that they are in danger and +want to provide for their own safety. They also, in virtue of the +Constitution and of circumstances, believe themselves appointed to +save the country. They also consider themselves qualified to judge for +themselves on all points and entitled to carry out their judgments with +their own hands. The shopkeeper, workman or peasant, at once elector and +National Guard, furnished with his vote and a musket, suddenly becomes +the equal and master of his superiors; instead of obeying, he commands, +while all who see him again after some years' absence, find that "in +his demeanor and manner all is changed." "There was great agitation +everywhere,"[3137] says M. de Ségur; "I noticed groups of men talking +earnestly in the streets and on the squares. The sound of the drum +struck my ear in the villages, while I was astonished at the great +number of armed men I encountered in the little towns. On interrogating +various persons among the lower classes they would reply with a proud +look and in a bold and confident tone. I observed everywhere the effect +of those sentiments of equality and liberty which had then become +such violent passions."--Thus exalted in their own eyes they believed +themselves qualified to take the lead in everything, not only in local +affairs, but also in general matters. France is to be governed by them; +by virtue of the Constitution they arrogate to themselves the right, +and, by dint of ignorance, attribute to themselves the capacity, to +govern it. A torrent of new, shapeless, and disproportionate ideas have +taken possession of their brains in the space of a few months. Vast +interests about which they have never thought, have to be considered. +Government, royalty, the church, creeds, foreign powers, internal +and external dangers, what is occurring at Paris and at Coblentz, the +insurrection in the Low Countries, the acts of the cabinets of London, +Vienna, Madrid, Berlin; and, of all this, they inform themselves as they +best can. An officer,[3138] who traverses France at this time, narrates +that at the post-stations they made him wait for horses until he had +"given them details. The peasants stopped my carriage in the middle of +the road and overwhelmed me with questions. At Autun, I was obliged, in +spite of the cold, to talk out of a window opening upon the square and +tell what I knew about the Assembly."--These on-dits are all changed +and amplified in passing from mouth to mouth. They finally become +circumstantial stories adapted to the caliber of the minds they pass +into and to the dominant passion that propagates them. Trace the effect +of these fables in the house of a peasant or fish-woman in an outlying +village or a populous suburb, on brutish or almost brutal minds, +especially when they are lively, heated, and over-excited--the effect +is tremendous. For, in minds of this stamp, belief is at once converted +into action, and into rude and destructive action. It is an acquired +self-control, reflection, and culture which interposes between belief +and action the solicitude for social interests, the observance of forms +and respect for the law. These restraints are all wanting in the new +sovereign. He does not know how to stop and will not suffer himself to +be stopped. Why so many delays when the peril is urgent? What is the use +of observing formalities when the safety of the people is at stake? What +is there sacred in the law when it protects public enemies? What is more +pernicious than passive deference and patient waiting under timid or +blind officials? What can be more just than to do one's self justice +at once and on the spot?--Precipitation and passion, in their eyes, +are both duties and merits. One day "the militia of Lorient decide upon +marching to Versailles and to Paris without considering how they are to +get over the ground or what they will do on their arrival."[3139] Were +the central government within reach they would lay their hands on it. +In default of this they substitute themselves for it on their own +territory, and exercise its functions with a full conviction of right, +principally those of gendarme, judge, and executioner. + +During the month of October, 1789, at Paris, after the assassination of +the baker François, the leading murderer, who is a porter at the grain +depot, declares "that he wanted to avenge the nation." It is quite +probable that this declaration is sincere. In his mind, assassination is +one of the forms of patriotism, and it does not take long for his way +of thinking to become prevalent. In ordinary times, social and political +ideas slumber in uncultured minds in the shape of vague antipathies, +restrained aspirations, and fleeting desires. Behold them +aroused--energetic, imperious, stubborn, and unbridled. Objection or +opposition is not to be tolerated; dissent, with them, is a sure sign +of treachery.--Apropos of the nonjuring priests,[3140] five hundred and +twenty-seven of the National Guards of Arras write, "that no one could +doubt their iniquity without being suspected of being their accomplices. +. . . Should the whole town combine and express a contrary opinion, it +would simply show that it is filled with enemies of the Constitution;" +and forthwith, in spite of the law and the remonstrances of +the authorities, they insist on the closing of the churches. At +Boulogne-sur-Mer, an English vessel having shipped a quantity of +poultry, game, and eggs, "the National Guards, of their own authority," +go on board and remove the cargo. On the strength of this, the +accommodating municipal body approves of the act, declares the cargo +confiscated, orders it to be sold, and awards one-half of the proceeds +to the National Guards and the other half to charitable purposes. The +concession is a vain one, for the National Guards consider that one-half +is too little, "insult and threaten the municipal officers," and +immediately proceed to divide the booty in kind, each one going home +with a share of stolen hams and chickens.[3141] The magistrates must +necessarily keep quiet with the guns of those they govern pointed at +them.--Sometimes, and it is generally the case, they are timid, and +do not try to resist. At Douai,[3142] the municipal officers, on being +summoned three times to proclaim martial law, refuse, and end by avowing +that they dare not unfold the red flag: "Were we to take this course +we should all be sacrificed on the spot." Neither the troops nor the +National Guards, in fact, are to be relied on. In this universal +state of apathy the field is open to savages, and a dealer in wheat is +hung.--Sometimes the administrative corps tries to resist, but in the +end it has to succumb to violence. "For more than six hours," writes one +of the members of the district of Etampes,[3143] "we were closed in by +bayonets leveled at us and with pistols at our breasts; and they were +obliged to sign a dismissal of the troops which had arrived to protect +the market. At present "we are all away from Etampes; there is no +longer a district or a municipality;" almost all have handed in their +resignations, or are to return for that purpose.--Sometimes, and this +is the rarest case,[3144] the officials do their duty to the end, and +perish. In this same town, six months later, Simoneau, the mayor, +having refused to cut down the price of wheat, is beaten with +iron-pointed sticks, and his corpse is riddled with balls by the +murderers.--Municipal bodies must take heed how they undertake to stem +the torrent; the slightest opposition will soon be at the expense of +their lives. In Touraine,[3145] "as the publication of the tax-rolls +takes place, riots break out against the municipal authorities; they are +forced to surrender the rolls they have drawn up, and their papers are +torn up." And still more, "they kill, they assassinate the municipal +authorities." In that large commune men and women "beat and kick them +with their fists and sabots. . . . The mayor is laid up after it, and +the procureur of the commune died between nine and ten o'clock in the +morning. Véteau, a municipal officer, received the last sacrament this +morning;" the rest have fled, being constantly threatened with death and +incendiarism. They do not, consequently, return, and "no one now will +take the office of either mayor or administrator."--The outrages which +the municipalities thus commit against their superiors are committed +against themselves. The National Guards, the mob, the controlling +faction, arrogating to themselves in the commune the same violent +sovereignty which the commune pretends to exercise against the State. + +I should never finish if I undertook to enumerate the outbreaks in +which the magistrates are constrained to tolerate or to sanction popular +usurpations, to shut up churches, to drive off or imprison priests, to +suppress octrois, tax grain, and allow clerks; bakers, corn-dealers, +ecclesiastics, nobles, and officers to be hung, beaten to death, or +to have their throats cut. Ninety-four thick files of records in the +national archives are filled with these acts of violence, and do not +contain two-thirds of them. It is worth while to take in detail one +case more, a special one, and one that is authentic, which serves as a +specimen, and which presents a foreshortened image of France during +one tranquil year. At Aix, in the month of December, 1790,[3146] in +Opposition to the two Jacobin clubs, a club had been organized, had +complied with all the formalities, and, like the "Club des Monarchiens" +at Paris, claimed the same right of meeting as the others. But here, as +at Paris, the Jacobins recognize no rights but for themselves alone, +and refuse to admit their adversaries to the privileges of the law. +Moreover, alarming rumors are circulated. A person who has arrived +from Nice states that he had "heard that there were twenty thousand men +between Turin and Nice, under the pay of the emigrants, and that at +Nice a neuvaine[3147] was held in Saint François-de-Paule to pray God to +enlighten the French." A counter-revolution is certainly under way. +Some of the aristocrats have stated "with an air of triumph, that the +National Guard and municipalities are a mere toy, and that this sort of +thing will not last long." One of the leading members of the new club, +M. de Guiraitiand, an old officer of seventy-eight years, makes speeches +in public against the National Assembly, tries to enlist artisans in his +party, "affects to wear a white button on his hat fastened by pins with +their points jutting out," and, as it is stated, he has given to several +mercers a large order for white cockades. In reality, on examination, +not one is found in any shop, and all the dealers in ribbons, on +being interrogated, reply that they know of no transaction of that +description. But this simply proves that the culprit is a clever +dissimulator, and the more dangerous because he is eager to save the +country.--On the 12th of December, at four o'clock in the afternoon, +the two Jacobin clubs fraternise, and pass in long procession before +the place of meeting, "where some of the members, a few officers of the +Lyons regiment and other individuals, are quietly engaged at play +or seeing others play." The crowd hoot, but they remain quiet. The +procession passes by again, and they hoot and shout, "Down with the +aristocrats to the lamp post with them!" Two or three of the officers +standing on the threshold of the door become irritated, and one of them, +drawing his sword, threatens to strike a young man if he keeps on. Upon +this the crowd cries out, "Guard! Help! An assassin!" and rushes at +the officer, who withdraws into the house, exclaiming, "To arms!" His +comrades, sword in hand, descend in order to defend the door; M. de +Guiramand fires two pistol shots and receives a stab in the thigh. A +shower of stones smashes in the windows, and the door is on the point of +being burst open when several of the members of the club save themselves +by taking to the roof. About a dozen others, most of them officers, +form in line, penetrate the crowd with uplifted swords, strike and get +struck, and escape, five of them being wounded. The municipality orders +the doors and windows of the club-house to be walled up, sends the +Lyons regiment away, decrees the arrest of seven officers and of M. de +Guiramand, and all this in a few hours, with no other testimony than +that of the conquerors. + +But these prompt, vigorous and partial measures are not sufficient for +the Jacobin club; other conspirators must be seized, and it is the club +which designates them and goes to take them.--Three months before +this, M. Pascalis, an advocate, on addressing along with some of his +professional brethren the dissolved parliament, deplored the blindness +of the people, "exalted by prerogatives of which they knew not the +danger." A man who dared talk in this way is evidently a traitor.--There +is another, M. Morellet de la Roquette, who refused to join the +proscribed club. His former vassals, however, had been obliged to bring +an action against him to make him accept the redemption of his feudal +dues; also, six years before this, his carriage, passing along the +public promenade, had run over a child; he likewise is an enemy of the +people. While the municipal officers are deliberating, "a few members of +the club" get together and decide that M. Pascalis and M. de la Roquette +must be arrested. At eleven o'clock at night eighty trustworthy National +Guards, led by the president of the club, travel a league off to seize +them in their beds and lodge them in the town prison.--Zeal of this kind +excites some uneasiness, and if the municipality tolerates the arrests, +it is because it is desirous of preventing murder. Consequently, on the +following day, December 13th, it sends to Marseilles for four hundred +men of the Swiss Guard commanded by Ernest, and four hundred National +Guards, adding to these the National Guard of Aix, and orders this +company to protect the prison against any violence. But, along with the +Marseilles National Guards, there came a lot of armed people who are +volunteers of disorder. On the afternoon of the 13th the first mob +strives to force the prison, and the next day, fresh squads congregate +around it demanding the head of M. Pascalis. The members of the club +head the riot with "a crowd of unknown men from outside the town, who +give orders and carry them out." During the night the populace of Aix +are tampered with, and the dikes all give way at the same moment. At the +first clamors the National Guard on duty on the public promenade disband +and disperse, while, as there is no signal for the assemblage of the +others, notwithstanding the regulations, the general alarm is not +sounded. "The largest portion of the National Guard draws off so as not +to appear to authorize by its presence outrages which it has not been +ordered to prevent. Peaceable Citizens are in great consternation;" each +one takes to flight or shuts himself up in his house, the streets being +deserted and silent. Meanwhile the prison gates are shattered with axes. +The procureur-syndic of the department, who requests the commandant of +the Swiss regiment to protect the prisoners, is seized, borne off, and +runs the risk of losing his life. Three municipal officers in their +scarves, who arrive on the ground, dare not give the order required by +the commandant. At this decisive moment, when it is necessary to +shed blood and kill a number of men, they obviously fear to take +the responsibility; their reply is, "We have no orders to give."--An +extraordinary spectacle now presents itself in this barrack courtyard +surrounding the prison. On the side of the law stand eight hundred armed +men, four hundred of the "Swiss" and four hundred of the National Guard +of Marseilles. They are drawn up in battle array, with guns to their +shoulders, with special orders repeated the evening before at three +different times by the municipal district and departmental authorities +and they have the sympathies of all honest people and of most of the +National Guard. But the legal indispensable phrase does not pass the +lips of those who by virtue of the Constitution should utter it, and a +small group of convicts are found to be sovereign.--The three municipal +officers are seized in their turn under the eyes of their own soldiers +who remain motionless, and "with bayonets at their breasts they sign, +under constraint, the order to give up M. Pascalis to the people." M. de +la Roquette is likewise surrendered. "The only portion of the National +Guard of Aix which was visible," that is to say, the Jacobin minority, +form a circle around the gate of the prison and organize themselves into +a council of war. And there they stand; at once "accusers, witnesses, +judges, and executioners." A captain conducts the two victims to the +public promenade where they are hung. Very soon after this old M. +de Guiramand, whom the National Guard of his village have brought a +prisoner to Aix, is hung in the same manner. + +There is no prosecution of the assassins. The new tribunal, frightened +or forestalled, has for some time back ranged itself on the popular +side; its writs, consequently, are served on the oppressed, against +the members of the assaulted dub. Writs of arrest, summonses to attend +court, searches, seizures of correspondence, and other proceedings, +rain down upon them. Three hundred witnesses are examined. Some of the +arrested officers are "loaded with chains and thrust into dungeons." +Henceforth the club rules, and "makes everybody tremble."[3148] "From +the 23rd to the 27th of December, more than ten thousand passports +are delivered at Aix." "If the emigrations continue," write the +commissioners, "there will be no one left at Aix but workmen without +work and with no resources. Whole streets are uninhabited. . . . . As +long as such crimes can be permitted with impunity fear will drive out +of this town every one who has the means of living elsewhere."--Many +come back after the arrival of the commissioners, hoping to obtain +justice and security through them. But, "if a prosecution is not +ordered, we shall scarcely have departed from Aix when three or four +hundred families will abandon it. . . . And what man in his senses would +dare guarantee that each village will not soon have some one hung in +it?. . . Country valets arrest their masters. . . . The expectation +of impunity leads the inhabitants of villages to commit all sorts of +depredations in the forests, which is very harmful in a region where +woods are very scarce. They set up the most absurd and most unjust +pretensions against rich proprietors, and the fatal rope is ever the +interpreter and the signal of their will." There is no refuge against +these outrages. "The department, the districts, the municipalities, +administer only in conformity with the multiplied petitions of the +club." In the sight of all, and on one solemn day, a crushing defeat +has demonstrated the weakness of the government officials; and, bowed +beneath the yoke of their new masters, they preserve their legal +authority only on the condition that it remains at the service of the +victorious party. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3101: Festivals approving the federation of all the National +Guards in France. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3102: See the address of the commune of Paris, June 5, 1790. +"Let the most touching of all utterances be heard on this day (the +anniversary of the taking of the Bastille), Frenchmen, we are brothers! +Yes, brothers, freemen and with a country!" Roux et Buchez, VI. 275.] + +[Footnote 3103: Buchez and Roux, IV. 3, 309; V. 123; VI. 274, +399.--Duvergier, Collection of Laws and Decrees. Decree of June 8 and 9, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3104: For one who, like myself, has lived for years among the +Moslems, the 5 daily ritual prayers all performed while turned towards +Mecca, this description of the French taking of the oath, has something +familiar in it. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3105: Michelet, "Histoire de la Révolution Française," II, +470, 474.] + +[Footnote 3106: De Ferrières, II. 91.--Albert Babeau, I. 340. (Letter +addressed to the Chevalier de Poterat, July 18, 1790.)--De Dampmartin, +"Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes yeux," etc., 155.] + +[Footnote 3107: One may imagine the impression Taine's description made +upon the thousands of political science students and others in the years +after this book was printed and widely sold all over Europe. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3108: Sauzay, I. 202.] + +[Footnote 3109: Albert Babeau, ib. I, 339--De Ferrières, II, 92.] + +[Footnote 3110: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453, Correspondence of M. de +Bercheney, May 23, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3111: "Archives Nationales," ibid, May 13, 1790. "M. de la +Rifaudière was dragged from his carriage and brought to the guard-house, +which was immediately filled with people, shouting, 'To the lamp post, +the aristocrat!'--The fact is this: after his having repeatedly shouted +Vive le Roi et la Nation! They wanted him to shout Vive la Nation! +alone, upon which he gave Vive la Nation tant qu'elle pourra."--At +Blois, on the day of the Federation, a mob promenades the streets with +a wooden head covered with a wig, and a placard stating that the +aristocrats must be decapitated.] + +[Footnote 3112: Might Freud ( 1856--1939) have been inspired, directly +or indirectly, by Taine's observation? 'La Révolution' vol. I, was +published in 1877 when Freud was 21 years old!! (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3113: Mercure de France, the articles by Mallet du Pan (June +18th and August 16, 1791; April 14, 1792).] + +[Footnote 3114: Moniteur, IV. 560. (sitting of June 5, 1790) report +of M. Freteau. "These facts are attested by fifty witnesses."--Cf. The +number of April 19, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3115: Solon was a famous legislator who reformed Athens some +2500 years ago. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3116: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, military commandant in Brittany (September, 1789), "There are +in every petty village three conflicting powers, the présidial, the +bourgeois militia, and the permanent committee. Each is anxious to +outrank the other, and, on this occasion, a scene happened to come under +my eyes at Landivisiau which might have had a bloody termination, but +which turned out to be simply ridiculous. A lively dispute arose between +three speakers to determine which should make the first address. They +appealed to me to decide. Not to offend either of the parties, I +decided that all three should speak at the same time; which decision was +immediately carried out."] + +[Footnote 3117: Decree of August 10-14, 1789.] + +[Footnote 3118: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. +de Thiard, September 21, 1789. "The troops now obey the municipalities +only."--Also July 30th, August 11, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3119: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of 31. +M. de Thiard, September 11 and 25, November 20, December 25 and 30, +1789.] + +[Footnote 3120: Buchez and Roux, V.304 (April, 1790).--"Archives +Nationales," Papers of the committee of Investigation, DXXIX. I (note of +M. Latour-du-Pin, October 28, 1789)--? Buchez and Roux, IV. 3 (December +1, 1789); IV. 390 (February, 1790); VI. 179 (April and May, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3121: Mercure de France, Report of M. Emery, sitting of July +21, 1790, Number for July 32.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter +of the directory of Calvados, September 26 and October 20, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3122: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3207. Letter of the minister +Dumouriez, June 15, 1792. Report of M. Caillard, May 29, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3123: Mercure de France, No. for July, 1791 (sitting of the +6th); Nos. for November 5 and 26, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3124: Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," vol. I. +passim.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Address of the Directory of +Saône-et-Loire to the National Assembly, November 1, 1790.--F7, 3200. +Letter of the Directory of Calvados, November 9, 1791.--F 7, 3195. +Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of Aix, March 1, 1792 (on +the events of February 26th); letter of M. Villard, President of the +Directory, March 20, 1792.--F7, 3220. Extracts from the deliberations +of the Directory of Gers, and a letter to the King, January 28, 1792. +Letter of M. Lafitau, President of the Directory, January 30. (He was +dragged along by his hair and obliged to leave the town.)] + +[Footnote 3125: Mercure de France, No. for October 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3126: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter of the directory +of Indre to M. Cahier, minister, December 6, 1791.--Letter of M. +Delessart, minister, to the directory of Indre, December 31, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3127: Fabre, "Histoire de Marseille," II. 442. Martin had but +3,555 votes, when shortly after the National Guard numbered 24,000 men.] + +[Footnote 3128: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of the minister, +M. de Saint-Priest, to the President of the National Assembly, May 11, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3129: "Archives Nationales," F7 3196. Letters of the military +commandant, M. de Miran, March 6, 14, 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3130: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of M. de +Bournissac, grand-privot, March 6,1790.] + +[Footnote 3131: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of M. du Miran, +April 11th and 16th, and May 1, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3132: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Procés-verbal of events +on the 30th of April.] + +[Footnote 3133: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of the +Municipality of Marseilles to the National Assembly, May 5 and 20, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3134: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Order of the king, +May10. Letter of M. de Saint-Priest to the National Assembly, May 11. +Decree of the National Assembly, May 12. Letter of the Municipality +to the King. May 20. Letter of M. de Rubum, May 20. Note sent from +Marseilles, May 31. Address of the Municipality to the President of the +Friends of the Constitution, at Paris, May 5. In his narration of the +taking of the forts we read the following sentence: "We arrived without +hindrance in the presence of the commandant, whom we brought to an +agreement by means of the influence which force, fear and reason give to +persuasion."] + +[Footnote 3135: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196, Letter of M. de Miran, +May 5.--The spirit of the ruling party at Marseilles is indicated by +several printed documents joined to the dossier, and, among others, by a +"Requéte à Desmoulins, procureur-général de la Lanterne." It relates +to a "patriotic inkstand," recently made out of the stones of the +demolished citadel, representing a hydra with four heads, symbolizing +the nobility, the clergy, the ministry and the judges. "It is from the +four patriotic skulls of the hydra that the ink of proscription will be +taken for the enemies of the Constitution. This inkstand, cut out of +the first stone that fell in the demolition of Fort Saint-Nicolas, is +dedicated to the patriotic Assembly of Marseilles. The magic art of the +hero of the liberty of Marseilles, that Renaud who, under the mask of +devotion, surprised the watchful sentinel of Notre-Dame de la Garde, and +whose manly courage and cunning ensured the conquest of that key of the +great focus of counter-revolution, has just given birth to a new trait +of genius a new Deucalion, he personifies this stone which Liberty has +flung from the summit of our menacing Bastilles, etc."] + +[Footnote 3136: "Archives Nationales," F7. 3198. Letters of the royal +commissioners, April 13 and 5, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3137: De Ségur, "Memoires," III, 482 (early in 1790).] + +[Footnote 3138: De Dampmartin, I. 184 (January, 1791).] + +[Footnote 3139: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de +Thiard (October 12, 1789).] + +[Footnote 3140: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Minutes from the +meeting of the directory of the department. March 28, 1792. "As the +ferment was at the highest point and fears were entertained that greater +evils would follow, M. le Président, with painful emotion declared that +he yielded and passed the unconstitutional act." Reply of the minister, +June 23: "If the constituted authorities are thus forced to yield to the +arbitrary will of a wild multitude, government no longer exists and we +are in the saddest stage of anarchy. If you think it best I will propose +to the King to reverse your last decision."] + +[Footnote 3141: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Letter of M. Duport, +minister of justice, December 24, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3142: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, Report of the members +of the department, finished March 18, 1792.--Buchez and Roux, IX. 240 +(Report of M. Alquier).] + +[Footnote 3143: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Seine-et-Oise, with the documents +relating to the insurrection at Etampes, September 16, 1791. Letter of +M. Venard, administrator of the district, September 20--" I shall not +set foot in Etampes until the re-establishment of order and tranquility, +and the first thing I shall do will be to record my resignation in the +register. I am tired of making sacrifices, for ungrateful wretches."] + +[Footnote 3144: Moniteur, March 16, 1792.--Mortimer-Ternaux, "Histoire +de la Terreur" (Proceedings against the assassins of Simoneau), I. 381.] + +[Footnote 3145: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter and memorandum +of Chenantin, cultivator, November 7, 1792. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Langeais, November 5, 1792 (sedition +at Chapelle-Blanche, near Langeais, October 5, 1792).] + +[Footnote 3146: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3105. Report of the +commissioners sent by the National Assembly and the King, February 23, +1791. (On the events of December 12 and 14, 1790)--Mercure de France, +February 29, 5791. (Letters from Aix, and notably a letter from seven +officers shut up in prison at Aix, January 30, 1791.) The oldest Jacobin +Club formed in February, 1790, was entitled "(Club des vrais amis de +la Constitution.)" The second Jacobin club, formed in October, 1790, was +"composed from the beginning of artisans and laborers from the faubourgs +and suburbs." Its title was" Société des frères anti-politiques," or +"frères vrais, justes et utiles à la patrie." The opposition club, +formed in December, 1790, bore the title, according to some, of "Les +Amis du Roi, de la paix et de la religion;" according to others, +"Les amis de la paix;" and finally, according to another report, "Les +Défenseurs de la religion, des personnes et des proprietés."] + +[Footnote 3147: A special series of religious services. (TR)] + +[Footnote 3148: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letters of the +commissioners, March 20, February 11, May 10, 1791.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. SOVEREIGNTY OF UNRESTRAINED PASSIONS. + +Under these conditions when passions are freed; any determined and +competent man who can gather a couple of hundred men may form a band +and slip through the enlarged or weakened meshes of the net held by the +passive or ineffective government. An experiment on a grand scale +is about to be made on human society; owing to the slackening of the +regular restraints which have maintained it, it is now possible to +measure the force of the permanent instincts which attack it. They are +always there even in ordinary times; we do not notice them because they +are kept in check; but they are not the less energetic and effective, +and, moreover, indestructible. The moment their repression ceases, +their power of mischief becomes evident; just as that of the water which +floats a ship, but which, at the first leak enters into it and sinks it. + + + + +I.--Old Religious Grudges + + Montauban and Nîmes in 1790. + +Religious passions, to begin with, are not to be kept down by +federations, embraces, and effusions of fraternity. In the south, where +the Protestants have been persecuted for more than a century, hatreds +exist more than a century old.[3201] In vain have the odious edicts +which oppressed them fallen into desuetude for the past twenty years; in +vain have civil rights been restored to them since 1787: The past still +lives in transmitted recollections; and two groups are confronting each +other, one Protestant and the other Catholic, each defiant, hostile, +ready to act on the defensive, and interpreting the preparations of its +adversary as a plan of attack. Under such circumstances the guns go off +of their own accord.--On a sudden alarm at Uzès[3202] the Catholics, +two thousand in number, take possession of the bishop's palace and the +Hôtel-de-Ville; while the Protestants, numbering four hundred, assemble +outside the walls on the esplanade, and pass the night under arms, +each troop persuaded that the other is going to massacre it, one +party summoning the Catholics of Jalès to its aid, and the other the +Protestants of Gardonnenque.--There is but one way of avoiding civil war +between parties in such an attitude, and that is the ascendancy of an +energetic third party, impartial and on the spot. A plan to this +effect, which promises well, is proposed by the military commandant of +Languedoc.[3203] According to him the two firebrands are, on the +one hand, the bishops of Lower Languedoc, and on the other, MM. +Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, father and two sons, all three being pastors. Let +them be responsible "with their heads" for any mob, insurrection, or +attempt to debauch the army; let a tribunal of twelve judges be selected +from the municipal bodies of twelve towns, and all delinquents be +brought before it; let this be the court of final appeal, and its +sentence immediately executed. The system in vogue, however, is just the +reverse. Both parties being organized into a body of militia, each takes +care of itself, and is sure to fire on the other; and the more readily, +inasmuch as the new ecclesiastical regulations, which are issued from +month to month, strike like so many hammers on Catholic sensibility, and +scatter showers of sparks on the primings of the already loaded guns. + +At Montauban, on the 10th of May, 1790, the day of the inventory and +expropriation of the religious communities,[3204] the commissioners +are not allowed to enter. Women in a state of frenzy lie across the +thresholds of the doors, and it would be necessary to pass over their +bodies; a large mob gathers around the "Cordeliers," and a petition is +signed to have the convents maintained.--The Protestants who witness +this commotion become alarmed, and eighty of their National Guards march +to the Hôtel-de-Ville, and take forcible possession of the guard-house +which protects it. The municipal authorities order them to withdraw, +which they refuse to do. Thereupon the Catholics assembled at the +"Cordeliers" begin a riot, throw stones, and drive in the doors with +pieces of timber, while a cry is heard that the Protestants, who have +taken refuge in the guard-house, are firing from the windows. The +enraged multitude immediately invade the arsenal, seize all the guns +they can lay their hands on, and fire volleys on the guard-house, the +effect of which is to kill five of the Protestants and wound twenty-four +others. The rest are saved by a municipal officer and the police; but +they are obliged to appear, two and two, before the cathedral in their +shirts, and do public penance, after which they are put in prison. +During the tumult political shouts have been heard: "Hurrah for the +nobles! Hurrah for the aristocracy! Down with the nation! Down with the +tricolor flag!" Bordeaux, regarding Montauban as in rebellion against +France, dispatches fifteen hundred of its National Guard to set the +prisoners free. Toulouse gives its aid to Bordeaux. The fermentation is +frightful. Four thousand of the Protestants of Montauban take flight; +armed cities are about to contend with each other, as formerly in Italy. +It is necessary that a commissioner of the National Assembly and of +the King, Mathieu Dumas, should be dispatched to harangue the people of +Montauban, obtain the release of the prisoners, and re-establish order. + +One month after this a more bloody affray takes place at Nîmes[3205] +against the Catholics. The Protestants, in fact, are but twelve thousand +out of fifty-four thousand inhabitants, but the principal trade of the +place is in their hands; they hold the manufactories and support thirty +thousand workmen; in the elections of 1789 they furnished five out of +the eight deputies. The sympathies of that time were in their favor; +nobody then imagined that the dominant Church was exposed to any +risk. It is to be attacked in its turn, and the two parties are seen +confronting each other.--The Catholics sign a petition,[3206] hunt up +recruits among the market-gardeners of the suburbs, retain the white +cockade, and, when this is prohibited, replace it with a red rosette, +another sign of recognition. At their head is an energetic man named +Froment, who has vast projects in view; but as the soil on which he +treads is undermined, he cannot prevent the explosion. It takes place +naturally, by chance, through the simple collision of two equally +distrustful bodies; and before the final day it has commenced and +recommenced twenty times, through mutual provocations and denunciations, +through insults, libels, scuffles, stone-throwing, and gun-shots.--On +the 13th of June, 1790, the question is which party shall furnish +administrators for the district and department, and the conflict begins +in relation to the elections. The Electoral Assembly is held at the +guard-house of the bishop's palace, where the Protestant dragoons and +patriots have come "three times as many as usual, with loaded muskets +and pistols, and with full cartridge-boxes," and they patrol the +surrounding neighborhood. On their side, the red rosettes, royalists +and Catholics, complain of being threatened and "treated contemptuously" +(nargués). They give notice to the gate-keeper "not to let any dragoon +enter the town either on foot or mounted, at the peril of his life," and +declare that "the bishop's quarters were not made for a guard-house."--A +mob forms, and shouting takes place under the windows; stones are +thrown; the bugle of a dragoon, who sounds the roll-call, is broken and +two shots are fired.[3207] The dragoons immediately fire a volley, which +wounds a good many people and kills seven. From this moment, firing goes +on during the evening and all night, in every quarter of the town, each +party believing that the other wants to exterminate it, the Protestants +satisfied that it is another St. Bartholomew, and the Catholics that +it is "a Michelade."[3208] There is no one to act between them. The +municipality authorities, far from issuing orders, receive them: they +are roughly handled, hustled and jostled about, and made to march about +like servants. The patriots seize the Abbé de Belmont, a municipal +officer, at the Hôtel-de-Ville, order him, on pain of death, to proclaim +martial--law, and place the red flag in his hand. "March, rascal, you +bastard! Hold up your flag--higher up still--you are big enough to do +that!" Blows follow with the but-ends of their muskets. The poor man +spits blood, but this is of no consequence; he must be in full sight at +the head of the crowd, like a target, whilst his conductors prudently +remain behind. Thus does he advance, exposed to bullets, holding the +flag, and finally becomes the prisoner of the red rosettes, who release +him, but keep his flag. There is a second march with a red flag held +by a town valet, and fresh gunshots; the red rosettes capture this flag +also, as well as another municipal officer. The rest of the municipal +body, with a royal commissioner, take refuge in the barracks and order +out the troops. Meanwhile Froment, with his three companies, posted +in their towers and in the houses on the ramparts, resist to the last +extremity. Daylight comes, the tocsin is sounded, the drums beat to +arms, and the patriot militia of the neighborhood, the Protestants from +the mountains, the rude Cévenols, arrive in crowds. The red rosettes are +besieged; a Capuchin convent, from which it is pretended that they have +fired, is sacked, and five of the monks are killed. Froment's tower is +demolished with cannon and taken by assault. His brother is massacred +and thrown from the walls, while a Jacobin convent next to the ramparts +is sacked. Towards night, all the red rosettes who have fought are slain +or have fled, and there is no longer any resistance.--But the fury still +lasts; the fifteen thousand rustics who have flooded the town think +that they have not yet done enough. In vain are they told that the other +fifteen companies of red rosettes have not moved; that the pretended +aggressors "did not even put themselves in a state of defense;" that +during the battle they remained at home, and that afterwards, through +extra precaution, the municipal authorities had made them give up their +arms. In vain does the Electoral Assembly, preceded by a white flag, +march to the public square and exhort the people to keep the peace. +"Under the pretext of searching suspicious houses, they pillage or +destroy, and what-ever cannot be carried away is broken." One hundred +and twenty houses are sacked in Nîmes alone, while the same ravages +are committed in the environs, the damage, at the end of three days, +amounting to seven or eight hundred thousand livres. A number of poor +creatures, workmen, merchants, old and infirm men, are massacred in +their houses; some, "who have been bedridden for many years, are +dragged to the sills of their doors to be shot." Others are hung on the +esplanade and at the Cours Neuf, while others have their noses, ears, +feet, and hands cut off; and are hacked to pieces with sabers and +scythes. Horrible stories, as is commonly the case, provoke the most +atrocious acts. + +A publican, who refuses to distribute anti-Catholic lists, is supposed +to have a mine in his cellar filled with kegs of gunpowder and with +sulfur matches all ready; he is hacked to pieces with a saber, and +twenty guns are discharged into his corpse: they expose the body before +his house with a long loaf of bread on his breast, and they again stab +him with bayonets, saying to him: "Eat, you bastard, eat"--More than +five hundred Catholics were assassinated, and many others, covered with +blood, "are crowded together in the prisons, while the search for the +proscribed is continued; whenever they are seen, they are fired upon +like so many wolves." Thousands of the inhabitants, accordingly, demand +their passports and leave the town. The rural Catholics, meanwhile, +on their side, massacre six Protestants in the environs--an old man +of eighty-two years, a youth of fifteen, and a husband and his wife +in their farm-house. In order to put a stop to the murderous acts, the +National Guard of Montpellier have to be summoned. But the restoration +of order is for the benefit of the victorious party. Three-fifths of +the electors have fled; one-third of the district and departmental +administrators have been appointed in their absence, and the majority of +the new directories is taken from the club of patriots. It is for this +reason that the prisoners are prejudged as guilty. "No bailiff of the +court dares give them the benefit of his services; they are not allowed +to bring forward justifying facts in evidence, while everybody knows +that the judges are not impartial."[3209] + +Thus do the violent measures of political and religious discord come to +an end. The victor stops the mouth of the law when it is about to +speak in his adversary's behalf; and, under the legal iniquity of an +administration which he has himself established, he crushes those whom +the illegal force of his own strong hand has stricken down. + + + + +II.--Passion Supreme. + + Dread of hunger its most acute form.--The non-circulation of + grain.--Intervention and usurpations of the electoral + assemblies.--The rural code in Nivernais.--The four central + provinces in 1790.--Why high prices are kept up.--Anxiety + and insecurity.--Stagnation of the grain market.--The + departments near Paris in 1791.--The supply and price of + grain regulated by force.--The mobs in 1792.--Village armies + of Eure and of the lower Seine and of Aisne.--Aggravation of + the disorder after August 10th.--The dictatorship of + unbridled instinct.--Its practical and political expedients. + + +Passions of this stamp are the product of human cultivation, and break +loose only within narrow bounds. Another passion exists which is neither +historic nor local, but natural and universal, the most indomitable, +most imperious, and most formidable of all, namely, the fear of hunger. +There is no such thing with this passion as delay, or reflection, or +looking beyond itself. Each commune or canton wants its bread, and a +sure and unlimited supply of it. Our neighbor may provide for himself as +best he can, but let us look out for ourselves first and then for other +people. Each group of people, accordingly, through its own decrees, or +by main force, keeps for itself whatever subsistence it possesses, or +takes from others the subsistence which it does not possess. ii + +At the end of 1789,[3210] "Roussillon refuses aid to Languedoc; Upper +Languedoc to the rest of the province, and Burgundy to Lyonnais; +Dauphiny shuts herself up, and Normandy retains the wheat purchased for +the relief of Paris." At Paris, sentinels are posted at the doors of all +the bakers; on the 21st of October one of the latter is hung, and his +head is borne about on a pike. On the 27th of October, at Vernon, a +corn-merchant named Planter, who the preceding winter had supported the +poor for six leagues around, has to take his turn. At the present moment +the people do not forgive him for having sent flour to Paris, and he is +hung twice, but is saved through the breaking of the rope each time.--It +is only by force and under an escort that it is possible to insure the +arrival of grain in a town; the excited people or the National Guards +constantly seize it on its passage. In Normandy the militia of +Caen stops wheat on the highways which is destined for Harcourt and +elsewhere.[3211] In Brittany, Auray and Vannes retain the convoys +for Nantes, and Lannion those for Brest. Brest having attempted to +negotiate, its commissioners are seized, and, with knives at their +throats, are forced to sign a renunciation, pure and simple, of the +grain which they have paid for, and they are led out of Lannion and +stoned on the way. Eighteen hundred men, consequently, leave Brest with +four cannon, and go to recover their property with their guns loaded. +These are the customs prevalent during the great famines of feudal +times; and, from one end of France to the other, to say nothing of +the out-breaks of the famished in the large towns, similar outrages or +attempts at recovery are constantly occurring.--" The armed population +of Nantua, Saint-Claude, and Septmoncel," says a dispatch,[3212] "have +again cut off provisions from the Gex region; there is no wheat coming +there from any direction, all the roads being guarded. Without the aid +of the government of Geneva, which is willing to lend to this region +eight hundred Cuttings of wheat, we should either die of starvation or +be compelled to take grain by force from the municipalities which +keep it to themselves." Narbonne starves Toulon; the navigation of the +Languedoc canal is intercepted; the people on its banks repulse two +companies of soldiers, burn a large building, and want to destroy the +canal itself." Boats are stopped, wagons are pillaged, bread is forcibly +lowered in price, stones are thrown and guns discharged; the populace +contend with the National Guard, peasants with townsmen, purchasers +with dealers, artisans and laborers with farmers and land-owners, at +Castelnaudary, Niort, Saint-Etienne, in Aisne, in Pas-de-Calais, and +especially along the line stretching from Montbrison to Angers--that +is to say, for almost the whole of the extent of the vast basin of the +Loire,--such is the spectacle presented by the year 1790.--And yet the +crop has not been a bad one. But there is no circulation of grain. Each +petty center has formed a league for the monopoly of food; and hence the +fasting of others and the convulsions of the entire body are the +first effects of the unbridled freedom which the Constitution and +circumstances have conferred on each local group. + +"We are told to assemble, vote, and elect men that will attend to our +business; let us attend to it ourselves. We have had enough of talk and +hypocrisy. Bread at two sous, and let us go after wheat where it can +be found!" Such is the reasoning of the peasantry, and, in Nivernais, +Bourbonnais, Berri, and Touraine, electoral gatherings are the +firebrands of the insurrections.[3213] At Saint-Sauge, "the first work +of the primary meeting is to oblige the municipal officers to fix the +price of wheat under the penalty of being decapitated." At Saint-Géran +the same course is taken with regard to bread, wheat, and meat; at +Châtillon-en-Bayait it is done with all supplies, and always a third or +a half under the market price, without mentioning other exactions.--They +come by degrees to the drafting of a tariff for all the valuables they +know, proclaiming the maximum price which an article may reach, and so +establishing a complete code of rural and social economy. We see in the +turbulent and spasmodic wording of this instrument their dispositions +and sentiments, as in a mirror.[3214] It is the program of villagers. +Its diverse articles, save local variations, must be executed, now one +and now the other, according to the occasion, the need, and the time, +and, above all, whatever concerns provisions.--The wish, as usual, is +the father of the thought; the peasantry thinks that it is acting by +authority: here, through a decree of the King and the National Assembly, +there, by a commission directly entrusted to the Comte d'Estrées. Even +before this, in the market-place of Saint-Amand, "a man jumped on a heap +of wheat and cried out, 'In the name of the King and the nation, wheat +at one-half the market-price!"' An old officer of the Royal Grenadiers, +a chevalier of the order of Saint-Louis, is reported to be marching at +the head of several parishes, and promulgating ordinances in his own +name and that of the King, imposing a fine of eight livres on whoever +may refuse to join him.--On all sides there is a swarm of working +people, and resistance is fruitless. There are too many of them, the +constabulary being drowned in the flood. For, these rustic legislators +are the National Guard itself, and when they vote reductions upon, or +requisitions for, supplies, they enforce their demands with their guns. +The municipal officials, willingly or unwillingly, must needs serve the +insurgents. At Donjon the Electoral Assembly has seized the mayor of the +place and threatened to kill him, or to burn his house, if he did not +put the cutting of wheat at forty sous; whereupon he signs, and all the +mayors with him, "under the penalty of death." As soon as this is done +the peasants, "to the sound of fifes and drums," spread through the +neighboring parishes and force the delivery of wheat at forty sous, and +show such a determined spirit that the four brigades of gendarmes sent +out against them think it best to retire.--Not content with taking what +they want, they provide for reserve supplies; wheat is a prisoner. In +Nivernais and Bourbonnais, the peasants trace a boundary line over which +no sack of grain of that region must pass; in case of any infraction +of this law the rope and the torch are close at hand for the +delinquent.--It remains to make sure that this rule is enforced. In +Berri bands of peasants visit the markets to see that their tariff is +everywhere maintained. In vain are they told that they are emptying the +markets; "they reply that they know how to make grain come, that they +will take it from private hands, and money besides, if necessary." In +fact, the granaries and cellars belonging to a large number of persons +are pillaged. Farmers are constrained to put their crops into a common +granary, and the rich are put to ransom; "the nobles are compelled to +contribute, and obliged to give entire domains as donations; cattle are +carried off; and they want to take the lives of the proprietors," +while the towns, which defend their storehouses and markets, are +openly attacked.[3215] Bourbon-Lancy, Bourbon-l'Archambault, +Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Montluçon, Saint-Amand, Chateau-Gontier, +Decises, each petty community is an islet assailed by the mounting +tide of rustic insurrection. The militia pass the night under arms; +detachments of the National Guards of the large towns with regular +troops come and garrison them. The red flag is continuously raised for +eight days at Bourbon-Lancy, and cannon stand loaded and pointed in +the public square. On the 24th of May an attack is made on +Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, and fusillades take place all night on +both sides. On the 2nd of June, Saint-Amand, menaced by twenty-seven +parishes, is saved only by the preparations it makes and by the +garrison. About the same time Bourbon-Lancy is attacked by twelve +parishes combined, and Chateau-Gontier by the sabotiers of the forests +in the vicinity. A band of from four to five hundred villagers arrests +the convoys of Saint-Amand, and forces their escorts to capitulate; +another band entrenches itself in the Chateau de la Fin, and fires +throughout the day on the regulars and the National Guard.--The large +towns themselves are not safe. Three or four hundred rustics, led +by their municipal officers, forcibly enter Tours, to compel the +municipality to lower the price of corn and diminish the rate of leases. +Two thousand slate-quarry-men, armed with guns, spits, and forks, force +their way into Angers to obtain a reduction on bread, fire upon the +guard, and are charged by the troops and the National Guard; a number +remain dead in the streets, two are hung that very evening, and the red +flag is displayed for eight days. "The town," say the dispatches, "would +have been pillaged and burnt had it not been for the Picardy regiment." +Fortunately, as the crop promises to be a good one, prices fall. As the +Electoral Assemblies are closed, the fermentation subsides; and towards +the end of the year, like a clear spell in a steady storm, the gleam of +a truce appears in the civil war excited by hunger. + +But the truce does not last long, as it is broken in twenty places +by isolated explosions; and towards the month of July, 1791, the +disturbances arising from the uncertainty of basic food supplies +begin again, to cease no more. We will consider but one group in this +universal state of disorder--that of the eight or ten departments which +surround Paris and furnish it with supplies. These districts, Brie and +Beauce, are rich wheat regions, and not only was the crop of 1790 good, +but that of 1791 is ample. Information is sent to the minister from +Laon[3216] that, in the department of Aisne, "there is a supply of +wheat for two years. . . that the barns, generally empty by the month +of April, will not be so this season before July," and, consequently, +"subsistence is assured." But this does not suffice, for the source of +the evil is not in a scarcity of wheat. In order that everybody, in a +vast and populous country, where the soil, cultivation, and occupations +differ, may eat, it is essential that food should be attainable by the +non-producers; and for it to reach them freely, without delay, solely by +the natural operation of supply and demand, it is essential that +there should be a police able to protect property, transactions, and +transport. Just in proportion as the authority of a State becomes +weakened, and in proportion as security diminishes, the distribution of +subsistence becomes more and more difficult: a gendarmerie, therefore, +is an indispensable wheel in the machine by which we are able to secure +our daily bread. Hence it is that, in 1791, daily bread is wanting to a +large number of men. Simply through the working of the Constitution, all +restraints, already slackened both at the extremities and at the center, +are becoming looser and more loose each day. The municipalities, which +are really sovereign, repress the people more feebly, some because the +latter are the bolder and themselves more timid, and others because they +are more radical and always consider them in the right. The National +Guard is wearied, never comes forward, or refuses to use its arms. The +active citizens are disgusted, and remain at home. At Étampes,[3217] +where they are convoked by the commissioners of the department to take +steps to re-establish some kind of order, only twenty assemble; the +others excuse themselves by saying that, if the populace knew that they +opposed its will, "their houses would be burnt," and they accordingly +stay away. "Thus," write the commissioners, "the common-weal is given +up to artisans and laborers whose views are limited to their own +existence."--It is, accordingly, the lower class which rules, and the +information upon which it bases its decrees consists of rumors which it +accepts or manufactures, to hide by an appearance of right the outrages +which are due to its cupidity or to the brutalities of its hunger. At +Étampes, "they have been made to believe that the grain which had +been sold for supplying the departments below the Loire, is shipped at +Paimboeuf and taken out of the kingdom from there to be sold abroad." In +the suburbs of Rouen they imagine that grain is purposely "engulfed +in the swamps, ponds, and clay-pits." At Laon, imbecile and Jacobin +committees attribute the dearness of provisions to the avidity of the +rich and the malevolence of the aristocrats according to them, "jealous +millionaires grow rich at the expense of the people. They know the +popular strength," and, not daring to measure their forces with it, "in +an honorable fight," have recourse "to treachery." To conquer the +people easily they have determined to reduce them in advance by extreme +suffering and by the length of their fast, and hence they monopolize +"wheat, rye, and meal, soap, sugar, and brandy."[3218]--Similar reports +suffice to excite a suffering crowd to acts of violence, and it must +inevitably accept for its leaders and advisers those who urge it forward +on the side to which it is inclined. The people always require leaders, +and they are chosen wherever they can be found, at one time amongst the +elite, and at another amongst the dregs. Now that the nobles are +driven out, the bourgeoisie in retirement, the large cultivators +under suspicion, while animal necessities exercise their blind and +intermittent despotism, the appropriate popular ministers consist of +adventurers and of bandits. They need not be very numerous, for in a +place full of combustible matter a few firebrands suffice to start the +conflagration. "About twenty, at most, can be counted in the towns of +Étampes and Dourdan, men with nothing to lose and everything to gain by +disturbances; they are those who always produce excitement and disorder, +while other citizens afford them the means through their indifference." +Those whose names are known among the new guides of the crowd are almost +all escaped convicts whose previous habits have accustomed them to +blows, violence, frequently to murder, and always to contempt for the +law. At Brunoy,[3219] the leaders of the outbreak are "two deserters of +the 18th regiment, sentenced and unpunished, who, in company with the +vilest and most desperate of the parish, always go about armed and +threatening." At Étampes, "the two principal assassins of the mayor +are a poacher repeatedly condemned for poaching, and an old carabiniere +dismissed from his regiment with a bad record against him."[3220] Around +these are artisans "without a known residence," wandering workmen, +journeymen and apprentices, vagrants and highway rovers, who flock into +the towns on market-days and are always--ready for mischief when an +opportunity occurs. Vagabonds, indeed, now roam about the country +everywhere, all restrictions against them having ceased. + +"For a year past," write several parishes in the neighborhood of +Versailles, "we have seen no gendarmes except those who come with +decrees," and hence the multiplication of "murders and brigandage" +between Étampes and Versailles, on the highways and in the country. +Bands of thirteen, fifteen, twenty and twenty-two beggars rob the +vineyards, enter farm-houses at night, and compel their inmates to lodge +and feed them, returning in the same way every fortnight, all farms or +isolated dwellings being their prey. An ecclesiastic is killed in his +own house in the suburbs of Versailles, on the 26th of September, 1791, +and, on the same day, a bourgeois and his wife are garroted and robbed. +On the 22nd of September, near Saint-Rémi-Honoré, eight bandits ransack +the dwelling of a farmer. On the 25th of September, at Villers-le-Sec, +thirteen others strip another farmer, and then add with much politeness, +"It is lucky for your masters that they are not here, for we would have +roasted them at yonder fire." Six similar outrages are committed by +armed ruffians in dwelling-places, within a radius of from three to four +leagues, accompanied with the threats of the chauffeurs.[3221] "After +enterprises of such force and boldness," write the people of this +region, "there is not a well-to-do man in the country who can rely upon +an hour's security in his house. Already many of our best cultivators +are giving up their business, while others threaten to do the same in +case these disorders continue."--What is worse still is the fact that in +these outrages most of the bandits were "in the national uniform." The +most ignorant, the poorest, and most fanatical of the National Guard +thus enlist for the sake of plunder. It is so natural for men to believe +in their right to that of which they feel the need, that the possessors +of wheat thus become its monopolists, and the superfluity of the rich +the property of the poor! This is what the peasants say who devastate +the forest of Bruyères-le-Chatel: "We have neither wood, bread, nor +work--necessity knows no law." + +The necessaries of life are not to be had cheap under such a system. +There is too much anxiety, and property is too precarious; there are too +many obstacles to commerce; purchases, sales, shipments, arrivals and +payments are too uncertain. How are goods to be stored and transported +in a country where neither the central government, the local +authorities, the National Guard, nor the regular troops perform their +duties, and where every transaction in produce, even the most legal and +the most serviceable, is subject to the caprice of a dozen villains whom +the populace obey.--Wheat remains in the barn, or is secreted, or is +kept waiting, and only reaches by stealth the hands of those who are +rich enough to pay, not only its price, but the extra cost of the +risk. Thus forced into a narrow channel, it rises to a rate which the +depreciation of the assignats augments, its dearness being not only +maintained, but ever on the increase.--Thereupon popular instinct +invents for the cure of the evil a remedy which serves to aggravate +it: henceforth, wheat must not travel; it is impounded in the canton in +which it is gathered. At Laon, "the people have sworn to die rather than +let their food be carried off." At Étampes, to which the municipality +of Angers dispatches an administrator of its hospital to buy two +hundred and fifty sacks of flour, the commission cannot be executed, +the delegate not even daring to avow for several days the object of +his coming; all he can do is "to visit incognito, and at night, the +different flour-dealers in the valley, who would offer to furnish +the supply, but fear for their lives and dare not even leave their +houses."--The same violence is shown in the more distant circle of +departments which surround the first circle. At Aubigny, in Cher,[3222] +grain-wagons are stopped, the district administrators are menaced; two +have a price set on their heads; a portion of the National Guard sides +with the mutineers. At Chaumont, in Haute-Marne, the whole of the +National Guard is in a state of mutiny; a convoy of over three hundred +sacks is stopped, the Hôtel-de-Ville forced, and the insurrection lasts +four days; the directory of the department takes flight; and the people +seize on the powder and cannons. At Douai, in the "Nord," to save +a grain-dealer, he is put in prison; the mob forces the gates, the +soldiers refuse to fire, and the man is hung, while the directory of +the department takes refuge in Lille. At Montreuil-sur-Mer, in +Pas-de-Calais, the two leaders of the insurrection, a brazier and a +horse-shoer, "Bèquelin, called Petit-Gueux," the latter with his saber +in hand, reply to the summons of the municipal authorities, that "not a +grain shall go now that they are masters," and that if they dare to make +such proclamations "they will cut off their heads." There are no +means of resistance. The National Guard, when it is convoked, does not +respond; the volunteers when called upon turn their muskets down, and +the crowd, assembled beneath the windows, shouts out its huzzahs. So +much the worse for the law when it opposes popular passion: "We will not +obey it," they say; "people make laws to please themselves."--By way +of practical illustration, at Tortes, in Seine-Inférieure, six thousand +armed men belonging to the surrounding parishes form a deliberative +armed body; the better to establish their rights, they bring two cannon +with them fastened by ropes on a couple of carts; twenty-two companies +of the National Guard, each under its own banner, march beside them, +while all peaceable inhabitants are compelled to fall in "under penalty +of death," the municipal officers being at their head. This improvised +parliament promulgates a complete law in relation to grain, which, as +a matter of form, is sent for acceptance to the department, and to the +National Assembly; and one of its articles declares that all husbandmen +shall be forbidden "to sell their wheat elsewhere than on the +market-places." With no other outlet for it, wheat must be brought +to the corn markets (halles), and when these are full the price must +necessarily fall. + +What a profound deception! Even in the granary of France wheat remains +dear, and costs about one-third more than would be necessary to secure +the sale of bread at two sous the pound, in conformity with the will of +the people. For instance,[3223] at Gonesse, Dourdan, Corbeil, Mennecy, +Brunoy, Limours, Brie-Comte-Robert, and especially at Étampes and +Montlhéry, the holders of grain are compelled almost weekly, through the +clamors and violence of the people, to reduce prices one-third and +more. It is impossible for the authorities to maintain, on their +corn-exchange, the freedom of buying and selling. The regular troops +have been sent off by the people beforehand. Whatever the tolerance or +connivance of the soldiers may be, the people have a vague sentiment +that they are not there to permit the ripping open of sacks of flour, or +the seizing of farmers by the throat. To get rid of all obstacles and of +being watched, they make use of the municipality itself, and force it +to effect its own disarmament. The municipal officers, besieged in the +town-hall, at times threatened with pistols and bayonets,[3224] dispatch +to the detachments they are expecting an order to turn back, and entreat +the Directory not to send any more troops, for, if any come, they have +been told that "they will be sorry for it." Nowhere are there regular +troops. At Étampes, the people repeat that "they are sent for and paid +by the flour-dealers;" at Montlhéry, that "they merely serve to arm +citizens against each other;" at Limours, that "they make grain dearer." +All pretexts seem good in this direction; the popular will is absolute, +and the authorities complacently meet its decrees half-way. At +Montlhéry, the municipal body orders the gendarmerie to remain at the +gates of the town, which gives full play to the insurrection.--The +administrators, however, are not relieved by leaving the people free to +act; they are obliged to sanction their exactions by ordinances. They +are taken out of the Hôtel-de-Ville, led to the marketplace, and there +forthwith, under the dictation of the uproar which establishes prices, +they, like simple clerks, proclaim the reduction. When, moreover, the +armed rabble of a village marches forth to tyrannize over a neighboring +market, it carries its mayor along with it in spite of himself, as an +official instrument which belongs to it.[3225] "There is no resistance +against force," writes the mayor of Vert-le-Petit; "we had to set forth +immediately."--" They assured me," says the Mayor of Fontenay, "that, +if I did not obey them, they would hang me."--On any municipal officer +hazarding a remonstrance, they tell him that "he is getting to be an +aristocrat." Aristocrat and hung, the argument is irresistible, and +all the more so because it is actually applied. At Corbeil, the +procureur-syndic who tries to enforce the law is almost beaten to +death, and three houses in which they try to find him are demolished. At +Montlhéry, a seed merchant, accused of mixing the flour of beans (twice +as dear) with wheaten flour, is massacred in his own house. At Étampes, +the mayor who promulgates the law is cudgeled to death. Mobs talk of +nothing but "burning and destroying," while the farmers, abused, +hooted at, forced to sell, threatened with death and robbed, run away, +declaring they will never return to the market again. + +Such is the first effect of popular dictatorship. Like all unintelligent +forces, it operates in a direction the reverse of its intention: to +dearness it adds dearth, and empties, instead of replenishing, the +markets. That of Étampes often contained fifteen or sixteen hundred +sacks of flour; the week following this insurrection there were, at +most, sixty brought to it. At Montlhéry, where six thousand men had +collected together, each one obtains for his share only a small measure, +while the bakers of the town have none at all. This being the case, the +enraged National Guards tell the farmers that they are coming to see +them on their farms. And they really go.[3226] Drums roll constantly +on the roads around Montlhéry, Limours, and other large market-towns. +Columns of two, three, and four hundred men are seen passing under the +lead of their commandant and of the mayor whom they take along with +them. They enter each farm, mount into the granaries, estimate the +quantity of grain thrashed out, and force the proprietor to sign an +agreement to bring it to market the following week. Sometimes, as they +are hungry, they compel people to give them something to eat and drink +on the spot, and it will not do to enrage them,--a farmer and his wife +come near being hung in their own barn. + +Their effort is useless: Wheat is impounded and hunted up in vain; it +takes to the earth or slips off like a frightened animal. In vain do +insurrections continue. In vain do armed mobs, in all the market-towns +of the department,[3227] subject grain to a forced reduction of price. +Wheat becomes scarcer and dearer from month to month, rising in price +from twenty-six francs to thirty-three. And because the outraged farmer +"brings now a very little," just "what is necessary to sacrifice +in order to avoid threats, he sells at home, or in the inns, to the +flour-dealers from Paris."--The people, in running after abundance, have +thus fallen deeper down into want: their brutality has aggravated their +misery, and it is to themselves that their starvation is owing. But +they are far from attributing all this to their own insubordination; +the magistrates are accused; these, in the eyes of the populace, are "in +league with the monopolists." On this incline no stoppage is possible. +Distress increases rage, and rage increases distress; and on this fatal +declivity men are precipitated from one outrage to another. + +After the month of February, 1792, such outrages are innumerable; the +mobs which go in quest of grain or which cut down its price consist +of armies. One of six thousand men comes to control the market of +Montlhéry.[3228] There are seven to eight--thousand men who invade the +market-place of Verneuil, and there is an army of ten and another of +twenty-five thousand men, who remain organized for ten days near +Laon. One hundred and fifty parishes have sounded the tocsin, and the +insurrection spreads for ten leagues around. Five boats loaded with +grain are stopped, and, in spite of the orders of district, department, +minister, King, and National Assembly, they refuse to surrender them. +Their contents, in the meantime, are made the most of: "The municipal +officers of the different parishes, assembled together, pay themselves +their fees, to wit: one hundred sous per diem for the mayor, three +livres for the municipal officers, two livres ten sous for the guards, +two livres for the porters. They have ordered that these sums should +be paid in grain, and they reduce grain, it is said, fifteen livres the +sack. It is certain that they have divided it amongst themselves, and +that fourteen hundred sacks have been distributed." In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly make speeches to them three hours +in length. The discourse being finished, they deliberate, in presence of +the commissioners, whether the latter shall be hung, drowned, or cut +up, and their heads put on the five points of the middle of the abbey +railing. On being threatened with military force, they make their +dispositions accordingly. Nine hundred men who relieve each other watch +day and night on the ground, in a well chosen and permanent encampment, +while lookouts stationed in the belfries of the surrounding villages +have only to sound the alarm to bring together twenty-five thousand +men in a few hours.--So long as the Government remains on its feet it +carries on the combat as well as it can; but it grows weaker from month +to month, and, after the 10th of August, when it lies on the ground, the +mob takes its place and becomes the universal sovereign. From this time +forth not only is the law which protects provisioning powerless against +the disturbers of sale and circulation, but the Assembly actually +sanctions their acts, since it decrees[3229] the stoppage of all +proceedings commenced against them, remits sentences already passed, +and sets free all who are imprisoned or in irons. Behold every +administration, with merchants, proprietors, and farmers abandoned to +the famished, the furious, and to robbers; henceforth food supplies are +for those who are disposed and able to take them. + +"You will be told," says a petition,[3230] "that we violate the law. We +reply to these perfidious insinuations that the salvation of the people +is the supreme law. We come in order to keep the markets supplied, and +to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout the Republic. For, there +is no doubt about it, the purest patriotism dies out (sic) when there is +no bread to be had. . . . Resistance to oppression--yes, resistance to +oppression is the most sacred of duties; is there any oppression more +terrible than that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly, no. . . . Join us +and 'Ça ira, ça ira!' We cannot end our petition better than with this +patriotic air." + +This supplication was written on a drum, amidst a circle of firearms; +and with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a command.--They are +well aware of it, and of their own authority they often confer +upon themselves not only the right but also the title. In +Loire-et-Cher,[3231] a band of from four to five thousand men assume the +name of "Sovereign Power." They go from one market-town to another, +to Saint-Calais, Montdoubleau, Blois, Vendôme, reducing the cost of +provisions, their troop increasing like a snowball--for they threaten +"to burn the effects and set fire to the houses of all who are not as +courageous as themselves." + +In this state of social disintegration, insurrection is a gangrene in +which the healthy are infected by the morbid parts. Mobs are everywhere +produced and re-produced, incessantly, large and small, like abscesses +which break out side by side, and painfully irritate each other and +finally combine. There are the towns against the rural districts and +rural districts against the towns. On the one hand "every farmer +who transports anything to the market passes (at home) for an +aristocrat,[3232] and becomes the horror of his fellow-citizens in the +village." On the other hand the National Guards of the towns spread +themselves through the rural districts and make raids to save themselves +from death by hunger.[3233] It is admitted in the rural districts that +each municipality has the right to isolate itself from the rest. It +is admitted in the towns that each town has the right to derive its +provisions from the country. It is admitted by the indigent of each +commune that the commune must provide bread gratis or at a cheap rate. +On the strength of this there is a shower of stones and a fusillade; +department against department, district against district, canton against +canton, all fight for food, and the strongest get it and keep it for +themselves.--I have simply described the North, where, for the past +three years, the crops are good. I have omitted the South, where trade +is interrupted on the canal of the Deux Mers, where the procureur-syndic +of Aude has lately been massacred for trying to secure the passage of +a convoy; where the harvest has been poor; where, in many places, bread +costs eight sous the pound; where, in almost every department, a bushel +of wheat is sold twice as dear as in the North! + +Strange phenomenon! and the most instructive of all, for in it we see +down into the depths of humanity; for, as on a raft of shipwrecked +beings without food, there is a reversion to a state of nature. The +light tissue of habit and of rational ideas in which civilization has +enveloped man, is torn asunder and is floating in rags around him; the +bare arms of the savage show themselves, and they are striking out. +The only guide he has for his conduct is that of primitive days, the +startled instinct of a craving stomach. Henceforth that which rules in +him and through him is animal necessity with its train of violent +and narrow suggestions, sometimes sanguinary and sometimes grotesque. +Incompetent or savage, in all respects like a Negro monarch, his sole +political expedients are either the methods of a slaughter house or the +dreams of a carnival. Two commissioners whom Roland, Minister of the +Interior, sends to Lyons, are able to see within a few days the carnival +and the slaughter-house.[3234]--On the one hand the peasants, all along +the road, arrest everybody; the people regard every traveler as an +aristocrat who is running away--which is so much the worse for those who +fall into their hands. Near Autun, four priests who, to obey the law, +are betaking themselves to the frontier, are put in prison "for their +own protection;" they are taken out a quarter of an hour later, and, +in spite of thirty-two of the mounted police, are massacred. "Their +carriage was still burning as I passed, and the corpses were stretched +out not far off. Their driver was still in durance, and it was it vain +that I solicited his release."--On the other hand, at Lyons, the power +has fallen into the hands of the degraded women of the streets. "They +seized the central club, constituted themselves commissaries of police, +signed notices as such, and paid visits of inspection to store-houses;" +they drew up a tariff of provisions, "from bread and meat up to common +peaches, and peaches of fine quality." They announced that "whoever +dared to dispute it would be considered a traitor to the country, +an adherent of the civil list, and prosecuted as such." All this is +published, proclaimed and applied by "female commissaries of police," +themselves the dregs of the lowest sinks of corruption. Respectable +housewives and workwomen had nothing to do with it, nor "working-people +of any class." The sole actors of this administrative parody are +"scamps, a few bullies of houses of ill-fame, and a portion of the dregs +of the female sex."--To this end comes the dictatorship of instinct, +yonder let loose on the highway in a massacre of priests, and here, in +the second city of France, in the government of strumpets. + + + + +III.--Egotism of the tax-payer. + + Issoudun in 1790.--Rebellion against taxation.--Indirect + taxes in 1789 and 1790.--Abolition of the salt tax, excise, + and octrois.--Direct taxation in 1789 and 1790.--Delay and + insufficiency of the returns.--New levies in 1791 and 1792. + --Delays, partiality, and concealment in preparing the + rolls.--Insufficiency of, and the delay in, the returns. + --Payment in assignats.--The tax-payer relieves himself of + one-half.--Devastation of the forests.--Division of the + communal property. + +The fear of starvation is only the sharper form of a more general +passion, which is the desire of possession and the determination not +to give anything up. No popular instinct, had been longer, more rudely, +more universally offended under the ancient régime; and there is none +which gushes out more readily under constraint, none which requires a +higher or broader public barrier, or one more entirely constructed of +solid blocks, to keep it in check. Hence it is that this passion from +the commencement breaks down or engulfs the slight and low boundaries, +the tottering embankments of crumbling earth between which the +Constitution pretends to confine it.--The first flood sweeps away the +pecuniary claims of the State, of the clergy, and of the noblesse. The +people regard them as abolished, or, at least, they consider their debts +discharged. Their idea, in relation to this, is formed and fixed; for +them it is that which constitutes the Revolution. The people have no +longer a creditor; they are determined to have none, they will pay +nobody, and first of all, they will make no further payment to the +State. + +On the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation, the population of +Issoudun, in Touraine, solemnly convoked for the purpose, had just taken +the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace, social harmony, and +respect for the law for evermore.[3235] Here, probably, as elsewhere, +arrangements had been made for an stirring ceremonial; there were young +girls dressed in white, and learned and impressionable magistrates were +to pronounce philosophical harangues. All at once they discover that the +people gathered on the public square are provided with clubs, scythes, +and axes, and that the National Guard will not prevent their use; on the +contrary, the Guard itself is composed almost wholly of wine growers and +others interested in the suppression of the duties on wine, of coopers, +innkeepers, workmen, carters of casks, and others of the same stamp, +all rough fellows who have their own way of interpreting the Social +Contract. The whole mass of decrees, acts, and rhetorical flourishes +which are dispatched to them from Paris, or which emanate from the new +authorities, are not worth a halfpenny tax maintained on each bottle +of wine. There are to be no more excise duties; they will only take the +civic oath on this express condition, and that very evening they hang, +in effigy, their two deputies, who "had not supported their interests" +in the National Assembly. A few months later, of all the National Guard +called upon to protect the clerks, only the commandant and two officers +respond to the summons. If a docile taxpayer happens to be found, he +is not allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and almost +treachery. An entry of three puncheons of wine having been made, they +are stove in with stones, a portion is drunk, and the rest taken to the +barracks to debauch the soldiers; M. de Sauzay, commandant of the "Royal +Roussillon," who was bold enough to save the clerks, is menaced, and for +this misdeed he barely escapes being hung himself. When the municipal +body is called upon to interpose and employ force, it replies that "for +so small a matter, it is not worth while to compromise the lives of the +citizens," and the regular troops sent to the Hôtel-de-Ville are ordered +by the people not to go except with the but-ends of their muskets in the +air. Five days after this the windows of the excise office are smashed, +and the public notices are torn down; the fermentation does not subside, +and M. de Sauzay writes that a regiment would be necessary to restrain +the town. At Saint-Amand the insurrection breaks out violently, and is +only put down by violence. At Saint-Étienne-en-Forez, Bertheas, a clerk +in the excise office, falsely accused of monopolizing grain,[3236] +is fruitlessly defended by the National Guard; he is put in prison, +according to the usual custom, to save his life, and, for greater +security, the crowd insist on his being fastened by an iron collar. +But, suddenly changing its mind, it breaks upon the door and drags him +outside, beating him till he is unconscious. Stretched on the ground, +his head still moves and he raises his hand to it, when a woman, +picking up a large stone, smashes his skull.--These are not isolated +occurrences. During the months of July and August, 1789, the tax offices +are burnt in almost every town in the kingdom. In vain does the National +Assembly order their reconstruction, insist on the maintenance of duties +and octrois, and explain to the people the public needs, pathetically +reminding them, moreover, that the Assembly has already given them +relief;--the people prefer to relieve themselves instantly and entirely. +Whatever is consumed must no longer be taxed, either for the benefit of +the State or for that of the towns. "Entrance dues on wine and cattle," +writes the municipality of Saint-Etienne, "scarcely amount to anything, +and our powers are inadequate for their enforcement." At Cambrai, two +successive outbreaks compel the excise office and the magistracy of +the town[3237] to reduce the duties on beer one-half. But "the evil, at +first confined to one corner of the province, soon spreads;" the grands +baillis of Lille, Douai, and Orchies write that "we have hardly a bureau +which has not been molested, and in which the taxes are not wholly +subject to popular discretion." Those only pay who are disposed to do +so, and, consequently, "greater fraud could not exist." The taxpayers, +indeed, cunningly defend themselves, and find plenty of arguments or +quibbles to avoid paying their dues. At Cambrai they allege that, as +the privileged now pay as well as the rest, the Treasury must be +rich enough.[3238] At Noyon, Ham, and Chauny, and in the surrounding +parishes, the butchers, innkeepers, and publicans combined, who have +refused to pay excise duties, pick flaws in the special decree by which +the Assembly subjects them to the law, and a second special decree is +necessary to circumvent these new legal experts. The process at Lyons +is simpler. Here the thirty-two sections appoint commissioners; these +decide against the octroi, and request the municipal authorities to +abolish it. They must necessarily comply, for the people are at hand and +are furious. Without waiting, however, for any legal measures, they take +the authority on themselves, rush to the toll-houses and drive out the +clerks, while large quantities of provisions, which "through a singular +predestination" were waiting at the gates, come in free of duty.--The +Treasury defends itself as it best can against this universally bad +disposition of the tax-payer, against these irruptions and infiltrations +of fraud; it repairs the dike where it has been carried away, stops up +the fissures and again resumes collections. But how can these be regular +and complete in a State where the courts dare not condemn delinquents, +where public force dares not support the courts,[3239] where popular +favor protects the most notorious bandits and the worst vagabonds +against the tribunals and against the public powers? At Paris, where, +After eight months of impunity, proceedings are begun against the +pillagers who, on the 13th of August, 1789, set fire to the tax offices, +the officers of the election, "considering that their audiences +have become too tumultuous, that the thronging of the people excites +uneasiness, that threats have been uttered of a kind calculated to +create reasonable alarm," are constrained to suspend their sittings and +refer matters to the National Assembly, while the latter, considering +that "if prosecutions are authorized in Paris it will be necessary to +authorize them throughout the kingdom," decides that it is best "to veil +the statue of the Law."[3240] + +Not only does the Assembly veil the statue of the Law, but it takes to +pieces, remakes, and mutilates it, according to the requirements of the +popular will; and, in the matter of indirect imposts all its decrees are +forced upon it. The outbreak against the salt impost was terrible from +the beginning; sixty thousand men in Anjou alone combined to destroy it, +and the price of salt had to be reduced from sixteen to six sous.[3241] +The people, however, are not satisfied with this. This monopoly has been +the cause of so much suffering that they are not disposed to put up with +any remains of it, and are always on the side of the smugglers against +the excise officers. In the month of January, 1790, at Béziers, +thirty-two employees, who had seized a quantity of contraband salt on +the persons of armed smugglers,[3242] are pursued by the crowd to the +Hôtel-de-Ville; the consuls decline to defend them and run away; the +troops defend them, but in vain. Five are tortured, horribly mutilated, +and then hung. In the month of March, 1790, Necker states that, +according to the returns of the past three months, the deficit in +the salt-tax amounts to more than four millions a month, which is +four-fifths of the ordinary revenue, while the tobacco monopoly is no +more respected than that of salt. At Tours,[3243] the bourgeois +militia refuse to give assistance to the employees, and "openly protect +smuggling," "and contraband tobacco is publicly sold at the fair, under +the eyes of the municipal authorities, who dare make no Opposition to +it." All receipts, consequently, diminish at the same time.[3244] From +the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790, the general collections +amount to 127 millions instead of 150 millions; the dues and excise +combined return only 31, instead of 50 millions. The streams which +filled the public exchequer are more and more obstructed by popular +resistance, and under the popular pressure, the Assembly ends by closing +them entirely. In the month of March, 1790,[3245] it abolishes salt +duties, internal customs-duties, taxes on leather, on oil, on starch, +and the stamp of iron. In February and March, 1791, it abolishes octrois +and entrance-dues in all the cities and boroughs of the kingdom, all the +excise duties and those connected with the excise, especially all taxes +which affect the manufacture, sale, or circulation of beverages. The +people have in the end prevailed, and on the 1st of May, 1791, the day +of the application of the decree, the National Guard of Paris parades +around the walls playing patriotic airs. The cannon of the Invalides and +those on the Pont-Neuf thunder out as if for an important victory. +There is an illumination in the evening, there is drinking all night, a +universal revel. Beer, indeed, is to be had at three sous the pot, and +wine at six sous a pint, which is a reduction of one-half; no conquest +could be more popular, since it brings intoxication within easy reach of +the thirsty.[3246] + +The object, now, is to provide for the expenses which have been defrayed +by the suppressed octrois. In 1790, the octroi of Paris had produced +35,910,859 francs, of which 25,059,446 went to the State, and 10,851,413 +went to the city. How is the city going to pay for its watch, the +lighting and cleaning of its streets, and the support of its hospitals? +What are the twelve hundred other cities and boroughs going to do which +are brought by the same stroke to the same situation? What will +the State do, which, in abolishing the general revenue from all +entrance-dues and excise, is suddenly deprived of two-fifths of its +revenue?--In the month of March, 1790, when the Assembly suppressed the +salt and other duties, it established in the place of these a tax of +fifty millions, to be divided between the direct imposts and dues on +entrance to the towns. Now, consequently, that the entrance-dues are +abolished, the new charge falls entirely upon the direct imposts. +Do returns come in, and will they come in?--In the face of so many +outbreaks, any indirect taxation (VAT) is, certainly, difficult to +collect. Nevertheless it is not so repulsive as the other because the +levies of the State disappear in the price of the article, the hand of +the Exchequer being hidden by the hand of the dealer. The Government +clerk formerly presented himself with his stamped paper and the seller +handed him the money without much grumbling, knowing that he would +soon be more than reimbursed by his customer: the indirect tax is thus +collected. Should any difficulty arise, it is between the dealer and the +taxpayer who comes to his shop to lay in his little store; the latter +grumbles, but it is at the high price which he feels, and possibly at +the seller who pockets his silver; he does not find fault with the clerk +of the Exchequer, whom he does not see and who is not then present +In the collection of the direct tax, on the contrary, it is the clerk +himself whom he sees before him, who abstracts the precious piece of +silver. This authorized robber, moreover, gives him nothing in exchange; +it is an entire loss. On leaving the dealer's shop he goes away with a +jug of wine, a pot of salt, or similar commodities; on leaving the tax +office he has nothing in hand but an acquittance, a miserable bit of +scribbled paper.--But now he is master in his own commune, an elector, a +National Guard, mayor, the sole authority in the use of armed force, and +charged with his own taxation. Come and ask him to unearth the buried +mite on which he has set all his heart and all his soul, the earthen pot +wherein he has deposited his cherished pieces of silver one by one, and +which he has laid by for so many years at the cost of so much misery and +fasting, in the very face of the bailiff in spite of the prosecutions of +the sub-delegate, commissioner, collector, and clerk! + +From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790,[3247] the general +returns, the taille and its accessories, the poll-tax and "twentieths," +instead of yielding 161.000,000 francs, yield but 28,000,000 francs in +the provinces which impose their own taxes (pays d'Etats); instead of +28,000,000 francs, the Treasury obtains but 6,000,000. On the patriotic +contribution which was to deduct one quarter of all incomes over four +hundred livres, and to levy two and a half per cent. on plate, jewels, +and whatever gold and silver each person has in reserve, the State +received 9.700,000 francs. As to patriotic gifts, their total, +comprising the silver buckles of the deputies, reaches only 361,587 +francs; and the closer our examination into the particulars of these +figures, the more do we see the contributions of the villager, artisan, +and former subjects of the taille diminish.--Since the month of October, +1789, the privileged classes, in fact, appear in the tax-rolls, and they +certainly form the class which is best off, the most alive to general +ideas and the most truly patriotic. It is therefore probable that, of +the forty-three millions of returns from the direct imposts and from the +patriotic contribution, they have furnished the larger portion, perhaps +two thirds of it, or even three-quarters. If this be the case, the +peasant, the former tax-payer, gave nothing or almost nothing from his +pocket during the first year of the Revolution. For instance, in regard +to the patriotic contribution, the Assembly left it to the conscience of +each person to fix his own quota; at the end of six months, consciences +are found too elastic, and the Assembly is obliged to confer this right +on the municipalities. The result is[3248] that this or that individual +who taxed himself at forty-eight livres, is taxed at a hundred and +fifty; another, a cultivator, who had offered six livres, is judged to +be able to pay over one hundred. Every regiment contains a small number +of select brave men, and it is always these who are ready to advance +under fire. Every State contains a select few of honest men who advance +to meet the tax-collector. Some effective constraint is essential in the +regiment to supply those with courage who have but little, and in the +State to supply those with probity who do not possess it. Hence, during +the eight months which follow, from May 1st, 1790, to January 1st, 1791, +the patriotic contribution furnishes but 11,000,000 livres. Two years +later, on the 1st of February, 1793, out of the forty thousand communal +tax-rolls which should provide for it, there are seven thousand which +are not yet drawn up; out of 180,000,000 livres which it ought +to produce, there are 70,000,000 livres which are still due.--The +resistance of the tax-payer produces a similar deficit, and similar +delays in all branches of the national income.[3249] In the month of +June, 1790, a deputy declares in the tribune that "out of thirty-six +millions of imposts which ought to be returned each month only nine have +been received."[3250] In the month of November, 1791, a reporter on +the budget states that the receipts, which should amount to forty or +forty-eight millions a month, do not reach eleven millions and a half. +On February 1, 1793, there remains still due on the direct taxes of 1789 +and 1790 one hundred and seventy-six millions. It is evident that +the people struggle with all their might against the old taxes, even +authorized and prolonged by the Constituent Assembly, and all that is +obtained from them is wrested from them. + +Will the people be more docile under the new taxation? The Assembly +exhorts them to be so and shows them how, with the relief they have +gained and with the patriotism they ought to possess, they can and +should discharge their dues. The people are able to do it because, +having got rid of tithes, feudal dues, the salt-tax, octrois and excise +duties, they are in a comfortable position. They should do so, because +the taxation adopted is indispensable to the State, equitable, assessed +on all in proportion to their fortune, collected and expended under +rigid scrutiny, without perversion or waste, according to precise, +clear, periodical and audited accounts. No doubt exists that, after the +1st of January, 1791, the date when the new financial scheme comes into +operation, each tax-payer will gladly pay as a good citizen, and the +two hundred and forty millions of the new tax on real property, and +the sixty millions of that on personal property, leaving out the +rest--registries, license, and customs duties--will flow in regularly +and easily of their own accord. + +Unfortunately, before the tax-gatherer can collect the first two levies +these have to be assessed, and as there are complicated writings +and formalities, claims to settle amidst great resistance and local +ignorance, the operation is indefinitely prolonged. The personal and +land-tax schedule of 1791 is not transmitted to the departments by the +Assembly until June, 1791. The departments do not distribute it among +the districts until the months of July, August, and September, 1791. It +is not distributed by the districts among the communes before October, +November, and December, 1791. Thus in the last month of 1791 it is not +yet distributed to the tax-payers by the communes; from which it follows +that on the budget of 1791 and throughout that year, the tax-payer +has paid nothing.--At last, in 1792, everybody begins to receive this +assessment. It would require a volume to set forth the partiality and +dissimulation of these assessments. In the first place the office of +assessor is one of danger; the municipal authorities, whose duty it +is to assign the quotas, are not comfortable in their town quarters. +Already, in 1790,[3251] the municipal officers of Monbazon have been +threatened with death if they dared to tax industrial pursuits on the +tax-roll, and they escaped to Tours in the middle of the night. Even at +Tours, three or four hundred insurgents of the vicinity, dragging along +with them the municipal officers of three market-towns, come and declare +to the town authorities "that for all taxes they will not pay more than +forty-five sous per household." I have already narrated how, in 1792, +in the same department, "they kill, they assassinate the municipal +officers" who presume to publish the tax-rolls of personal property. In +Creuse, at Clugnac, the moment the clerk begins to read the document, +the women spring upon him, seize the tax-roll, and "tear it up with +countless imprecations;" the municipal council is assailed, and two +hundred persons stone its members, one of whom is thrown down, has his +head shaved, and is promenaded through the village in derision.--When +the small tax-payer defends himself in this manner, it is a warning that +he must be humored. The assessment, accordingly, in the village councils +is made amongst a knot of cronies. Each relieves himself of the burden +by shoving it off on somebody else. "They tax the large proprietors, +whom they want to make pay the whole tax." The noble, the old seigneur, +is the most taxed, and to such an extent that in many places his +income does not suffice to pay his quota.--In the next place they make +themselves out poor, and falsify or elude the prescriptions of the law. +"In most of the municipalities, houses, tenements, and factories[3252] +are estimated according to the value of the area they cover, and +considered as land of the first class, which reduces the quota to +almost nothing." And this fraud is not practiced in the villages alone. +"Communes of eight or ten thousand souls might be cited which have +arranged matters so well amongst themselves in this respect that not +a house is to be found worth more than fifty sous."--Last expedient +of all, the commune defers as long as it can the preparation of its +tax-rolls. On the 30th of January, 1792, out of 40,211, there are only +2,560 which are complete; on the 5th of October, 1792, the schedules are +not made out in 4,800 municipalities, and it must be noted that all this +relates to a term of administration which has been finished for more +than nine months. At the same date, there are more than six thousand +communes which have not yet begun to collect the land-tax of 1791, and +more than fifteen thousand communes which have not yet begun to collect +the personal tax; the Treasury and the departments have not yet received +152,000,000 francs, there being still 222,000,000 to collect. On the 1st +February, 1793, there still remains due on the same period 161,000,000 +francs, while of the 50,000,000 assessed in 1790, to replace the +salt-tax and other suppressed duties, only 2,000,000 have been +collected. Finally, at the same date, out of the two direct taxes of +1792, which should produce 300,000,000, less than 4,000,000 have been +received.--It is a maxim of the debtor that he must put off payment as +long as possible. Whoever the creditor may be, the State or a private +individual, a leg or a wing may be saved by dint of procrastination. The +maxim is true, and, on this occasion, success once more demonstrates +its soundness. During the year 1792, the peasant begins to discharge a +portion of his arrears, but it is with assignats. In January, February, +and March, 1792, the assignats diminish thirty-four, forty-four, and +forty-five per cent. in value; in January, February, and March, +1793, forty-seven and fifty percent.; in May, June, and July, 1793, +fifty-four, sixty, and sixty-seven per cent. Thus has the old credit +of the State melted away in its hands; those who have held on to their +crowns gain fifty per cent. and more. Again, the greater their delay the +more their debts diminish, and already, on the strength of this, the way +to release themselves at half-price is found. + +Meanwhile, hands are laid on the badly defended landed property of this +feeble creditor.--It is always difficult for rude brains to form any +conception of the vague, invisible, abstract entity called the State, +to regard it as a veritable personage and a legitimate proprietor, +especially when they are persistently told that the State is everybody. +The property of all is the property of each, and as the forests belong +to the public, the first-comer has a right to profit by them. In the +month of December, 1789,[3253] bands of sixty men or more chop down the +trees in the Bois de Boulogne and at Vincennes. In April, 1790, in the +forest of Saint-Germain, "the patrols arrest all kinds of delinquents +day and night:" handed over to the National Guards and municipalities in +the vicinity, these are "almost immediately released, even with the +wood which they have cut down against the law." iii There is no means +of repressing "the reiterated threats and insults of the low class of +people." A mob of women, urged on by an old French guardsman, come and +pillage under the nose of the escort a load of faggots confiscated for +the benefit of a hospital; and in the forest itself, bands of marauders +fire upon the patrols.--At Chantilly, three game-keepers are mortally +wounded;[3254] both parks are devastated for eighteen consecutive days; +the game is all killed, transported to Paris and sold.--At Chambord the +lieutenant of the constabulary writes to announce his powerlessness; the +woods are ravaged and even burnt; the poachers are now masters of the +situation; breaches in the wall are made by them, and the water from +the pond is drawn off to enable them to catch the fish.--At Claix, in +Dauphiny, an officer of the jurisdiction of woods and forests, who has +secured an injunction against the inhabitants for cutting down trees on +leased ground, is seized, tortured during five hours, and then stoned +to death.--In vain does the National Assembly issue three decrees and +regulations, placing the forests under the supervision and protection of +administrative bodies,--he latter are too much afraid of their charge. +Between the central power, which is weak and remote, and the people, +present and strong, they always decide in favor of the latter. Not one +of the five municipalities surrounding Chantilly is disposed to assist +in the execution of the laws, while the directories of the district +and department respectively, sanction their inertia.--Similarly, near +Toulouse,[3255] where the magnificent forest of Larramet is devastated +in open day and by an armed force, where the wanton destruction by +the populace leaves nothing of the underwood and shrubbery but "a few +scattered trees and the remains of trunks cut at different heights," +the municipalities of Toulouse and of Tournefeuille refuse all aid. +And worse still, in other provinces, as for instance in Alsace, "whole +municipalities, with their mayors at the head, cut down woods which +are confided to them, and carry them off."[3256] If some tribunal is +disposed to enforce the law, it is to no purpose; it takes the risk, +either of not being allowed to give judgment, or of being constrained +to reverse its decision. At Paris the judgment prepared against the +incendiaries of the tax-offices could not be given. At Montargis, the +sentence pronounced against the marauders who had stolen cartloads +of wood in the national forests had to be revised, and by the judges +themselves. The moment the tribunal announced the confiscation of the +carts and horses which had been seized, there arose a furious outcry +against it; the court was insulted by those present; the condemned +parties openly declared that they would have their carts and horses back +by force. Upon this "the judges withdrew into the council-chamber, and +when soon after they resumed their seats, that part of their decision +which related to the confiscation was canceled." + +And yet this administration of justice, ludicrous and flouted as it +may be, is still a sort of barrier. When it falls, along with the +Government, everything is exposed to plunder, and there is no such thing +as public property.--After August 10, 1792, each commune or individual +appropriates whatever comes in its way, either products or the soil +itself. Some of the plunderers go so far as to say that, since the +Government no longer represses them, they act under its authority.[3257] +"They have destroyed even the recent plantation of young trees." "One of +the villages near Fontainebleau cleared off and divided an entire grove. +At Rambouillet, from August 10th to the end of October," the loss is +more than 100,000 crowns; the rural agitators demand with threats the +partition of the forest among the inhabitants. "The destruction is +enormous" everywhere, prolonged for entire months, and of such a kind, +says the minister, as to dry up this source of public revenue for a +long time to come.--Communal property is no more respected than +national property. In each commune, these bold and needy folk, the rural +populace, are privileged to enjoy and make the most of it. Not content +with enjoying it, they desire to acquire ownership of it, and, for days +after the King's fall, the Legislative Assembly, losing its footing in +the universal breaking up, empowers the indigent to put in force the +agrarian law. Henceforth it suffices in any commune for one-third of +its inhabitants of both sexes, servants, common laborers, shepherds, +farm-hands or cowherds, and even paupers, to demand a partition of the +communal possessions. All that the commune owns, save public edifices +and woods, is to be cut up into as many equal lots as there are heads, +the lots to be drawn for, and each individual to take possession of his +or her portion.[3258] The Operation is carried out, for "those who +are least well off are infinitely flattered by it." In the district of +Arcis-sur-Aube, there are not a dozen communes out of ninety in which +more than two-thirds of the voters had the good sense to pronounce +against it. From this time forth the commune ceases to be an +independent proprietor; it has nothing to fall back upon. In case of +distress it is obliged to lay on extra taxes and obtain, if it can, a +few additional sous. Its future revenue is at present in the +tightly buttoned pockets of the new proprietors.--The prevalence of +short-sighted views is once more due to the covetousness of individuals. +Whether national or communal, it is always public interest which +succumbs, and it succumbs always under the usurpations of indigent +minorities, at one time through the feebleness of public authority, +which dares not oppose their violence, and at another through the +complicity of public authority, which has conferred upon them the rights +of the majority. + + + + +IV.--Cupidity of tenants. + + The third and fourth jacquerie.--Brittany and other + provinces in 1790 and 1791.--The burning of chateaux. + --Title-deeds destroyed.--Refusal of claims.--Destruction of + reservoirs.--Principal characteristics, prime motive and + ruling passion of the revolution + +When there is a lack of public force for the protection of public +property, there is also a lack of it for the protection of private +property, for the same greed and the same needs attack both. Let a man +owe anything either to the State or to an individual, and the temptation +not to pay is equally the same. In both cases it suffices to find a +pretext for denying the debt; in finding this pretext the cupidity of +the tenant is as good as the selfishness of the tax-payer. Now that the +feudal system is abolished let nothing remain of it: let there be no +more seignorial claims. "If the Assembly has maintained some of them, +yonder in Paris, it did so inadvertently or through corruption: we +shall soon hear of all being suppressed. In the meantime we will relieve +ourselves, and burn the agreements in the places where they are kept." + +Such being the argument, the jacquerie breaks out afresh: in truth, +it is permanent and universal. Just as in a body in which some of the +elements of its vital substance are affected by an organic disease, the +evil is apparent in the parts which seem to be sound: even where as yet +no outbreak has occurred, one is imminent; constant anxiety, a profound +restlessness, a low fever, denote its presence. Here, the debtor does +not pay, and the creditor is afraid to prosecute him. In other places +isolated eruptions occur. At Auxon,[3259] on an estate spared by the +great jacquerie of July, 1789, the woods are ravaged, and the peasants, +enraged at being denounced by the keepers, march to the chateau, which +is occupied by an old man and a child; everybody belonging to the +village is there, men and women; they hew down the barricaded door with +their axes, and fire on the neighbors who come to the assistance of +its inmates.--In other places, in the districts of Saint-Étienne and +Montbrison, "the trees belonging to the proprietors are carried +away with impunity, and the walls of their grounds and terraces are +demolished, the complainants being threatened with death or with +the sight of the destruction of their dwellings." Near Paris, around +Montargis, Nemours, and Fontainebleau, a number of parishes refuse +to pay the tithes and ground-rent (champart) which the Assembly has +a second time sanctioned; gibbets are erected and the collectors are +threatened with hanging, while, in the neighborhood of Tonnerre, a +mob of debtors fire upon the body of police which comes to enforce the +claims.--Near Amiens, the Comtesse de la Mire,[3260] on her estate of +Davencourt, is visited by the municipal authorities of the village, who +request her to renounce her right to ground-rent (champart) and thirds +(tiers). She refuses and they insist, and she refuses again, when they +inform her that "some misfortune will happen to her." In effect, two +of the municipal officers cause the tocsin to be rung, and the whole +village rushes to arms. One of the domestics has an arm broken by a +ball, and for three hours the countess and her two children are subject +to the grossest insults and to blows: she is forced to sign a paper +which she is not allowed to read, and, in warding off the stroke of +a saber, her arm is cleft from the elbow to the wrist; the chateau +is pillaged, and she owes her escape to the zeal of some of her +servants.--Large eruptions take place at the same time over entire +provinces; one succeeds the other almost without interruption, the fever +encroaching on parts which were supposed to be cured, and to such an +extent that the virulent ulcers finally combine and form one over the +whole surface of the social body. + +By the end of December, 1789, the chronic fermentation comes to a head +in Brittany. Imagination, as usual, has forged a plot, and, as the +people say, if they make an attack it is in their own defense.--A report +spreads[3261] that M. de Goyon, near Lamballe, has assembled in his +chateau a number of gentlemen and six hundred soldiers. The mayor +and National Guard of Lamballe immediately depart in force; they find +everything tranquil there, and no company but two or three friends, +and no other arms than a few fowling-pieces.--The impulse, however, is +given, and, on the 15th of January, the great federation of Pontivy has +excited the wildest enthusiasm. The people drink, sing, and shout in +honor of the new decrees before armed peasants who do not comprehend the +French tongue, still less legal terms, and who, on their return home, +arguing with each other in bas-breton, interpret the law in a peculiar +way. "A decree of the Assembly, in their eyes, is a decree of arrest" +and as the principal decrees of the Assembly are issued against the +nobles, they are so many decrees of arrest against them.--Some days +after this, about the end of January, during the whole of February, and +down to the month of April, the execution of this theory is tumultuously +carried out by mobs of villagers and vagabonds around Nantes, +Auray, Redon, Dinan, Ploërmel, Rennes, Guingamp, and other villages. +Everywhere, writes the Mayor of Nantes,[3262] "the country-people +believe that in burning deeds and contracts they get rid of their debts; +the very best of them concur in this belief," or let things take +their course; the excesses are enormous, because many gratify "special +animosities, and all are heated with wine.--At Beuvres, "the peasants +and vassals of the manor, after burning title-deeds, establish +themselves in the chateau, and threaten to fire it if other papers, +which they allege are concealed there, are not surrendered." Near Redon +the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur is reduced to ashes. Redon is menaced, and +Ploërmel almost besieged. At the end of a month thirty-seven chateaux +are enumerated as attacked: twenty-five in which the title-deeds are +burnt, and twelve in which the proprietors are obliged to sign an +abandonment of their rights. Two chateaux which began to burn are saved +by the National Guard. That of Bois-au-Voyer is entirely consumed, +and several have been sacked. By way of addition, "more than fifteen +procureurs-fiscaux, clerks, notaries, and officers of seignorial courts +have been plundered or burnt," while proprietors take refuge in the +towns because the country is now uninhabitable for them. + +A second tumor makes its appearance at the same time at another +point.[3263] It showed itself in Lower Limousin in the beginning of +January. From thence the purulent inflammation spreads to Quercy, +Upper Languedoc, Perigord, and Rouergue, and in February from Tulle to +Montauban, and from Agen to Périgueux and Cahors, extending over three +departments.--Then, also, expectancy is the creator, according to rule, +of its own object. By dint of longing for a law for the suppression +of all claims, it is imagined that it is passed, and the statement +is current that "the King and the National Assembly have ordered +deputations to set up the maypole[3264] and to 'light up' the +chateaux."--Moreover, and always in accordance with current practice, +bandits, people without occupation, take the lead of the furious crowd +and manage things their own way. As soon as a band is formed it arrests +all the peaceable people it can find on the roads, in the fields, and in +isolated farmhouses, and takes good care to put them in front in case +of blows.--These miscreants add terror to compulsion. They erect gibbets +for any one that pays casual duties or annual dues, while the parishes +of Quercy threaten their neighbors of Perigord with fire and sword in +a week's time if they do not do in Perigord as they have done in +Quercy.--The tocsin rings, the drums beat, and "the ceremony" is +performed from commune to commune. The keys of the church are forcibly +taken from the curé the seats are burned, and, frequently, the woodwork +marked with the seigneur's arms. They march to the seigneur's mansion, +tear down his weathercocks, and compel him to furnish his finest tree, +together with feathers and ribbons with which to deck it, without +omitting the three measures which he uses in the collection of his dues +in grain or flour. The maypole is planted in the village square, and the +weathercocks, ribbons, and feathers are attached to its top, together +with the three measures and this inscription, "By order of the King and +National Assembly, the final quittance for all rentals." When this +is done it is evident that the seigneur, who no longer possesses +weathercocks, or a seat in the church, or measures to rate his dues by, +is no longer a seigneur, and can no longer put forth claims of any kind. +Huzzahs and acclamations accordingly burst forth, and there is a revel +and an orgy on the public square. All who can pay--the seigneur, the +curé, and the rich--are put under contribution for the festival, while +the people eat and drink "without any interval of sobriety."--In this +condition, being armed, they strike, and when resistance is offered, +they burn. In Agénois, a chateau belonging to M. de Lameth, and another +of M. d'Aiguillon; in Upper Languedoc, that of M. de Bournazel, and in +Perigord that of M. de Bar, are burnt down: + +M. de Bar is almost beaten to death, while six others are killed +in Quercy. A number of chateaux in the environs of Montauban and in +Limousin are assaulted with firearms, and several are pillaged.--Bands +of twelve hundred men swarm the country; "they have a spite against +every estate;" they redress wrongs; "they try over again cases +disposed of thirty years ago, and give judgments which they put into +execution."--If anybody fails to conform to the new code he is punished, +and to the advantage of the new sovereigns. In Agénois, a gentleman +having paid the rent which was associated with his fief the people take +his receipt from him, mulct him in a sum equal to that which he paid, +and come under his windows to spend the money on good cheer, in triumph +and with derision. + +Many of the National Guards who still possess some degree of energy, +several of the municipalities which still preserve some love of order, +and a number of the resident gentry, employ their arms against these +excited swarms of brutal usurpers. Some of the ruffians, taken in the +act, are judged somewhat after the fashion of a drum-head court-martial, +and immediately executed as examples. Everybody in the country sees +that the peril to society is great and urgent, and that if such acts go +unpunished, there will be no such thing as law and property in +France. The Bordeaux parliament, moreover, insists upon prosecutions. +Eighty-three boroughs and cities sign addresses, and send a special +deputation to the National Assembly to urge on prosecutions already +commenced, the punishment of criminals under arrest, and, above all, +the maintenance of the prévôtés.[3265] In reply to this, the Assembly +inflicts upon the parliament of Bordeaux its disapprobation in the +rudest manner, and enters upon the demolition of every judicial +corporation.[3266] After this, the execution of all prévotal decisions +is adjourned. A few months later the Assembly will oblige the King to +declare that the proceedings begun against the jacquerie of Brittany +shall be regarded as null and void, and that the arrested insurgents +shall be set free. For repressive purposes, it dispatches a sentimental +exhortation to the French people, consisting of twelve pages of literary +insipidity, which Florian might have composed for his Estilles and +his Nemorins.[3267]--New conflagrations, as an inevitable consequence, +kindle around live coals which have been imperfectly extinguished. In +the district of Saintes,[3268] M. Dupaty, counselor of the parliament of +Bordeaux, after having exhausted mild resources, and having concluded +by issuing writs against those of his tenantry who would not pay their +rents, the parish of Saint-Thomas de Cosnac, combined with five or six +others, puts itself in motion and assails his two chateaux of Bois-Roche +and Saint-George-des-Agouts; these are plundered and then set on fire, +his son escaping through a volley of musket-balls. They visit Martin, +the notary and steward, in the same fashion; his furniture is pillaged +and his money is taken, and "his daughter undergoes the most frightful +outrages." Another detachment pushes on to the house of-the Marquis +de Cumont, and forces him, under the penalty of having his house burnt +down, to give a discharge for all the claims he has upon them. At the +head of these incendiaries are the municipal officers of Saint-Thomas, +except the mayor, who has taken to flight. + +The electoral system organized by the Constituent Assembly is beginning +to take effect. "Almost everywhere," writes the royal commissioner, "the +large proprietors have been eliminated, and the offices have been filled +by men who strictly fulfill the conditions of eligibility. The result +is a sort of rage of the petty rich to annoy those who enjoy large +heritages."--Six months later, the National Guards and village +authorities in this same department at Aujean, Migron, and Varaise, +decide that no more tithes, agriers or champarts, nor any of the dues +which are retained, shall be paid. In vain does the department annul the +decision, and send its commissioners, gendarmes, and law-officers. The +commissioners are driven away, and the officers and gendarmes are fired +upon; the vice-president of the district, who was on his way to make his +report to the department, is seized on the road and forced to give in +his resignation. Seven parishes have coalesced with Aujean and ten +with Migron; Varaise has sounded the tocsin, and the villages for four +leagues round have risen; fifteen hundred men, armed with guns, scythes, +hatchets and pitchforks, lend their aid. The object is to set free +the principal leader at Varaise, one Planche, who was arrested, and +to punish the mayor of Varaise, Latierce, who is suspected of having +denounced Planche. Latierce is unmercifully beaten, and "forced to +undergo a thousand torments during thirty hours;" then they set out +with him to Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and demand the release of Planche. The +municipality at first refuses, but finally consents on the condition +that Latierce be given up in exchange for him. Planche, consequently, is +set at liberty and welcomed with shouts of triumph. Latierce, however, +is not given up; on the contrary, he is tormented for an hour and then +massacred, while the directory of the district, which is less submissive +than the municipal body, is forced to fly.--Symptoms of this kind are +not to be mistaken, and similar ones exist in Brittany. It is evident +that the minds of the people are permanently in revolt. Instead of the +social abscess being relieved by the discharge, it is always filling +up and getting more inflamed. It will burst a second time in the same +places; in 1791 as in 1790, the jacquerie spreads throughout Brittany as +it has spread over Limousin. + +This is because the determination of the peasant is of another nature +than ours, his will being more firm and tenacious. When an idea obtains +a hold on him it takes root in an obscure and profound conviction upon +which neither discussion nor argument have any effect; once planted, +it vegetates according to his notions, not according to ours, and no +legislative text, no judicial verdict, no administrative remonstrance +can change in any respect the fruit it produces. This fruit, developed +during centuries, is the feeling of an excessive plunder, and, +consequently, the need of an absolute release. Too much having been +paid to everybody, the peasant now is not disposed to pay anything to +anybody, and this idea, vainly repressed, always rises up in the manner +of an instinct.--In the month of January, 1791,[3269] bands again +form in Brittany, owing to the proprietors of the ancient fiefs having +insisted on the payment of their rents. At first the coalesced parishes +refuse to pay the stewards, and after this the rustic National Guards +enter the chateaux to constrain the proprietors. Generally, it is the +commander of the National Guard, and sometimes the communal attorney, +who dictates to the lord of the manor the renunciation of his claims; +they oblige him, moreover, to sign notes for the benefit of the parish, +or for that of various private individuals. This is considered by them +to be compensation for damages; all feudal dues being abolished, he must +return what he received from them during the past year, and as they have +been put to inconvenience he must indemnify them by "paying them for +their time and journey." Such are the operations of two of the principal +bands, one of them numbering fifteen hundred men, around Dinan and St. +Malo; for greater security they burn title-deeds in the chateaux of +Saint-Tual, Besso, Beaumanoir, La Rivière, La Bellière, Chateauneuf, +Chenay, Chausavoir, Tourdelon, and Chalonge; and as a climax they set +fire to Chateauneuf just before the arrival of the regular troops.--In +the beginning, a dim conception of legal and social order seems to be +floating in their brains; at Saint-Tual, before taking 2,000 livres from +the steward, they oblige the mayor to give them his consent in writing; +at Yvignac, their chief, called upon to show the authority under which +he acted, declares that "he is authorized by the general will of the +populace of the nation."[3270]--But when, at the end of a month, they +are beaten by the regular troops, made furious by the blows given and +taken, and excited by the weakness of the municipal authorities who +release their prisoners, they then become bandits of the worst species. +During the night of the 22nd of February, the chateau of Villefranche, +three leagues from Malestroit, is attacked. Thirty-two rascals with +their faces masked, and led by a chief in the national uniform, break +open the door. The domestics are strangled. The proprietor, M. de la +Bourdonnaie, an old man, with his wife aged sixty, are half killed by +blows and tied fast to their bed, and after this a fire is applied to +their feet and they are warmed (chauffé). In the meantime the plate, +linen, stuffs, jewelry, two thousand francs in silver, and even watches, +buckles, and rings,--everything is pillaged, piled on the backs of +the eleven horses in the stables, and carried off.--When property is +concerned, one sort of outrage provokes another, the narrow cupidity +of the lease-holder being completed by the unlimited rapacity of the +brigand. + +Meanwhile, in the south-western provinces, the same causes have produced +the same results; and towards the end of autumn, when the crops are +gathered in and the proprietors demand their dues in money or in +produce, the peasant, immovably fixed in his idea, again refuses.[3271] +In his eyes, any law that may be against him is not that of the +National Assembly, but of the so-called seigneurs, who have extorted or +manufactured it; and therefore it is null. The department and district +administrators may promulgate it as much as they please: it does not +concern him, and if the opportunity occurs, he knows how to make them +smart for it. The village National Guards, who are lease-holders like +himself, side with him, and instead of repressing him give him their +support. As a commencement, he replants the maypoles, as a sign of +emancipation, and erects the gibbet by way of a threat.--In the district +of Gourdon, the regulars and the police having been sent to put them +down, the tocsin is at once sounded: a crowd of peasants, amounting to +four or five thousand, arrives from every surrounding parish, armed with +scythes and guns; the soldiers, forming a body of one hundred, retire +into a church, where they capitulate after a siege of twenty-four hours, +being obliged to give the names of the proprietors who demanded their +intervention of the district, and who are Messrs. Hébray, de Fontange, +and many others. All their houses are destroyed from top to bottom, +and they effect their escape in order not to be hung. The chateaux of +Repaire and Salviat are burned. At the expiration of eight days Quercy +is in flames and thirty chateaux are destroyed.--The leader of a band +of rustic National Guards, Joseph Linard, at the head of a village +army, penetrates into Gourdon, installs himself in the Hôtel-de-Ville, +declares himself the people's protector against the directory of the +district, writes to the department in the name of his "companions in +arms," and vaunts his patriotism. Meanwhile he commands as a conqueror, +throws open the prisons, and promises that, if the regular troops +and police be sent off; he and his companions will withdraw in good +order.--This species of tumultuous authority, however, instituted by +acclamation for attack, is powerless for resistance. Scarcely has Linard +retired when savagery is let loose. "A price is set upon the heads +of the administrators; their houses are the first devastated; all the +houses of wealthy citizens are pillaged; and the same is the case +with all chateaux and country habitations which display any signs of +luxury."--Fifteen gentlemen, assembled together at the house of M. +d'Escayrac, in Castel, appeal to all good citizens to march to the +assistance of the proprietors who may be attacked in this jacquerie, +which is spreading everywhere;[3272] but there are too few proprietors +in the country, and none of the towns have too many of them for their +own protection. M. d'Escayrac, after a few skirmishes, abandoned by the +municipal officers of his village, and wounded, withdraws to the house +of the Comte de Clarac, a major-general, in Languedoc. Here, too, the +chateau, is surrounded,[3273] blockaded, and besieged by the local +National Guard. M. de Clarac descends and tries to hold a parley with +the attacking party, and is fired upon. He goes back inside and throws +money out of the window; the money is gathered up, and he is again fired +upon. The chateau is set on fire, and M. d'Escayrac receives five shots, +and is killed. M. de Clarac, with another person, having taken refuge in +a subterranean vault, are taken out almost stifled the next morning but +one by the National Guard of the vicinity, who conduct them to Toulouse, +where they are kept in prison and where the public prosecutor takes +proceedings against them. The chateau of Bagat, near Montouq, is +demolished at the same time. The abbey of Espagnac, near Figeac, is +assaulted with fire-arms; the abbess is forced to refund all rents she +has collected, and to restore four thousand livres for the expenses of a +trial which the convent had gained twenty years before. + +After such successes, the extension of the revolt is inevitable; and +at the end of some weeks and months it becomes permanent in the three +neighboring departments.--In Creuse,[3274] the judges are threatened +with death if they order the payment of seignorial dues, and the same +fate awaits all proprietors who claim their rents. In many places, and +especially in the mountains, the peasants, "considering that they form +the nation, and that clerical possessions are national," want to have +these divided amongst themselves, instead of their being sold. Fifty +parishes around La Souterraine receive incendiary letters inviting them +to come in arms to the town, in order to secure by force, and by staking +their lives, the production of all titles to rentals. The peasants, in a +circle of eight leagues, are all stirred up by the sound of the tocsin, +and preceded by the municipal officers in their scarves; there are four +thousand of them, and they drag with them a wagon full of arms: this is +for the revision and re-constitution of the ownership of the soil.--In +Dordogne,[3275] self-appointed arbitrators interpose imperiously between +the proprietor and the small farmer, at the time of harvest, to prevent +the proprietor from claiming, and the farmer from paying, the tithes or +the réve;[3276] any agreement to this end is forbidden; whoever shall +transgress the new order of things, proprietor or farmer, shall be hung. +Accordingly, the rural militia in the districts of Bergerac, Excideuil, +Ribérac, Mucidan, Montignac, and Perigueux, led by the municipal +officers, go from commune to commune in order to force the proprietors +to sign an act of withdrawal; and these visits "are always accompanied +with robberies, outrages, and ill-treatment from which there is no +escape but in absolute submission." Moreover, "they demand the abolition +of every species of tax and the partition of the soil. "--It is +impossible for "proprietors moderately rich" to remain in the country; +on all sides they take refuge in Perigueux, and there, organizing in +companies, along with the gendarmerie and the National Guard of the +town, overrun the cantons to restore order. But there is no way of +persuading the peasantry that it is order which they wish to restore. +With that stubbornness of the imagination which no obstacle arrests, +and which, like a vigorous spring, always finds some outlet, the people +declare that "the gendarmes and National Guard" who come to restrain +them "are priests and gentlemen in disguise."--The new theories, +moreover, have struck down to the lowest depths; and nothing is easier +than to draw from them the abolition of debts, and even the agrarian +law. At Ribérac, which is invaded by the people of the neighboring +parishes, a village tailor, taking the catechism of the Constitution +from his pocket, argues with the procureur-syndic, and proves to him +that the insurgents are only exercising the rights of man. The book +states, in the first place, "that Frenchmen are equals and brethren, +and that they should give each other aid;" and that "the masters +should share with their fellows, especially this year, which is one of +scarcity." In the next place, it is written that "all property belongs +to the nation," and that is the reason why "it has taken the possessions +of the Church." Now, all Frenchmen compose the nation, and the +conclusion is clearly apparent. Since, in the eyes of the tailor, the +property of individual Frenchmen belongs to all the French, he, the +tailor, has a right to at least the quota which belongs to him.--One +travels fast and far on this downhill road, for every mob considers +that this means immediate enjoyment, and enjoyment according to its own +ideas. There is no care for neighbors or for consequences, even when +imminent and physical, and in twenty places the confiscated property +perishes in the hands of the usurpers. + +This voluntary destruction of property can be best observed in the +third department, that of Corrèze.[3277] Not only have the peasants here +refused to pay rents from the beginning of the Revolution; not only have +they "planted maypoles, supplied with iron hooks, to hang the first +one that dared to claim or to pay them;" not only are violent acts of +every description committed "by entire communes," "the National Guards +of the small communes participating in them;" not only do the culprits, +whose arrest is ordered, remain at liberty, while "nothing is spoken +of but the hanging of the constables who serve writs," but farther, +together with the ownership of the water-sources, the power of +collecting, directing, and distributing the water is overthrown, and, in +a country of in a country of steep slopes, the consequences of such +an operation may be imagined. Three leagues from Tulle, in a forming a +semi-circle, a pond twenty feet in depth, and covering an area of three +hundred acres, was enclosed by a broad embankment on the side of a +very deep gorge, which was completely covered with houses, mills, and +cultivation. On the 17th of April, 1791, a troop of five hundred armed +men assembled by the beat of a drum, and collected from three villages +in the vicinity, set themselves to demolish the dike. The proprietor, +M. de Sedières, a substitute-deputy in the National Assembly, is not +advised of it until eleven o'clock in the evening. Mounting his horse, +along with his guests and domestics, he makes a charge on the insane +wretches, and, with the aid of pistol and gun shots, disperses them. It +was time, for the trench they had dug was already eight feet deep, +and the water was nearly on a level with it: a half-hour later and the +terrible rolling mass of waters would have poured out on the inhabitants +of the gorge.--But such vigorous strokes, which are rare and hardly ever +successful, are no defense against universal and continuous attacks. +The regular troops and the gendarmerie, both of which are in the way of +reorganization or of dissolution, are not trustworthy, or are too weak. +There are no more than thirty of the cavalry in Creuse, and as many in +Corrèze. The National Guards of the towns are knocked up by expeditions +into the country, and there is no money with which to provide for their +change of quarters. And finally, as the elections are in the hands of +the people, this brings into power men disposed to tolerate popular +excesses. At Tulle, the electors of the second class, almost all chosen +from among the cultivators, and, moreover, catechized by the club, +nominate for deputies and public prosecutor only the candidates who are +pledged against rentals and against water privileges.--Accordingly, the +general demolition of the dikes begins as the month of May approaches. +This operation continues unopposed on a vast pond, a league and a half +from the town, and lasts for a whole week; elsewhere, on the arrival of +the guards or of the gendarmerie, they are fired upon. Towards the end +of September, all the embankments in the department are broken down: +nothing is left in the place of the ponds but fetid marshes; the +mill-wheels no longer turn, and the fields are no longer watered. But +those who demolish them carry away baskets full of fish, and the soil of +the ponds again becomes communal.--Hatred is not the motive which impels +them, but the instinct of acquisition: all these violent outstretched +hands, which rigidly resist the law, are directed against property, but +not against the proprietor; they are more greedy than hostile. One of +the noblemen of Corrèze,[3278] M. de Saint-Victour, has been absent for +five years. From the beginning of the Revolution, although his feudal +dues constitute one-half of the income of his estate, he has given +orders that no rigorous measures shall be employed in their collection, +and the result is that, since 1789, none of them were collected. +Moreover, having a reserve stock of wheat on hand, he lent grain, to the +amount of four thousand francs, to those of his tenants who had none. +In short, he is liberal, and, in the neighboring town, at Ussel, he even +passes for a Jacobin. In spite of all this, he is treated just like the +rest. It is because the parishes in his domain are "clubbist," governed +by associations of moral and practical levelers; in one of them "the +brigands have organized themselves into a municipal body," and have +chosen their leader as procureur-syndic. Consequently, on the 22nd of +August, eighty armed peasants opened the dam of his large pond, at the +risk of submerging a village in the neighborhood, the inhabitants of +which came and closed it up. Five other ponds belonging to him are +demolished in the course of the two following weeks; fish to the value +of from four to five thousand francs are stolen, and the rest perish in +the weeds. In order to make this expropriation sure, an effort is made +to burn his title-deeds; his chateau, twice attacked in the night, is +saved only by the National Guard of Ussel. His farmers and domestics +hesitate, for the time being, whether or not to cultivate the ground, +and come and ask the steward if they could sow the seeds. There is no +recourse to the proper authorities: the administrators and judges, even +when their own property is concerned, "dare not openly show themselves," +because "they do not find themselves protected by the shield of the law. +"--Popular will, traversing both the old and the new law, obstinately +persists in its work, and forcibly attains its ends. Thus, whatever the +grand terms of liberty, equality, and fraternity may be, with which the +Revolution graces itself, it is, in its essence, a transfer of property; +in this alone consists its chief support, its enduring energy, +its primary impulse and its historical significance.--Formerly, in +antiquity, similar movements were accomplished, debts were abolished or +lessened, the possessions of the rich were confiscated, and the public +lands were divided; but this operation was confined to a city and +limited to a small territory. For the first time it takes place on a +large scale and in a modern State.--Thus far, in these vast States, when +the deeper foundations have been disturbed, it has ever been on account +of foreign domination or on account of an oppression of conscience. +In France in the fifteenth century, in Holland in the sixteenth and in +England in the seventeenth century, the peasant, the mechanic, and the +laborer had taken up arms against an enemy or in behalf of their faith. +On religious or patriotic zeal has followed the craving for prosperity +and comfort, and the new motive is as powerful as the others; for in +our industrial, democratic, and utilitarian societies it is this which +governs almost all lives, and excites almost all efforts. Kept down for +centuries, the passion recovers itself by throwing off government +and privilege, the two great weights which have borne it down. At the +present time this passion launches itself impetuously with its whole +force, with brutal insensibility, athwart every kind of proprietorship +that is legal and legitimate, whether it be public or private. The +obstacles it encounters only render it the more destructive, +beyond property it attacks proprietors, and completes plunder with +proscriptions. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3201: The expression is that of Jean Bon Saint-André to +Mathieu Dumas, sent to re-establish tranquillity in Montauban (1790): +"The day of vengeance, which we have been awaiting for a hundred years, +has come!"] + +[Footnote 3202: De Dampmartin, I. 187 (an eye-witness).] + +[Footnote 3203: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223 and 3216. Letters of +M. de Bouzols, major general, residing at Montpellier, May 21, 25, 28, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3204: Mary Lafon, "Histoire d'une Ville Protestante ".(with +original documents derived from the archives of Montauban).] + +[Footnote 3205: Archives Nationales," F7, 2216. Procés-verbal of the +Municipality of Nîmes and report of the Abbé de Belmont.--Report of the +Administrative commissioners, June 28, 1790.--Petition of the Catholics, +April 20.--Letters of the Municipality, the commissioners, and M. +de Nausel, on the events of May 2 and 3.--Letter of M. Rabaut +Saint-Etienne, May 12--Petition of the widow Gas, July 30.--Report +(printed) of M. Alquier, February 19, 1791.--Memoir (printed) of the +massacre of the Catholics at Nîmes, by Froment (1790).--New address +of the Municipality of Nîmes, presented by M. de Marguerite, mayor and +deputy (1790), printed. Mercure de France, February 23, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3206: The petition is signed by 3,127 persons, besides +1560 who put a cross declaring that they could not write. The +counter-petition of the club is signed by 262 persons.] + +[Footnote 3207: This last item, stated in M. Alquier's report, is denied +by the municipality. According to it, the red rosettes gathered around +the bishop's quarters had no guns.] + +[Footnote 3208: An insurrection in the sixteenth century, when the +Protestants fired on the Catholics on St. Michael's Day.--320TR.] + +[Footnote 3209: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3216. Letter of M. de Lespin, +Major at Nîmes, to the commandant of Provence, M de Perigord, July +27, 1790: "The plots and conspiracies which were attributed to the +vanquished party, and which, it was believed, would be discovered in the +depositions of the four hundred men in prison, vanish as the proceedings +advance. The veritable culprits are to be found among the informers."] + +[Footnote 3210: Buchez and Roux, III. 240 (Memorandum of the Ministers, +October 28, 1789).--"Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 3. Deliberation of +the Municipal council of Vernon (November 4, 1789)] + +[Footnote 3211: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. correspondence of M. de +Thiard, November 4, 1789.--See similar occurrences, September 4, October +23, November 4 and 19, 1789, January 27 and March 27, 1790] + +[Footnote 3212: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Letter from Gex, May +29, 1790.--Buchez and Roux, VII. 198, 369 (September, October, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3213: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, Commandant of the four central provinces. Letters of May +25, June 11, 19, and 27, 1790.--" Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 4. +Deliberations of the district administrators of Bourbon-Lancy, May 26.] + +[Footnote 3214: "Archives Nationales," H. 2453. Minutes of the meeting +of a dozen parishes in Nivernais, June 4. "White bread is to be 2 sous, +and brown bread 11/2 sous. Husbandmen are to have 30 sous, reapers 10 +sous, wheelwrights 10 sous, bailiffs 6 sous per league. Butter is to +be at 8 sous, meat at 5 sous, pork at 8 sous, oil at 8 sous the pint, a +square foot of masonry-work 40 sous, a pair of large sabots 3 sous. All +rights of pasturage and of forests are to be surrendered. The roads +are to be free everywhere, as formerly. All seignorial rents are to be +suppressed. Millers are to take only one thirty-second of a bushel. +The seigneurs of our department are to give up all servile holidays and +ill-acquired property. The curé of Bièze is simply to say mass at nine +o'clock in the morning and vespers at two o'clock in the afternoon, in +summer and winter; he must marry and bury gratis, it being reserved to +us to pay him a salary. He is to be paid 6 sous for masses, and not to +leave his curé except to repeat his breviary and make proper calls on +the men and women of his parish. Hats must be had from 3 livres to 30 +sous. Nails 3 livres the gross. Curés are to have none but circumspect +females of fifty for domestics. Curés are not to go to either fairs or +markets. All curés are to be on the same footing as the one at Bièze. +There must be no more wholesale dealers in wheat. Law officers who make +unjust seizures must return the money. Farm leases must expire on St. +Martin's Day. M. le Comte, although not there, M. de Tontenelle, and M. +de Commandant must sign this document without difficulty. M. de Mingot +is formally to resign his place in writing: he went away with his +servant-woman--he even missed his mass on the first Friday of the +Fête-Dieu, and it is supposed that he slept in the woods. Joiners' wages +shall be fixed at the same rate as wheelwrights'. Ox-straps are not +to cost over 40 sous, yokes 10 sous. Masters must pay one-half of the +tailles. Notaries are to take only the half of what they had formerly, +as well as comptrollers. The Commune claims the right of protest against +whatever it may have forgotten in the present article, in fact or in +law." (It is signed by about twenty persons, several of them being +mayors and municipal clerks.)] + +[Footnote 3215: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. The same correspondence, +May 29, June 11 and 17, September 15, 1790.--ibid, F7, 3257. Letter of +the municipal authorities of Marsigny, May 3; of the municipal officers +of Bourbon-Lancy, June 5. Extract from letters written to M. Amelot, +June 1st.] + +[Footnote 3216: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3185, 3186. Letter of the +President of the Tribunal of the district of Laon, February 8, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3217: "Archives Nationales F7, 3268. Procés-verbal and +observations of the two commissioners sent to Étampes September 22-25, +1791.] + +[Footnote 3218: "Archives Nationales F7, 3265. The following document, +among many others, shows the expedients and conceptions of the popular +imagination. Petition of several inhabitants of the commune of Forges +(Seine Inférieure) "to the good and incorruptible Minister of the +Interior" (October 16, 1792). After three good crops in succession, +the famine still continues. Under the ancient régime wheat was +superabundant; hogs were fed with it, and calves were fattened with +bread. It is certain, therefore, that wheat is diverted by monopolists +and the enemies of the new regime. The farms are too large; let them +he divided. There is too much pasture-ground: sow it with wheat. Compel +each farmer and land-owner to give a statement of his crop: let the +quantity be published at the church service, and in case of falsehood +let the man be put to death or imprisoned, and his grain he confiscated. +Oblige all the cultivators of the neighborhood to sell their wheat at +Forges only, etc."] + +[Footnote 3219: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Report of the +commissioners sent by the department, March 11, 1792 (apropos of the +insurrection of March 4).--Mortimer-Ternaux, I. 381.] + +[Footnote 3220: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letters of several +mayors, district administrators, cultivators of Velizy, Villacoublay, +La celle-Saint-Cloud, Montigny, etc. November 12, 1791.--Letter of M. +de Narbonne, January 13, 1792; of M. Sureau, justice of the peace in the +canton of Étampes, September 17, 1791.--Letter of Bruyères-le-Châtel, +January 28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3221: A term applied to brigands at this epoch who demand +money and objects of value, and force their delivery by exposing the +soles of the feet of their victims to a fire.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3222: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory +of Cher, August 25, 1791.--F7, 3240. Letter of the Directory of Haute +Marne, November 6, 1791.--F7, 3248. Minutes of the meeting of the +members of the department of the Nord, March 18, 1791.--F7, 3250. +Minutes of the meeting of the municipal officers of Montreuil-sur-Mer, +October 16, 1791.--F7, 3265. Letter of the Directory of Seine Infereure, +July 22, 1791.--D, XXIX. 4. Remonstrances of the municipalities +assembled at Tostes, July 21, 1791.--Petition, of the municipal officers +of the districts of Dieppe, Cany, and Caudebec, July 22, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3223: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim.] + +[Footnote 3224: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. +Deliberations of the Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September 20, 1791 +(apropos of the insurrection. September 16, at Étampes).--Letter of +Charpentier, president of the district, September 19.--Report of the +Department Commissioners, March 11, 1792 (on the insurrection at Brunoy, +March 4.)--Report of the Department Commissioners, March 4, 1792 (on +the insurrection at Montlhéry, February 13 to 20).--Deliberation of the +Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September 16, 1791 (on the insurrection at +Corbeil).--Letters of the mayors of Limours, Lonjumeau, etc.] + +[Footnote 3225: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, +passim.--Minutes of the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhéry, +February 28, 1792: "We cannot enter into fuller details without exposing +ourselves to extremities which would be only disastrous to us."--Letter +of the justice of the peace of the canton, February 25: "Public outcry +teaches me that if I issue writs of arrest against those who massacred +Thibault, the people would rise."] + +[Footnote 3226: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. +Reports of the gendarmerie, February 24, 1792, and the following +days.--Letter of the sergeant of Limours, March 2; of the manager of the +farm of Plessis-le-Comte, February 23.] + +[Footnote 3227: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, +passim.--Memorandum to the National Assembly by the citizens of +Rambouillet, September 17, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3228: "Archives Nationales," F7 3268 and 3269, Passim. +Minutes of the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhéry, February +27, 1792.--Buchez and Roux, XIII. 421, (March, 1792); and XIII., +317.--Mercure de France, February 25, 1792. (Letters of M. Dauchy, +President of the Directory of the Department; of M. de Gouy, messenger +sent by the minister, etc.)--Moniteur, sitting of February 15, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3229: Decree of September 3, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3230: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269. Petition of +the citizens of Montfort-l'Amaury, Saint-Léger, Gros-Rouvre, Gelin, +Laqueue, and Méré, to the citizens of Rambouillet.] + +[Footnote 3231: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3230. Letter of an +administrator of the district of Vendôme, with the deliberation of the +commune of Vendôme, November 24, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3232: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the +administrators of the Department of Seine-Inférieure, Octobers 23, +1792.--Letters of the Special Committee of Rouen, October 22 and +23, 1792: "The more the zeal and patriotism of the cultivators is +stimulated, the more do they seem determined to avoid the market-places, +which are always in a State of absolute destitution."] + +[Footnote 3233: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3265. Letter of David, a +cultivator, October 20, 1792.--Letter of the Department Administrators, +October 13, 1792, etc.--Letter (printed) of the minister to the +convention, November 4.--Proclamation of the Provisional Executive +council, October 31, 1792. (The setier of grain of two hundred and forty +pounds is sold at 60 francs in the south, and at half that sum in the +north.)] + +[Footnote 3234: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letters of Bonnemant, +September 11, 1792; of Laussel, September 22, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3235: "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. +de Bercheny, July 28, October 24 and 26, 1790.--The same disposition +lasted. An insurrection occurred in Issoudun after the three days of +July, 1830, against the combined imposts. Seven or eight thousand wine +growers burnt the archives and tax-offices and dragged an employee +through the streets, shouting out at each street-lamp, "Let him be +hung!" The general sent to repress the outbreak entered the town only +through a capitulation; the moment he reached the Hôtel-de-Ville a +man of the Faubourg de Rome put his pruning-book around his neck, +exclaiming, "No more clerks where there is nothing to do!"] + +[Footnote 3236: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory +of Cher, April 9, 1790.--Ibid, F7, 3255. Letter of August 4, 1790. +Verdict of the présidial, November 4, 1790.--Letter of the Municipality +of Saint-Etienne, August 5, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3237: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248. Letter of M. Sénac de +Mejlhan, April 10, 1790.--Letter of the grands baillis, June 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3238: Buchez and Roux, VI. 403. Report of Chabroud on the +insurrection at Lyons, July 9 and 10, 1790.--Duvergier, "Collection des +Décrets." Decrees of August 4 and 15, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3239: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the Minister, +July 2, 1790, to the Directory of Rhône-et-Loire. "The King is informed +that, throughout your department, and especially in the districts of +Saint-Etienne and Montbrison, license is carried to the extreme; +that the judges dare not prosecute; that in many places the municipal +officers are at the head of the disturbances; and that, in others, the +National Guard do not obey requisitions."--Letter of September 5, 1790. +"In the bourg of Thisy, brigands have invaded divers cotton-spinning +establishments and partially destroyed them and after having plundered +them, they have sold the goods by public auction."] + +[Footnote 3240: Buchez and Roux, VI. 345. Report of M. Muguet, July 1, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3241: Minutes of the meeting of the National Assembly. +(Sitting of October 24, 1789.)--Decree of September 27, 1789, applicable +the 1st of October. There are other alleviations applicable on the 1st +of January, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3242: Mercure de France, February 27, 1790. (Memorandum of the +garde des sceaux, January 16.)--Observations of M. Necker on the report +made by the Financial committee, at the sitting of March 12, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3243: "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, April 24, May 4 and 6, 1790: "It is much to be feared that the +tobacco-tax will share the fate of the salt-tax."] + +[Footnote 3244: Mercure de France, July 31, 1790 (sitting of July 10.) +M. Lambert, Comptroller General of the Finances, informs the Assembly of +"the obstacles which continual outbreaks, brigandage, and the maxims of +anarchical freedom impose, from one end of France to the other, on the +collection of the taxes. On one side, the people are led to believe +that, if they stubbornly refuse a tax contrary to their rights, it +abolition will be secured. Elsewhere, smuggling is openly carried on +by force; the people favor it, while the National Guards refuse to act +against the nation. In other places hatred is excited, and divisions +between the troops and the overseers at the toll-houses: the latter +are massacred, the bureaus are pillaged, and the prisons are forced +open."--Memorandum from M. Necker to the National Assembly, July 21, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3245: Decrees of March 21 and 22, 1790, applicable April 21 +following.--Decrees of February 19 and March 2, 1791, applicable May 1 +following.] + +[Footnote 3246: De Goncourt, "La Societé Française pendant la +Révolution," 204.--Maxime Du Camp, "Paris, sa vie et ses organes," VI. +11.] + +[Footnote 3247: "Compte des Revenus et Dépenses au 1er Mai, +1789."--Memorandum of M. Necker, July 21, 1790.--Memoranda presented by +M. de Montesquiou, September 9, 1791.--Comptes-rendus by the minister, +Clavières, October 5, 1792, February 1, 1792.--Report of Cambon, +February, 1793.] + +[Footnote 3248: Boivin-Champeaux, 231.] + +[Footnote 3249: Mercure de France, May 28, 1791. (Sitting of May +22.)--Speech of M. d'Allarde: "Burgundy has paid nothing belonging to +1790."] + +[Footnote 3250: Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speech by +M. Freteau.--Mercure de France. November 26, 1791. Report by +Lafont-Ladebat.] + +[Footnote 3251: "Archives Nationales," H, 2453. correspondence of M. +de Bercheny, June 5, 1790, etc.--F7, 3226. Letters of Chenantin, +cultivator, November 7, 1792, also of the prosecuting attorney, November +6.--F7, 3269. Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of Clugnac, +August 5th, 1792.--F7, 3202. Letter of the Minister of Justice, Duport, +January 3, 1792. "The utter absence of public force in the district of +Montargis renders every operation of the Government and all execution of +the laws impossible. The arrears of taxes to be collected is here very +considerable, while all proceedings of constraint are dangerous and +impossible to execute, owing to the fears of the bailiffs, who dare not +perform their duties, and the violence of the tax-payers, on whom there +is no check."] + +[Footnote 3252: Report of the Committee on Finances, by Ramel, 19th +Floréal, year II (The Constituent Assembly had fixed the real tax of a +house at one-sixth of its letting value.)] + +[Footnote 3253: Mercure de France, December 12, 1789.--"Archives +Nationales," F7, 3268. Memorandum from the officers in command of +the detachment of the Paris National Guard stationed at +Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (April, 1790). Certificate of the Municipal +Officers of Poissy, March 31.] + +[Footnote 3254: Mercure de France, March 12 and 26, 1791.--"Archives +Nationales," H, 1453. Letter of the police-lieutenant of Blois, April +22, 1790.--Mercure de France, July 24, 1790. Two of the murderers +exclaimed to those who tried to save one of the keepers, "Hanging is +well done at Paris! Bah, you are aristocrats! We shall be talked about +in the gazettes of Paris." (Deposition of witnesses.)--Decrees and +proclamations regarding the protection of the forests, November 3 and +December 11, 1789.--Another in October, 1790.--Another June 29, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3255: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of the bailli de +Virieu, January 26, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3256: Mercure de France, December 3, 1791. (Letter from +Sarreluis, November 15, 1791.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter +of the Municipal Officers of Montargis. January 8, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3257: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letter of the overseer +of the national domains at Rambouillet, October 31, 1792.--Report of the +minister Clavières, February 1. 1793.] + +[Footnote 3258: Decrees of August 14, 1792, June 10, 1793.--"Archives +Nationales," Missions des Représentants, D, § 7. (Deliberation of the +district of Troyes, 2 Ventose, an. III.)--At Thunelières, the drawing +took place on the 10th Fructidor, year II, and was done over again in +behalf of a servant of Billy, an influential municipal officer who +"was the soul of his colleagues."--Ibid. Abstract of operations in the +district of Arcis-sur-Aube, 30 Pluviose, year III. "Two-thirds of the +communes hold this kind of property. Most of them have voted on and +effected the partition, or are actually engaged on it."] + +[Footnote 3259: Mercure de France, January 7, 1790. (Chateau of Auxon in +Haute-Saone.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. (Letter of the minister +to the Directory of Rhone-et-Loire, July 2, 1790.)--Mercure de France, +July 17, 1790. (Report of M. de Broglie, July 13, and decree of July +13-18.)--"Archives Nationales," H, 1453. (Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 21, 1790.)] + +[Footnote 3260: Mercure de France, March 19, 1790. Letter from Amien, +February 28. (Mallet du Pan publishes in the Mercure only letters which +are signed and authentic.)] + +[Footnote 3261: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (Correspondence of M. +de Thiard; letters of Chevalier de Bévy, December 26, 1789, and others +up to April 5, 1790.)--Moniteur, sitting of February 9, 1790.--Mercure +de France, February 6 and March 6, 1790 (list of chateaux).] + +[Footnote 3262: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (correspondence of M. +de Thiard.) Letters of the Mayor of Nantes, February 16,!790, of the +Municipality of Redon, February 19, etc.] + +[Footnote 3263: Mercure de France, February 6 and 27, 1790. (Speech of +M. de Foucault, sittings of February 2 and 5)--Moniteur (same dates). +(Report of Grégoire, February 9; speeches by MM. Sallé de Chaux and de +Noailles, February 9.)--Memorandum of the deputies of the town of Tulle, +drawn up by the Abbé Morellet (from the deliberations and addresses of +eighty-three boroughs and cities in the province).] + +[Footnote 3264: In allusion to the feudal custom of paying seignorial +dues on the first of May around a maypole. See further on. 32TR] + +[Footnote 3265: Criminal Courts without appeal.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3266: Moniteur, sitting of March 4, 1790.--Duvergier, decrees +of March 6, 1790, and August 6-10 1790] + +[Footnote 3267: The address is dated February 11, 1793. This singularly +comic document would alone suffice to make the history of the Revolution +perfectly comprehensible.] + +[Footnote 3268: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. (Letters of the royal +commissioner, April 30 and May 9, 1790.)--Letter of the Duc de Maillé, +May 6.--Report from the administrators of the department, November 12, +1790.--Moniteur VI. 515.] + +[Footnote 3269: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory +from Ille-et-Vilaine, January 30, 1791, and letter from Dinan, January +29--Mercure de France, April 2 and 16, 1791. Letters from Rennes, March +20th; from Redon, March 12.] + +[Footnote 3270: So expressed in the minutes of the meeting.] + +[Footnote 3271: Moniteur, sitting of December 15, 1790. (Address of the +department of Lot, December 7.)--Sitting of December 20 (Speech by M. de +Foucault.)--Mercure de France, December 18, 1790. (Letter from Belves, +in Perigord, December 7.)--Ibid., January 22, 29, 1791. (Letter from M. +de Clarac, January 18.)] + +[Footnote 3272: December 17, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3273: January 7, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3274: Revolutionary archives of the department of Creuse, +by Duval. (Letter of the administrators of the department, March 31, +1791.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. (Deliberation of the +Directory of the Department, May 12, 1791--Minutes of the meeting of the +municipality of La Souterraine, August 23, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3275: "Archives Nationales", F7, 3269.--Order of the directory +of the district of Ribérac, August 5, 1791, and requisitions of the +prosecuting attorney of the department, August 24, and September +11.--Letter of the king's commissioner, August 22.] + +[Footnote 3276: A sort of export duty.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3277: "Archives Nationales," P7, 3204.--Letter, from the +Directory of the Department, June 2, 1791; September 8 and 22.--Letter +from the Minister of Justice, May 15, 1791.--Letter from M. de +Lentilhac, September 2.--Letter from M. Melon-Padon, Royal Commissioner, +September.--Mercure de France, May 14, 1791. (Letter of an eye-witness, +M.de Loyac, April 25, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3278: "Archives Nationales," F7. 3204. Letters from M. de +Saint-Victour, September 25, October 2 and 10, 1791.--Letter from the +steward of his estate, September 18.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion. + + + + +I.--Attitude of the nobles. Their moderate resistance. + +If popular passion ended in murder it was not because resistance was +great or violent. On the contrary, never did an aristocracy undergo +dispossession with so much patience, or employ less force in the defense +of its prerogatives, or even of its property. To speak with exactness, +the class in question receives blows without returning them, and when +it does take up arms, it is always with the bourgeois and the National +Guard, at the request of the magistrates, in conformity with the law, +and for the protection of persons and property. The nobles try to avoid +being either killed or robbed, nothing more: for nearly three years +they raise no political banner. In the towns where they exert the most +influence and which are denounced as rebellious, for ex-ample in Mende +and Arles, their opposition is limited to the suppression of riots, the +restraining of the common people, and ensuring respect for the law, It +is not the new order of things against which they conspire, but against +brutal disorder.--At Mende," says the municipal body,[3301] "we had +the honor of being the first to furnish the contributions of 1790. We +supplied the place of our bishop and installed his successor without +disturbance, and without the assistance of any foreign force . . . . We +dispersed the members of a cathedral body to which we were attached by +the ties of blood and friendship; we dismissed all, from the bishop down +to the children of the choir. We had but three communities of mendicant +monks, and all three have been suppressed. We have sold all national +possessions without exception."--The commander of their gendarmerie is, +in fact, an old member of the body-guard, while the superior officers of +the National Guard are gentlemen, or belong to the order of Saint-Louis. +It is very evident that, if they defend themselves against Jacobins, +they are not insurgent against the National Assembly.--In Arles,[3302] +which has put down its populace, which has armed itself, which has shut +its gates, and which passes for a focus of royalist conspiracy, the +commissioners sent by the King and by the National Assembly, men +of discretion and of consideration, find nothing, after a month's +investigation, but submission to the decrees and zeal for the public +welfare. + +"Such," they say, "are the men who have been calumniated because, +cherishing the Constitution, they hold fanaticism, demagogues and +anarchy, in horror. If the citizens had not roused themselves when the +moment of danger arrived, they would have been slaughtered like their +neighbors (of Avignon). It is this insurrection against crime which the +brigands have slandered." If their gates were shut it was because "the +National Guard of Marseilles, the same which behaved so badly in the +Comtat, flocked there under the pretext of maintaining liberty and of +forestalling the counter-revolution, but, in reality, to village the +town." + +Vive la Nation! Vive la Loi! Vive le Roi were the only cries heard at +the very quiet and orderly elections that had just taken place. + +"The attachment of the citizens to the Constitution has been spoken +of. . . . Obedience to the laws, the readiest disposition to discharge +public contributions, were remarked by us among these pretended +counter-revolutionaries. Those who are subject to the license-tax came +in crowds to the Hôtel-de-Ville." Scarcely "was the bureau of receipts +opened when it was filled with respectable people; those on the contrary +who style themselves good patriots, republicans or anarchists, were not +conspicuous on this occasion; but a very small number among them have +made their submission. The rest are surprised at being called upon for +money; they had been given a quite different hope." + +In short, during more than thirty months, and under a steady fire of +threats, outrages, and plunder, the nobles who remain in France neither +commit nor undertake any hostile act against the Government that +persecutes them. None of them, not even M. de Bouillé, attempts to carry +out any real plan of civil war; I find but one resolute man in their +ranks at this date, ready for action, and who labors to form one +militant party against another militant party: he is really a politician +and conspirator; he has an understanding with the Comte d'Artois; he +gets petitions signed for the freedom of the King and of the Church; +he organizes armed companies; he recruits the peasants; he prepares +a Vendée for Languedoc and Provence; and this person is a bourgeois, +Froment of Nîmes.[3303] But, at the moment of action, he finds only +three out of eighteen companies, supposed by him to be enlisted in +his cause, that are willing to march with him. Others remain in their +quarters until, Froment being overcome, they are found there and +slaughtered; the survivors, who escape to Jalès, find, not a stronghold, +but a temporary asylum, where they never succeed in transforming their +inclinations into determinations.[3304]--The nobles too, like other +Frenchmen, have been subject to the lasting pressure of monarchical +centralization. They no longer form one body; they have lost the +instinct of association. They no longer know how to act for themselves; +they are the puppets of administration awaiting an impulse from the +center, while at the center the King, their hereditary general, a +captive in the hands of the people, commands them to be resigned and to +do nothing.[3305] Moreover, like other Frenchmen, they have been +brought up in the philosophy of the eighteenth century. "Liberty is +so precious," wrote the Duc de Brissac,[3306] "that it may well be +purchased with some suffering; a destroyed feudalism will not prevent +the good and the true from being respected and loved."--They persist in +this illusion for a long time and remain optimists. As they feel kindly +towards the people, they cannot comprehend that the people should +entertain other sentiments toward them; they firmly believe that +the troubles are transient. Immediately on the proclamation of the +Constitution they return in crowds from Spain, Belgium, and Germany; +at Troyes there are not enough post-horses for many days to supply +the emigrants who are coming back.[3307] Thus they accept not only the +abolition of feudalism with civil equality, but also political equality +and numerical sovereignty. + +Some consideration for them, some outward signs of respect, a few bows, +would, in all probability, have rallied them sincerely to democratic +institutions. They would soon consent to be confounded with the crowd, +to submit to the common level, and to live as private individuals. Had +they been treated like the bourgeois or the peasant, their neighbors, +had their property and persons been respected, they might have accepted +the new régime without any bitterness of feeling. That the leading +emigrant nobles and those forming a part of the old court carry on +intrigues at Coblentz or at Turin is natural, since they have lost +everything: authority, places, pensions, sinecures, pleasures, and +the rest. But, to the gentry and inferior nobles of the provinces, +chevaliers of Saint-Louis, subaltern officers and resident proprietors, +the loss is insignificant. The law has suppressed one-half of their +seignorial dues; but by virtue of the same law their lands are no longer +burdened with tithes. Popular elections will not provide them with +places, but they did not enjoy them under the arbitrary ministerial +rule. Little does it matter to them that power, whether ministerial or +popular, has changed hands: they are not accustomed to its favors, and +will pursue their ordinary avocations--the chase, promenading, reading, +visiting, and conversing--provided they, like the first-comer, the +grocer at the corner, or their farm-servant, find protection, safety, +and security on the public road and in their dwellings.[3308] + + + + +II.--Workings of the popular imagination with respect to them. + + The monomania of suspicion.--The nobles distrusted and + treated as enemies.--Situation of a gentleman on his + domain.--M. de. Bussy + +Popular passion, unfortunately, is a blind power, and, for lack of +enlightenment, suffers itself to be guided by spectral illusions. +Imaginary conceptions work, and work in conformity with the structure of +the excited brain which has given birth to them: + +What if the Ancient Regime should return! + +What if we were obliged to restore the property of the clergy! + +What if we should be again forced to pay the salt tax, the excise, +the taille, and other dues which, thanks to the law, we no longer pay, +besides other taxes and dues that we do not pay in spite of the law! + +What if all the nobles whose chateaux are burnt, and who have given rent +acquittances at the point of the sword, should find some way to avenge +themselves and recover their former privileges! + +Undoubtedly they brood over these things, make agreements amongst each +other, and plot with the strangers; at the first opportunity they +will fall upon us: we must watch them, repress them, and, if needs be, +destroy them.--This instinctive process of reasoning prevailed from +the outset, and, in proportion as excesses increase, prevails to a +much greater extent. The noble is ever the past, present, and future +creditor, or, at the very least, a possible one, which means that he is +the worst and most odious of enemies. All his ways are suspicious, even +when he is doing nothing; whatever he may do it is with a view of arming +himself. + +M. de Gilliers, who lives with his wife and sister one league out of +Romans in Dauphiny,[3309] amuses himself by planting trees and flowers; +a few steps from his house, on another domain, M. de Montchorel, an old +soldier, and M. Osmond, an old lawyer from Paris, with their wives and +children, occupy their leisure hours in somewhat the same manner. M. +de Gilliers having ordered and received wooden water-pipes, the report +spreads that they are cannon. His guest, M. Servan, receives an English +traveling-trunk, which is said to be full of pistols. When M. Osmond and +M. Servan stroll about the country with pencils and drawing-paper, it +is averred that they are preparing topographical plans for the Spaniards +and Savoyards. The four carriages belonging to the two families go to +Romans to fetch some guests: instead of four there are nineteen, and +they are sent for aristocrats who are coming to hide away in underground +passages. M. de Senneville, decorated with a cordon rouge (red ribbon), +pays a visit on his return from Algiers: the decoration becomes a blue +one, and the wearer is the Comte d'Artois[3310] in person. There is +certainly a plot brewing, and at five o'clock in the morning eighteen +communes (two thousand armed men) arrive before the doors of the two +houses; shouts and threats of death last for eight hours; a gun fired a +few paces off at the suspects misfires; a peasant who is aiming at them +says to his neighbor, "Give me a decent gun and I will plant both +my balls in their bodies!" Finally, M. de Gilliers, who was absent, +attending a baptism, returns with the Royal Chasseurs of Dauphiny and +the National Guard of Romans, and with their assistance delivers his +family.--It is only in the towns, that is, in a few towns, and for a +very short time, that an inoffensive noble who is attacked obtains any +aid; the phantoms which people create for themselves there are less +gross; a certain degree of enlightenment, and a remnant of common sense, +prevent the hatching of too absurd stories.--But in the dark recesses +of rustic brains nothing can arrest the monomania of suspicion. Fancies +multiply there like weeds in a dark hole: they take root and vegetate +until they become belief, conviction, and certainty; they produce the +fruit of hostility and hatred, homicidal and incendiary ideas. With eyes +constantly fixed on the chateau, the village regards it as a Bastille +which must be captured, and, instead of saluting the lord of the manor, +it thinks only of firing at him. + +Let us take up one of these local histories in detail.[3311] In the +month of July, 1789, during the jacquerie in Mâçonnais, the parish of +Villiers appealed for assistance to its lord, M. de Bussy, a former +colonel of dragoons. He had returned home, treated the people of his +village to a dinner, and attempted to form them into a body of guards +to protect themselves against incendiaries and brigands; along with the +well-disposed men of the place "he patrolled every evening to restore +tranquillity to the parish." On a rumor spreading that "the wells were +poisoned," he placed sentinels alongside of all the wells except his +own, "to prove that he was acting for the parish and not for himself." +In short, he did all he could to conciliate the villagers, and to +interest them in the common safety.--But, by virtue of being a noble +and an officer he is distrusted, and it is Perron, the syndic of the +commune, to whom the commune now listens. Perron announces that the King +"having abjured his sworn word," no more confidence is to be placed in +him, and, consequently, neither in his officers nor in the gentry. On +M. de Bussy proposing to the National Guards that they should go to the +assistance of the chateau of Thil, which is in flames, Perron prevents +them, declaring that "these fires are kindled by the nobles and the +clergy." M. de Bussy insists, and entreats them to go, offering to +abandon "his terrier," that is to say all his seignorial dues, if they +will only accompany him and arrest this destruction. They refuse to do +so. He perseveres, and, on being informed that the chateau of Juillenas +is in peril, he collects, after great efforts, a body of one hundred +and fifty men of his parish, and, marching with them, arrives in time to +save the chateau, which a mob was about to set on fire. But the popular +excitement, which he had just succeeded in calming at Juillenas, has +gained the upper hand amongst his own troop: the brigands have seduced +his men, "which obliges him to lead them back, while, along the road, +they seem inclined to fire at him."--Having returned, he is followed +with threats even to his own house: a band comes to attack his chateau; +finding it on the defensive, they insist on being led to that of +Courcelles.--In the midst of all this violence M. de Bussy, with about +fifteen friends and tenants, succeeds in protecting himself and, by +dint of patience, energy, and cool blood, without killing or wounding a +single man, ends in bringing back security throughout the whole canton. +The jacquerie subsides, and it seems as if the newly restored order +would be maintained. He sends for Madame de Bussy to return, and some +months pass away.--The popular imagination, however, is poisoned, and +whatever a gentleman may do, he is no longer tolerated on his estate. A +few leagues from there, on April 29, 1790, M. de Bois-d'Aisy, deputy +to the National Assembly, had returned to his parish to vote at the +new elections.[3312] "Scarcely has he arrived," when the commune of +Bois-d'Aisy gives him notice through its mayor "that it will not regard +him as eligible." He attends the electoral meeting which is held in the +church there, a municipal officer in the pulpit inveighs against nobles +and priests, and declares that they must not take part in the elections. +All eyes turn upon M. de Boisd'Aisy, who is the only noble present. +Nevertheless, he takes the civic oath, which nearly costs him dear, for +murmurs arise around him, and the peasants say that he ought to have +been hanged like the lord of Sainte-Colombe, to prevent his taking the +oath. In fact, the evening before, the latter, M. de Vitteaux, an +old man of seventy-four years of age, was expelled from the primary +assembly, then torn out of the house in which he had sought refuge, half +killed with blows, and dragged through the streets to the open square; +his mouth was stuffed with manure, a stick was thrust into his ears, +and "he expired after a martyrdom of three hours." The same day, in the +church of the Capuchins, at Sémur, the rural parishes which met together +excluded their priests and gentry in the same fashion. M. de Damas +and M. de Sainte-Maure were beaten with clubs and stones; the curé +of Massigny died after six stabs with a knife, and M. de Virieu saved +himself as he best could.--With such examples before them it is probable +that many of the nobles will no longer exercise their right of suffrage. +M. de Bussy does not pretend to do it. He merely tries to prove that he +is loyal to the nation, and that he meditates no wrong to the National +Guard or to the people. He proposed, at the out-set, to the volunteers +of Mâçon to join them, along with his little troop; they refused to have +him and thus the fault is not on his side. On the 14th of July, 1790, +the day of the Federation on his domain, he sends all his people off to +Villiers, furnished with the tricolour cockade. He himself, with three +of his friends, attends the ceremony to take the oath, all four in +uniform, with the cockade on their hats, without any weapons but their +swords and a light cane in their hands. They salute the assembled +National Guards of the three neighboring parishes, and keep outside +the enclosure so as not to give offense. But they have not taken into +account the prejudices and animosities of the new municipal bodies. +Perron, the former syndic, is now mayor. A man named Bailly, who is the +village shoemaker, is another of the municipal officers; their councilor +is an old dragoon, one of those soldiers probably who have deserted or +been discharged, and who are the firebrands of almost every riot that +takes place. A squad of a dozen or fifteen men leave the ranks and +march up to the four gentlemen, who advance, hat in hand, to meet them. +Suddenly the men aim at them, and Bailly, with a furious air, demands: +"What the devil do you come here for?" M. de Bussy replies that, having +been informed of the Federation, he had come to take the oath like +the rest of the people. Bailly asks why he had come armed. M. de Bussy +remarks that "having been in the service, the sword was inseparable from +the uniform," and had they come there without that badge they would have +been at fault; besides, they must have observed that they had no other +arms. Bailly, still in a rage, and, moreover, exasperated by such good +reasons, turns round with his gun in his hand towards the leader of the +squad and asks him three times in succession, "Commander, must I fire?" +The commander not daring to take the responsibility of so gratuitous a +murder, remains silent, and finally orders M. de Bussy to "clear out;" +"which I did," says M. de Bussy.--Nevertheless, on reaching home, he +writes to the municipal authorities clearly setting forth the motive of +his coming, and demands an explanation of the treatment he had received. +Mayor Perron throws aside his letter without reading it, and, on the +following day, on leaving the mass, the National Guards come, by way of +menace, to load their guns in sight of M. de Bussy, round his garden.--A +few days after this, at the instigation of Bailly, two other proprietors +in the neighborhood are assassinated in their houses. Finally, on a +journey to Lyons, M. de Bussy learns "that the chateaux in Poitou +are again in flames, and that the work is to begin again +everywhere."--Alarmed at all these indications, "he resolves to form a +company of volunteers, which, taking up their quarters in his chateau, +can serve the whole canton on a legal requisition." He thinks that about +fifteen brave men will be sufficient. He has already six men with him +in the month of October, 1790; green coats are ordered for them, and +buttons are bought for the uniform. Seven or eight domestics may be +added to the number. In the way of arms and munitions the chateau +contains two kegs of gunpowder which were on hand before 1789, seven +blunderbusses, and five cavalry sabers, left there in passing by M. +de Bussy's old dragoons: to these must be added two double-barreled +fowling-pieces, three soldiers' muskets, five brace of pistols, two poor +common guns, two old swords, and a hunting-knife. Such is the garrison, +such the arsenal, and these are the preparations, so well justified and +so slight, which prejudice conjointly with gossip is about to transform +into a great conspiracy. + +The chateau, in effect, was an object of suspicion in the village from +the very first day. All its visitors, whenever they went out or came +in, with all the details of their actions, were watched, denounced, +exaggerated, and misinterpreted. If through the awkwardness or +carelessness of so many inexperienced National Guards, a stray ball +reaches a farm-house one day in broad daylight, it comes from the +chateau; it is the aristocrats who have fired upon the peasants.--There +is the same state of suspicion in the neighboring towns. The municipal +body of Valence, hearing that two youths had ordered coats made "of a +color which seemed suspicious," send for the tailor; he confesses the +fact, and adds that "they intended to put the buttons on themselves." +Such a detail is alarming. An inquiry is set on foot and the alarm +increases; people in a strange uniform have been seen passing on their +way to the chateau of Villiers; from thence, on reaching the number of +two hundred, they will go and join the garrison of Besançon; they will +travel four at a time in order to avoid detection. At Besançon they are +to meet a corps of forty thousand men, commanded by M. Autichamp, which +corps is to march on to Paris to carry off the King, and break up the +National Assembly. The National Guards along the whole route are to +be forced into the lines. At a certain distance each man is to receive +1,200 francs, and, at the end of the expedition, is to be enrolled +in the Artois Guard, or sent home with a recompense of 12,000 +francs.--Meanwhile, the Prince de Condé; with forty thousand men, will +come by the way of Pont Saint-Esprit in Languedoc, rally the disaffected +of Carpentras and of the Jalès camp to his standard, and occupy Cette +and the other seaports; and finally, the Comte d'Artois, on his side, +will enter by Pont-Beauvoisin with thirty thousand men.--A horrible +discovery! The municipal authorities of Valence immediately inform those +of Lyons, Besançon, Châlons, Maçon, and others beside. On the strength +of this the municipal body of Maçon, "considering that the enemies of +the Revolution are ever making the most strenuous efforts to annihilate +the Constitution which secures the happiness of this empire," and "that +it is highly important to frustrate their designs," sends two hundred +men of its National Guard to the chateau of Villiers," empowered to +employ armed force in case of resistance." For greater security, +this troop is joined by the National Guards of the three neighboring +parishes. M. de Bussy, on being told that they were climbing over the +wall into his garden, seizes a gun and takes aim, but does not fire, and +then, the requisition being legal, throws all open to them. There are +found in the house six green coats, seven dozens of large buttons, and +fifteen dozens of small ones. The proof is manifest. He explains what +his project was and states his motive--it is a mere pretext. He makes a +sign, as an order, to his valet--there is a positive complicity. M. de +Bussy, his six guests, and the valet, are arrested and transported to +Maçon. A trial takes place, with depositions and interrogatories, in +which the truth is elicited in spite of the most adverse testimony; +it is clear that M. de Bussy never intended to do more than defend +himself.--But prejudice is a blindfold to hostile eyes. It cannot be +admitted that, under a constitution which is perfect, an innocent man +could incur danger; the objection is made to him that "it is not natural +for an armed company to be formed to resist a massacre by which it is +not menaced;" they are convinced beforehand that he is guilty. On a +decree of the National Assembly the minister had ordered all accused +persons to be brought to Paris by the constabulary and hussars; the +National Guard of Maçon, "in the greatest state of agitation," declares +that, "as it had arrested M. de Bussy, it would not consent to his +transport by any other body. . . Undoubtedly, the object is to allow him +to escape on the way," but it will know how to keep its captive secure. +The guard, in fine, of its own authority, escorts M. de Bussy to Paris, +into the Abbaye prison, where he is kept confined for several months--so +long, indeed, that, after a new trial and investigation, the absurdity +of the accusation being too palpable, they are obliged to set him at +liberty.--Such is the situation of most of the gentry on their own +estates, and M. de Bussy, even acquitted and vindicated, will act wisely +in not returning home. + + + + +III.--Domiciliary visits. + + The fifth jacquerie.--Burgundy and Lyonnais in 1791.--M. de + Chaponay and M. Guillin-Dumoutet + +He would be nothing but a hostage there. Alone against thousands, sole +survivor and representative of an abolished régime which all detest, +it is the noble against whom everybody turns whenever a political shock +seems to shake the new régime. He is at least disarmed, as he might +be dangerous, and, in these popular executions, brutal instincts and +appetites break loose like a bull that dashes through a door and rages +through a dwelling-house. In the same department, some months later, +on the news arriving of the arrest of the King at Varennes, "all +nonjuring[3313] priests and ci-devant nobles are exposed to the horrors +of persecution." Bands forcibly enter houses to seize arms: Commarin, +Grosbois, Montculot, Chaudenay, Créancé, Toisy, Chatellenot, and other +houses are thus visited, and several are sacked. During the night +of June 26-27, 1791, at the chateau of Créancé "there is pillaging +throughout; the mirrors are broken, the pictures are torn up, and the +doors are broken down." The master of the house, "M. de Comeau-Créncé, +Knight of St. Louis, horribly maltreated, is dragged to the foot of the +stairs, where he lies as if dead:" previous to this, "he was forced to +give a considerable contribution, and to refund all penalties collected +by him before the Revolution as the local lord of the manor. "--Two +other proprietors in the neighborhood, both Knights of St. Louis, are +treated in the same way. "That is the way in which three old and brave +soldiers are rewarded for their services!" A fourth, a peaceable man, +escapes beforehand, leaving his keys in the locks and his gardener in +the house. Notwithstanding this, the doors and the clothes-presses were +broken open, the pillaging lasting five hours and a half; with +threats of setting the house on fire if the seigneur did not make his +appearance. Questions were asked "as to whether he attended the mass of +the new curé whether he had formerly exacted fines, and finally, whether +any of the inhabitants had any complaint to make against him." No +complaint is made; on the contrary, he is rather beloved.--But, in +tumults of this sort, a hundred madmen and fifty rogues prescribe the +law to the timid and the indifferent. These outlaws declared that "they +were acting under orders; they compelled the mayor and prosecuting +attorney to take part in their robberies; they likewise took the +precaution to force a few honest citizens, by using the severest +threats, to march along with them." These people come the next day to +apologize to the pillaged proprietor, while the municipal officers draw +up a statement of the violence practiced against them. The violence +nevertheless, is accomplished, and, as it will go unpunished, it is soon +to be repeated. + +A beginning and an end are already made in the two neighboring +departments. There, especially in the south, nothing is more instructive +than to see how an outbreak stimulated by enthusiasm for the public good +immediately degenerates under the impulse of private interest, and ends +in crime.--Around Lyons,[3314] under the same pretext and at the same +date, similar mobs perform similar visitations, and, on all these +occasions, "the rent-rolls are burnt, and houses are pillaged and set on +fire. Municipal authority, organized for the security of property, is in +many hands but one facility more for its violation. The National +Guard seems to be armed merely for the protection of robbery and +disorder."--For more than thirty years, M. de Chaponay, the father of +six children of whom three are in the service, expended his vast income +on his estate of Beaulieu, giving occupation to a number of persons, +men, women, and children. After the hailstorm of 1761, which nearly +destroyed the village of Moranée, he rebuilt thirty-three houses, +furnished others with timber for the framework, supplied the commune +with wheat, and, for several years, obtained for the inhabitants a +diminution of their taxation. In 1790, he celebrated the Federation +Festival on a magnificent scale, giving two banquets, one of a hundred +and thirty seats, for the municipal bodies and officers of the National +Guards in the vicinity, and the other of a thousand seats for the +privates. If any of the gentry had reason to believe himself popular +and safe it was certainly this man.--On the 24th of June, 1791, the +municipal authorities of Moranée, Lucenay, and Chazelai, with their +mayors and National Guards, in all nearly two thousand men, arrive at +the chateau with drums beating and flags flying. M. de Chaponay goes out +to meet them, and begs to know to what he owes "the pleasure" of their +visit. They reply that they do not come to offend him, but to carry out +the orders of the district, which oblige them to take possession of the +chateau and to place in it a guard of sixty men: on the following day +the "district" and the National Guard of Villefranche are to come and +inspect it.--Be it noted that these orders are imaginary, for M. de +Chaponay asks in vain to see them; they cannot be produced. The cause of +their setting out, probably, is the false rumor that the National Guard +of Villefranche is coming to deprive them of a booty on which they had +calculated.--Nevertheless M. de Chaponay submits; he merely requests +the municipal officers to make the search themselves and in an orderly +manner. Upon this the commandant of the National Guard of Lucenay +exclaims, with some irritation, that "all are equal and all must go +in," and at the same moment all rush forward. "M. de Chaponay orders the +apartments to be opened; they immediately shut them up, purposely to +let the sappers break through the doors with their axes."--Everything is +pillaged, "plate, assignats, stocks of linen, laces and other articles; +the trees of the avenues are hacked and mutilated; the cellars are +emptied, the casks are rolled out on the terrace, the wine is suffered +to run out, and the chateau keep is demolished. . . . The officers urge +on those that are laggard." Towards nine o'clock in the evening M. de +Chaponay is informed by his servants that the municipal authorities have +determined upon forcing him to sign an abandonment of his feudal dues +and afterwards beheading him. He escapes with his wife through the only +door which is left unguarded, wanders about all night, exposed to the +gun-shots of the squads which are on his track, and reaches Lyons only +on the following day.--Meanwhile the pillagers send him notice that if +he does not abandon his rentals, they will cut down his forests and +burn up everything on his estate. The chateau, indeed, is fired three +distinct times, while, in the interval, the band sack another chateau at +Bayère, and, on again passing by that of M. de Chaponay, demolish a +dam which had cost 10,000 livres.--The public prosecutor, for his part, +remains quiet, notwithstanding the appeals to him: he doubtless says to +himself that a gentleman whose house has been searched is lucky to have +saved his life, and that others, like M. Guillin-Dumoutet, for example, +have not been as fortunate. + +The latter gentleman, formerly captain of a vessel belonging to the +India Company, afterwards Commandant at Senegal, now retired from active +life, occupied his chateau of Poleymieux with his young wife and two +infant children, his sisters, nieces, and sister-in-law--in all, ten +women belonging to his family and domestic service--one Negro servant +and himself; an old man of sixty years of age; here is a haunt of +militant conspirators which must be disarmed as soon as possible.[3315] +Unfortunately, a brother of M. Guillin, accused of treason to the +nation, had been arrested ten months previously, which was quite +sufficient for the clubs in the neighborhood. In the month of December, +1790, the chateau had already been ransacked by the people of the +parishes in the vicinity: nothing was found, and the Department first +censured and afterwards interdicted these arbitrary searches. On this +occasion they will manage things better.--On the 26th of June, 1791, at +ten o'clock in the morning, the municipal body of Poleymicux, along with +two other bodies in their scarves, and three hundred National Guards, +are seen approaching, under the usual pretext of searching for arms. +Madame Guillin presents herself; reminds them of the interdict of the +Department, and demands the legal order under which they act. They +refuse to give it. M. Guillin descends in his turn and offers to open +his doors to them if they will produce the order. They have no order +to show him. During the colloquy a certain man named Rosier, a former +soldier who had deserted twice, and who is now in command of the +National Guard, seizes M. Guillin by the throat; the old captain defends +himself; presents a pistol at the man, which misses fire, and then, +throwing the fellow off, withdraws into the house, closing the door +behind him.--Soon after this, the tocsin sounds in the neighborhood, +thirty parishes start up, and two thousand men arrive. Madame Guillin, +by entreaties, succeeds in having delegates appointed, chosen by the +crowd, to inspect the chateau. These delegates examine the apartments, +and declare that they can find nothing but the arms ordinarily kept on +hand. This declaration is of no effect: the multitude, whose excitement +is increased by waiting, feel their strength, and have no idea of +returning empty-handed. A volley is fired, and the chateau windows +are riddled with balls. As a last effort Madame Guillin, with her two +children in her arms, comes out, and going to the municipal officers, +calls upon them to do their duty. Far from doing this they retain her +as a hostage, and place her in such a position that, if there is firing +from the chateau, she may receive the bullets. Meanwhile, the doors are +forced, the house is pillaged from top to bottom, and then set on fire; +M. Guillin, who seeks refuge in the keep, is almost reached by the +flames. At this moment, some of the assailants, less ferocious than +the rest, prevail upon him to descend, and they answer for his life. +Scarcely has he shown himself when others fall on him; they cry that he +must be killed, that he has a life-rent of 36,000 francs from the State, +and "this will be so much saved for the nation." "He is hacked to pieces +alive;" his head is cut off and borne upon a pike; his body is cut up, +and sent piece by piece to each parish; several wash their hands in his +blood, and besmear their faces with it. It seems as if tumult, clamor, +incendiarism, robbery, and murder had aroused in them not only the cruel +instincts of the savage, but the carnivorous appetites of the brute; +some of them, seized by the gendarmerie at Chasselay, had roasted the +dead man's arm and dined upon it.[3316]--Madame Guillin, who is saved +through the compassion of two of the inhabitants of the place, succeeds, +after encountering many dangers, in reaching Lyons; she and her children +lost everything, "the chateau, its dependencies, the crop of the +preceding year, wine, grain, furniture, plate, ready money, assignats, +notes, and contracts." Ten days later, the department gives notice to +the National Assembly that "similar projects are still being plotted and +arranged, and that there are (always) threats of burning chateaux and +rent-rolls;" that no doubt of this can possibly exist: "the inhabitants +of the country only await the opportunity, to renew these scenes of +horror."[3317] + + + + +IV.--The nobles obliged to leave the rural districts. + + They take refuge in towns.--The dangers they incur.--The + eighty-two gentlemen of Caen + +Amidst these multiplied and reviving Jacqueries there is nothing left +but flight, and the nobles, driven out of the rural districts, seek +refuge in the towns. But here also a jacquerie awaits them. As the +effects of the Constitution are developed, successive administrations +become feebler and more partial; the unbridled populace has become +more excitable and more violent; the enthroned club has become more +suspicious and more despotic. Henceforth the club, through or in +opposition to the administrative bodies, leads the populace, and the +nobles will find it as hostile as the peasants. All their reunions, +even when liberal, are closed like that in Paris, through the illegal +interference of mobs, or through the iniquitous action of the popular +magistrates. All their associations, even when legal and salutary, are +broken up by brute force or by municipal intolerance, They are punished +for having thought of defending themselves, and slaughtered because they +try to avoid assassination.--Three or four hundred gentlemen, who +were threatened on their estates, sought refuge with their families in +Caen;[3318] and they trusted to find one there, for, by three different +resolutions, the municipal body promised them aid and protection. +Unfortunately, the club thinks otherwise, and, on August 23, 1791, +prints and posts up a list of their names and residences, declaring that +since "their suspected opinions have compelled them to abandon the rural +districts," they are emigrants in the interior;" from which it follows +that "their conduct must be scrupulously watched," because "it may be +the effect of some dangerous plot against the country." Fifteen are +especially designated; among others "the former curé of Saint-Loup, the +great bloodhound of the aristocrats, and all of them very suspicious +persons, harboring the worst intentions."--Thus denounced and singled +out, it is evident that they can no longer sleep peacefully: moreover, +now that their addresses are published, they are openly threatened with +domiciliary visits and violence. As to the administrative authorities, +their intervention cannot be expected on; the department itself gives +notice to the minister that, as the law stands, it cannot put the +chateau in the hands of the regulars,[3319] as this would, it is said, +excite the National Guard. Besides, how without an army is this post to +be wrested from the hands which hold it? It is impossible with only the +resources which the Constitution affords us." Thus, in the defense of +the oppressed, the Constitution is a dead letter.--Hence it is that the +refugees, finding protection only in themselves, undertake to help +each other. No association can be more justifiable, more pacific, more +innocent. Its object is "to demand the execution of the laws constantly +violated, and to protect persons and property." In each quarter they +will try to bring together "all good citizens;" they will form a +committee of eight members, and, in each committee, there will always +be "an officer of justice or a member of the administrative body with +an officer or subaltern of the National Guard." Should any citizen be +attacked in person or property the association will draw up a petition +in his favor. Should any particular act of violence require the +employment of public force, the members of the district will assemble +under the orders of the officer of justice and of the National Guard +to enforce obedience. "In all possible cases" they "will avoid with the +greatest care any insult of individuals; they will consider that +the object of the meeting is solely to ensure public peace, and that +protection from the law to which every citizen is entitled."--In short, +they are volunteer constables. Turn the inquiry which way they will, +a hostile municipality and a prejudiced tribunal can put no other +construction upon it; they find nothing else. The only evidence against +one of the leaders is a letter in which he tries to prevent a gentleman +from going to Coblentz, striving to prove to him that he will be more +useful at Caen. The principal evidence against the association is that +of a townsman whom they wished to enroll, and of whom they demanded his +opinions. He had stated that he was in favor of the execution of the +laws; upon which they told him: "In this case you belong to us, and +are more of an aristocrat than you think you are. Their aristocracy, in +effect, consists wholly in the suppression of brigandage. No claim is +more unpalatable, because it interposes an obstacle to the arbitrary +acts of a party which thinks it has a right to do as it pleases. On +the 4th of October the regiment of Aunis left the town, and all good +citizens were handed over to the militia, "in uniform or not," they +alone being armed. That day, for the first time in a long period, M. +Bunel, the former curé of Saint-Jean, with the consent and assistance of +his sworn successor, officiates at the mass. There is a large gathering +of the orthodox, which causes uneasiness among the patriots. The +following day M. Bunel is to say mass again; whereupon, through the +municipal authorities, the patriots forbid him to officiate, to which he +submits. Nevertheless, for lack of due notice, a crowd of the faithful +have arrived and the church is filled. A dangerous mob! The patriots +and National Guards arrive "to preserve order," which has not been +disturbed, and which they alone disturb. Threatening words are exchanged +between the servants of the nobles and the National Guard. The latter +draw their swords, and a young man is hewn down and trampled on; M. de +Saffrey, who comes to his assistance unarmed, is himself cut down and +pierced with bayonets, and two others are wounded.--Meanwhile, in a +neighboring street, M. Achard de Vagogne, seeing a man maltreated by +armed men, approaches, in order to make peace. The man is shot down +and M. Achard is covered with saber and bayonet gashes: "there is not a +thread on him which is not dyed with the blood that ran down even into +his shoes." In this condition he is led to the chateau along with M. de +Saifrey. Others break down the door of the house of M. du Rosel, an old +officer of seventy-five years, of which fifty-nine have been passed in +the service, and pursue him even over the wall of his garden. A fourth +squad seizes M. d'Héricy, another venerable officer, who, like M. du +Rosel, was ignorant of all that was going on, and was quietly leaving +for his country seat.--The town is full of tumult, and, through the +orders of the municipal authorities, the general alarm is sounded. + +The time for the special constables to act has come; about sixty +gentlemen, with a number of merchants and artisans, set out. According +to the rules of their association, and with significant scruple, they +beg an Officer of the National Guard, who happens to be passing, to put +himself at their head; they reach the Place Saint-Sauveur, encounter the +superior officer sent after them by the municipal authorities, and, at +his first command, follow him to the Hôtel-de-Ville. On reaching this, +without any resistance on their part, they are arrested, disarmed, and +searched. The rules and regulations of their league are found on their +persons; they are evidently hatching a counter-revolution. The uproar +against them is terrible. "To keep them safe," they are conducted to the +chateau, while many of them are cruelly treated on the way by the +crowd. Others, seized in their houses--M. Levaillant and a servant of M. +d'Héricy--are carried off bleeding and pierced with bayonets. Eighty-two +prisoners are thus collected, while fears are constantly entertained +that they may escape. "Their bread and meat are cut up into little +pieces, to see that nothing is concealed therein; the surgeons, who are +likewise treated as aristocrats, are denied access to them." Nocturnal +visits are, at the same time, paid to their houses; every stranger is +ordered to present himself at the Hôtel-de-Ville, to state why he comes +to the town to reside, and to give up his arms; every nonjuring priest +is forbidden to say mass. The Department, which is disposed to resist, +has its hands tied and confesses its powerlessness. "The people," it +writes, "know their strength: they know that we have no power; excited +by disreputable citizens, they permit whatever serves their passions or +their interests; they influence our deliberations, and force us to those +which, under other circumstances, we should carefully avoid."--Three +days after this the victors celebrate their triumph "with drums, music, +and lighted torches; the people are using hammers to destroy on the +mansions the coats-of-arms which had previously been covered over with +plaster;" the defeat of the aristocrats is accomplished.--And yet their +innocence is so clearly manifest that the Legislative Assembly itself +cannot help recognizing it. After eleven weeks of durance the order is +given to set them free, with the exception of two, a youth of less +than eighteen years and an old man, almost an octogenarian, on whom two +letters, misunderstood, still leave a shadow of suspicion.--But it is +not certain that the people are disposed to give them up. The National +Guard refuses to discharge them in open daylight and serve as their +escort. Even the evening before numerous groups of women, a few men +mingled with them, talk of murdering all those fellows the moment they +set foot outside the chateau." They have to be let out at two o'clock +in the morning, secretly, under a strong guard, and to leave the town +at once as six months before they left the rural districts.--Neither in +country nor in the town[3320] are they under the protection of civil +or religious law; a gentleman, who is not compromised in the affair, +remarks that their situation is worse than that of Protestants and +vagabonds during the worst years of the Ancient Régime of them and who +abuse the use of them? Why should one be on an equality for purposes of +payment, and distinguished? + +"Does not the law allow (nonjuring) priests the liberty of saying mass? +Why then can we not listen to their mass except at the risk of our +lives? Does not the law command all citizens to preserve the public +peace? Why then are those whom the cry to arms has summoned forth to +maintain public order assailed as aristocrats? Why is the refuge of +citizens which the laws have declared sacred, violated without orders, +without accusation, without any appearance of wrong-doing? Why are all +prominent citizens and those who are well off disarmed in preference to +others? Are weapons exclusively made for those but lately deprived only +for purposes of annoyance and insult?" + +He has spoken right. Those who now rule form an aristocracy in +an inverse sense, contrary to the law, and yet more contrary to +nature.[3321] For, by a violent inversion, the lower grades in the +graduated scale of civilization and culture now are found uppermost, +while the superior grades are found at the uniform. The Constitution +having suppressed inequality, this has again arisen in an inverse sense. +The populace, both of town and country, taxes, imprisons, pillages, and +slays more arbitrarily, more brutally, more unjustly than feudal barons, +and for its serfs or villains it has its ancient chieftains. + + + + +V.--Persecutions in private life. + +Let us suppose that, in order not to excite suspicion, they are +content to be without arms, to form no more associations, not to attend +elections, to shut themselves up at home, to strictly confine themselves +within the harmless precincts of domestic life. The same distrust, the +same animosity, still pursues them there.--At Cahors,[3322] where +the municipal authorities, in spite of the law, had just expelled the +Carthusians who, under legal sanction, chose to remain and live +in common, two of the monks, before their departure, give to M. de +Beaumont, their friend and neighbor, four dwarf pear-trees and some +onions in blossom in their garden. On the strength of this, the +municipal body decree that + +"the sieur Louis de Beaumont, formerly count, is guilty of having +audaciously and maliciously damaged national property," condemns him +to pay a fine of three hundred livres, and orders "that the four +pear-trees, pulled up in the so-called Carthusian garden, be brought on +the following day, Wednesday, to the door of the said sieur de Beaumont, +and there remain for four consecutive days, guarded, day and night, by +two fusiliers, at the expense of the said sieur de Beaumont; and upon +the said trees shall be placed the following inscription, to wit: +Louis de Beaumont, destroyer of the national property. And the judgment +herewith rendered shall be printed to the number of one thousand +copies, read, published, and posted at the expense of the said sieur +de Beaumont, and duly addressed throughout the department of Lot to the +districts and municipalities thereof, as well as to all societies of the +Friends of the Constitution and of Liberty." + +Every line of this legal invective discloses the malignant envy of +the local recorder, who revenges himself for having formerly bowed too +low.--The following year, M. de Beaumont, having formally and under +notarial sanction bought a church which was sold by the district, along +with the ornaments and objects of worship it contained, the mayor and +municipal officers, followed by a lot of workmen, come and carry away +and destroy everything--confessionals, altars, and even the saint's +canonised body, which had been interred for one hundred and fifty years: +so that, after their departure, "the edifice resembled a vast barn +filled with ruins and rubbish."[3323] It must be noted that, at this +very time, M. de Beaumont is military commandant at Perigord. The +treatment he undergoes shows what is in reserve for ordinary nobles. I +do not recommend them to attend official sales of property.[3324]--Will +they even be free in their domestic enjoyments, and on entering a +drawing-room are they sure of quietly passing an evening there?--At +Paris, even, a number of persons of rank, among them the ambassadors +of Denmark and Venice, are listening to a concert in a mansion in the +Faubourg Saint-Honoré given by a foreign virtuoso, when a cart enters +the court loaded with fifty bundles of hay, the monthly supply for the +horses. A patriot, who sees the cart driven in, imagines that the King +is concealed underneath the hay, and that he has come there for the +purpose of plotting with the aristocrats about his flight. A mob +gathers, and the National Guard arrives, along with a commissioner, +while four grenadiers stand guard around the cart. The commissioner, +in the meantime, inspects the hotel; he sees music-stands, and the +arrangements for a supper; comes back, has the cart unloaded, and states +to the people that he has found nothing suspicious. The people do not +believe him, and demand a second inspection. This is made by twenty-four +delegates; the bundles of hay, moreover, are counted, and several of +them are unbound, but all in vain. Disappointed and irritated, having +anticipated a spectacle, the crowd insists that all the invited guests, +men and women, should leave the house on foot, and only get into +their carriages at the end of the street. "First comes a file of empty +carriages;" next, "all the guests in their evening attire, and the +ladies in full dress, trembling with fear, with downcast eyes, between +two rows of men, women, and children, who stare them in the face, and +overwhelm them with insults."[3325] + +Suspected of holding secret meetings, and called to account in his own +house, has the noble at least the right to frequent a public saloon, +to eat in a restaurant, and to take the fresh air in a balcony?--The +Vicomte de Mirabeau, who has just dined in the Palais-Royal, stands at +the window to take the air, and is recognized; there is a +gathering, and the cry is soon heard, "Down with Mirabeau-Tonneau +(barrel-Mirabeau)!"[3326] "Gravel is flung at him from all sides, and +occasionally stones. One of the window-panes is broken by a stone. +Immediately picking up the stone, he shows it to the crowd, and, at +the same time, quietly places it on the sill of the window, in token of +moderation." There is a loud outcry; his friends force him to withdraw +inside, and Bailly, the mayor, comes in person to quiet the aggressors. +In this case there are good reasons for their hatred. The gentleman +whom they stone is a bon-vivant, large and fat, fond of rich epicurean +Suppers; and on this account the populace imagine him to be a monster, +and even worse, an ogre. With regard to these nobles, whose greatest +misfortune is to be over-polished and too worldly, the over-excited +imagination revives its old nursery tales.--M. de Montlosier, living in +the Rue Richelieu, finds that he is watched on his way to the National +Assembly. One woman especially, from thirty to thirty-two years of age, +who sold meat at a stall in the Passage Saint-Guillaume, "regarded him +with special attention. As soon as she saw him coming she took up a +long, broad knife which she sharpened before him, casting furious looks +at him." He asks his housekeeper what this means. Two children of that +quarter have disappeared, carried off by gipsies, and the report is +current that M. de Montlosier, the Marquis de Mirabeau, and other +deputies of the "right," meet together "to hold orgies in which they eat +little children." + +In this state of public opinion there is no crime which is not imputed +to them, no insult which is not freely bestowed on them. "Traitors, +tyrants, conspirators, assassins," such is the current vocabulary of +the clubs and newspapers in relation to them. "Aristocrat" signifies +all this, and whoever dares to refute the calumny is himself an +aristocrat.--At the Palais-Royal, it is constantly repeated that M. de +Castries, in his last duel, made use of a poisoned sword, and an officer +of the navy who protests against this false report is himself accused, +tried on the spot, and condemned "to be shut up in the guard-house or +thrown into the fountain."[3327]--The nobles must beware of defending +their honor in the usual way and of meeting an insult with a challenge! +At Castelnau, near Cahors,[3328] one of those who, the preceding year, +marched against the incendiaries, M. de Bellud, Knight of Saint-Louis, +on coming down the public square with his brother, a guardsman, is +greeted with cries of "The aristocrat! to the lamp post!" His brother is +in a morning coat and slippers, and not wishing to get into trouble they +do not reply. A squad of the National Guard, passing by, repeats the +cry, but they still remain silent. The shout continues, and M. de +Bellud, after some time has elapsed, begs the captain to order his men +to be quiet. He refuses, and M. de Bellud demands satisfaction outside +the town. At these words the National Guards rush at M. de Bellud with +fixed bayonets. His brother receives a saber-cut on the neck, while he, +defending himself with his sword, slightly wounds the captain and one +of the men. The two brothers, alone against the whole body, fight on, +retreating to their house, in which they are blockaded. Towards seven +o'clock in the evening, two or three hundred National Guards from +Cahors arrive to reinforce the besiegers. The house is taken, and +the guardsman, escaping across the fields, sprains his ankle and is +captured. M. de Bellud, who has found his way into another house, +continues to defend himself there: the house is set on fire and burnt, +together with two others alongside of it. Taking refuge in a cellar he +still keeps on firing. Bundles of lighted straw are thrown in at the +air-holes. Almost suffocated, he springs out, kills his first assailant +with a shot from one pistol, and himself with another. His head is cut +off with that of his servant. The guardsman is made to kiss the two +heads, and, on his demanding a glass of water, they fill his mouth +with the blood which drops from the severed head of his brother. The +victorious gang then set out for Cahors, with the two heads stuck on +bayonets, and the guardsman in a cart. It comes to a halt before a house +in which a literary circle meets, suspected by the Jacobin club. The +wounded man is made to descend from the cart and is hung: his body is +riddled with balls, and everything the house contains is broken up, +"the furniture is thrown out of the windows, and the house pulled +down."--Every popular execution is of this character, at once prompt and +complete, similar to those of an Oriental monarch who, on the instant, +without inquiry or trial, avenges his offended majesty, and for +every offense, knows no other punishment than death. At Tulle, M. de +Massy,[3329] lieutenant of the "Royal Navarre," having struck a man that +insulted him, is seized in the house in which he took refuge, and, in +spite of the three administrative bodies, is at once massacred.--At +Brest, two anti-revolutionary caricatures having been drawn with +charcoal on the walls of the military coffee-house, the excited crowd +lay the blame of it on the officers; one of these, M. Patry, takes it +upon himself, and, on the point of being torn to pieces, attempts to +kill himself. He is disarmed, but, when the municipal authorities come +to his assistance, they find him "already dead through an infinite +number of wounds," and his head is borne about on the end of a +pike.[3330]-- + + + + +VI.--Conduct of officers. + + Their self-sacrifice.--Disposition of the soldiery. + --Military outbreaks.--Spread and increase of + insubordination.--Resignation of the officers. + +Much better would it be to live under an Eastern king, for he is not +found everywhere, nor always furious and mad, like the populace. Nowhere +are the nobles safe, neither in public nor in private life, neither in +the country nor in the towns, neither associated together nor separate. +Popular hostility hangs over them like a dark and threatening cloud from +one end of the territory to the other, and the tempest bursts upon them +in a continuous storm of vexations, outrages, calumnies, robberies, and +acts of violence; here, there, and almost daily, bloody thunderbolts +fall haphazard on the most inoffensive heads, on an old man asleep, on a +Knight of Saint-Louis taking a walk, on a family at prayers in a church. +But, in this aristocracy, crushed down in some places and attacked +everywhere, the thunderbolt finds one predestined group which attracts +it and on which it constantly falls, and that is the corps of officers. + + + + +VI.--Conduct of the officers. + + Their self-sacrifice.--Disposition of the soldiery. + --Military outbreaks.--Spread and increase of + insubordination.--Resignation of the officers. + +With the exception of a few fops, frequenters of drawing-rooms, and the +court favorites who have reached a high rank through the intrigues of +the antechamber, it was in this group, especially in the medium ranks, +that true moral nobility was then found. Nowhere in France was there so +much tried, substantial merit. A man of genius, who associated with +them in his youth, rendered them this homage: many among them are +men possessing "the most amiable characters and minds of the highest +order."[3331] Indeed, for most of them, military service was not a +career of ambition, but an obligation of birth. It was the rule in each +noble family for the eldest son to enter the army, and advancement was +of but little consequence. He discharged the debt of his rank; this +sufficed for him, and, after twenty or thirty years of service, the +order of Saint-Louis, and sometimes a meager pension, were all he had +a right to expect. Amongst nine or ten thousand officers, the great +majority coming from the lower and poorer class of provincial nobles, +body-guards, lieutenants, captains, majors, lieutenant-colonels, and +even colonels, have no other pretension. Satisfied with favors[3332] +restricted to their subordinate rank, they leave the highest grades of +the service to the heirs of the great families, to the courtiers or to +the parvenus at Versailles, and content themselves with remaining the +guardians of public order, and the brave defenders of the State. Under +this system, when the heart is not depraved it becomes exalted; it is +made a point of honor to serve without compensation; there is nothing +but the public welfare in view, and all the more because, at this +moment, it is the absorbing topic of all minds and of all literature. +Nowhere has practical philosophy, that which consists in a spirit +of abnegation, more deeply penetrated than among this unrecognized +nobility. Under a polished, brilliant, and sometimes frivolous exterior, +they have a serious soul; the old sentiment of honor is converted +into one of patriotism. Set to execute the laws, with force in hand to +maintain peace through fear, they feel the importance of their mission, +and, for two years, fulfill its duties with extraordinary moderation, +gentleness, and patience, not only at the risk of their lives, but +amidst great and multiplied humiliations, through the sacrifice of their +authority and self-esteem, through the subjection of their intelligent +will to the dictation and incapacity of the masters imposed upon them. +For a noble officer to respond to the requisitions of an extemporized +bourgeois municipal body,[3333] to subordinate his competence, courage, +and prudence to the blunders and alarms of five or six inexperienced, +frightened, and timid attorneys, to place his energy and daring at the +service of their presumption, feebleness, and lack of decision, +even when their orders or refusal of orders are manifestly absurd or +injurious, even when they are opposed to the previous instructions of +his general or of his minister, even when they end in the plundering +of a market, the burning of a chateau, the assassination of an innocent +person, even when they impose upon him the obligation of witnessing +crime with his sword sheathed and arms folded,[3334]--this is a hard +task. It is hard for the noble officer to see independent, popular, and +bourgeois troops organized in the face of his own troops, rivals and +even hostile, in any case ten times as numerous and no less exacting +than sensitive--hard to be expected to show them deference and extend +civilities to them, to surrender to them posts, arsenals, and citadels, +to treat their chiefs as equals, however ignorant or unworthy, and +whatever they may be--here a lawyer, there a Capuchin, elsewhere a +brewer or a shoemaker, most generally some demagogue, and, in many a +town or village, some deserter or soldier drummed out of his regiment +for bad conduct, perhaps one of the noble's own men, a scamp whom he has +formerly discharged with the yellow cartridge, telling him to go and +be hung elsewhere. It is hard for the noble officer to be publicly and +daily calumniated on account of his rank and title, to be characterized +as a traitor at the club and in the newspapers, to be designated by +name as an object of popular suspicion and fury, to be hooted at in the +streets and in the theater, to submit to the disobedience of his men, to +be denounced, insulted, arrested, fleeced, hunted down and slaughtered +by them and by the populace, to see before him a cruel, ignoble, and +unavenged death--that of M. de Launay, murdered at Paris--that of M. +de Belzunce, murdered at Caen--that of M. de Beausset, murdered at +Marseilles--that of M. de Voisins, murdered at Valence--that of M. de +Rully, murdered at Bastia, or that of M. de Rochetailler, murdered at +Port-au-Prince.[3335] All this is endured by the officers among the +nobles. Not one of the municipalities, even Jacobin, can find any +pretext which will warrant the charge of disobeying orders. Through tact +and deference they avoid all conflict with the National Guards. Never +do they give provocation, and, even when insulted, rarely defend +themselves. Their gravest faults consist of imprudent conversations, +vivacious expressions and witticisms. Like good watch-dogs amongst a +frightened herd which trample them under foot, or pierce them with +their horns, they allow themselves to be pierced and trampled on without +biting, and would remain at their post to the end were they not driven +away from it. + +All to no purpose: doubly suspicious as members of a proscribed class, +and as heads of the army, it is against them that public distrust +excites the most frequent explosions, and so much the more as the +instrument they handle is singularly explosive. Recruited by volunteer +enlistment "amongst a passionate, turbulent, and somewhat debauched +people," the army is composed of "all that are most fiery, most +turbulent, and most debauched in the nation."[3336] Add to these the +sweepings of the alms-houses, and you find a good many blackguards +in uniform! When we consider that the pay is small, the food bad, +discipline severe, no promotion, and desertion endemic, we are no longer +surprised at the general disorder: license, to such men, is too powerful +a temptation. With wine, women, and money they have from the first +been made turncoats, and from Paris the contagion has spread to +the provinces. In Brittany,[3337] the grenadiers and chasseurs of +Ile-de-France "sell their coats, their guns, and their shoes, exacting +advances in order to consume it in the tavern;" fifty-six soldiers of +Penthièvre "wanted to murder their officers," and it is foreseen that, +left to themselves, they will soon, for lack of pay, "betake themselves +to the highways, to rob and assassinate." In Euree-et-Loir, the +dragoons,[3338] with saber and pistols in hand, visit the farmers' +houses and take bread and money, while the foot soldiers of the +"Royal-Comtois" and the dragoons of the "Colonel-Général" desert in +bands in order to go to Paris, where amusement is to be had. The main +thing with them is "to have a jolly time." In fact, the extensive +military insurrections of the earliest date, those of Paris, Versailles, +Besançon, and Strasbourg, began or ended with a revel.--Out of these +depths of gross desires there has sprung up natural or legitimate +ambitions. A number of soldiers, for twenty years past, have learned how +to read, and think themselves qualified to be officers. One quarter of +those enlisted, moreover, are young men born in good circumstances, and +whom a caprice has thrown into the army. They choke in this narrow, low, +dark, confined passage where the privileged by birth close up the issue, +and they will march over their chiefs to secure advancement. These are +the discontented, the disputants, the orators of the mess-room, and +between these barrack politicians and the politicians of the street an +alliance is at once formed.--Starting from the same point they march on +to the same end, and the imagination which has labored to blacken the +Government in the minds of the people, blackens the officers in the +minds of the soldiers. + +The Treasury is empty and there are arrears of pay. The towns, burdened +with debt, no longer furnish their quotas of supplies; and at Orleans, +with the distress of the municipality before them, the Swiss of +Chateauvieux were obliged to impose on themselves a stoppage of one sou +per day and per man to have wood in winter.[3339] Grain is scarce, the +flour is spoilt, and the army bread, which was bad, has become worse. +The administration, worm-eaten by old abuses, is deranged through the +new disorder, the soldiers suffering as well through its dissolution +as through their extravagance.--They think themselves robbed and +they complain, at first with moderation; and justice is done to their +well-founded claims. Soon they exact accounts, and these are made out +for them. At Strasbourg, on these being verified before Kellermann and +a commissioner of the National Assembly, it is proved that they have not +been wronged out of a sou; nevertheless a gratification of six francs a +head is given to them, and they cry out that they are content and have +nothing more to ask for. A few months after this fresh complaints arise, +and there is a new verification: an ensign, accused of embezzlement and +whom they wished to hang, is tried in their presence; his accounting is +tidy; none of them can cite against him a proven charge, and, once more, +they remain silent. On other occasions, after hearing the reading of +registers for several hours, they yawn, cease to listen, and go outside +to get something to drink.--But the figures of their demands, as these +have been summed up by their mess-room calculators, remain implanted in +their brains; they have taken root there, and are constantly springing +up without any account or refutation being able to extirpate them. No +more writings nor speeches--what they want is money: 11,000 livres for +the Beaune regiment, 39,500 livres for that of Forez, 44,000 livres for +that of Salm, 200,000 livres for that of Chateauvieux, and similarly for +the rest. So much the worse for the officers if the money-chest does not +suffice for them; let them assess each other, or borrow on their note +of hand from the municipality, or from the rich men of the town.--For +greater security, in divers places, the soldiers take possession of the +military chest and mount guard around it: it belongs to them, since they +form the regiment, and, in any case, it is better that it should be in +their hands than in suspected hands.--Already, on the 4th of June, 1790, +the Minister of War announces to the Assembly that "the military body +threatens to fall into a perfect state of anarchy." His report shows +"the most incredible pretensions put forth in the most plain-spoken +way--orders without force, chiefs without authority, the military chest +and flags carried away, the orders of the King himself openly defied, +the officers condemned, insulted, threatened, driven off; some of them +even captive amidst their own troops, leading a precarious life in +the midst of disgust and humiliations, and, as the climax of horror, +commanders having their throat cut under the eyes and almost in the arms +of their own soldiers." + +It is much worse after the July Federation. Entertained, flattered, +and indoctrinated at the clubs, their delegates, inferior officers and +privates, return to the regiment Jacobins; and henceforth correspond +with the Jacobins of Paris, "receiving their instructions and reporting +to them,"[3340]--Three weeks later, the Minister of War gives notice to +the National Assembly that there is no limit to the license in the army. +"Couriers, the bearers of fresh complaints, are arriving constantly." +In one place "a statement of the fund is demanded, and it is proposed to +divide it." Elsewhere, a garrison, with drums beating, leaves the town, +deposes its officers, and comes back sword in hand. Each regiment is +governed by a committee of soldiers. "It is in this committee that the +detention of the lieutenant-colonel of Poitou has been twice arranged; +here it is that 'Royal-Champagne' conceived the insurrection" by which +it refused to recognize a sub-lieutenant sent to it. "Every day +the minister's cabinet is filled with soldiers who are sent as +representatives to him, and who proudly come and intimate to him the +will of their constituents." Finally, at Strasbourg, seven regiments, +each represented by three delegates, formed a military congress. +The same month, the terrible insurrection of Nancy breaks out--three +regiments in revolt, the populace with them, the arsenal pillaged, three +hours of furious fighting in the streets, the insurgents firing from the +windows of the houses and from the cellar openings, five hundred +dead among the victors, and three thousand among the vanquished.--The +following month, and for six weeks,[3341] there is another insurrection, +less bloody, but more extensive, better arranged and more obstinate, +that of the whole squadron at Brest, a mutiny of twenty thousand men, +at first against their admiral and their officers, then against the new +penal code and against the National Assembly itself. The latter, +after remonstrating in vain, is obliged not only not to take rigorous +measures, but again to revise its laws.[3342] + +From this time forth, I cannot enumerate the constant outbreaks in the +fleet and in the army.--Authorized by the minister, the soldier goes +to the club, where he is repeatedly told that his officers, being +aristocrats, are traitors. At Dunkirk, he is additionally taught how to +get rid of them. Clamors, denunciations, insults, musket-shots--these +are the natural means, and they are put in practice: but there is +another, recently discovered, by which an energetic officer of whom they +are afraid may be driven away. Some patriotic bully is found who comes +and insults him. If the officer fights and is not killed, the municipal +authorities have him arraigned, and his chiefs send him off along with +his seconds "in order not to disturb the harmony between the soldier and +the citizen." If he declines the proposed duel, the contempt of his men +obliges him to quit the regiment. In either case he is got out of the +way.[3343]--They have no scruples in relation to him. Present or absent, +a noble officer must certainly be plotting with his emigrant companions; +and on this a story is concocted. Formerly, to prove that sacks of flour +were being thrown into the river, the soldiers alleged that these sacks +were tied with blue cords (cordons bleus). Now, to confirm the belief +that an officer is conspiring with Coblentz, it suffices to state that +he rides a white horse; a certain captain, at Strasbourg, barely escapes +being cut to pieces for this crime; "the devil could not get it out of +their heads that he was acting as a spy, and that the little grey-hound" +which accompanies him on his rides "is used to make signals. "--One year +after, at the time when the National Assembly completes its work, M. +de Lameth, M. Fréteau, and M. Alquier state before it that Luckner, +Rochambeau, and the most popular generals, "no longer are responsible +for anything." The Auvergne regiment has driven away its officers and +forms a separate society, which obeys no one. The second battalion of +Beaune is on the point of setting fire to Arras. It is almost necessary +to lay siege to Phalsbourg, whose garrison has mutinied. Here, +"disobedience to the general's orders is formal." There "are soldiers +who have to be urged to stand sentinel; whom they dare not put in +confinement for discipline; who threaten to fire on their officers; who +stray off the road, pillage everything, and take aim at the corporal who +tries to bring them back." At Blois, a part of the regiment "has just +arrived without either clothes or arms, the soldiers having sold all on +the road to provide for their debauchery." One among them, delegated by +his companions, proposes to the Jacobins at Paris to "de-aristocratise" +the army by cashiering all the nobles. Another declares, with the +applause of the club, that "seeing how the palisades of Givet are +constructed, he is going to denounce the Minister of War at the tribunal +of the sixth arrondissement of Paris." + +It is manifest that, for noble officers, the situation is no longer +tenable. After waiting patiently for twenty-three months, many of them +left through conscientiousness, when the National Assembly, forcing a +third oath upon them, struck out of the formula the name of the King, +their born general.[3344]--Others depart at the end of the Constituent +Assembly, "because they risk being hung." A large number resign at the +end of 1791 and during the first months of 1792, in proportion as +the new code and the new recruiting system for the army develop their +results.[3345] In fact, on the one hand, through the soldiers and +inferior officers having a voice in the election of their chiefs and +a seat in the military courts, "there is no longer the shadow of +discipline; verdicts are given from pure caprice; the soldier contracts +the habit of despising his superiors, of whose punishments he has no +fear, and from whom he expects no reward; the officers are paralyzed +to such a degree as to become entirely superfluous personages." On the +other hand, the majority of the National Volunteers are composed of "men +bought by the communes" and administrative bodies, worthless characters +of the street-corners, rustic vagabonds forced to march by lot or +bribery,"[3346] and along with them, enthusiasts and fanatics to such an +extent that, from March, 1792, from the spot of their enlistment to +the frontier, their track is everywhere marked by pillage, robbery, +devastation, and assassinations. Naturally, on the road and at the +frontier, they denounce, drive away, imprison, or murder their officers, +and especially the nobles. 3/4 And yet, in this extremity, numbers of +noble officers, especially in the artillery and engineer corps, persist +in remaining at their posts, some through liberal ideas, and others out +of respect for their instructions; even after the 10th of August, even +after the 2nd of September, even after the 21st of January, like their +generals Biron, Custine, de Flers, de Broglie, and de Montesquiou, with +the constant perspective of the guillotine that awaits them on leaving +the battlefield and even in the ministerial offices of Carnot. + + + + +VII.--Emigration and its causes. + + The first laws against the emigrants. + +It is, accordingly, necessary that the officers and nobles should go +away, should go abroad; and not only they, but also their families. +"Gentlemen who have scarcely six hundred livres income set out on +foot,"[3347] and there is no doubt as to the motive of their departure. +"Whoever will impartially consider the sole and veritable causes of +the emigration," says an honest man, "will find them in anarchy. If the +liberty of the individual had not been daily threatened, if;" in the +civil as in the military order of things, "the senseless dogma, preached +by the factions, that crimes committed by the mob are the judgments of +heaven, had not been put in practice, France would have preserved three +fourths of her fugitives. Exposed for two years to ignominious dangers, +to every species of outrage, to innumerable persecutions, to the steel +of the assassin, to the firebrands of incendiaries, to the most +infamous charges, 'to the denouncement of' their corrupted domestics, +to domiciliary visits" prompted by the commonest street rumor, "to +arbitrary imprisonment by the Committee of Inquiry," deprived of their +civil rights, driven out of primary meetings, "they are held accountable +for their murmurs, and punished for a sensibility which would touch the +heart in a suffering criminal."--" Resistance is nowhere seen; from +the prince's throne to the parsonage of the priest, the tempest has +prostrated all malcontents in resignation." Abandoned "to the restless +fury of the clubs, to informers, to intimidated officials, they find +executioners on all sides where prudence and the safety of the State +have enjoined them not even to see enemies. . . . Whoever has detested +the enormities of fanaticism and of public ferocity, whoever has +awarded pity to the victims heaped together under the ruins of so many +legitimate rights and odious abuses, whoever, finally, has dared to +raise a doubt or a complaint, has been proclaimed an enemy of +the nation. After this representation of malcontents as so many +conspirators, every crime committed against them has been legitimated in +public opinion.[3348] The public conscience, formed by the factions +and by that band of political corsairs who would be the disgrace of a +barbarous nation, have considered attacks against property and towns +simply as national justice, while, more than once, the news of the +murder of an innocent person, or of a sentence which threatened him +with death, has been welcomed with shouts of joy Two systems of natural +right, two orders of justice, two standards of morality were accordingly +established; by one of these it was allowable to do against one's +fellow-creature, a reputed aristocrat, that which would be criminal if +he were a patriot. . . . Was it foreseen that, at the end of two +years, France, teeming with laws, with magistrates, with courts, with +citizen-guards, bound by solemn oaths in the defense of order and the +public safety, would still and continually be an arena in which wild +beasts would devour unarmed men "--With all, even with old men, widows +and children, it is a crime to escape from their clutches. Without +distinguishing between those who fly to avoid becoming a prey, and +those who arm to attack the frontier, the Constituent and Legislative +Assemblies alike condemn all absentees. The Constituent Assembly[3349] +trebled their real and personal taxes, and prescribed that there should +be a triple lien on their rents and dues. The Legislative Assembly +sequestrates, confiscates, and puts into the market their possessions, +real and personal, amounting to nearly fifteen hundred millions of cash +value. Let them return and place themselves under the knives of the +populace; otherwise they and their posterity shall all be beggars.--At +this stroke indignation overflows, and a bourgeois who is liberal and +a foreigner, Mallet du Pan, exclaims,[3350] "What! twenty thousand +families absolutely ignorant of the Coblentz plans and of its +assemblies, twenty thousand families dispersed over the soil of Europe +by the fury of clubs, by the crimes of brigands, by constant lack of +security, by the stupid and cowardly inertia of petrified authorities, +by the pillage of estates, by the insolence of it cohort of tyrants +without bread or clothes, by assassinations and incendiarism, by the +base servility of silent ministers, by the whole series of revolutionary +scourges,--what' these twenty thousand desolate families, women and old +men, must see their inheritances become the prey of national robbery! +What! Madame Guillin, who was obliged to fly with horror from the +land where monsters have burnt her dwelling, slaughtered and eaten +her husband, and who live with impunity by the side of her home--shall +Madame Guillin see her fortune confiscated for the benefit of the +communities to which she owes her dreadful misfortunes! Shall M. de +Clarac, under penalty of the same punishment, go and restore the ruins +of his chateau, where an army of scoundrels failed to smother him!"--So +much the worse for them if they dare not come back! They are to undergo +civil death, perpetual banishment, and, in case the ban be violated, +they will be given up to the guillotine. In the same case with them +are others who, with still greater innocence, have left the territory, +magistrates, ordinary rich people, burgesses, or peasants, Catholics, +and particularly one entire class, the nonjuring clergy, from the +cardinal archbishop down to the simple village vicar, all prosecuted, +then despoiled, then crushed by the same popular oppression and by the +same legislative oppression, each of these two persecutions exciting and +aggravating the other to such an extent that, at last, the populace and +the law, one the accomplice of the other, no longer leave a roof nor +a piece of bread, nor an hour's safety to a gentleman or to a +priest.[3351] + + + + +VIII.--Attitude of the non-juring priests. + + How they become distrusted.--Illegal arrests by local + administrations.--Violence or complicity of the National + Guards.--Outrages by the populace.--Executive power in the + south.--The sixth jacquerie.--Its two causes.--Isolated + outbreaks in the north, east, and west,--General eruption in + the south and in the center. + +The ruling passion flings itself on all obstacles, even those placed by +itself across its own track. Through a vast usurpation the minority +of non-believers, indifferent or lukewarm, has striven to impose its +ecclesiastical forms on the Catholic majority, and the situation +thereby created for the Catholic priest is such that unless he becomes +schismatic, he cannot fail to appear as an enemy. In vain has he obeyed! +He has allowed his property to be taken, he has left his parsonage, he +has given the keys of the church to his successor, he has kept aloof; +he does not transgress, either by omission or commission, any article of +any decree. In vain does he avail himself of his legal right to abstain +from taking an oath repugnant to his conscience. This alone makes him +appear to refuse the civic oath in which the ecclesiastical oath is +included, to reject the constitution which he accepts in full minus a +parasite chapter, to conspire against the new social and political order +of things which he often approves of; and to which he almost always +submits.[3352] In vain does he confine himself to his special and +recognized domain, the spiritual direction of things. Through this +alone he resists the new legislators who pretend to furnish a spiritual +guidance, for, by virtue of being orthodox, he must believe that the +priest whom they elect is excommunicated, that his sacraments are vain; +and, in his office as pastor, he must prevent his sheep from going to +drink at an impure source. In vain might he preach to them moderation +and respect. Through the mere fact that the schism is effected, its +consequences unfold them selves, and the peasants will not always remain +as patient as their pastor. They have known him for twenty years; he has +baptized them and married them; they believe that his is the only true +mass; they are not satisfied to be obliged to attend another two or +three leagues away, and to leave the church, their church which their +ancestors built, and where from father to son they have prayed for +centuries, in the hands of a stranger, an intruder and heretic, who +officiates before almost empty benches, and whom gendarmes, with guns in +their hands, have installed. Assuredly, as he passes through the street, +they will look upon him askance: it is not surprising that the women and +children soon hoot at him, that stones are thrown at night through his +windows, that in the strongly Catholic departments, Upper and Lower +Rhine, Doubs and Jura, Lozère, Deux-Sêvres and Vendée, Finistère, +Morbihan, and Côtes-du-Nord, he is greeted with universal desertion, +and then expelled through public ill-will. It is not surprising that +his mass is interrupted and that his person is threatened;[3353] that +disaffection which thus far had only reached the upper class, descends +to the popular strata; that, from one end of France to the other, a +sullen hostility prevails against the new institutions; for now the +political and social constitution is joined to the ecclesiastical +constitution like an edifice to its spire, and, through this sharp +pinnacle, seeks the storm even within the darkening clouds of heaven. +The evil all springs out of this unskillful, gratuitous, compulsory +fusion, and, consequently, from those who effected it. + +But never will a victorious party admit that it has made a mistake. +In its eyes the nonjuring priests are alone culpable; it is irritated +against their factious conscience; and, to crush the rebellion even in +the inaccessible sanctuary of personal conviction, there is no legal or +brutal act of violence which it will not allow itself to commit. + +Behold, accordingly, a new sport thrown open; and the game is immensely +plentiful. For it comprises not only the black or gray robes, more than +forty thousand priests, over thirty thousand nuns, and several thousand +monks, but also the devoted orthodox, that is to say the women of the +low or middle class, and, without counting provincial nobles, a majority +of the serious, steady bourgeoisie, a majority of the peasantry-almost +the whole population of several provinces, east, west, and in the south. +A name is bestowed on them, as lately on the nobles; it is that of +fanatic, which is equivalent to aristocrat, for it also designates +public enemies likewise placed by it beyond the pale of the law. + +Little does it matter whether the law favors them, for it is interpreted +against them, arbitrarily construed and openly violated by the partial +or intimidated administrative bodies which the Constitution has +withdrawn from the control of the central authority and subjected to +the authority of popular gatherings. From the first months of 1791, +the hounding begins; the municipalities, districts, and departments +themselves often take the lead in beating up the game. Six months later, +the Legislative Assembly, by its decree of November 29,[3354] sounds the +tally-ho, and, in spite of the King's veto, the hounds on all sides dash +forward. During the month of April, 1792, forty-two departments pass +against nonjuring priests "acts which are neither prescribed nor +authorized by the Constitution," and, before the end of the Legislative +Assembly, forty-three others will have followed in their train.--Through +this series of illegal acts, without offense, without trial, non-jurors +are everywhere in France expelled from their parishes, relegated to the +principal town of the department or district, in some places imprisoned, +put on the same footing with the emigrants, and despoiled of their +property, real and personal.[3355] Nothing more is wanting against them +but the general decree of deportation which is to come as soon as the +Assembly can get rid of the King. + +In the meantime, the National Guards, who have extorted the laws, +endeavor to aggravate them in their application; and there is nothing +strange in their animosity. Commerce is at a standstill, industry +languishes, the artisan and shopkeeper suffer, and, in order to account +for the universal discontent, it is attributed to the insubordination +of the priest. Were it not for his stubbornness all would go well, since +the Constitution is perfect, and he is the only one who does not accept +it. But, in not accepting it, he attacks it. He, therefore, is the last +obstacle in the way of public happiness; he is the scapegoat, let us +drive the obnoxious creature away! And the urban militia, sometimes +on its own authority, sometimes instigated by the municipal body its +accomplice; is seen disturbing public worship, dispersing congregations, +seizing priests by the collar, pushing them by the shoulders out of +the town, and threatening them with hanging if they dare to return. +At Douay,[3356] with guns in hand, they force the directory of the +department to order the closing of all the oratories and chapels in +hospitals and convents. At Caen, with loaded guns and with a cannon, +they march forth against the neighboring parish of Verson, break into +houses, gather up fifteen persons suspected of orthodoxy--canons, +merchants, artisans, workmen, women, girls, old men, and the infirm--cut +off their hair, strike them with the but-ends of their muskets, and lead +them back to Caen fastened to the breach of the cannon; and all this +because a nonjuring priest still officiated at Verson, and many pious +persons from Caen attended his mass: Verson, consequently, is a focal +center of counter-revolutionary gatherings. Moreover, in the houses +which were broken into, the furniture was smashed, casks stove in, and +the linen, money, and plate stolen, the rabble of Caen having joined +the expedition.--Here, and everywhere, there is nothing to do but to +let this rabble have its own way; and as it operates against the +possessions, the liberty; the life, and the sense of propriety of +dangerous persons, the National Militia is careful not to interfere +with it. Consequently, the orthodox, both priests and believers, men and +women, are now at its mercy, and, thanks to the connivance of the armed +force, which refuses to interpose, the rabble satisfy on the proscribed +class its customary instincts of cruelty, pillage, wantonness, and +destructiveness. + +Whether public or private, the order of the day is always to hinder +worship, while the means employed are worthy of those who carry them +out.--Here, a nonjuring priest having had the boldness to minister to +a sick person, the house which he has just entered is taken by assault, +and the door and windows of a house occupied by another priest are +smashed.[3357] There, the lodgings of two workmen, who are accused of +having had their infants baptized by a refractory priest, are sacked and +nearly demolished. Elsewhere, a mob refuses to allow the body of an +old curé, who had died without taking the oath, to enter the cemetery. +Farther on, a church is assaulted during vespers, and everything is +broken to pieces: on the following day it is the turn of a neighboring +church, and, in addition, a convent of Ursuline nuns is devastated.--At +Lyons, on Easter-day, 1791, as the people are leaving the six o'clock +mass, a troop, armed with whips, falls upon the women.[3358] Stripped, +bruised, prostrated, with their heads in the dirt, they are not left +until they are bleeding and half-dead; one young girl is actually at the +point of death; and this sort of outrage occurs so frequently that even +ladies attending the orthodox mass in Paris dare not go out +without sewing up their garments around them in the shape of +drawers.--Naturally, to make the most of the prey offered to them, +hunting associations are formed. These exist in Montpellier, Arles, +Uzès, Alais, Nîmes, Carpentras, and in most of the towns or burgs of +Gard, Vaucluse, and l'Hérault, in greater or less number according to +the population of the city: some counting from ten to twelve, and others +from two to three hundred determined men, of every description: among +them are found "strike-hards" (tape-dur), former brigands, and escaped +convicts with the brand still on their backs. Some of them oblige their +members to wear a medal as a visible mark of recognition; all assume +the title of executive power, and declare that they act of their own +authority, and that it is necessary to "quicken the law."[3359] Their +pretext is the protection of sworn priests; and for twenty months, +beginning with April, 1791, they operate to this effect with heavy +knotted dubs garnished with iron points," without counting sabers and +bayonets. Generally, their expeditions are nocturnal. Suddenly, the +houses of "citizens suspected of a want of patriotism," of nonjuring +ecclesiastics, of the monks of the Christian school, are invaded; +everything is broken or stolen, and the owner is ordered to leave the +place in twenty-four hours: sometimes, doubtless through an excess of +precaution, he is beaten to death on the spot. Besides this, the band +also works by day in the streets, lashes the women, enters the churches +saber in hand, and drives the nonjuring priest from the altar. All of +this is done with the connivance and in the sight of the paralyzed +or complaisant authorities, by a sort of occult and complementary +government, which not only supplies what is missing in the +ecclesiastical law, but also searches the pockets of private +individuals.--At Nîmes, under the leadership of a patriotic +dancing-master, not content with "decreeing proscriptions, killing, +scourging, and often murdering," these new champions of the Gallican +Church undertake to reanimate the zeal of those liable to contribution. +A subscription having been proposed for the support of the families of +the volunteers about to depart, the executive power takes upon itself +to revise the list of offerings: it arbitrarily taxes those who have not +given, or who, in its opinion, have given too little some "poor workmen +fifty livres, others two hundred, three hundred, nine hundred, and +a thousand, under penalty of wrecked houses and severe treatment." +Elsewhere, the volunteers of Baux and other communes near Tarascon help +themselves freely, and, "under the pretext that they are to march for +the defense of the country, levy enormous contributions on proprietors," +on one four thousand, and on another five thousand livres. In default of +payment, they carry away all the grain on one farm, even to the reserve +seed, threatening to make havoc with everything, and even to burn, in +case of complaint, so that the owners dare not say a word, while the +attorney-general of the neighboring department, afraid on his own +account, begs that his denunciation may be kept secret.--From the slums +of the towns the jacquerie has spread into the rural districts. This is +the sixth and the most extensive seen for three years.[3360] + +Two spurs impel the peasant on.--On the one hand he is frightened by +the clash of arms, and the repeated announcements of an approaching +invasion. The clubs and the newspapers since the declaration of Pilnitz, +and the Orators in the Legislative Assembly for four months past, have +kept him alarmed with their trumpet-blasts, and he urges on his oxen in +the furrow with cries of "Woa, Prussia!" to one, and to the other, "Gee +up, Austria!" Austria and Prussia, foreign kings and nobles in league +with the emigrant nobles, are going to return in force to re-establish +the salt-tax, the excise, feudal-dues, tithes, and to retake national +property already sold and re-sold, with the aid of the gentry who have +not left, or who have returned, and the connivance of non-juring +priests who declare the sale sacrilegious and refuse to absolve the +purchasers.--On the other hand, Holy Week is drawing near, and for the +past year qualms of conscience have disturbed the purchasers. Up to +March 24, 1791, the sales of national property had amounted to only 180 +millions; but, the Assembly having prolonged the date of payment and +facilitated further sales in detail, the temptation proves too strong +for the peasant; stockings and buried pots are all emptied of their +savings. In seven months the peasant has bought to the amount of 1,346 +millions,[3361] and finally possesses in full and complete ownership the +morsel of land which he has coveted for so many years, and sometimes an +unexpected plot, a wood, a mill, or a meadow. At the present time he has +to settle accounts with the church, and, if the pecuniary settlement is +postponed, the Catholic settlement comes on the appointed day. +According to immemorial tradition he is obliged to take the communion +at Easter,[3362] his wife also, and likewise his mother; and if he, +exceptionally, does not think this of consequence, they do. Moreover, he +requires the sacraments for his old sick father, his new-born child, and +for his other child of an age to be confirmed. Now, communion, baptism, +confession, all the sacraments, to be of good quality, must proceed from +a safe source, just as is the case with flour and coin; there is only +too much counterfeit money now in the world, and the sworn priests are +daily losing credit, like the assignats. There is no other course to +pursue, consequently, but to resort to the non-juror, who is the only +one able to give valid absolutions. And it so happens that he not only +refuses this, but he is said to be inimical to the whole new order of +things.--In this dilemma the peasant falls back upon his usual resource, +the strength of his arms; he seizes the priest by the throat, as +formerly his lord, and extorts an acquittance for his sins as formerly +for his feudal dues. At the very least he strives to constrain the +non-jurors to swear, to close their separatist churches, and bring the +entire canton to the same uniform faith.--Occasionally also he avenges +himself against the partisans of the non-jurors, against chateaux +and houses of the opulent, against the nobles and the rich, against +proprietors of every class. Occasionally, likewise, as, since the +amnesty of September, 1791, the prisons have been emptied, as one-half +of the courts are not yet installed,[3363] as there has been no police +for thirty months, the common robbers, bandits, and vagrants, who swarm +about without repression or surveillance, join the mob and fill their +pockets. + +Here, in Pas-de-Calais,[3364] three hundred villagers, headed by a +drummer, burst open the doors of a Carthusian convent, steal everything, +eatables, beverages, linen, furniture, and effects, whilst, in the +neighboring parish, another band operates in the same fashion in the +houses of the mayor and of the old curé, threatening "to kill and +burn all," and promising to return on the following Sunday.--There, +in Bas-Rhin, near Fort Louis, twenty houses of the aristocrats are +pillaged.--Elsewhere in Ile-et-Vilaine, bodies of rural militia, +combined, go from parish to parish, and, increasing in numbers in +consequence of their very violence until they form bands of two thousand +men. They close churches, drive away nonjuring priests, remove clappers +from the bells, eat and drink what they please at the expense of the +inhabitants, and often, in the houses of the mayor or tax-registrar, +indulge in the pleasure of breaking everything to pieces. Should any +public officer remonstrate with them they shout, "At the aristocrat!" +One of these unlucky counselors is struck on the back with the but-end +of a musket, and two others have guns aimed at them; the chiefs of the +expedition are in no better predicament, and, according to their own +admission, if they are at the head of the mob it is to make sure they +themselves will not be pillaged or hung. The same spectacle presents +itself in Mayenne, in Orne, in Moselle, and in the Landes.[3365]--These, +however, are but isolated irruptions, and very mild; in the south and +in the center, the plague is apparent in an immense leprous spot, which +extending from Avignon to Perigueux, and from Aurillac to Toulouse, +suddenly covers, nearly without with any discontinuity, ten departments, +Vaucluse, Ardèche, Gard, Cantal, Corrèze, Lot, Dordogne, Gers, +Haute-Garonne, and Hérault. Vast rural masses are set in motion at the +same time, on all sides and owing to the same causes: the approach of +war and the coming of Easter.--In Cantal, at the assembly of the canton +held at Aurillac for the recruitment of the army,[3366] the commander +of a village National Guard demands vengeance "against those who are not +patriots," and the report is spread that an order has come from Paris to +destroy the chateaux. Moreover, the insurgents allege that the priests, +through their refusal to take the oath, are bringing the nation into +civil war: "we are tired of not having peace on their account; let them +become good citizens, so that everybody may go to mass." On the strength +of this, the insurgents enter houses, put the inhabitants to ransom, +not only priests and former nobles, "but also those who are suspected +of being their partisans, those who do not attend the mass of the +constitutional priest," and even poor people, artisans and tillers of +the ground, whom they tax five, ten, twenty, and forty francs, and +whose cellars and bread-bins they empty. Eighteen chateaux are pillaged, +burnt, or demolished, and among others, those of several gentlemen and +ladies who have not left the country. One of these, M. d'Humières, is an +old officer of eighty years; Madame de Peyronenc saves her son only by +disguising him as a peasant; Madame de Beauclerc, who flies across the +mountain, sees her sick child die in her arms. At Aurillac, gibbets are +set up before the principal houses; M. de Niossel, a former lieutenant +of a criminal court, put in prison for his safety, is dragged out, and +his severed head is thrown on a dunghill; M. Collinet, just arrived +from Malta, and suspected of being an aristocrat, is ripped open, cut +to pieces, and his head is carried about on the end of a pike. Finally, +when the municipal officers, judges, and royal commissioner commence +proceedings against the assassins, they find themselves in such great +danger that they are obliged to resign or to run away. In like manner, +in Haute-Garonne,[3367] it is also "against non-jurors and their +followers" that the insurrection has begun. This is promoted by the fact +that in various parishes the constitutional curé belongs to the +club, and demands the riddance of his adversaries. One of them at +Saint-Jean-Lorne, "mounted on a cart, preaches pillage to a mob of +eight hundred persons." Each band, consequently, begins by expelling +refractory priests, and by forcing their supporters to attend the mass +of the sworn priest.--But such success, wholly abstract and barren, is +of little advantage, and peasants in a state of revolt are not satisfied +so easily. When parishes march forth by the dozen and devote their day +to the service of the public, they must have some compensation in wood, +wheat, wine, or money,[3368] and the expense of the expedition may be +defrayed by the aristocrats. Not merely the upholders of non-jurors +are aristocrats, as, for example, an old lady here and there, "very +fanatical, and who for forty years has devoted all her income to acts of +philanthropy," "but well-to-do persons, peasants or gentlemen;" for, "by +keeping their wine and grain unsold in their cellars and barns, and by +not undertaking more work than they need, so as to deprive workmen in +the country of their means of subsistence," they design "to starve out" +the poor folk. Thus, the greater the pillage, the greater the service +to the public. According to the insurgents, it is important "to diminish +revenues enjoyed by the enemies of the nation, in order that they +may not send their revenues to Coblentz and other places out of the +kingdom." Consequently, bands of six or eight hundred or a thousand men +overrun the districts of Toulouse and Castelsarrasin. All proprietors, +aristocrats, and patriots are put under contribution. Here, in the +house of "the philanthropic but fanatical old maid, they break open +everything, destroy the furniture, taking away eighty-two bushels of +wheat and sixteen hogsheads of wine." Elsewhere, at Roqueferrière, +feudal title-deeds are burnt, and a chateau is pillaged. Farther on, at +Lasserre, thirty thousand francs are exacted and the ready money is +all carried off. Almost everywhere the municipal officers, willingly or +unwillingly, authorize pillaging. Moreover, "they cut down provisions to +a price in assignats very much less than their current rate in silver," +and they double the price of a day's work. In the meantime, other bands +devastate the national forests, and the gendarmes, in order not to be +called aristocrats, have no idea but of paying court to the pillagers. + +After all this, it is manifest that property no longer exists for +anybody except for paupers and robbers.--In effect, in Dordogne,[3369] +under the pretext of driving away nonjuring priests, frequently mobs +gather to pillage and rob whatever comes in their way. . . . All the +grain that is found in houses with weathercocks is sequestrated." +The rustics exploit, as communal property, all the forests, all the +possessions of the emigrants; and this operation is radical; for +example, a band, on finding a new barn of which the materials strike +them as good, demolish it so as to share with each other the tiles and +timber.--In Corrèze, fifteen thousand armed peasants, who have come to +Tulle to disarm and drive off the supporters of the non-jurors, break +everything in suspected houses, and a good deal of difficulty is found +in sending them off empty-handed. As soon as they get back home, they +sack the chateaux of Saint-Gal, Seilhac, Gourdon, Saint-Basile, and La +Rochette, besides a number of country-houses, even of absent plebeians. +They have found a quarry, and never was the removal of property more +complete. They carefully carry off, says an official statement, all that +can be carried--furniture, curtains, mirrors, clothes-presses, pictures, +wines, provisions, even floors and wooden panels, "down to the smallest +fragments of iron and wood-work," smashing the rest, so that nothing +"remains of the house but its four walls, the roof and the staircase." +In Lot, where for two years the insurrection is permanent, the damage +is much greater. During the night between the 30th and 31st of January, +"all the best houses in Souillac" are broken open, "sacked and pillaged +from top to bottom,"[3370] their owners being obliged to fly, and so +many outbreaks occur in the department, that the directory has no time +to render an account of them to the minister. Entire districts are +in revolt; as, "in each commune all the inhabitants are accomplices, +witnesses cannot be had to support a criminal prosecution, and crime +remains unpunished." In the canton of Cabrerets, the restitution of +rents formerly collected is exacted, and the reimbursement of charges +paid during twenty years past. The small town of Lauzerte is invaded by +surrounding bodies of militia, and its disarmed inhabitants are at +the mercy of the Jacobin suburbs. For three months, in the district of +Figeac, "all the mansions of former nobles are sacked and burnt;" next +the pigeon-cots are attacked, "and all country-houses which have a good +appearance." Barefooted gangs "enter the houses of well-to-do people, +physicians, lawyers, merchants, burst open the doors of cellars, drink +the wine," and riot like drunken victors. In several communes these +expeditions have become a custom; "a large number of individuals are +found in them who live on rapine alone," and the club sets them the +example. For six months, in the principal town, a coterie of the +National Guard, called the Black Band, expel all persons who are +displeasing to them, "pillaging houses at will, beating to death, +wounding or mutilating by saber-strokes, all who have been proscribed in +their assemblies," and no official or advocate dares lodge a complaint. +Brigandage, borrowing the mask of patriotism, and patriotism borrowing +the methods of brigandage, have combined against property at the same +time as against the ancient régime, and, to free themselves from all +that inspires them with fear, they seize all which can provide them with +booty. + +And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm; the center is +elsewhere, around Nîmes, Avignon, Arles, and Marseilles, in a country +where, for a long time, the conflict between cities and the conflict +between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant passions.[3371] +Looking at the three departments of Gard, Bouches-de-Rhône and Vaucluse, +one would imagine one's self in the midst of a war with savages. +In fact, it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion, and, consequently, +conquest, dispossession, and extermination,--in Gard, a swarm of +National Guards copy the jacquerie: the dregs of the Comtat come to the +surface and cover Vaucluse with its scum; an army of six thousand from +Marseilles sweeps down on Arles.--In the districts of Nîmes, Sommières, +Uzès, Alais, Jalais, and Saint-Hippolyte, title-deeds are burnt, +proprietors put to ransom, and municipal officers threatened with death +if they try to interpose; twenty chateaux and forty country-houses are +sacked, burnt, and demolished.--The same month, Arles and Avignon,[3372] +given up to the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat, see confiscation +and massacres approaching.--Around the commandant, who has received the +order to evacuate Aries,[3373] "the inhabitants of all parties" gather +as suppliants, "clasping his hands, entreating him with tears in their +eyes not to abandon them; women and children cling to his boots," so +that he does not know how to free himself without hurting them; on his +departure twelve hundred families emigrate. After the entrance of the +Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors proscribed, their +country-houses on the two banks of the Rhone pillaged, "as in the times +of Saracen pirates," a tax of 1,400,000 livres levied on all people in +good circumstances, absent or present, women and girls promenaded +about half-naked on donkeys and publicly whipped." "A saber committee" +disposes of lives, proscribes and executes: it is the reign of sailors, +porters, and the dregs of the populace.--At Avignon,[3374] it is that of +simple brigands, incendiaries and assassins, who, six months previously, +converted the Glacière[3375] into a charnel-house. They return in +triumph and state that "this time the Glacière will be full." Five +hundred families had already sought asylum in France before the first +massacre; now, the entire remainder of the honest bourgeoisie, twelve +hundred persons, take to flight, and the terror is so great that the +small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants. In fact, from this +time forth, both departments throughout Vaucluse and Bouches-de-Rhône +are a prey: Bands of two thousand armed men, with women, children, and +other volunteer followers, travel from commune to commune to live as +they please at the expense of "fanatics." The well-bred people are not +the only ones they despoil. Plain cultivators, taxed at 10,000 livres, +have sixty men billeted on them; their cattle are slain and eaten before +their eyes, and everything in their houses is broken up; they are driven +out of their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed-swamps of the +Rhone, awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take refuge +in the neighboring department.[3376] Thus, from the spring of 1792, +if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of indifference +towards the ruling faction, if, through but one opinion conscientiously +held, he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or of suspicion, he +undergoes popular hostility, pillage, exile, and worse besides; no +matter how loyal his conduct may be, nor how loyal he may be at heart, +no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive; it is all the same +whether it be a noble, bourgeois, peasant, aged priest, or woman; and +this while public peril is yet neither great, present, nor visible, +since France is at peace with Europe, and the government still subsists +in its entirety. + + + + +IX.--General state of opinion. + + The three convoys of non-juring priests on the Seine.-- + Psychological aspects of the Revolution. + +What will it be, then, now when the peril, already become palpable and +serious, is daily increasing, now when war has begun, when Lafayette's +army is falling back in confusion, when the Assembly declares the +country in danger, when the King is overthrown, when Lafayette defects +and goes abroad, when the soil of France is invaded, when the frontier +fortresses surrender without resistance, when the Prussians are entering +Champagne, when the insurrection in La Vendée adds the lacerations of +civil war to the threats of a foreign war, and when the cry of treachery +arises on all sides?--Already, on the 14th of May, at Metz,[3377] M. +de Fiquelmont, a former canon, seen chatting with a hussar on the Place +Saint-Jacques, was charged with tampering with people on behalf of the +princes, carried off in spite of a triple line of guards, and beaten, +pierced, and slashed with sticks, bayonets, and sabers, while the mad +crowd around the murderers uttered cries of rage: and from month to +month, in proportion as popular fears increase, popular imagination +becomes more heated and its delirium grows.--You can see this yourself +by one example. On the 31st of August, 1792,[3378] eight thousand +non-juring priests, driven out of their parishes, are at Rouen, a town +less intolerant than the others, and, in conformity with the decree +which banishes them, are preparing to leave France. Two vessels have +just carried away about a hundred of them; one hundred and twenty others +are embarking for Ostend in a larger vessel. They take nothing with them +except a little money, some clothes, and one or at most two portions of +their breviary, because they intend to return soon. Each has a regular +passport, and, just at the moment of leaving, the National Guard have +made a thorough inspection so as not to let a suspected person escape. +It makes no difference. On reaching Quilleboeuf the first two convoys +are stopped. A report has spread, indeed, that the priests are going to +join the enemy and enlist, and the people living round about jump +into their boats and surround the vessels. The priests are obliged to +disembark amidst a tempests of "yells, blasphemies, insults, and abuse:" +one of them, a white-headed old man, having fallen into the mud, the +cries and shouts redouble; if he is drowned so much the better, there +will be one less! On landing all are put in prison, on bare stones, +without straw or bread, and word is sent to Paris to know what must be +done with so many cassocks. In the meantime the third vessel, short of +provisions, has sent two priests to Quilleboeuf and to Pont-Audemer to +have twelve hundred pounds of bread baked: pointed out by the village +militia, they are chased out like wild beasts, pass the night in a wood, +and find their way back with difficulty empty-handed. The vessel itself +being signaled, is besieged. "In all the municipalities on the banks of +the river drums beat incessantly to warn the population to be on their +guard. The appearance of an Algerian or Tripolitan corsair on the shores +of the Adriatic would cause less excitement. One of the seamen of the +vessel published a statement that the trunks of the priests transported +were full of every kind of arms." and the country people constantly +imagine that they are going to fall upon them sword and pistol in hand. +For several long days the famished convoy remains moored in the stream, +are carefully watched. Boats filled with volunteers and peasants row +around it uttering insults and threats: in the neighboring meadows the +National Guards form themselves in line of battle. Finally, a decision +is arrived at. The bravest, well armed get into skiffs, approach the +vessel cautiously, choose the most favorable time and spot, rush on +board, and take possession; and are perfectly astonished to find neither +enemies nor arms.--Nevertheless, the priests are confined on board, and +their deputies, must make their appearance before the mayor. The latter, +a former usher and good Jacobin, being the most frightened, is the most +violent. He refuses to stamp the passports, and, seeing two priests +approach, one provided with a sword-cane and the other with an +iron-pointed stick, thinks that there is to be a sudden attack. "Here +are two more of them," he exclaims with terror; "they are all going to +land. My friends, the town is in danger!"--On hearing this the crowd +becomes alarmed, and threatens the deputies; the cry of "To the lamp +post!" is heard, and, to save them, National Guards are obliged to +conduct them to prison in the center of a circle of bayonets.--It must +be noted that these madmen are "at bottom the kindest people in the +world." After the boarding of the ship, one of the most ferocious, +by profession a barber, seeing the long beards of these poor priests, +instantly cools down, draws forth his tools, and good-naturedly sets +to work, spending several hours in shaving them. In ordinary times +ecclesiastics received nothing but salutations; three years previously +they were "respected as fathers and guides." But at the present moment +the rustic, the man of the lower class, is out of his bearings. Forcibly +and against nature, he has been made a theologian, a politician, a +police captain, a local independent sovereign; and in such a position +his head is turned. Among these people who seem to have lost their +senses, only one, an officer of the National Guard, remains cool; he is, +besides, very polite, well-behaved, and an agreeable talker; he comes +in the evening to comfort the prisoners and to take tea with them +in prison; in fact, he is accustomed to tragedies and, thanks to his +profession, his nerves are in repose--this person is the executioner. +The others, "whom one would take for tigers," are bewildered sheep; but +they are not the less dangerous; for, carried away by their delirium, +they bear down with their mass on whatever gives them umbrage.--On +the road from Paris to Lyons[3379] Roland's commissioners witness this +terrible fright. "The people are constantly asking what our generals +and armies are doing; they have vengeful expressions frequently on their +lips. Yes, they say, we will set out, but we must (at first) purge the +interior." + +Something appalling is in preparation. The seventh jacquerie is drawing +near, this one universal and final--at first brutal, and then legal +and systematic, undertaken and carried out on the strength of abstract +principles by leaders worthy of the means they employ. Nothing like it +ever occurred in history; for the first time we see brutes gone mad, +operating on a grand scale and for a long time, under the leadership of +blockheads who have become insane. + +There is a certain strange malady commonly encountered in the quarters +of the poor. A workman, over-taxed with work, in misery and badly fed, +takes to drink; he drinks more and more every day, and liquors of the +strongest kind. After a few years his nervous system, already weakened +by spare diet, becomes over-excited and out of balance. An hour comes +when the brain, under a sudden stroke, ceases to direct the machine; in +vain does it command, for it is no longer obeyed; each limb, each +joint, each muscle, acting separately and for itself starts convulsively +through discordant impulses. Meanwhile the man is gay; he thinks himself +a millionaire, a king, loved and admired by everybody; he is not aware +of the mischief he is doing to himself he does not comprehend the advice +given him, he refuses the remedies offered to him, he sings and shouts +for entire days, and, above all, drinks more than ever.--At last his +face grows dark and his eyes become blood-shot. Radiant visions give way +to black and monstrous phantoms; he sees nothing around him hut menacing +figures, traitors in ambush, ready to fall upon him unawares, murderers +with upraised arms ready to cut his throat, executioners preparing +torments for him; and he seems to be wading in a pool of blood. So he +precipitates, and, in order that he himself may not be killed, he +kills. No one is more to be dreaded, for his delirium sustains him; +his strength is prodigious, his movements unforeseen, and he endures, +without heeding them, suffering and wounds under which a healthy man +would succumb.--France, like such a madman, exhausted by fasting under +the monarchy, drunk by the unhealthy drug of the Social-Contract, and by +countless other adulterated or fiery beverages, is suddenly struck with +paralysis of the brain; at once she is convulsed in every limb through +the incoherent play and contradictory twitching of her discordant +organs. At this time she has traversed the period of joyous madness, and +is about to enter upon the period of somber delirium: behold her capable +of daring, suffering, and doing all, capable of incredible exploits and +abominable barbarities, the moment her guides, as erratic as herself, +indicate an enemy or an obstacle to her fury. + + +THE END. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3301: Moniteur, XI. 763. (Sitting of March 28, +1792.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. (Deliberation of the Directory +of the Department, November 29, 1791, and January 27, 1792.--Petition +of the Municipality of Mende and of forty-three others, November 30, +1791.)] + +[Footnote 3302: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3198. Minutes of the meeting +of the municipal officers of Arles, September 2, 1791.--Letters of the +Royal Commissioners and of the National Assembly, October 24, November +6, 14, 17, 21, and December 21, 1791.--The Commissioners, to be +impartial, attend in turn a mass by a nonjuring priest and one by a +priest of the opposite side. "The church is full" with the former and +always empty with the latter.] + +[Footnote 3303: "Mémoire" of M. Mérilhon, for Froment, passim.--Report +of M. Alquier, p. 54.--De Dampmartin, I. 208.] + +[Footnote 3304:--De Dampmartin, I. 208.They would exclaim to the +catholic peasants: "Allons, mes enfants, Vive le Roi!" (shouts of +enthusiasm): "those wretches of democrats, let us make an example of +them, and restore the sacred rights of the throne and the altar!"--"As +you please," replied the rustics in their patois, "but we must hold +fast to the Revolution, for there are some good things about it."--They +remain calm, refuse to march to the assistance of Uzès, and withdraw +into their mountains on the first sign of the approach of the National +Guard.] + +[Footnote 3305: This is what the author Soljenitsyne observed about +his Russian countrymen in an interview with M. Pivot in the French +television in 1998. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3306: Dauban, "La Demagogie à Paris," p.598; Letter of M. de +Brissac, August 25, 1789.] + +[Footnote 3307: Moniteur, X. 339. (Journal de Troyes, and a letter from +Perpignan, November, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3308: Mercure de France, No. for September 3, 1791. "Let +Liberty be presented to us, and all France will kneel before her; +but noble and proud hearts will eternally resist the oppression which +assumes her sacred mask. They will invoke liberty, but liberty without +crime, the liberty which is maintained without dungeons, without +inquisitors, without incendiaries, without brigands, without forced +oaths, without illegal coalitions, without mob outrages; that liberty, +finally, which allows no oppressor to go unpunished, and which does +not crush peaceable citizens beneath the weight of the chains it has +broken."] + +[Footnote 3309: Rivarol, "Mémoires," p.367. (Letter of M. Servan, +published in the "Actes des Apôtres.")] + +[Footnote 3310: The King's brother, later to become King of France under +the name of Louis XVIII. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3311: "Archives Nationa1es," F7. 3257. Official reports, +investigations, and correspondence in relation with the affair of M. +Bussy (October, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3312: Mercure de France, May 15, 1790. (Letter of Baron de +Bois-d'Aisy, April 29, read in the National Assembly.)--Moniteur, IV. +302. Sitting of May 6. (Official statement of the Justice of the Peace +of Vitteaux, April 28.)] + +[Footnote 3313: "Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letter of M. +Belin-Chatellenot (near Asnay-le-Duc) to the President of the National +Assembly, July 1, 1791. "In the realm of liberty we live under the most +cruel tyranny, and in a state of the most complete anarchy, while the +administrative bodies and the police, still in their infancy, seem to +act only in fear and trembling. . . . So far, in all crimes, they +are more concerned with extenuating the facts, than in punishing the +offense. The result is that the guilty have had no other restraint on +them than a few gentle phrases like this: Dear brothers and friends, +you are in the wrong, be careful," etc.--Ibid. , F7, 3229. Letter of the +Directory of the Department of Marne, July 13, 1791. (Searches by the +National Guard in chateaux and the disarming of formerly privileged +persons.) "None of our injunctions were obeyed." For example, there is +breakage and violence in the residence of M. Guinaumont at Merry, the +gun, shot and powder of the game-keeper even are carried off. "M. de +Guinaumont is without the means of defending himself against a mad dog +or any other savage brute that might come into his woods or into +his courtyard." The Mayor of Merry, with the National Guard, under +compulsion, tells them in vain that they are breaking the law.--Petition +of Madame d'Ambly, wife of the deputy, June 28, 1791. Not having the +guns which she had already given up, she is made to pay 150 francs.] + +[Footnote 3314: "Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letters of the +Administrators of the Department of Rhône-et-Loire, July 6, 1791. (M. +Vilet is one of the signers.)--Mercure de France, October 8, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3315: Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by +Mallet du Pan. "The details of the picture I have just sketched were +all furnished me by Madame Dumoutet herself." I am "authorized by her +signature to guarantee the accuracy of this narrative."] + +[Footnote 3316: Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by +Mallet du Pan. "The proceedings instituted at Lyons confirmed this +banquet of cannibals."] + +[Footnote 3317: The letter of the Department ends with this either naïve +or ironical expression: "You have now only one conquest to make, that of +making the people obey and submit to the law."] + +[Footnote 3318: "Archives Nationales," P7, 3,200. See documents relating +to the affair of November 5, 1792, and the events which preceded it +or followed it, and among others "Lettres du Directoire et du +Procureur-syndic du Departement;" "Pétition et Mémoire pour les +Déténus;" "Lettres d'un Témoin," M. de Morant.--Moniteur, X. 356. +"Minutes of the meeting de la Municipalité de Caen" and of the +"Directoire du Departement," XI.1264, 206. "Rapport de Guadet," and +documents of the trial.--"Archives Nationales," ibid. .--"Lettres de +M. Cahier," Minister of the Interior, January 26, 1792, of M. C. D. +de Pontécoulant, President of the Department Directory, February 3, +1792.--Proclamation by the Directory.] + +[Footnote 3319: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of September +26, 1791.--Letter found on one of the arrested gentlemen. "A cowardly +bourgeoisie, directors in cellars, a clubbist (Jacobin) municipality, +waging the most illegal war against us."] + +[Footnote 3320: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the +Attorney-General of Bayeux, May 14, 1792, and of the Directory of +Bayeux, May 21, 1792.--At Bayeux, likewise; the refugees are denounced +and in peril. According to their verified statements they scarcely +amounted to one hundred. "Several nonjuring priests, indeed, are found +among them. (But) the rest, for the most part, consist of the heads of +families who are known to reside habitually in neighboring districts, +and who have been forced to leave their homes after having been, or +fearing to become, victims of religious intolerance or of the threats of +factions and of brigands."] + +[Footnote 3321: Lenin has probably read this during his studies in Paris +and maybe been confirmed in his plan to create a new elite, an elite he +eventually began to make use of from 1917 and onwards, an elite which +continues to rule Russia and a great part of the world today. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3322: Mercure de France, June 4, 1790 (letter from Cahors, May +17, and an Act of the Municipality, May 10, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3323: "Archives Nationales," F7, 1223. Letter of count Louis +de Beaumont, November 9, 1791. His letter, in a very moderate tone, +thus end: "You must admit, sir, that it is very disagreeable and even +incredible, that the Municipal Officers should be the originators of the +disorders which occur in this town."] + +[Footnote 3324: Mercure de France, January 7, 1792. M. Granchier de Riom +petitions the Directory of his Department in relation to the purchase of +the cemetery, where his father had been interred four years before; his +object is to prevent it from being dug up, which was decreed, and to +preserve the family vault. He at the same time wishes to buy the church +of Saint-Paul, in order to insure the continuance of the masses in +behalf of his father's soul. The Directory replies (December 5, 1791): +"considering that the motives which have determined the petitioner in +his declaration are a pretense of good feeling under which there is +hidden an illusion powerless to pervert a sound mind, the Directory +decides that the application of the sieur Granchier cannot be granted."] + +[Footnote 3325: De Ferrières, II. 268 (April 19, 1791).] + +[Footnote 3326: De Montlosier, II. 307, 309, 312.] + +[Footnote 3327: Moniteur, VI. 556. Letter of M d'Aymar, commodore, +November 18, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3328: Mercure de France, May 28, and June 16, 1791 (letters +from Cahors and Castelnau, May 18).] + +[Footnote 3329: Mercure de France, number of May 28, 1791. At the +festival of the Federation, M. de Massy would not order his cavalry to +put their chapeaux on the points of their swords, which was a difficult +maneuver. He was accused of treason to the nation on account of this, +and obliged to leave Tulle for several months.--"Archives Nationales," +F7, 3204. Extract from the minutes of the tribunal of Tulle, May 10, +1791.] + +[Footnote 3330: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, "Minutes of the meeting +des Officiers Municipaux de Brest," June 23, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3331: "Mémoires de Cuvier" ("Eloges Historiques," by +Flourens), I, 177. Cuvier, who was then in Havre (1788), had pursued the +higher studies in a German administrative school. "M. de Surville," he +says, an officer in the Artuis regiment, "has one of the must refined +minds and most amiable characters I ever encountered. There were a good +many of this sort among his comrades, and I am always astonished how +such men could vegetate in the obscure ranks of an infantry regiment."] + +[Footnote 3332: De Dampmartin, I. 133. At the beginning of the year +1790, "inferior officers said: 'We ought to demand something, for +we have at least as many grievances as our troopers,' "--M. de la +Rochejacquelein, after his great success in La Vendée, said: "I hope +that the King, when once he is restored, will give me a +regiment." He aspired to nothing more ("Mémoires de Madame de la +Rochejacquelein").--Cf. "Un Officier royaliste au Service de la +Republique," by M. de Bezancenet, in the letters and biography of +General de Dommartin killed in the expedition to Egypt.] + +[Footnote 3333: Correspondence of MM. de Thiard, de Caraman, de Miran, +de Bercheny, etc., above cited, passim.--Correspondence of M. de Thiard, +May 5, 1780: "The town of Vannes has an authoritative style which begins +to displease me. It wants the King to furnish drum-sticks. The first log +of wood would provide these, with greater ease and promptness."] + +[Footnote 3334: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, March 16, 1791. +At Douai, Nicolon, a grain-dealer, is hung because the municipal +authorities did not care to proclaim martial law. The commandant, M. de +la Noue, had not the right of ordering his men to move, and the murder +took place before his eyes.] + +[Footnote 3335: The last named, especially, died with heroic meekness +(Mercure de France, June 18, 1791).--Sitting of June 9, speeches by two +officers of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, one of them an eye-witness.] + +[Footnote 3336: "De Dampmartin," II. 214. Desertion is very great, even +in ordinary times, supplying foreign armies with "a fourth of their +effective men."--Towards the end of 1789, Dubois de Crancé, an old +musketeer and one of the future "men of the mountain," stated to the +National Assembly that the old system of recruiting supplied the army +with "men without home or occupation, who often became soldiers to +avoid civil penalties" (Moniteur, II. 376, 381, sitting of December 12, +1789).] + +[Footnote 3337: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. +de Thiard, September 4 and 7, 1789, November 20, 1789, April 28, and May +29, 1790. "The spirit of insubordination which begins to show itself +in the Bassigny regiment is an epidemic disease which is insensibly +spreading among all the troops. . . . The troops are all in a state of +gangrene, while all the municipalities oppose the orders they receive +concerning the movements of troops."] + +[Footnote 3338: "Archives Nationales," H,1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 12, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3339: "Mémoire Justificatif" (by Grégoire), on behalf of two +soldiers, Emery and Delisle.--De Bouillé, "Mémoires."--De Dampmartin, +I.128, 144.--"Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, July 2 and 9, 1790.--Moniteur, sittings of September 3 and June +4, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3340: De Bouillé, p. 127.--Moniteur, sitting of August 6, +1790, and that of May 27, 1790.--Full details in authentic documents of +the affair at Nancy, passim.--Report of M. Emmery, August 16, 1790, and +other documents in Buchez and Roux, VII. 59-162.--De Bezancenet, p.35. +Letters of M. de Dommartin (Metz, August 4, 1790). "The Federation +there passed off quietly, only, a short time after, some soldiers of a +regiment took it into their heads to divide the (military) fund, and at +once placed sentinels at the door of the officer having charge of the +chest, compelling him to open it (désacquer). Another regiment has since +put all its officers under arrest. A third has mutinied, and wanted to +take all its horses to the market-place and sell them.. . . Everywhere +the soldiers are heard to say that if they want money they know where to +find it."] + +[Footnote 3341: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, letters of the Royal +Commissioners, September 27, October 1, 4, 8, 11, 1790. the commencement +of the Revolution, had most to do with the insurrections in the +interior. "What means can four commissioners employ to convince 20,000 +men, most of whom are seduced by the real enemies of the public welfare? +In consequence of the replacing of the men the crews are, for the most +part, composed of those who are almost ignorant of the sea, who know +nothing of the rules of subordination, and who, at the commencement of +the Revolution, had most to do with the insurrections in the interior."] + +[Footnote 3342: Mercure de France. October 2, 1790. Letter of the +Admiral, M. d'Albert de Rioms, September 16. The soldiers of the +Majestueux have refused to drill, and the sailors of the Patriote to +obey.--"I wished to ascertain beforehand if they had any complaint to +make against their captain?--No.--If they complained of myself?--No.--If +they had any complaints to make against their officers?--No.--It is the +revolt of one class against another class; their sole cry is 'Vive la +Nation et les Aristocrates à la lanterne!' The mob have set up a gibbet +before the house of M. de Marigny, major-general of marines; he has +handed in his resignation. M. d'Albert tenders his resignation."--Ibid, +June 18, 1791 (letter from Dunkirk, June 3).] + +[Footnote 3343: De Dampmartin, I. 222, 219. Mercure de France, September +3, 1791. (Sitting of August 23.)--Cf. Moniteur (same date). "The Ancient +Régime," p.377.] + +[Footnote 3344: Marshal Marmont, "Mémoires," I. 24. "The sentiment I +entertained for the person of the King is difficult to define. . . +(It was) a sentiment of devotion of an almost religious character, a +profound respect as if due to a being of a superior order. At this time +the word king possessed a magic power in all pure and upright hearts +which nothing had changed. This delicate sentiment. . . still existed +in the mass of the nation, especially among the well-born, who, +sufficiently remote from power, were rather impressed by its brilliancy +than by its imperfections." De Bezancenet, 27. Letter of M. de +Dommartin, August 24, 1790. "We have just renewed our oath. I hardly +know what it all means. I, a soldier, know only my King; in reality I +obey two masters, who, we are told, will secure my happiness and that of +my brethren, if they agree together."] + +[Footnote 3345: De Dampmartin, I. 179. See the details of his +resignation (III. 185) after June 20, 1792.--Mercure de France, April +14, 1792. Letter from the officers of the battalion of the Royal +chasseurs of Provence (March 9). They are confined to their barracks by +their soldiers, who refuse to obey their orders, and they declare that, +on this account, they abandon the service and leave France.] + +[Footnote 3346: Rousset, "Les Volontaires de 1791 à 1794", p. 106. Letter +of M. de Biron to the minister (August, 1792); p.225, letter of Vezu, +commander of the 3rd battalion of Paris, to the army of the north (July +24, 1793).--"A Residence in France from 1792 to 1795" (September, +1792. Arras). See notes at the end of vol. II. for the details of these +violent proceedings.] + +[Footnote 3347: Mercure de France, March 5, June 4, September 3, October +22, 1791. (Articles by Mallet du Pan.--Ibid., April 14, 1792). More than +six hundred naval officers resigned after the mutiny of the squadron +at Brest. "Twenty-two grave revolts in the ports on shipboard remained +unpunished, and several of them through the decisions of the naval +jury." "There is no instance of any insurrection, in the ports or on +shipboard, or any outrage upon a naval officer, having been punished. +. . . It is not necessary to seek elsewhere for the causes of the +abandonment of the service by naval officers. According to their letters +all offer their lives to France, but refuse to command those who will +not obey."] + +[Footnote 3348: This was done by Hitler against the Jews and by the +Communists against their "enemy" the bourgeois. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3349: Duvergier, "Decrees of August 1-6, 1791; February 9-11, +1792; March 30 to April 8, 1792; July 24-28, 1792; March 28 to April 5, +1793."--Report by Roland, January 6, 1793. He estimates this property +at 4,800 millions, of which 1,800 millions must be deducted for the +creditors of the emigrants; 3,000 millions remain. Now, at this date, +the assignats are at a discount of 55 per cent. from their nominal +figure.] + +[Footnote 3350: Mercure de France,, February 18, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3351: Already Tacitus noted some 2000 years ago that, "It is +part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt." (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3352: Cf. on this general attitude of the clergy, Sauzay, V. +I. and the whole of V. II.--Mercure de France, September 10, 1791: "No +impartial man will fail to see that, in the midst of this oppression, +amidst so many fanatical charges of which the reproach of fanaticism and +revolt is the pretext, not one act of resistance has yet been manifest. +Informers and municipal bodies, governed by clubs, have caused a large +number of non-jurors to be cast into dungeons. All have come out of +them, or groan there untried, and no tribunal has found any of them +guilty."--Report of M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior, February +18, 1792. He declares that "he had no knowledge of any priest being +convicted by the courts as a disturber of the public peace, although +several had been accused."--Moniteur May 6, 1792. (Report of Français de +Nantes) "Not one has been punished for thirty months."] + +[Footnote 3353: On these spontaneous brutal acts of the Catholic +peasants, cf. "Archives Nationales," F7, 3236 (Lozère, July-November, +1791). Deliberation of the district of Florac, July 6, 1791, and +the official statement of the commissioner of the department on the +disturbances in Espagnac. On the 5th of July, Richard, a constitutional +curé, calls upon the municipality to proceed to his installation. "The +ceremony could not take place, owing to the hooting, of the women and +children, and the threats of various persons who exclaimed: 'Kill him! +strangle him, he is a Protestant, is married, and has children;' and +owing to the impossibility of entering the church, the doors of which +were obstructed by the large number of women standing in front of +them:"--On the 6th of July, he is installed, but with difficulty. +"Inside the church a crowd of women uttered loud cries and bemoaned the +removal of their old curé On returning, in the streets, a large number +of women, unsettled by the sight of the constitutional cure, turned +their faces aside. . . and contented themselves with uttering disjointed +words.--without doing anything more than cover their faces with their +bonnets, casting themselves on the ground."--July 15. The clerk will +no longer serve at the mass nor ring the bells; the curé, Richard, +attempting to ring them himself, the people threaten him with +ill-treatment if he runs the risk.--September 8, 1791. Letter from the +curé of Fau, district of Saint-Chély. "That night I was on the brink +of death through a troop of bandits who took my parsonage away from +me, after having broken in the doors and windows."--December 30, 1791. +Another curé who goes to take possession of his parsonage is assailed +with stones by sixty women, and thus pursued beyond the limits of the +parish.--August 5, 1791. Petition of the constitutional bishop of Mende +and his four vicars. "Not a day passes that we are not insulted in the +performance of our duties. We cannot take a step without encountering +hooting. If we go out we are threatened with cowardly assassination, +and with being beaten with clubs."--F7, 3235 (Bas-Rhin, letter from +the Directory of the Department, April 9, 1792): "Ten out of eleven, at +least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize sworn priests."] + +[Footnote 3354: Duvergier, decrees (not sanctioned) of November 29 +and May 27, 1792.--Decree of August 26, 1792, after the fall of the +throne.--Moniteur, XII. 200 (sitting of April 23, 1793). Report of the +Minister of the Interior.] + +[Footnote 3355: Lallier, "Le District de Machecoul," p.261, +263.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. Demand of the prosecuting +attorney of the commune of Tonneins (December 21, 1791) for the arrest +or expulsion of eight priests "at the slightest act of internal or +external hostility."--Ibid., F7, 3264. Act of the Council-general +of Corrèze (July 16, 17, 18, 1792) to place in arrest all nonjuring +priests.--Between these two dates, act, of various kinds and of +increasing severity are found in nearly all the departments against the +non-jurors.] + +[Footnote 3356: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Official statement by +the directory of the department, March 18, 1791, with all the documents +in relation thereto.--F7, 3200. Letter of the Directory of Calvados, +June 13, 1792, with the interrogations. The damages are estimated at +15,000 livres.] + +[Footnote 3357: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. An Act of the Directory +of Lot, February 24, 1792, on the disturbances at Marmande.--F7, 3239, +official statement of the municipal body of Rheims, November 5, 6, 7, +1791. The two workmen are a harness-maker and a wool-carder. The priest +who administered the baptism is put in prison as a disturber of the +public peace.--F7, 3219. Letter of the royal commissioner at the +tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 5, 1792.--F7, 3203. Letter of the +directory of the district of La Rochelle, June 1, 1792. "The armed +force, a witness of these crimes and summoned to arrest these persons in +the act, refused to obey."] + +[Footnote 3358: Memorandum by Camille Jourdan (Sainte-Beuve, "Causeries +du Lundi," XII. 250). The guard refuses to give any assistance, coming +too late and merely "to witness the disorder, never to repress it."] + +[Footnote 3359: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Letters of the curé +of Uzès, January 29, 1792; of the curé of Alais, April 5, 1792; of the +administrators of Gard, July 28, 1792; of the prosecuting attorney, M. +Griolet, July 2, 1792; of Castanet, former gendarme, August 25, 1792; +of M. Griolet, September 28, 1792.--Ibid. , F7, 3223. Petition by M.M. +Thueri and Devès in the name of the oppressed of Montpellier, November +17, 1791; letter of the same to the minister, October 28, 1791; letter of +M. Dupin, prosecuting attorney, August 23, 1791; Act of the Department, +August 9, 1791; Petition of the inhabitants of Courmonterral, August 25, +1791] + +[Footnote 3360: Moniteur, XII. 16, sitting of April 1, 1792. Speech by +M. Laureau. "Behold the provinces in flames, insurrection in nineteen +departments, and revolt everywhere declaring itself. . . The only +liberty is that of brigandage; we have no taxation, no order, no +government." Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. "More than twenty +departments are now participating in the horrors of anarchy and in a +more or less destructive insurrection."] + +[Footnote 3361: Moniteur, XII. 30. Speech by M. Caillasson. The total +amount of property sold up to November 1, 1791, is 1,526 millions; the +remainder for sale amounts to 669 millions.] + +[Footnote 3362: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory +of Ille-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792. "The National Guards of the district +purposely expel all nonjuring priests, who have not been replaced, under +the pretext of the trouble they would not fail to cause at Easter."] + +[Footnote 3363: Moniteur, XI. 420. (Sitting of February 18, 1792.) +Report by M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior.] + +[Footnote 3364: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Deposition of the +municipal officers of Gosnay and Hesdiguel (district of Béthune), May +18, 1792. Six parishes took part in this expedition; the mayor's wife +had a rope around her neck, and came near being hung.--Moniteur, XII, +154, April 15, 1792.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the +Directory of Ile-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792, and official statement +of the commissioners for the district of Vitré; letter of the same +directory, April 21, 1792, and report of the commissioners sent to +Acigné, April 6.] + +[Footnote 3365: Moniteur, XII. 200. Report of M. Cahier, April 23, 1792. +The directories of these four departments refuse to cancel their illegal +acts, alleging that "their armed National Guards pursue refractory +priests."] + +[Footnote 3366: Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. Letters written from +Aurillac.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3202.--Letter of the directory +of the district of Aurillac, March 27, 1792 (with seven official +statements); of the directory of the district of Saint-Flour, March 19 +(with the report of its commissioners); of M. Duranthon, minister +of justice, April 22; petition of M. Lorus, municipal officer of +Aurillac.--Letter of M. Duranthon, June 9, 1792. "I am just informed by +the royal commissioner of the district of Saint-Flour that, since the +departure of the troops, the magistrates dare no longer exercise their +functions in the midst of the brigands who surround them."] + +[Footnote 3367: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letters of M. Niel, +administrator of the department of Haute-Garonne, February 27, 1792; of +M. Sainfal, March 4; of the directory of the department, March 1; of the +royal commissioner, tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 13.] + +[Footnote 3368: The following are some examples of these rustic desires: +At Lunel, 4000 peasants and village National Guards strive to enter, +to hang the aristocrats. Their wives are along with them, leading their +donkeys with "baskets which they hope to carry away full." ("Archives +Nationales," F7, 3523. Letter of the municipal body of Lunel, November +4, 1791.) At Uzès it is with great difficulty that they can rid +themselves of the peasants who came in to drive out the Catholic +royalists. In vain "were they given plenty to eat and to drink;" they go +away "in bad humor, especially the women who led the mules and asses to +carry away the booty, and who had not anticipated returning home with +empty hands." (De Dampmartin, I. 195.) In relation to the siege of +Nantes by the Vendéans: "An old woman said to me, 'Oh, yes, I was there, +at the siege. My sister and myself had brought along our sacks. We +counted on entering at least as far as the Rue de la Casserie'" (the +street of jeweler's shops). (Michelet, V 211.)] + +[Footnote 3369: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. Letters of the royal +commissioner at the tribunal of Mucidan, March 7, 1792; of the public +prosecutor of the district of Sarlat, January. 1792.--Ibid. , F7, 3204. +Letters of the administrators of the district of Tulle, April 15, 1792; +of the directory of the department, April 18; petition of Jacques Labruc +and his wife, with official statement of the justice of the peace, April +24. "All these acts of violence were committed under the eyes of the +municipal authorities. They took no steps to prevent them, although they +had notice given them in time."] + +[Footnote 3370: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letters of M. Brisson, +commissioner of the naval classes of Souillac, February 2, 1792; of the +directory of the department, March 14, 1792.--Petition of the brothers +Barrié (with supporting documents), October 11, 1791.--Letter of the +prosecuting attorney of the department, April 4, 1792. Report of the +commissioners sent to the district of Figeac, January 5, 1792. Letter of +the administrators of the department, May 27, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3371: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Official reports of the +commissioners of the department of Gard, April 1, 2, 3, and 6, 1792, and +letter of April 6. One land-owner is taxed 100,000 francs.--Ibid., F7, +3223. Letter of M Dupin, prosecuting attorney of l'Hérault, February 17 +and 26, 1792. "At the chateau of Pignan, Madame de Lostanges has not +one complete piece of furniture left. The cause of these disturbances +is religious passion. Five or six nonjuring priests had retreated to +the chateau,"--Moniteur, sitting of April 16, 1792. Letter from the +directory of the department of Gard.--De Dampmartin, II, 85. At Uzès, +fifty or sixty men in masks invade the ducal chateau at ten o'clock in +the evening, set fire to the archives, and the chateau is burnt.] + +[Footnote 3372: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Official statements +of Augier and Fabre, administrators of the Bouches-de-Rhône, sent to +Avignon, May 11, 1792. (The reappearance of Jourdan, Mainvielle, and the +assassins of La Glacière took place April 29.)] + +[Footnote 3373: De Dampmartin, II. 63. Portalis, "Il est temps de +parler" (pamphlet), passim. "Archives Nationales," F7, 7090. Memorandum +of the commissioners of the municipal administration of Arles, year IV., +Nivôse 22.] + +[Footnote 3374: Mercure de France, May 19, 1792. (Sitting of May 4.). +Petition of forty inhabitants of Avignon at the bar of the Legislative +Assembly.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter of the royal +commissioners at the tribunal of Apt, March 15, 1792; official report +of the municipality, March 22; Letters of the Directory of Apt, March 23 +and 28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3375: Large cellar where the ice collected during the winter +was kept for later use. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3376: "Archives Nationales," ibid. Letter of Amiel, president +of the bureau of conciliation at Avignon, October 28, 1792, and other +letters to the minister Roland.--F7, 3217, Letter of the Justice of the +Peace at Roque-Maure, October 31, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3377: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3246. Official report of the +municipality of Metz (with supporting documents), May 15, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3378: "Mémoires de l'Abbé Baton," one of the priests of the +third convoy (a bishop is appointed from Séez), p. 233.] + +[Footnote 3379: "Archives Nationales" F7, 3225. Letter of citizen +Bonnemant, commissioner to minister Roland, September 11, 1792.] + + +End of The French Revolution, Volume 1. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origins of Contemporary France, +Volume 2 (of 6), by Hippolyte A. 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Taine + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume +2 (of 6), by Hippolyte A. Taine + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6) + The French Revolution, Volume 1 (of 3) + +Author: Hippolyte A. Taine + +Annotator: Svend Rom + +Translator: John Durand, 1880 + +Release Date: June 18, 2008 [EBook #2578] +Last Updated: January 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRENCH REVOLUTION V1 *** + + + + +Produced by Svend Rom and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY FRANCE, VOLUME 2 + </h1> + <h2> + THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, VOLUME 1. + </h2> + <h2> + by Hippolyte A. Taine + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + <b>Text Transcriber's Note</b>: The numbering of Volumes, Books, Chapters + and Sections are as in the French not the American edition. + Annotations by the transcriber are initialled SR. + + Svend Rom, April 2000. +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <b>HTML Producer's Note</b>: Footnote numbering has been changed to + include as a prefix to the original footnote number, the book and + chapter numbers. A table of contents has been added with active + links. + + David Widger, June 2008 +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <div class="toc"> + <a href="#linkrevolution"> <big><b>THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, VOLUME 1.</b></big> + </a><br /> <br /> <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>BOOK FIRST. SPONTANEOUS ANARCHY.</b> </a><br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF ANARCHY. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> I.—Dearth the first cause. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II.—Expectations the second cause </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III.—The provinces during the first + six months of 1789 </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV.—Intervention + of ruffians and vagabonds. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V.—Effect + on the Population of the New Ideas. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> + VI.—The first jacquerie in Province </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> I.—Mob recruits in the vicinity </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> II. The Press. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0013"> III.—The Réveillon affair. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0014"> IV.—The Palais-Royal. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0015"> V.—Popular mobs become a political force. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> VI.—July 13th and 14th 1789. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> VII.—Murders of Foulon and + Berthier. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> VIII.—Paris in the + hands of the people. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> I.—Anarchy from July 14th to October + 6th, 1789 </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> II.—The provinces + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> III.—Public feeling.—Famine + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> IV.—Panic. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0024"> V.—Attacks on public individuals and + public property. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> VI.—Taxes + are no longer paid. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> VII.—Attack + upon private individuals and private property. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. PARIS. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> I.—Paris. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0029"> II.—The distress of the people. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> III.—The new popular leaders. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> IV.—Intervention by the popular + leaders with the Government. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> V.—The + 5th and 6th of October. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> VI.—The + Government and the nation in the hands of the revolutionary party. + </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> <b>BOOK SECOND. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, AND + THE RESULT OF ITS LABORS.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> + CHAPTER I.—CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THE FRAMING OF GOOD LAWS. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> I.—These conditions absent in the + Assembly </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> II.—Inadequacy of + its information. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> III.—The + Power Of Simple, General Ideas. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> + IV.—Refusal to supply the ministry </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER II. DESTRUCTION. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> I.—Two principal vices of the ancient + régime. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> II—Nature of + societies, and the principle of enduring constitutions. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0043"> III.—The estates of a society. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> IV.—Abuse and lukewarmness in 1789 in + the ecclesiastical bodies. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER III. THE CONSTRUCTIONS—THE + CONSTITUTION OF 1791. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> I.—Powers of the Central Government. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> II.—The Creation Of Popular + Democracy. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> III.—Municipal + Kingdoms. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> IV.—On Universal + Suffrage. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> V.—The Ruling + Minority. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> VI.—Summary of the + work of the Constituent Assembly. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> <b>BOOK THIRD. THE APPLICATION OF THE + CONSTITUTION.</b> </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER I. + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> I.—The Federations. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0055"> II.—Independence of the municipalities. + </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> III.—Independent Assemblies. + </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER II. SOVEREIGNTY OF UNRESTRAINED + PASSIONS. </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> I.—Old Religious Grudges </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0059"> II.—Passion Supreme. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0060"> III.—Egotism of the tax-payer. </a><br /> + <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> IV.—Cupidity of tenants. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER III. DEVELOPMENT OF THE RULING PASSION + </a><br /> + <div class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> I.—Attitude of the nobles. Their + moderate resistance. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> II.—Workings + of the popular imagination with respect to them. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0065"> III.—Domiciliary visits. </a><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0066"> IV.—The nobles obliged to leave the rural + districts. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0067"> V.—Persecutions + in private life. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0068"> VI.—Conduct + of officers. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0069"> VI.—Conduct of + the officers. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0070"> VII.—Emigration + and its causes. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0071"> VIII.—Attitude + of the non-juring priests. </a><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0072"> IX.—General + state of opinion. </a><br /><br /> + </div> + <br /> + </div> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><a name="linkrevolution" id="linkrevolution"></a> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, VOLUME 1. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + This second part of "Les Origines de la France Contemporaine" will consist + of two volumes.—Popular insurrections and the laws of the + Constituent Assembly end in destroying all government in France; this + forms the subject of the present volume.—A party arises around an + extreme doctrine, grabs control of the government, and rules in conformity + with its doctrine. This will form the subject of the second volume. + </p> + <p> + A third volume would be required to criticize and evaluate the source + material. I lack the necessary space: I merely state the rule that I have + observed. The trustworthiest testimony will always be that of an + eyewitness, especially + </p> + <p> + * When this witness is an honorable, attentive, and intelligent man, + </p> + <p> + * When he is writing on the spot, at the moment, and under the dictate of + the facts themselves, + </p> + <p> + * When it is obvious that his sole object is to preserve or furnish + information, + </p> + <p> + * When his work instead of a piece of polemics planned for the needs of a + cause, or a passage of eloquence arranged for popular effect is a legal + deposition, a secret report, a confidential dispatch, a private letter, or + a personal memento. + </p> + <p> + The nearer a document approaches this type, the more it merits confidence, + and supplies superior material.—I have found many of this kind in + the national archives, principally in the manuscript correspondence of + ministers, intendants, sub-delegates, magistrates, and other + functionaries; of military commanders, officers in the army, and + gendarmerie; of royal commissioners, and of the Assembly; of + administrators of departments, districts, and municipalities, besides + persons in private life who address the King, the National Assembly, or + the ministry. Among these are men of every rank, profession, education, + and party. They are distributed by hundreds and thousands over the whole + surface of the territory. They write apart, without being able to consult + each other, and without even knowing each other. No one is so well placed + for collecting and transmitting accurate information. None of them seek + literary effect, or even imagine that what they write will ever be + published. They draw up their statements at once, under the direct + impression of local events. Testimony of this character, of the highest + order, and at first hand, provides the means by which all other testimony + ought to be verified.—The footnotes at the bottom of the pages + indicate the condition, office, name, and address of those decisive + witnesses. For greater certainty I have transcribed as often as possible + their own words. In this way the reader, confronting the texts, can + interpret them for himself, and form his own opinions; he will have the + same documents as myself for arriving at his conclusions, and, if he is + pleased to do so, he may conclude otherwise. As for allusions, if he finds + any, he himself will have introduced them, and if he applies them he is + alone responsible for them. To my mind, the past has features of its own, + and the portrait here presented resembles only the France of the past. I + have drawn it without concerning myself with the discussions of the day; I + have written as if my subject were the revolutions of Florence or Athens. + This is history, and nothing more, and, if I may fully express myself, I + esteem my vocation of historian too highly to make a cloak of it for the + concealment of another. (December 1877). + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK FIRST. SPONTANEOUS ANARCHY. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF ANARCHY. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Dearth the first cause. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Bad crops. The winter of 1788 and 1789.—High price and poor + quality of bread.—In the provinces.—At Paris. +</pre> + <p> + During the night of July 14-15, 1789, the Duc de la + Rochefoucauld-Liancourt caused Louis XVI to be aroused to inform him of + the taking of the Bastille. "It is a revolt, then?" exclaimed the King. + "Sire!" replied the Duke; "it is a revolution!" The event was even more + serious. Not only had power slipped from the hands of the King, but also + it had not fallen into those of the Assembly. It now lay on the ground, + ready to the hands of the unchained populace, the violent and over-excited + crowd, the mobs, which picked it up like some weapon that had been thrown + away in the street. In fact, there was no longer any government; the + artificial structure of human society was giving way entirely; things were + returning to a state of nature. This was not a revolution, but a + dissolution. + </p> + <p> + Two causes excite and maintain the universal upheaval. The first one is + food shortages and dearth, which being constant, lasting for ten years, + and aggravated by the very disturbances which it excites, bids fair to + inflame the popular passions to madness, and change the whole course of + the Revolution into a series of spasmodic stumbles. + </p> + <p> + When a stream is brimful, a slight rise suffices to cause an overflow. So + was it with the extreme distress of the eighteenth century. A poor man, + who finds it difficult to live when bread is cheap, sees death staring him + in the face when it is dear. In this state of suffering the animal + instinct revolts, and the universal obedience which constitutes public + peace depends on a degree more or less of dryness or damp, heat or cold. + In 1788, a year of severe drought, the crops had been poor. In addition to + this, on the eve of the harvest,<a href="#linknote-1101" + name="linknoteref-1101" id="linknoteref-1101"><small>1101</small></a> a + terrible hail-storm burst over the region around Paris, from Normandy to + Champagne, devastating sixty leagues of the most fertile territory, and + causing damage to the amount of one hundred millions of francs. Winter + came on, the severest that had been seen since 1709. At the close of + December the Seine was frozen over from Paris to Havre, while the + thermometer stood at 180 below zero. A third of the olive-trees died in + Provence, and the rest suffered to such an extent that they were + considered incapable of bearing fruit for two years to come. The same + disaster befell Languedoc. In Vivarais, and in the Cevennes, whole forests + of chestnuts had perished, along with all the grain and grass crops on the + uplands. On the plain the Rhone remained in a state of overflow for two + months. After the spring of 1789 the famine spread everywhere, and it + increased from month to month like a rising flood. In vain did the + Government order the farmers, proprietors, and corn-dealers to keep the + markets supplied. In vain did it double the bounty on imports, resort to + all sorts of expedients, involve itself in debt, and expend over forty + millions of francs to furnish France with wheat. In vain do individuals, + princes, noblemen, bishops, chapters, and communities multiply their + charities. The Archbishop of Paris incurring a debt of 400,000 livres, one + rich man distributing 40,000 francs the morning after the hailstorm, and a + convent of Bernardines feeding twelve hundred poor persons for six weeks<a + href="#linknote-1102" name="linknoteref-1102" id="linknoteref-1102"><small>1102</small></a>. + But it had been too devastating. Neither public measures nor private + charity could meet the overwhelming need. In Normandy, where the last + commercial treaty had ruined the manufacture of linen and of lace + trimmings, forty thousand workmen were out of work. In many parishes + one-fourth of the population<a href="#linknote-1103" + name="linknoteref-1103" id="linknoteref-1103"><small>1103</small></a> are + beggars. Here, "nearly all the inhabitants, not excepting the farmers and + landowners, are eating barley bread and drinking water;" there, "many poor + creatures have to eat oat bread, and others soaked bran, which has caused + the death of several children."—"Above all," writes the Rouen + Parliament, "let help be sent to a perishing people. . .. Sire, most of + your subjects are unable to pay the price of bread, and what bread is + given to those who do buy it "—Arthur Young,<a href="#linknote-1104" + name="linknoteref-1104" id="linknoteref-1104"><small>1104</small></a> who + was traveling through France at this time, heard of nothing but the high + cost of bread and the distress of the people. At Troyes bread costs four + sous a pound—that is to say, eight sous of the present day; and + unemployed artisans flock to the relief works, where they can earn only + twelve sous a day. In Lorraine, according to the testimony of all + observers, "the people are half dead with hunger." In Paris the number of + paupers has been trebled; there are thirty thousand in the Faubourg + Saint-Antoine alone. Around Paris there is a short supply of grain, or it + is spoilt<a href="#linknote-1105" name="linknoteref-1105" + id="linknoteref-1105"><small>1105</small></a>. In the beginning of July, + at Montereau, the market is empty. "The bakers could not have baked" if + the police officers had not increased the price of bread to five sous per + pound; the rye and barley which the intendant is able to send "are of the + worst possible quality, rotten and in a condition to produce dangerous + diseases. Nevertheless, most of the small consumers are reduced to the + hard necessity of using this spoilt grain." At Villeneuve-le-Roi, writes + the mayor, "the rye of the two lots last sent is so black and poor that it + cannot be retailed without wheat." At Sens the barley "tastes musty" to + such an extent that buyers of it throw the detestable bread, which it + makes in the face of the sub-delegate. At Chevreuse the barley has + sprouted and smells bad; the "poor wretches," says an employee, "must be + hard pressed with hunger to put up with it." At Fontainebleau "the barley, + half eaten away, produces more bran than flour, and to make bread of it, + one is obliged to work it over several times." This bread, such as it is, + is an object of savage greed; "it has come to this, that it is impossible + to distribute it except through wickets." And those who thus obtain their + ration, "are often attacked on the road and robbed of it by the more + vigorous of the famished people." At Nangis "the magistrates prohibit the + same person from buying more than two bushels in the same market." In + short, provisions are so scarce that there is a difficulty in feeding the + soldiers; the minister dispatches two letters one after another to order + the cutting down of 250,000 bushels of rye before the harvest<a + href="#linknote-1106" name="linknoteref-1106" id="linknoteref-1106"><small>1106</small></a>. + Paris thus, in a perfect state of tranquility, appears like a famished + city put on rations at the end of a long siege, and the dearth will not be + greater nor the food worse in December 1870, than in July 1789. + </p> + <p> + "The nearer the 14th of July approached," says an eyewitness,<a + href="#linknote-1107" name="linknoteref-1107" id="linknoteref-1107"><small>1107</small></a> + "the more did the dearth increase. Every baker's shop was surrounded by a + crowd, to which bread was distributed with the most grudging economy. This + bread was generally blackish, earthy, and bitter, producing inflammation + of the throat and pain in the bowels. I have seen flour of detestable + quality at the military school and at other depots. I have seen portions + of it yellow in color, with an offensive smell; some forming blocks so + hard that they had to be broken into fragments by repeated blows of a + hatchet. For my own part, wearied with the difficulty of procuring this + poor bread, and disgusted with that offered to me at the tables d'hôte, I + avoided this kind of food altogether. In the evening I went to the Café du + Caveau, where, fortunately, they were kind enough to reserve for me two of + those rolls which are called flutes, and this is the only bread I have + eaten for a week at a time." + </p> + <p> + But this resource is only for the rich. As for the people, to get bread + fit for dogs, they must stand in a line for hours. And here they fight for + it; "they snatch food from one another." There is no more work to be had; + "the work-rooms are deserted;" often, after waiting a whole day, the + workman returns home empty-handed. When he does bring back a four-pound + loaf it costs him 3 francs 12 sous; that is, 12 sous for the bread, and 3 + francs for the lost day. In this long line of unemployed, excited men, + swaying to and fro before the shop-door, dark thoughts are fermenting: "if + the bakers find no flour to-night to bake with, we shall have nothing to + eat to-morrow." An appalling idea;—in presence of which the whole + power of the Government is not too strong; for to keep order in the midst + of famine nothing avails but the sight of an armed force, palpable and + threatening. Under Louis XIV and Louis XV there had been even greater + hunger and misery; but the outbreaks, which were roughly and promptly put + down, were only partial and passing disorders. Some rioters were at once + hung, and others were sent to the galleys. The peasant or the workman, + convinced of his impotence, at once returned to his stall or his plow. + When a wall is too high one does not even think of scaling it.—But + now the wall is cracking—all its custodians, the clergy, the nobles, + the Third-Estate, men of letters, the politicians, and even the Government + itself, making the breach wider. The wretched, for the first time, + discover an issue: they dash through it, at first in driblets, then in a + mass, and rebellion becomes as universal as resignation was in the past. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—Expectations the second cause + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Separation and laxity of the administrative forces.— + Investigations of local assemblies. —The people become + aware of their condition.—Convocation of the States- + General.—Hope is born. The coincidence of early Assemblies + with early difficulties. +</pre> + <p> + It is just through this breach that hope steals like a beam of light, and + gradually finds its way down to the depths below. For the last fifty years + it has been rising, and its rays, which first illuminated the upper class + in their splendid apartments in the first story, and next the middle class + in their entresol and on the ground floor. They have now for two years + penetrated to the cellars where the people toil, and even to the deep + sinks and obscure corners where rogues and vagabonds and malefactors, a + foul and swarming herd, crowd and hide themselves from the persecution of + the law.—To the first two provincial assemblies instituted by Necker + in 1778 and 1779, Loménie de Brienne has in 1787 just added nineteen + others; under each of these are assemblies of the arrondissement, under + each assembly of the arrondissement are parish assemblies<a + href="#linknote-1108" name="linknoteref-1108" id="linknoteref-1108"><small>1108</small></a>. + Thus the whole machinery of administration has been changed. It is the new + assemblies which assess the taxes and superintend their collection; which + determine upon and direct all public works; and which form the court of + final appeal in regard to matters in dispute. The intendant, the + sub-delegate, the elected representative<a href="#linknote-1109" + name="linknoteref-1109" id="linknoteref-1109"><small>1109</small></a>, + thus lose three-quarters of their authority. Conflicts arise, + consequently, between rival powers whose frontiers are not clearly + defined; command shifts about, and obedience is diminished. The subject no + longer feels on his shoulders the commanding weight of the one hand which, + without possibility of interference or resistance, held him in, urged him + forward, and made him move on. Meanwhile, in each assembly of the parish + arrondissement, and even of the province, plebeians, "husband-men,"<a + href="#linknote-1110" name="linknoteref-1110" id="linknoteref-1110"><small>1110</small></a> + and often common farmers, sit by the side of lords and prelates. They + listen to and remember the vast figure of the taxes which are paid + exclusively, or almost exclusively, by them—the taille and its + accessories, the poll-tax and road dues, and assuredly on their return + home they talk all this over with their neighbor. These figures are all + printed; the village attorney discusses the matter with his clients, the + artisans and rustics, on Sunday as they leave the mass, or in the evening + in the large public room of the tavern. These little gatherings, moreover, + are sanctioned, encouraged by the powers above. In the earliest days of + 1788 the provincial assemblies order a board of inquiry to be held by the + syndics and inhabitants of each parish. Knowledge is wanted in detail of + their grievances. What part of the revenue is chargeable to each impost? + What must the cultivator pay and how much does he suffer? How many + privileged persons there are in the parish, what is the amount of their + fortune, are they residents, and what their exemptions amount to? In + replying, the attorney who holds the pen, names and points out with his + finger each privileged individual, criticizes his way of living, and + estimates his fortune, calculates the injury done to the village by his + immunities, inveighs against the taxes and the tax-collectors. On leaving + these assemblies the villager broods over what he has just heard. He sees + his grievances no longer singly as before, but in mass, and coupled with + the enormity of evils under which his fellows suffer. Besides this, they + begin to disentangle the causes of their misery: the King is good—why + then do his collectors take so much of our money? This or that canon or + nobleman is not unkind—why then do they make us pay in their place?—Imagine + that a sudden gleam of reason should allow a beast of burden to comprehend + the contrast between the species of horse and mankind. Imagine, if you + can, what its first ideas would be in relation to the coachmen and drivers + who bridle and whip it and again in relation to the good-natured travelers + and sensitive ladies who pity it, but who to the weight of the vehicle add + their own and that of their luggage. + </p> + <p> + Likewise, in the mind of the peasant, athwart his perplexed brooding, a + new idea, slowly, little by little, is unfolded:—that of an + oppressed multitude of which he makes one, a vast herd scattered far + beyond the visible horizon, everywhere ill used, starved, and fleeced. + Towards the end of 1788 we begin to detect in the correspondence of the + intendants and military commandants the dull universal muttering of coming + wrath. Men's characters seem to change; they become suspicious and + restive.—And just at this moment, the Government, dropping the + reins, calls upon them to direct themselves.<a href="#linknote-1111" + name="linknoteref-1111" id="linknoteref-1111"><small>1111</small></a>. In + the month of November 1787, the King declared that he would convoke the + States-General. On the 5th of July 1788, he calls for memoranda (des + mémoires) on this subject from every competent person and body. On the 8th + of August he fixes the date of the session. On the 5th of October he + convokes the notables, in order to consider the subject with them. On the + 27th of December he grants a double representation to the Third-Estate, + because "its cause is allied with generous sentiments, and it will always + obtain the support of public opinion." The same day he introduces into the + electoral assemblies of the clergy a majority of curés<a + href="#linknote-1112" name="linknoteref-1112" id="linknoteref-1112"><small>1112</small></a>, + "because good and useful pastors are daily and closely associated with the + indigence and relief of the people," from which it follows "that they are + much more familiar with their sufferings" and necessities. On the 24th + January 1789, he prescribes the procedure and method of the meetings. + After the 7th of February writs of summons are sent out one after the + other. Eight days after, each parish assembly begins to draw up its + memorial of grievances, and becomes excited over the detailed enumeration + of all the miseries which it sets down in writing.—All these appeals + and all these acts are so many strokes, which reverberate, in the popular + imagination. "It is the desire of His Majesty," says the order issued, + "that every one, from the extremities of his kingdom, and from the most + obscure of its hamlets, should be certain of his wishes and protests + reaching him." Thus, it is all quite true: there can be no mistake about + it, the thing is sure. The people are invited to speak out, they are + summoned, and they are consulted. There is a disposition to relieve them; + henceforth their misery shall be less; better times are coming. This is + all they know about it. A few month after, in July,<a href="#linknote-1113" + name="linknoteref-1113" id="linknoteref-1113"><small>1113</small></a> the + only answer a peasant girl can make to Arthur Young is, "something was to + be done by some great folks for such poor ones, but she did not know who + nor how." The thing is too complicated, beyond the reach of a stupefied + and mechanical brain.—One idea alone emerges, the hope of immediate + relief. The persuasion that one is entitled to it, the resolution to aid + it with every possible means. Consequently, an anxious waiting, a ready + fervor, a tension of the will simply due to the waiting for the + opportunity to let go and take off like a irresistible arrow towards the + unknown end which will reveal itself all of a sudden. Hunger is to mark + this sudden target out for them. + </p> + <p> + The market must be supplied with wheat; the farmers and land-owners must + bring it; wholesale buyers, whether the Government or individuals, must + not be allowed to send it elsewhere. The wheat must be sold at a low + price; the price must be cut down and fixed, so that the baker can sell + bread at two sous the pound. Grain, flour, wine, salt, and provisions must + pay no more duties. Seignorial dues and claims, ecclesiastical tithes, and + royal or municipal taxes must no longer exist. On the strength of this + idea disturbances broke out on all sides in March, April, and May. + Contemporaries "do not know what to think of such a scourge;<a + href="#linknote-1114" name="linknoteref-1114" id="linknoteref-1114"><small>1114</small></a> + they cannot comprehend how such a vast number of criminals, without + visible leaders, agree amongst themselves everywhere to commit the same + excesses just at the time when the States-General are going to begin their + sittings." The reason is that, under the ancient régime, the conflagration + was smoldering in a closed chamber; the great door is suddenly opened, the + air enters, and immediately the flame breaks out. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—The provinces during the first six months of 1789 + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Effects of the famine. +</pre> + <p> + At first there are only intermittent, isolated fires, which are + extinguished or go out of themselves; but, a moment after, in the same + place, or very near it, the sparks again appear. Their number, like their + recurrence, shows the vastness, depth, and heat of the combustible matter, + which is about to explode. In the four months, which precede the taking of + the Bastille, over three hundred outbreaks may be counted in France. They + take place from month to month and from week to week, in Poitou, Brittany, + Touraine, Orléanais, Normandy, Ile-de-France, Picardy, Champagne, Alsace, + Burgundy, Nivernais, Auvergne, Languedoc, and Provence. On the 28th of May + the parliament of Rouen announces robberies of grain, "violent and bloody + tumults, in which men on both sides have fallen," throughout the province, + at Caen, Saint-Lô, Mortain, Granville, Evreux, Bernay, Pont-Andemer, + Elboeuf; Louviers, and in other sections besides. On the 20th of April + Baron de Bezenval, military commander in the Central Provinces, writes: "I + once more lay before M. Necker a picture of the frightful condition of + Touraine and of Orléanais. Every letter I receive from these two provinces + is the narrative of three or four riots, which are put down with + difficulty by the troops and constabulary,"<a href="#linknote-1115" + name="linknoteref-1115" id="linknoteref-1115"><small>1115</small></a>—and + throughout the whole extent of the kingdom a similar state of things is + seen. The women, as is natural, are generally at the head of these + outbreaks. It is they who, at Montlhéry, rip open the sacks of grain with + their scissors. On learning each week, on market day that the price of a + loaf of bread advances three, four, or seven sous, they break out into + shrieks of rage: at this rate for bread, with the small salaries of the + men, and when work fails,<a href="#linknote-1116" name="linknoteref-1116" + id="linknoteref-1116"><small>1116</small></a> how can a family be fed? + Crowds gather around the sacks of flour and the doors of the bakers. + Amidst outcries and reproaches some one in the crowd makes a push; the + proprietor or dealer is hustled and knocked down. The shop is invaded, the + commodity is in the hands of the buyers and of the famished, each one + grabbing for himself, pay or no pay, and running away with the booty.—Sometimes + a party is made up beforehand<a href="#linknote-1117" + name="linknoteref-1117" id="linknoteref-1117"><small>1117</small></a> At + Bray-sur-Seine, on the 1st of May, the villagers for four leagues around, + armed with stones, knives, and cudgels, to the number of four thousand, + compel the metayers and farmers, who have brought grain with them, to sell + it at 3 livres, instead of 4 livres 10 sous the bushel. They threaten to + do the same thing on the following market-day: but the farmers do not + return, the storehouse remains empty. Now soldiers must be at hand, or the + inhabitants of Bray will be pillaged. At Bagnols, in Languedoc, on the 1st + and 2nd of April, the peasants, armed with cudgels and assembled by tap of + drum, "traverse the town, threatening to burn and destroy everything if + flour and money are not given to them." They go to private houses for + grain, divide it amongst themselves at a reduced price, "promising to pay + when the next crop comes round," and force the Consuls to put bread at two + sous the pound, and to increase the day's wages four sous.—Indeed + this is now the regular thing; it is not the people who obey the + authorities, but the authorities who obey the people. Consuls, sheriffs, + mayors, municipal officers, town-clerks, become confused and hesitating in + the face of this huge clamor; they feel that they are likely to be trodden + under foot or thrown out of the windows. Others, with more firmness, being + aware that a riotous crowd is mad, and having scruples to spill blood; + yield for the time being, hoping that at the next market-day there will be + more soldiers and better precautions taken. At Amiens, "after a very + violent outbreak,"<a href="#linknote-1118" name="linknoteref-1118" + id="linknoteref-1118"><small>1118</small></a> they decide to take the + wheat belonging to the Jacobin monks, and, protected by the troops, to + sell it to the people at a third below its value. At Nantes, where the + town hall is attacked, they are forced to lower the price of bread one sou + per pound. At Angoulême, to avoid a recourse to arms, they request the + Comte d'Artois to renounce his dues on flour for two months, reduce the + price of bread, and compensate the bakers. At Cette they are so maltreated + they let everything take its course; the people sack their dwellings and + get the upper hand; they announce by sound of trumpet that all their + demands are granted. On other occasions, the mob dispenses with their + services and acts for itself. If there happens to be no grain on the + market-place, the people go after it wherever they can find it—to + proprietors and farmers who are unable to bring it for fear of pillage; to + convents, which by royal edict are obliged always to have one year's crop + in store; to granaries where the Government keeps its supplies; and to + convoys which are dispatched by the intendants to the relief of famished + towns. Each for himself—so much the worse for his neighbor. The + inhabitants of Fougères beat and drive out those who come from Ernée to + buy in their market; a similar violence is shown at Vitré to the + in-habitants of Maine.<a href="#linknote-1119" name="linknoteref-1119" + id="linknoteref-1119"><small>1119</small></a> At Sainte-Léonard the people + stop the grain started for Limoges; at Bost that intended for Aurillac; at + Saint-Didier that ordered for Moulins; and at Tournus that dispatched to + Macon. In vain are escorts added to the convoys; troops of men and women, + armed with hatchets and guns, put themselves in ambush in the woods along + the road, and seize the horses by their bridles; the saber has to be used + to secure any advance. In vain are arguments and kind words offered, "and + in vain even is wheat offered for money; they refuse, shouting out that + the convoy shall not go on." They have taken a stubborn stand, their + resolution being that of a bull planted in the middle of the road and + lowering his horns. Since the wheat is in the district, it is theirs; + whoever carries it off or withholds it is a robber. This fixed idea cannot + be driven out of their minds. At Chant-nay, near Mans,<a + href="#linknote-1120" name="linknoteref-1120" id="linknoteref-1120"><small>1120</small></a> + they prevent a miller from carrying that which he had just bought to his + mill. At Montdragon, in Languedoc, they stone a dealer in the act of + sending his last wagon load elsewhere. At Thiers, workmen go in force to + gather wheat in the fields; a proprietor with whom some is found is nearly + killed; they drink wine in the cellars, and leave the taps running. At + Nevers, the bakers not having put bread on their counters for four days, + the mob force the granaries of private persons, of dealers and religious + communities. "The frightened corn-dealers part with their grain at any + price; most of it is stolen in the face of the guards," and, in the tumult + of these searches of homes, a number of houses are sacked.—In these + days woe to all who are concerned in the acquisition, commerce, and + manipulation of grain! Popular imagination requires living beings to who + it may impute its misfortunes, and on whom it may gratify its resentments. + To it, all such persons are monopolists, and, at any rate, public enemies. + Near Angers the Benedictine establishment is invaded, and its fields and + woods are devastated.<a href="#linknote-1121" name="linknoteref-1121" + id="linknoteref-1121"><small>1121</small></a> At Amiens "the people are + arranging to pillage and perhaps burn the houses of two merchants, who + have built labor-saving mills." Restrained by the soldiers, they confine + themselves to breaking windows; but other "groups come to destroy or + plunder the houses of two or three persons whom they suspect of being + monopolists." At Nantes, a sieur Geslin, being deputized by the people to + inspect a house, and finding no wheat, a shout is set up that he is a + receiver, an accomplice! The crowd rush at him, and he is wounded and + almost cut in pieces.—It is very evident that there is no more + security in France; property, even life, is in danger. The primary + possession, food, is violated in hundreds of places, and is everywhere + menaced and precarious. The local officials everywhere call for aid, + declare the constabulary incompetent, and demand regular troops. And mark + how public authority, everywhere inadequate, disorganized, and tottering, + finds stirred up against it not only the blind madness of hunger, but, in + addition, the evil instincts which profit by every disorder and the + inveterate lusts which every political commotion frees from restraint. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Intervention of ruffians and vagabonds. + </h2> + <p> + We have seen how numerous the smugglers, dealers in contraband salt, + poachers, vagabonds, beggars, and escaped convicts<a href="#linknote-1122" + name="linknoteref-1122" id="linknoteref-1122"><small>1122</small></a> have + become, and how a year of famine increases the number. All are so many + recruits for the mobs, and whether in a disturbance or by means of a + disturbance each one of them fills his pouch. Around Caux,<a + href="#linknote-1123" name="linknoteref-1123" id="linknoteref-1123"><small>1123</small></a> + even up to the environs of Rouen, at Roncherolles, Quévrevilly, Préaux, + Saint-Jacques, and in the entire surrounding neighborhood bands of armed + bandits force their way into the houses, particularly the parsonages, and + lay their hands on whatever they please. To the south of Chartres "three + or four hundred woodcutters, from the forests of Bellème, chop away + everything that opposes them, and force grain to be given up to them at + their own price." In the vicinity of Étampes, fifteen bandits enter the + farmhouses at night and put the farmer to ransom, threatening him with a + conflagration. In Cambrésis they pillage the abbeys of Vauchelles, of + Verger, and of Guillemans, the château of the Marquis de Besselard, the + estate of M. Doisy, two farms, the wagons of wheat passing along the road + to Saint-Quentin, and, besides this, seven farms in Picardy. "The seat of + this revolt is in some villages bordering on Picardy and Cambrésis, + familiar with smuggling operations and to the license of that pursuit." + The peasants allow themselves to be enticed away by the bandits. Man slips + rapidly down the incline of dishonesty; one who is half-honest, and takes + part in a riot inadvertently or in spite of himself; repeats the act, + allured on by impunity or by gain. In fact, "it is not dire necessity + which impels them;" they make a speculation of cupidity, a new sort of + illicit trade. An old soldier, saber in hand, a forest-keeper, and "about + eight persons sufficiently lax, put themselves at the head of four or five + hundred men, go off each day to three or four villages. Here they force + everybody who has any wheat to give it to them at 24 livres," and even at + 18 livres, the sack. Those among the band, who say that they have no + money, carry away their portion without payment. Others, after having paid + what they please, re-sell at a profit, which amounts to even 45 livres the + sack. This is a good business, and one in which greed takes poverty for + its accomplice. At the next harvest the temptation will be similar: "they + have threatened to come and do our harvesting for us, and also to take our + cattle and sell the meat in the villages at the rate of two sous the + pound."—In every important insurrection there are similar evil-does + and vagabonds, enemies to the law, savage, prowling desperadoes, who, like + wolves, roam about wherever they scent a prey. It is they who serve as the + directors and executioners of public or private malice. Near Uzès + twenty-five masked men, with guns and clubs, enter the house of a notary, + fire a pistol at him, beat him, wreck the premises, and burn his registers + along with the title-deeds and papers which he has in keeping for the + Count de Rouvres. Seven of them are arrested, but the people are on their + side, and fall on the constabulary and free them.<a href="#linknote-1124" + name="linknoteref-1124" id="linknoteref-1124"><small>1124</small></a>—They + are known by their acts, by their love of destruction for the sake of + destruction, by their foreign accent, by their savage faces and their + rags. Some of them come from Paris to Rouen, and, for four days, the town + is at their mercy.<a href="#linknote-1125" name="linknoteref-1125" + id="linknoteref-1125"><small>1125</small></a> The stores are forced open, + train wagons are discharged, wheat is wasted, and convents and seminaries + are put to ransom. They invade the dwelling of the attorney-general, who + has begun proceedings against them, and want to tear him to pieces. They + break his mirrors and his furniture, leave the premises laden with booty, + and go into the town and its outskirts to pillage the manufactories and + break up or burn all the machinery.—Henceforth these constitute the + new leaders: for in every mob it is the boldest and least scrupulous who + march ahead and set the example in destruction. The example is contagious: + the beginning was the craving for bread, the end is murder and arson; the + savagery which is unchained adding its unlimited violence to the limited + revolt of necessity. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—Effect on the Population of the New Ideas. + </h2> + <p> + Bad as it is, this savagery might, perhaps, have been overcome, in spite + of the dearth and of the brigands; but what renders it irresistible is the + belief of its being authorized, and that by those whose duty it is to + repress it. Here and there words and actions of a brutal frankness break + forth, and reveal beyond the somber present a more threatening future—After + the 9th of January, 1789, among the mob which attacks the Hôtel-de-Ville + and besieges the bakers' shops of Nantes, "shouts of Vive la Liberté!<a + href="#linknote-1126" name="linknoteref-1126" id="linknoteref-1126"><small>1126</small></a> + mingled with those of Vive le Roi! are heard." A few months later, around + Ploërmel, the peasants refuse to pay tithes, alleging that the memorial of + their seneschal's court demands their abolition. In Alsace, after March, + there is the same refusal "in many places;" many of the communities even + maintain that they will pay no more taxes until their deputies to the + States-General shall have fixed the precise amount of the public + contributions. In Isère it is decided, by proceedings, printed and + published, that "personal dues" shall no longer be paid, while the + landowners who are affected by this dare not prosecute in the tribunals. + At Lyons, the people have come to the conclusion "that all levies of taxes + are to cease," and, on the 29th of June, on hearing of the meeting of the + three orders, "astonished by the illuminations and signs of public + rejoicing," they believe that the good time has come." They think of + forcing the delivery of meat to them at four sous the pound, and wine at + the same rate. The publicans insinuate to them the prospective abolition + of octrois.<a href="#linknote-1127" name="linknoteref-1127" + id="linknoteref-1127"><small>1127</small></a> and that, meanwhile, the + King, in favor of the re-assembling of the three orders, has granted three + days' freedom from all duties at Paris, and that Lyons ought to enjoy the + same privilege." Upon this the crowd, rushing off to the barriers, to the + gates of Sainte-Claire and Perrache, and to the Guillotière bridge, burn + or demolish the bureaux, destroy the registers, sack the lodgings of the + clerks, carry off the money and pillage the wine on hand in the depot. In + the mean time a rumor has circulated all round through the country that + there is free entrance into the town for all provisions. During the + following days the peasantry stream in with enormous files of wagons + loaded with wine and drawn by several oxen, so that, in spite of the + re-established guard, it is necessary to let them enter all day without + paying the dues. It is only on the 7th of July that these can again be + collected.—The same thing occurs in the southern provinces, where + the principal imposts are levied on provisions. There also the collections + are suspended in the name of public authority. At Agde,<a + href="#linknote-1128" name="linknoteref-1128" id="linknoteref-1128"><small>1128</small></a> + "the people, considering the so-called will of the King as to equality of + classes, are foolish enough to think that they are everything and can do + everything." Thus do they interpret in their own way and in their own + terms the double representation accorded to the Third-Estate. They + threaten the town, consequently, with general pillage if the prices of all + provisions are not reduced, and if the duties of the province on wine, + fish, and meat are not suppressed. They also wish to nominate consuls who + have sprung up out of their body." The bishop, the lord of the manor, the + mayor and the notables, against whom they forcibly stir up the peasantry + in the country, are obliged to proclaim by sound of trumpet that their + demands shall be granted. Three days afterwards they exact a diminution of + one-half of the tax on grinding, and go in quest of the bishop who owns + the mills. The prelate, who is ill, sinks down in the street and seats + himself on a stone; they compel him forthwith to sign an act of + renunciation, and hence "his mill, valued at 15,000 livres, is reduced to + 7,500 livres."—At Limoux, under the pretext of searching for grain, + they enter the houses of the comptroller and tax contractors, carry off + their registers, and throw them into the water along with the furniture of + their clerks.—In Provence it is worse; for most unjustly, and + through inconceivable imprudence, the taxes of the towns are all levied on + flour. It is therefore to this impost that the dearness of bread is + directly attributed. Hence the fiscal agent becomes a manifest enemy, and + revolts on account of hunger are transformed into insurrections against + the State. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—The first jacquerie in Province + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Feebleness or ineffectiveness of repressive measures. +</pre> + <p> + Here, again, political novelties are the spark that ignites the mass of + gunpowder. Everywhere, the uprising of the people takes place on the very + day on which the electoral assembly meets. From forty to fifty riots occur + in the provinces in less than a fortnight. Popular imagination, like that + of a child, goes straight to its mark. The reforms having been announced, + people think them accomplished and, to make sure of them, steps are at + once taken to carry them out. Now that we are to have relief, let us + relieve ourselves. "This is not an isolated riot as usual," writes the + commander of the troops;<a href="#linknote-1129" name="linknoteref-1129" + id="linknoteref-1129"><small>1129</small></a> "here the faction is united + and governed by uniform principles; the same errors are diffused through + all minds. . . . . The principles impressed on the people are that the + King desires equality. No more bishops or lords, no more distinctions of + rank, no tithes, and no seignorial privileges. Thus, these misguided + people fancy that they are exercising their rights, and obeying the will + of the King."—The effect of sonorous phrases is apparent. The people + have been told that the States-General were to bring about the + "regeneration of the kingdom" The inference is "that the date of their + assembly was to be one of an entire and absolute change of conditions and + fortunes." Hence, "the insurrection against the nobles and the clergy is + as active as it is widespread." "In many places it was distinctly + announced that there was a sort of war declared against landowners and + property," and "in the towns as well as in the rural districts the people + persist in declaring that they will pay nothing, neither taxes, duties, + nor debts."—Naturally, the first assault is against the piquèt, or + flour-tax. At Aix, Marseilles, Toulon, and in more than forty towns and + market-villages, this is summarily abolished; at Aupt and at Luc nothing + remains of the weighing-house but the four walls. At Marseilles the home + of the slaughter-house contractor and at Brignolles that of the director + of the leather excise, are sacked. The determination is "to purge the land + of excise-men. "—This is only a beginning; bread and other + provisions must become cheap, and that without delay. At Arles, the + Corporation of sailors, presided over by M. de Barras, consul, had just + elected its representatives. By way of conclusion to the meeting, they + pass a resolution insisting that M. de Barras should reduce the price of + all comestibles. On his refusal, they "open the window, exclaiming, 'We + hold him, and we have only to throw him into the street for the rest to + pick him up.'" Compliance is inevitable. The resolution is proclaimed by + the town-criers, and at each article which is reduced in price the crowd + shout, "Vive le Roi, vive M. Barras!"—One must yield to brute force. + But the inconvenience is great for, through the suppression of the + flour-tax, the towns have no longer a revenue. On the other hand, as they + are obliged to indemnify the butchers and bakers, Toulon, for instance, + incurs a debt of 2,500 livres a day. + </p> + <p> + In this state of disorder, woe to those who are under suspicion of having + contributed, directly or indirectly, to the evils, which the people + endure! At Toulon a demand is made for the head of the mayor, who signs + the tax-list, and of the keeper of the records. They are trodden under + foot, and their houses are ransacked. At Manosque, the Bishop of Sisteron, + who is visiting the seminary, is accused of favoring a monopolist. On his + way to his carriage, on foot, he is hooted and menaced. He is first pelted + with mud, and then with stones. The consuls in attendance, and the + sub-delegate, who come to his assistance, are mauled and repulsed. + Meanwhile, some of the most furious begin, before his eyes, "to dig a + ditch to bury him in." Protected by five or six brave fellows, amidst a + volley of stones, and wounded on the head and on many parts of his body, + he succeeds in reaching his carriage. He is finally only saved because the + horses, which are likewise stoned, run away. Foreigners, Italians, + bandits, are mingled with the peasants and artisans, and expressions are + heard and acts are seen which indicate a jacquerie.<a href="#linknote-1130" + name="linknoteref-1130" id="linknoteref-1130"><small>1130</small></a> "The + most excited said to the bishop, 'we are poor and you are rich, and we + mean to have all your property.'"<a href="#linknote-1131" + name="linknoteref-1131" id="linknoteref-1131"><small>1131</small></a> + Elsewhere, "the seditious mob exacts contributions from all people in good + circumstances. At Brignolles, thirteen houses are pillaged from top to + bottom, and thirty others partly half.—At Aupt, M. de Montferrat, in + defending himself, is killed and "hacked to pieces."—At La Seyne, + the mob, led by a peasant, assembles by beat of drum. Some women fetch a + bier, and set it down before the house of a leading bourgeois, telling him + to prepare for death, and that "they will have the honor of burying him." + He escapes; his house is pillaged, as well as the bureau of the flour-tax. + The following day, the chief of the band "obliges the principal + inhabitants to give him a sum of money to indemnify, as he states it, the + peasants who have abandoned their work," and devoted the day to serving + the public.—At Peinier, the Président de Peinier, an octogenarian, + is "besieged in his chateau by a band of a hundred and fifty artisans and + peasants," who bring with them a consul and a notary. Aided by these two + functionaries, they force the president "to pass an act by which he + renounces his seignorial rights of every description "—At Sollier + they destroy the mills belonging to M. de Forbin-Janson. They sack the + house of his business agent, pillage the château, and demolish the roof, + chapel, altar, railings, and escutcheons. They enter the cellars, stave in + the casks, and carry away everything that can be carried, "the + transportation taking two days;" all of which cause damages of a hundred + thousand crowns to the marquis.—At Riez they surround the episcopal + palace with fagots, threatening to burn it, "and compromise with the + bishop on a promise of fifty thousand livres," and want him to burn his + archives.—In short, the sedition is social for it singles out for + attack all that profit by, or stand at the head of, the established order + of things. + </p> + <p> + Seeing them act in this way, one would say that the theory of the + Contrat-Social had been instilled into them. They treat magistrates as + domestics, promulgate laws, and conduct themselves like sovereigns. They + exercise public power, and establish, summarily, arbitrarily, and + brutally, whatever they think to be in conformity with natural right.—At + Peinier they exact a second electoral assembly, and, for themselves, the + right of suffrage.—At Saint-Maximin they themselves elect new + consuls and officers of justice.—At Solliez they oblige the judge's + lieutenant to give in his resignation, and they break his staff of office.—At + Barjols "they use consuls and judges as their town servants, announcing + that they are masters and that they will themselves administer justice."—In + fact, they do administer it, as they understand it—that is to say, + through many exactions and robberies! One man has wheat; he must share it + with him who has none. Another has money; he must give it to him who has + not enough to buy bread with. On this principle, at Barjols, they tax the + Ursulin nuns 1,800 livres, carry off fifty loads of wheat from the + Chapter, eighteen from one poor artisan, and forty from another, and + constrain canons and beneficiaries to give acquittances to their farmers. + Then, from house to house, with club in hand, they oblige some to hand + over money, others to abandon their claims on their debtors, "one to + desist from criminal proceedings, another to nullify a decree obtained, a + third to reimburse the expenses of a lawsuit gained years before, a father + to give his consent to the marriage of his son."—All their + grievances are brought to mind, and we all know the tenacity of a + peasant's memory. Having become the master, he redresses wrongs, and + especially those of which he thinks himself the object. There must be a + general restitution; and first, of the feudal dues which have been + collected. They take of M. de Montmeyan's business agent all the money he + has as compensation for that received by him during fifteen years as a + notary. A former consul of Brignolles had, in 1775, inflicted penalties to + the amount of 1,500 or 1,800 francs, which had been given to the poor; + this sum is taken from his strong box. Moreover, if consuls and law + officers are wrongdoers, the title deeds, rent-rolls, and other documents + by which they do their business are still worse. To the fire with all old + writings—not only office registers, but also, at Hyères, all the + papers in the town hall and those of the principal notary.—In the + matter of papers none are good but new ones—those which convey some + discharge, quittance, or obligation to the advantage of the people. At + Brignolles the owners of the gristmills are constrained to execute a + contract of sale by which they convey their mills to the commune in + consideration of 5,000 francs per annum, payable in ten years without + interest—an arrangement which ruins them. On seeing the contract + signed the peasants shout and cheer, and so great is their faith in this + piece of stamped paper that they at once cause a mass of thanksgiving to + be celebrated in the Cordeliers. Formidable omens these! Which mark the + inward purpose, the determined will, and the coming deeds of this rising + power. If it prevails, its first work will be to destroy all ancient + documents, all title deeds, rent-rolls, contracts, and claims to which + force compels it to submit. By force likewise it will draw up others to + its own advantage, and the scribes who do it will be its own deputies and + administrators whom it holds in its rude grasp. + </p> + <p> + Those who are in high places are not alarmed; they even find that there is + some good in the revolt, inasmuch as it compels the towns to suppress + unjust taxation.<a href="#linknote-1132" name="linknoteref-1132" + id="linknoteref-1132"><small>1132</small></a> The new Marseilles guard, + formed of young men, is allowed to march to Aubagne, "to insist that M. le + lieutenant criminel and M. l'avocat du Roi release the prisoners." The + disobedience of Marseilles, which refuses to receive the magistrates sent + under letters patent to take testimony, is tolerated. And better still, in + spite of the remonstrances of the parliament of Aix, a general amnesty is + proclaimed; "no one is excepted but a few of the leaders, to whom is + allowed the liberty of leaving the kingdom." The mildness of the King and + of the military authorities is admirable. It is admitted that the people + are children, that they err only through ignorance, that faith must be had + in their repentance, and, as soon as they return to order, they must be + received with paternal effusions.—The truth is, that the child is a + blind Colossus, exasperated by sufferings. hence whatever it takes hold of + is shattered—not only the local wheels of the provinces, which, if + temporarily deranged, may be repaired, but even the incentive at the + center which puts the rest in motion, and the destruction of which will + throw the whole machinery into confusion. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1101" id="linknote-1101"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1101 (<a href="#linknoteref-1101">return</a>)<br /> [ Marmontel, + "Mémoires," II. 221.—Albert Babeau, "Histoire de la Révolution + Française," I. 91, 187. (Letter by Huez Mayor of Troyes, July 30, 1788.)—Archives + Nationales, H. 1274. (Letter by M. de Caraman, April 22, 1789.) H. 942 + (Cahier des demandes des Etats de Languedoc).—Buchez et Roux, + "Histoire Parlementaire," I. 283.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1102" id="linknote-1102"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1102 (<a href="#linknoteref-1102">return</a>)<br /> [ See "The Ancient + Régime," p.34. Albert Babeau, I. 91. (The Bishop of Troyes gives 12,000 + francs, and the chapter 6,000, for the relief workshops.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1103" id="linknote-1103"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1103 (<a href="#linknoteref-1103">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Ancient Regime," + 350, 387.—Floquet, "Histoire du Parlement de Normandie," VII. + 505-518. (Reports of the Parliament of Normandy, May 3,1788. Letter from + the Parliament to the King, July 15, 1789.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1104" id="linknote-1104"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1104 (<a href="#linknoteref-1104">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, + "Voyages in France," June 29th, July 2nd and 18th—" Journal de + Paris," January 2, 1789. Letter of the curé of Sainte-Marguerite.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1105" id="linknote-1105"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1105 (<a href="#linknoteref-1105">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, IV. + 79-82. (Letter from the intermediary bureau of Montereau, July 9, 1789; + from the maire of Villeneuve-le-Roi, July 10th; from M. Baudry, July 10th; + from M. Prioreau, July 11th, etc.)—Montjoie, "Histoire de la + Révolution de France," 2nd part, ch. XXI, p. 5.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1106" id="linknote-1106"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1106 (<a href="#linknoteref-1106">return</a>)<br /> [ Roux et Buchez, ibid. + "It is very unfortunate," writes the Marquis d'Autichamp, "to be obliged + to cut down the standing crops ready to be gathered in; but it is + dangerous to let the troops die of hunger."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1107" id="linknote-1107"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1107 (<a href="#linknoteref-1107">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, "Histoire + de la Révolution de France," ch. XXXIX, V, 37.—De Goncourt, "La + Société Française pendant la Révolution," p. 5l3.—Deposition of + Maillard (Criminal Inquiry of the Châtelet concerning the events of + October 5th and 6th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1108" id="linknote-1108"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1108 (<a href="#linknoteref-1108">return</a>)<br /> [ De Tocqueville, + "L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution," 272-290. De Lavergne, "Les Assemblées + provinciales," 109. Procès-verbaux des assemblées provinciales, passim.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1109" id="linknote-1109"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1109 (<a href="#linknoteref-1109">return</a>)<br /> [ A magistrate who + gives judgment in a lower court in cases relative to taxation. These terms + are retained because there are no equivalents in English. (Tr.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1110" id="linknote-1110"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1110 (<a href="#linknoteref-1110">return</a>)<br /> [ "Laboureurs,"—this + term, at this epoch, is applied to those who till their own land. (Tr.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1111" id="linknote-1111"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1111 (<a href="#linknoteref-1111">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier. + "Collection des lois et décrets," I. 1 to 23, and particularly p. 15.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1112" id="linknote-1112"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1112 (<a href="#linknoteref-1112">return</a>)<br /> [ Parish priests. + (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1113" id="linknote-1113"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1113 (<a href="#linknoteref-1113">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, July + 12th, 1789 (in Champagne).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1114" id="linknote-1114"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1114 (<a href="#linknoteref-1114">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 1st part, + 102.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1115" id="linknote-1115"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1115 (<a href="#linknoteref-1115">return</a>)<br /> [ Floquet, "Histoire du + Parlement de Normandie," VII. 508.—" Archives Nationales," H. 1453.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1116" id="linknote-1116"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1116 (<a href="#linknoteref-1116">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, June + 29th (at Nangis).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1117" id="linknote-1117"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1117 (<a href="#linknoteref-1117">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the Duc de Mortemart, Seigneur of Bray, May + 4th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, intendant of Languedoc, April 15th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1118" id="linknote-1118"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1118 (<a href="#linknoteref-1118">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, M. d'Agay, April 30th; of + the municipal officers of Nantes, January 9th; of the intendant, M. Meulan + d'Ablois, June 22nd; of M. de Ballainvilliers, April 15th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1119" id="linknote-1119"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1119 (<a href="#linknoteref-1119">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de Langeron, July 4th; of M. de + Meulan d'Ablois, June 5th; "Minutes of the meeting of la Maréchaussée de + Bost," April 29th. Letters of M. de Chazerat, May 29th; of M. de Bezenval, + June 2nd; of the intendant, M. Amelot, April 25th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1120" id="linknote-1120"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1120 (<a href="#linknoteref-1120">return</a>)<br /> [ '"Archives + Nationales," H.1453. Letter of M. de Bezenval, May 27th; of M. de + Ballainvilliers, April 25th; of M. de Foullonde, April 19th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1121" id="linknote-1121"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1121 (<a href="#linknoteref-1121">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, M. d'Aine, March 12th; of M. + d'Agay, April 30th; of M. Amelot, April 25th; of the municipal authorities + of Nantes, January 9th, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1122" id="linknote-1122"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1122 (<a href="#linknoteref-1122">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Ancient Régime," + pp. 380-389.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1123" id="linknote-1123"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1123 (<a href="#linknoteref-1123">return</a>)<br /> [ Floquet, VII. 508, + (Report of February 27th).—Hippeau, "La Gouvernement de Normandie," + IV. 377. (Letter of M. Perrot, June 23rd.)—" Archives Nationales," + H. 1453. Letter of M. de Sainte-Suzanne, April 29th. Ibid. F7, 3250. + Letter of M. de Rochambeau, May 16th Ibid. F7, 3250. Letter of the Abbé + Duplaquet, Deputy of the Third Estate of Saint-Quentin, May 17th. Letter + of three husbandmen in the environs of Saint-Quentin, May 14th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1124" id="linknote-1124"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1124 (<a href="#linknoteref-1124">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de Perigord, military commandant + of Languedoc, April 22nd.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1125" id="linknote-1125"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1125 (<a href="#linknoteref-1125">return</a>)<br /> [ Floquet, VII. 511 + (from the 11th to the 14th July).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1126" id="linknote-1126"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1126 (<a href="#linknoteref-1126">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the municipal authorities of Nantes, + January 9th; of the sub-delegate of Ploërmel, July 4th; ibid. F7, 2353. + Letter of the intermediary commission of Alsace, September 8th ibid. F7, + 3227. Letter of the intendant, Caze de la Bove, June 16th; ibid. H. 1453. + Letter of Terray, intendant of Lyons, July 4th; of the prévot des + échevins, July 5th and 7th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1127" id="linknote-1127"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1127 (<a href="#linknoteref-1127">return</a>)<br /> [ (A tax on all goods + entering a town. SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1128" id="linknote-1128"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1128 (<a href="#linknoteref-1128">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the mayor and councils of Agde, April + 21st; of M. de Perigord, April 19th, May 5th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1129" id="linknote-1129"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1129 (<a href="#linknoteref-1129">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. de Caraman, March 23rd, 26th 27th + 28th; of the seneschal Missiessy, March 24th; of the mayor of Hyères, + March 25th, etc.; ibid. H. 1274; of M. de Montmayran, April 2nd; of M. de + Caraman, March 18th, April 12th; of the intendant, M. de la Tour, April + 2nd; of the procureur-géneral, M. d'Antheman, April 17th, and the report + of June 15th; of the municipal authorities of Toulon, April 11th; of the + sub-delegate of Manosque, March 14th; of M. de Saint-Tropez, March 21st.—Minutes + of the meeting, signed by 119 witnesses, of the insurrection at Aix, March + 5th, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1130" id="linknote-1130"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1130 (<a href="#linknoteref-1130">return</a>)<br /> [ An uprising of the + peasants. The term is used to indicate a country mob in contradistinction + to a city or town mob.-Tr.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1131" id="linknote-1131"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1131 (<a href="#linknoteref-1131">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H.1274. Letter of M. de la Tour, April 2nd (with a detailed + memorandum and depositions).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1132" id="linknote-1132"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1132 (<a href="#linknoteref-1132">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1274. Letter of M. de Caraman, April 22nd:—"One real + benefit results from this misfortune. . . The well-to-do class is brought + to sustain that which exceeded the strength of the poor daily laborers. We + see the nobles and people in good circumstances a little more attentive to + the poor peasants: they are now habituated to speaking to them with more + gentleness." M. de Caraman was wounded, as well as his Son, at Aix, and if + the Soldiery, who were stoned, at length fired on the crowd, he did not + give the order.—Ibid, letter of M. d'Anthéman, April 17th; of M. de + Barentin, June 11th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Mob recruits in the vicinity + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Entry of vagabonds.—The number of paupers. +</pre> + <p> + INDEED it is in the center that the convulsive shocks are strongest. + Nothing is lacking to aggravate the insurrection—neither the + liveliest provocation to stimulate it, nor the most numerous bands to + carry it out. The environs of Paris all furnish recruits for it; nowhere + are there so many miserable wretches, so many of the famished, and so many + rebellious beings. Robberies of grain take place everywhere—at + Orleans, at Cosne, at Rambouillet, at Jouy, at Pont-Saint-Maxence, at + Bray-sur-Seine, at Sens, at Nangis.<a href="#linknote-1201" + name="linknoteref-1201" id="linknoteref-1201"><small>1201</small></a> + Wheat flour is so scarce at Meudon, that every purchaser is ordered to buy + at the same time an equal quantity of barley. At Viroflay, thirty women, + with a rear-guard of men, stop on the main road vehicles, which they + suppose to be loaded with grain. At Montlhéry stones and clubs disperse + seven brigades of the police. An immense throng of eight thousand persons, + women and men, provided with bags, fall upon the grain exposed for sale. + They force the delivery to them of wheat worth 40 francs at 24 francs, + pillaging the half of it and conveying it off without payment. "The + constabulary is disheartened," writes the sub-delegate; "the determination + of the people is wonderful; I am frightened at what I have seen and + heard."—After the 13th of July, 1788, the day of the hail-storm, + despair seized the peasantry; well disposed as the proprietors may have + been, it was impossible to assist them. "Not a workshop is open;<a + href="#linknote-1202" name="linknoteref-1202" id="linknoteref-1202"><small>1202</small></a> + the noblemen and the bourgeois, obliged to grant delays in the payment of + their incomes, can give no work." Accordingly, "the famished people are on + the point of risking life for life," and, publicly and boldly, they seek + food wherever it can be found. At Conflans-Saint-Honorine, Eragny, + Neuville, Chenevières, at Cergy, Pontoise, Ile-Adam, Presle, and Beaumont, + men, women, and children, the hole parish, range the country, set snares, + and destroy the burrows. "The rumor is current that the Government, + informed of the damage done by the game to cultivators, allows its + destruction. . . and really the hares ravaged about a fifth of the crop. + At first an arrest is made of nine of these poachers; but they are + released, "taking circumstances into account." Consequently, for two + months, there is a slaughter on the property of the Prince de Conti and of + the Ambassador Mercy d'Argenteau; in default of bread they eat rabbits.—Along + with the abuse of property they are led, by a natural impulse, to attack + property itself. Near Saint-Denis the woods belonging to the abbey are + devastated. "The farmers of the neighborhood carry away loads of wood, + drawn by four and five horses;" the inhabitants of the villages of + Ville-Parisis, Tremblay, Vert-Galant, Villepinte, sell it publicly, and + threaten the wood-rangers with a beating. On the 15th of June the damage + is already estimated at 60,000 livres.—It makes little difference + whether the proprietor has been benevolent, like M. de Talaru,<a + href="#linknote-1203" name="linknoteref-1203" id="linknoteref-1203"><small>1203</small></a> + who had supported the poor on his estate at Issy the preceding winter. The + peasants destroy the dike which conducts water to his communal mill; + condemned by the parliament to restore it, they declare that not only will + they not obey. Should M. de Talaru try to rebuild it they will return with + three hundred armed men, and tear it away the second time. + </p> + <p> + For those who are most compromised Paris is the nearest refuge. For the + poorest and most exasperated, the door of nomadic life stands wide open. + Bands rise up around the capital, just as in countries where human society + has not yet been formed, or has ceased to exist. During the first two + weeks of May<a href="#linknote-1204" name="linknoteref-1204" + id="linknoteref-1204"><small>1204</small></a> near Villejuif a band of + five or six hundred vagabonds strive to force Bicêtre and approach + Saint-Cloud. They arrive from thirty, forty, and sixty leagues off, from + Champagne, from Lorraine, from the whole circuit of country devastated by + the hailstorm. All hover around Paris and are there engulfed as in a + sewer, the unfortunate along with criminals, some to find work, others to + beg and to rove about under the injurious prompting of hunger and the + rumors of the public thoroughfares. During the last days of April,<a + href="#linknote-1205" name="linknoteref-1205" id="linknoteref-1205"><small>1205</small></a> + the clerks at the tollhouses note the entrance of "a frightful number of + poorly clad men of sinister aspect." During the first days of May a change + in the appearance of the crowd is remarked. There mingle in it "a number + of foreigners, from all countries, most of them in rags, armed with big + sticks, and whose very aspect announces what is to be feared from them." + Already, before this final influx, the public sink is full to overflowing. + Think of the extraordinary and rapid increase of population in Paris, the + multitude of artisans brought there by recent demolition and + constructions. Think of all the craftsmen whom the stagnation of + manufactures, the augmentation of octrois, the rigor of winter, and the + dearness of bread have reduced to extreme distress. Remember that in 1786 + "two hundred thousand persons are counted whose property, all told, has + not the intrinsic worth of fifty crowns." Remember that, from time + immemorial, these have been at war with the city watchmen. Remember that + in 1789 there are twenty thousand poachers in the capital and that, to + provide them with work, it is found necessary to establish national + workshops. Remember "that twelve thousand are kept uselessly occupied + digging on the hill of Montmartre, and paid twenty sous per day. Remember + that the wharves and quays are covered with them, that the Hôtel-de-Ville + is invested by them, and that, around the palace, they seem to be a + reproach to the inactivity of disarmed justice." Daily they grow bitter + and excited around the doors of the bakeries, where, kept waiting a long + time, they are not sure of obtaining bread. You can imagine the fury and + the force with which they will storm any obstacle to which their attention + may be directed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II. The Press. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Excitement of the press and of opinion.—The people make + their choice. +</pre> + <p> + Such an obstacle has been pointed out to them during the last two years, + it is the Ministry, the Court, the Government, in short the entire ancient + régime. Whoever protests against it in favor of the people is sure to be + followed as far, and perhaps even farther, than he chooses to lead.—The + moment the Parliament of a large city refuses to register fiscal edicts it + finds a riot at its service. On the 7th of June 1788, at Grenoble, tiles + rain down on the heads of the soldiery, and the military force is + powerless. At Rennes, to put down the rebellious city, an army and after + this a permanent camp of four regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, + under the command of a Marshal of France, is required.<a + href="#linknote-1206" name="linknoteref-1206" id="linknoteref-1206"><small>1206</small></a>—The + following year, when the Parliaments now side with the privileged class, + the disturbances again begin, but this time against the Parliaments. In + February 1789, at Besançon and at Aix, the magistrates are hooted at, + chased in the streets, besieged in the town hall, and obliged to conceal + themselves or take to flight.—If such is the disposition in the + provincial capitals, what must it be in the capital of the kingdom? For a + start, in the month of August, 1788, after the dismissal of Brienne and + Lamoignon, the mob, collected on the Place Dauphine, constitutes itself + judge, burns both ministers in effigy, disperses the watch, and resists + the troops: no sedition, as bloody as this, had been seen for a century. + Two days later, the riot bursts out a second time; the people are seized + with a resolve to go and burn the residences of the two ministers and that + of Dubois, the lieutenant of police.—Clearly a new ferment has been + infused among the ignorant and brutal masses, and the new ideas are + producing their effect. They have for a long time imperceptibly been + filtering downwards from layer to layer After having gained over the + aristocracy, the whole of the lettered portion of the Third-Estate, the + lawyers, the schools, all the young, they have insinuated themselves drop + by drop and by a thousand fissures into the class which supports itself by + the labor of its own hands. Noblemen, at their toilettes, have scoffed at + Christianity, and affirmed the rights of man before their valets, + hairdressers, purveyors, and all those that are in attendance upon them. + Men of letters, lawyers, and attorneys have repeated, in the bitterest + tone, the same diatribes and the same theories in the coffee-houses and in + the restaurants, on the promenades and in all public places. They have + spoken out before the lower class as if it were not present, and, from all + this eloquence poured out without precaution, some bubbles besprinkle the + brain of the artisan, the publican, the messenger, the shopkeeper, and the + soldier. + </p> + <p> + Hence it is that a year suffices to convert mute discontent into political + passion. From the 5th of July 1787, on the invitation of the King, who + convokes the States-General and demands advice from everybody, both speech + and the press alter in tone.<a href="#linknote-1207" + name="linknoteref-1207" id="linknoteref-1207"><small>1207</small></a> + Instead of general conversation of a speculative turn there is preaching, + with a view to practical effect, sudden, radical, and close at hand, + preaching as shrill and thrilling as the blast of a trumpet. Revolutionary + pamphlets appear in quick succession: "Qu'est-ce que le Tiers?" by Sieyès; + "Mémoire pour le Peuple Français," by Cerutti; "Considerations sur les + Intérêts des Tiers-Etat," by Rabtau Saint-Etienne; "Ma Pétition," by + Target; "Les Droits des Etats-généraux," by M. d'Entraigues, and, a little + later, "La France libre," par Camille Desmoulins, and others by hundreds + and thousands.<a href="#linknote-1208" name="linknoteref-1208" + id="linknoteref-1208"><small>1208</small></a> All of which are repeated + and amplified in the electoral assemblies, where new-made citizens come to + declaim and increase their own excitement.<a href="#linknote-1209" + name="linknoteref-1209" id="linknoteref-1209"><small>1209</small></a> The + unanimous, universal and daily shout rolls along from echo to echo, into + barracks and into faubourgs, into markets, workshops, and garrets. In the + month of February, 1789, Necker avows "that obedience is not to be found + anywhere, and that even the troops are not to be relied on." In the month + of May, the fisherwomen, and next the greengrocers, of the town market + halls come to recommend the interests of the people to the bodies of + electors, and to sing rhymes in honor of the Third-Estate. In the month of + June pamphlets are in all hands; "even lackeys are poring over them at the + gates of hotels." In the month of July, as the King is signing an order, a + patriotic valet becomes alarmed and reads it over his shoulder.—There + is no illusion here; it is not merely the bourgeoisie which ranges itself + against the legal authorities and against the established regime. It is + the entire people as well. The craftsmen, the shopkeepers and the + domestics, workmen of every kind and degree, the mob underneath the + people, the vagabonds, street rovers, and beggars, the whole multitude, + which, bound down by anxiety for its daily bread, had never lifted its + eyes to look at the great social order of which it is the lowest stratum, + and the whole weight of which it bears. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—The Réveillon affair. + </h2> + <p> + Suddenly the people stirs, and the superposed scaffolding totters. It is + the movement of a brute nature exasperated by want and maddened by + suspicion.—Have paid hands, which are invisible goaded it on from + beneath? Contemporaries are convinced of this, and it is probably the + case.<a href="#linknote-1210" name="linknoteref-1210" id="linknoteref-1210"><small>1210</small></a> + But the uproar made around the suffering brute would alone suffice to make + it shy, and explain its arousal.—On the 21st of April the Electoral + Assemblies have begun in Paris; there is one in each quarter, one for the + clergy, one for the nobles, and one for the Third-Estate. Every day, for + almost a month, files of electors are seen passing along the streets. + Those of the first degree continue to meet after having nominated those of + the second: the nation must needs watch its mandatories and maintain its + imprescriptible rights. If this exercise of their rights has been + delegated to them, they still belong to the nation, and it reserves to + itself the privilege of interposing when it pleases. A pretension of this + kind travels fast; immediately after the Third-Estate of the Assemblies it + reaches the Third-Estate of the streets. Nothing is more natural than the + desire to lead one's leaders: the first time any dissatisfaction occurs, + they lay hands on those who halt and make them march on as directed. On a + Saturday, April 25th,<a href="#linknote-1211" name="linknoteref-1211" + id="linknoteref-1211"><small>1211</small></a> a rumor is current that + Réveillon, an elector and manufacturer of wall-paper, Rue Saint-Antoine, + and Lerat, a commissioner, have "spoken badly" at the Electoral Assembly + of Sainte-Marguerite. To speak badly means to speak badly of the people. + What has Réveillon said? Nobody knows, but popular imagination with its + terrible powers of invention and precision, readily fabricates or welcomes + a murderous phrase. He said that "a working-man with a wife and children + could live on fifteen sous a day." Such a man is a traitor, and must be + disposed of at once; "all his belongings must be put to fire and sword." + The rumor, it must be noted, is false.<a href="#linknote-1212" + name="linknoteref-1212" id="linknoteref-1212"><small>1212</small></a> + Réveillon pays his poorest workman twenty-five sous a day, he provides + work for three hundred and fifty, and, in spite of a dull season the + previous winter, he kept all on at the same rate of wages. He himself was + once a workman, and obtained a medal for his inventions, and is benevolent + and respected by all respectable persons.—All this avails nothing; + bands of vagabonds and foreigners, who have just passed through the + barriers, do not look so closely into matters, while the Journeymen, the + carters, the cobblers, the masons, the braziers, and the stone-cutters + whom they go to solicit in their lodgings are just as ignorant as they + are. When irritation has accumulated, it breaks out haphazardly. + </p> + <p> + Just at this time the clergy of Paris renounce their privileges in way of + imposts,<a href="#linknote-1213" name="linknoteref-1213" + id="linknoteref-1213"><small>1213</small></a> and the people, taking + friends for adversaries, add in their invectives the name of the clergy to + that of Réveillon. During the whole of the day, and also during the + leisure of Sunday, the fermentation increases; on Monday the 27th, another + day of idleness and drunkenness, the bands begin to move. Certain + witnesses encounter one of these in the Rue Saint-Sévérin, "armed with + clubs," and so numerous as to bar the passage. "Shops and doors are closed + on all sides, and the people cry out, 'There's the revolt!'" The seditious + crowd belch out curses and invectives against the clergy, "and, catching + sight of an abbé, shout 'Priest!'" Another band parades an effigy of + Réveillon decorated with the ribbon of the order of St. Michael, which + undergoes the parody of a sentence and is burnt on the Place de Grève, + after which they threaten his house. Driven back by the guard, they invade + that of a manufacturer of saltpeter, who is his friend, and burn and smash + his effects and furniture.<a href="#linknote-1214" name="linknoteref-1214" + id="linknoteref-1214"><small>1214</small></a> It is only towards midnight + that the crowd is dispersed and the insurrection is supposed to have + ended. On the following day it begins again with greater violence; for, + besides the ordinary stimulants of misery<a href="#linknote-1215" + name="linknoteref-1215" id="linknoteref-1215"><small>1215</small></a> and + the craving for license, they have a new stimulant in the idea of a cause + to defend, the conviction that they are fighting "for the Third-Estate." + In a cause like this each one should help himself; and all should help + each other. "We should be lost," one of them exclaimed, "if we did not + sustain each other." Strong in this belief, they sent deputations three + times into the Faubourg Saint-Marceau to obtain recruits, and on their + way, with uplifted clubs they enrol, willingly or unwillingly, all they + encounter. Others, at the gate of Saint-Antoine, arrest people who are + returning from the races, demanding of them if they are for the nobles or + for the Third-Estate, and force women to descend from their vehicles and + to cry "Vive le Tiers-Etat "<a href="#linknote-1216" + name="linknoteref-1216" id="linknoteref-1216"><small>1216</small></a>. + Meanwhile the crowd has increased before Réveillon's dwelling; the thirty + men on guard are unable to resist; the house is invaded and sacked from + top to bottom; the furniture, provisions, clothing, registers, wagons, + even the poultry in the back-yard, all is cast into blazing bonfires + lighted in three different places; five hundred louis d'or, the ready + money, and the silver plate are stolen. Several roam through the cellars, + drink liquor or varnish at haphazard until they fall down dead drunk or + expire in convulsions. Against this howling horde, a corps of the watch, + mounted and on foot, is seen approaching;<a href="#linknote-1217" + name="linknoteref-1217" id="linknoteref-1217"><small>1217</small></a> also + a hundred cavalry of the "Royal Croats," the French Guards, and later on + the Swiss Guards. "Tiles and chimneys are rained down on the soldiers," + who fire back four files at a time. The rioters, drunk with brandy and + rage, defend themselves desperately for several hours; more than two + hundred are killed, and nearly three hundred are wounded; they are only + put down by cannon, while the mob keeps active until far into the night.—Towards + eight in the evening, in the rue Vieille-du-Temple, the Paris Guard + continue to make charges in order to protect the doors which the + miscreants try to force. Two doors are forced at half-past eleven o'clock + in the Rue Saintonge and in the Rue de Bretagne, that of a pork-dealer and + that of a baker. Even to this last wave of the outbreak which is subsiding + we can distinguish the elements which have produced the insurrection, and + which are about to produce the Revolution.—Starvation is one of + these: in the Rue de Bretagne the band robbing the baker's shop carries + bread off to the women staying at the corner of the Rue Saintonge.—Brigandage + is another: in the middle of the night M. du Châtelet's spies, gliding + alongside of a ditch, "see a group of ruffians" assembled beyond the + Barrière du Trône, their leader, mounted on a little knoll, urging them to + begin again; and the following days, on the highways, vagabonds are saying + to each other, "We can do no more at Paris, because they are too sharp on + the look-out; let us go to Lyons!" There are, finally, the patriots: on + the evening of the insurrection, between the Pont-au-Change and the + Pont-Marie, the half-naked ragamuffins, besmeared with dirt, bearing along + their hand-barrows, are fully alive to their cause; they beg alms in a + loud tone of voice, and stretch out their hats to the passers, saying, + "Take pity on this poor Third-Estate!"—The starving, the ruffians, + and the patriots, all form one body, and henceforth misery, crime, and + public spirit unite to provide an ever-ready insurrection for the + agitators who desire to raise one. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—The Palais-Royal. + </h2> + <p> + But the agitators are already in permanent session. The Palais-Royal is an + open-air club where, all day and even far into the night, one excites the + other and urges on the crowd to blows. In this enclosure, protected by the + privileges of the House of Orleans, the police dare not enter. Speech is + free, and the public who avail themselves of this freedom seem purposely + chosen to abuse it.—The public and the place are adapted to each + other.<a href="#linknote-1218" name="linknoteref-1218" + id="linknoteref-1218"><small>1218</small></a> The Palais-Royal, the center + of prostitution, of play, of idleness, and of pamphlets, attracts the + whole of that uprooted population which floats about in a great city, and + which, without occupation or home, lives only for curiosity or for + pleasure—the frequenters of the coffee-houses, the runners for + gambling halls, adventurers, and social outcasts, the runaway children or + forlorn hopefuls of literature, arts, and the bar, attorneys' clerks, + students of the institutions of higher learning, the curious, loungers, + strangers, and the occupants of furnished lodgings, these amounting, it is + said, to forty thousand in Paris. They fill the garden and the galleries; + "one would hardly find here one of what were called the "Six Bodies,"<a + href="#linknote-1219" name="linknoteref-1219" id="linknoteref-1219"><small>1219</small></a> + a bourgeois settled down and occupied with his own affairs, a man whom + business and family cares render serious and influential. There is no + place here for industrious and orderly bees; it is the rendezvous of + political and literary drones. They flock into it from every quarter of + Paris, and the tumultuous, buzzing swarm covers the ground like an + overturned hive. "Ten thousand people," writes Arthur Young,<a + href="#linknote-1220" name="linknoteref-1220" id="linknoteref-1220"><small>1220</small></a> + "have been all this day in the Palais-Royal;" the press is so great that + an apple thrown from a balcony on the moving floor of heads would not + reach the ground. The condition of these heads may be imagined; they are + emptier of ballast than any in France, the most inflated with speculative + ideas, the most excitable and the most excited. In this pell-mell of + improvised politicians no one knows who is speaking; nobody is responsible + for what he says. Each is there as in the theater, unknown among the + unknown, requiring sensational impressions and strong emotions, a prey to + the contagion of the passions around him, borne along in the whirl of + sounding phrases, of ready-made news, growing rumors, and other + exaggerations by which fanatics keep outdoing each other. There are + shouting, tears, applause, stamping and clapping, as at the performance of + a tragedy; one or another individual becomes so inflamed and hoarse that + he dies on the spot with fever and exhaustion. In vain has Arthur Young + been accustomed to the tumult of political liberty; he is dumb-founded at + what he sees.<a href="#linknote-1221" name="linknoteref-1221" + id="linknoteref-1221"><small>1221</small></a> According to him, the + excitement is "incredible. . . . We think sometimes that Debrett's or + Stockdale's shops at London are crowded; but they are mere deserts + compared to Desenne's and some others here, in which one can scarcely + squeeze from the door to the counter. . . . Every hour produces its + pamphlet; 13 came out to-day, 16 yesterday, and 92 last week. 95% of these + productions are in favor of liberty;" and by liberty is meant the + extinction of privileges, numerical sovereignty, the application of the + Contrat-Social, "The Republic", and even more besides, a universal + leveling, permanent anarchy, and even the jacquerie. Camille Desmoulins, + one of the orators, commonly there, announces it and urges it in precise + terms: + </p> + <p> + "Now that the animal is in the trap, let him be battered to death... Never + will the victors have a richer prey. Forty thousand palaces, mansions, and + châteaux, two-fifth of the property of France, will be the recompense of + valor. Those who pretend to be the conquerors will be conquered in turn. + The nation shall be purged." + </p> + <p> + Here, in advance, is the program of the Reign of Terror. + </p> + <p> + Now all this is not only read, but declaimed, amplified, and turned to + practical account. In front of the coffee-houses "those who have + stentorian lungs relieve each other every evening."<a href="#linknote-1222" + name="linknoteref-1222" id="linknoteref-1222"><small>1222</small></a> + "They get up on a chair or a table, they read the strongest articles on + current affairs, . . . the eagerness with which they are heard, and the + thunder of applause they receive for every sentiment of more than common + hardiness or violence against the present Government, cannot easily be + imagined." "Three days ago a child of four years, well taught and + intelligent, was promenaded around the garden, in broad daylight, at least + twenty times, borne on the shoulders of a street porter, crying out, + 'Verdict of the French people: Polignac exiled one hundred leagues from + Paris; Condé the same; Conti the same; Artois the same; the Queen,—I + dare not write it.'" A hall made of boards in the middle of the + Palais-Royal is always full, especially of young men, who carry on their + deliberations in parliamentary fashion: in the evening the president + invites the spectators to come forward and sign motions passed during the + day, and of which the originals are placed in the Café Foy.<a + href="#linknote-1223" name="linknoteref-1223" id="linknoteref-1223"><small>1223</small></a> + They count on their fingers the enemies of the country; "and first two + Royal Highnesses (Monsieur and the Count d'Artois), three Most Serene + Highnesses (the Prince de Condé, Duc de Bourbon, and the Prince de Conti), + one favorite (Madame de Polignac), MM. de Vandreuil, de la Trémoille, du + Châtelet, de Villedeuil, de Barentin, de la Galaisière, Vidaud de la Tour, + Berthier, Foulon, and also M. Linguet." Placards are posted demanding the + pillory on the Pont-Neuf for the Abbeé Maury. One speaker proposes "to + burn the house of M. d'Espréménil, his wife, children and furniture, and + himself: this is passed unanimously."—No opposition is tolerated. + One of those present having manifested some horror at such sanguinary + motions, "is seized by the collar, obliged to kneel down, to make an + apology, and to kiss the ground. The punishment inflicted on children is + given to him; he is ducked repeatedly in one of the fountain-basins, after + which they him over to the mob, who roll him in the mud." On the following + day an ecclesiastic is trodden under foot, and flung from hand to hand. A + few days after, on the 22nd of June, there are two similar events. The + sovereign mob exercises all the functions of sovereign authority, with + those of the legislator those of the judge, and those of the judge with + those of the executioner.—Its idols are sacred; if any one fails to + show them respect he is guilty of lése-majesté, and at once punished. In + the first week of July, an abbé who speaks ill of Necker is flogged; a + woman who insults the bust of Necker is stripped by the fishwomen, and + beaten until she is covered with blood. War is declared against suspicious + uniforms. "On the appearance of a hussar," writes Desmoulins, "they shout, + 'There goes Punch!' and the stone-cutters fling stones at him. Last night + two officers of the hussars, MM. de Sombreuil and de Polignac, came to the + Palais-Royal. . . chairs were flung at them, and they would have been + knocked down if they had not run away. The day before yesterday they + seized a spy of the police and gave him a ducking in the fountain. They + ran him down like a stag, hustled him, pelted him with stones, struck him + with canes, forced one of his eyes out of its socket, and finally, in + spite of his entreaties and cries for mercy, plunged him a second time in + the fountain. His torments lasted from noon until half-past five o'clock, + and he had about ten thousand executioners."—Consider the effect of + such a focal center at a time like this. A new power has sprung up + alongside the legal powers, a legislature of the highways and public + squares, anonymous, irresponsible, without restraint. It is driven onward + by coffeehouse theories, by strong emotions and the vehemence of + mountebanks, while the bare arms which have just accomplished the work of + destruction in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, form its bodyguard and + ministerial cabinet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—Popular mobs become a political force. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Pressure on the Assembly.—Defection of the soldiery. +</pre> + <p> + This is the dictatorship of a mob, and its proceedings, conforming to its + nature, consist in acts of violence, wherever it finds resistance, it + strikes.—The people of Versailles, in the streets and at the doors + of the Assembly, daily "come and insult those whom they call aristocrats."<a + href="#linknote-1224" name="linknoteref-1224" id="linknoteref-1224"><small>1224</small></a> + On Monday, June 22nd, "d'Espréménil barely escapes being knocked down; the + Abbé Maury. . . owes his escape to the strength of a curé, who takes him + up in his arms and tosses him into the carriage of the Archbishop of + Arles." On the 23rd, "the Archbishop of Paris and the Keeper of the Seals + are hooted, railed at, scoffed at, and derided, until they almost sink + with shame and rage." So formidable is the tempest of rage with which they + are greeted, that Passeret, the King's secretary, who accompanies the + minister, dies of the excitement that very day. On the 24th, the Bishop of + Beauvais is almost knocked down by a stone striking him on the head. On + the 25th, the Archbishop of Paris is saved only by the speed of his + horses, the multitude pursuing him and pelting him with stones. His + mansion is besieged, the windows are all shattered, and, notwithstanding + the intervention of the French Guards, the peril is so great that he is + obliged to promise that he will join the deputies of the Third-Estate. + This is the way in which the rude hand of the people effects a reunion of + the Orders. It bears as heavily on its own representatives as on its + adversaries. "Although our hall was closed to the public," says Bailly, + "there were always more than six hundred spectators."<a + href="#linknote-1225" name="linknoteref-1225" id="linknoteref-1225"><small>1225</small></a> + These were not respectful and silent, but active and noisy, mingling with + the deputies, raising their hands to vote in all cases, taking part in the + deliberations, by their applause and hisses: a collateral Assembly which + often imposes its own will on the other. They take note of and put down + the names of their opponents, transmit them to the chair-bearers in + attendance at the entrance of the hall, and from them to the mob waiting + for the departure of the deputies, these names are from now considered as + the names of public enemies.<a href="#linknote-1226" + name="linknoteref-1226" id="linknoteref-1226"><small>1226</small></a> + Lists are made out and printed, and, at the Palais-Royal in the evening, + they become the lists of the proscribed.—It is under this brutal + pressure that many decrees are passed, and, amongst them, that by which + the commons declare themselves the National Assembly and assume supreme + power. The night before, Malouet had proposed to ascertain, by a + preliminary vote, on which side the majority was. In an instant all those + against had gathered around him to the number of three hundred. "Upon + which a mans springs out from the galleries, falls upon him and takes him + by the collar exclaiming, 'Hold your tongue, you false citizen!'" Malouet + is released and the guard comes forward, "but terror has spread through + the hall, threats are uttered against opponents, and the next day we were + only ninety." Moreover, the lists of their names had been circulated; some + of them, deputies from Paris, went to see Bailly that very evening. One + amongst them, "a very honest man and good patriot," had been told that his + house was to be set on fire. Now his wife had just given birth to a child, + and the slightest tumult before the house would have been fatal. Such + arguments are decisive. Consequently, three days afterwards, at the + Tennis-court, but one deputy, Martin d'Auch, dares to write the word + "opposing" after his name. Insulted by many of colleagues, "at once + denounced to the people who had collected at the entrance of the building, + he is obliged to escape by a side door to avoid being cut to pieces," and, + for several days, to keep away from the meetings.<a href="#linknote-1227" + name="linknoteref-1227" id="linknoteref-1227"><small>1227</small></a>—Owing + to this intervention of the galleries the radical minority, numbering + about thirty,<a href="#linknote-1228" name="linknoteref-1228" + id="linknoteref-1228"><small>1228</small></a> lead the majority, and they + do not allow them to free themselves.—On the 28th of May, Malouet, + having demanded a secret session to discuss the conciliatory measures + which the King had proposed, the galleries hoot at him, and a deputy, M. + Bourche, addresses him in very plain terms. "You must know, sir, that we + are deliberating here in the presence of our masters, and that we must + account to them for our opinions." This is the doctrine of the + Contrat-Social. Through timidity, fear of the Court and of the privileged + class, through optimism and faith in human nature, through enthusiasm and + the necessity of adhering to previous actions, the deputies, who are + novices, provincial, and given up to theories, neither dare nor know how + to escape from the tyranny of the prevailing dogma.—Henceforth it + becomes the law. All the Assemblies, the Constituent, the Legislative, the + Convention,<a href="#linknote-1229" name="linknoteref-1229" + id="linknoteref-1229"><small>1229</small></a> submit to it entirely. The + public in the galleries is the admitted representatives of the people, + under the same title, and even under a higher title, than the deputies. + Now, this public is that of the Palais-Royal, consisting of strangers, + idlers, lovers of novelties, Paris romancers, leaders of the + coffee-houses, the future pillars of the clubs, in short, the wild + enthusiasts among the middle-class, just as the crowd which threatens + doors and throws stones is recruited from among the wild enthusiasts of + the lowest class. Thus by an involuntary selection, the faction which + constitutes itself a public power is composed of nothing but violent minds + and violent hands. Spontaneously and without previous concert dangerous + fanatics are joined with dangerous brutes, and in the increasing discord + between the legal authorities this is the illegal league which is certain + to overthrow all. + </p> + <p> + When a commanding general sits in council with his staff-officers and his + counselors, and discusses the plan of a campaign, the chief public + interest is that discipline should remain intact, and that intruders, + soldiers, or menials, should not throw the weight of their turbulence and + thoughtlessness into the scales which have to be cautiously and firmly + held by their chiefs. This was the express demand of the Government;<a + href="#linknote-1230" name="linknoteref-1230" id="linknoteref-1230"><small>1230</small></a> + but the demand was not regarded; and against the persistent usurpation of + the multitude nothing is left to it but the employment of force. But force + itself is slipping from its hands, while growing disobedience, like a + contagion, after having gained the people is spreading among the troops.—From + the 23rd of June,<a href="#linknote-1231" name="linknoteref-1231" + id="linknoteref-1231"><small>1231</small></a> two companies of the French + Guards refused to do duty. Confined to their barracks, they on the 27th + break out, and henceforth "they are seen every evening entering the + Palais-Royal, marching in double file." They know the place well; it is + the general rendezvous of the abandoned women whose lovers and parasites + they are.<a href="#linknote-1232" name="linknoteref-1232" + id="linknoteref-1232"><small>1232</small></a> "The patriots all gather + around them, treat them to ice cream and wine, and debauch them in the + face of their officers."—To this, moreover, must be added the fact + that their colonel, M. du Châtelet, has long been odious to them, that he + has fatigued them with forced drills, worried them and diminished the + number of their sergeants; that he suppressed the school for the education + of the children of their musicians; that he uses the stick in punishing + the men, and picks quarrels with them about their appearance, their board, + and their clothing. This regiment is lost to discipline: a secret society + has been formed in it, and the soldiers have pledged themselves to their + ensigns not to act against the National Assembly. Thus the confederation + between them and the Palais-Royal is established.—On the 30th of + June, eleven of their leaders, taken off to the Abbaye, write to claim + their assistance. A young man mounts a chair in front of the Café Foy and + reads their letter aloud; a band sets out on the instant, forces the gate + with a sledge-hammer and iron bars, brings back the prisoners in triumph, + gives them a feast in the garden and mounts guard around them to prevent + their being re-taken.—When disorders of this kind go unpunished, + order cannot be maintained; in fact, on the morning of the 14th of July, + five out of six battalions had deserted.—As to the other corps, they + are no better and are also seduced. "Yesterday," Desmoulins writes, "the + artillery regiment followed the example of the French Guards, overpowering + the sentinels and coming over to mingle with the patriots in the + Palais-Royal. . .. We see nothing but the rabble attaching themselves to + soldiers whom they chance to encounter. 'Allons, Vive le Tiers-Etat!' and + they lead them off to a tavern to drink the health of the Commons." + Dragoons tell the officers who are marching them to Versailles: "We obey + you, but you may tell the ministers on our arrival that if we are ordered + to use the least violence against our fellow-citizens, the first shot + shall be for you." At the Invalides twenty men, ordered to remove the + cocks and ramrods from the guns stored in a threatened arsenal, devote six + hours to rendering twenty guns useless; their object is to keep them + intact for plunder and for the arming of the people. + </p> + <p> + In short, the largest portion of the army has deserted. However kind a + superior officer might be, the fact of his being a superior officer + secures for him the treatment of an enemy. The governor, "M. de Sombreuil, + against whom these people could utter no reproach," will soon see his + artillerists point their guns at his apartment, and will just escape being + hung on the iron-railings by their own hands. Thus the force which is + brought forward to suppress insurrection only serves to furnish it with + recruits. And even worse, for the display of arms that was relied on to + restrain the mob, furnished the instigation to rebellion. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—July 13th and 14th 1789. + </h2> + <p> + The fatal moment has arrived; it is no longer a government which falls + that it may give way to another; it is all government which ceases to + exist in order to make way for an intermittent despotism, for factions + blindly impelled on by enthusiasm, credulity, misery, and fear.<a + href="#linknote-1233" name="linknoteref-1233" id="linknoteref-1233"><small>1233</small></a> + Like a tame elephant suddenly become wild again, the mob throws off it + ordinary driver, and the new guides who it tolerates perched on its neck + are there simply for show. In future it will move along as it pleases, + freed from control, and abandoned to its own feelings, instincts, and + appetites.—Apparently, there was no desire to do more than + anticipate its aberrations. The King has forbidden all violence; the + commanders order the troops not to fire;<a href="#linknote-1234" + name="linknoteref-1234" id="linknoteref-1234"><small>1234</small></a> but + the excited and wild animal takes all precautions for insults; in future, + it intends to be its own conductor, and, to begin, it treads its guides + under foot.—On the 12th of July, near noon,<a href="#linknote-1235" + name="linknoteref-1235" id="linknoteref-1235"><small>1235</small></a> on + the news of the dismissal of Necker, a cry of rage arises in the + Palais-Royal; Camille Desmoulins, mounted on a table, announces that the + Court meditates "a St. Bartholomew of patriots." The crowd embrace him, + adopt the green cockade which he has proposed, and oblige the + dancing-saloons and theaters to close in sign of mourning: they hurry off + to the residence of Curtius, and take the busts of the Duke of Orleans and + of Necker and carry them about in triumph.—Meanwhile, the dragoons + of the Prince de Lambesc, drawn up on the Place Louis-Quinze, find a + barricade of chairs at the entrance of the Tuileries, and are greeted with + a shower of stones and bottles.<a href="#linknote-1236" + name="linknoteref-1236" id="linknoteref-1236"><small>1236</small></a> + Elsewhere, on the Boulevard, before the Hôtel Montmorency, some of the + French Guards, escaped from their barracks, fired on a loyal detachment of + the "Royal Allemand."—The alarm bell is sounding on all sides, the + shops where arms are sold are pillaged, and the Hôtel-de-Ville is invaded; + fifteen or sixteen well-disposed electors, who meet there, order the + districts to be assembled and armed.—The new sovereign, the people + in arms and in the street, has declared himself. + </p> + <p> + The dregs of society at once come to the surface. During the night between + the 12th and 13th of July,<a href="#linknote-1237" name="linknoteref-1237" + id="linknoteref-1237"><small>1237</small></a> "all the barriers, from the + Faubourg Saint-Antoine to the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, besides those of the + Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques, are forced and set on fire." + There is no longer an octroi; the city is without a revenue just at the + moment when it is obliged to make the heaviest expenditures; but this is + of no consequence to the mob, which, above all things, wants to have cheap + wine. "Ruffians, armed with pikes and sticks, proceed in several parties + to give up to pillage the houses of those who are regarded as enemies to + the public welfare." "They go from door to door crying, 'Arms and bread!' + During this fearful night, the bourgeoisie kept themselves shut up, each + trembling at home for himself and those belonging to him." On the + following day, the 13th, the capital appears to be given up to bandits and + the lowest of the low. One of the bands hews down the gate of the + Lazarists, destroys the library and clothes-presses, the pictures, the + windows and laboratory, and rushes to the cellars; where it staves in the + casks and gets drunk: twenty-four hours after this, about thirty of them + are found dead and dying, drowned in wine, men and women, one of these + being at the point of childbirth. In front of the house<a + href="#linknote-1238" name="linknoteref-1238" id="linknoteref-1238"><small>1238</small></a> + the street is full of the wreckage, and of ruffians who hold in their + hands, "some, eatables, others a jug, forcing the passers-by to drink, and + pouring out wine to all comers. Wine runs down into the gutter, and the + scent of it fills the air;" it is a drinking bout: meanwhile they carry + away the grain and flour which the monks kept on hand according to law, + fifty-two loads of it being taken to the market. Another troop comes to La + Force, to deliver those imprisoned for debt; a third breaks into the Garde + Meuble, carrying away valuable arms and armour. Mobs assemble before the + hotel of Madame de Breteuil and the Palais-Bourbon, which they intend to + ransack, in order to punish their proprietors. M. de Crosne, one of the + most liberal and most respected men of Paris, but, unfortunately for + himself a lieutenant of the police, is pursued, escaping with difficulty, + and his hotel is sacked.—During the night between the 13th and 14th + of May, the baker's shops and the wine shops are pillaged; "men of the + vilest class, armed with guns, pikes, and turnspits, make people open + their doors and give them something to eat and drink, as well as money and + arms." Vagrants, ragged men, several of them "almost naked," and "most of + them armed like savages, and of hideous appearance;" they are "such as one + does not remember to have seen in broad daylight;" many of them are + strangers, come from nobody knows where.<a href="#linknote-1239" + name="linknoteref-1239" id="linknoteref-1239"><small>1239</small></a> It + is stated that there were 50,000 of them, and that they had taken + possession of the principal guard-houses. + </p> + <p> + During these two days and nights, says Bailly, "Paris ran the risk of + being pillaged, and was only saved from the marauders by the National + Guard." Already, in the open street,<a href="#linknote-1240" + name="linknoteref-1240" id="linknoteref-1240"><small>1240</small></a> + "these creatures tore off women's shoes and earrings," and the robbers + were beginning to have full sway.—Fortunately the militia organized + itself and the principal inhabitants and gentlemen enrolled themselves; + 48,000 men are formed into battalions and companies; the bourgeoisie buy + guns of the vagabonds for three livres apiece, and sabers or pistols for + twelve sous. At last, some of the offenders are hung on the spot, and + others disarmed, and the insurrection again becomes political. But, + whatever its object, it remains always wild, because it is in the hands of + the mob. Dusaulx, its panegyrist, confesses<a href="#linknote-1241" + name="linknoteref-1241" id="linknoteref-1241"><small>1241</small></a> that + "he thought he was witnessing the total dissolution of society." There is + no leader, no management. The electors who have converted themselves into + the representatives of Paris seem to command the crowd, but it is the + crowd which commands them. One of them, Legrand, to save the + Hôtel-de-Ville, has no other resource but to send for six barrels of + gun-powder, and to declare to the assailants that he is about to blow + everything into the air. The commandant whom they themselves have chosen, + M. de Salles, has twenty bayonets at his breast during a quarter of an + hour, and, more than once, the whole committee is near being massacred. + Let the reader imagine, on the premises where the discussions are going + on, and petitions are being made, "a concourse of fifteen hundred men + pressed by a hundred thousand others who are forcing an entrance," the + wainscoting cracking, the benches upset one over another, the enclosure of + the bureau pushed back against the president's chair, a tumult such as to + bring to mind 'the day of judgment," the death-shrieks, songs, yells, and + "people beside themselves, for the most part not knowing where they are + nor what they want."—Each district is also a petty center, while the + Palais-Royal is the main center. Propositions, "accusations, and + deputations travel to and fro from one to the other, along with the human + torrent which is obstructed or rushes ahead with no other guide than its + own inclination and the chances of the way. One wave gathers here and + another there, their strategy consisting in pushing and in being pushed. + Yet, their entrance is effected only because they are let in. If they get + into the Invalides it is owing to the connivance of the soldiers.—At + the Bastille, firearms are discharged from ten in the morning to five in + the evening against walls forty feet high and thirty feet thick, and it is + by chance that one of their shots reaches an invalid on the towers. They + are treated the same as children whom one wishes to hurt as little as + possible. The governor, on the first summons to surrender, orders the + cannon to be withdrawn from the embrasures; he makes the garrison swear + not to fire if it is not attacked; he invites the first of the deputations + to lunch; he allows the messenger dispatched from the Hôtel-de-Ville to + inspect the fortress; he receives several discharges without returning + them, and lets the first bridge be carried without firing a shot.<a + href="#linknote-1242" name="linknoteref-1242" id="linknoteref-1242"><small>1242</small></a> + When, at length, he does fire, it is at the last extremity, to defend the + second bridge, and after having notified the assailants that he is going + to do so. In short, his forbearance and patience are excessive, in + conformity with the humanity of the times. The people, in turn, are + infatuated with the novel sensations of attack and resistance, with the + smell of gunpowder, with the excitement of the contest; all they can think + of doing is to rush against the mass of stone, their expedients being on a + level with their tactics. A brewer fancies that he can set fire to this + block of masonry by pumping over it spikenard and poppy-seed oil mixed + with phosphorus. A young carpenter, who has some archaeological notions, + proposes to construct a catapult. Some of them think that they have seized + the governor's daughter, and want to burn her in order to make the father + surrender. Others set fire to a projecting mass of buildings filled with + straw, and thus close up the passage. "The Bastille was not taken by main + force," says the brave Elie, one of the combatants; "it surrendered before + even it was attacked,"<a href="#linknote-1243" name="linknoteref-1243" + id="linknoteref-1243"><small>1243</small></a> by capitulation, on the + promise that no harm should be done to anybody. The garrison, being + perfectly secure, had no longer the heart to fire on human beings while + themselves risking nothing,<a href="#linknote-1244" name="linknoteref-1244" + id="linknoteref-1244"><small>1244</small></a> and, on the other hand, they + were unnerved by the sight of the immense crowd. Eight or nine hundred men + only<a href="#linknote-1245" name="linknoteref-1245" id="linknoteref-1245"><small>1245</small></a> + were concerned in the attack, most of them workmen or shopkeepers + belonging to the faubourg, tailors, wheelwrights, mercers and + wine-dealers, mixed with the French Guards. The Place de la Bastille, + however, and all the streets in the vicinity, were crowded with the + curious who came to witness the sight; "among them," says a witness,<a + href="#linknote-1246" name="linknoteref-1246" id="linknoteref-1246"><small>1246</small></a> + "were a number of fashionable women of very good appearance, who had left + their carriages at some distance." To the hundred and twenty men of the + garrison looking down from their parapets it seemed as though all Paris + had come out against them. It is they, also, who lower the drawbridge an + introduce the enemy: everybody has lost his head, the besieged as well as + the besiegers, the latter more completely because they are intoxicated + with the sense of victory. Scarcely have they entered when they begin the + work of destruction, and the latest arrivals shoot at random those that + come earlier; "each one fires without heeding where or on whom his shot + tells." Sudden omnipotence and the liberty to kill are a wine too strong + for human nature; giddiness is the result; men see red, and their frenzy + ends in ferocity. + </p> + <p> + For the peculiarity of a popular insurrection is that nobody obeys + anybody; the bad passions are free as well as the generous ones; heroes + are unable to restrain assassins. Elie, who is the first to enter the + fortress, Cholat, Hulin, the brave fellows who are in advance, the French + Guards who are cognizant of the laws of war, try to keep their word of + honor; but the crowd pressing on behind them know not whom to strike, and + they strike at random. They spare the Swiss soldiers who have fired at + them, and who, in their blue smocks, seem to them to be prisoners; on the + other hand, by way of compensation, they fall furiously on the invalides + who opened the gates to them; the man who prevented the governor from + blowing up the fortress has his wrist severed by the blow of a saber, is + twice pierced with a sword and is hung, and the hand which had saved one + of the districts of Paris is promenaded through the streets in triumph. + The officers are dragged along and five of them are killed, with three + soldiers, on the spot, or on the way. During the long hours of firing, the + murderous instinct has become aroused, and the wish to kill, changed into + a fixed idea, spreads afar among the crowd which has hitherto remained + inactive. It is convinced by its own clamor; a hue and cry is all that it + now needs; the moment one strikes, all want to strike. "Those who had no + arms," says an officer, "threw stones at me;<a href="#linknote-1247" + name="linknoteref-1247" id="linknoteref-1247"><small>1247</small></a> the + women ground their teeth and shook their fists at me. Two of my men had + already been assassinated behind me. I finally got to within some hundreds + of paces of the Hôtel-de-Ville, amidst a general cry that I should be + hung, when a head, stuck on a pike, was presented to me to look at, while + at. the same moment I was told that it was that of M. de Launay," the + governor.—The latter, on going out, had received the cut of a sword + on his right shoulder; on reaching the Rue Saint-Antoine "everybody pulled + his hair out and struck him." Under the arcade of Saint-Jean he was + already "severely wounded." Around him, some said, "his head ought to be + struck off;" others, "let him be hung;" and others, "he ought to be tied + to a horse's tail." Then, in despair, and wishing to put an end to his + torments, he cried out, "Kill me," and, in struggling, kicked one of the + men who held him in the lower abdomen. On the instant he is pierced with + bayonets, dragged in the gutter, and, striking his corpse, they exclaim, + "He's a scurvy wretch (galeux) and a monster who has betrayed us; the + nation demands his head to exhibit to the public," and the man who was + kicked is asked to cut it off.—This man, an unemployed cook, a + simpleton who "went to the Bastille to see what was going on," thinks that + as it is the general opinion, the act is patriotic, and even believes that + he "deserves a medal for destroying a monster." Taking a saber which is + lent to him, he strikes the bare neck, but the dull saber not doing its + work, he takes a small black-handled knife from his pocket, and, "as in + his capacity of cook he knows how to cut meat," he finishes the operation + successfully. Then, placing the head on the end of a three-pronged + pitchfork, and accompanied by over two hundred armed men, "not counting + the mob," he marches along, and, in the Rue Saint-Honoré, he has two + inscriptions attached to the head, to indicate without mistake whose head + it is.—They grow merry over it: after filing alongside of the + Palais-Royal, the procession arrives at the Pont-Neuf, where, before the + statue of Henry IV., they bow the head three times, saying, "Salute thy + master!"—This is the last joke: it is to be found in every triumph, + and inside the butcher, we find the rogue. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII.—Murders of Foulon and Berthier. + </h2> + <p> + Meanwhile, at the Palais-Royal, other buffoons, who with the levity of + gossips sport with lives as freely as with words, have drawn u. During the + night between the 13th and 14th of July, a list of proscriptions, copies + of which are hawked about. Care is taken to address one of them to each of + the persons designated, the Comte d'Artois, Marshal de Broglie, the Prince + de Lambesc, Baron de Bezenval, MM. de Breteuil, Foulon, Berthier, Maury, + d'Espréménil, Lefèvre d'Amécourt, and others besides.<a + href="#linknote-1248" name="linknoteref-1248" id="linknoteref-1248"><small>1248</small></a> + A reward is promised to whoever will bring their heads to the Café de + Caveau. Here are names for the unchained multitude; all that now is + necessary is that some band should encounter a man who is denounced; he + will go as far as the lamppost at the street corner, but not beyond it.—Throughout + the day of the 14th, this improvised tribunal holds a permanent session, + and follows up its decisions with its actions. M. de Flesselles, provost + of the merchants and president of the electors at the Hôtel-de-Ville, + having shown himself somewhat lukewarm,<a href="#linknote-1249" + name="linknoteref-1249" id="linknoteref-1249"><small>1249</small></a> the + Palais-Royal declares him a traitor and sends him off to be hung. On the + way a young man fells him with a pistol-shot, others fall upon his body, + while his head, borne upon a pike, goes to join that of M. de Launay.—Equally + deadly accusations and of equally speedy execution float in the air and + from every direction. "On the slightest pretext," says an elector, "they + denounced to us those whom they thought opposed to the Revolution, which + already signified the same as enemies of the State. Without any + investigation, there was only talk of the seizure of their persons, the + ruin of their homes, and the razing of their houses. One young man + exclaimed: 'Follow me at once, let us start off at once to Bezenval's!'"—Their + brains are so frightened, and their minds so distrustful, that at every + step in the streets "one's name has to be given, one's profession + declared, one's residence, and one's intentions. . .. One can neither + enter nor leave Paris without being suspected of treason." The Prince de + Montbarrey, advocate of the new ideas, and his wife, are stopped in their + carriage at the barrier, and are on the point of being cut to pieces. A + deputy of the nobles, on his way to the National Assembly, is seized in + his cab and conducted to the Place de Grève; the corpse of M. de Launay is + shown to him, and he is told that he is to be treated in the same fashion.—Every + life hangs by a thread, and, on the following days, when the King had sent + away his troops, dismissed his Ministers, recalled Necker, and granted + everything, the danger remains just as great. The multitude, abandoned to + the revolutionaries and to itself, continues the same bloody antics, while + the municipal chiefs<a href="#linknote-1250" name="linknoteref-1250" + id="linknoteref-1250"><small>1250</small></a> whom it has elected, Bailly, + Mayor of Paris, and Lafayette, commandant of the National Guard, are + obliged to use cunning, to implore, to throw themselves between the + multitude and the unfortunates whom they wish to destroy. + </p> + <p> + On the 15th of July, in the night, a woman disguised as a man is arrested + in the court of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and so maltreated that she faints + away; Bailly, in order to save her, is obliged to feign anger against her + and have her sent immediately to prison. From the 14th to the 22nd of + July, Lafayette, at the risk of his life, saves with his own hand + seventeen persons in different quarters.<a href="#linknote-1251" + name="linknoteref-1251" id="linknoteref-1251"><small>1251</small></a>—On + the 22nd of July, upon the denunciations which multiply around Paris like + trains of gunpowder, two administrators of high rank, M. Foulon, + Councillor of State, and M. Berthier, his son-in-law, are arrested, one + near Fontainebleau, and the other near Compiègne. M. Foulon, a strict + master,<a href="#linknote-1252" name="linknoteref-1252" + id="linknoteref-1252"><small>1252</small></a> but intelligent and useful, + expended sixty thousand francs the previous winter on his estate in giving + employment to the poor. M. Berthier, an industrious and capable man, had + officially surveyed and valued Ile-de-France, to equalize the taxes, and + had reduced the overcharged quotas first one-eighth and then a quarter. + But both of these gentlemen have arranged the details of the camp against + which Paris has risen; both are publicly proscribed for eight days + previously by the Palais-Royal, and, with a people frightened by disorder, + exasperated by hunger, and stupefied by suspicion, an accused person is a + guilty one.—With regard to Foulon, as with Réveillon, a story is + made up, coined in the same mint, a sort of currency for popular + circulation, and which the people itself manufactures by casting into one + tragic expression the sum of its sufferings and rankling memories:<a + href="#linknote-1253" name="linknoteref-1253" id="linknoteref-1253"><small>1253</small></a> + "He said that we were worth no more than his horses; and that if we had no + bread we had only to eat grass."—The old man of seventy-four is + brought to Paris, with a truss of hay on his head, a collar of thistles + around his neck, and his mouth stuffed with hay. In vain does the + electoral bureau order his imprisonment that he may be saved; the crowd + yells out: "Sentenced and hung!" and, authoritatively, appoints the + judges. In vain does Lafayette insist and entreat three times that the + judgment be regularly rendered, and that the accused be sent to the + Abbaye. A new wave of people comes up, and one man, "well dressed," cries + out: "What is the need of a sentence for a man who has been condemned for + thirty years?" Foulon is carried off; dragged across the square, and hung + to the lamp post. The cord breaks twice, and twice he falls upon the + pavement. Re-hung with a fresh cord and then cut down, his head is severed + from his body and placed on the end of a pike.<a href="#linknote-1254" + name="linknoteref-1254" id="linknoteref-1254"><small>1254</small></a> + Meanwhile, Berthier, sent away from Compiègne by the municipality, afraid + to keep him in his prison where he was constantly menaced, arrives in a + cabriolet under escort. The people carry placards around him filled with + opprobrious epithets; in changing horses they threw hard black bread into + the carriage, exclaiming, "There, wretch, see the bread you made us eat!" + On reaching the church of Saint-Merry, a fearful storm of insults burst + forth against him. He is called a monopolist, "although he had never + bought or sold a grain of wheat." In the eyes of the multitude, who has to + explain the evil as caused by some evil-doer, he is the author of the + famine. Conducted to the Abbaye, his escort is dispersed and he is pushed + over to the lamp post. Then, seeing that all is lost, he snatches a gun + from one of his murderers and bravely defends himself. A soldier of the + "Royal Croats" gives him a cut with his saber across the stomach, and + another tears out his heart. As the cook, who had cut off the head of M. + de Launay, happens to be on the spot, they hand him the heart to carry + while the soldiers take the head, and both go to the Hôtel-de-Ville to + show their trophies to M. de Lafayette. On their return to the + Palais-Royal, and while they are seated at table in a tavern, the people + demand these two remains. They throw them out of the window and finish + their supper, whilst the heart is marched about below in a bouquet of + white carnations.—Such are the spectacles which this garden presents + where, a year before, "good society in full dress" came on leaving the + Opera to chat, often until two o'clock in the morning, under the mild + light of the moon, listening now to the violin of Saint-Georges, and now + to the charming voice of Garat. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII.—Paris in the hands of the people. + </h2> + <p> + Henceforth it is clear that no one is safe: neither the new militia nor + the new authorities suffice to enforce respect for the law. "They did not + dare," says Bailly,<a href="#linknote-1255" name="linknoteref-1255" + id="linknoteref-1255"><small>1255</small></a> "oppose the people who, + eight days before this, had taken the Bastille."—In vain, after the + last two murders, do Bailly and Lafayette indignantly threaten to + withdraw; they are forced to remain; their protection, such as it is, is + all that is left, and, if the National Guard is unable to prevent every + murder, it prevents some of them. People live as they can under the + constant expectation of fresh popular violence. "To every impartial man," + says Malouet, "the Terror dates from the 14th of July".—On the 17th, + before setting out for Paris, the King attends communion and makes his + will in anticipation of assassination. From the 16th to the 18th, twenty + personages of high rank, among others most of those on whose heads a price + is set by the Palais-Royal, leave France: The Count d'Artois, Marshal de + Broglie, the Princes de Condé, de Conti, de Lambesc, de Vaudemont, the + Countess de Polignac, and the Duchesses de Polignac and de Guiche.—The + day following the two murders, M. de Crosne, M. Doumer, M. Sureau, the + most zealous and most valuable members of the committee on subsistence, + all those appointed to make purchases and to take care of the storehouses, + conceal themselves or fly. On the eve of the two murders, the notaries of + Paris, being menaced with a riot, had to advance 45,000 francs which were + promised to the workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; while the public + treasury, almost empty, is drained of 30,000 livres per day to diminish + the cost of bread.—Persons and possessions, great and small, private + individuals and public functionaries, the Government itself, all is in the + hands of the mob. "From this moment," says a deputy,<a + href="#linknote-1256" name="linknoteref-1256" id="linknoteref-1256"><small>1256</small></a> + "liberty did not exist even in the National Assembly. . . France stood + dumb before thirty factious persons. The Assembly became in their hands a + passive instrument, which they forced to serve them in the execution of + their projects."—They themselves do not lead, although they seem to + lead. The great brute, which has taken the bit in its mouth, holds on to + it, and it's plunging becomes more violent. Not only do both spurs which + maddened it, I mean the desire for innovation and the daily scarcity of + food, continue to prick it on. But also the political hornets which, + increasing by thousands, buzz around its ears. And the license in which it + revels for the first time, joined to the applause lavished upon it, urges + it forward more violently each day. The insurrection is glorified. Not one + of the assassins is sought out. It is against the conspiracy of Ministers + that the Assembly institutes an inquiry. Rewards are bestowed upon the + conquerors of the Bastille; it is declared that they have saved France. + All honors are awarded to the people-to their good sense, their + magnanimity, and their justice. Adoration is paid to this new sovereign: + he is publicly and officially told, in the Assembly and by the press, that + he possesses every virtue, all rights and all powers. If he spills blood + it is inadvertently, on provocation, and always with an infallible + instinct. Moreover, says a deputy, "this blood, was it so pure?" The + greater number of people prefers the theories of their books to the + experience of their eyes; they persist in the idyll, which they have + fashioned for themselves. At the worst their dream, driven out from the + present, takes refuge in the future. To-morrow, when the Constitution is + complete, the people, made happy, will again become wise: let us endure + the storm, which leads us on to so noble a harbor. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, beyond the King, inert and disarmed, beyond the Assembly, + disobeyed or submissive, appears the real monarch, the people—that + is to say, a crowd of a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand + individuals gathered together at random, on an impulse, on an alarm, + suddenly and irresistibly made legislators, judges, and executioners. A + formidable power, undefined and destructive, on which no one has any hold, + and which, with its mother, howling and misshapen Liberty, sits at the + threshold of the Revolution like Milton's two specters at the gates of + Hell. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + . . . Before the gates there sat + On either side a formidable shape; + The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, + but ended foul in many a scaly fold + Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd + With mortal sting: about her middle round + A cry of hell hounds never ceasing bark'd + With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung + A hideous peal: yet, when they list, would creep, + If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb, + And kennel there; yet there still bark'd and howl'd + Within unseen. . . + ........the other shape, + If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, + Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd + For each seem'd either: black it stood as night, + Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, + And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head + The likeness of a kingly crown had on. + + The monster moving onward came as fast, + With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. +</pre> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1201" id="linknote-1201"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1201 (<a href="#linknoteref-1201">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Miron, lieutenant de police, April + 26th; of M. Joly de Fleury, procureur-général, May 29th; of MM. Marchais + and Berthier, April 18th and 27th, March 23rd, April 5th, May 5th.—Arthur + Young, June 10th and 29th. "Archives Nationales," H. 1453 Letter of the + sub-delegate of Montlhéry, April 14th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1202" id="linknote-1202"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1202 (<a href="#linknoteref-1202">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the sub-delegate Gobert, March 17th; of + the officers of police, June 15th:—" On the 12th, 13th, 14th and + 15th of March the inhabitants of Conflans generally rebelled against the + game law in relation to the rabbit."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1203" id="linknote-1203"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1203 (<a href="#linknoteref-1203">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 2nd part, + ch. XXI. p.14 (the first week in June). Montjoie is a party man; but he + gives dates and details, and his testimony, when it is confirmed + elsewhere, deserves, to be admitted.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1204" id="linknote-1204"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1204 (<a href="#linknoteref-1204">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 1st part, + 92-101.—"Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the officer of + police of Saint-Denis: "A good many workmen arrive daily from Lorraine as + well as from Champagne," which increases the prices.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1205" id="linknote-1205"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1205 (<a href="#linknoteref-1205">return</a>)<br /> [ De Bezenval, + "Mémoires," I.353. Cf. "The Ancient Regime," p.509.—Marmontel, II, + 252 and following pages.—De Ferrières, I. 407.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1206" id="linknote-1206"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1206 (<a href="#linknoteref-1206">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, + September 1st, 1788] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1207" id="linknote-1207"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1207 (<a href="#linknoteref-1207">return</a>)<br /> [ Barrère, "Mémoires," + I. 234.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1208" id="linknote-1208"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1208 (<a href="#linknoteref-1208">return</a>)<br /> [ See, in the National + Library, the long catalogue of those which have survived.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1209" id="linknote-1209"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1209 (<a href="#linknoteref-1209">return</a>)<br /> [ Malouet, I. 255. + Bailly, I. 43 (May 9th and 19th).—D'Hezecques, "Souvenirs d'un page + de Louis XV." 293.—De Bezenval, I. 368.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1210" id="linknote-1210"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1210 (<a href="#linknoteref-1210">return</a>)<br /> [ Marmontel, II, 249.—Montjoie, + 1st part, p. 92.—De Bezenval, I. 387: "These spies added that + persons were seen exciting the tumult and were distributing money."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1211" id="linknote-1211"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1211 (<a href="#linknoteref-1211">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," Y.11441. Interrogatory of the Abbé Roy, May 5th.—Y.11033, + Interrogatory (April 28th and May 4th) of twenty-three wounded persons + brought to the Hôtel-Dieu—These two documents are of prime + importance in presenting the true aspect of the insurrection; to these + must be added the narrative of M. de Bezenval, who was commandant at this + time with M. de Châtelet. Almost all other narratives are amplified or + falsified through party bias.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1212" id="linknote-1212"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1212 (<a href="#linknoteref-1212">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, vol. + III. note A. (justificatory explanation by Réveillon).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1213" id="linknote-1213"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1213 (<a href="#linknoteref-1213">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly I. 25 (April + 26th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1214" id="linknote-1214"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1214 (<a href="#linknoteref-1214">return</a>)<br /> [ Hippeau, IV. 377 + (Letters of M. Perrot, April 29th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1215" id="linknote-1215"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1215 (<a href="#linknoteref-1215">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter to the King by + an inhabitant of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine—"Do not doubt, sire, + that our recent misfortunes are due to the dearness of bread"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1216" id="linknote-1216"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1216 (<a href="#linknoteref-1216">return</a>)<br /> [ Dampmartin, + "Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes yeux," etc. I. 25: "We turned back + and were held up by small bands of scoundrels, who insolently proposed to + us to shout 'Vive Necker! Vive le Tiers-Etat!'" His two companions were + knights of St. Louis, and their badges seemed an object of "increasing + hatred." "The badge excited coarse mutterings, even on the part of persons + who appeared superior to the agitators."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1217" id="linknote-1217"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1217 (<a href="#linknoteref-1217">return</a>)<br /> [ Dampmartin, ibid. i. + 25: "I was dining this very day at the Hôtel d'Ecquevilly, in the Rue + Saint-Louis." He leaves the house on foot and witnesses the disturbance. + "Fifteen to Sixteen hundred wretches, the excrement of the nation, + degraded by shameful vices, covered with rags, and gorged with brandy, + presented the most disgusting and revolting spectacle. More than a hundred + thousand persons of both sexes and of all ages and conditions interfered + greatly with the operations of the troops. The firing soon commenced and + blood flowed: two innocent persons were wounded near me."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1218" id="linknote-1218"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1218 (<a href="#linknoteref-1218">return</a>)<br /> [ De Goncourt, "La + Société Française pendant la Révolution." Thirty-one gambling-houses are + counted here, while a pamphlet of the day is entitled "Pétition des deux + mill cent filles du Palais-Royal."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1219" id="linknote-1219"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1219 (<a href="#linknoteref-1219">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 2nd part, + 144.—Bailly, II, 130.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1220" id="linknote-1220"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1220 (<a href="#linknoteref-1220">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, June + 24th, 1789.—Montjoie, 2nd part, 69.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1221" id="linknote-1221"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1221 (<a href="#linknoteref-1221">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, June + 9th, 24th, and 26th.—"La France libre," passim, by C. Desmoulins.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1222" id="linknote-1222"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1222 (<a href="#linknoteref-1222">return</a>)<br /> [ C. Desmoulins, + letters to his father, and Arthur Young, June 9th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1223" id="linknote-1223"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1223 (<a href="#linknoteref-1223">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 2nd part, + 69, 77, 124, 144. C. Desmoulins, letter, of June 24th and the following + days.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1224" id="linknote-1224"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1224 (<a href="#linknoteref-1224">return</a>)<br /> [ Etienne Dumont, + "Souvenirs," p.72.—C. Desmoulins, letter of; June 24th.—Arthur + Young, June 25th.—Buchez and Roux, II. 28.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1225" id="linknote-1225"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1225 (<a href="#linknoteref-1225">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, I. 227 and + 179.—Monnier, "Recherches sur les causes," etc. I. 289, 291; II.61;—Malouet, + I. 299; II. 10.—"Actes des Apôtres," V.43. (Letter of M. de + Guillermy, July 31st, 1790).—Marmontel, I. 28: "The people came even + into the Assembly, to encourage their partisans, to select and indicate + their victims, and to terrify the feeble with the dreadful trial of open + balloting."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1226" id="linknote-1226"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1226 (<a href="#linknoteref-1226">return</a>)<br /> [ Manuscript letters of + M. Boullé, deputy, to the municipal authorities of Pontivy, from May 1st, + 1789, to September 4th, 1790 (communicated by M. Rosenzweig, archivist at + Vannes). June 16th, 1789: "The crowd gathered around the hall. . . was, + during these days, from 3,000 to 4,000 persons."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1227" id="linknote-1227"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1227 (<a href="#linknoteref-1227">return</a>)<br /> [ Letters of M. Boullé, + June 23rd. "How sublime the moment, that in which we enthusiastically bind + ourselves to the country by a new oath!. . . . Why should this moment be + selected by one of our number to dishonor himself? His name is now blasted + throughout France. And the unfortunate man has children! Suddenly + overwhelmed by public contempt he leaves, and falls fainting at the door, + exclaiming, 'Ah! this will be my death!' I do not know what has become of + him since. What is strange is, he had not behaved badly up to that time, + and he voted for the Constitution."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1228" id="linknote-1228"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1228 (<a href="#linknoteref-1228">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. 168.—Malouet, + I. 298 (according to him the faction did not number more than ten + members),—idem II. 10.—Dumont, 250.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1229" id="linknote-1229"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1229 (<a href="#linknoteref-1229">return</a>)<br /> [ "Convention + nationale" governed France from 21st September 1792 until Oct. 26th 1796. + We distinguish between three different assemblies, "la Convention + Girondine" 1792-93, "the Mountain," 1793-94 and "la Thermidorienne," from + 1794-1795. (SR).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1230" id="linknote-1230"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1230 (<a href="#linknoteref-1230">return</a>)<br /> [ Declaration of June + 23rd, article 15.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1231" id="linknote-1231"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1231 (<a href="#linknoteref-1231">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, 2nd part, + 118.—C. Desmoulins, letters of June 24th and the following days. A + faithful narrative by M. de Sainte-Fère, formerly an officer in the French + Guard, p.9.—De Bezenval, III, 413.—Buchez and Roux, II. 35.—"Souvenirs", + by PASQUIER (Etienne-Dennis, duc), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, + Librarie Plon, Paris 1893..] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1232" id="linknote-1232"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1232 (<a href="#linknoteref-1232">return</a>)<br /> [ Peuchet + ("Encyclopédie Méthodique," 1789, quoted by Parent Duchâtelet): "Almost + all of the soldiers of the Guard belong to that class (the procurers of + public women): many, indeed, only enlist in the corps that they may live + at the expense of these unfortunates."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1233" id="linknote-1233"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1233 (<a href="#linknoteref-1233">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + "Liberty is now the general cry; authority is a name and no longer a + reality." (Correspondence with Washington, July 19th.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1234" id="linknote-1234"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1234 (<a href="#linknoteref-1234">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly. I. 302. "The + King was very well-disposed; his measures were intended only to preserve + order and the public peace. . . Du Châtelet was forced by facts to acquit + M. de Bezenval of attempts against the people and the country."—Cf. + Marmontel, IV. 183; Mounier, II, 40.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1235" id="linknote-1235"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1235 (<a href="#linknoteref-1235">return</a>)<br /> [ Desmoulins, letter of + the 16th July. Buchez and Roux, II. 83.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1236" id="linknote-1236"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1236 (<a href="#linknoteref-1236">return</a>)<br /> [ Trial of the Prince + de Lambesc (Paris, 1790), with the eighty-three depositions and the + discussion of the testimony.—It is the crowd which began the attack. + The troops fired in the air. But one man, a sieur Chauvel, was wounded + slightly by the Prince de Lambesc. (Testimony of M. Carboire, p.84, and of + Captain de Reinack, p. 101.) "M. le Prince de Lambesc, mounted on a gray + horse with a gray saddle without holsters or pistols, had scarcely entered + the garden when a dozen persons jumped at the mane and bridle of his horse + and made every effort to drag him off. A small man in gray clothes fired + at him with a pistol. . . . The prince tried hard to free himself, and + succeeded by making his horse rear up and by flourishing his sword; + without, however, up to this time, wounding any one. . . . He deposes that + he saw the prince strike a man on the head with the flat of his saber who + was trying to close the turning-bridge, which would have cut off the + retreat of his troops The troops did no more than try to keep off the + crowd which assailed them with stones, and even with firearms, from the + top of the terraces."—The man who tried to close the bridge had + seized the prince's horse with one hand; the wound he received was a + scratch about 23 lines long, which was dressed and cured with a bandage + soaked in brandy. All the details of the affair prove that the patience + and humanity of the officer, were extreme. Nevertheless "on the following + day, the 13th, some one posted a written placard on the crossing Bussy + recommending the citizens of Paris to seize the prince and quarter him at + once."—(Deposition of M. Cosson, p.114.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1237" id="linknote-1237"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1237 (<a href="#linknoteref-1237">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, I. 3, 6.—Marmontel, + IV. 310] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1238" id="linknote-1238"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1238 (<a href="#linknoteref-1238">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, part 3, 86. + "I talked with those who guarded the château of the Tuileries. They did + not belong to Paris. . . . A frightful physiognomy and hideous apparel." + Montjoie, not to be trusted in many places, merits consultation for little + facts of which he was an eye-witness.—Morellet, "Mémoires," I. 374.—Dusaulx, + "L'oeuvre des sept jours," 352.—Revue Historique," March, 1876. + Interrogatory of Desnot. His occupation during the 13th of July (published + by Guiffrey).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1239" id="linknote-1239"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1239 (<a href="#linknoteref-1239">return</a>)<br /> [ Mathieu Dumas, + "Mémoires," I. 531. "Peaceable people fled at the sight of these groups of + strange, frantic vagabonds. Everybody closed their houses. . .. When I + reached home, in the Saint-Denis quarter, several of these brigands caused + great alarm by firing off guns in the air."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1240" id="linknote-1240"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1240 (<a href="#linknoteref-1240">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 379.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1241" id="linknote-1241"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1241 (<a href="#linknoteref-1241">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 359, 360, + 361, 288, 336. "In effect their entreaties resembled commands, and, more + than once, it was impossible to resist them."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1242" id="linknote-1242"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1242 (<a href="#linknoteref-1242">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 447 + (Deposition of the invalides).—"Revue Rétrospective," IV. 282 + (Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two Swiss Guards).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1243" id="linknote-1243"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1243 (<a href="#linknoteref-1243">return</a>)<br /> [ Marmontel, IV. 317.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1244" id="linknote-1244"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1244 (<a href="#linknoteref-1244">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 454. "The + soldiers replied that they would accept whatever happened rather than + cause the destruction of so great a number of their fellow-citizens."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1245" id="linknote-1245"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1245 (<a href="#linknoteref-1245">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 447. The + number of combatants, maimed, wounded, dead, and living, is 825.—Marmontel, + IV. 320. "To the number of victors, which has been carried up to 800, + people have been added who were never near the place."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1246" id="linknote-1246"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1246 (<a href="#linknoteref-1246">return</a>)<br /> [ "Memoires", by + PASQUIER (Etienne-Dennis, duc, 1767-1862), chancelier de France. in VI + volumes, Librarie Plon, Paris 1893. Vol. I. p.52. Pasquier was + eye-witness. He leaned against the fence of the Beaumarchais garden and + looked on, with mademoiselle Contat, the actress, at his side, who had + left her carriage in the Place-Royale.—Marat, "L'ami du peuple," No. + 530. "When an unheard-of conjunction of circumstances had caused the fall + of the badly defended walls of the Bastille, under the efforts of a + handful of soldiers and a troop of unfortunate creatures, most of them + Germans and almost all provincials, the Parisians presented themselves the + fortress, curiosity alone having led them there."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1247" id="linknote-1247"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1247 (<a href="#linknoteref-1247">return</a>)<br /> [ Narrative of the + commander of the thirty-two Swiss.—Narrative of Cholat, wine-dealer, + one of the victors.—Examination of Desnot (who cut off the head of + M. de Launay).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1248" id="linknote-1248"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1248 (<a href="#linknoteref-1248">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, part 3, 85.—Dusaulx, + 355, 287, 368.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1249" id="linknote-1249"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1249 (<a href="#linknoteref-1249">return</a>)<br /> [ Nothing more. No + Witness states that he had seen the pretended note to M. do Launay. + According to Dusaulx, he could not have had either the time or the means + to write it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1250" id="linknote-1250"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1250 (<a href="#linknoteref-1250">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 32, 74, + 88, 90, 95, 108, 117, 137, 158, 174. "I gave orders which were neither + obeyed nor listened to. . . . They gave me to understand that I was not + safe." (July 15th.) "In these sad times one enemy and one calumnious + report sufficed to excite the multitude. All who had formerly held power, + all who had annoyed or restrained the insurrectionists, were sure of being + arrested."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1251" id="linknote-1251"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1251 (<a href="#linknoteref-1251">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Lafayette, + "Mémoires," III. 264. Letter of July 16th, 1789. "I have already saved the + lives of six persons whom they were hanging in different quarters."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1252" id="linknote-1252"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1252 (<a href="#linknoteref-1252">return</a>)<br /> [ Poujoulat. "Histoire + de la Révolution Française," p.100 (with supporting documents). + Procès-verbaux of the Provincial Assembly, lle-de-France (1787), p.127.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1253" id="linknote-1253"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1253 (<a href="#linknoteref-1253">return</a>)<br /> [ For instance: "He is + severe with his peasants."—"He gives them no bread, and he wants + them then to eat grass." "He wants them to eat grass like horses."—"He + has said that they could very well eat hay, and that they are no better + than horses."—The same story is found in many of the contemporary + jacqueries.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1254" id="linknote-1254"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1254 (<a href="#linknoteref-1254">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 108. "The + people, less enlightened and as imperious as despots, recognize no + positive signs of good administration but success."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1255" id="linknote-1255"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1255 (<a href="#linknoteref-1255">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II, 108, 95.—Malouet, + II, 14.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1256" id="linknote-1256"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1256 (<a href="#linknoteref-1256">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. + 168.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Destruction of the Government.—To whom does real power + belong? +</pre> + <p> + However bad a particular government may be, there is something still + worse, and that is the suppression of all government. For, it is owing to + government that human wills form a harmony instead of chaos. It serves + society as the brain serves a living being. Incapable, inconsiderate, + extravagant, engrossing, it often abuses its position, overstraining or + misleading the body for which it should care, and which it should direct. + But, taking all things into account, whatever it may do, more good than + harm is done, for through it the body stands erect, marches on and guides + its steps. Without it there is no organized deliberate action, serviceable + to the whole body. In it alone do we find the comprehensive views, + knowledge of the members of which it consists and of their aims, an idea + of outward relationships, full and accurate information, in short, the + superior intelligence which conceives what is best for the common + interests, and adapts means to ends. If it falters and is no longer + obeyed, if it is forced and pushed from without by a violent pressure, it + ceases to control public affairs, and the social organization retrogrades + by many steps. Through the dissolution of society, and the isolation of + individuals, each man returns to his original feeble state, while power is + vested in passing aggregates that like whirlwinds spring up from the human + dust.—One may divine how this power, which the most competent find + it difficult to apply properly, is exercised by bands of men springing out + of nowhere. It is a matter of supplies, of their possessions, price and + distribution. It is a matter of taxes, its proportion, apportionment and + collection; of private property, its varieties, rights, and limitations It + is a problem of public authority, its allocation and its limits; of all + those delicate cogwheels which, working into each other, constitute the + great economic, social, and political machine. Each band in its own canton + lays its rude hands on the wheels within its reach. They wrench or break + them haphazardly, under the impulse of the moment, heedless and + indifferent to consequences, even when the reaction of to-morrow crushes + them in the ruin that they cause to day. Thus do unchained Negroes, each + pulling and hauling his own way, undertake to manage a ship of which they + have just obtained mastery.—In such a state of things white men are + hardly worth more than black ones. For, not only is the band, whose aim is + violence, composed of those who are most destitute, most wildly + enthusiastic, and most inclined to destructiveness and to license. But + also, as this band tumultuously carries out its violent action, each + individual the most brutal, the most irrational, and most corrupt, + descends lower than himself, even to the darkness, the madness, and the + savagery of the dregs of society. In fact, a man who in the interchange of + blows, would resist the excitement of murder, and not use his strength + like a savage, must be familiar with arms. He must be accustomed to + danger, be cool-blooded, alive to the sentiment of honor, and above all, + sensitive to that stern military code which, to the imagination of the + soldier, ever holds out to him the provost's gibbet to which he is sure to + rise, should he strike one blow too many. Should all these restraints, + inward as well as outward, be wanting, the man plunges into insurrection. + He is a novice in the acts of violence, which he carries out. He has no + fear of the law, because he abolishes it. The action begun carries him + further than he intended to go. Peril and resistance exasperate his anger. + He catches the fever from contact with those who are fevered, and follows + robbers who have become his comrades.<a href="#linknote-1301" + name="linknoteref-1301" id="linknoteref-1301"><small>1301</small></a> Add + to this the clamors, the drunkenness, the spectacle of destruction, the + nervous tremor of the body strained beyond its powers of endurance, and we + can comprehend how, from the peasant, the laborer, and the bourgeois, + pacified and tamed by an old civilization, we see all of a sudden spring + forth the barbarian. Or still worse, the primitive animal, the grinning, + sanguinary, wanton baboon, who giggles while he slays, and gambols over + the ruin he has accomplished. Such is the actual government to which + France is given up, and after eighteen months' experience, the best + qualified, most judicious and profoundest observer of the Revolution will + find nothing to compare it to but the invasion of the Roman Empire in the + fourth century.<a href="#linknote-1302" name="linknoteref-1302" + id="linknoteref-1302"><small>1302</small></a> "The Huns, the Heruli, the + Vandals, and the Goths will come neither from the north nor from the Black + Sea; they are in our very midst." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—The provinces + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Destruction of old Authorities.—Inadequacy of new + Authorities +</pre> + <p> + When in a building the principal beam gives way, cracks follow and + multiply, and the secondary joists fall in one by one for lack of the + prop, which supported them. In a similar manner the authority of the King + being broken, all the powers, which he delegated, fall to the ground.<a + href="#linknote-1303" name="linknoteref-1303" id="linknoteref-1303"><small>1303</small></a> + Intendants, parliaments, military commands, grand provosts, + administrative, judicial, and police functionaries in every province, and + of every branch of the service, who maintain order and protect property, + taught by the murder of M. de Launey, the imprisonment of M. de Besenval, + the flight of Marshal de Broglie, the assassinations of Foullon and + Bertier, know what it costs should they try to perform their duties. + Should it be forgotten local insurrections intervene, and keep them in + mind of it. + </p> + <p> + The officer in command in Burgundy is a prisoner at Dijon, with a guard at + his door; and he is not allowed to speak with any one without permission, + and without the presence of witnesses.<a href="#linknote-1304" + name="linknoteref-1304" id="linknoteref-1304"><small>1304</small></a> The + Commandant of Caen is besieged in the old palace and capitulates. The + Commandant of Bordeaux surrenders Château-Trompette with its guns and + equipment. The Commandant at Metz, who remains firm, suffers the insults + and the orders of the populace. The Commandant of Brittany wanders about + his province "like a vagabond," while at Rennes his people, furniture, and + plate are kept as pledges. As soon as he sets foot in Normandy he is + surrounded, and a sentinel is placed at his door.—The Intendant of + Besançon takes to flight; that of Rouen sees his dwelling sacked from top + to bottom, and escapes amid the shouts of a mob demanding his head.—At + Rennes, the Dean of the Parliament is arrested, maltreated, kept in his + room with a guard over him, and then, although ill, sent out of the town + under an escort.—At Strasbourg "thirty-six houses of magistrates are + marked for pillage."<a href="#linknote-1305" name="linknoteref-1305" + id="linknoteref-1305"><small>1305</small></a>—At Besançon, the + President of the Parliament is constrained to let out of prison the + insurgents arrested in a late out-break, and to publicly burn the whole of + the papers belonging to the prosecution.—In Alsace, since the + beginning of the troubles, the provosts were obliged to fly, the bailiffs + and manorial judges hid themselves, the forest-inspectors ran away, and + the houses of the guards were demolished. One man, sixty years of age, is + outrageously beaten and marched about the village, the people, meanwhile, + pulling out his hair; nothing remains of his dwelling but the walls and a + portion of the roof. All his furniture and effects are broken up, burnt or + stolen. He is forced to sign, along with his wife, an act by which he + binds himself to refund all penalties inflicted by him, and to abandon all + claims for damages for the injuries to which he has just been subjected.—In + Franche-Comté the authorities dare not condemn delinquents, and the police + do not arrest them; the military commandant writes that "crimes of every + kind are on the increase, and that he has no means of punishing them." + Insubordination is permanent in all the provinces; one of the provincial + commissions states with sadness: + </p> + <p> + "When all powers are in confusion and annihilated, when public force no + longer exists, when all ties are sundered, when every individual considers + himself relieved from all kinds of obligation, when public authority no + longer dares make itself felt, and it is a crime to have been clothed with + it, what can be expected of our efforts to restore order?"<a + href="#linknote-1306" name="linknoteref-1306" id="linknoteref-1306"><small>1306</small></a> + </p> + <p> + All that remains of this great demolished State is forty thousand groups + of people, each separated and isolated, in towns and small market villages + where municipal bodies, elected committees, and improvised National Guards + strive to prevent the worst excesses.—But these local chiefs are + novices; they are human, and they are timid. Chosen by acclamation they + believe in popular rights; in the midst of riots they feel themselves in + danger. Hence, they generally obey the crowd. + </p> + <p> + "Rarely," says one of the provincial commissions reports, "do the + municipal authorities issue a summons; they allow the greatest excesses + rather than enter upon prosecutions for which, sooner or later, they may + be held responsible by their fellow-citizens. . . . Municipal bodies have + no longer the power to resist anything." + </p> + <p> + Especially in the rural districts the mayor or syndic, who is a farmer, + makes it his first aim to make no enemies, and would resign his place if + it were to bring him any "unpleasantness" with it. His rule in the towns, + and especially in large cities, is almost as lax and more precarious, + because explosive material is accumulated here to a much larger extent, + and the municipal officers, in their arm-chairs at the town-hall, sit over + a mine which may explode at any time. To-morrow, perhaps, some resolution + passed at a tavern in the suburbs, or some incendiary newspaper just + received from Paris, will furnish the spark.—No other defense + against the populace is at hand than the sentimental proclamations of the + National Assembly, the useless presence of troops who stand by and look + on, and the uncertain help of a National Guard which will arrive too late. + Occasionally these townspeople, who are now the rulers, utter a cry of + distress from under the hands of the sovereigns of the street who grasp + them by the throat. At Puy-en-Velay,<a href="#linknote-1307" + name="linknoteref-1307" id="linknoteref-1307"><small>1307</small></a> a + town of twenty thousand inhabitants, the présidial,<a href="#linknote-1308" + name="linknoteref-1308" id="linknoteref-1308"><small>1308</small></a> the + committee of twenty-four commissioners, a body of two hundred dragoons, + and eight hundred men of the guard of burgesses, are "paralyzed, and + completely stupefied, by the vile populace. A mild treatment only + increases its insubordination and insolence." This populace proscribes + whomsoever it pleases, and six days ago a gibbet, erected by its hands, + has announced to the new magistrates the fate that awaits them. + </p> + <p> + " What will become of us this winter," they exclaim, "in our impoverished + country, where bread is not to be had! We shall be the prey of wild + beasts!" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—Public feeling.—Famine + </h2> + <p> + These people, in truth, are hungry, and, since the Revolution, their + misery has increased. Around Puy-en-Velay the country is laid waste, and + the soil broken up by a terrible tempest, a fierce hailstorm, and a deluge + of rain. In the south, the crop proved to be moderate and even + insufficient. + </p> + <p> + "To trace a picture of the condition of Languedoc," writes the intendant,<a + href="#linknote-1309" name="linknoteref-1309" id="linknoteref-1309"><small>1309</small></a> + "would be to give an account of calamities of every description. The panic + which prevails in all communities, and which is stronger than all laws, + stops traffic, and would cause famine even in the midst of plenty. + Commodities are enormously expensive, and there is a lack of cash. + Communities are ruined by the enormous outlays to which they are exposed: + The payment of the deputies to the seneschal's court, the establishment of + the burgess guards, guardhouses for this militia, and the purchase of + arms, uniforms, and outlays in forming communes and permanent councils. To + this must be add the cost of the printing of all kinds, and the + publication of trivial deliberations. Further the loss of time due to + disturbances occasioned by these circumstances, and the utter stagnation + of manufactures and of trade." All these causes combined "have reduced + Languedoc to the last extremity."—In the Center, and in the North, + where the crops are good, provisions are not less scarce, because wheat is + not put in circulation, and is kept concealed. + </p> + <p> + "For five months," writes the municipal assembly of Louviers,<a + href="#linknote-1310" name="linknoteref-1310" id="linknoteref-1310"><small>1310</small></a> + "not a farmer has made his appearance in the markets of this town. Such a + circumstance was never known before, although, from time to time, high + prices have prevailed to a considerable extent. On the contrary, the + markets were always well supplied in proportion to the high price of + grain." + </p> + <p> + In vain the municipality orders the surrounding forty-seven parishes to + provide them with wheat. They pay no attention to the mandate; each for + himself and each for his own house; the intendant is no longer present to + compel local interests to give way to public interests. + </p> + <p> + "In the wheat districts around us," says a letter from one of the Burgundy + towns, "we cannot rely on being able to make free purchases. Special + regulations, supported by the civic guard, prevent grain from being sent + out, and put a stop to its circulation. The adjacent markets are of no use + to us. Not a sack of grain has been brought into our market for about + eight months." + </p> + <p> + At Troyes, bread costs four sous per pound, at Bar-sur-Aube, and in the + vicinity, four and a half sous per pound. The artisan who is out of work + now earns twelve sous a day at the relief works, and, on going into the + country, he sees that the grain crop is good. What conclusion can he come + to but that the dearth is due to the monopolists, and that, if he should + die of hunger, it would be because those scoundrels have starved him?—By + virtue of this reasoning whoever has to do with these provisions, whether + proprietor, farmer, merchant or administrator, all are considered + traitors. It is plain that there is a plot against the people: the + government, the Queen, the clergy, the nobles are all parties to it; and + likewise the magistrates and the wealthy amongst the bourgeoisie and the + rich. A rumor is current in the Ile-de-France that sacks of flour are + thrown into the Seine, and that the cavalry horses are purposely made to + eat unripe wheat in stalk. In Brittany, it is maintained that grain is + exported and stored up abroad. In Touraine, it is certain that this or + that wholesale dealer allows it to sprout in his granaries rather than + sell it. At Troyes, a story prevails that another has poisoned his flour + with alum and arsenic, commissioned to do so by the bakers.—Conceive + the effect of suspicions like these upon a suffering multitude! A wave of + hatred ascends from the empty stomach to the morbid brain. The people are + everywhere in quest of their imaginary enemies, plunging forward with + closed eyes no matter on whom or on what, not merely with all the weight + of their mass, but with all the energy of their fury. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Panic. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + General arming. +</pre> + <p> + From the earliest of these weeks they were already alarmed. Accustomed to + being led, the human herd is scared at being left to itself; it misses its + leaders who it has trodden under foot; in throwing off their trammels it + has deprived itself of their protection. It feels lonely, in an unknown + country, exposed to dangers of which it is ignorant, and against which it + is unable to guard itself. Now that the shepherds are slain or disarmed, + suppose the wolves should unexpectedly appear!—And there are wolves—I + mean vagabonds and criminals—who have but just issued out of the + darkness. They have robbed and burned, and are to be found at every + insurrection. Now that the police force no longer puts them down, they + show themselves instead of keeping themselves concealed. They have only to + lie in wait and come forth in a band, and both life and property will be + at their mercy.—Deep anxiety, a vague feeling of dread, spreads + through both town and country: towards the end of July the panic, like a + blinding, suffocating whirl of dusts, suddenly sweeps over hundreds of + leagues of territory. The brigands are coming! They are burning the crops! + They are only six leagues off, and then only two—the refugees who + have run away from the disorder prove it. + </p> + <p> + On the 28th of July, at Angoulême,<a href="#linknote-1311" + name="linknoteref-1311" id="linknoteref-1311"><small>1311</small></a> the + alarm bell is heard about three o'clock in the afternoon; the drums beat + to arms, and cannon are mounted on the ramparts. The town has to be put in + a state of defense against 15,000 bandits who are approaching, and from + the walls a cloud of dust on the road is discovered with terror. It proves + to be the post-wagon on its way to Bordeaux. After this the number of + brigands is reduced to 1,500, but there is no doubt that they are ravaging + the country. At nine o'clock in the evening 20,000 men are under arms, and + thus they pass the night, always listening without hearing anything. + Towards three o'clock in the morning there is another alarm, the church + bells ringing and the people forming a battle array. They are convinced + that the brigands have burned Ruffec, Vernenil, La Rochefoucauld, and + other places. The next day countrymen flock in to give their aid against + bandits who are still absent. "At nine o'clock," says a witness, "we had + 40,000 men in the town, to whom we showed our gratitude." As the bandits + do not show themselves, it must be because they are concealed; a hundred + horsemen, a large number of men on foot, start out to search the forest of + Braçonne, and to their great surprise they find nothing. But the terror is + not allayed; "during the following days a guard is kept mounted, and + companies are enrolled among the townsmen," while Bordeaux, duly informed, + dispatches a courier to offer the support of 20,000 men and even 30,000. + "What is surprising," adds the narrator, is that at ten leagues off in the + neighborhood, in each parish, a similar disturbance took place, and at + about the same hour."—All that is required is that a girl, returning + to the village at night, should meet two men who do not belong to the + neighborhood. The case is the same in Auvergne. Whole parishes, on the + strength of this, betake themselves at night to the woods, abandoning + their houses, and carrying away their furniture; "the fugitives trod down + and destroyed their own crops; pregnant women were injured in the forests, + and others lost their wits." Fear lends them wings. Two years after this, + Madame Campan was shown a rocky peak on which a woman had taken refuge, + and from which she was obliged to be let down with ropes.—The people + at last return to their homes, and resume their usual routines. But such + large masses are not unsettled with impunity; a tumult like this is, in + itself, a lively source of alarm. As the country did rise, it must have + been on account of threatened danger and if the peril was not due to + brigands, it must have come from some other quarter. Arthur Young, at + Dijon and in Alsace,<a href="#linknote-1312" name="linknoteref-1312" + id="linknoteref-1312"><small>1312</small></a> hears at the public dinner + tables that the Queen had formed a plot to undermine the National Assembly + and to massacre all Paris. Later on he is arrested in a village near + Clermont, and examined because he is evidently conspiring with the Queen + and the Comte d'Entraigues to blow up the town and send the survivors to + the galleys. + </p> + <p> + No argument, no experience has any effect against the multiplying phantoms + of an over-excited imagination. Henceforth every commune, and every man, + provide themselves with arms and keep them ready for use. The peasant + searches his hoard, and "finds from ten to twelve francs for the purchase + of a gun." "A national militia is found in the poorest village." Burgess + guards and companies of volunteers patrol all the towns. Military + commanders deliver arms, ammunition, and equipment, on the requisition of + municipal bodies, while, in case of refusal, the arsenals are pillaged, + and, voluntarily or by force, four hundred thousand guns thus pass into + the hands of the people in six months.<a href="#linknote-1313" + name="linknoteref-1313" id="linknoteref-1313"><small>1313</small></a> Not + content with this they must have cannon. Brest having demanded two, every + town in Brittany does the same thing; their self-esteem is at stake as + well as a need of feeling themselves strong.—They lack nothing now + to render themselves masters. All authority, all force, every means of + constraint and of intimidation is in their hands, and in theirs alone; and + these sovereign hands have nothing to guide them in this actual + interregnum of all legal powers, but the wild or murderous suggestions of + hunger or distrust. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—Attacks on public individuals and public property. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + At Strasbourg.—At Cherbourg.—At Mauberge.—At Rouen.—At + Besançon.—At Troyes. +</pre> + <p> + It would take too much space to recount all the violent acts which were + committed,—convoys arrested, grain pillaged, millers and corn + merchants hung, decapitated, slaughtered, farmers called upon under the + threats of death to give up even the seed reserved for sowing, proprietors + ransomed and houses sacked.<a href="#linknote-1314" name="linknoteref-1314" + id="linknoteref-1314"><small>1314</small></a> These outrages, unpunished, + tolerated and even excused or badly suppressed, are constantly repeated, + and are, at first, directed against public men and public property. As is + commonly the case, the rabble head the march and stamp the character of + the whole insurrection. + </p> + <p> + On the 19th of July, at Strasbourg, on the news of Necker's return to + office, it interprets after its own fashion the public joy, which it + witnesses. Five or six hundred beggars,<a href="#linknote-1315" + name="linknoteref-1315" id="linknoteref-1315"><small>1315</small></a> + their numbers soon increased by the petty tradesmen, rush to the town + hall, the magistrates only having time to fly through a back door. The + soldiers, on their part, with arms in their hands, allow all these things + to go on, while several of them spur the assailants on. The windows are + dashed to pieces under a hailstorm of stones, the doors are forced with + iron crowbars, and the populace enter amid a burst of acclamations from + the spectators. Immediately, through every opening in the building, which + has a facade frontage of eighty feet, "there is a shower of shutters, + sashes, chairs, tables, sofas, books and papers, and then another of + tiles, boards, balconies and fragments of wood-work." The public archives + are thrown to the wind, and the surrounding streets are strewed with them; + the letters of enfranchisement, the charters of privileges, all the + authentic acts which, since Louis XIV, have guaranteed the liberties of + the town, perish in the flames. Some of the rabble in the cellars stave in + casks of precious wine; fifteen thousand measures of it are lost, making a + pool five feet deep in which several are drowned. Others, loaded with + booty, go away under the eyes of the soldiers without being arrested. The + havoc continues for three days; a number of houses belonging to some of + the magistrates "are sacked from garret to cellar." When the honest + citizens at last obtain arms and restore order, they are content with the + hanging of one of the robbers; although, in order to please the people, + the magistrates are changed and the price of bread and meat is reduced.—It + is not surprising that after such tactics, and with such rewards, the riot + should spread through the neighborhood far and near: in fact, starting + from Strasbourg it overruns Alsace, while in the country as in the city, + there are always drunkards and rascals found to head it. + </p> + <p> + No matter where, be it in the East, in the West, or in the North, the + instigators are always of this stamp. At Cherbourg, on the 21st of July,<a + href="#linknote-1316" name="linknoteref-1316" id="linknoteref-1316"><small>1316</small></a> + the two leaders of the riot are "highway robbers," who place themselves at + the head of women of the suburbs, foreign sailors, the populace of the + harbor, and it includes soldiers in workmen's smocks. They force the + delivery of the keys of the grain warehouses, and wreck the dwellings of + the three richest merchants, also that of M. de Garantot, the + sub-delegate: "All records and papers are burnt; at M. de Garantot's alone + the loss is estimated at more than 100,000 crowns at least."—The + same instinct of destruction prevails everywhere, a sort of envious fury + against all who possess, command, or enjoy anything. At Maubeuge, on the + 27th of July, at the very assembly of the representatives of the commune,<a + href="#linknote-1317" name="linknoteref-1317" id="linknoteref-1317"><small>1317</small></a> + the rabble interferes directly in its usual fashion. A band of nail and + gun-makers takes possession of the town-hall, and obliges the mayor to + reduce the price of bread. Almost immediately after this another band + follows uttering cries of death, and smashes the windows, while the + garrison, which has been ordered out, quietly contemplates the damage + done. Death to the mayor, to all rulers, and to all employees! The rioters + force open the prisons, set the prisoners free, and attack the + tax-offices. The octroi offices are demolished from top to bottom: they + pull down the harbor offices and throw the scales and weights into the + river. All the custom and excise stores are carried off; and the officials + are compelled to give acquaintances. The houses of the registrar and of + the sheriff, that of the revenue comptroller, two hundred yards outside + the town, are sacked; the doors and the windows are smashed, the furniture + and linen is torn to shreds, and the plate and jewelry is thrown into the + wells. The same havoc is committed in the mayor's town-house, also in his + country-house a league off. "Not a window, not a door, not one article or + eatable," is preserved; their work, moreover, is conscientiously done, + without stopping a moment, "from ten in the evening up to ten in the + morning on the following day." In addition to this the mayor, who has + served for thirty-four years, resigns his office at the solicitation of + the well-disposed but terrified people, and leaves the country.—At + Rouen, after the 24th of July,<a href="#linknote-1318" + name="linknoteref-1318" id="linknoteref-1318"><small>1318</small></a> a + written placard shows, by its orthography and its style, what sort of + intellects composed it and what kind of actions are to follow it: + </p> + <p> + "Nation, you have here four heads to strike off, those of Pontcarry (the + first president), Maussion (the intendant), Godard de Belboeuf (the + attorney-general), and Durand (the attorney of the King in the town). + Without this we are lost, and if you do not do it, people will take you + for a heartless nation." + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be more explicit. The municipal body, however, to whom the + Parliament denounces this list of proscriptions, replies, with its forced + optimism, that + </p> + <p> + "no citizen should consider himself or be considered as proscribed; he may + and must believe himself to be safe in his own dwelling, satisfied that + there is not a person in the city who would not fly to his rescue." + </p> + <p> + This is equal to telling the populace that it is free to do as it pleases. + On the strength of this the leaders of the riot work on in security for + ten days. One of them is a man named Jourdain, a lawyer of Lisieux, and, + like most of his brethren, a demagogue in principles; the other is a + strolling actor from Paris named Bordier, famous in the part of harlequin,<a + href="#linknote-1319" name="linknoteref-1319" id="linknoteref-1319"><small>1319</small></a> + a bully in a house of ill-fame, "a night-rover and drunkard, and who, + fearing neither God nor devil," has taken up patriotism, and comes down + into the provinces to play tragedy, and that, tragedy in real life. The + fifth act begins on the night of the 3rd of August, with Bordier and + Jourdain as the principal actors, and behind them the rabble along with + several companies of fresh volunteers. A shout is heard, "Death to the + monopolists! death to Maussion! we must have his head!" They pillage his + hotel: many of them become intoxicated and fall asleep in his cellar. The + revenue offices, the toll-gates of the town, the excise office, all + buildings in which the royal revenue is collected, are wrecked. Immense + bonfires are lighted in the streets and on the old market square; + furniture, clothes, papers, kitchen utensils, are all thrown in pell-mell, + while carriages are dragged out and tumbled into the Seine. It is only + when the town-hall is attacked that the National Guard, beginning to be + alarmed, makes up its mind to seize Bordier and some others. The following + morning, however, at the shout of Carabo, and led by Jourdain, the prison + is forced, Bordier set free, and the intendant's residence, with its + offices, is sacked a second time. When, finally, the two rascals are taken + and led to the scaffold, the populace is so strongly in their favor as to + require the pointing of loaded cannon on them to keep them down.—At + Besançon,<a href="#linknote-1320" name="linknoteref-1320" + id="linknoteref-1320"><small>1320</small></a> on the 13th of August, the + leaders consist of the servant of an exhibitor of wild animals, two + goal-birds of whom one has already been branded in consequence of a riot, + and a number of "inhabitants of ill-repute," who, towards evening, spread + through the town along with the soldiers. The gunners insult the officers + they meet, seize them by the throat and want to throw them into the Doubs. + Others go to the house of the commandant, M. de Langeron, and demand money + of him; on his refusing to give it they tear off their cockades and + exclaim, "We too belong to the Third-Estate!" in other words, that they + are the masters: subsequently they demand the head of the intendant, M. de + Caumartin, forcibly enter his dwelling and break up his furniture. On the + following day the rabble and the soldiers enter the coffee-houses, the + convents, and the inns, and demand to be served with wine and eatables as + much as they want, and then, heated by drink, they burn the excise + offices, force open several prisons, and set free all the smugglers and + deserters. To put an end to this saturnalia a grand banquet in the open + air is suggested, in which the National Guard is to fraternize with the + whole garrison; but the banquet turns into a drinking-bout, entire + companies remaining under the tables dead drunk; other companies carry + away with them four hogsheads of wine, and the rest, finding themselves + left in the lurch, are scattered abroad outside the walls in order to rob + the cellars of the neighboring villages. The next day, encouraged by the + example set them, a portion of the garrison, accompanied by a number of + workmen, repeat the expedition in the country. Finally, after four days of + this orgy, to prevent Besançon and its outskirts from being indefinitely + treated as a conquered country, the burgess guard, in alliance with the + soldiers who have remained loyal, rebel against the rebellion, go in quest + of the marauders and hang two of them that same evening.—Such is + rioting!<a href="#linknote-1321" name="linknoteref-1321" + id="linknoteref-1321"><small>1321</small></a> an irruption of brute force + which, turned loose on the habitations of men, can do nothing but gorge + itself, waste, break, destroy, and do damage to itself; and if we follow + the details of local history, we see how, in these days, similar outbreaks + of violence might be expected at any time. + </p> + <p> + At Troyes,<a href="#linknote-1322" name="linknoteref-1322" + id="linknoteref-1322"><small>1322</small></a> on the 18th of July, a + market-day, the peasants refuse to pay the entrance duties; the octroi + having been suppressed at Paris, it ought also to be suppressed at Troyes. + The populace, excited by this first disorderly act, gather into a mob for + the purpose of dividing the grain and arms amongst themselves, and the + next day the town-hall is invested by seven or eight thousand men, armed + with clubs and stones. The day after, a band, recruited in the surrounding + villages, armed with flails, shovels, and pitch-forks, enters under the + leadership of a joiner who marches at the head of it with a drawn saber; + fortunately, "all the honest folks among the burgesses "immediately form + themselves into a National Guard, and this first attempt at a Jacquerie is + put down. But the agitation continues, and false rumors constantly keep it + up.—On the 29th of July, on the report being circulated that five + hundred "brigands" had left Paris and were coming to ravage the country, + the alarm bell sounds in the villages, and the peasants go forth armed. + Henceforth, a vague idea of some impending danger fills all minds; the + necessity of defense and of guarding against enemies is maintained. The + new demagogues avail themselves of this to keep their hold on the people, + and when the time comes, to use it against their chiefs.—It is of no + use to assure the people that the latter are patriots; that the recently + welcomed Necker with enthusiastic shouts; that the priests, the monks, and + canons were the first to adopt the national cockade; that the nobles of + the city and its environs are the most liberal in France; that, on the + 20th of July, the burgess guard saved the town; that all the wealthy give + to the national workshops; that Mayor Huez, "a venerable and honest + magistrate," is a benefactor to the poor and to the public. All the old + leaders are objects of distrust.—On the 8th of August, a mob demands + the dismissal of the dragoons, arms for all volunteers, bread at two sous + the pound, and the freedom of all prisoners. On the 19th of August the + National Guard rejects its old officers as aristocrats, and elects new + ones. On the 27th of August, the crowd invade the town-hall and distribute + the arms amongst themselves. On the 5th of September, two hundred men, led + by Truelle, president of the new committee, force the salt depot and have + salt delivered to them at six sous per pound.—Meanwhile, in the + lowest quarters of the city, a story is concocted to the effect that if + wheat is scarce it is because Huez, the mayor, and M. de St. Georges, the + old commandant, are monopolists, and now they say of Huez what they said + five weeks before of Foulon, that "he wants to make the people eat hay." + The many-headed brute growls fiercely and is about to spring. As usual, + instead of restraining him, they try to manage him. + </p> + <p> + "You must put your authority aside for a moment," writes the deputy of + Troyes to the sheriffs," and act towards the people as to a friend; be as + gentle with them as you would be with your equals, and rest assured that + they are capable of responding to it." + </p> + <p> + Thus does Huez act, and he even does more, paying no attention to their + menaces, refusing to provide for his own safety and almost offering + himself as a sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + "I have wronged no one," he exclaimed; "why should any one bear me + ill-will?" + </p> + <p> + His sole precaution is to provide something for the unfortunate poor when + he is gone: he bequeaths in his will 18,000 livres to the poor, and, on + the eve of his death, sends 100 crowns to the bureau of charity. But what + avail self-abnegation and beneficence against blind, insane rage! On the + 9th of September, three loads of flour proving to be unsound, the people + collect and shout out, + </p> + <p> + "Down with the flour-dealers! Down with machinery! Down with the mayor! + Death to the mayor, and let Truelle be put in his place!" + </p> + <p> + Huez, on leaving his court-room, is knocked down, murdered by kicks and + blows, throttled, dragged to the reception hall, struck on his head with a + wooden-shoe and pitched down the grand staircase. The municipal officers + strive in vain to protect him; a rope is put around his neck and they + begin to drag him along. A priest, who begs to be allowed at least to save + his soul, is repulsed and beaten. A woman jumps on the prostrate old man, + stamps on his face and repeatedly thrusts her scissors in his eyes. He is + dragged along with the rope around his neck up to the Pont de la Selle, + and thrown into the neighboring ford, and then drawn out, again dragged + through the streets and in the gutters, with a bunch of hay crammed in his + mouth.<a href="#linknote-1323" name="linknoteref-1323" + id="linknoteref-1323"><small>1323</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the meantime, his house as well as that of the lieutenant of police, + that of the notary Guyot, and that of M. de Saint-Georges, are sacked; the + pillaging and destruction lasts four hours; at the notary's house, six + hundred bottles of wine are consumed or carried off; objects of value are + divided, and the rest, even down to the iron balcony, is demolished or + broken; the rioters cry out, on leaving, that they have still to burn + twenty-seven houses, and to take twenty-seven heads. "No one at Troyes + went to bed that fatal night."—During the succeeding days, for + nearly two weeks, society seems to be dissolved. Placards posted about the + streets proscribe municipal officers, canons, divines, privileged persons, + prominent merchants, and even ladies of charity; the latter are so + frightened that they throw up their office, while a number of persons move + off into the country; others barricade themselves in their dwellings and + only open their doors with saber in hand. Not until the 26th does the + orderly class rally sufficiently to resume the ascendancy and arrest the + miscreants.—Such is public life in France after the 14th of July: + the magistrates in each town feel that they are at the mercy of a band of + savages and sometimes of cannibals. Those of Troyes had just tortured Huez + after the fashion of Hurons, while those of Caen did worse; Major de + Belzance, not less innocent, and under sworn protection,<a + href="#linknote-1324" name="linknoteref-1324" id="linknoteref-1324"><small>1324</small></a> + was cut to pieces like Laperouse in the Fiji Islands, and a woman ate his + heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—Taxes are no longer paid. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Devastation of the Forests.—The new game laws. +</pre> + <p> + It is, under such circumstances, possible to foretell whether taxes come + in, and whether municipalities that sway about in every popular breeze + will have the authority to collect the odious revenues.—Towards the + end of September,<a href="#linknote-1325" name="linknoteref-1325" + id="linknoteref-1325"><small>1325</small></a> I find a list of thirty-six + committees or municipal bodies which, within a radius of fifty leagues + around Paris, refuse to ensure the collection of taxes. One of them + tolerates the sale of contraband salt, in order not to excite a riot. + Another takes the precaution to disarm the employees in the excise + department. In a third the municipal officers were the first to provide + themselves with contraband salt and contraband tobacco. + </p> + <p> + At Peronne and at Ham, the order having come to restore the toll-houses, + the people destroy the soldiers' quarters, conduct all the employees to + their homes, and order them to leave within twenty-four hours, under + penalty of death. After twenty months' resistance Paris will end the + matter by forcing the National Assembly to give in and by obtaining the + final suppression of its octroi.<a href="#linknote-1326" + name="linknoteref-1326" id="linknoteref-1326"><small>1326</small></a>—Of + all the creditors whose hand each one felt on his shoulders, that of the + exchequer was the heaviest, and now it is the weakest; hence this is the + first whose grasp is to be shaken off; there is none which is more + heartily detested or which receives harsher treatment. Especially against + collectors of the salt-tax, custom-house officers, and excisemen the fury + is universal. These, everywhere,<a href="#linknote-1327" + name="linknoteref-1327" id="linknoteref-1327"><small>1327</small></a> are + in danger of their lives and are obliged to fly. At Falaise, in Normandy, + the people threaten to "cut to pieces the director of the excise." At + Baignes, in Saintonge, his house is devastated and his papers and effects + are burned; they put a knife to the throat of his son, a child six years + of age, saying, "Thou must perish that there may be no more of thy race." + For four hours the clerks are on the point of being torn to pieces; + through the entreaties of the lord of the manor, who sees scythes and + sabers aimed at his own head, they are released only on the condition that + they "abjure their employment."—Again, for two months following the + taking of the Bastille, insurrections break out by hundreds, like a volley + of musketry, against indirect taxation. From the 23rd of July the + Intendant of Champagne reports that "the uprising is general in almost all + the towns under his command." On the following day the Intendant of + Alençon writes that, in his province, "the royal dues will no longer be + paid anywhere." On the 7th of August, M. Necker states to the National + Assembly that in the two intendants' districts of Caen and Alençon it has + been necessary to reduce the price of salt one-half; that "in an infinity + of places" the collection of the excise is stopped or suspended; that the + smuggling of salt and tobacco is done by "convoys and by open force" in + Picardy, in Lorraine, and in the Trois-Évêchés; that the indirect tax does + not come in, that the receivers-general and the receivers of the taille + are "at bay" and can no longer keep their engagements. The public income + diminishes from month to month; in the social body, the heart, already so + feeble, faints; deprived of the blood which no longer reaches it, it + ceases to propel to the muscles the vivifying current which restores their + waste and adds to their energy. + </p> + <p> + "All controlling power is slackened," says Necker, "everything is a prey + to the passions of individuals." Where is the power to constrain them and + to secure to the State its dues?—The clergy, the nobles, wealthy + townsmen, and certain brave artisans and farmers, undoubtedly pay, and + even sometimes give spontaneously. But in society those who possess + intelligence, who are in easy circumstances and conscientious, form a + small select class; the great mass is egotistic, ignorant, and needy, and + lets its money go only under constraint; there is but one way to collect + the taxes, and that is to extort them. From time immemorial, direct taxes + in France have been collected only by bailiffs and seizures; which is not + surprising, as they take away a full half of the net income. Now that the + peasants of each village are armed and form a band, let the collector come + and make seizures if he dare!—" Immediately after the decree on the + equality of the taxes," writes the provincial commission of Alsace,<a + href="#linknote-1328" name="linknoteref-1328" id="linknoteref-1328"><small>1328</small></a> + "the people generally refused to make any payments, until those who were + exempt and privileged should have been inscribed on the local lists." In + many places the peasants threaten to obtain the reimbursement of their + installments, while in others they insist that the decree should be + retrospective and that the new rate-payers should pay for the past year. + "No collector dare send an official to distrain; none that are sent dare + fulfill their mission."—" It is not the good bourgeois" of whom + there is any fear, "but the rabble who make the latter and every one else + afraid of them;" resistance and disorder everywhere come from "people that + have nothing to lose."—Not only do they shake off taxation, but they + usurp property, and declare that, being the Nation, whatever belongs to + the Nation belongs to them. The forests of Alsace are laid waste, the + seignorial as well as communal, and wantonly destroyed with the + wastefulness of children or of maniacs. "In many places, to avoid the + trouble of removing the woods, they are burnt, and the people content + themselves with carrying off the ashes."—After the decrees of August + 4th, and in spite of the law which licenses the proprietor only to hunt on + his own grounds, the impulse to break the law becomes irresistible. Every + man who can procure a gun begins operations;<a href="#linknote-1329" + name="linknoteref-1329" id="linknoteref-1329"><small>1329</small></a> the + crops which are still standing are trodden under foot, the lordly + residences are invaded and the palings are scaled; the King himself at + Versailles is wakened by shots fired in his park. Stags, fawns, deer, wild + boars, hares, and rabbits, are slain by thousands, cooked with stolen + wood, and eaten up on the spot. There is a constant discharge of musketry + throughout France for more than two months, and, as on an American + prairie, every living animal belongs to him who kills it. At Choiseul, in + Champagne, not only are all the hares and partridges of the barony + exterminated, but the ponds are exhausted of fish; the court of the + chateau even is entered, to fire on the pigeon-house and destroy the + pigeons, and then the pigeons and fish, of which they have too many, are + offered to the proprietor for sale—It is "the patriots" of the + village with "smugglers and bad characters" belonging to the neighborhood + who make this expedition; they are seen in the front ranks of every act of + violence, and it is not difficult to foresee that, under their leadership, + attacks on public persons and public property will be followed by attacks + on private persons and private property. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII.—Attack upon private individuals and private property. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Aristocrats denounced to the people as their enemies. + —Effect of news from Paris.—Influence of the village + attorneys.—Isolated acts of violence.—A general rising of + the peasantry in the east.—War against the castles, feudal + estates, and property.—Preparations for other Jacqueries. +</pre> + <p> + Indeed, an outlawed class already exists, they are called "aristocrats." + This deadly term, applied at first to the nobles and prelates in the + States-General who declined to take part in the reunion of the three + orders, is extended so as to embrace all whose titles, offices, alliances, + and manner of living distinguish them from the multitude. That which + entitled them to respect is that which marks them out as objects of + ill-will; while the people, who, though suffering from their privileges, + did not regard them personally with hatred, are now taught to consider + them as their enemies. Each, on his own estate, is held accountable for + the evil designs attributed to his brethren at Versailles, and, on the + false report of a plot at the center, the peasants classify him as one of + the conspirators.<a href="#linknote-1330" name="linknoteref-1330" + id="linknoteref-1330"><small>1330</small></a> Thus does the peasant + jacquerie commence, and the fanatics who have fanned the flame in Paris + are to do the same in the provinces. "You wish to know the authors of the + agitation," writes a sensible man to the committee of investigation; "you + will find them amongst the deputies of the Third-Estate," and especially + among the attorneys and advocates. "These dispatch incendiary letters to + their constituents, which letters are received by municipal bodies alike + composed of attorneys and of advocates.... they are read aloud in the + public squares, while copies of them are distributed among all the + villages. In these villages, if any one knows how to read besides the + priest and the lord of the manor, it is the legal practitioner," the born + enemy of the lord of the manor, whose place he covets, vain of his + oratorical powers, embittered by his power, and never failing to blacken + everything.<a href="#linknote-1331" name="linknoteref-1331" + id="linknoteref-1331"><small>1331</small></a> It is highly probable that + he is the one who composes and circulates the placards calling on the + people, in the King's name, to resort to violence.—At Secondigny, in + Poitou, on the 23rd of July,<a href="#linknote-1332" + name="linknoteref-1332" id="linknoteref-1332"><small>1332</small></a> the + laborers in the forest receive a letter "which summons them to attack all + the country gentlemen round about, and to massacre without mercy all those + who refuse to renounce their privileges.... promising them that not only + will their crimes go unpunished, but that they will even be rewarded." M. + Despretz-Montpezat, correspondent of the deputies of the nobles, is + seized, and dragged with his son to the dwelling of the procurator-fiscal, + to force him to give his signature; the inhabitants are forbidden to + render him assistance "on pain of death and fire." "Sign," they exclaim, + "or we will tear out your heart, and set fire to this house!" At this + moment the neighboring notary, who is doubtless an accomplice, appears + with a stamped paper, and says to him, "Monsieur, I have just come from + Niort, where the Third-Estate has done the same thing to all the gentlemen + of the town; one, who refused, was cut to pieces before our eyes."—"We + are compelled to sign renunciations of our privileges, and give our assent + to one and the same taxation, as if the nobles had not already done so." + The band gives notice that it will proceed in the same fashion with all + the chateaux in the vicinity, and terror precedes or follows them. "Nobody + dares write," M. Despretz sends word; "I attempt it at the risk of my + life."—Nobles and prelates become objects of suspicion everywhere; + village committees open their letters, and they have to suffer their + houses to be searched.<a href="#linknote-1333" name="linknoteref-1333" + id="linknoteref-1333"><small>1333</small></a> They are forced to adopt the + new cockade: to be a gentleman, and not wear it, is to deserve hanging. At + Mamers, in Maine, M. de Beauvoir refuses to wear it, and is at the point + of being put into the pillory and felled. Near La F1èche, M. de Brissac is + arrested, and a message is sent to Paris to know if he shall be taken + there, "or be beheaded in the meantime." Two deputies of the nobles, MM. + de Montesson and de Vassé who had come to ask the consent of their + constituents to their joining the Third-Estate, are recognized near Mans; + their honorable scruples and their pledges to the constituents are + considered of no importance, nor even the step that they are now taking to + fulfill them; it suffices that they voted against the Third-Estate at + Versailles; the populace pursues them and breaks up their carriages, and + pillages their trunks.—Woe to the nobles, especially if they have + taken any part in local rule, and if they are opposed to popular panics! + M. Cureau, deputy-mayor of Mans,<a href="#linknote-1334" + name="linknoteref-1334" id="linknoteref-1334"><small>1334</small></a> had + issued orders during the famine, and, having retired to his chateau of + Nouay, had told the peasants that the announcement of the coming of + brigands was a false alarm; he thought that it was not necessary to sound + the alarm bell, and all that was necessary was that they should remain + quiet. Accordingly he is set down as being in league with the brigands, + and besides this he is a monopolist, and a buyer of standing crops. The + peasants lead him off; along with his son-in-law, M. de Montesson, to the + neighboring village, where there are judges. On the way "they dragged + their victims on the ground, pummeled them, trampled on them, spit in + their faces, and besmeared them with filth." M. de Montesson is shot, + while M. Cureau is killed by degrees; a carpenter cuts off the two heads + with a double-edged ax, and children bear them along to the sound of drums + and violins. Meanwhile, the judges of the place, brought by force, draw up + an official report stating the finding of thirty louis and several bills + of the Banque d'Escompte in the pockets of M. de Cureau, on the discovery + of which a shout of triumph is set up: this evidence proves that they were + going to buy up the standing wheat!—Such is the course of popular + justice. Now that the Third-Estate has become the nation, every mob thinks + that it has the right to pronounce sentences, which it carries out, on + lives and on possessions. + </p> + <p> + These explosions are isolated in the western, central and southern + provinces; the conflagration, however, is universal in the east. On a + strip of ground from thirty to fifty leagues broad, extending from the + extreme north down to Provence. Alsace, Franche-Comté, Burgundy, + Mâconnais, Beaujolais, Auvergne, Viennois, Dauphiny, the whole of this + territory resembles a continuous mine which explodes at the same time. The + first column of flame which shoots up is on the frontiers of Alsace and + Franche-Comté, in the vicinity of Belfort and Vésoul, a feudal district, + in which the peasant, over-burdened with taxes, bears the heavier yoke + with greater impatience. An instinctive argument is going on in his mind + without his knowing it. "The good Assembly and the good King want us to be + happy, suppose we help them! They say that the King has already relieved + us of the taxes, suppose we relieve ourselves of paying rents! Down with + the nobles! They are no better than the tax-collectors!"—On the 16th + of July, the chateau of Sancy, belonging to the Princesses de Beaufremont, + is sacked, and on the 18th those of Lure, Bithaine, and Molans.<a + href="#linknote-1335" name="linknoteref-1335" id="linknoteref-1335"><small>1335</small></a> + On the 29th, an accident which occurs with some fire-works at a popular + festival at the house of M. de Mesmay, leads the lower class to believe + that the invitation extended to them was a trap, and that there was a + desire to get rid of them by treachery.<a href="#linknote-1336" + name="linknoteref-1336" id="linknoteref-1336"><small>1336</small></a> + Seized with rage they set fire to the chateau, and during the following + week<a href="#linknote-1337" name="linknoteref-1337" id="linknoteref-1337"><small>1337</small></a> + destroy three abbeys, ruin eleven chateaux and pillage others. "All + records are destroyed, the registers and court-rolls are carried off; and + the deposits violated."—Starting from this spot, "the hurricane of + insurrection" stretches over the whole of Alsace from Huningue to Landau.<a + href="#linknote-1338" name="linknoteref-1338" id="linknoteref-1338"><small>1338</small></a> + The insurgents display placards, signed Louis, stating that for a certain + lapse of time they shall be permitted to exercise justice themselves, and, + in Sundgau, a well-dressed weaver, decorated with a blue belt, passes for + a prince, the King's second son. They begin by falling on the Jews, their + hereditary leeches; they sack their dwellings, divide their money among + themselves, and hunt them down like so many fallow-deer. At Bâle alone, it + is said that twelve hundred of these unfortunate fugitives arrived with + their families.—The distance between the Jew creditor and the + Christian proprietor is not great, and this is soon cleared. Remiremont is + only saved by a detachment of dragoons. Eight hundred men attack the + chateau of Uberbrünn. The abbey of Neubourg is taken by storm. At + Guebwiller, on the 31st of July, five hundred peasants, subjects of the + abbey of Murbach, make a descent on the abbot's palace and on the house of + the canons. Cupboards, chests, beds, windows, mirrors, frames, even the + tiles of the roof and the hinges of the casements are hacked to pieces: + "They kindle fires on the beautiful inlaid floors of the apartments, and + there burn up the library and the title-deeds." The abbot's superb + carriage is so broken up that not a wheel remains entire. "Wine streams + through the cellars. One cask of sixteen hundred measures is half lost; + the plate and the linen are carried off."—Society is evidently being + overthrown, while with the power, property is changing hands. + </p> + <p> + These are their very words. In Franche-Comte<a href="#linknote-1339" + name="linknoteref-1339" id="linknoteref-1339"><small>1339</small></a> the + inhabitants of eight communes come and declare to the Bernardins of + Grâce-Dieu and of Lieu-Croissant "that, being of the Third-Estate, it is + time now for the people to rule over abbots and monks, considering that + the domination of the latter has lasted too long," and thereupon they + carry off all the titles to property and to rentals belonging to the abbey + in their commune. In Upper Dauphiny, during the destruction of M. de + Murat's chateau, a man named Ferréol struck the furniture with a big + stick, exclaiming, "Hey, so much for you, Murat; you have been master a + good while, now it's our turn!"<a href="#linknote-1340" + name="linknoteref-1340" id="linknoteref-1340"><small>1340</small></a> + Those who rifle houses, and steal like highway robbers, think that they + are defending a cause, and reply to the challenge, "Who goes there?" "We + are for the brigand Third-Estate!"—Everywhere the belief prevails + that they are clothed with authority, and they conduct themselves like a + conquering horde under the orders of an absent general. At Remiremont and + at Luxeuil they produce an edict, stating that "all this brigandage, + pillage, and destruction" is permitted. In Dauphiny, the leaders of the + bands say that they possess the King's orders. In Auvergne, "they follow + imperative orders, being advised that such is his Majesty's will." Nowhere + do we see that an insurgent village exercises personal vengeance against + its lord. If the people fire on the nobles they encounter, it is not + through personal hatred. They are destroying the class, and do not pursue + individuals. They detest feudal privileges, holders of charters, the + cursed parchments by virtue of which they are made to pay, but not the + nobleman who, when he resides at home, is of humane intentions, + compassionate, and even often beneficent. At Luxeuil, the abbot, who is + forced with uplifted ax to sign a relinquishment of his seignorial rights + over twenty-three estates, has dwelt among them for forty-six years, and + has been wholly devoted to them.<a href="#linknote-1341" + name="linknoteref-1341" id="linknoteref-1341"><small>1341</small></a> In + the canton of Crémieu, "where the havoc is immense," all the nobles, write + the municipal officers, are "patriots and benevolent." In Dauphiny, the + engineers, magistrates, and prelates, whose chateaux are sacked, were the + first to espouse the cause of the people and of public liberties against + the ministers. In Auvergne, the peasants themselves "manifest a good deal + of repugnance to act in this way against such kind masters." But it must + be done; the only concession which can be made in consideration of the + kindness which had been extended to them is, not to burn the chateau of + the ladies of Vanes, who had been so charitable; but they burn all their + title-deeds, and torture the business agent at three different times by + fire, to force him to deliver a document which he does not possess; they + then only withdraw him from the fire half-broiled, because the ladies, on + their knees, implore mercy for him. They are like the soldiers on a + campaign who execute orders with docility, for which necessity is the only + plea, and who, without regarding themselves as brigands, commit acts of + brigandage. + </p> + <p> + But here the situation is more tragic, for it is war in the midst of + peace, a war of the brutal and barbaric multitude against the highly + cultivated, well-disposed and confiding, who had not anticipated anything + of the kind, who had not even dreamt of defending themselves, and who had + no protection. The Comte de Courtivron, with his family, was staying at + the watering-place of Luxeuil with his uncle, the Abbé of + Clermont-Tonnerre, an old man of seventy years. On the 19th of July, fifty + peasants from Fougerolle break into and demolish everything in the houses + of an usher and a collector of the excise. Thereupon the mayor of the + place intimates to the nobles and magistrates who are taking the waters, + that they had better leave the house in twenty-four hours, as "he had been + advised of an intention to burn the houses in which they were staying," + and he did not wish to have Luxeuil exposed to this danger on account of + their presence there. The following day, the guard, as obliging as the + mayor, allows the band to enter the town and to force the abbey: the usual + events follow, renunciations are extorted, records and cellars are + ransacked, plate and other effects are stolen. M. de Courtivron escaping + with his uncle during the night, the alarm bell is sounded and they are + pursued, and with difficulty obtain refuge in Plombières. The bourgeoisie + of Plombières, however, for fear of compromising themselves, oblige them + to depart. On the road two hundred insurgents threaten to kill their + horses and to smash their carriage, and they only find safety at last at + Porentruy, outside of France. On his return, M. de Courtivron is shot at + by the band which has just pillaged the abbey of Lure, and they shout out + at him as he passes, "Let's massacre the nobles!" Meanwhile, the chateau + of Vauvilliers, to which his sick wife had been carried, is devastated + from top to bottom; the mob search for her everywhere, and she only + escapes by hiding herself in a hay-loft. Both are anxious to fly into + Burgundy, but word is sent them that at Dijon "the nobles are blockaded by + the people," and that, in the country, they threaten to set their houses + on fire.—There is no asylum to be had, either in their own homes nor + in the homes of others, nor in places along the roads, fugitives being + stopped in all the small villages and market-towns. In Dauphiny<a + href="#linknote-1342" name="linknoteref-1342" id="linknoteref-1342"><small>1342</small></a> + "the Abbess of St. Pierre de Lyon, one of the nuns, M. de Perrotin, M. de + Bellegarde, the Marquis de la Tour-du-Pin, and the Chevalier de Moidieu, + are arrested at Champier by the armed population, led to the Côte + Saint-André, confined in the town-hall, whence they send to Grenoble for + assistance," and, to have them released, the Grenoble Committee is obliged + to send commissioners. Their only refuge is in the large cities, where + some semblance of a precarious order exists, and in the ranks of the City + Guards, which march from Lyons, Dijon, and Grenoble, to keep the + inundation down. Throughout the country scattered chateaux are swallowed + up by the popular tide, and, as the feudal rights are often in plebeian + hands, it insensibly rises beyond its first overflow.—There is no + limit to an insurrection against property. This one extends from abbeys + and chateaux to the "houses of the bourgeoisie."<a href="#linknote-1343" + name="linknoteref-1343" id="linknoteref-1343"><small>1343</small></a> The + grudge at first was confined to the holders of charters; now it is + extended to all who possess anything. Well-to-do farmers and priests + abandon their parishes and fly to the towns. Travelers are put to ransom. + Thieves, robbers, and returned convicts, at the head of armed bands, seize + whatever they can lay their hands on. Cupidity becomes inflamed by such + examples; on domains which are deserted and in a state of confusion, where + there is nothing to indicate a master's presence, all seems to lapse to + the first comer. A small farmer of the neighborhood has carried away wine + and returns the following day in search of hay. All the furniture of a + chateau in Dauphin is removed, even to the hinges of the doors, by a large + reinforcement of carts.—" It is the war of the poor against the + rich," says a deputy, "and, on the 3rd of August, the Committee on Reports + declares to the National Assembly "that no kind of property has been + spared." In Franche-Comté, "nearly forty chateaux and seignorial mansions + have been pillaged or burnt."<a href="#linknote-1344" + name="linknoteref-1344" id="linknoteref-1344"><small>1344</small></a> From + Lancers to Gray about three out of five chateaux are sacked. In Dauphin + twenty-seven are burned or destroyed; five in the small district of + Viennese, and, besides these, all the monasteries—nine at least in + Auvergne, seventy-two, it is said, in Mâconnais and Beaujolais, without + counting those of Alsace. On the 31st of July, Lally-Tollendal, on + entering the tribune, has his hands full of letters of distress, with a + list of thirty-six chateaux burnt, demolished, or pillaged, in one + province, and the details of still worse violence against persons:<a + href="#linknote-1345" name="linknoteref-1345" id="linknoteref-1345"><small>1345</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "in Languedoc, M. de Barras, cut to pieces in the presence of his wife who + is about to be confined, and who is dead in consequence; in Normandy, a + paralytic gentleman left on a burning pile and taken off from it with his + hands burnt; in Franche-Comté, Madame de Bathilly compelled, with an ax + over her head, to give up her title-deeds and even her estate; Madame de + Listenay forced to do the same, with a pitchfork at her neck and her two + daughters in a swoon at her feet; Comte de Montjustin, with his wife, + having a pistol at his throat for three hours; and both dragged from their + carriage to be thrown into a pond, where they are saved by a passing + regiment of soldiers; Baron de Montjustin, one of the twenty-two popular + noblemen, suspended for an hour in a well, listening to a discussion + whether he shall be dropped down or whether he should die in some other + way; the Chevalier d'Ambly, torn from his chateau and dragged naked into + the village, placed on a dung-heap after having his eyebrows and all his + hair pulled out, while the crowd kept on dancing around him." + </p> + <p> + In the midst of a disintegrated society, under the semblance only of a + government, it is manifest that an invasion is under way, an invasion of + barbarians which will complete by terror that which it has begun by + violence, and which, like the invasions of the Normans in the tenth and + eleventh centuries, ends in the conquest and dispossession of an entire + class. In vain the National Guard and the other troops that remain loyal + succeed in stemming the first torrent; in vain does the Assembly hollow + out a bed for it and strive to bank it in by fixed boundaries. The decrees + of the 4th of August and the regulations which follow are but so many + spiders' webs stretched across a torrent. The peasants, moreover, putting + their own interpretation on the decrees, convert the new laws into + authority for continuing in their course or beginning over again. No more + rents, however legitimate, however legal! + </p> + <p> + "Yesterday,"<a href="#linknote-1346" name="linknoteref-1346" + id="linknoteref-1346"><small>1346</small></a> writes a gentleman of + Auvergne, we were notified that the fruit-tithe (percières) would no + longer be paid, and that the example of other provinces was only being + followed which no longer, even by royal order, pay tithes." In + Franche-Comté "numerous communities are satisfied that they no longer owe + anything either to the King or to their lords. . . . The villages divide + amongst themselves the fields and woods belonging to the nobles."— + </p> + <p> + It must be noted that charter-holding and feudal titles are still intact + in three-fourths of France, that it is the interest of the peasant to + ensure their disappearance, and that he is always armed. To secure a new + outbreak of jacqueries, it is only necessary that central control, already + thrown into disorder, should be withdrawn. This is the work of Versailles + and of Paris; and there, at Paris as well as at Versailles, some, through + lack of foresight and infatuation, and others, through blindness and + indecision—the latter through weakness and the former through + violence—all are laboring to accomplish it. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1301" id="linknote-1301"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1301 (<a href="#linknoteref-1301">return</a>)<br /> [ Dusaulx, 374. "I + remarked that if there were a few among the people at that time who dared + commit crime, there were several who wished it, and that every one endured + it."—" Archives Nationales," DXXIX, 3. (Letter of the municipal + authorities of Crémieu, Dauphiny, November 3, 1789.) "The care taken to + lead them first to the cellars and to intoxicate them, can alone give a + conception of the incredible excesses of rage to which they gave + themselves up in the sacking and burning of the chateaux."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1302" id="linknote-1302"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1302 (<a href="#linknoteref-1302">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + January 4, 1792. ("Revue politique de l'année 1791," by Mallet du Pan.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1303" id="linknote-1303"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1303 (<a href="#linknoteref-1303">return</a>)<br /> [ Albert Babeau, I. + 206. (Letter of the deputy Camuzet de Belombre, August 22, 1789.) The + executive power is absolutely gone to-day."—Gouverneur Morris, + letter of July 31, 1789: "This country is now as near in a state of + anarchy as it is possible for a community to be without breaking up."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1304" id="linknote-1304"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1304 (<a href="#linknoteref-1304">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Amelot, July 24th; H. 784, of M. de + Langeron, October 16th and 18th.—KK. 1105. correspondence of M. de + Thiard, October 7th and 30th, September 4th.—Floquet, VII. 527, 555.—Guadet, + "Histoire des Girondins" (July 29, 1789).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1305" id="linknote-1305"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1305 (<a href="#linknoteref-1305">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Rochambeau, + "Mémoires," I. 353 (July 18th).—Sauzay, "Histoire de la Persécution + Révolutionnaire dans le Département de Doubs," I. 128 (July 19th.)—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3253. (Letter of the deputies of the provincial + commission of Alsace, September 8th.) D. XXIX. I. note of M. de + Latour-du-Pin, October 28, 1789.—Letter of M. de Langeron, September + 3rd; of Breitman, garde-marteau, Val Saint-Amarin (Upper Alsace), July + 26th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1306" id="linknote-1306"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1306 (<a href="#linknoteref-1306">return</a>)<br /> [ Léonce de Lavergne, + 197. (Letter of the intermediate commission of Poitou, the last month in + 1789.)—Cf. Brissot (Le patriote français, August, 1789). "General + insubordination prevails in the provinces because the restraints of + executive power are no longer felt. What were but lately the guarantees of + that power? The intendants, tribunals, and the army. The intendants are + gone, the tribunals are silent, and the army is against the executive + power and on the side of the people. Liberty is not a nourishment for + unprepared stomachs."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1307" id="linknote-1307"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1307 (<a href="#linknoteref-1307">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of the clergy, consuls, + présidial-councillors and principal merchants of Puy-en-Velay, September + 16, 1789.)—H. 1453. (letter of the Intendant or Alençon, July 18th). + "I must not leave you in ignorance of the multiplied outbreaks we have in + all parts of my jurisdiction. The impunity with which they flatter + themselves, because the judges are afraid of irritating the people by + examples of severity, only emboldens them. Mischief-makers, confounded + with honest folks, spread false reports about particular persons whom they + accuse of concealing grain, or of not belonging to the Third-Estate, and, + under this pretext, they pillage their houses, taking whatever they can + find, the owners only avoiding death by flight."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1308" id="linknote-1308"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1308 (<a href="#linknoteref-1308">return</a>)<br /> [ A body of magistrates + forming one of the lower tribunals.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1309" id="linknote-1309"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1309 (<a href="#linknoteref-1309">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 942. (Observations of M. de Ballainvilliers, October 30, + 1789.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1310" id="linknote-1310"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1310 (<a href="#linknoteref-1310">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D, XXIX. 1. Letter of the municipal assembly of Louviers, the + end of August, 1789.—Letter of the communal assembly of Saint-Bris + (bailiwick of Auxerre), September 25th.—Letter of the municipal + officers of Ricey-Haut, near Bar-sur-Seine, August 25th; of the Chevalier + d'Allouville, September 8th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1311" id="linknote-1311"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1311 (<a href="#linknoteref-1311">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D, XXIX. I. Letter of M. Briand-Delessart (Angoulême, August + 1st).—Of M. Bret, Lieutenant-General of the provostship of Mardogne, + September 5th.—Of the Chevalier de Castellas (Auvergue), September + 15th (relating to the night between the 2nd and 3rd of August).—Madame + Campan, II. 65.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1312" id="linknote-1312"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1312 (<a href="#linknoteref-1312">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, + "Voyages in France," July 24th and 31st, August 13th and 19th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1313" id="linknote-1313"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1313 (<a href="#linknoteref-1313">return</a>)<br /> [ De Bouillé, 108.—"Archives + Nationales," KK. 1105. Correspondence of M. deThiard, September 20, 1789 + (apropos of one hundred guns given to the town of Saint-Brieuc). "They are + not of the slightest use, but this passion for arms is a temporary + epidemic which must be allowed to subside of itself. People are determined + to believe in brigands and in enemies, whereas neither exist."—September + 25th, "Vanity alone impels them, and the pride of having cannon is their + sole motive."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1314" id="linknote-1314"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1314 (<a href="#linknoteref-1314">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. Amelot, July 17th and 24th. "Several + wealthy private persons of the town (Auxonne) have been put to ransom by + this band, of which the largest portion consists of ruffians."—Letter + of nine cultivators of Breteuil (Picardy) July 23rd (their granaries were + pillaged up to the last grain the previous evening). "They threaten to + pillage our crops and set our barns on fire as soon as they are full. M. + Tassard, the notary, has been visited in his house by the populace, and + his life has been threatened." Letter of Moreau, Procureur du Roi at the + Senechal's Court at Bar-le-Duc, September 15, 1789, D, XXIX, 1. "On the + 27th of July the people rose and most cruelly assassinated a merchant + trading in wheat. On the 27th and 28th his house and that of another were + sacked," etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1315" id="linknote-1315"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1315 (<a href="#linknoteref-1315">return</a>)<br /> [ Chronicle of Dominick + Schmutz ("Revue d'Alsace," V. III. 3rd series). These are his own + expressions: Gesindel, Lumpen-gesindel.—De Rochambeau, "Mémoires," + I. 353.—Arthur Young (an eye-witness), July 21st.—Of + Dampmartin (eye-witness), I. 105. M. de Rochambeau shows the usual + indecision and want of vigor: whilst the mob are pillaging houses and + throwing things out of the windows, he passes in front of his regiments + (8,000 men) drawn up for action, and says, "My friends, my good friends, + you see what is going on. How horrible! Alas! these are your papers, your + titles and those of your parents." The soldiers smile at this sentimental + prattle.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1316" id="linknote-1316"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1316 (<a href="#linknoteref-1316">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumouriez (an + eye-witness), book III. ch. 3.—The trial was begun and judgment + given by twelve lawyers and an assessor, whom the people, in arms, had + themselves appointed.—Hippeau, IV. 382.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1317" id="linknote-1317"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1317 (<a href="#linknoteref-1317">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7 3248. (Letter of the mayor, M. Poussiaude de Thierri, + September 11th.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1318" id="linknote-1318"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1318 (<a href="#linknoteref-1318">return</a>)<br /> [ Floquet, VII. 551.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1319" id="linknote-1319"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1319 (<a href="#linknoteref-1319">return</a>)<br /> [ De Goncourt, "La + Société française pendant la Révolution," 37.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1320" id="linknote-1320"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1320 (<a href="#linknoteref-1320">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the officers of the bailiwick of Dôle, + August 24th.—Sauzay I. 128.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1321" id="linknote-1321"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1321 (<a href="#linknoteref-1321">return</a>)<br /> [ There is a similar + occurrence at Strasbourg, a few days after the sacking of the town-hall. + The municipality having given each man of the garrison twenty sous, the + soldiers abandon their post, set the prisoners free at the Pont-Couvert, + feast publicly in the streets with the women taken out of the + penitentiary, and force innkeepers and the keepers of drinking-places to + give up their provisions. The shops are all closed, and, for twenty-four + hours, the officers are not obeyed. (De Dampmartin, I. 105.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1322" id="linknote-1322"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1322 (<a href="#linknoteref-1322">return</a>)<br /> [ Albert Babeau, I. + 187-273.—Moniteur, II. 379. (Extract from the provost's verdict of + November 27, 1789.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1323" id="linknote-1323"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1323 (<a href="#linknoteref-1323">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, ibid. + Picard, the principal murderer, confessed "that he had made him suffer a + great deal; that the said sieur Huez did not die until they came near the + Chaudron Inn; that he nevertheless intended to make him suffer more by + stabbing him in the neck at the corner of each street, (and) by contriving + it so that he might do it often, as long as there was life in him; that + the day on which M. Huez died yielded him ten francs, together with the + neck-buckle of M. Hues, found on him when he was arrested in his flight."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1324" id="linknote-1324"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1324 (<a href="#linknoteref-1324">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France,, + September 26, 1789. Letters of the officers of the Bourbon regiment and of + members of the general committee of Caen.—Floquet, VII. 545.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1325" id="linknote-1325"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1325 (<a href="#linknoteref-1325">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453.—Ibid. D. XXIX. I. Note of M. de la + Tour-du-Pin, October 28th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1326" id="linknote-1326"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1326 (<a href="#linknoteref-1326">return</a>)<br /> [ Decree, February 5, + 1789, enforced May 1st following.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1327" id="linknote-1327"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1327 (<a href="#linknoteref-1327">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the count de Montausier, August 8th, + with notes by M. Paulian, director of the excise (an admirable letter, + modest and liberal, and ending by demanding a pardon for people led + astray).—H. 1453. Letter of the attorney of the election district of + Falaise, July 17th, etc.—Moniteur, I. 303, 387, 505 (sessions of + August 7th and 27th and of September 23rd). "The royal revenues are + diminishing steadily."—Buchez and Roux, III. 219 (session of October + 24, 1789). Discourse of a deputation from Anjou: "Sixty thousand men are + armed; the barriers have been destroyed, the clerks' horses have been sold + by auction; the employees have been told to withdraw from the province + within eight days. The inhabitants have declared that they will not pay + taxes so long as the salt-tax exists.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1328" id="linknote-1328"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1328 (<a href="#linknoteref-1328">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7 3253 (Letter of September 8, 1789).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1329" id="linknote-1329"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1329 (<a href="#linknoteref-1329">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, + September 30th. "It is being said that every rusty gun in Provence is at + work, killing all sorts of birds; the shot has fallen five or six times in + my chaise and about my ears."—Beugnot, I.142.—"Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the Chevalier d'Allonville, September + 8, 1789 (Near Bar-sur-Aube). "The peasants go in armed bands into the + woods belonging to the Abbey of Trois-Fontaines, which they cut down. They + saw up the oaks and transport them on wagons to Pont-Saint-Dizier, where + they sell them. In other places they fish in the ponds and break the + embankments."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1330" id="linknote-1330"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1330 (<a href="#linknoteref-1330">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the assessor of the police of + Saint-Flour, October 3, 1789. On the 31st of July, a rumor is spread that + the brigands are coming. On the 1st of August the peasants arm themselves. + "They amuse themselves by drinking, awaiting the arrival of the brigands; + the excitement increases to such an extent as to make them believe that M. + le Comte d'Espinchal had arrived in disguise the evening before at + Massiac, that he was the author of the troubles disturbing the province at + this time, and that he was concealed in his chateau." On the strength of + this shots are fired into the windows, and there are searches, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1331" id="linknote-1331"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1331 (<a href="#linknoteref-1331">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D, XXIX, I, Letter of Etienne Fermier, Naveinne, September + 18th (it is possible that the author, for the sake of caution, took a + fictitious name).—The manuscript correspondence of M. Boullé, deputy + of Pontivy, to his constituents, is a type of this declamatory and + incendiary writing.—Letter of the consuls, priests, and merchants of + Puy-en-Velay, September 16th.—" The Ancient Régime," p. 396.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1332" id="linknote-1332"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1332 (<a href="#linknoteref-1332">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of M. Despretz-Montpezat, a former + artillery officer, July 24th (with several other signatures). On the same + day the alarm bell is sounded In fifty villages on the rumor spreading + that 7,000 brigands, English and Breton, were invading the country.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1333" id="linknote-1333"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1333 (<a href="#linknoteref-1333">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of Briand-Delessart, August 1st + (domiciliary visits to the Carmelites of Angoulême where it is pretended + that Mme. de Polignac has just arrived.—Beugnot, I. 140.—Arthur + Young, July 20th, etc.—Buchez and Roux, IV. 166. Letter of Mamers, + July 24th; of Mans, July 26th.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1334" id="linknote-1334"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1334 (<a href="#linknoteref-1334">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, ch. LXXII, + p. 93 (according to acts of legal procedure). There was a soldier in the + band who had served under M. de Montesson and who wanted to avenge himself + for the punishments he had undergone in the regiment.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1335" id="linknote-1335"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1335 (<a href="#linknoteref-1335">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + August 20th (Letter from Vésoul, August 13th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1336" id="linknote-1336"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1336 (<a href="#linknoteref-1336">return</a>)<br /> [ M. de Memmay proved + his innocence later on, and was rehabilitated by a public decision after + two years' proceedings (session of June 4, 1791; Mercure of June 11th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1337" id="linknote-1337"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1337 (<a href="#linknoteref-1337">return</a>)<br /> [ Journal des Débats et + Décrets, I. 258. (Letter of the municipality of Vésoul, July 22nd.—Discourse + of M. de Toulougeon, July 29th.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1338" id="linknote-1338"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1338 (<a href="#linknoteref-1338">return</a>)<br /> [ De Rochambeau, + "Mémoires," I. 353.—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3253. (Letter of M. + de Rochamheau, August 4th.)—Chronicle of Schmutz (ibid. ), p. 284. + "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of Mme. Ferrette, of + Remiremont, August 9th.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1339" id="linknote-1339"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1339 (<a href="#linknoteref-1339">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 180. + (Letters of monks, July 22nd and 26th.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1340" id="linknote-1340"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1340 (<a href="#linknoteref-1340">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of M. de Bergeron, attorney to the + présidial of Valence, August 28th, with the details of the verdict + stated.) Official report of the militia of Lyons, sent to the president of + the National Assembly, August 10th. (Expedition to Serrière, in Dauphiny, + July 31st.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1341" id="linknote-1341"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1341 (<a href="#linknoteref-1341">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter of the Count + of Courtivron, deputy substitute (an eye-witness).—"Archives + Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the municipal officers of Crémieu + (Dauphiny), November 3rd. Letter of the Vicomte de Carbonnière (Auvergne), + August 3rd.—Arthur Young, July 30th (Dijon) says, apropos of a noble + family which escaped almost naked from its burning chateau, "they were + esteemed by the neighbors; their virtues ought to have commanded the love + of the poor, for whose resentment there was no cause."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1342" id="linknote-1342"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1342 (<a href="#linknoteref-1342">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," XXIX. I. (Letter of the commission of the States of Dauphiny, + July 31st.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1343" id="linknote-1343"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1343 (<a href="#linknoteref-1343">return</a>)<br /> [ "Désastres du + Mâconnais," by Puthod de la Maison-Rouge (August, 1789). "Ravages du + Mâconnais."—Arthur Young, July 27th.—Buchez and Roux, IV. 215, + 214.—Mercure de France, September 12, 1789. (Letter by a volunteer + of Orleans.) "On the 15th of August, eighty-eight ruffians, calling + themselves reapers, present themselves at Bascon, in Beauce, and, the next + day, at a chateau in the neighborhood, where they demand within an hour + the head of the son of the lord of the manor, M. Tassin, who can only + redeem himself by a contribution of 1,600 livres and the pillaging of his + cellars.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1344" id="linknote-1344"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1344 (<a href="#linknoteref-1344">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter of the Count + de Courtivron.—Arthur Young, July 31st.—Buchez and Roux, II. + 243.—Mercure de France, August 15, 1789 (sitting of the 8th, + discourse of a deputy from Dauphiné.)—Mermet, "Histoire de la Ville + de Vienne," 445—" Archives Nationales," ibid. (Letter of the + commission of the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.)—"The list of burnt + or devastated chateaux is immense." The committee already cites sixteen of + them.—Puthod de la Maison-Rouge, ibid.: "Were all devastated places + to be mentioned, it would be necessary to cite the whole province" (Letter + from Mâcon). "They have not the less destroyed most of the chateaux and + bourgeois dwellings, either burning them and or else tearing them down."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1345" id="linknote-1345"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1345 (<a href="#linknoteref-1345">return</a>)<br /> [ Lally-Tollendal, + "Second Letter to my Constituents," 104.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1346" id="linknote-1346"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1346 (<a href="#linknoteref-1346">return</a>)<br /> [ Doniol, "La + Révolution et la Féodalité," p.60 (a few days after the 4th of August).—"Archives + Nationales," H. 784. Letters of M. de Langeron, military commander at + Besançon, October 16th and 18th.—Ibid. , D. XXIX. I. Letter of the + same, September 3rd.—Arthur Young (in Provence, at the house of + Baron de la Tour-d'Aignes). "The baron is an enormous sufferer by the + Revolution; a great extent of country which belonged in absolute right to + his ancestors, has been granted for quit-rents, ceus, and other feudal + payments, so that there is no comparison between the lands retained and + those thus granted by his family. . . . The solid payments which the + Assembly have declared to be redeemable are every hour falling to nothing, + without a shadow of recompense. . . The situation of the nobility in this + country is pitiable; they are under apprehensions that nothing will be + left them, but simply such houses as the mob allows to stand unburned; + that the small farmers will retain their farms without paying the landlord + his half of the produce; and that, in case of such a refusal, there is + actually neither law nor authority in the country to prevent it. This + chateau, splendid even in ruins, with the fortune and lives of the owners, + is at the mercy of an armed rabble."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. PARIS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Paris. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Powerlessness and discords of the authorities.—The people, + king. +</pre> + <p> + The powerlessness, indeed, of the heads of the Government, and the lack of + discipline among all its subordinates, are much greater in the capital + than in the provinces.—Paris possesses a mayor, Bailly; but "from + the first day, and in the easiest manner possible,"<a href="#linknote-1401" + name="linknoteref-1401" id="linknoteref-1401"><small>1401</small></a> his + municipal council, that is to say, "the assembly of the representatives of + the commune, has accustomed itself to carry on the government alone, + overlooking him entirely." There is a central administration, the + municipal council, presided over by the mayor; but, "at this time, + authority is everywhere except where the preponderating authority should + be; the districts have delegated it and at the same time retained it;" + each of them acts as if it were alone and supreme.—There are + secondary powers, the district-committees, each with its president, its + clerk, its offices, and commissioners; but the mobs of the street march on + without awaiting their orders; while the people, shouting under their" + windows, impose their will on them;—in short, says Bailly again, + "everybody knew how to command, but nobody knew how to obey." + </p> + <p> + "Imagine," writes Loustalot<a href="#linknote-1402" name="linknoteref-1402" + id="linknoteref-1402"><small>1402</small></a> himself; "a man whose feet, + hands, and limbs possessed each its own intelligence and will, whose one + leg would wish to walk when the other one wanted to rest, whose throat + would close when the stomach demanded food, whose mouth would sing when + the eyelids were weighed down with sleep; and you will have a striking + picture of the condition of things in the capital" + </p> + <p> + There are "sixty Republics"<a href="#linknote-1403" name="linknoteref-1403" + id="linknoteref-1403"><small>1403</small></a> in Paris; each district is + an independent, isolated power, which receives no order without + criticizing it, always in disagreement and often in conflict with the + central authority or with the other districts. It receives denunciations, + orders domiciliary visits, sends deputations to the National Assembly, + passes resolutions, posts its bills, not only in its own quarter but + throughout the city, and sometimes even extends its jurisdiction outside + of Paris. Everything comes within its province, and particularly that + which ought not to do so.—On the 18th of July, the district of + Petits-Augustins<a href="#linknote-1404" name="linknoteref-1404" + id="linknoteref-1404"><small>1404</small></a> "decrees in its own name the + establishment of justices of the peace," under the title of tribunes, and + proceeds at once to elect its own, nominating the actor Molé. On the 30th, + that of the Oratoire annuls the amnesty which the representatives of the + commune in the Hôtel-de-Ville had granted, and orders two of its members + to go to a distance of thirty leagues to arrest M. de Bezenval. On the + 19th of August, that of Nazareth issues commissions to seize and bring to + Paris the arms deposited in strong places. From the beginning each + assembly sent to the Arsenal in its own name, and "obtained as many + cartridges and as much powder as it desired." Others claim the right of + keeping a watchful eye over the Hôtel-de-Ville and of reprimanding the + National Assembly. The Oratoire decides that the representatives of the + commune shall be invited to deliberate in public. Saint-Nicholas des + Champs deliberates on the veto and begs the Assembly to suspend its vote.—It + is a strange spectacle, that of these various authorities each + contradicting and destroying the other. To-day the Hôtel-de-Ville + appropriates five loads of cloth which have been dispatched by the + Government, and the district of Saint-Gervais opposes the decision of the + Hôtel-de-Ville. To-morrow Versailles intercepts grain destined for Paris, + while Paris threatens, if it is not restored, to march on Versailles. I + omit the incidents that are ridiculous:<a href="#linknote-1405" + name="linknoteref-1405" id="linknoteref-1405"><small>1405</small></a> + anarchy in its essence is both tragic and grotesque, and, in this + universal breaking up of things, the capital, like the kingdom, resembles + a bear-garden when it does not resemble a Babel. + </p> + <p> + But behind all these discordant authorities the real sovereign, who is the + mob, is very soon apparent.—On the 15th of July it undertakes the + demolition of the Bastille of its own accord, and this popular act is + sanctioned; for it is necessary that appearances should be kept up; even + to give orders after the blow is dealt, and to follow when it is + impossible to lead.<a href="#linknote-1406" name="linknoteref-1406" + id="linknoteref-1406"><small>1406</small></a> A short time after this the + collection of the octroi at the barriers is ordered to be resumed; forty + armed individuals, however, present themselves in their district and say, + that if guards are placed at the octroi stations, "they will resist force + with force, and even make use of their cannon."—On the false rumor + that arms are concealed in the Abbey of Montmartre, the abbess, Madame de + Montmorency, is accused of treachery, and twenty thousand persons invade + the monastery.—The commander of the National Guard and the mayor are + constantly expecting a riot; they hardly dare absent themselves a day to + attend the King fête at Versailles. As soon as the multitude can assemble + in the streets, an explosion is imminent. "On rainy days," says Bailly, "I + was quite at my ease."—It is under this constant pressure that the + Government is carried on; and the elect of the people, the most esteemed + magistrates, those who are in best repute, are at the mercy of the throng + who clamor at their doors. In the district of St. Roch,<a + href="#linknote-1407" name="linknoteref-1407" id="linknoteref-1407"><small>1407</small></a> + after many useless refusals, the General Assembly, notwithstanding all the + reproaches of its conscience and the resistance of its reason, is obliged + to open letters addressed to Monsieur, to the Duke of Orleans, and to the + Ministers of War, of Foreign Affairs, and of the Marine. In the committee + on subsistence, M. Serreau, who is indispensable and who is confirmed by a + public proclamation, is denounced, threatened, and constrained to leave + Paris. M. de la Salle, one of the strongest patriots among the nobles, is + on the point of being murdered for having signed an order for the + transport of gunpowder;<a href="#linknote-1408" name="linknoteref-1408" + id="linknoteref-1408"><small>1408</small></a> the multitude, in pursuit of + him, attach a rope to the nearest street-lamp, ransack the Hôtel-de-Ville, + force every door, mount into the belfry, and seek for the traitor even + under the carpet of the bureau and between the legs of the electors, and + are only stayed in their course by the arrival of the National Guard. + </p> + <p> + The people not only sentence but they execute, and, as is always the case, + blindly. At Saint-Denis, Chatel, the mayor's lieutenant, whose duty it is + to distribute flour, had reduced the price of bread at his own expense: on + the 3rd of August his house is forced open at two o'clock in the morning, + and he takes refuge in a steeple; the mob follow him, cut his throat and + drag his head along the streets.—Not only do the people execute, but + they pardon—and with equal discernment. On the 11th of August, at + Versailles, as a parricide is about to be broken on the wheel, the crowd + demand his release, fly at the executioner, and set the man free.<a + href="#linknote-1409" name="linknoteref-1409" id="linknoteref-1409"><small>1409</small></a> + Veritably this is sovereign power like that of the oriental sovereign who + arbitrarily awards life or death! A woman who protests against this + scandalous pardon is seized and comes near being hung; for the new monarch + considers as a crime whatever is offensive to his new majesty. Again, he + receives public and humble homage. The Prime Minister, on imploring the + pardon of M. de Bezenval at the Hôtel-de-Ville, in the presence of the + electors and of the public, has put it in appropriate words: + </p> + <p> + "It is before the most unknown, the obscurest citizen of Paris that I + prostrate myself; at whose feet I kneel." + </p> + <p> + A few days before this, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and at Poissy, the + deputies of the National Assembly not only kneel down in words, but + actually, and for a long time, on the pavement in the street, and stretch + forth their hands, weeping, to save two lives of which only one is granted + to them.—Behold the monarch by these brilliant signs! Already do the + young, who are eager imitators of all actions that are in fashion, ape + them in miniature; during the month which follows the murder of Berthier + and Foulon, Bailly is informed that the gamins in the streets are parading + about with the heads of two cats stuck on the ends of two poles.<a + href="#linknote-1410" name="linknoteref-1410" id="linknoteref-1410"><small>1410</small></a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—The distress of the people. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The dearth and the lack of work.—How men of executive + ability are recruited. +</pre> + <p> + A pitiable monarch, whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more miserable + than he was before! Bread is always scarce, and before the baker's doors + the row of waiting people does not diminish. In vain Bailly passes his + nights with the committee on supplies; they are always in a state of + terrible anxiety. Every morning for two months there is only one or two + days' supply of flour, and often, in the evening, there is not enough for + the following morning.<a href="#linknote-1411" name="linknoteref-1411" + id="linknoteref-1411"><small>1411</small></a> The life of the capital + depends on a convoy which is ten, fifteen, twenty leagues off; and which + may never arrive: one convoy of twenty carts is pillaged on the 18th of + July, on the Rouen road; another, on the 4th of August, in the vicinity of + Louviers. Were it not for Salis' Swiss regiment, which, from the 14th of + July to the end of September, marches day and night as an escort, not a + boat-load of grain would reach Paris from Rouen.<a href="#linknote-1412" + name="linknoteref-1412" id="linknoteref-1412"><small>1412</small></a>—The + commissaries charged with making purchases or with supervising the + expeditions are in danger of their lives. Those who are sent to provinces + are seized, and a column of four hundred men with cannon has to be + dispatched to deliver them. The one who is sent to Rouen learns that he + will be hung if he dares to enter the place. At Mantes a mob surrounds his + cabriolet, the people regarding whoever comes there for the purpose of + carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with difficulty out of a + back door and returns on foot to Paris.—From the very beginning, + according to a universal rule, the fear of a short supply helps to augment + the famine. Every one lays in a stock for several days; on one occasion + sixteen loaves of four pounds each are found in an old woman's garret. The + bakings, consequently, which are estimated according to the quantity + needed for a single day, become inadequate, and the last of those who wait + at the bakers' shops for bread return home empty-handed.—On the + other hand the appropriations made by the city and the State to diminish + the price of bread simply serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for + it; the countrymen flock in thither, and return home loaded to their + villages. At Saint-Denis, bread having been reduced to two sous the pound, + none is left for the inhabitants. To this constant anxiety add that of + unemployment. Not only is there no certainty of there being bread at the + bakers' during the coming week, but many know that they will not have + money in the coming week with which to buy bread. Now that security has + disappeared and the rights of property are shaken, work is wanting. The + rich, deprived of their feudal dues, and, in addition thereto of their + rents, have reduced their expenditure; many of them, threatened by the + committee of investigation, exposed to domiciliary visits, and liable to + be informed against by their servants, have emigrated. In the month of + September M. Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports in + fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants. In the month of October ladies + of high rank, refugees in Rome, send word that their domestics should be + discharged and their daughters placed in convents. Before the end of 1789 + there are so many fugitives in Switzerland that a house, it is said, + brings in more rent than it is worth as capital. With this first + emigration, which is that of the chief spendthrifts, the Count d'Artois, + Prince de Conti, Duc de Bourbon, and so many others, the opulent + foreigners have left, and, at the head of them, the Duchesse de + l'Infantado, who spent 800,000 livres a year. There are only three + Englishmen in Paris. + </p> + <p> + It used to be a city of luxury, it was the European hot-house of costly + and refined pleasures, but once the glass was broken then the delicate + plants perish, their lovers leave, and there is no employment now for the + innumerable hands which cultivated them. Fortunate are they who at the + relief works obtain a miserable sum by handling a pick-axe! "I saw," says + Bailly, "mercers, jewellers, and merchants implore the favor of being + employed at twenty sous the day." Enumerate, if you can, in one or two + recognized callings, the hands which are doing nothing:<a + href="#linknote-1413" name="linknoteref-1413" id="linknoteref-1413"><small>1413</small></a> + 1,200 hair-dressers keep about 6,000 journeymen; 2,000 others follow the + same calling in private-houses; 6,000 lackeys do but little else than this + work. The body of tailors is composed of 2,800 masters, who have under + them 5,000 workmen. "Add to these the number privately employed—the + refugees in privileged places like the abbeys of Saint-Germain and + Saint-Marcel, the vast enclosure of the Temple, that of Saint-John the + Lateran, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and you will find at least 12,000 + persons cutting, fitting, and sewing." How many in these two groups are + now idle! How many others are walking the streets, such as upholsterers, + lace-makers, embroiderers, fan-makers, gilders, carnage-makers, binders, + engravers, and all the other producers of Parisian nick-nacks! For those + who are still at work how many days are lost at the doors of bakers' shops + and in patrolling as National Guards! Gatherings are formed in spite of + the prohibitions of the Hôtel-de-Ville,<a href="#linknote-1414" + name="linknoteref-1414" id="linknoteref-1414"><small>1414</small></a> and + the crowd openly discuss their miserable condition: 3,000 + journeymen-tailors near the Colonnade, as many journeymen-shoemakers in + the Place Louis XV., the journeymen-hairdressers in the Champs-Elysees, + 4,000 domestics without places on the approaches to the Louvre,—and + their propositions are on a level with their intelligence. Servants demand + the expulsion from Paris of the Savoyards who enter into competition with + them. Journeymen-tailors demand that a day's wages be fixed at forty sous, + and that the old-clothes dealers shall not be allowed to make new ones. + The journeymen-shoemakers declare that those who make shoes below the + fixed price shall be driven out of the kingdom. Each of these irritated + and agitated crowds contains the germ of an outbreak—and, in truth, + these germs are found on every pavement in Paris: at the relief works, + which at Montmartre collect 17,000 paupers; in the Market, where the + bakers want to hang the flour commissioners, and at the doors of the + bakers, of whom two, on the 14th of September and on the 5th of October, + are conducted to the lamp post and barely escape with their lives.—In + this suffering, mendicant crowd, enterprising men become more numerous + every day: they consist of deserters, and from every regiment; they reach + Paris in bands, often 250 in one day. There, "caressed and fed to the top + of their bent,"<a href="#linknote-1415" name="linknoteref-1415" + id="linknoteref-1415"><small>1415</small></a> having received from the + National Assembly 50 livres each, maintained by the King in the enjoyment + of their advance-money, entertained by the districts, of which one alone + incurs a debt of 14,000 livres for wine and sausages furnished to them, + "they accustom themselves to greater expense," to greater license, and are + followed by their companions. "During the night of the 31st of July the + French Guards on duty at Versailles abandon the custody of the King and + betake themselves to Paris, without their officers, but with their arms + and baggage," that "they may take part in the cheer which the city of + Paris extends to their regiment." At the beginning of September, 16,000 + deserters of this stamp are counted.<a href="#linknote-1416" + name="linknoteref-1416" id="linknoteref-1416"><small>1416</small></a> Now, + among those who commit murder these are in the first rank; and this is not + surprising when we take the least account of their antecedents, education, + and habits. It was a soldier of the "Royal Croat" who tore out the heart + of Berthier. They were three soldiers of the regiment of Provence who + forced the house of Chatel at Saint-Denis, and dragged his head through + the streets. It is Swiss soldiers who, at Passy, knock down the + commissioners of police with their guns. Their headquarters are at the + Palais-Royal, amongst women whose instruments they are, and amongst + agitators from whom they receive the word of command. Henceforth, all + depends on this word, and we have only to contemplate the new popular + leaders to know what it will be. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—The new popular leaders. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Their ascendancy.—Their education.—Their sentiments. + —Their situation.—Their councils.—Their denunciations. +</pre> + <p> + Administrators and members of district assemblies, agitators of barracks, + coffee-houses, clubs and public thoroughfares, writers of pamphlets, + penny-a-liners are multiplying as fast as buzzing insects are hatched on a + sultry night. After the 14th of July thousands of jobs have become + available for released ambitions; "attorneys, notaries' clerks, artists, + merchants, shopkeepers, comedians and especially advocates;<a + href="#linknote-1417" name="linknoteref-1417" id="linknoteref-1417"><small>1417</small></a> + each wants to be either an officer, a director, a councillor, or a + minister of the new reign; while journals, which are established by + dozens,<a href="#linknote-1418" name="linknoteref-1418" + id="linknoteref-1418"><small>1418</small></a> form a permanent tribune, + where speakers come to court the people to their personal advantage." + Philosophy, fallen into such hands, seems to parody itself; and nothing + equals its emptiness, unless it be its mischievousness and success. + Lawyers, in the sixty assembly districts, roll out the high-sounding + dogmas of the revolutionary catechism. This or that one, passing from the + question of a party wall to the constitution of empires, becomes the + improvised legislator, so much the more inexhaustible and the more + applauded as his flow of words, showered upon his hearers, proves to them + that every capacity and every right are naturally and legitimately theirs. + </p> + <p> + "When that man opened his mouth," says a cold-blooded witness, "we were + sure of being inundated with quotations and maxims, often apropos of + street lamp posts, or of the stall of a herb-dealer. His stentorian voice + made the vaults ring; and after he had spoken for two hours, and his + breath was completely exhausted, the admiring and enthusiastic shouts + which greeted him amounted almost to frenzy. Thus the orator fancied + himself a Mirabeau, while the spectators imagined themselves the + Constituent Assembly, deciding the fate of France." + </p> + <p> + The journals and pamphlets are written in the same style. Every brain is + filled with the fumes of conceit and of big words; the leader of the crowd + is he who raves the most, and he guides the wild enthusiasm which he + increases. + </p> + <p> + Let us consider the most popular of these chiefs; they are the green or + the dry fruit of literature, and of the bar. The newspaper is the stall + which every morning offers them for sale, and if they suit the overexcited + public it is simply owing to their acid or bitter flavor. Their empty, + unpracticed minds are wholly void of political conceptions; they have no + capacity or practical experience. Desmoulins is twenty-nine years of age, + Loustalot twenty-seven, and their intellectual ballast consists of college + reminiscences, souvenirs of the law schools, and the common-places picked + up in the houses of Raynal and his associates. As to Brissot and Marat, + who are ostentatious humanitarians, their knowledge of France and of + foreign countries consists in what they have seen through the dormer + windows of their garrets, and through utopian spectacles. In minds like + these, empty or led astray, the Contrat-Social could not fail to become a + gospel; for it reduces political science to a strict application of an + elementary axiom which relieves them of all study, and hands society over + to the caprice of the people, or, in other words, delivers it into their + own hands.—Hence they demolish all that remains of social + institutions, and push on equalization until everything is brought down to + the same level. + </p> + <p> + "With my principles," writes Desmoulins,<a href="#linknote-1419" + name="linknoteref-1419" id="linknoteref-1419"><small>1419</small></a> "is + associated the satisfaction of putting myself where I belong, of showing + my strength to those who have despised me, of lowering to my level all + whom fortune has placed above me: my motto is that of all honest people: + 'No superiors!'" + </p> + <p> + Thus, under the great name of Liberty, each vain spirit seeks its revenge + and finds its nourishment. What is sweeter and more natural than to + justify passion by theory, to be factious in the belief that this is + patriotism, and to cloak the interests of ambition with the interests of + humanity? + </p> + <p> + Let us picture to ourselves these directors of public opinion as they were + three months earlier: Desmoulins, a briefless barrister, living in + furnished lodgings with petty debts, and on a few louis extracted from his + relations. Loustalot, still more unknown, was admitted the previous year + to the Parliament of Bordeaux, and has landed at Paris in search of a + career. Danton, another second-rate lawyer, coming out of a hovel in + Champagne, borrowed the money to pay his expenses, while his stinted + household is kept up only by means of a louis which is given to him weekly + by his father-in-law, who is a coffee-house keeper. Brissot, a strolling + Bohemian, formerly employee of literary pirates, has roamed over the world + for fifteen years, without bringing back with him either from England or + America anything but a coat out at elbows and false ideas; and, finally, + Marat; a writer that has been hissed, an abortive scholar and philosopher, + a misrepresenter of his own experiences, caught by the natural philosopher + Charles in the act of committing a scientific fraud, and fallen from the + top of his inordinate ambition to the subordinate post of doctor in the + stables of the Comte d'Artois.—At the present time, Danton, + President of the Cordeliers, can arrest any one he pleases in his + district, and his violent gestures and thundering voice secure to him, + till something better turns up, the government of his section of the city. + A word of Marat's has just caused Major Belzunce at Caen to be + assassinated. Desmoulins announces, with a smile of triumph, that "a large + section of the capital regards him as one among the principal instigators + of the Revolution, and that many even go so far as to say that he is the + author of it." Is it to be supposed that, borne so high by such a sudden + jerk of fortune, they wish to put on the drag and again descend? and is it + not clear that they will aid with all their might the revolt which hoists + them towards the loftiest summits?—Moreover, the brain reels at a + height like this; suddenly launched in the air and feeling as if + everything was tottering around them, they utter exclamations of + indignation and terror, they see plots on all sides, imagine invisible + cords pulling in an opposite direction, and they call upon the people to + cut them. With the full weight of their inexperience, incapacity, and + improvidence, of their fears, credulity, and dogmatic obstinacy, they urge + on popular attacks, and their newspaper articles or discourses are all + summed up in the following phrases: + </p> + <p> + "Fellow-citizens, you, the people of the lower class, you who listen to + me, you have enemies in the Court and the aristocracy. The Hôtel-de-Ville + and the National Assembly are your servants. Seize your enemies with a + strong hand, and hang them, and let your servants know that they must + quicken their steps!" + </p> + <p> + Desmoulins styles himself "District-attorney of the gallows,"<a + href="#linknote-1420" name="linknoteref-1420" id="linknoteref-1420"><small>1420</small></a> + and if he at all regrets the murders of Foulon and Berthier, it is because + this too expeditious judgment has allowed the proofs of conspiracy to + perish, thereby saving a number of traitors: he himself mentions twenty of + them haphazard, and little does he care whether he makes mistakes. + </p> + <p> + "We are in the dark, and it is well that faithful dogs should bark, even + at all who pass by, so that there may be no fear of robbers." + </p> + <p> + From this time forth Marat<a href="#linknote-1421" name="linknoteref-1421" + id="linknoteref-1421"><small>1421</small></a> denounces the King, the + ministers, the administration, the bench, the bar, the financial system + and the academies, all as "suspicious;" at all events the people only + suffer on their account. + </p> + <p> + "The Government is monopolizing grain, to make us to pay through the nose + for a poisonous bread." + </p> + <p> + The Government, again, through a new conspiracy is about to blockade + Paris, so as to starve it with greater ease. Utterances of this kind, at + such a time, are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to kindle the + flames of rage and cruelty. To this frightened and fasting crowd the + agitators and newspaper writers continue to repeat that it must act, and + act alongside of the authorities, and, if need be, against them. In other + words, We will do as we please; we are the sole legitimate masters; + </p> + <p> + "in a well-constituted government, the people as a body are the real + sovereign: our delegates are appointed only to execute our orders; what + right has the clay to rebel against the potter?" + </p> + <p> + On the strength of such principles, the tumultuous club which occupies the + Palais-Royal substitutes itself for the Assembly at Versailles. Has it not + all the titles for this office? The Palais-Royal "saved the nation" on the + 12th and 13th of July. The Palais-Royal, "through its spokesmen and + pamphlets," has made everybody and even the soldiers "philosophers." It is + the house of patriotism, "the rendezvous of the select among the + patriotic," whether provincials or Parisians, of all who possess the right + of suffrage, and who cannot or will not exercise it in their own district. + "It saves time to come to the Palais-Royal. There is no need there of + appealing to the President for the right to speak, or to wait one's time + for a couple of hours. The orator proposes his motion, and, if it finds + supporters, mounts a chair. If he is applauded, it is put into proper + shape. If he is hissed, he goes away. This was the way of the Romans." + Behold the veritable National Assembly! It is superior to the other + semi-feudal affair, encumbered with "six hundred deputies of the clergy + and nobility," who are so many intruders and who "should be sent out into + the galleries."—Hence the pure Assembly rules the impure Assembly, + and "the Café Foy lays claim to the government of France." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Intervention by the popular leaders with the Government. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Their pressure on the Assembly. +</pre> + <p> + On the 30th of July, the harlequin who led the insurrection at Rouen + having been arrested, "it is openly proposed at the Palais Royal<a + href="#linknote-1422" name="linknoteref-1422" id="linknoteref-1422"><small>1422</small></a> + to go in a body and demand his release."—On the 1st of August, + Thouret, whom the moderate party of the Assembly have just made President, + is obliged to resign; the Palais-Royal threatens to send a band and murder + him along with those who voted for him, and lists of proscriptions, in + which several of the deputies are inscribed, begin to be circulated.—From + this time forth, on all great questions-the abolition of the feudal + system, the suppression of tithes, a declaration of the rights of man, the + dispute about the Chambers, the King's power of veto,<a + href="#linknote-1423" name="linknoteref-1423" id="linknoteref-1423"><small>1423</small></a> + the pressure from without inclines the balance: in this way the + Declaration of Rights, which is rejected in secret session by twenty-eight + bureaus out of thirty, is forced through by the tribunes in a public + sitting and passed by a majority.—Just as before the 14th of July, + and to a still greater extent, two kinds of compulsion influence the + votes, and it is always the ruling faction which employs both its hands to + throttle its opponents. On the one hand this faction takes post on the + galleries in knots composed nearly always of the same persons, "five or + six hundred permanent actors," who yell according to understood signals + and at the word of command.<a href="#linknote-1424" name="linknoteref-1424" + id="linknoteref-1424"><small>1424</small></a> Many of these are French + Guards, in civilian clothes, and who relieve each other: previously they + have asked of their favorite deputy "at what hour they must come, whether + all goes on well, and whether he is satisfied with those fools of parsons + (calotins) and the aristocrats." Others consist of low women under the + command of Théroigne de Méricourt, a virago courtesan, who assigns them + their positions and gives them the signal for hooting or for applause. + Publicly and in full session, on the occasion of the debate on the veto, + "the deputies are applauded or insulted by the galleries according as they + utter the word 'suspensive,' or the word 'indefinite.' "Threats," (says + one of them) "circulated; I heard them on all sides around me." These + threats are repeated on going out: "Valets dismissed by their masters, + deserters, and women in rags," threaten the refractory with the lamp post, + "and thrust their fists in their faces. In the hall itself, and much more + accurately than before the 14th of July, their names are taken down, and + the lists, handed over to the populace," travel to the Palais-Royal, from + where they are dispatched in correspondence and in newspapers to the + provinces.<a href="#linknote-1425" name="linknoteref-1425" + id="linknoteref-1425"><small>1425</small></a>—Thus we see the second + means of compulsion; each deputy is answerable for his vote, at Paris, + with his own life, and, in the province, with those of his family. Members + of the former Third-Estate avow that they abandon the idea of two + Chambers, because "they are not disposed to get their wives' and + children's throats cut." On the 30th of August, Saint-Hurugue, the most + noisy of the Palais-Royal barkers, marches off to Versailles, at the head + of 1,500 men, to complete the conversion of the Assembly. This garden club + indeed, from the heights of its great learning, integrity, and immaculate + reputation, decides that the ignorant, corrupt, and doubtful deputies must + be got rid of." That they are such cannot be questioned, because they + defend the royal sanction; there are over 600 and more, 120 are deputies + of the communes, who must be expelled to begin with, and then must be + brought to judgment.<a href="#linknote-1426" name="linknoteref-1426" + id="linknoteref-1426"><small>1426</small></a> In the meantime they are + informed, as well as the Bishop of Langres, President of the National + Assembly, that "15,000 men are ready to light up their chateaux and in + particular yours, sir." To avoid all mistake, the secretaries of the + Assembly are informed in writing that '2,000 letters" will be sent into + the provinces to denounce to the people the conduct of the malignant + deputies: "Your houses are held as a surety for your opinions: keep this + in mind, and save yourselves!" At last, on the morning of the 1st of + August, five deputations from the Palais-Royal, one of them led by + Loustalot, march in turn to the Hôtel-de-Ville, insisting that the drums + should be beaten and the citizens be called together for the purpose of + changing the deputies, or their instructions, and of ordering the National + Assembly to suspend its discussion on the veto until the districts and + provinces could give expression to their will: the people, in effect, + alone being sovereign, and alone competent, always has the right to + dismiss or instruct anew its servants, the deputies. On the following day, + August 2nd, to make matters plainer, new delegates from the same + Palais-Royal suit gestures to words; they place two fingers on their + throats, on being introduced before the representatives of the commune, as + a hint that, if the latter do not obey, they will be hung. + </p> + <p> + After this it is vain for the National Assembly to make any show of + indignation, to declare that it despises threats, and to protest its + independence; the impression is already produced. "More than 300 members + of the communes," says Mounier, "had decided to support the absolute + veto." At the end of ten days most of these had gone over, several of them + through attachment to the King, because they were afraid of "a general + uprising," and "were not willing to jeopardize the lives of the royal + family." But concessions like these only provoke fresh extortions. The + politicians of the street now know by experience the effect of brutal + violence on legal authority. Emboldened by success and by impunity, they + reckon up their strength and the weakness of the latter. One blow more, + and they are undisputed masters. Besides, the issue is already apparent to + clear-sighted men. When the agitators of the public thoroughfares, and the + porters at the street-corners, convinced of their superior wisdom, impose + decrees by the strength of their lungs, of their fists, and of their + pikes, at that moment experience, knowledge, good sense, cool-blood, + genius, and judgment, disappear from human affairs, and things revert back + to chaos. Mirabeau, in favor of the veto for life, saw the crowd imploring + him with tears in their eyes to change his opinion: + </p> + <p> + "Monsieur le Comte, if the King obtains this veto, what will be the use of + a National Assembly? We shall all be slaves "<a href="#linknote-1427" + name="linknoteref-1427" id="linknoteref-1427"><small>1427</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Outbursts of this description are not to be resisted, and all is lost. + Already, near the end of September, the remark applies which Mirabeau + makes to the Comte de la Marck: + </p> + <p> + "Yes, all is lost; the King and Queen will be swept away, and you will see + the populace trampling on their lifeless bodies." + </p> + <p> + Eight days after this, on the 5th and 6th of October, it breaks out + against both King and Queen, against the National Assembly and the + Government, against all government present and to come; the violent party + which rules in Paris obtains possession of the chiefs of France to hold + them under strict surveillance, and to justify its intermittent outrages + by one permanent outrage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—The 5th and 6th of October. + </h2> + <p> + Once more, two different currents combine into one torrent to hurry the + crowd onward to a common end.—On the one hand are the cravings of + the stomach, and women excited by the famine: + </p> + <p> + "Now that bread cannot be had in Paris, let us go to Versailles and demand + it there; once we have the King, Queen, and Dauphin in the midst of us, + they will be obliged to feed us;" we will bring back "the Baker, the + Bakeress, and the Baker's boy." —On the other hand, there is + fanaticism, and men who are pushed on by the need to dominate. + </p> + <p> + "Now that our chiefs yonder disobey us,—let us go and make them obey + us forthwith; the King is quibbling over the Constitution and the Rights + of Man—make him approve them; his guards refuse to wear our cockade—make + them accept it; they want to carry him off to Metz—make him come to + Paris, here, under our eyes and in our hands, he, and the lame Assembly + too, will march straight on, and quickly, whether they like it or not, and + always on the right road."—Under this confluence of ideas the + expedition is arranged.<a href="#linknote-1428" name="linknoteref-1428" + id="linknoteref-1428"><small>1428</small></a> Ten days before this, it is + publicly alluded to at Versailles. On the 4th of October, at Paris, a + woman proposes it at the Palais-Royal; Danton roars at the Cordeliers; + Marat, "alone, makes as much noise as the four trumpets on the Day of + Judgment." Loustalot writes that a second revolutionary paroxysm is + necessary." "The day passes," says Desmoulins, "in holding councils at the + Palais-Royal, and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the ends of the + bridges, and on the quays... in pulling off the cockades of but one + color.... These are torn off and trampled under foot with threats of the + lamp post, in case of fresh offense; a soldier who is trying to refasten + his, changes his mind on seeing a hundred sticks raised against him."<a + href="#linknote-1429" name="linknoteref-1429" id="linknoteref-1429"><small>1429</small></a> + These are the premonitory symptoms of a crisis; a huge ulcer has formed in + this feverish, suffering body, and it is about to break. + </p> + <p> + But, as is usually the case, it is a purulent concentration of the most + poisonous passions and the foulest motives. The vilest of men and women + were engaged in it. Money was freely distributed. Was it done by + intriguing subalterns who, playing upon the aspirations of the Duke of + Orleans, extracted millions from him under the pretext of making him + lieutenant-general of the kingdom? Or is it due to the fanatics who, from + the end of April, clubbed together to debauch the soldiery, and stir up a + body of ruffians for the purpose of leveling and destroying everything + around them?<a href="#linknote-1430" name="linknoteref-1430" + id="linknoteref-1430"><small>1430</small></a> There are always + Machiavellis of the highways and of houses of ill-fame ready to excite the + foul and the vile of both sexes. On the first day that the Flemish + regiment goes into garrison at Versailles an attempt is made to corrupt it + with money and women. Sixty abandoned women are sent from Paris for this + purpose, while the French Guards come and treat their new comrades. The + latter have been treated at the Palais-Royal, while three of them, at + Versailles, exclaim, showing some crown pieces of six livres, "What a + pleasure it is to go to Paris! one always comes back with money!" In this + way, resistance is overcome beforehand. As to the attack, women are to be + the advanced guard, because the soldiers will scruple to fire at them; + their ranks, however, will be reinforced by a number of men disguised as + women. On looking closely at them they are easily recognized, + notwithstanding their rouge, by their badly-shaven beards, and by their + voices and gait.<a href="#linknote-1431" name="linknoteref-1431" + id="linknoteref-1431"><small>1431</small></a> No difficulty has been found + in obtaining men and women among the prostitutes of the Palais-Royal and + the military deserters who serve them as bullies. It is probable that the + former lent their lovers the cast-off dresses they had to spare. At night + all will meet again at the common rendezvous, on the benches of the + National Assembly, where they are quite as much at home as in their own + houses.<a href="#linknote-1432" name="linknoteref-1432" + id="linknoteref-1432"><small>1432</small></a>—In any event, the + first band which marches out is of this stamp, displaying the finery and + the gaiety of the profession; "most of them young, dressed in white, with + powdered hair and a sprightly air;" many of them "laughing, singing, and + drinking," as they would do at setting out for a picnic in the country. + Three or four of them are known by name—one brandishing a sword, and + another, the notorious Théroigne. Madeleine Chabry Louison, who is + selected to address the King, is a pretty grisette who sells flowers, and, + no doubt, something else, at the Palais-Royal. Some appear to belong to + the first rank in their calling, and to have tact and the manners of + society—suppose, for instance, that Champfort and Laclos sent their + mistresses. To these must be added washerwomen, beggars, bare-footed + women, and fishwomen, enlisted for several days before and paid + accordingly. This is the first nucleus, and it keeps on growing; for, by + compulsion or consent, the troop incorporates into it, as it passes along, + all the women it encounters—seamstresses, portresses, housekeepers, + and even respectable females, whose dwellings are entered with threats of + cutting off their hair if they do not fall in. To these must be added + vagrants, street-rovers, ruffians and robbers—the lees of Paris, + which accumulate and come to the surface every time agitation occurs: they + are to be found already at the first hour, behind the troop of women at + the Hôtel-de-Ville. Others are to follow during the evening and in the + night. Others are waiting at Versailles. Many, both at Paris and + Versailles, are under pay: one, in a dirty whitish vest, chinks gold and + silver coin in his hand.—Such is the foul scum which, both in front + and in the rear, rolls along with the popular tide; whatever is done to + stem the torrent, it widens out and will leave its mark at every stage of + its overflow. + </p> + <p> + The first troop, consisting of four or five hundred women, begin + operations by forcing the guard of the Hôtel-de-Ville, which is unwilling + to make use of its bayonets. They spread through the rooms and try to burn + all the written documents they can find, declaring that there has been + nothing but scribbling since the Revolution began.<a href="#linknote-1433" + name="linknoteref-1433" id="linknoteref-1433"><small>1433</small></a> A + crowd of men follow after them, bursting open doors, and pillaging the + magazine of arms. Two hundred thousand francs in Treasury notes are stolen + or disappear; several of the ruffians set fire to the building, while + others hang an abbé. The abbé is cut down, and the fire extinguished only + just in time: such are the interludes of the popular drama. In the + meantime, the crowd of women increases on the Place de Grève, always with + the same unceasing cry, "Bread!" and "To Versailles!" One of the + conquerors of the Bastille; the usher Maillard, offers himself as a + leader. He is accepted, and taps his drum; on leaving Paris, he has seven + or eight thousand women with him, and, in addition, some hundreds of men; + by dint of remonstrances, he succeeds in maintaining some kind of order + amongst this rabble as far as Versailles.—But it is a rabble + notwithstanding, and consequently so much brute force, at once anarchical + and imperious. On the one hand, each, and the worst among them, does what + he pleases—which will be quite evident this very evening. On the + other hand, its ponderous mass crushes all authority and overrides all + rules and regulations—which is at once apparent on reaching + Versailles.—Admitted into the Assembly, at first in small numbers, + the women crowd against the door, push in with a rush, fill the galleries, + then the hall, the men along with them, armed with clubs, halberds, and + pikes, all pell-mell, side by side with the deputies, taking possession of + their benches, voting along with them, and gathering about the President, + who, surrounded, threatened, and insulted, finally abandons the position, + while his chair is taken by a woman.<a href="#linknote-1434" + name="linknoteref-1434" id="linknoteref-1434"><small>1434</small></a> A + fishwoman commands in a gallery, and about a hundred women around her + shout or keep silence at her bidding, while she interrupts and abuses the + deputies: + </p> + <p> + "Who is that speaker there? Silence that blabbermouth; he does not know + what he is talking about. The question is how to get bread. Let papa + Mirabeau speak—we want to hear him." + </p> + <p> + A decree on subsistence having been passed, the leaders demand something + in addition; they must be allowed to enter all places where they suspect + any monopolizing to be going on, and the price of "bread must be fixed at + six sous the four pounds, and meat at six sous per pound." + </p> + <p> + "You must not think that we are children to be played with. We are ready + to strike. Do as you are bidden." + </p> + <p> + All their political injunctions emanate from this central idea. And + further: + </p> + <p> + "Send back the Flemish regiment—it is a thousand men more to feed, + and they take bread out of our mouths."—"Punish the aristocrats, who + hinder the bakers from baking." "Down with the skull-cap; the priests are + the cause of our trouble!"—"Monsieur Mounier, why did you advocate + that villainous veto? Beware of the lamp post!" + </p> + <p> + Under this pressure, a deputation of the Assembly, with the President at + its head, sets out on foot, in the mud, through the rain, and watched by a + howling escort of women and men armed with pikes: after five hours of + waiting and entreaty, it wrings from the King, besides the decree on + subsistence, about which there was no difficulty, the acceptance, pure and + simple, of the Declaration of Rights, and his sanction to the + constitutional articles.—Such is the independence of the King and + the Assembly.<a href="#linknote-1435" name="linknoteref-1435" + id="linknoteref-1435"><small>1435</small></a> Thus are the new principles + of justice established, the grand outlines of the Constitution, the + abstract axioms of political truth under the dictatorship of a crowd which + extorts not only blindly, but which is half-conscious of its blindness. + </p> + <p> + "Monsieur le President," some among the women say to Mounier, who returns + with the Royal sanction, "will it be of any real use to us? will it give + poor folks bread in Paris?" + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the scum has been bubbling up around the chateau; and the + abandoned women subsidized in Paris are pursuing their calling.<a + href="#linknote-1436" name="linknoteref-1436" id="linknoteref-1436"><small>1436</small></a> + They slip through into the lines of the regiment drawn on the square, in + spite of the sentinels. Théroigne, in an Amazonian red vest, distributes + money among them. + </p> + <p> + "Side with us," some say to the men; "we shall soon beat the King's + Guards, strip off their fine coats and sell them." + </p> + <p> + Others lie sprawling on the ground, alluring the soldiers, and make such + offers as to lead one of them to exclaim, "We are going to have a jolly + time of it!" Before the day is over, the regiment is seduced; the women + have, according to their own idea, acted for a good motive. When a + political idea finds its way into such heads, instead of ennobling them, + it becomes degraded there; its only effect is to let loose vices which a + remnant of modesty still keeps in subjection, and full play is given to + luxurious or ferocious instincts under cover of the public good.—The + passions, moreover, become intensified through their mutual interaction; + crowds, clamor, disorder, longings, and fasting, end in a state of frenzy, + from which nothing can issue but dizzy madness and rage.—This frenzy + began to show itself on the way. Already, on setting out, a woman had + exclaimed, + </p> + <p> + "We shall bring back the Queen's head on the end of a pike!"<a + href="#linknote-1437" name="linknoteref-1437" id="linknoteref-1437"><small>1437</small></a> + </p> + <p> + On reaching the Sèvres bridge others added, + </p> + <p> + "Let us cut her throat, and make cockades of her entrails!" + </p> + <p> + Rain is falling; they are cold, tired, and hungry, and get nothing to eat + but a bit of bread, distributed at a late hour, and with difficulty, on + the Place d'Armes. One of the bands cuts up a slaughtered horse, roasts + it, and consumes it half raw, after the manner of savages. It is not + surprising that, under the names of patriotism and "justice," savage ideas + spring up in their minds against "members of the National Assembly who are + not with the principles of the people," against "the Bishop of Langres, + Mounier, and the rest." One man in a ragged old red coat declares that "he + must have the head of the Abbé Maury to play nine-pins with." But it is + especially against the Queen, who is a woman, and in sight, that the + feminine imagination is the most aroused. + </p> + <p> + "She alone is the cause of the evils we endure.... she must be killed, and + quartered." —Night advances; there are acts of violence, and + violence engenders violence. + </p> + <p> + "How glad I should be," says one man, "if I could only lay my hand on that + she-devil, and strike off her head on the first curbstone!" + </p> + <p> + Towards morning, some cry out, + </p> + <p> + "Where is that cursed cat? We must eat her heart out... We'll take off her + head, cut her heart out, and fry her liver!" —With the first murders + the appetite for blood has been awakened; the women from Paris say that + "they have brought tubs to carry away the stumps of the Royal Guards," and + at these words others clap their hands. Some of the riffraff of the crowd + examine the rope of the lamp post in the court of the National Assembly, + and judging it not to be sufficiently strong, are desirous of supplying + its place with another "to hang the Archbishop of Paris, Maury, and + d'Espréménil."—This murderous, carnivorous rage penetrates even + among those whose duty it is to maintain order, one of the National Guard + being heard to say that "the body-guards must be killed to the last man, + and their hearts torn out for a breakfast." + </p> + <p> + Finally, towards midnight, the National Guard of Paris arrives; but it + only adds one insurrection to another, for it has likewise mutinied + against its chiefs.<a href="#linknote-1438" name="linknoteref-1438" + id="linknoteref-1438"><small>1438</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "If M. de Lafayette is not disposed to accompany us," says one of the + grenadiers, "we will take an old grenadier for our commander." + </p> + <p> + Having come to this decision, they sought the general at the + Hôtel-de-Ville, and the delegates of six of the companies made their + instructions known to him. + </p> + <p> + "General, we do not believe that you are a traitor, but we think that the + Government is betraying us.... The committee on subsistence is deceiving + us, and must be removed. We want to go to Versailles to exterminate the + body-guard and the Flemish regiment who have trampled on the national + cockade. If the King of France is too feeble to wear his crown, let him + take it off; we will crown his son and things will go better." + </p> + <p> + In vain Lafayette refuses, and harangues them on the Place de Grève; in + vain he resists for hours, now addressing them and now imposing silence. + Armed bands, coming from the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marceau, + swell the crowd; they take aim at him; others prepare the lamp-post. He + then dismounts and endeavors to return to the Hôtel-de-Ville, but his + grenadiers bar the way: + </p> + <p> + "Morbleu, General, you will stay with us; you will not abandon us!" + </p> + <p> + Being their chief it is pretty plain that he must follow them; which is + also the sentiment of the representatives of the commune at the + Hôtel-de-Ville, who send him their authorization, and even the order to + march, "seeing that it is impossible for him to refuse." + </p> + <p> + Fifteen thousand men thus reach Versailles, and in front of and along with + them thousands of ruffians, protected by the darkness. On this side the + National Guard of Versailles, posted around the chateau, together with the + people of Versailles, who bar the way against vehicles, have closed up + every outlet.<a href="#linknote-1439" name="linknoteref-1439" + id="linknoteref-1439"><small>1439</small></a> The King is prisoner in his + own palace, he and his, with his ministers and his court, and with no + defense. For, with his usual optimism, he has confided the outer posts of + the chateau to Lafayette's soldiers, and, through a humanitarian obstinacy + which he is to maintain up to the last,<a href="#linknote-1440" + name="linknoteref-1440" id="linknoteref-1440"><small>1440</small></a> he + has forbidden his own guards to fire on the crowd, so that they are only + there for show. With common right in his favor, the law, and the oath + which Lafayette had just obliged his troops to renew, what could he have + to fear? What could be more effective with the people than trust in them + and prudence? And by playing the sheep one is sure of taming brutes! + </p> + <p> + From five o'clock in the morning they prowl around the palace-railings. + Lafayette, exhausted with fatigue, has taken an hour's repose,<a + href="#linknote-1441" name="linknoteref-1441" id="linknoteref-1441"><small>1441</small></a> + which hour suffices for them.<a href="#linknote-1442" + name="linknoteref-1442" id="linknoteref-1442"><small>1442</small></a> A + populace armed with pikes and clubs, men and women, surrounds a squad of + eighty-eight National Guards, forces them to fire on the King's Guards, + bursts open a door, seizes two of the guards and chops their heads off. + The executioner, who is a studio model, with a heavy beard, stretches out + his blood-stained hands and glories in the act; and so great is the effect + on the National Guard that they move off; through sensibility, in order + not to witness such sights: such is the resistance! In the meantime the + crowd invade the staircases, beat down and trample on the guards they + encounter, and burst open the doors with imprecations against the Queen. + The Queen runs off; just in time, in her underclothes; she takes refuge + with the King and the rest of the royal family, who have in vain + barricaded themselves in the oeil-de-Boeuf, a door of which is broken in: + here they stand, awaiting death, when Lafayette arrives with his + grenadiers and saves all that can be saved—their lives, and nothing + more. For, from the crowd huddled in the marble court the shout rises, "To + Paris with the King!" a command to which the King submits. + </p> + <p> + Now that the great hostage is in their hands, will they deign to accept + the second one? This is doubtful. On the Queen approaching the balcony + with her son and daughter, a howl arises of "No children!" They want to + have her alone in the sights of their guns, and she understands that. At + this moment M. de Lafayette, throwing the shield of his popularity over + her, appears on the balcony at her side and respectfully kisses her hand. + The reaction is instantaneous in this over-excited crowd. Both the men and + especially the women, in such a state of nervous tension, readily jump + from one extreme to another, rage bordering on tears. A portress, who is a + companion of Maillard's,<a href="#linknote-1443" name="linknoteref-1443" + id="linknoteref-1443"><small>1443</small></a> imagines that she hears + Lafayette promise in the Queen's name "to love her people and be as much + attached to them as Jesus Christ to his Church." People sob and embrace + each other; the grenadiers shift their caps to the heads of the + body-guard. Everything will be fine: "the people have won their King + back."—Nothing is to be done now but to rejoice; and the cortege + moves on. The royal family and a hundred deputies, in carriages, form the + center, and then comes the artillery, with a number of women bestriding + the cannons; next, a convoy of flour. Round about are the King's Guards, + each with a National Guard mounted behind him; then comes the National + Guard of Paris, and after them men with pikes and women on foot, on + horseback, in cabs, and on carts; in front is a band bearing two severed + heads on the ends of two poles, which halts at a hairdresser's, in Sèvres, + to have these heads powdered and curled;<a href="#linknote-1444" + name="linknoteref-1444" id="linknoteref-1444"><small>1444</small></a> they + are made to bow by way of salutation, and are daubed all over with cream; + there are jokes and shouts of laughter; the people stop to eat and drink + on the road, and oblige the guards to clink glasses with them; they shout + and fire salvos of musketry; men and women hold each other's hands and + sing and dance about in the mud.—Such is the new fraternity: a + funeral procession of legal and legitimate authorities, a triumph of + brutality over intelligence, a murderous and political Mardi-gras, a + formidable masquerade which, preceded by the insignia of death, drags + along with it the heads of France, the King, the ministers, and the + deputies, that it may constrain them to rule to until according to its + frenzy, that it may hold them under its them pikes until it is pleased to + slaughter them. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—The Government and the nation in the hands of the revolutionary + party. + </h2> + <p> + This time there can be no mistake: the Reign of Terror is fully and firmly + established. On this very day the mob stops a vehicle, in which it hopes + to find M. de Virieu, and declares, on searching it, that "they are + looking for the deputy to massacre him, as well as others of whom they + have a list."<a href="#linknote-1445" name="linknoteref-1445" + id="linknoteref-1445"><small>1445</small></a> Two days afterwards the Abbé + Grégoire tells the National Assembly that not a day passes without + ecclesiastics being insulted in Paris, and pursued with "horrible + threats." Malouet is advised that "as soon as guns are distributed among + the militia, the first use made of them will be to get rid of those + deputies who are bad citizens," and among others of the Abbé Maury. "The + moment I stepped out into the streets," writes Mounier, "I was publicly + followed. It was a crime to be seen in my company. Wherever I happened to + go, along with two or three of my companions, it was stated that an + assembly of aristocrats was forming. I had become such an object of terror + that they threatened to set fire to a country-house where I had passed + twenty-four hours; and, to relieve their minds, a promise had to be given + that neither myself nor my friends should be again received into it." In + one week five or six hundred deputies have their passports<a + href="#linknote-1446" name="linknoteref-1446" id="linknoteref-1446"><small>1446</small></a> + made out, and hold themselves ready to depart. During the following month + one hundred and twenty give in their resignations, or no longer appear in + the Assembly. Mounier, Lally-Tollendal, the Bishop of Langres, and others + besides, quit Paris, and afterwards France. Mallet du Pan writes, "Opinion + now dictates its judgment with steel in hand. Believe or die is the + anathema which vehement spirits pronounce, and this in the name of + Liberty. Moderation has become a crime." After the 7th of October, + Mirabeau says to the Comte de la Marck: + </p> + <p> + "If you have any influence with the King or the Queen, persuade them that + they and France are lost if the royal family does not leave Paris. I am + busy with a plan for getting them away." + </p> + <p> + He prefers everything to the present situation, "even civil war;" for + "war, at least, invigorates the soul," while here, "under the dictatorship + of demagogues, we are being drowned in slime." Given up to itself, Paris, + in three months, "will certainly be a hospital, and, perhaps, a theater of + horrors." Against the rabble and its leaders, it is essential that the + King should at once coalesce "with his people," that he should go to + Rouen, appeal to the provinces, provide a Centre for public opinion, and, + if necessary, resort to armed resistance. Malouet, on his side, declares + that "the Revolution, since the 5th of October, "horrifies all sensible + men, and every party, but that it is complete and irresistible." Thus the + three best minds that are associated with the Revolution—those whose + verified prophecies attest genius or good sense; the only ones who, for + two or three years, and from week to week, have always predicted wisely, + and who have employed reason in their demonstrations—these three, + Mallet du Pan, Mirabeau, Mabuet, agree in their estimate of the event, and + in measuring its consequences. The nation is gliding down a declivity, and + no one possesses the means or the force to arrest it. The King cannot do + it: "undecided and weak beyond all expression, his character resembles + those oiled ivory balls which one vainly strives to keep together."<a + href="#linknote-1447" name="linknoteref-1447" id="linknoteref-1447"><small>1447</small></a> + And as for the Assembly, blinded, violated, and impelled on by the theory + it proclaims, and by the faction which supports it, each of its grand + decrees only renders its fall the more precipitate. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1401" id="linknote-1401"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1401 (<a href="#linknoteref-1401">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, "Mémoires," + II. 195, 242.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1402" id="linknote-1402"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1402 (<a href="#linknoteref-1402">return</a>)<br /> [ Elysée Loustalot, + journalist, editor of the paper "Révolutions de Paris," was a young lawyer + who had shown a natural genius for innovative journalism. He was to die + already in 1790. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1403" id="linknote-1403"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1403 (<a href="#linknoteref-1403">return</a>)<br /> [ Montjoie, ch. LXX, p. + 65.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1404" id="linknote-1404"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1404 (<a href="#linknoteref-1404">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 74, 174, + 242, 261, 282, 345, 392.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1405" id="linknote-1405"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1405 (<a href="#linknoteref-1405">return</a>)<br /> [ Such as domiciliary + visits and arrests apparently made by lunatics. ("Archives de la + Préfecture de Police de Paris.")—And Montjoie, ch. LXX. p.67. + Expedition of the National Guard against imaginary brigands who are + cutting down the crops at Montmorency and the volley fired in the air.—Conquest + of Ile-Adam and Chantilly.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1406" id="linknote-1406"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1406 (<a href="#linknoteref-1406">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 46, 95, + 232, 287, 296.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1407" id="linknote-1407"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1407 (<a href="#linknoteref-1407">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives de la + Préfecture de Police," minutes of the meeting of the section of Butte des + Moulins, October 5, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1408" id="linknote-1408"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1408 (<a href="#linknoteref-1408">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 224.—Dusaulx, + 418, 202, 257, 174, 158. The powder transported was called poudre de + traite (transport); the people understood it as poudre de traître + (traitor). M. de la Salle was near being killed through the addition of an + r. It is he who had taken command of the National Guard on the 13th of + July.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1409" id="linknote-1409"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1409 (<a href="#linknoteref-1409">return</a>)<br /> [ Floquet, VII. 54. + There is the same scene at Granville, in Normandy, on the 16th of October. + A woman had assassinated her husband, while a soldier who was her lover is + her accomplice; the woman was about to be hung and the man broken on the + wheel, when the populace shout, "The nation has the right of pardon," + upset the scaffold, and save the two assassins.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1410" id="linknote-1410"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1410 (<a href="#linknoteref-1410">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 274 + (August 17th).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1411" id="linknote-1411"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1411 (<a href="#linknoteref-1411">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II, 83, 202, + 230, 235, 283, 299.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1412" id="linknote-1412"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1412 (<a href="#linknoteref-1412">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + the number for September 26th.—De Goncourt, p. 111.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1413" id="linknote-1413"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1413 (<a href="#linknoteref-1413">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercier, "Tableau de + Paris," I, 58; X. 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1414" id="linknote-1414"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1414 (<a href="#linknoteref-1414">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. 178.—Buchez + and Roux, II. 311, 316.—Bai11y, II. 104, 174, 207, 246, 257, 282.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1415" id="linknote-1415"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1415 (<a href="#linknoteref-1415">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + September 5th, 1789. Horace Walpole's Letters, September 5, 1789.—M. + de Lafayette, "Mémoires," I. 272. During the week following the 14th of + July, 6,000 soldiers deserted and went over to the people, besides 400 and + 800 Swiss Guards and six battalions of the French Guards, who remain + without officers, and do as they please. Vagabonds from the neighboring + villages flock in, and there are more than "30,000 strangers and vagrants" + in Paris.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1416" id="linknote-1416"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1416 (<a href="#linknoteref-1416">return</a>)<br /> [ Bailly, II. 282. The + crowd of deserters was so great that Lafayette was obliged to place a + guard at the barriers to keep them from entering the city. "Without this + precaution the whole army would have come in."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1417" id="linknote-1417"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1417 (<a href="#linknoteref-1417">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. 103.—De + Lavalette, I. 39.—Bailly, I. 53 (on the lawyers). "It may be said + that the success of the Revolution is due to this class."—Marmontel, + II. 243 "Since the first elections of Paris, in 1789, I remarked," he + says, "this species of restless intriguing men, contending with each other + to be heard, impatient to make themselves prominent....It is well known + what interest this body (the lawyers) had to change Reform into + Revolution, the Monarchy into a Republic; the object was to organize for + itself a perpetual aristocracy."—Buchez and Roux, II. 358 (article + by C. Desmoulins). "In the districts everybody exhausts his lungs and his + time in trying to be president, vice-president, secretary or + vice-secretary"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1418" id="linknote-1418"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1418 (<a href="#linknoteref-1418">return</a>)<br /> [ Eugène Hatin, + "Histoire de la Presse," vol. V. p. 113. "Le Patriote français" by + Brissot, July 28, 1789.—"L'Ami du Peuple," by Marat, September 12, + 1789.—"Annales patriotiques et littéraires," by Carra and Mercier, + October 5, 1789,—"Les Révolutions de Paris," chief editor Loustalot, + July 17th, 1789.—"Le Tribun du peuple," letters by (middle of 1789).—"Révolutions + de France et de Brabant," by C. Desmoulins, November 28, 1789; his "France + libre" (I believe of the month of August, and his "Discours de la + Lanterne" of the month of September).—"The Moniteur" does not make + its appearance until November 24, 1789. In the seventy numbers which + follow, up to February 3, 1790, the debates of the Assembly were + afterwards written out, amplified, and put in a dramatic form. All numbers + anterior to February 3, 1790, are the result of a compilation executed in + the year IV. The narrative part during the first six months of the + Revolution is of no value. The report of the sittings of the Assembly is + more exact, but should be revised sitting by sitting and discourse by + discourse for a detailed history of the National Assembly. The principal + authorities which are really contemporary are, "Le Mercure de France," "Le + Journal de Paris," "Le point de Jour" by Barrère, the "Courrier de + Versailles," by Gorsas, the "Courrier de Provence" by Mirabeau, the + "Journal des Débats et Décrets," the official reports of the National + assembly, the "Bulletin de l'Asemblée Nationale," by Marat, besides the + newspapers above cited for the period following the 14th of July, and the + speeches, which are printed separately.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1419" id="linknote-1419"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1419 (<a href="#linknoteref-1419">return</a>)<br /> [ C. Desmoulins, + letters of September 20th and of subsequent dates. (He quote, a passage + from Lucan in the sense indicated).—Brissot, "Mémoires," passim.—Biography + of Danton by Robinet. (See the testimony of Madame Roland and of Rousselin + de Saint-Albin.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1420" id="linknote-1420"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1420 (<a href="#linknoteref-1420">return</a>)<br /> [ "Discours de la + Lanterne." See the epigraph of the engraving.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1421" id="linknote-1421"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1421 (<a href="#linknoteref-1421">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux; III. + 55; article of Marat, October lst. "Sweep all the suspected men out of the + Hôtel-de-Ville. . . . . Reduce the deputies of the communes to fifty; do + not let them remain in office more than a month or six weeks, and compel + them to transact business only in public."—And II. 412, another + article by Marat.—Ibid. III. 21. An article by Loustalot.—C. + Desmoulins, "Discours de la Lanterne," passim.—Bailly, II. 326.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1422" id="linknote-1422"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1422 (<a href="#linknoteref-1422">return</a>)<br /> [ Mounier, "Des causes + qui ont empêche les Français d'être libre," I. 59.—Lally-Tollendal, + second letter, 104.—Bailly, II. 203.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1423" id="linknote-1423"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1423 (<a href="#linknoteref-1423">return</a>)<br /> [ De Bouillé, 207.—Lally-Tollendal, + ibid, 141, 146.—Mounier, ibid., 41, 60.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1424" id="linknote-1424"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1424 (<a href="#linknoteref-1424">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + October 2, 1790 (article of Mallet du Pan: "I saw it"). Criminal + proceedings at the Châtelet on the events of October 5th and 6th. + Deposition of M. Feydel, a deputy, No. 178.——De Montlosier, i. + 259.—Desmoulins (La Lanterne). "Some members of the communes are + gradually won over by pensions, by plans for making a fortune and by + flattery. Happily, the incorruptible galleries are always on the side of + the patriots. They represent the tribunes of the people seated on a bench + in attendance on the deliberations of the Senate and who had the veto. + They represent the metropolis and, fortunately, it is under the batteries + of the metropolis that the constitution is being framed." (C. Desmoulins, + simple-minded politician, always let the cat out of the bag.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1425" id="linknote-1425"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1425 (<a href="#linknoteref-1425">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure du + Châtelet," Ibid. Deposition of M. Malouet (No. 111). "I received every + day, as well as MM. Lally and Mounier, anonymous letters and lists of + proscriptions on which we were inscribed. These letters announced a prompt + and violent death to every deputy that advocated the authority of the + King."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1426" id="linknote-1426"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1426 (<a href="#linknoteref-1426">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, I. + 368, 376.—-Bailly, II. 326, 341.—Mounier, ibid., 62, 75.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1427" id="linknote-1427"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1427 (<a href="#linknoteref-1427">return</a>)<br /> [ Etienne Dumont, 145.—Correspondence + between Comte de Mirabeau and Comte de la Marck.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1428" id="linknote-1428"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1428 (<a href="#linknoteref-1428">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure criminelle + du Châtelet," Deposition 148.—Buchez and Roux, III. 67, 65. + (Narrative of Desmoulins, article of Loustalot.) Mercure de France, number + for September 5, 1789. "Sunday evening, August 30, at the Palais-Royal, + the expulsion of several deputies of every class was demanded, and + especially some of those from Dauphiny... They spoke of bringing the King + to Paris as well as the Dauphin. All virtuous citizens, every + incorruptible patriot, was exhorted to set out immediately for + Versailles."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1429" id="linknote-1429"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1429 (<a href="#linknoteref-1429">return</a>)<br /> [ These acts of + violence were not reprisals; nothing of the kind took place at the banquet + of the body-guards (October 1st). "Amidst the general joy," says an + eye-witness, "I heard no insults against the National Assembly, nor + against the popular party, nor against anybody. The only cries were 'Vive + le Roi! Vive la Reine! We will defend them to the death!'" (Madame de + Larochejacquelein, p.40.—Ibid. Madame Campan, another eye-witness.)—It + appears to be certain, however, that the younger members of the National + Guard at Versailles turned their cockades so as to be like other people, + and it is also probable that some of the ladies distributed white + cockades. The rest is a story made up before and after the event to + justify the insurrection.—Cf. Lerol, "Histoire de Versailles," II. + 20-107. Ibid. p. 141. "As to that proscription of the national cockade, + all witnesses deny it." The originator of the calumny is Gorsas, editor of + the Courrier de Versailles.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1430" id="linknote-1430"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1430 (<a href="#linknoteref-1430">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 88, 110, 120, 126, 127, 140, 146, 148.—Marmontel, + "Mémoires," a conversation with Champfort, in May, 1789.—Morellet, + "Mémoires," I. 398. (According to the evidence of Garat, Champfort gave + all his savings, 3,000 livres, to defray the expenses of maneuvers of this + description.)—Malouet (II. 2). knew four of the deputies "who took + direct part in this conspiracy."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1431" id="linknote-1431"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1431 (<a href="#linknoteref-1431">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." 1st. On the Flemish soldiers. Depositions 17, 20, 24, 35, + 87, 89, 98.—2nd. On the men disguised as women. Depositions 5, 10, + 14, 44, 49, 59, 60, 110, 120, 139, 145, 146, 148. The prosecutor + designates six of them to be seized.—3rd. On the condition of the + women of the expedition. Depositions 35, 83, 91, 98, 146, and 24.—4th. + On the money distributed. Depositions 49, 56, 71, 82, 110, 126.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1432" id="linknote-1432"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1432 (<a href="#linknoteref-1432">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Deposition 61. "During the night scenes, not very decent, + occurred among these people, which the witness thought it useless to + relate."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1433" id="linknote-1433"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1433 (<a href="#linknoteref-1433">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 35, 44, 81.—Buchez and Roux, III. 120. + (Minutes of the meeting of the Commune, October 5th.) Journal de Paris, + October 12th. A few days after, M. Pic, clerk of the prosecutor, brought + "a package of 100,000 francs which he had saved from the enemies' hands," + and another package of notes was found thrown, in the hubbub, into a + receipt-box.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1434" id="linknote-1434"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1434 (<a href="#linknoteref-1434">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 61, 77, 81, 148, 154.—Dumont, 181.—Mounier, + "Exposé justificatif," and specially "Fait relatif à la dernière + insurrection."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1435" id="linknote-1435"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1435 (<a href="#linknoteref-1435">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Deposition 168. The witness sees on leaving the King's + apartment "several women dressed as fish-wives, one of whom, with a pretty + face, has a paper in her hand, and who exclaims as she holds it up, 'He! + F..., we have forced the guy to sign.' "] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1436" id="linknote-1436"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1436 (<a href="#linknoteref-1436">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 89, 91, 98. "Promising all, even raising their + petticoats before them."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1437" id="linknote-1437"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1437 (<a href="#linknoteref-1437">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet," Depositions 9, 20, 24, 30, 49, 61, 82, 115, 149, 155.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1438" id="linknote-1438"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1438 (<a href="#linknoteref-1438">return</a>)<br /> [ Procédure criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 7, 30, 35, 40.—Cf. Lafayette, "Mémoires," + and Madame Campan, "Mémoires."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1439" id="linknote-1439"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1439 (<a href="#linknoteref-1439">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Deposition 24. A number of butcher-boys run after the + carriages issuing from the Petite-Ecurie shouting out, "Don't let the curs + escape!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1440" id="linknote-1440"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1440 (<a href="#linknoteref-1440">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 101, 91, 89, and 17. M. de Miomandre, a + body-guard, mildly says to the ruffians mounting the staircase: "My + friends, you love your King, and yet you come to annoy him even in his + palace!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1441" id="linknote-1441"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1441 (<a href="#linknoteref-1441">return</a>)<br /> [ Malouet, II. 2. "I + felt no distrust," says Lafayette in 1798; "the people promised to remain + quiet."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1442" id="linknote-1442"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1442 (<a href="#linknoteref-1442">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Chatelet." Depositions 9, 16, 60, 128, 129, 130, 139, 158, 168, 170.—M. + du Repaire, body-guard, being sentry at the railing from two o'clock in + the morning, a man passes his pike through the bars saying, "You + embroidered b. . . , your turn will come before long." M. de Repaire, + "retires within the sentry-box without saying a word to this man, + considering the orders that have been issued not to act."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1443" id="linknote-1443"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1443 (<a href="#linknoteref-1443">return</a>)<br /> [ "Procédure Criminelle + du Châtelet." Depositions 82, 170—Madame Campan. II. 87.—De + Lavalette, I.33.—Cf. Bertrand de Molleville, Mémoires.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1444" id="linknote-1444"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1444 (<a href="#linknoteref-1444">return</a>)<br /> [ Duval, "Souvenirs de + la Terreur," I. 78. (Doubtful in almost everything, but here he is an + eye-witness. He dined opposite the hair-dresser's, near the railing of the + Park of Saint-Cloud.)—M. de Lally-Tollendal's second letter to a + friend. "At the moment the King entered his capital with two bishops of + his council with him in the carriage, the cry was heard, 'Off to the lamp + post with the bishops!'"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1445" id="linknote-1445"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1445 (<a href="#linknoteref-1445">return</a>)<br /> [ De Montlosier, I. + 303.—Moniteur, sessions of the 8th, 9th, and 10th of October.—Malouet, + II. 9, 10, 20.—Mounier, Recherches sur les Causes, etc., and + "Addresse aux Dauphinois."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1446" id="linknote-1446"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1446 (<a href="#linknoteref-1446">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. 346. + (On the 9th of October, 300 members have already taken their passports.) + Mercure de France, No. of the 17th October. Correspondence of Mirabeau and + M. de la Marck, I. 116, 126, 364.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1447" id="linknote-1447"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1447 (<a href="#linknoteref-1447">return</a>)<br /> [ Correspondence of + Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I.175. (The words of Monsieur to M. de la + Marck.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK SECOND. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, AND THE RESULT OF ITS LABORS. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I.—CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THE FRAMING OF GOOD LAWS. + </h2> + <p> + Among the most difficult undertakings in this world is the formulation of + a national constitution, especially if this is to be a complete and + comprehensive work. To replace the old structures inside which a great + people has lived by a new, different, appropriate and durable set of laws, + to apply a mold of one hundred thousand compartments on to the life of + twenty-six million people, to construct it so harmoniously, adapt it so + well, so closely, with such an exact appreciation of their needs and their + faculties, that they enter it of themselves and move about it without + collisions, and that their spontaneous activity should at once find the + ease of familiar routine,—is an extraordinary undertaking and + probably beyond the powers of the human mind. In any event, the mind + requires all its powers to carry the undertaking out, and it cannot + protect itself carefully enough against all sources of disturbance and + error. An Assembly, especially a Constituent Assembly, requires, + outwardly, security and independence, inwardly, silence and order, and + generally, calmness, good sense, practical ability and discipline under + competent and recognized leaders. Do we find anything of all this in the + Constituent Assembly? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—These conditions absent in the Assembly + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Causes of disorder and irrationality—The place of meeting + —The large number of deputies—Interference of the galleries + —Rules of procedure wanting, defective, or disregarded.—The + parliamentary leaders—Susceptibility and over-excitement of + the Assembly—Its paroxysms of enthusiasm.—Its tendency to + emotion.—It encourages theatrical display—Changes which + these displays introduce in its good intentions. +</pre> + <p> + We have only to look at it outwardly to have some doubts about it. At + Versailles, and then at Paris, the sessions are held in an immense hall + capable of seating 2,000 persons, in which the most powerful voice must be + strained in order to be heard. It is not calculated for the moderate tone + suitable for the discussion of business; the speaker is obliged to shout, + and the strain on the voice communicates itself to the mind; the place + itself suggests declamation; and this all the more readily because the + assemblage consists of 1,200, that is to say, a crowd, and almost a mob. + 'At the present day (1877), in our assemblies of five or six hundred + deputies, there are constant interruptions and an incessant buzz; there is + nothing so rare as self-control, and the firm resolve to give an hour's + attention to a discourse opposed to the opinions of the hearers.—What + can be done here to compel silence and patience? Arthur Young on different + occasions sees "a hundred members on the floor at once," shouting and + gesticulating. "Gentlemen, you are killing me!" says Bailly, one day, + sinking with exhaustion. Another president exclaims in despair, "Two + hundred speaking at the same time cannot be heard; will you make it + impossible then to restore order in the Assembly?" The rumbling, + discordant din is further increased by the uproar of the galleries.<a + href="#linknote-2101" name="linknoteref-2101" id="linknoteref-2101"><small>2101</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "In the British Parliament," writes Mallet du Pan, "I saw the galleries + cleared in a trice because the Duchess of Gordon happened unintentionally + to laugh too loud." + </p> + <p> + Here, the thronging crowd of spectators, stringers, delegates from the + Palais-Royal, soldiers disguised as citizens, and prostitutes collected + and marshaled, applaud, clap their hands, stamp and hoot, at their + pleasure. This is carried to so great an extent that M. de Montlosier + ironically proposes "to give the galleries a voice in the deliberations."<a + href="#linknote-2102" name="linknoteref-2102" id="linknoteref-2102"><small>2102</small></a> + Another member wishes to know whether the representatives are so many + actors, whom the nation sends there to endure the hisses of the Paris + public. Interruptions, in fact, take place as in a theater, and, + frequently, if the members do not give satisfaction, they are forced to + desist. On the other hand, the deputies who are popular with this + energetic audience, on which they keep and eye, are actors before the + footlights: they involuntarily yield to its influence, and exaggerate + their ideas as well as their words to be in unison with it. Tumult and + violence, under such circumstances, become a matter of course, and the + chances of an Assembly acting wisely are diminished by one-half; on + becoming a club of agitators, it ceases to be a conclave of legislators. + </p> + <p> + Let us enter and see how this one proceeds. Thus encumbered, thus + surrounded and agitated, does it take at least those precautions without + which no assembly of men can govern itself. When several hundred persons + assemble together for deliberation, it is evident that some sort of an + internal police is necessary; first of all, some code of accepted usage, + some written precedents, by which its acts may be prepared and defined, + considered in detail, and properly passed. The best of these codes it + ready to hand: at the request of Mirabeau, Romilly has sent over the + standing orders of the English House of Commons.<a href="#linknote-2103" + name="linknoteref-2103" id="linknoteref-2103"><small>2103</small></a> But + with the presumption of novices, they pay no attention to this code; they + imagine it is needless for them; they will borrow nothing from foreigners; + they accord no authority to experience, and, not content with rejecting + the forms it prescribes, "it is with difficulty they can be made to follow + any rule whatever." They leave the field open to the impulsiveness of + individuals; any kind of influence, even that of a deputy, even of one + elected by themselves, is suspected by them; hence their choice of a new + president every fortnight.—They submit to no constraint or control, + neither to the legal authority of a parliamentary code, nor to the moral + authority of parliamentary chiefs. They are without any such; they are not + organized in parties; neither on one side nor on the other is a recognized + leader found who fixes the time, arranges the debate, draws up the motion, + assigns parts, and gives the rein to or restrains his supporters. Mirabeau + is the only one capable of obtaining this ascendancy; but, on the opening + of the Assembly, he is discredited by the notoriety of his vices, and, + towards the last, is compromised by his connections with the Court. No + other is of sufficient eminence to have any influence; there is too much + of average and too little of superior talent.—Their self-esteem is, + moreover, as yet too strong to allow any concessions. Each of these + improvised legislators has come satisfied with his own system, and to + submit to a leader to whom he would entrust his political conscience, to + make of him what three out of four of these deputies should be, a voting + machine, would require an apprehension of danger, some painful experience, + an enforced surrender which he is far from realizing.<a + href="#linknote-2104" name="linknoteref-2104" id="linknoteref-2104"><small>2104</small></a> + For this reason, save in the violent party, each acts as his own chief, + according to the impulse of the moment, and the confusion may be imagined. + Strangers who witness it, lift their hands in pity and astonishment. "They + discuss nothing in their Assembly," writes Gouverneur Morris,<a + href="#linknote-2105" name="linknoteref-2105" id="linknoteref-2105"><small>2105</small></a> + "One large half of the time is spent in hallowing and bawling.... Each Man + permitted to speak delivers the Result of his Lubrications," amidst this + noise, taking his turn as inscribed, without replying to his predecessor, + or being replied to by his successor, without ever meeting argument by + argument; so that while the firing is interminable, "all their shots are + fired in the air." Before this "frightful clatter" can be reported, the + papers of the day are obliged to make all sorts of excisions, to prune + away "nonsense," and reduce the "inflated and bombastic style." Chatter + and clamor, that is the whole substance of most of these famous sittings. + </p> + <p> + "You would hear," says a journalist, "more yells than speeches; the + sittings seemed more likely to end in fights than in decrees... . Twenty + times I said to myself, on leaving, that if anything could arrest and turn + the tide of the Revolution, it would be a picture of these meetings traced + without caution or adaptation... All my efforts were therefore directed to + represent the truth, without rendering it repulsive. Out of what had been + merely a row, I concocted a scene... I gave all the sentiments, but not + always in the same words. I translated their yells into words, their + furious gestures into attitudes, and when I could not inspire esteem, I + endeavored to rouse the emotions." + </p> + <p> + There is no remedy for this evil; for, besides the absence of discipline, + there is an inward and fundamental cause for the disorder. These people + are too susceptible. They are Frenchmen, and Frenchmen of the eighteenth + century; brought up in the amenities of the utmost refinement, accustomed + to deferential manners, to constant kind attentions and mutual + obligations, so thoroughly imbued with the instinct of good breeding that + their conversation seems almost insipid to strangers.<a + href="#linknote-2106" name="linknoteref-2106" id="linknoteref-2106"><small>2106</small></a>—And + suddenly they find themselves on the thorny soil of politics, exposed to + insulting debates, flat contradictions, venomous denunciation, constant + detraction and open invective; engaged in a battle in which every species + of weapon peculiar to a parliamentary life is employed, and in which the + hardiest veterans are scarcely able to keep cool. Judge of the effect of + all this on inexperienced, highly strung nerves, on men of the world + accustomed to the accommodations and amiabilities of universal urbanity. + They are at once beside themselves.—And all the more so because they + never anticipated a battle; but, on the contrary, a festival, a grand and + charming idyll, in which everybody, hand in hand, would assemble in tears + around the throne and save the country amid mutual embraces. Necker + himself arranges, like a theater, the chamber in which the sessions of the + Assembly are to be held.<a href="#linknote-2107" name="linknoteref-2107" + id="linknoteref-2107"><small>2107</small></a> "He was not disposed to + regard the Assemblies of the States-General as anything but a peaceful, + imposing, solemn, august spectacle, which the people would enjoy;" and + when the idyll suddenly changes into a drama, he is so frightened that it + seems to him as if a landslide had occurred that threatened, during the + night, to break down the framework of the building.—At the time of + the meeting of the States-General, everybody is delighted; all imagine + that they are about to enter the promised land. During the procession of + the 4th of May, + </p> + <p> + "tears of joy," says the Marquis de Ferrières, "filled my eyes... . In a + state of sweet rapture I beheld France supported by Religion" exhorting us + all to concord. "The sacred ceremonies, the music, the incense, the + priests in their sacrificial robes, that dais, that orb radiant with + precious stones. .. I called to my mind the words of the prophet... . My + God, my country, and my countrymen, all were one with myself!" + </p> + <p> + Such emotions repeatedly explode in the course of the session, and + resulted in the passage of laws which no one could have imagined. + </p> + <p> + "Sometimes,"<a href="#linknote-2108" name="linknoteref-2108" + id="linknoteref-2108"><small>2108</small></a> writes the American + ambassador, "a speaker gets up in the midst of a deliberation, makes a + fine discourse on a different subject, and closes with a nice little + resolution which is carried with a hurrah. Thus, in considering the plan + of a national bank proposed by M. Necker, one of them took it into his + head to move that every member should give his silver buckles, which was + agreed to at once, and the honorable mover laid his upon the table, after + which the business went on again." + </p> + <p> + Thus, over-excited, they do not know in the morning what they will do in + the afternoon, and they are at the mercy of every surprise. When they are + seized with these fits of enthusiasm, infatuation spreads over all the + benches; prudence gives way, all foresight disappears and every objection + is stifled. During the night of the 4th of August,<a href="#linknote-2109" + name="linknoteref-2109" id="linknoteref-2109"><small>2109</small></a> + "nobody is master of himself. The Assembly presents the spectacle of an + inebriated crowd in a shop of valuable furniture, breaking and smashing at + will whatever they can lay their hands on." + </p> + <p> + "That which would have required a year of care and reflection," says a + competent foreigner, "was proposed, deliberated over, and passed by + general acclamation. The abolition of feudal rights, of titles, of the + privileges of the provinces, three articles which alone embraced a whole + system of jurisprudence and statesmanship, were decided with ten or twelve + other measures in less time than is required in the English Parliament for + the first reading of an important bill." + </p> + <p> + "Such are our Frenchmen," says Mirabeau again, "they spend a month in + disputes about syllables, and overthrow, in a single night, the whole + established system of the Monarchy!"<a href="#linknote-2110" + name="linknoteref-2110" id="linknoteref-2110"><small>2110</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The truth is, they display the nervousness of women, and, from one end of + the Revolution to the other, this excitability keeps on increasing. + </p> + <p> + Not only are they excited, but the pitch of excitement must be maintained, + and, like the drunkard who, once stimulated, has recourse again to strong + waters, one would say that they carefully try to expel the last remnants + of calmness and common sense from their brains. They delight in pompous + phrases, in high-sounding rhetoric, in declamatory sentimental strokes of + eloquence: this is the style of nearly all their speeches, and so strong + is their taste, they are not satisfied with the orations made amongst + themselves. Lally and Necker, having made "affecting and sublime" speeches + at the Hôtel-de-Ville, the Assembly wish them to be repeated before them:<a + href="#linknote-2111" name="linknoteref-2111" id="linknoteref-2111"><small>2111</small></a> + this being the heart of France, it is proper for it to answer to the noble + emotions of all Frenchmen. Let this heart throb on, and as strongly as + possible, for that is its office, and day by day it receives fresh + impulses. Almost all sittings begin with the reading of flattering + addresses or of threatening denunciations. The petitioners frequently + appear in person, and read their enthusiastic effusions, their imperious + advice, their doctrines of dissolution. To-day it is Danton, in the name + of Paris, with his bull visage and his voice that seems a tocsin of + insurrection; to-morrow, the vanquishers of the Bastille, or some other + troop, with a band of music which continues playing even into the hall. + The meeting is not a conference for business, but a patriotic opera, where + the eclogue, the melodrama, and sometimes the masquerade, mingle with the + cheers and the clapping of hands.<a href="#linknote-2112" + name="linknoteref-2112" id="linknoteref-2112"><small>2112</small></a>—A + serf of the Jura is brought to the bar of the Assembly aged one hundred + and twenty years, and one of the members of the cortège, "M. Bourbon de la + Crosnière, director of a patriotic school, asks permission to take charge + of an honorable old man, that he may be waited on by the young people of + all ranks, and especially by the children of those whose fathers were + killed in the attack on the Bastille." <a href="#linknote-2113" + name="linknoteref-2113" id="linknoteref-2113"><small>2113</small></a> + Great is the hubbub and excitement. The scene seems to be in imitation of + Berquin,<a href="#linknote-2114" name="linknoteref-2114" + id="linknoteref-2114"><small>2114</small></a> with the additional + complication of a mercenary consideration. + </p> + <p> + But small matters are not closely looked into, and the Assembly, under the + pressure of the galleries, stoops to shows, such as are held at fairs. + Sixty vagabonds who are paid twelve francs a head, in the costumes of + Spaniards, Dutchmen, Turks, Arabs, Tripolitans, Persians, Hindus, Mongols, + and Chinese, conducted by the Prussian Anacharsis Clootz, enter, under the + title of Ambassadors of the Human Race, to declaim against tyrants, and + they are admitted to the honors of the sitting. On this occasion the + masquerade is a stroke devised to hasten and extort the abolition of + nobility.<a href="#linknote-2115" name="linknoteref-2115" + id="linknoteref-2115"><small>2115</small></a> At other times, there is + little or no object in it; its ridiculousness is inexpressible, for the + farce is played out as seriously and earnestly as in a village award of + prizes. For three days, the children who have taken their first communion + before the constitutional bishop have been promenaded through the streets + of Paris; at the Jacobin club they recite the nonsense they have committed + to memory; and, on the fourth day, admitted to the bar of the Assembly, + their spokesman, a poor little thing of twelve years, repeats the + parrot-like tirade. He winds up with the accustomed oath, upon which all + the others cry out in their piping, shrill voices, "We swear!" As a + climax, the President, Trejlhard, a sober lawyer, replies to the little + gamins with perfect gravity in a similar strain, employing metaphors, + personifications, and everything else belonging to the stock-in-trade of a + pedant on his platform: + </p> + <p> + "You merit a share in the glory of the founders of liberty, prepared as + you are to shed your blood in her behalf." + </p> + <p> + Immense applause from the "left" and the galleries, and a decree ordering + the speeches of both president and children to be printed. The children, + probably, would rather have gone out to play; but, willingly or + unwillingly, they receive or endure the honors of the sitting.<a + href="#linknote-2116" name="linknoteref-2116" id="linknoteref-2116"><small>2116</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Such are the tricks of the stage and of the platform by which the managers + here move their political puppets. Emotional susceptibility, once + recognized as a legitimate force, thus becomes an instrument of intrigue + and constraint. The Assembly, having accepted theatrical exhibitions when + these were sincere and earnest, is obliged to tolerate them when they + become mere sham and buffoonery. At this vast national banquet, over which + it meant to preside, and to which, throwing the doors wide open, it + invited all France, its first intoxication was due to wine of a noble + quality; but it has touched glasses with the populace, and by degrees, + under the pressure of its associates, it has descended to adulterated and + burning drinks, to a grotesque unwholesome inebriety which is all the more + grotesque and unwholesome, because it persists in believing itself to be + reason. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—Inadequacy of its information. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Its composition—The social standing and culture of the + larger number—Their incapacity. Their presumption + —Fruitless advice of competent men.—Deductive politics + —Parties—The minority; its faults—The majority; its + dogmatism. +</pre> + <p> + If reason could only resume its empire during the lucid intervals! But + reason must exist before it can govern, and in no French Assembly, except + the two following this, have there ever been fewer political intellects.—Strictly + speaking, with careful search, there could undoubtedly be found in France, + in 1789, five or six hundred experienced men, such as the intendants and + military commanders of every province; next to these the prelates, + administrators of large dioceses the members of the local "parlements," + whose courts gave them influence, and who, besides judicial functions, + possessed a portion of administrative power; and finally, the principal + members of the Provincial Assemblies, all of them influential and sensible + people who had exercised control over men and affairs, at once humane, + liberal, moderate, and capable of understanding the difficulty, as well as + the necessity, of a great reform; indeed, their correspondence, full of + facts, stated with precision and judgment, when compared with the + doctrinaire rubbish of the Assembly, presents the strongest possible + contrast.—But most of these lights remain under a bushel; only a few + of them get into the Assembly; these burn without illuminating, and are + soon extinguished in the tempest.' I. The venerable Machault is not there, + nor Malesherbes; there are none of the old ministers or the marshals of + France. Not one of the intendants is there, except Malouet, and by the + superiority of this man, the most judicious of the Assembly, one can judge + the services which his colleagues would have rendered. Out of two hundred + and ninety-one members of the clergy,<a href="#linknote-2117" + name="linknoteref-2117" id="linknoteref-2117"><small>2117</small></a> + there are indeed forty-eight bishops or archbishops and thirty-five abbots + or canons, but, being prelates and with large endowments, they excite the + envy of their order, and are generals without any soldiers. We have the + same spectacle among the nobles. Most of them, the gentry of the + provinces, have been elected in opposition to the grandees of the Court. + Moreover, neither the grandees of the Court, devoted to worldly pursuits, + nor the gentry of the provinces, confined to private life, are practically + familiar with public affairs. A small group among them, twenty-eight + magistrates and about thirty superior officials who have held command or + have been connected with the administration, probably have some idea of + the peril of society; but it is precisely for this reason that they seem + to be behind the age and remain without influence.—In the + Third-Estate, out of five hundred and seventy-seven members, only ten have + exercised any important functions, those of intendant, councillor of + state, receiver-general, lieutenant of police, director of the mint, and + others of the same category. The great majority is composed of unknown + lawyers and people occupying inferior positions in the profession, + notaries, royal attorneys, register commissaries, judges and assessors of; + the présidial, bailiffs and lieutenants of the bailiwick, simple + practitioners confined from their youth to the narrow circle of an + inferior jurisdiction or to a routine of scribbling, with no escape but + philosophical excursions in imaginary space under the guidance of Rousseau + and Raynal. There are three hundred and seventy-three of this class, to + whom may be added thirty-eight farmers and husbandmen, fifteen physicians, + and, among the manufacturers, merchants, and capitalists, some fifty or + sixty who are their equals in education and in political capacity. + Scarcely one hundred and fifty proprietors are here from the middle class.<a + href="#linknote-2118" name="linknoteref-2118" id="linknoteref-2118"><small>2118</small></a> + To these four hundred and fifty deputies, whose condition, education, + instruction, and mental range qualified them for being good clerks, + prominent men in a commune, honorable fathers of a family, or, at best, + provincial academicians, add two hundred and eight curés, their equals; + this makes six hundred and fifty out of eleven hundred and eighteen + deputies, forming a positive majority, which, again, is augmented by about + fifty philosophical nobles, leaving out the weak who follow the current, + and the ambitious who range themselves on the strong side.—We may + divine what a chamber thus made up can do, and those who are familiar with + such matters prophesy what it will do.<a href="#linknote-2119" + name="linknoteref-2119" id="linknoteref-2119"><small>2119</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "There are some able men in the National Assembly," writes the American + minister, "yet the best heads among them would not be injured by + experience, and, unfortunately, there are great numbers who, with much + imagination, have little knowledge, judgment, or reflection." + </p> + <p> + It would be just as sensible to select eleven hundred notables from an + inland province and entrust them to the repair of an old frigate. They + would conscientiously break the vessel up, and the frigate they would + construct in its place would founder before it left port. + </p> + <p> + If they would only consult the pilots and professional shipbuilders!—There + are several of such to be found around them, whom they cannot suspect, for + most of them are foreigners, born in free countries, impartial, + sympathetic, and, what is more, unanimous. The Minister of the United + States writes, two months before the convocation of the States-General:<a + href="#linknote-2120" name="linknoteref-2120" id="linknoteref-2120"><small>2120</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "I, a republican, and just, as it were, emerged from that Assembly which + has formed one of the most republican of republican constitutions,—I + preach incessantly respect for the prince, attention to the rights of the + nobility, and moderation, not only in the object, but also in the pursuit + of it." + </p> + <p> + Jefferson, a democrat and radical, expresses himself no differently. At + the time of the oath of the Tennis Court, he redoubles his efforts to + induce Lafayette and other patriots to make some arrangement with the King + to secure freedom of the press, religious, liberty, trial by jury, the + habeas corpus, and a national legislature,—things which he could + certainly be made to adopt,—and then to retire into private life, + and let these institutions act upon the condition of the people until they + had rendered it capable of further progress, with the assurance that there + would be no lack of opportunity for them to obtain still more. + </p> + <p> + "This was all," he continues, "that I thought your countrymen able to bear + soberly and usefully." + </p> + <p> + Arthur Young, who studies the moral life of France so conscientiously, and + who is so severe in depicting old abuses, cannot comprehend the conduct of + the Commons. + </p> + <p> + "To set aside practice for theory... in establishing the interests of a + great kingdom, in securing freedom to 25,000,000 of people, seems to me + the very acme of imprudence, the very quintessence of insanity." + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly, now that the Assembly is all-powerful, it is to be hoped that + it will be reasonable: + </p> + <p> + "I will not allow myself to believe for a moment that the representatives + of the people can ever so far forget their duty to the French nation, to + humanity, and their own fame, as to suffer any inordinate and + impracticable views—any visionary or theoretic systems—... to + turn aside their exertions from that security which is in their hands, to + place on the chance and hazard of public commotion and civil war the + invaluable blessings which are certainly in their power. I will not + conceive it possible that men who have eternal fame within their grasp + will place the rich inheritance on the cast of a die, and, losing the + venture, be damned among the worst and most profligate adventurers that + ever disgraced humanity." + </p> + <p> + As their plan becomes more definite the remonstrances become more decided, + and all the expert judges point out to them the importance of the wheels + which they are willfully breaking. + </p> + <p> + "As they have<a href="#linknote-2121" name="linknoteref-2121" + id="linknoteref-2121"><small>2121</small></a> hitherto felt severely the + authority exercised over them in the name of their princes, every + limitation of that authority seems to them desirable. Never having felt + the evils of too weak an executive, the disorders to be apprehended from + anarchy make as yet no impression"—"They want an American + Constitution,<a href="#linknote-2122" name="linknoteref-2122" + id="linknoteref-2122"><small>2122</small></a> but with a King instead of a + President, without reflecting they have no American citizens to support + that Constitution... If they have the good sense to give the nobles, as + nobles, some portion of the national power, this free constitution will + probably last, But otherwise it will degenerate either into a pure + monarchy, or a vast republic, or a democracy. Will the latter last? I + doubt it. I am sure that it will not, unless the whole nation is changed." + </p> + <p> + A little later, when they renounce a parliamentary monarchy to put in its + place "a royal democracy," it is at once explained to them that such an + institution applied to France can produce nothing but anarchy, and finally + end in despotism. + </p> + <p> + "Nowhere<a href="#linknote-2123" name="linknoteref-2123" + id="linknoteref-2123"><small>2123</small></a> has liberty proved to be + stable without a sacrifice of its excesses, without some barrier to its + own omnipotence... . Under this miserable government... the people, soon + weary of storms, and abandoned without legal protection to their seducers + or to their oppressors, will shatter the helm, or hand it over to some + audacious hand that stands ready to seize it." + </p> + <p> + Events occur from month to month in fulfillment of these predictions, and + the predictions grow gloomier and more gloomy. It is a flock of wild + birds:<a href="#linknote-2124" name="linknoteref-2124" + id="linknoteref-2124"><small>2124</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "It is very difficult to guess whereabouts the flock will settle when it + flies so wild... . This unhappy country, bewildered in the pursuit of + metaphysical whims, presents to our moral view a mighty ruin. The + Assembly, at once master and slave, new in power, wild in theory, raw in + practice, engrossing all functions without being able to exercise any, has + freed that fierce, ferocious people from every restraint of religion and + respect... . Such a state of things cannot last... The glorious + opportunity is lost and for this time, at least, the Revolution has + failed." + </p> + <p> + We see, from the replies of Washington, that he is of the same opinion. On + the other side of the Channel, Pitt, the ablest practician, and Burke, the + ablest theorist, of political liberty, express the same judgment. Pitt, + after 1789, declares that the French have overleaped freedom. After 1790, + Burke, in a work which is a prophecy as well as a masterpiece, points to + military dictatorship as the termination of the Revolution, "the most + completely arbitrary power that has ever appeared on earth." Nothing is of + any effect. With the exception of the small powerless group around Malouet + and Mounier, the warnings of Morris, Jefferson, Romilly, Dumont, Mallet du + Pan, Arthur Young, Pitt and Burke, all of them men who have experience of + free institutions, are received with indifference or repelled with + disdain. Not only are our new politicians incapable, but they think + themselves the contrary, and their incompetence is aggravated by their + infatuation. + </p> + <p> + "I often used to say, "writes Dumont,<a href="#linknote-2125" + name="linknoteref-2125" id="linknoteref-2125"><small>2125</small></a> + "that if a hundred persons were stopped at haphazard in the streets of + London, and a hundred in the streets of Paris, and a proposal were made to + them to take charge of the Government, ninety-nine would accept it in + Paris and ninety-nine would refuse it in London... The Frenchman thinks + that all difficulties can be overcome by a little quickness of wit. + Mirabeau accepted the post of reporter to the Committee on Mines without + having the slightest tincture of knowledge on the subject." + </p> + <p> + In short, most of them enter politics "like the gentleman who, on being + asked if he knew how to play on the harpsichord, replied, 'I cannot tell, + I never tried, but I will see.'" + </p> + <p> + "The Assembly had so high an opinion of itself, especially the left side + of it, that it would willingly have undertaken the framing of the Code of + Laws for all nations... Never has so many men been seen together, fancying + that they were all legislators, and that they were there to correct all + the errors of the past, to remedy all mistakes of the human mind, and + ensure the happiness of all ages to come. Doubt had no place in their + minds, and infallibility always presided over their contradictory + decrees."— + </p> + <p> + This is because they have a theory and because, according to their notion, + this theory renders special knowledge unnecessary. Herein they are + thoroughly sincere, and it is of set purpose that they reverse all + ordinary modes of procedure. Up to this time a constitution used to be + organized or repaired like a ship. Experiments were made from time to + time, or a model was taken from vessels in the neighborhood; the first aim + was to make the ship sail; its construction was subordinated to its work; + it was fashioned in this or that way according to the materials on hand; a + beginning was made by examining these materials, and trying to estimate + their rigidity, weight, and strength.—All this is reactionary; the + age of Reason has come and the Assembly is too enlightened to drag on in a + rut. In conformity with the fashion of the time it works by deduction, + after the method of Rousseau, according to an abstract notion of right, of + the State and of the social compact.<a href="#linknote-2126" + name="linknoteref-2126" id="linknoteref-2126"><small>2126</small></a> + According to this process, by virtue of political geometry alone, they + shall have the perfect vessel and since it perfect it follows that it will + sail, and that much better than any empirical craft.—They legislate + according to this principle, and one may imagine the nature of their + discussions. There are no convincing facts, no pointed arguments; nobody + would ever imagine that the speakers were gathered together to conduct + real business. Through speech after speech, strings of hollow abstractions + are endlessly renewed as in a meeting of students in rhetoric for the + purpose of practice, or in a society of old bookworms for their own + amusement. On the question of the veto "each orator in turn, armed with + his portfolio, reads a dissertation which has no bearing whatever" on the + preceding one, which makes a "sort of academical session,"<a + href="#linknote-2127" name="linknoteref-2127" id="linknoteref-2127"><small>2127</small></a> + a succession of pamphlets fresh every morning for several days. On the + question of the Rights of Man fifty-four speakers are placed on the list. + </p> + <p> + "I remember," says Dumont, "that long discussion, which lasted for weeks, + as a period of deadly boredom,—vain disputes over words, a + metaphysical jumble, and most tedious babble; the Assembly was turned into + a Sorbonne lecture-room," and all this while chateaux were burning, while + town-halls were being sacked, and courts dared no longer hold assize, + while the distribution of wheat was stopped, and while society was in + course of dissolution. In the same manner the theologians of the Easter + Roman Empire kept up their wrangles about the uncreated light of Mount + Tabor while Mahomet II was battering the walls of Constantinople with his + cannon.—Ours, of course, are another sort of men, juvenile in + feeling, sincere, enthusiastic, even generous, and further, more devoted, + laborious, and in some cases endowed with rare talent. But neither zeal, + nor labor, nor talent are of any use when not employed in the service of a + sound idea; and if in the service of a false one, the greater they are the + more mischief they do. + </p> + <p> + Towards the end of the year 1789, there can be not doubt of this; and the + parties now formed reveal their presumption, improvidence, incapacity, and + obstinacy. "This Assembly," writes the American ambassador,<a + href="#linknote-2128" name="linknoteref-2128" id="linknoteref-2128"><small>2128</small></a> + "may be divided into three parties;— + </p> + <p> + one called the aristocrats, consists of the high clergy, the parliamentary + judges, and such of the nobility as think they ought to form a separate + order." This is the party which offers resistance to follies and errors, + but with follies and errors almost equally great. In the beginning "the + prelates,<a href="#linknote-2129" name="linknoteref-2129" + id="linknoteref-2129"><small>2129</small></a> instead of conciliating the + curés, kept them at a humiliating distance, affecting distinctions, + exacting respect," and, in their own chamber, "ranging themselves apart on + separate benches." The nobles, on the other hand, the more to alienate the + commons, began by charging these with, "revolt, treachery, and treason," + and by demanding the use of military force against them. Now that the + victorious Third-Estate has again overcome them and overwhelms them with + numbers, they become still more maladroit, and conduct the defense much + less efficiently than the attack. "In the Assembly," says one of them, + "they do not listen, but laugh and talk aloud;" they take pains to + embitter their adversaries and the galleries by their impertinence. "They + leave the chamber when the President puts the question and invite the + deputies of their party to follow them, or cry out to them not to take + part in the deliberation: through this desertion, the clubbists become the + majority, and decree whatever they please." It is in this way that the + appointment of judges and bishops is withdrawn from the King and assigned + to the people. Again, after the return from Varennes, when the Assembly + finds out that the result of its labors is impracticable and wants to make + it less democratic, the whole of the right side refuses to share in the + debates, and, what is worse, votes with the revolutionaries to exclude the + members of the Constituent from the Legislative Assembly. Thus, not only + does it abandon its own cause, but it commits self-destruction, and its + desertion ends in suicide.— + </p> + <p> + A second party remains, "the middle party,"<a href="#linknote-2130" + name="linknoteref-2130" id="linknoteref-2130"><small>2130</small></a> + which consists of well-intentioned people from every class, sincere + partisans of a good government; but, unfortunately, they have acquired + their ideas of government from books, and are admirable on paper. But as + it happens that the men who live in the world are very different from + imaginary men who dwell in the heads of philosophers, it is not to be + wondered at if the systems taken out of books are fit for nothing but to + be upset by another book. Intellects of this stamp are the natural prey of + utopians. Lacking the ballast of experience they are carried away by pure + logic and serve to enlarge the flock of theorists.—The latter form + the third party, which is called the "enragés (the wild men), and who, at + the expiration of six months, find themselves "the most numerous of all." + </p> + <p> + "It is composed," says Morris, "of that class which in America is known by + the name of pettifogging lawyers, together with a host of curates and many + of those persons who in all revolutions throng to the standard of change + because they are not well.<a href="#linknote-2131" name="linknoteref-2131" + id="linknoteref-2131"><small>2131</small></a> This last party is in close + alliance with the populace and derives from this circumstance very great + authority." + </p> + <p> + All powerful passions are on its side, not merely the irritation of the + people tormented by misery and suspicion, not merely the ambition and + self-esteem of the bourgeois, in revolt against the ancient régime, but + also the inveterate bitterness and fixed ideas of so many suffering minds + and so many factious intellects, Protestants, Jansenists, economists, + philosophers, men who, like Fréteau, Rabout-Saint-Etienne, Volney, Sieyès, + are hatching out a long arrears of resentments or hopes, and who only + await the opportunity to impose their system with all the intolerance of + dogmatism and of faith. To minds of this stamp the past is a dead letter; + example is no authority; realities are of no account; they live in their + own Utopia. Sieyès, the most important of them all, judges that "the whole + English constitution is charlatanism, designed for imposing on the + people;"<a href="#linknote-2132" name="linknoteref-2132" + id="linknoteref-2132"><small>2132</small></a> he regards the English "as + children in the matter of a constitution," and thinks that he is capable + of giving France a much better one. Dumont, who sees the first committees + at the houses of Brissot and Clavières, goes away with as much anxiety as + "disgust." + </p> + <p> + "It is impossible," he says, "to depict the confusion of ideas, the + license of the imagination, the burlesque of popular notions. One would + think that they saw before them the world on the day after the Creation." + </p> + <p> + They seem to think, indeed, that human society does not exist, and that + they are appointed to create it. Just as well might ambassadors "of + hostile tribes, and of diverse interests, set themselves to arrange their + common lot as if nothing had previously existed." There is no hesitation. + They are satisfied that the thing can be easily done, and that, with two + or three axioms of political philosophy, the first man that comes may make + himself master of it. Immoderate conceit of this kind among men of + experience would seem ridiculous; in this assembly of novices it is a + strength. A flock which has lost its way follows those who appears to + forge ahead; they are the most irrational but they are the most confident, + and in the Chamber as in the nation it is the daredevils who become + leaders. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—The Power Of Simple, General Ideas. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ascendancy of the revolutionary party—Theory in its favor— + The constraint thus imposed on men's minds—Appeal to the + passions—Brute force on the side of the party—It profits + by this—Oppression of the minority. +</pre> + <p> + Two advantages give this party the ascendancy, and these advantages are of + such importance that henceforth whoever possesses them is sure of being + master.—In the first place the prevailing theory is on the side of + the revolutionaries, and they alone are, in the second place, determined + thoroughly to apply it. This party, therefore, is the only one which is + consistent and popular in the face of adversaries who are unpopular and + inconsequent. Nearly all of the latter, indeed, defenders of the ancient + régime, or partisans of a limited monarchy, are likewise imbued with + abstract principles and philosophical speculation. The most refractory + nobles have advocated the rights of man in their memorials. Mounier, the + principal opponent of the demagogues, was the leader of the commons when + they proclaimed themselves to be the National—Assembly.<a + href="#linknote-2133" name="linknoteref-2133" id="linknoteref-2133"><small>2133</small></a> + This is enough: they have entered the narrow defile which leads to the + abyss. They had no idea of it at the first start, but one step leads to + another, and, willing or unwilling, they march on, or are pushed on. When + the abyss comes in sight it is too late; they have been driven there by + the logical results of their own concessions; they can do nothing but wax + eloquent and indignant; having abandoned their vantage ground, they find + no halting-place remaining.—There is an enormous power in general + ideas, especially if they are simple, and appeal to the passions. None are + simpler than these, since they are reducible to the axiom which assumes + the rights of man, and subordinate to them every institution, old or new. + None are better calculated to inflame the sentiments, since the doctrine + enlists human arrogance and pride in its service, and, in the name of + justice, consecrates all the demands of independence and domination. + Consider three-fourths of the deputies, immature and prejudiced, + possessing no information but a few formulas of the current philosophy, + with no thread to guide them but pure logic, abandoned to the declamation + of lawyers, to the wild utterances of the newspapers, to the promptings of + self-esteem, to the hundred thousand tongues which, on all sides, at the + bar of the Assembly, at the tribune, in the clubs, in the streets, in + their own breasts, repeat unanimously to them, and every day, the same + flattery: + </p> + <p> + "You are sovereign and omnipotent. Right is vested in you alone. The King + exists only to execute your will. Every order, every corporation, every + power, every civil or ecclesiastical association is illegitimate and null + the moment you declare it to be so. You may even transform religion. You + are the fathers of the country. You have saved France, you will regenerate + humanity. The whole world looks on you in admiration; finish your glorious + work—forward, always forward." + </p> + <p> + Superior good sense and rooted convictions could alone stand firm against + this flood of seductions and solicitations; but vacillating and ordinary + men are carried away by it. In the harmony of applause which rises, they + do not hear the crash of the ruins they produce. In any case, they stop + their ears, and shun the cries of the oppressed; they refuse to admit that + their work could possibly bring about evil results; they accept the + sophisms and untruths which justify it; they allow the assassinated to be + calumniated in order to excuse the assassins; they listen to Merlin de + Douay, who, after three or four jacqueries, when pillaging, arson, and + murder are going on in all the provinces, has just declared in the name of + the Committee on Feudalism<a href="#linknote-2134" name="linknoteref-2134" + id="linknoteref-2134"><small>2134</small></a> that "a law must be + presented to the people, the justice of which may enforce silence on the + feudatory egoists who, for the past six months, so indecently protest + against plunder; the wisdom of which may restore to a sense of duty the + peasant who has been led astray for a moment by his resentment of a long + oppression." And when Raynal, the surviving patriarch of the philosophic + party, one day, for a wonder, takes the plain truth with him into their + tribune, they resent his straightforwardness as an outrage, and excuse it + solely on the ground of his imbecility. An omnipotent legislator cannot + depreciate himself; like a king he is condemned to self-admiration in his + public capacity. "There were not thirty deputies amongst us," says a + witness, "who thought differently from Raynal," but "in each other's + presence the credit of the Revolution, the perspective of its blessings, + was an article of faith which had to be believed in;" and, against their + own reason, against their conscience, the moderates, caught in the net of + their own acts, join the revolutionaries to complete the Revolution. + </p> + <p> + Had they refused, they would have been compelled; for, to obtain the + power, the Assembly has, from the very first, either tolerated or + solicited the violence of the streets. But, in accepting insurrectionists + for its allies, it makes them masters, and henceforth, in Paris as in the + provinces, illegal and brutal force becomes the principal power of the + State. "The triumph was accomplished through the people; it was impossible + to be severe with them;"<a href="#linknote-2135" name="linknoteref-2135" + id="linknoteref-2135"><small>2135</small></a> hence, when insurrections + were to be put down, the Assembly had neither the courage nor the force + necessary. "They blame for the sake of decency; they frame their deeds by + expediency." and in turn justly undergo the pressure which they themselves + have sanctioned against others. Only three or four times do the majority, + when the insurrection becomes too daring—after the murder of the + baker François, the insurrection of the Swiss Guard at Nancy, and the + outbreak of the Champ de Mars—feel that they themselves are menaced, + vote for and apply martial law, and repel force with force. But, in + general, when the despotism of the people is exercised only against the + royalist minority, they allow their adversaries to be oppressed, and do + not consider themselves affected by the violence which assails the party + of the "right:" they are enemies, and may be given up to the wild beasts. + In accordance with this, the "left" has made its arrangements; its + fanaticism has no scruples; it is principle, it is absolute truth that is + at stake; this must triumph at any cost. Besides, can there be any + hesitation in having recourse to the people in the people's own cause? A + little compulsion will help along the good cause, and hence the siege of + the Assembly is continually renewed. This was the practice already at + Versailles before the 6th of October, while now, at Paris, it is kept up + more actively and with less disguise. + </p> + <p> + At the beginning of the year 1790,<a href="#linknote-2136" + name="linknoteref-2136" id="linknoteref-2136"><small>2136</small></a> the + band under pay comprises seven hundred and fifty effective men, most of + them deserters or soldiers drummed out of their regiments, who are at + first paid five francs and then forty sous a day. It is their business to + make or support motions in the coffee-houses and in the streets, to mix + with the spectators at the sittings of the sections, with the groups at + the Palais-Royal, and especially in the galleries of the + National-Assembly, where they are to hoot or applaud at a given signal. + Their leader is a Chevalier de Saint-Louis, to whom they swear obedience, + and who receives his orders from the Committee of Jacobins. His first + lieutenant at the Assembly is a M. Saule, "a stout, small, stunted old + fellow, formerly an upholsterer, then a charlatan hawker of four penny + boxes of grease (made from the fat of those that had been hung—for + the cure of diseases of the kidneys) and all his life a sot.... who, by + means of a tolerably shrill voice, which was always well moistened, has + acquired some reputation in the galleries of the Assembly." In fact, he + has forged admission tickets he has been turned out; he has been obliged + to resume "the box of ointment, and travel for one or two months in the + provinces with a man of letters for his companion." But on his return, + "through the protection of a groom of the Court, he obtained a piece of + ground for a coffee-house against the wall of the Tuileries garden, almost + alongside of the National Assembly," and now it is at home in his + coffee-shop behind his counter that the hirelings of the galleries "come + to him to know what they must say, and to be told the order of the day in + regard to applause." Besides this, he is there himself; "it is he who for + three years is to regulate public sentiment in the galleries confided to + his care, and, for his useful and satisfactory services, the Constituent + Assembly will award him a recompense," to which the Legislative Assembly + will add "a pension of six hundred livres, besides a lodging in an + apartment of the Feuillants." + </p> + <p> + We can divine how men of this stamp, thus compensated, do their work. From + the top of the galleries<a href="#linknote-2137" name="linknoteref-2137" + id="linknoteref-2137"><small>2137</small></a> they drown the demands of + the "right" by the force of their lungs; this or that decree, as, for + instance, the abolition of titles of nobility, is carried, "not by shouts, + but by terrific howls."<a href="#linknote-2138" name="linknoteref-2138" + id="linknoteref-2138"><small>2138</small></a> On the arrival of the news + of the sacking of the Hôtel de Castries by the populace, they applaud. On + the question coming up as to the decision whether the Catholic faith shall + be dominant, "they shout out that the aristocrats must all be hung, and + then things will go on well." Their outrages not only remain unpunished, + but are encouraged: this or that noble who complains of their hooting is + called to order, while their interference and vociferations, their insults + and their menaces, are from this time introduced as one of the regular + wheels of legislative operations. Their pressure is still worse outside + the Chamber.<a href="#linknote-2139" name="linknoteref-2139" + id="linknoteref-2139"><small>2139</small></a> The Assembly is obliged + several times to double its guard. On the 27th of September, 1790, there + are 40,000 men around the building to extort the dismissal of the + Ministers, and "motions for assassination" are made under the windows, On + the 4th of January, 1791, whilst on a call of the house the ecclesiastical + deputies pass in turn to the tribune, to take or refuse the oath to the + civil constitution of the clergy, a furious clamor ascends in the + Tuileries, and even penetrates into the Chamber. "To the lamp post with + all those who refuse!" On the 27th of September, 1790, M. Dupont, + economist, having spoken against the assignats, is surrounded on leaving + the Chamber and hooted at, hustled, pushed against the basin of the + Tuileries, into which he was being thrown when the guard rescued him. On + the 21st of June, 1790, M. de Cazalès just misses "being torn to pieces by + the people."<a href="#linknote-2140" name="linknoteref-2140" + id="linknoteref-2140"><small>2140</small></a> Deputies of the "right" are + threatened over and over again by gestures in the streets and in the + coffee-houses; effigies of them with ropes about the neck are publicly + displayed. The Abbé Maury is several times on the point of being hung: he + saves himself once by presenting a pistol. Another time the Vicomte de + Mirabeau is obliged to draw his sword. M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, having + voted against the annexation of the Comtat to France, is assailed with + chairs and clubs in the Palais-Royal, pursued into a porter's room and + from thence to his dwelling; the howling crowd break in the doors, and are + only repelled with great difficulty. It is impossible for the members of + the "right" to assemble together; they are "stoned" in the church of the + Capuchins, then in the Salon Français in the Rue Royale, and then, to + crown the whole, an ordinance of the new judges shuts up their hall, and + punishes them for the violence which they have to suffer.<a + href="#linknote-2141" name="linknoteref-2141" id="linknoteref-2141"><small>2141</small></a> + In short they are at the mercy of the mob. The most moderate, the most + liberal, and the most manly both in heart and head, Malouet, declares that + "in going to the Assembly he rarely forgot to carry his pistols with him."<a + href="#linknote-2142" name="linknoteref-2142" id="linknoteref-2142"><small>2142</small></a> + "For two years," he says, "after the King's flight, we never enjoyed one + moment of freedom and security." + </p> + <p> + " On going into a slaughter-house," writes another deputy, "you see some + animals at the entrance which still have a short time to live, until the + hour comes to dispatch them. Such was the impression which the assemblage + of nobles, bishops, and parliamentarians<a href="#linknote-2143" + name="linknoteref-2143" id="linknoteref-2143"><small>2143</small></a> on + the right side made on my mind every time I entered the Assembly, the + executioners of the left side permitting them to breathe a little longer." + </p> + <p> + They are insulted and outraged even upon their benches; "placed between + peril within and peril without, between the hostility of the galleries,"<a + href="#linknote-2144" name="linknoteref-2144" id="linknoteref-2144"><small>2144</small></a> + and that of the howlers at the entrance, "between personal insults and the + abbey of Saint-Germain, between shouts of laughter celebrating the burning + of their chateaux and the clamors which, thirty times in a quarter of an + hour, cry down their opinions," they are given over and denounced "to the + ten thousand Cerberuses" of the journals and of the streets, who pursue + them with their yells and "cover them with their slaver." Any expedient is + good enough for putting down their opposition, and, at the end of the + session, in full Assembly, they are threatened with "a recommendation to + the departments," which means the excitement of riots and of the permanent + jacquerie of the provinces against them in their own houses.—Parliamentary + strategy of this sort, employed uninterruptedly for twenty-nine months, + finally produces its effect. Many of the weak are gained over;<a + href="#linknote-2145" name="linknoteref-2145" id="linknoteref-2145"><small>2145</small></a> + even on characters of firm temper fear has a hold; he who would march + under fire with head erect shuddered at the idea of being dragged in the + gutter by the rabble; the brutality of the populace always exercises a + material ascendancy over finely strung nerves. On the 12th of July, 1791,<a + href="#linknote-2146" name="linknoteref-2146" id="linknoteref-2146"><small>2146</small></a> + the call of the house decreed against the absentees proves that one + hundred and thirty-two deputies no longer appear in their places. Eleven + days before, among those who take no further part in the proceedings. + Thus, before the completion of the Constitution, the whole of the + opposition, more than four hundred members, over one-third of the + Assembly, is reduced to flight or to silence. By dint of oppression, the + revolutionary party has got rid of all resistance, while the violence + which gave to it ascendancy in the streets, now gives to it equal + ascendance within the walls of Parliament. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Refusal to supply the ministry + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Effects of this mistake—Misconception of the situation—The + committee of investigation—Constant alarms—Effects of + ignorance and fear on the work of the Constituent Assembly. +</pre> + <p> + Generally in an omnipotent assembly, when a party takes the lead and forms + a majority, it furnishes the Ministry; and this fact suffices to give, or + to bring back to it, some glimpse of common sense. For its leaders, with + the Government in their own hands, become responsible for it, and when + they propose or pass a law, they are obliged to anticipate its effect. + Rarely will a Secretary of War or of the Navy adopt a military code which + goes to establish permanent disobedience in the army or in the navy. + Rarely will a Secretary of the Treasury propose an expenditure for which + there is not a sufficient revenue, or a system of taxation that provides + no returns. Placed where full information can be procured, daily advised + of every details, surrounded by skillful counselors and expert clerks, the + chiefs of the majority, who thus become heads of the administration, + immediately drop theory for practice; and the fumes of political + speculation must be pretty dense in their minds if they exclude the + multiplied rays of light which experience constantly sheds upon them. Let + the most stubborn of theorists take his stand at the helm of a ship, and, + whatever be the obstinacy of his principles or his prejudices, he will + never, unless he is blind or led by the blind, persist in steering always + to the right or always to the left. Just so after the flight to Varennes, + when the Assembly, in full possession of the executive power, directly + controls the Ministry, it comes to recognize for itself that its + constitutional machine will not work, except in the way of destruction; + and it is the principal revolutionaries, Barnave, Duport, the Lameths, + Chapelier, and Thouret,<a href="#linknote-2147" name="linknoteref-2147" + id="linknoteref-2147"><small>2147</small></a> who undertake to make + alterations in the mechanisms so as to lessen its friction. But this + source of knowledge and reason, however, to which they are momentarily + induced to draw, in spite of themselves and too late, has been turned off + by themselves from the very beginning. On the 6th of November, 1789, in + deference to principle and in dread of corruption, the Assembly had + declared that none of its members should hold ministerial office. We see + it in consequence deprived of all the instruction which comes from direct + contact with affairs, surrendered without any counterpoise to the + seductions of theory, reduced by its own decision to become a mere academy + of legislation only. + </p> + <p> + Nay, still worse, through another effect of the same error, it condemns + itself by its own act to constant fits of panic. For, having allowed the + power which it was not willing to assume to slip into indifferent or + suspect hands, it is always uneasy, and all its decrees bear an uniform + stamp, not only of the willful ignorance within which it confines itself, + but also of the exaggerated or chimerical fears in which its life is + passed.—Imagine a ship conveying a company of lawyers, literary men, + and other passengers, who, supported by a mutinous and poorly fed crew, + take full command, but refuse to select one of their own number for a + pilot or for the officer of the watch. The former captain continues to + nominate them; through very shame, and because he is a good sort of man, + his title is left to him, and he is retained for the transmission of + orders. If these orders are absurd, so much the worse for him; if he + resists them, a fresh mutiny forces him to yield; and even when they + cannot be executed, he has to answer for their being carried out. In the + meantime, in a room between decks, far away from the helm and the compass, + our club of amateurs discuss the equilibrium of floating bodies, decree a + new system of navigation, have the ballast thrown overboard, crowd on all + sail, and are astonished to find that the ship heels over on its side. The + officer of the watch and the pilot must, evidently, have managed the + maneuver badly. They are accordingly dismissed and others put in their + place, while the ship heels over farther yet and begins to leak in every + joint. Enough: it is the fault of the captain and the old staff of + officers, They are not well-disposed; for a beautiful system of navigation + like this ought to work well; and if it fails to do so, it is because some + one interferes with it. It is positively certain that some of those people + belonging to the former régime must be traitors, who would rather have the + ship go down than submit; they are public enemies and monsters. They must + be seized, disarmed, put under surveillance, and punished.—Such is + the reasoning of the Assembly. Evidently, to reassure it, a message from + the Minister of the Interior chosen by the Assembly, to the lieutenant of + police whom he had appointed, to come to his office every morning, would + be all that was necessary. But it is deprived of this simple resource by + its own act, and has no other expedient than to appoint a committee of + investigation to discover crimes of "treason against the nation."<a + href="#linknote-2148" name="linknoteref-2148" id="linknoteref-2148"><small>2148</small></a> + What could be more vague than such a term? What could be more mischievous + than such an institution?—Renewed every month, deprived of special + agents, composed of credulous and inexperienced deputies, this committee, + set to perform the work of a Lenoir or a Fouché, makes up for its + incapacity by violence, and its proceedings anticipate those of the + Jacobine inquisition.<a href="#linknote-2149" name="linknoteref-2149" + id="linknoteref-2149"><small>2149</small></a> Alarmist and suspicious, it + encourages accusations, and, for lack of plots to discover, it invents + them. Inclinations, in its eyes, stand for actions, and floating projects + become accomplished outrages. On the denunciation of a domestic who has + listened at a door, on the gossip of a washerwoman who has found a scrap + of paper in a dressing-gown, on the false interpretation of a letter, on + vague indications which it completes and patches together by the strength + of its imagination, it forges a coup d'état, makes examinations, + domiciliary visits, nocturnal surprises and arrests;<a + href="#linknote-2150" name="linknoteref-2150" id="linknoteref-2150"><small>2150</small></a> + it exaggerates, blackens, and comes in public session to denounce the + whole affair to the National Assembly. First comes the plot of the Breton + nobles to deliver Brest to the English;<a href="#linknote-2151" + name="linknoteref-2151" id="linknoteref-2151"><small>2151</small></a> then + the plot for hiring brigands to destroy the crops; then the plot of 14th + of July to burn Paris; then the plot of Favras to murder Lafayette, + Necker, and Bailly; then the plot of Augeard to carry off the King, and + many others, week after week, not counting those which swarm in the brains + of the journalists, and which Desmoulins, Fréron, and Marat reveal with a + flourish of trumpets in each of their publications. + </p> + <p> + "All these alarms are cried daily in the streets like cabbages and + turnips, the good people of Paris inhaling them along with the + pestilential vapors of our mud."<a href="#linknote-2152" + name="linknoteref-2152" id="linknoteref-2152"><small>2152</small></a> + </p> + <p> + ..............Now, in this aspect, as well as in a good many others, the + Assembly is the people; satisfied that it is in danger,<a + href="#linknote-2153" name="linknoteref-2153" id="linknoteref-2153"><small>2153</small></a> + it makes laws as the former make their insurrections, and protects itself + by strokes of legislation as the former protects itself by blows with + pikes. Failing to take hold of the motor spring by which it might direct + the government machine, it distrusts all the old and all the new wheels. + The old ones seem to it an obstacle, and, instead of utilizing them, it + breaks them one by one—parliaments, provincial states, religious + orders, the church, the nobles, and royalty. The new ones are suspicious, + and instead of harmonizing them, it puts them out of gear in advance—the + executive power, administrative powers, judicial powers, the police, the + gendarmerie, and the army.<a href="#linknote-2154" name="linknoteref-2154" + id="linknoteref-2154"><small>2154</small></a> Thanks to these precautions + it is impossible for any of them to be turned against itself; but, also, + thanks to these precautions, none of them can perform their functions.<a + href="#linknote-2155" name="linknoteref-2155" id="linknoteref-2155"><small>2155</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In building, as well as in destroying, the Assembly had two bad + counselors, on the one hand fear, on the other hand theory; and on the + ruins of the old machine which it had demolished without discernment, the + new machine, which it has constructed without forecast, will work only to + its own ruin. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2101" id="linknote-2101"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2101 (<a href="#linknoteref-2101">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, June + 15, 1789.—Bailly, passim,—Moniteur, IV. 522 (June 2, 1790).—Mercure + de France (Feb. 11 1792).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2102" id="linknote-2102"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2102 (<a href="#linknoteref-2102">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, v. 631 + (Sep. 12, 1790), and September 8th (what is said by the Abbé Maury).—Marmontel, + book XIII. 237.—Malouet, I. 261.—Bailly, I. 227.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2103" id="linknote-2103"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2103 (<a href="#linknoteref-2103">return</a>)<br /> [ Sir Samuel Romilly, + "Mémoires," I. 102, 354.—Dumont, 158. (The official rules bear are + dated July 29, 1789.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2104" id="linknote-2104"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2104 (<a href="#linknoteref-2104">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. Ferrières, I. 3. + His repentance is affecting.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2105" id="linknote-2105"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2105 (<a href="#linknoteref-2105">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter from Morris to + Washington, January 24, 1790 See page 382, "A diary of the French + revolution", Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1972.—Dumont 125—Garat, + letter to Condorcet.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2106" id="linknote-2106"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2106 (<a href="#linknoteref-2106">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, I. 46. + "Tame and elegant, uninteresting and polite, the mingled mass of + communicated ideas has power neither to offend nor instruct..... All vigor + of thought seems excluded from expression..... Where there is much polish + of character there is little argument."—Cabinet des Estampes. See + engravings of the day by Moreau, Prieur, Monet, representing the opening + of the States-General. All the figures have a graceful, elegant, and + genteel air.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2107" id="linknote-2107"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2107 (<a href="#linknoteref-2107">return</a>)<br /> [ Marmontel, book XIII. + 237.—Malouet, I. 261.—Ferrières, I. 19.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2108" id="linknote-2108"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2108 (<a href="#linknoteref-2108">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + January 24, 1790.—Likewise (De Ferrières, I.71) the decree on the + abolition of nobility was not the order of the day, and was carried by + surprise.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2109" id="linknote-2109"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2109 (<a href="#linknoteref-2109">return</a>)<br /> [ Ferrières, I. 189.—Dumont, + 146.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2110" id="linknote-2110"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2110 (<a href="#linknoteref-2110">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter of Mirabeau to + Sieyès, June 11, 1790. "Our nation of monkeys with the throats of + parrots."—Dumont, 146. "Sieyès and Mirabeau always entertained a + contemptible opinion of the Constituent Assembly."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2111" id="linknote-2111"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2111 (<a href="#linknoteref-2111">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, I, 256, 431 + (July 16 and 31, 1789).—Journal des Débats et Décrets, 105, July + 16th "A member demands that M. de Lally should put his speech in writing. + The whole Assembly has repeated this request."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2112" id="linknote-2112"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2112 (<a href="#linknoteref-2112">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur. (March 11, + 1790). "A nun of St. Mandé, brought to the bar of the house, thanks the + Assembly for the decree by which the cloisters are opened, and denounces + the tricks, intrigues, and even violence exercised in the convents to + prevent the execution of the decree."—Ibid. March 29, 1790. See the + various addresses which are read. "At Lagnon, the mother of a family + assembled her ten children, and swore with them and for them to be loyal + to the nation and to the King."—Ibid. June 5, 1790. "M. Chambroud + reads the letter of the collector of customs of Lannion, in Brittany, to a + priest, a member of the National Assembly. He implores his influence to + secure the acceptance of his civic oath and that of all his family, ready + to wield either the censer, the cart, the scales, the sword, or the pen." + On reading a number of these addresses the Assembly appears to be a + supplement of the Petites Affiches (a small advertising journal in + Paris).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2113" id="linknote-2113"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2113 (<a href="#linknoteref-2113">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, October 23, + 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2114" id="linknote-2114"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2114 (<a href="#linknoteref-2114">return</a>)<br /> [ A well-known writer + of children's stories.— 21Tr.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2115" id="linknote-2115"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2115 (<a href="#linknoteref-2115">return</a>)<br /> [ Ferrières, II. 65 + (June 10,1790).—De Montlosier, I. 402. "One of these puppets came + the following day to get his money of the Comte de Billancourt, mistaking + him for the Duc de Liancourt. 'Monsieur,' says he, 'I am the man who + played the Chaldean yesterday.'"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2116" id="linknote-2116"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2116 (<a href="#linknoteref-2116">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, X. + 118 (June 16, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2117" id="linknote-2117"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2117 (<a href="#linknoteref-2117">return</a>)<br /> [ See the printed list + of deputies, with the indication of their baillage or sénéchaussée, + quality, condition, and profession.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2118" id="linknote-2118"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2118 (<a href="#linknoteref-2118">return</a>)<br /> [ De Bouillé, 75.—When + the King first saw the list of the deputies, he exclaimed," What would the + nation have said if I had made up my council or the Notables in this way?" + (Buchez and Roux, IV. 39.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2119" id="linknote-2119"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2119 (<a href="#linknoteref-2119">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + July 31, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2120" id="linknote-2120"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2120 (<a href="#linknoteref-2120">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + February 25, 1789.—Lafayette, "Mémoires," V. 492. Letter of + Jefferson, February 14, 1815.—Arthur Young, June 27 and 29, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2121" id="linknote-2121"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2121 (<a href="#linknoteref-2121">return</a>)<br /> [ Morris, July 1, + 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2122" id="linknote-2122"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2122 (<a href="#linknoteref-2122">return</a>)<br /> [ Morris, July 4, + 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2123" id="linknote-2123"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2123 (<a href="#linknoteref-2123">return</a>)<br /> [ Mallet du Pan, + Mercure, September 26, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2124" id="linknote-2124"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2124 (<a href="#linknoteref-2124">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + January 24, 1790; November 22, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2125" id="linknote-2125"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2125 (<a href="#linknoteref-2125">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2126" id="linknote-2126"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2126 (<a href="#linknoteref-2126">return</a>)<br /> [ Sir Samuel. Romilly, + "Mémoirs," I. 102. "It was their constant course first, decree the + principle and leave the drawing up of what they had so resolved (or, as + they called it, la rédaction) for later. It is astonishing how great an + influence it had on their debates and measures".—Ibid. I. 354. + Letter by Dumont, June 2, 1789. "They prefer their own folly to all the + results of British experience. They revolt at the idea of borrowing + anything from our government, which is scoffed at here as one of the + iniquities of human reason; although they admit that you have two or three + good laws; but that you should presume to have a constitution is not to be + sustained."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2127" id="linknote-2127"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2127 (<a href="#linknoteref-2127">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 138, 151.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2128" id="linknote-2128"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2128 (<a href="#linknoteref-2128">return</a>)<br /> [ Morris, January 24, + 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2129" id="linknote-2129"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2129 (<a href="#linknoteref-2129">return</a>)<br /> [ Marmontel, XII. 265.—Ferrières,. + I. 48¸ II. 50, 58, 126.—Dumont, 74.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2130" id="linknote-2130"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2130 (<a href="#linknoteref-2130">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + January 24, 1790.—According to Ferrières this party comprised about + three hundred members.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2131" id="linknote-2131"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2131 (<a href="#linknoteref-2131">return</a>)<br /> [ Here Ambassador + Morris describes the kind of man who should form the backbone of all later + revolutions whether communist or fascist ones. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2132" id="linknote-2132"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2132 (<a href="#linknoteref-2132">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2133" id="linknote-2133"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2133 (<a href="#linknoteref-2133">return</a>)<br /> [ De Lavergne, "Les + Assemblées Provinciales," 384. Deliberations of the States of Dauphiny, + drawn up by Mournier and signed by two hundred gentlemen (July, 1788). + "The rights of man are derived from nature alone, and are independent of + human conventions."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2134" id="linknote-2134"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2134 (<a href="#linknoteref-2134">return</a>)<br /> [ Report by Merlin de + Douai, February 8, 1790, p.2.—Malouet, II, 51.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2135" id="linknote-2135"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2135 (<a href="#linknoteref-2135">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 133.—De + Montlosier, I, 355, 361.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2136" id="linknote-2136"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2136 (<a href="#linknoteref-2136">return</a>)<br /> [ Bertrand de + Molleville, II. 221 (according to a police report).—Schmidt, + "Tableaux de la Révolution," I. 215. (Report of the agent Dutard, May 13, + 1793)—Lacretelle, "Dix Ans d'Epreuves," p.35. "It was about midnight + when we went out in the rain, sleet, and snow, in the piercing cold, to + the church of the Feuillants, to secure places for the galleries of the + Assembly, which we were not to occupy till noon on the following day. We + were obliged, moreover, to contend for them with a crowd animated by + passions, and even by interests, very different from our own. We were not + long in perceiving that a considerable part of the galleries was under + pay, and that the scenes of cruelty which gave pain to us were joy to + them. I cannot express the horror I felt on hearing those women, since + called tricoteuses, take a delight in the already homicidal doctrines of + Robespierre, enjoying his sharp voice and feasting their eyes on his ugly + face, the living type of envy." (The first months of 1790.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2137" id="linknote-2137"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2137 (<a href="#linknoteref-2137">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, V. 237 + (July 26, 1790); V. 594. (September 8, 1790); V. 631 (September 12, 1790); + VI. 310 (October 6, 1790). (Letter of the Abbé Peretti.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2138" id="linknote-2138"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2138 (<a href="#linknoteref-2138">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, II. 75.—Moniteur, + VI. 373 (September 6, 1790).—M. de Virieu. "Those who insult certain + members and hinder the freedom of debate by hooting or applause must be + silenced. Is it the three hundred spectators who are to be our judges, or + the nation?" M. Chasset, President: "Monsieur opinionist, I call you to + order. You speak of hindrances to a free vote; there has never been + anything of the kind in this Assembly."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2139" id="linknote-2139"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2139 (<a href="#linknoteref-2139">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I 140. Letter + of M. Lompré, liberal deputy, to M. Séguin, chanoine (towards the end of + November, 1789). "The service becomes more difficult every day; we have + become objects of popular fury, and, when no other resource was left to us + to avoid the tempest but to get rid of the endowments of the clergy, we + yielded to force. It had become a pressing necessity, and I should have + been sorry to have had you still here, exposed to the outrages and + violence with which I have been repeatedly threatened."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2140" id="linknote-2140"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2140 (<a href="#linknoteref-2140">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + Nos. of January 15, 1791; October 2, 1790; May 14,1791.—Buchez and + Roux, V. 343 (April 13, 1790); VII. 76 (September 2, 1790); X. 225 ( June + 21, 1791).—De Montlosier, I. 357.—Moniteur, IV, 427.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2141" id="linknote-2141"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2141 (<a href="#linknoteref-2141">return</a>)<br /> [ Archives of the + Police, exposed by the Committee of the district of Saint-Roch. Judgment + of the Police Tribunal, May 15, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2142" id="linknote-2142"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2142 (<a href="#linknoteref-2142">return</a>)<br /> [ Malouet, II. 68.—De + Montlosier, II. 217, 257 (Speech of M. Lavie, September 18, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2143" id="linknote-2143"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2143 (<a href="#linknoteref-2143">return</a>)<br /> [ I.e. members of the + old local parlements.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2144" id="linknote-2144"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2144 (<a href="#linknoteref-2144">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure, October 1, + 1791. (Article by Mallet du Pan.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2145" id="linknote-2145"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2145 (<a href="#linknoteref-2145">return</a>)<br /> [ Malouet II. 66. + "Those only who were not intimidated by insults or threats, nor by actual + blows, could come forward as opponents."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2146" id="linknote-2146"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2146 (<a href="#linknoteref-2146">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, X. + 432, 465.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2147" id="linknote-2147"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2147 (<a href="#linknoteref-2147">return</a>)<br /> [ Malouet, II, 153.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2148" id="linknote-2148"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2148 (<a href="#linknoteref-2148">return</a>)<br /> [ Decrees of July 23rd + and 28th, 1789.—"Archives Nationales." Papers of Committee of + Investigation, passim. Among other affairs see that of Madame de Persan + (Moniteur, V. 611, sitting of September 9, 1790), and that of Malouet + ("Mémoires" II. 12).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2149" id="linknote-2149"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2149 (<a href="#linknoteref-2149">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, IV. + 56 (Report of Garan de Coulon); V. 49 (Decision of the Committee of + Investigation, December 28, 1789).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2150" id="linknote-2150"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2150 (<a href="#linknoteref-2150">return</a>)<br /> [ The arrests of M. de + Riolles, M. de Bussy, etc., of Madame de Jumilhac, of two other ladies, + one at Bar-le-Duc and the other of Nancy, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2151" id="linknote-2151"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2151 (<a href="#linknoteref-2151">return</a>)<br /> [ Sitting of July 28, + 1789, the speeches of Duport and Rewbell, etc.—Mercure, No. of + January 1, 1791 (article by Mallet du Pan).—Buchez and Roux, V. 146l + "Behold five or six successive conspiracies—that of the sacks of + flour, that of the sacks of money, etc." (Article by Camille Desmoulins.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2152" id="linknote-2152"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2152 (<a href="#linknoteref-2152">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives de la + Préfecture de Police." Extract from the registers of the deliberations of + the Conseil-Général of the district of Saint-Roch, October 10 1789: + Arrête: to request all the men in the commune to devote themselves, with + all the prudence, activity, and force of which they are capable, to the + discovery, exposure, and publication of the horrible plots and infernal + treachery which are constantly meditated against the inhabitants of the + capital; to denounce to the public the authors, abettors, and adherents of + the said plots, whatever their rank may be; to secure their persons and + insure their punishment with all the rigor which outrages of this kind + call for. The commandant of the battalion and the district captains come + daily to consult with the committee. "While the alarm lasts, the first + story of each house is to be lighted with lamps during the night: all + citizens of the district are requested to be at home by ten o'clock in the + evening at the latest, unless they should be on duty... . All citizens are + invited to communicate whatever they may learn or discover in relation to + the abominable plots which are secretly going on in the capital."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2153" id="linknote-2153"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2153 (<a href="#linknoteref-2153">return</a>)<br /> [ Letter of M. de + Guillermy, July 31, 1790 ("Actes des Apôtres," V. 56). "During these two + nights (July 13th and 14th, 1789) that we remained in session I heard one + deputy try to get it believed that an artillery corps had been ordered to + point its guns against our hall; another, that it was undermined, and that + it was to be blown up; another went so far as to declare that he smelt + powder, upon which M. le Comte de Virieu replied that power had no odor + until it was burnt."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2154" id="linknote-2154"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2154 (<a href="#linknoteref-2154">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 351. "Each + constitutional law was a party triumph."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2155" id="linknote-2155"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2155 (<a href="#linknoteref-2155">return</a>)<br /> [ Here Taine indicates + how subversive parties may proceed to weaken a nation prior to their + take-over.(SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. DESTRUCTION. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Two principal vices of the ancient régime. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Two principal reforms proposed by the King and the + privileged classes.—They suffice for actual needs.— + Impracticable if carried further. +</pre> + <p> + In the structure of the old society there were two fundamental vices which + called for two reforms of corresponding importance.<a href="#linknote-2201" + name="linknoteref-2201" id="linknoteref-2201"><small>2201</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the first place, those who were privileged having ceased to render the + services for which the advantages they enjoyed constituted their + compensation and their privileges were no longer anything but a gratuitous + charge imposed on one portion of the nation for the benefit of the other. + Hence the necessity for suppressing them. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, the Government, being absolute, made use of public + resources as if they were its own private property, arbitrarily and + wastefully;<a href="#linknote-2202" name="linknoteref-2202" + id="linknoteref-2202"><small>2202</small></a> it was therefore necessary + to impose upon it some effective and regular restraints. + </p> + <p> + To render all citizens equal before taxation, to put the purse of the + tax-payers into the hands of their representatives, such was the twofold + operation to be carried out in 1789; and the privileged class as well as + the King willingly lent themselves to it. Not only, in this respect, were + the memorials of nobles and clergy in perfect harmony, but the monarch + himself; in his declaration of the 23rd of June, 1789, decreed the two + articles. Henceforth, every tax or loan was to obtain the consent of the + States-General; this consent was to be renewed at each new meeting of the + States; the public estimates were to be annually published, discussed, + specified, apportioned, voted on and verified by the States; there were to + be no arbitrary assessments or use of public funds; allowances were to be + specially assigned for all separate services, the household of the King + included. In each province or district-general, there was to be an elected + Provincial Assembly, one-half composed of ecclesiastics and nobles, and + the other half of members of the Third-Estate, to apportion general taxes, + to manage local affairs, to decree and direct public works, to administer + hospitals, prisons, workhouses, and to continue its function, in the + interval of the sessions, through an intermediary commission chosen by + itself; so that, besides the principal control of the center, there were + to be thirty subordinate controlling powers at the extremities. There was + to be no more exemption or distinction in the matter of taxation; the + roadtax (covée) was to be abolished, also the right of franc-fief<a + href="#linknote-2203" name="linknoteref-2203" id="linknoteref-2203"><small>2203</small></a> + imposed on plebeians; the rights of mortmain,<a href="#linknote-2204" + name="linknoteref-2204" id="linknoteref-2204"><small>2204</small></a> + subject to indemnity, and internal customs duties. There was to be a + reduction of the captaincies, a modification of the salt-tax and of the + excise, the transformation of civil justice, too costly for the poor, and + of criminal justice, too severe for the humbler classes. Here we have, + besides the principal reform, equalization of taxes; the beginning and + inducement of the more complete operation which is to strike off the last + of the feudal manacles. Moreover; six weeks later, on the 4th of August; + the privileged, in an outburst of generosity, come forward of their own + accord to cut off or undo the whole of them. This double reform thus + encountered no obstacles, and, as Arthur Young reported to his friends, it + merely required one vote to have it adopted.<a href="#linknote-2205" + name="linknoteref-2205" id="linknoteref-2205"><small>2205</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This was enough; for all real necessities were now satisfied. On the one + hand, through the abolition of privileges in the matter of taxation, the + burden of the peasant and, in general, on the small tax-payer was + diminished one-half, and perhaps two thirds; instead of paying fifty-three + francs on one hundred francs of net income, he paid no more than + twenty-five or even sixteen;<a href="#linknote-2206" + name="linknoteref-2206" id="linknoteref-2206"><small>2206</small></a> an + enormous relief, and one which, with the proposed revision of the excise + and salt duties, made a complete change in his condition. Add to this the + gradual redemption of ecclesiastical and feudal dues: and after twenty + years the peasant, already proprietor of a fifth of the soil, would, + without the violent events of the Revolution, in any case have attained + the same degree of independence and well-being which he was to achieve by + passing through it. On the other hand, through the annual vote on the + taxes, not only were waste and arbitrariness in the employment of the + public funds put a stop to, but also the foundations of the parliamentary + system of government were laid: whoever holds the purse-strings is, or + becomes, master of the rest; henceforth in the maintenance or + establishment of any service, the assent of the States was to be + necessary. Now, in the three Chambers which the three orders were + thenceforward to form, there were two in which the plebeians predominated. + Public opinion, moreover, was on their side, while the King, the true + constitutional monarch, far from possessing the imperious inflexibility of + a despot, did not now possess the initiative of an ordinary person. Thus + the preponderance fell to the communes, and they could legally, without + any collision, execute multiply, and complete, with the aid of the prince + and through him, all useful reforms.<a href="#linknote-2207" + name="linknoteref-2207" id="linknoteref-2207"><small>2207</small></a>—This + was enough; for human society, like a living body, is seized with + convulsions when it is subjected to operations on too great a scale, and + these, although restricted, were probably all that France in 1789 could + endure. To equitably reorganize afresh the whole system of direct and + indirect taxation; to revise, recast, and transfer to the frontiers the + customs-tariffs; to suppress, through negotiations and with indemnity, + feudal and ecclesiastical claims, was an operation of the greatest + magnitude, and as complex as it was delicate. Things could be + satisfactorily arranged only through minute inquiries, verified + calculations, prolonged essays, and mutual concessions. In England, in our + day, a quarter of a century has been required to bring about a lesser + reform, the transformation of tithes and manorial-rights; and time + likewise was necessary for our Assemblies to perfect their political + education,<a href="#linknote-2208" name="linknoteref-2208" + id="linknoteref-2208"><small>2208</small></a> to get of their theories, to + learn, by contact with practical business, and in the study of details, + the distance which separates speculation from practice; to discover that a + new system of institutions works well only through a new system of habits, + and that to decree a new system of habits is tantamount to attempting to + build an old house.—Such, however, is the work they undertake. They + reject the King's proposals, the limited reforms, the gradual + transformations. According to them, it is their right and their duty to + re-make society from top to bottom. Such is the command of pure reason, + which has discovered the Rights of Man and the conditions of the Social + Contract. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II—Nature of societies, and the principle of enduring constitutions. + </h2> + <p> + Apply the Social Contract, if you like, but apply it only to those for + whom it was drawn up. These were abstract beings, belonging neither to a + period nor to a country, perfect creatures hatched out under the magic + wand of a metaphysician. They had as a matter of fact come into existence + by removing all the characteristics which distinguish one man from + another,<a href="#linknote-2209" name="linknoteref-2209" + id="linknoteref-2209"><small>2209</small></a> a Frenchman from a Papuan, a + modern Englishman from a Briton in the time of Caesar, and by retaining + only the part which is common to all.<a href="#linknote-2210" + name="linknoteref-2210" id="linknoteref-2210"><small>2210</small></a> The + essence thus obtained is a prodigiously meager one, an infinitely + curtailed extract of human nature, that is, in the phraseology of the day, + </p> + <p> + "A BEING WITH A DESIRE TO BE HAPPY AND THE FACULTY OF REASONING," + </p> + <p> + nothing more and nothing else. After this pattern several million + individuals, all precisely alike, have been prepared while, through a + second simplification, as extraordinary as the first one, they are all + supposed to be free and all equal, without a past, without kindred, + without responsibility, without traditions, without customs, like so many + mathematical units, all separable and all equivalent, and then it is + imagined that, assembled together for the first time, these proceed to + make their primitive bargain. From the nature they are supposed to possess + and the situation in which they are placed, no difficulty is found in + deducing their interests, their wills, and the contract between them. But + if this contract suits them, it does not follow that it suits others. On + the contrary, if follows that is does not suit others; the inconvenience + becomes extreme on its being imposed on a living society; the measure of + that inconvenience will be the immensity of the distance which divides a + hollow abstraction, a philosophical phantom, an empty insubstantial image + from the real and complete man. + </p> + <p> + In any event we are not here considering a specimen, so reduced and + mutilated as to be only an outline of a human being; no, we are to the + contrary considering Frenchmen of the year 1789. It is for them alone that + the constitution is being made: it is therefore they alone who should be + considered; they are manifestly men of a particular species, having their + peculiar temperament, their special aptitudes, their own inclinations, + their religion, their history, all adding up into a mental and moral + structure, hereditary and deeply rooted, bequeathed to them by the + indigenous stock, and to which every great event, each political or + literary phase for twenty centuries, has added a growth, a transformation + or a custom. It is like some tree of a unique species whose trunk, + thickened by age, preserves in its annual rings and in its knots, + branches, and curvatures, the deposits which its sap has made and the + imprint of the innumerable seasons through which it has passed. Using the + philosophic definition, so vague and trite, to such an organism, is only a + puerile label teaching us nothing.—And all the more because extreme + diversities and inequalities show themselves on this exceedingly elaborate + and complicated background,—those of age, education, faith, class + and fortune; and these must be taken into account, for these contribute to + the formation of interests, passions, and dispositions. To take only the + most important of these, it is clear that, according to the average of + human life,<a href="#linknote-2211" name="linknoteref-2211" + id="linknoteref-2211"><small>2211</small></a> one-half of the population + is composed of children, and, besides this, one-half of the adults are + women. In every twenty inhabitants eighteen are Catholic, of whom sixteen + are believers, at least through habit and tradition. Twenty-five out of + twenty-six millions of Frenchmen cannot read, one million at the most + being able to do so; and in political matters only five or six hundred are + competent. As to the condition of each class, its ideas, its sentiments, + its kind and degree of culture, we should have to devote a large volume to + a mere sketch of them. + </p> + <p> + There is still another feature and the most important of all. These men + who are so different from each other are far from being independent, or + from contracting together for the first time. They and their ancestors for + eight hundred years form a national body, and it is because they belong to + this body that they live, multiply, labor, make acquisitions, become + enlightened and civilized, and accumulate the vast heritage of comforts + and intelligence which they now enjoy. Each in this community is like the + cell of an organized body; undoubtedly the body is only an accumulation of + cells, but the cell is born, subsists, develops and attains its individual + ends only be the healthy condition of the whole body. Its chief interest, + accordingly, is the prosperity of the whole organism, and the fundamental + requirement of all the little fragmentary lives, whether they know it or + not, is the conservation of the great total life in which they are + comprised as musical notes in a concert.—Not only is this a + necessity for them, but it is also a duty. We are all born with a debt to + our country, and this debt increases while we grow up; it is with the + assistance of our country, under the protection of the law, upheld by the + authorities, that our ancestors and parents have given us life, property, + and education. Each person's faculties, ideas, attitudes, his or her + entire moral and physical being are the products to which the community + has contributed, directly or indirectly, at least as tutor and guardian. + By virtue of this the state is his creditor, just as a destitute father is + of his able-bodied son; it can lay claim to nourishment, services, and, in + all the force or resources of which he disposes, it deservedly demands a + share.—This he knows and feels, the notion of country is deeply + implanted within him, and when occasion calls for it, it will show itself + in ardent emotions, fueling steady sacrifice and heroic effort.—Such + are veritable Frenchmen, and we at once see how different they are from + the simple, indistinguishable, detached monads which the philosophers + insist on substituting for them. Their association need not be created, + for it already exists; for eight centuries they have a "common weal" (la + chose publique). The safety and prosperity of this common weal is at once + their interest, their need, their duty, and even their most secret wish. + If it is possible to speak here of a contract, their quasi-contract is + made and settled for them beforehand. The first article, at all events, is + stipulated for, and this overrides all the others. The nation must not be + dissolved. Public authorities must, accordingly, exist, and these must be + respected. If there are a number of these, they must be so defined and so + balanced as to be of mutual assistance, instead of neutralizing each other + by their opposition. Whatever government is adopted, it must place matters + in the hands best qualified to conduct them. The law must not exist for + the advantage of the minority, nor for that of the majority, but for the + entire community.—In regard to this first article no one must + derogate from it, neither the minority nor the majority, neither the + Assembly elected by the nation, nor the nation itself, even if unanimous. + It has no right arbitrarily to dispose of the common weal, to put it in + peril according to its caprice, to subordinate it to the application of a + theory or to the interest of a single class, even if this class is the + most numerous. For, that which is the common weal does not belong to it, + but to the whole community, past, present, and to come. Each generation is + simply the temporary manager and responsible trustee of a precious and + glorious patrimony which it has received from the former generation, and + which it has to transmit to the one that comes after it. In this perpetual + endowment, to which all Frenchmen from the first days of France have + brought their offerings, there is no doubt about the intentions of + countless benefactors; they have made their gifts conditionally, that is, + on the condition that the endowment should remain intact, and that each + successive beneficiary should merely serve as the administrator of it. + Should any of the beneficiaries, through presumption or levity, through + rashness or one-sidedness, compromise the charge entrusted to them, they + wrong all their predecessors whose sacrifices they invalidate, and all + their successors whose hopes they frustrate. Accordingly, before + undertaking to frame a constitution, let the whole community be considered + in its entirety, not merely in the present but in the future, as far as + the eye can reach. The interest of the public, viewed in this far-sighted + manner, is the end to which all the rest must be subordinate, and for + which a constitution provides. A constitution, whether oligarchic, + monarchist, or aristocratic, is simply an instrument, good if it attains + this end, and bad if it does not attain it, and which, to attain it, must, + like every species of mechanism, vary according to the ground, materials, + and circumstances. The most ingenious is illegitimate if it dissolves the + State, while the clumsiest is legitimate if it keeps the State intact. + There is none that springs out of an anterior, universal, and absolute + right. According to the people, the epoch, and the degree of civilization, + according to the outer or inner condition of things, all civil or + political equality or inequality may, in turn, be or cease to be + beneficial or hurtful, and therefore justify the legislator in removing or + preserving it. It is according to this superior and salutary law, and not + according to an imaginary and impossible contract, that he is to organize, + limit, delegate and distribute from the center to the extremities, through + inheritance or through election, through equalization or through + privilege, the rights of the citizen and the power of the community. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—The estates of a society. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Political aptitude of the aristocracy.—Its disposition in + 1789.—Special services which it might have rendered.—The + principle of the Assembly as to original equality. + —Rejection of an Upper Chamber.—The feudal rights of the + aristocracy.—How far and why they were worthy of respect. + —How they should have been transformed.—Principle of the + Assembly as to original liberty.—Distinction established by + it in feudal dues; application of its principle.—The + lacunae of its law.—Difficulties of redemption.—Actual + abolition of all feudal liens.—Abolition of titles and + territorial names.—Growing prejudice against the + aristocracy.—Its persecutions.—The emigration. +</pre> + <p> + Was it necessary to begin by making a clean sweep, and was it advisable to + abolish or only to reform the various orders and corporations?—Two + prominent orders, the clergy and the nobles, enlarged by the ennobled + plebeians who had grown wealthy and acquired titled estates, formed a + privileged aristocracy side by side with the Government, whose favors it + might receive on the condition of seeking them assiduously and with due + acknowledgment, privileged on its own domains, and taking advantage there + of all rights belonging to the feudal chieftain without performing his + duties. This abuse was evidently an enormous one and had to be ended. But, + it did not follow that, because the position of the privileged class on + their domains and in connection with the Government was open to abuse, + they should be deprived of protection for person and property on their + domains, and of influence and occupation under the Government.—A + favored aristocracy, when it is unoccupied and renders none of the + services which its rank admits of, when it monopolizes all honors, + offices, promotions, preferences, and pensions,<a href="#linknote-2212" + name="linknoteref-2212" id="linknoteref-2212"><small>2212</small></a> to + the detriment of others not less needy and deserving, is undoubtedly a + serious evil. But when an aristocracy is subject to the common law, when + it is occupied, especially when its occupation is in conformity with its + aptitudes, and more particularly when it is available for the formation of + an upper elective chamber or an hereditary peerage, it is a vast service.—In + any case it cannot be irreversibly suppressed; for, although it may be + abolished by law, it is reconstituted by facts. The legislator must + necessarily choose between two systems, that which lets it lie fallow, or + that which enables it to be productive, that which drives it away from, or + that which rallies it round, the public service. In every society which + has lived for any length of time, a nucleus of families always exists + whose fortunes and importance are of ancient date. Even when, as in France + in 1789, this class seems to be exclusive, each half century introduces + into it new families; judges, governors, rich businessmen or bankers who + have risen to the tope of the social ladder through the wealth they have + acquired or through the important offices they have filled; and here, in + the medium thus constituted, the statesman and wise counselor of the + people, the independent and able politician is most naturally developed.—Because, + on the one hand, thanks to his fortune and his rank, a man of this class + is above all vulgar ambitions and temptations. He is able to serve gratis; + he is not obliged to concern himself about money or about providing for + his family and making his way in the world. A political mission is no + interruption to his career; he is not obliged, like the engineer, + merchant, or physician, to sacrifice either his business, his advancement, + or his clients. He can resign his post without injury to himself or to + those dependent on him, follow his own convictions, resist the noisy + deleterious opinions of the day, and be the loyal servant, not the low + flatterer of the public. Whilst, consequently, in the inferior or average + conditions of life, the incentive is self-interest, with him the grand + motive is pride. Now, amongst the deeper feelings of man there is none + which is more adapted for transformation into probity, patriotism, and + conscientiousness; for the first requisite of the high-spirited man is + self-respect, and, to obtain that, he is induced to deserve it. Compare, + from this point of view, the gentry and nobility of England with the + "politicians" of the United States.—On the other hand, with equal + talents, a man who belongs to this sphere of life enjoys opportunities for + acquiring a better comprehension of public affairs than a poor man of the + lower classes. The information he requires is not the erudition obtained + in libraries and in private study. He must be familiar with living men, + and, besides these, with agglomerations of men, and even more with human + organizations, with States, with Governments, with parties, with + administrative systems, at home and abroad, in full operation and on the + spot. There is but one way to reach this end, and that is to see for + himself, with his own eyes, at once in general outline and in details, by + intercourse with the heads of departments, with eminent men and + specialists, in whom are gathered up the information and the ideas of a + whole class. Now the young do not frequent society of this description, + either at home or abroad, except on the condition of possessing a name, + family, fortune, education and a knowledge of social observances. All this + is necessary to enable a young man of twenty to find doors everywhere open + to him to be received everywhere on an equal footing, to be able to speak + and to write three or four living languages, to make long, expensive, and + instructive sojourns in foreign lands, to select and vary his position in + the different branches of the public service, without pay or nearly so, + and with no object in view but that of his political culture Thus brought + up a man, even of common capacity, is worthy of being consulted. If he is + of superior ability, and there is employment for him, he may become a + statesman before thirty; he may acquire ripe capacities, become prime + Minister, the sole pilot, alone able, like Pitt, Canning, or Peel, to + steer the ship of State between the reefs, or give in the nick of time the + touch to the helm which will save the ship.—Such is the service to + which an upper class is adapted. Only this kind of specialized stud farm + can furnish a regular supply of racers, and, now and then, the favorite + winner that distances all his competitors in the European field. + </p> + <p> + But in order that they may prepare and educate themselves for this career, + the way must be clear, and they must not be compelled to travel too + repulsive a road. If rank, inherited fortune, personal dignity, and + refined manners are sources of disfavor with the people; if, to obtain + their votes, he is forced to treat as equals electoral brokers of low + character; if impudent charlatanism, vulgar declamation, and servile + flattery are the sole means by which votes can be secured, then, as + nowadays in the United States, and formerly in Athens, the aristocratic + body will retire into private life and soon settle down into a state of + idleness. A man of culture and refinement, born with an income of a + hundred thousand a year, is not tempted to become either manufacturer, + lawyer, or physician. For want of other occupation he loiters about, + entertains his friends, chats, indulges in the tastes and hobbies of an + amateur, is bored or enjoys himself. As a result one of society's great + forces is thus lost to the nation. In this way the best and largest + acquisition of the past, the heaviest accumulation of material and of + moral capital, remain unproductive. In a pure democracy the upper branches + of the social tree, not only the old ones but the young ones, remain + sterile. When a vigorous branch passes above the rest and reaches the top + it ceases to bear fruit. The élite of the nation is thus condemned to + constant and irremediable failures because it cannot find a suitable + outlet for its activity. It wants no other outlet, for in all directions + its rival, who are born below it, can serve as usefully and as well as + itself. But this one it must have, for on this its aptitudes are superior, + natural, unique, and the State which refuses to employ it resembles the + gardener who in his fondness for a plane surface would repress his best + shoots.<a href="#linknote-2213" name="linknoteref-2213" + id="linknoteref-2213"><small>2213</small></a>—Hence, in the + constructions which aim to utilize the permanent forces of society and yet + maintain civil equality, the aristocracy is brought to take a part in + public affairs by the duration and gratuitous character of its mission, by + the institution of an hereditary character, by the application of various + machinery, all of which is combined so as to develop the ambition, the + culture, and the political capacity of the upper class, and to place + power, or the control of power, in its hands, on the condition that it + shows itself worthy of exercising it.—Now, in 1789, the upper class + was not unworthy of it. Members of the parliaments, the noblemen, bishops, + capitalists, were the men amongst whom, and through whom, the philosophy + of the eighteenth century was propagated. Never was an aristocracy more + liberal, more humane, and more thoroughly converted to useful reforms;<a + href="#linknote-2214" name="linknoteref-2214" id="linknoteref-2214"><small>2214</small></a> + many of them remain so under the knife of the guillotine. The magistrates + of the superior tribunals, in particular, traditionally and by virtue of + their institution, were the enemies of excessive expenditure and the + critics of arbitrary acts. As to the gentry of the provinces, "they were + so weary," says one of them,<a href="#linknote-2215" + name="linknoteref-2215" id="linknoteref-2215"><small>2215</small></a> "of + the Court and the Ministers that most of them were democrats." For many + years, in the Provincial Assemblies, the whole of the upper class, the + clergy, nobles, and Third-Estate, furnishes abundant evidence of its good + disposition, of its application to business, its capacity and even + generosity. Its mode of studying, discussing, and assigning the local + taxation indicates what it would have done with the general budget had + this been entrusted to it. It is evident that it would have protected the + general taxpayer as zealously as the taxpayer of the province, and kept as + close an eye upon the public purse at Paris as on that of Bourges or of + Montauban.—Thus were the materials of a good chamber ready at hand, + and the only thing that had to be done was to convene them. On having the + facts presented to them, its members would have passed without difficulty + from a hazardous theory to common-sense practice, and the aristocracy + which had enthusiastically given an impetus to reform in its saloons + would, in all probability, have carried it out effectively and with + moderation in the Parliament. + </p> + <p> + Unhappily, the Assembly is not providing a Constitution for contemporary + Frenchmen, but for abstract beings. Instead of seeing classes in society + one placed above the other, it simply sees individuals in juxtaposition; + its attention is not fixed on the advantage of the nation, but on the + imaginary rights of man. As all men are equal, all must have an equal + share in the government. There must be no orders in a State, no avowed or + concealed political privileges, no constitutional complications or + electoral combinations by which an aristocracy, however liberal and + capable, may put its hands upon any portion of the public power.—On + the contrary, because it was once privileged to enjoy important and + rewarding public employment, the candidacy of the upper classes is now + suspect. All projects which, directly or indirectly, reserve or provide a + place for it, are refused: At first the Royal Declaration, which, in + conformity with historical precedents, maintained the three orders in + three distinct chambers, and only summoned them to deliberate together "on + matters of general utility." Then the plan of the Constitutional + Committee, which proposed a second Chamber, appointed for life by the King + on the nomination of the Provincial Assemblies. And finally the project of + Mounier who proposed to confide to these same Assemblies the election of a + Senate for six years, renewed by thirds every two years. This Senate was + to be composed of men of at least thirty-five years of age, and with an + income in real property of 30,000 livres per annum. The instinct of + equality is too powerful and a second Chamber is not wanted, even if + accessible to plebeians. Through it,<a href="#linknote-2216" + name="linknoteref-2216" id="linknoteref-2216"><small>2216</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "The smaller number would control the greater;"... "we should fall back on + the humiliating distinctions" of the ancient regime; "we should revivify + the germ of an aristocracy which must be exterminated.".... "Moreover, + whatever recalls or revives feudal Institutions is bad, and an Upper + Chamber is one of its remnants." ...."If the English have one, it is + because they have been forced to make a compromise with prejudice." + </p> + <p> + The National Assembly, sovereign and philosophic, soars above their + errors, their trammel; and their example. The depository of truth, it has + not to receive lessons from others, but to give them, and to offer to the + world's admiration the first type of a Constitution which is perfect and + in conformity with principle, the most effective of any in preventing the + formation of a governing class; in closing the way to public business, not + only to the old noblesse, but to the aristocracy of the future; in + continuing and exaggerating the work of absolute monarchy; in preparing + for a community of officials and administrators; in lowering the level of + humanity; in reducing to sloth and brutalizing or blighting the elite of + the families which maintain or raise themselves; and in withering the most + precious of nurseries, that in which the State recruits its statesmen.<a + href="#linknote-2217" name="linknoteref-2217" id="linknoteref-2217"><small>2217</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Excluded from the Government, the aristocracy is about to retire into + private life. Let us follow them to their estates: Feudal rights + instituted for a barbarous State are certainly a great draw-back in a + modern State. If appropriate in an epoch when property and sovereignty + were fused together, when the Government was local, when life was + militant, they form an incongruity at a time when sovereignty and property + are separated, when the Government is centralized, when the regime is a + pacific one. The bondage which, in the tenth century, was necessary to + re-established security and agriculture, is, in the eighteenth century, + purposeless thralldom which impoverishes the soil and fetters the peasant. + But, because these ancient claims are liable to abuse and injurious at the + present day, it does not follow that they never were useful and + legitimate, nor that it is allowable to abolish them without indemnity On + the contrary, for many centuries, and, on the whole, so long as the lord + of the manor resided on his estates this primitive contract was + advantageous to both parties, and to such an extent that it has led to the + modern contract. Thanks to the pressure of this tight bandage, the broken + fragments of the community can be again united, and society once more + recover its solidity, force, and activity.—In any event, that the + institution, like all human institutions, took its rise in violence and + was corrupted by abuses is of little consequence; the State, for eight + hundred years, recognized these feudal claims, and, with its own consent + and the concurrence of its Courts, they were transmitted, bequeathed, + sold, mortgaged, and exchanged, like any other species of property. Only + two or three hundred, at most, now remained in the families of the + original proprietors. "The largest portion of the titled estates," says a + contemporary,<a href="#linknote-2218" name="linknoteref-2218" + id="linknoteref-2218"><small>2218</small></a> "have become the property of + capitalists, merchants, and their descendants; the fiefs, for the most + part, being in the hands of the bourgeois of the towns." All the fiefs + which, during two centuries past, have been bought by new men, now + represent the economy and labor of their purchasers.—Moreover; + whoever the actual holders may be, whether old or whether new men, the + State is under obligation to them, not only by general right—and + because, from the beginning, it is in its nature the guardian of all + property,—but also by a special right, because it has itself + sanctioned this particular species of property. The buyers of yesterday + paid their money only under its guarantee; its signature is affixed to the + contract, and it has bound itself to secure to them the enjoyment of it. + If it prevents them from doing so, let it make them compensation; in + default of the thing promised to them, it owes them the value of it. Such + is the law in cases of expropriation for public utility; in 1834, for + instance, the English, for the legal abolition of slavery, paid to their + planters the sum of £20,000,000. —But that is not sufficient: when, + in the suppression of feudal rights, the legislator's thoughts are taken + up with the creditors, he has only half performed his task; there are two + sides to the question, and he must likewise think of the debtors. If he is + not merely a lover of abstractions and of fine phrases, if that which + interests him is men and not words, if he is bent upon the effective + enfranchisement of the cultivator of the soil, he will not rest content + with proclaiming a principle, with permitting the redemption of rents, + with fixing the rate of redemption, and, in case of dispute, with sending + parties before the tribunals. He will reflect that the peasantry, jointly + responsible for the same debt will find difficulty in agreeing among + themselves; that they are afraid of litigation; that, being ignorant, they + will not know how to set about it; that, being poor, they will be unable + to pay; and that, under the weight of discord, distrust, indigence, and + inertia, the new law will remain a dead letter, and only exasperate their + cupidity or kindle their resentment. In anticipation of this disorder the + legislator will come to their assistance; he will interpose commissions of + arbitration between them and the lord of the manor; he will substitute a + scale of annuities for a full and immediate redemption; he will lend them + the capital which they cannot borrow elsewhere; he will establish a bank, + rights, and a mode of procedure,—in short, as in Savoy in 1771, in + England in 1845,<a href="#linknote-2219" name="linknoteref-2219" + id="linknoteref-2219"><small>2219</small></a> and in Russia in 1861, he + will relieve the poor without despoiling the rich; he will establish + liberty without violating the rights of property; he will conciliate + interests and classes; he will not let loose a brutal peasant revolt + (Jacquerie) to enforce unjust confiscation; and he will terminate the + social conflict not with strife but with peace. + </p> + <p> + It is just the reverse in 1789 In conformity with the doctrine of the + social contract, the principle is set up that every man is born free, and + that his freedom has always been inalienable. If he formerly submitted to + slavery or to serfdom, it was owing to his having had a knife at his + throat; a contract of this sort is essentially null and void. So much the + worse for those who have the benefit of it at the present day; they are + holders of stolen property, and must restore it to the legitimate owners. + Let no one object that this property was acquired for cash down, and in + good faith; they ought to have known beforehand that man and his liberty + are not commercial matters, and that unjust acquisitions rightly perish in + their hands.<a href="#linknote-2220" name="linknoteref-2220" + id="linknoteref-2220"><small>2220</small></a> Nobody dreams that the State + which was a party to this transaction is the responsible guarantor. Only + one scruple affects the Assembly; its jurists and Merlin, its reporter, + are obliged to yield to proof; they know that in current practice, and by + innumerable ancient and modern titles, the noble in many cases is nothing + but an ordinary lessor, and that if, in those cases, he collects his dues, + it is simply in his capacity as a private person, by virtue of a mutual + contract, because he has given a perpetual lease of a certain portion of + his land; and he has given it only in consideration of an annual payment + in money or produce, or services, together with another contingent claim + which the farmer pays in case of the transmission of the lease. These two + obligations could not be canceled without indemnity; if it were done, more + than one-half of the proprietors in France would be dispossessed in favor + of the farmers. Hence the distinction which the Assembly makes in the + feudal dues.—On the one hand it abolishes without indemnity all + those dues which the noble receives by virtue of being the local + sovereign, the ancient proprietor of persons and the usurper of public + powers; all those which the lessee paid as serf, subject to rights of + inheritance, and as former vassal or dependent. On the other hand, it + maintains and decrees as redeemable at a certain rate all those which the + noble receives through his title of landed proprietor and of simple + lessor; all those which the lessee pays by virtue of being a free + contracting party, former purchaser, tenant, farmer or grantee of landed + estate.—By this division it fancies that it has respected lawful + ownership by overthrowing illegitimate property, and that in the feudal + scheme of obligations, it has separated the wheat from the chaff.<a + href="#linknote-2221" name="linknoteref-2221" id="linknoteref-2221"><small>2221</small></a> + </p> + <p> + But, through the principle, the drawing up and the omissions of its law, + it condemns both to a common destruction; the fire on which it has thrown + the chaff necessarily burns up the wheat.—Both are in fact bound up + together in the same sheaf. If the noble formerly brought men under + subjection by the sword, it is also by the sword that he formerly acquired + possession of the soil. If the subjection of persons is invalid on account + of the original stain of violence, the usurpation of the soil is invalid + for the same reason. And if the sanction and guarantee of the State could + not justify the first act of brigandage, they could not justify the + second; and, since the rights which are derived from unjust sovereignty + are abolished without indemnity, the rights which are derived from unjust + proprietorship should be likewise abolished without compensation.——The + Assembly, with remarkable imprudence, had declared in the preamble to its + law that "it abolished the feudal system entirely," and, whatever its + ulterior reservations might be, the fiat has gone forth. The forty + thousand sovereign municipalities to which the text of the decree is read + pay attention only to the first article, and the village attorney, imbued + with the rights of man, easily proves to these assemblies of debtors that + they owe nothing to their creditors. There must be no exceptions nor + distinctions: no more annual rents, field-rents, dues on produce, nor + contingent rents, nor lord's dues and fines, or fifths.<a + href="#linknote-2222" name="linknoteref-2222" id="linknoteref-2222"><small>2222</small></a> + If these have been maintained by the Assembly, it is owing to + misunderstanding, timidity, inconsistency, and on all sides, in the rural + districts, the grumbling of disappointed greed or of unsatisfied + necessities is heard:<a href="#linknote-2223" name="linknoteref-2223" + id="linknoteref-2223"><small>2223</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "You thought that you were destroying feudalism, while your redemption + laws have done just the contrary. . . . Are you not aware that what was + called a Seigneur was simply an unpunished usurper? . . . That detestable + decree of 1790 is the ruin of lease-holders. It has thrown the villages + into a state of consternation. The nobles reap all the advantage of it. . + . Never will redemption be possible. Redemption of unreal claims! + Redemption of dues that are detestable!" + </p> + <p> + In vain the Assembly insists, specifies and explains by examples and by + detailed instructions the mode of procedure and the conditions of + redemption. Neither the procedure nor its conditions are practicable. It + has made no provisions for facilitating the agreement of parties and the + satisfaction of feudal liens, no special arbitrators, nor bank for loans, + nor system of annuities. And worse still, instead of clearing the road it + has barred it by legal arrangements. The lease-holder is not to redeem his + annual rent without at the same time compounding for the contingent rent: + he is not allowed on his own to redeem his quota since he is tied up in + solidarity with the other partners. Should his hoard be a small one, so + much the worse for him. Not being able to redeem the whole, he is not + allowed to redeem a part. Not having the money with which to relieve + himself from both ground-rents and lord's dues he cannot relieve himself + from ground-rents. Not having the money to liquidate the debt in full of + those who are bound along with him-self, he remains a captive in his + ancient chains by virtue of the new law which announces to him his + freedom. + </p> + <p> + In the face of these unexpected trammels the peasant becomes furious: His + fixed idea, from the outbreak of the Revolution, is that he no longer owes + anything to anybody, and, among the speeches, decrees, proclamations, and + instructions which rumor brings to his ears, he comprehends but one + phrase, and is determined to comprehend no other, and that is, that + henceforth his obligations are removed. He does not swerve from this, and + since the law hinders, instead of aiding him, he will break the law. In + fact, after the 4th of August, 1789, feudal dues cease to be collected. + The claims which are maintained are not enforced any more than those which + are suppressed. Whole communities come and give notice to the lord of the + manor that they will not pay any more rent. Others, with sword in hand, + compel him to give them acquittances. Others again, to be more secure, + break open his safe, and throw his title-deeds into the fire.<a + href="#linknote-2224" name="linknoteref-2224" id="linknoteref-2224"><small>2224</small></a> + Public force is nowhere strong enough to protect him in his legal rights. + Officers dare not serve writs, the courts dare not give judgment, + administrative bodies dare not decree in his favor. He is despoiled + through the connivance, the neglect, or the impotence of all the + authorities which ought to defend him. He is abandoned to the peasants who + fell his forests, under the pretext that they formerly belonged to the + commune; who take possession of his mill, his wine-press, and his oven, + under the pretext that territorial privileges are suppressed.<a + href="#linknote-2225" name="linknoteref-2225" id="linknoteref-2225"><small>2225</small></a> + Most of the gentry of the provinces are ruined, without any resource, and + have not even their daily bread; for their income consisted in seignorial + rights, and in rents derived from their real property, which they had let + on perpetual leases, and now, in accordance with the law, one-half of this + income ceases to be paid, while the other half ceases to be paid in spite + of the law. One hundred and twenty-three millions of revenue, representing + two thousand millions and a half of capital in the money of that time, + double, at least, that of the present day, thus passes as a gift, or + through the toleration of the National Assembly, from the hands of + creditors into those of their debtors. To this must be added an equal sum + for revenue and capital arising from the tithes which are suppressed + without compensation, and by the same stroke.—This is the + commencement of the great revolutionary operation, that is to say, of the + universal bankruptcy which, directly or indirectly, is to destroy all + contracts, and abolish all debts in France. Violations of property, + especially of private property, cannot be made with impunity. The Assembly + desired to lop off only the feudal branch; but, in admitting that the + State can annul, without compensation, the obligations which it has + guaranteed, it put the ax to the root of the tree, and other rougher hands + are already driving it in up to the haft. + </p> + <p> + Nothing now remains to the noble but his title, his territorial name, and + his armorial bearings, which are innocent distinctions, since they no + longer confer any jurisdiction or pre-eminence upon him, and which, as the + law ceases to protect him, the first comer may borrow with impunity. Not + only, moreover, do they do no harm, but they are even worthy of respect. + With many of the nobles the title of the estate covers the family name, + the former alone being made use of. If one were substituted for the other, + the public would have difficulty in discovering M. de Mirabeau, Lafayette, + and M. de Moutmorency, under the new names Riquetti, M. Mottié, and M. + Bouchard. Besides, it would be wrong to the bearer of it, to whom the + abolished title is a legitimate possession, often precious, it being a + certificate of quality and descent, an authentic personal distinction of + which he cannot be deprived without losing his position, rank, and worth, + in the human world around him.—The Assembly, however, with a popular + principle at stake, gives no heed to public utility, nor to the rights of + individuals. The feudal system being abolished, all that remains of it + must be got rid of. A decree is passed that "hereditary nobility is + offensive to reason and to true liberty;" that, where it exists, "there is + no political equality."<a href="#linknote-2226" name="linknoteref-2226" + id="linknoteref-2226"><small>2226</small></a> Every French citizen is + forbidden to assume or retain the titles of prince, duke, count, marquis, + chevalier, and the like, and to bear any other than the "true name of his + family;" he is prohibited from making his servants wear liveries, and from + having coats-of-arms on his house or on his carriage. In case of any + infraction of this law a penalty is inflicted upon him equal to six times + the sum of his personal taxes; he is to be struck off the register of + citizens, and declared incapable of holding any civil or military office. + There is the same punishment if to any contract or acquittance he affixes + his accustomed signature; if; through habit or inadvertence, he adds the + title of his estate to his family name—if; with a view to + recognition, and to render his identity certain, he merely mentions that + he once bore the former name. Any notary or public officer who shall + write, or allow to be written, in any document the word ci-devant + (formerly) is to be suspended from his functions. Not only are old names + thus abolished, but an effort is made to efface all remembrance of them. + In a little while, the childish law will become a murderous one. It will + be but a little while and, according to the terms of this same decree, a + military veteran of seventy-seven years, a loyal servant of the Republic, + and a brigadier-general under the Convention, will be arrested on + returning to his native village, because he has mechanically signed the + register of the revolutionary committee as Montperreux instead of Vannod, + and, for this infraction, he will be guillotined along with his brother + and his sister-in-law.<a href="#linknote-2227" name="linknoteref-2227" + id="linknoteref-2227"><small>2227</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Once on this road, it is impossible to stop; for the principles which are + proclaimed go beyond the decrees which are passed, and a bad law + introduces a worse. The Constituent Assembly<a href="#linknote-2228" + name="linknoteref-2228" id="linknoteref-2228"><small>2228</small></a> had + supposed that annual dues, like ground-rents, and contingent dues, like + feudal duties (lods et rentes), were the price of an ancient concession of + land, and, consequently, the proof to the contrary is to be thrown upon + the tenant. The Legislative Assembly is about to assume that these same + rentals are the result of an old feudal usurpation, and that, + consequently, the proof to the contrary must rest with the proprietor. His + rights cannot be established by possession from time immemorial, nor by + innumerable and regular acquittances; he must produce the act of + enfeoffment which is many centuries old, the lease which has never, + perhaps, been written out, the primitive title already rare in 1720,<a + href="#linknote-2229" name="linknoteref-2229" id="linknoteref-2229"><small>2229</small></a> + and since stolen or burnt in the recent jacqueries: otherwise he is + despoiled without indemnity. All feudal claims are swept away by this act + without exception and without compensation. + </p> + <p> + In a similar manner, the Constituent Assembly, setting common law aside in + relation to inheritances ab intestato, had deprived all eldest sons and + males of any advantages.<a href="#linknote-2230" name="linknoteref-2230" + id="linknoteref-2230"><small>2230</small></a> The Convention, suppressing + the freedom of testamentary bequest, prohibits the father from disposing + of more than one-tenth of his possessions; and again, going back to the + past, it makes its decrees retrospective: every will opened after the 14th + of July, 1789, is declared invalid if not in conformity with this decree; + every succession from the 14th of June, 1789, which is administered after + the same date, is re-divided if the division has not been equal; every + donation which has been made among the heirs after the same date is void. + Not only is the feudal family destroyed in this way, but it must never be + reformed. The aristocracy, being once declared a venomous plant, it is not + sufficient to prime it away, but it must be extirpated, not only dug up by + the root, but its seed must be crushed out.—A malignant prejudice is + aroused against it, and this grows from day to day. The stings of + self-conceit, the disappointments of ambition, and envious sentiments have + prepared the way. Its hard, dry kernel consists of the abstract idea of + equality. All around revolutionary fervor has caused blood to flow, has + embittered tempers, intensified sensibilities, and created a painful + abscess which daily irritation renders still more painful. Through + steadily brooding over a purely speculative preference this has become a + fixed idea, and is becoming a murderous one. It is a strange passion, one + wholly of the brains, nourished by magniloquent phrases, but the more + destructive, because phantoms are created out of words, and against + phantoms no reasoning nor actual facts can prevail. This or that + shopkeeper who, up to this time, had always formed his idea of nobles from + his impressions of the members of the Parliament of his town or of the + gentry of his canton, now pictures them according to the declamations of + the club and the invectives of the newspapers. The imaginary figure, in + his mind, has gradually absorbed the living figure: he no longer sees the + calm and engaging countenance, but a grinning and distorted mask. + Kindliness or indifference is replaced by animosity and distrust; they are + overthrown tyrants, ancient evil-doers, And enemies of the public; he is + satisfied beforehand and without further investigation that they are + hatching plots. If they avoid being caught, it is owing to their address + and perfidy, and they are only the more dangerous the more inoffensive + they appear. Their sub-mission is merely a feint, their resignation + hypocrisy, their favorable disposition, treachery. Against these + conspirators who cannot be touched the law is inadequate; let us stretch + it in practice, and as they wince at equality let us try to make them bow + beneath the yoke. + </p> + <p> + In fact, illegal persecution precedes legal prosecution; the privileged + person who, by the late decrees, seems merely to be brought within the + pale of the common law, is, in fact; driven outside of it. The King, + disarmed, is no longer able to protect him; the partial Assembly repels + his complaints; the committee of inquiry regards him as a culprit when he + is simply oppressed. His income, his property, his repose, his freedom, + his home, his life, that of his wife and of his children, are in the hands + of an administration elected by the crowd, directed by clubs, and + threatened or violated by the mob. He is debarred from the elections. The + newspapers denounce him. He undergoes domiciliary visits. In hundreds of + places his chateau is sacked; the assassins and incendiaries who depart + from it with their hands full and steeped in blood are not prosecuted, or + are shielded by an amnesty:<a href="#linknote-2231" name="linknoteref-2231" + id="linknoteref-2231"><small>2231</small></a> it is established by + innumerable precedents that he may be run down with impunity. To prevent + him from defending himself, companies of the National Guard come and seize + his arms: he must become a prey, and an easy prey, like game kept back in + its enclosure for an approaching hunt.—In vain he abstains from + provocation and reduces himself to the standing of a private individual. + In vain does he patiently endure numerous provocations and resist only + extreme violence. I have read many hundreds of investigations in the + original manuscripts, and almost always I have admired the humanity of the + nobles, their forbearance, their horror of bloodshed. Not only are a great + many of them men of courage and all men of honor, but also, educated in + the philosophy of the eighteenth century, they are mild, sensitive, and + deeds of violence are repugnant to them. Military officers especially are + exemplary, their great defect being their weakness: rather than fire on + the crowd they surrender the forts under their command, and allow + themselves to be insulted and stoned by the people. For two years,<a + href="#linknote-2232" name="linknoteref-2232" id="linknoteref-2232"><small>2232</small></a> + "exposed to a thousand outrages, to defamation, to daily peril, persecuted + by clubs and misguided soldiers," disobeyed, menaced, put under arrest by + their own men, they remain at their post to prevent the ranks from being + broken up; "with stoic perseverance they put up with contempt of their + authority that they may preserve its semblance, their courage is of that + rarest kind which consists in remaining at the post of duty, impassive + beneath both affronts and blows.—Through a wrong of the greatest + magnitude, an entire class which have no share in the favors of the Court, + and which suffered as many injuries as any of the common plebeians, is + confounded with the titled parasites who besiege the antechambers of + Versailles. Twenty-five thousand families, "the nursery of the army and + the fleet," the elite of the agricultural proprietors, also many gentlemen + who look after and turn to account the little estates on which they live, + and "who have not left their homes a year in their lives," become the + pariahs of their canton.<a href="#linknote-2233" name="linknoteref-2233" + id="linknoteref-2233"><small>2233</small></a> After 1789, they begin to + feel that their position is no longer tenable.<a href="#linknote-2234" + name="linknoteref-2234" id="linknoteref-2234"><small>2234</small></a> + </p> + <p> + " It is absolutely in opposition to the rights of man," says another + letter from Franche-Comté, "to find one's self in perpetual fear of having + one's throat cut by scoundrels who are daily confounding liberty with + license." + </p> + <p> + "I never knew anything so wearying," says another letter from Champagne, + "as this anxiety about property and security. Never was there a better + reason for it. A moment suffices to let loose an intractable population + which thinks that it may do what it pleases, and which is carefully + sustained in that error." + </p> + <p> + "After the sacrifices that we have made," says a letter from Burgundy, "we + could not expect such treatment. I thought that our property would be the + last violated because the people owed us some return for staying at home + in the country to expend among them the few resources that remain to us. . + . (Now), I beg the Assembly to repeal the decree on emigration; otherwise + it may be said that people are purposely kept here to be assassinated. . . + In case it should refuse to do us this justice, I should be quite as + willing to have it decree an act of proscription against us, for we should + not then be lulled to sleep by the protection of laws which are doubtless + very wise, but which are not respected anywhere." + </p> + <p> + " It is not our privileges," say several others, "it is not our nobility + that we regret; but how is the persecution to which we are abandoned to be + supported? There is no safety for us, for our property, or for our + families. Wretches who are our debtors, the small farmers who rob us of + our incomes, daily threaten us with the torch and the lamp post. We do not + enjoy one hour of repose; not a night that we are certain to pass through + without trouble. Our persons are given up to the vilest outrages, our + dwellings to an inquisition of armed tyrants; we are robbed of our rentals + with impunity, and our property is openly attacked. We, being now the only + people to pay imposts, are unfairly taxed; in various places our entire + incomes would not suffice to pay the quota which crushes us. We can make + no complaint without incurring the risk of being massacred. The tribunals + and the administrative bodies, the tools of the multitude, daily sacrifice + us to its attacks. Even the Government seems afraid of compromising itself + by claiming the protection of the laws on our behalf. It is sufficient to + be pointed out as an aristocrat to be without any security. If our + peasants, in general, have shown more honesty, consideration, and + attachment toward us, every bourgeois of importance, the wild members of + clubs, the vilest of men who sully a uniform, consider themselves + privileged to insult us, and these wretches go unpunished and are + protected! Even our religion is not free. One of our number has had his + house sacked for having shown hospitality to an old curé of eighty + belonging to his parish who refused to take the oath. Such is our fate. We + are not so base as to endure it. Our right to resist oppression is not due + to a decree of the National Assembly, but to natural law. We are going to + leave, and to die if necessary. But to live under such a revolting + anarchy! Should it not be broken up we shall never set foot in France + again!" + </p> + <p> + The operation is successful. The Assembly, through its decrees and + institutions, through the laws it enacts and the violence which it + tolerates, has uprooted the aristocracy and cast it out of the country. + The nobles, now the reverse of privileged, cannot remain in a country + where, while respecting the law, they are really beyond its pale. Those + who first emigrated on the 15th of July, 1789, along with the Prince de + Condé, received at their houses the evening before they left a list of the + proscribed on which their names appeared, and a reward was promised to + whoever would bring their heads to the cellar of the Palais-Royal—Others, + in larger numbers, left after the occurrences of the 6th of October.—During + the last months of the Constituent Assembly,<a href="#linknote-2235" + name="linknoteref-2235" id="linknoteref-2235"><small>2235</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "the emigration goes on in companies composed of men of every condition. . + . . Twelve hundred gentlemen have left Poitou alone; Auvergne, Limousin, + and ten other provinces have been equally depopulated of their landowners. + There are towns in which nobody remains but common workmen, a club, and + the crowd of devouring office-holders created by the Constitution. All the + nobles in Brittany have left, and the emigration has begun in Normandy, + and is going on in the frontier provinces. + </p> + <p> + "More than two-thirds of the army will be without officers." On being + called upon to take the new oath in which the King's name is purposely + omitted, "six thousand officers send in their resignation." + </p> + <p> + The example gradually becomes contagious; they are men of the sword, and + their honor is at stake. Many of them join the princes at Coblentz, and + subsequently do battle against France in the belief that they are + contending only against their executioners. + </p> + <p> + The treatment of the nobles by the Assembly is the same as the treatment + of the Protestants by Louis XIV.<a href="#linknote-2236" + name="linknoteref-2236" id="linknoteref-2236"><small>2236</small></a> In + both cases the oppressed are a superior class of men. In both cases France + has been made uninhabitable for them. In both cases they are reduced to + exile, and they are punished because they exiled them selves. In both + cases it ended in a confiscation of their property, and in the penalty of + death to all who should harbor them. In both cases, by dint of + persecution, they are driven to revolt. The insurrection of La Vendée + corresponds with the insurrection of the Cévennes; and the emigrants, like + the refugees of former times, will be found under the flags of Prussia and + of England. One hundred thousand Frenchmen driven out at the end of the + seventeenth century, and one hundred thousand driven out at the end of the + eighteenth century! Mark how an intolerant democracy completes the work of + an intolerant monarchy. The moral aristocracy was mowed down in the name + of uniformity; the social aristocracy is mowed down in the name of + equality. For the second time, an absolute principle, and with the same + effect, buries its blade in the heart of a living society. + </p> + <p> + The success is complete. One of the deputies of the Legislative Assembly, + early in its session, on being informed of the great increase in + emigration, joyfully exclaims, + </p> + <p> + "SO MUCH THE BETTER; FRANCE IS BEING PURGED!" + </p> + <p> + She is, in truth, being depleted of one-half of her best blood. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Abuse and lukewarmness in 1789 in the ecclesiastical bodies. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + How the State used its right of overseeing and reforming + them.—Social usefulness of corporations.—The sound part in + the monastic institution.—Zeal and services of nuns.—How + ecclesiastical possessions should be employed.—Principle of + the Assembly as to private communities, feudal rights and + trust-funds.—Abolition and expropriation all corporations. + —Uncompensated suppression of tithes.—Confiscation of + ecclesiastical possessions.—Effect on the Treasury and on + expropriated services.—The civil constitution of the + clergy.—Rights of the Church in relation to the State. + —Certainty and effects of a conflict.—Priests considered as + State-functionaries.—Principal stipulations of the law. + —Obligations of the oath.—The majority of priests refuse to + take it.—The majority of believes on their side. + —Persecution of believers and of priests. +</pre> + <p> + There remained the corporate, ecclesiastic, and lay bodies, and, notably, + the oldest, most opulent, and most considerable of all the regular and + secular clergy.—Grave abuses existed here also, for, the institution + being founded on ancient requirements, had not accommodated itself to new + necessities.<a href="#linknote-2237" name="linknoteref-2237" + id="linknoteref-2237"><small>2237</small></a> There were too many + episcopal sees, and these were arranged according to the Christian + distribution of the population in the fourth century; a revenue still more + badly apportioned—bishops and abbés with one hundred thousand livres + a year, leading the lives of amiable idlers, while curés, overburdened + with work, have but seven hundred; in one monastery nineteen monks instead + of eighty, and in another four instead of fifty;<a href="#linknote-2238" + name="linknoteref-2238" id="linknoteref-2238"><small>2238</small></a> a + number of monasteries reduced to three or to two inhabitants, and even to + one; almost all the congregations of men going to decay, and many of them + dying out for lack of novices;<a href="#linknote-2239" + name="linknoteref-2239" id="linknoteref-2239"><small>2239</small></a> a + general lukewarmness among the members, great laxity in many + establishments, and with scandals in some of them; scarcely one-third + taking an interest in their calling, while the remaining two-thirds wish + to go back to the world,<a href="#linknote-2240" name="linknoteref-2240" + id="linknoteref-2240"><small>2240</small></a>—it is evident from all + this that the primitive inspiration has been diverted or has cooled; that + the endowment only partially fulfills its ends; that one-half of its + resources are employed in the wrong way or remain sterile; in short, that + there is a need of reformation in the body.—That this ought to be + effected with the co-operation of the State and even under its direction + is not less certain. For a corporation is not an individual like other + individuals, and, in order that it may acquire or possess the privileges + of an ordinary citizen, something supplementary must be added, some + fiction, some expedient of the law. If the law is disposed to overlook the + fact that a corporation is not a natural personage, if it gives to it a + civil personality, if it declares it to be capable of inheriting, of + acquiring and of selling, if it becomes a protected and respected + proprietor, this is due to the favors of the State which places its + tribunal and gendarmes at its service, and which, in exchange for this + service, justly imposes conditions on it, and, among others, that of being + useful and remaining useful, or at least that of never becoming harmful. + Such was the rule under the Ancient Régime, and especially since the + Government has for the last quarter of a century gradually and + efficaciously worked out a reform. Not only, in 1749, had it prohibited + the Church from accepting land, either by donation, by testament, or in + exchange, without royal letters-patent registered in Parliament; not only + in 1764 had it abolished the order of Jesuits, closed their colleges and + sold their possessions, but also, since 1766, a permanent commission, + formed by the King's order and instructed by him, had lopped off all the + dying and dead branches of the ecclesiastical tree.<a href="#linknote-2241" + name="linknoteref-2241" id="linknoteref-2241"><small>2241</small></a> + There was a revision of the primitive Constitutions; a prohibition to + every institution to have more than two monasteries at Paris and more than + one in other towns; a postponement of the age for taking vows—that + of sixteen being no longer permitted—to twenty-one for men and + eighteen for women; an obligatory minimum of monks and nuns for each + establishment, which varies from fifteen to nine according to + circumstances; if this is not kept up there follows a suppression or + prohibition to receive novices: owing to these measures, rigorously + executed, at the end of twelve years "the Grammontins, the Servites, the + Celestins, the ancient order of Saint-Bénédict, that of the Holy Ghost of + Montpellier, and those of Sainte-Brigitte, Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, + Saint-Ruff, and Saint-Antoine,"—in short, nine complete + congregations had disappeared. At the end of twenty years three hundred + and eighty-six establishments had been suppressed, the number of monks and + nuns had diminished one-third, the larger portion of possessions which had + escheated were usefully applied, and the congregations of men lacked + novices and complained that they could not fill up their ranks. If the + monks were still found to be too numerous, too wealthy, and too indolent, + it was merely necessary to keep on in this way; before the end of the + century, merely by the application of the edict, the institution would be + brought back, without brutality or injustice, within the scope of the + development, the limitations of fortune, and the class of functions + acceptable to a modern State. + </p> + <p> + But, because these ecclesiastical bodies stood in need of reform it does + not follow that it was necessary to destroy them, nor, in general, that + independent institutions are detrimental to a nation. Organized purposely + for a public service, and possessing, nearly or remotely under the + supervision of the State, the faculty of self-administration, these bodies + are valuable organs and not malign tumors. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, through their institution, a great public benefit is + secured without any cost to the government—worship, scientific + research, primary or higher education, help for the poor, care of the sick—all + set apart and sheltered from the cuts which public financial difficulties + might make necessary, and supported by the private generosity which, + finding a ready receptacle at hand, gathers together, century after + century, its thousands of scattered springs: as an example, note the + wealth, stability, and usefulness of the English and German universities. + </p> + <p> + In the second place, their institution furnishes an obstacle to the + omnipotence of the State; their walls provide a protection against the + leveling standardization of absolute monarchy or of pure democracy. A man + can here freely develop himself without donning the livery of either + courtier or demagogue, he can acquire wealth, consideration and authority, + without being indebted to the caprices of either royal or popular favor; + he can stand firm against established or prevailing opinions sheltered by + associates bound by their esprit de corps. Such, at the present day + (1885), is the situation of a professor at Oxford, Göttingen, and Harvard + Such, under the Ancient Régime, were a bishop, a member of the French + Parliaments, and even a plain attorney. What can be worse than universal + bureaucracy, producing a mechanical and servile uniformity! Those who + serve the public need not all be Government clerks; in countries where an + aristocracy has perished, bodies of this kind are their last place of + refuge. + </p> + <p> + In the third place, through such institutions, distinct original societies + may come to be inside the great commonplace world. Here special + personalities may find the only existence that suits them. If devout or + laborious, not only do these afford an outlet for the deeper needs of + conscience, of the imagination, of activity, and of discipline, but also + they serve as dikes which restrain and direct them in a channel which will + lead to the creation of a masterpiece of infinite value. In this way + thousands of men and women fulfill at small cost, voluntarily and gratis, + and with great effect, the least attractive and more repulsive social + needs, thus performing in human society the role which, inside the + ant-hill, we see assigned to the sexless worker-ant.<a + href="#linknote-2242" name="linknoteref-2242" id="linknoteref-2242"><small>2242</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus, at bottom, the institution was really good, and if it had to be + cauterized it was merely essential to remove the inert or corrupted parts + and preserve the healthy and sound parts.—Now, if we take only the + monastic bodies, there were more than one-half of these entitled to + respect. I omit those monks, one-third of whom remained zealous and + exemplary-the Benedictines, who continue the "Gallia Christiana," with + others who, at sixty years of age, labor in rooms without a fire; the + Trappists, who cultivate the ground with their own hands, and the + innumerable monasteries which serve as educational seminaries, bureaus of + charity, hospices for shelter, and of which all the villages in their + neighborhood demand the conservation by the National Assembly.<a + href="#linknote-2243" name="linknoteref-2243" id="linknoteref-2243"><small>2243</small></a> + I have to mention the nuns, thirty-seven thousand in fifteen hundred + convents. Here, except in the twenty-five chapters of canonesses, which + are a semi-worldly rendezvous for poor young girls of noble birth, fervor, + frugality, and usefulness are almost everywhere incontestable. One of the + members of the Ecclesiastical Committee admits in the Assembly tribunal + that, in all their letters and addresses, the nuns ask to be allowed to + remain in their cloisters; their entreaties, in fact, are as earnest as + they are affecting.<a href="#linknote-2244" name="linknoteref-2244" + id="linknoteref-2244"><small>2244</small></a> One Community writes, + </p> + <p> + "We should prefer the sacrifice of our lives to that of our calling . . . + . This is not the voice of some among our sisters, but of all. The + National Assembly has established the claims of liberty-would it prevent + the exercise of these by the only disinterested beings who ardently desire + to be useful, and have renounced society solely to be of greater service + to it?" + </p> + <p> + "The little contact we have with the world," writes another "is the reason + why our contentment is so little known. But it is not the less real and + substantial. We know of no distinctions, no privileges amongst ourselves; + our misfortunes and our property are in common. One in heart and one in + soul. . . we protest before the nation, in the face of heaven and of + earth, that it is not in the power of any being to shake our fidelity to + our vows, which vows we renew with still more ardor than when we first + pronounced them."<a href="#linknote-2245" name="linknoteref-2245" + id="linknoteref-2245"><small>2245</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Many of the communities have no means of subsistence other than the work + of their own hands and the small dowries the nuns have brought with them + on entering the convent. So great, however is their frugality and economy, + that the total expenditure of each nun does not surpass 250 livres a year. + The Annonciades of Saint-Amour say, + </p> + <p> + "We, thirty-three nuns, both choristers and those of the white veil, live + on 4,400 livres net income, without being a charge to our families or to + the public. . . If we were living in society, our expenses would be three + times as much;" and, not content with providing for themselves, they give + in charity. + </p> + <p> + Among these communities several hundreds are educational establishments; a + very great number give gratuitous primary instruction.—Now, in 1789, + there are no other schools for girls, and were these to be suppressed, + every avenue of instruction and culture would be closed to one of the two + sexes, forming one-half of the French population. Fourteen thousand + sisters of charity, distributed among four hundred and twenty convents, + look after the hospitals, attend upon the sick, serve the infirm, bring up + foundlings, provide for orphans, lying-in women, and repentant + prostitutes. The "Visitation" is an asylum for "those who are not favored + by nature,"—and, in those days, there were many more of the + disfigured than at present, since out of every eight deaths one was caused + by the smallpox. Widows are received here, as well as girls without means + and without protection, persons "worn out with the agitation of the + world," those who are too feeble to support the battle of life, those who + withdraw from it wounded or invalid, and "the rules of the order, not very + strict, are not beyond the health or strength of the most frail and + delicate." Some ingenious device of charity thus applies to each moral or + social sore, with skill and care, the proper and proportionate dressing. + And finally, far from falling off, nearly all these communities are in a + flourishing state, and whilst among the establishments for men there are + only nine, on the average, to each, in those for women there is an average + of twenty-four. Here, at Saint-Flour, is one which is bringing up fifty + boarders; another, at Beaulieu, instructs one hundred; another, in + Franche-Comté, has charge of eight hundred abandoned children.<a + href="#linknote-2246" name="linknoteref-2246" id="linknoteref-2246"><small>2246</small></a>—Evidently, + in the presence of such institutions one must pause, however little one + may care for justice and the public interest; and, moreover, because it is + useless to act rigorously against them the legislator crushes them in + vain, for they spring up again of their own accord; they are in the blood + of every Catholic nation. In France, instead of thirty-seven thousand + nuns, at the present day (1866) there are eighty-six thousand-that is to + say, forty-five in every ten thousand women instead of twenty-eight.<a + href="#linknote-2247" name="linknoteref-2247" id="linknoteref-2247"><small>2247</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In any case, if the State deprives them of their property, along with that + of other ecclesiastical bodies, it is not the State that ought to claim + the spoil.—The State is not their heir, and their land, furniture, + and rentals are in their very nature devoted to a special purpose, + although they have no designated proprietor. This treasure, which consists + of the accumulations of fourteen centuries, has been formed, increased, + and preserved, in view of a certain object. The millions of generous, + repentant, or devout souls who have made a gift of it, or have managed it, + did so with a certain intention. It was their desire to ensure education, + beneficence, and religion, and nothing else. Their legitimate intentions + should not be frustrated: the dead have rights in society as well as the + living, for it is the dead who have made the society which the living + enjoy, and we receive their heritage only on the condition of executing + their testamentary act.—Should this be of ancient date, it is + undoubtedly necessary to make a liberal interpretation of it; to + supplement its scanty provisions, and to take new circumstances into + consideration. The requirements for which it provided have often + disappeared; for instance, after the destruction of the Barbary pirates, + there were no more Christians to be ransomed; and only by transferring an + endowment can it be perpetuated.—But if, in the original + institution, several accessory and special clauses have become antiquated, + there remains the one important, general intention, which manifestly + continues imperative and permanent, that of providing for a distinct + service, either of charity, of worship, or of instruction. Let the + administrators be changed, if necessary, also the apportionment of the + legacy bequeathed, but do not divert any of it to services of an alien + character; it is inapplicable to any but that purpose or to others + strictly analogous. The four milliards of investment in real property, the + two hundred millions of ecclesiastical income, form for it an express and + special endowment. This is not a pile of gold abandoned on the highway, + which the exchequer can appropriate or assign to those who live by the + roadside. Authentic titles to it exist, which, declaring its origin, fix + its destination, and your business is simply to see that it reaches its + destination. Such was the principle under the ancient régime, in spite of + grave abuses, and under forced exactions. When the ecclesiastical + commission suppressed an ecclesiastical order, it was not for the purpose + of making its possessions over to the public treasury, but to apply these + to seminaries, schools, and hospitals. In 1789, the revenues of + Saint-Denis supported Saint-Cyr; those of Saint Germain went to the + Economats, and the Government, although absolute and needy, was + sufficiently honest to adjust that confiscation was robbery. The greater + our power, the greater the obligation to be just, and honesty always + proves in the end to be the best policy.—It is, therefore, both just + and useful that the Church, as in England and in America, that superior + education, as in England and in Germany, that special instruction, as in + America, and that diverse endowments for public assistance and utility, + should be unreservedly secured in the maintenance of their heritage. The + State, as testamentary executor of this inheritance, strangely abuses its + mandate when it pockets the bequest in order to choke the deficit of its + own treasury, risking it in bad speculations, and swallowing it up in its + own bankruptcy, until of this vast treasure, which has been heaped up for + generations for the benefit of children, the infirm, the sick and the + poor, not enough is left to pay the salary of a school-mistress, the wages + of a parish nurse, or for a bowl of broth in a hospital.<a + href="#linknote-2248" name="linknoteref-2248" id="linknoteref-2248"><small>2248</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The Assembly remains deaf to all these arguments, and that which makes its + refuse to listen is not financial distress.—The Archbishop of Aix, + M. de Boisjelin, offered, in the name of the clergy, to liquidate at once + the debt of three hundred millions, which was urgent, by a mortgage-loan + of four hundred millions on the ecclesiastical property, which was a very + good expedient; for at this time the credit of the clergy is the only + substantial one. It generally borrows at less than five per cent., and + more money has always been offered to it than it wanted, whilst the State + borrows at ten per cent., and, at this moment, there are no lenders.—But, + to our new revolutionary statesmen, the cost-benefit of a service is of + much less consequence than the application of a principle. In conformity + with the Social Contract they establish the maxim that in the State there + is no need of corporate bodies: they acknowledge nothing but, on the one + hand, the State, the depositary of all public powers, and, on the other + hand, a myriad of solitary individuals. Special associations, specific + groups, collateral corporations are not wanted, even to fulfill functions + which the State is incapable of fulfilling. "As soon as one enters a + corporation," says and orator, "one must love it as one loves a family;"<a + href="#linknote-2249" name="linknoteref-2249" id="linknoteref-2249"><small>2249</small></a> + whereas the affections and obedience are all to be monopolized by the + State. Moreover, on entering into an order a man receives special aid and + comfort from it, and whatever distinguishes one man from another, is + opposed to civil equality. Hence, if men are to remain equal and become + citizens they must be deprived of every rallying point that might compete + with that of the State, and give to some an advantage over others. All + natural or acquired ties, consequently, which bound men together through + geographical position, through climate, history, pursuits, and trade, are + sundered. The old provinces, the old provincial governments, the old + municipal administrations, parliaments, guilds and masterships, all are + suppressed. The groups which spring up most naturally, those which arise + through a community of interests, are all dispersed, and the broadest, + most express, and most positive interdictions are promulgated against + their revival under any pretext whatever.<a href="#linknote-2250" + name="linknoteref-2250" id="linknoteref-2250"><small>2250</small></a> + France is cut up into geometrical sections like a chess-board, and, within + these improvised limits, which are destined for a long time to remain + artificial, nothing is allowed to subsist but isolated individuals in + juxtaposition. There is no desire to spare organized bodies where the + cohesion is great, and least of all that of the clergy. "Special + associations," says Mirabeau,<a href="#linknote-2251" + name="linknoteref-2251" id="linknoteref-2251"><small>2251</small></a> "in + the community at large, break up the unity of its principles and destroy + the equilibrium of its forces. Large political bodies in a State are + dangerous through the strength which results from their coalition and the + resistance which is born out of their interests." ii—That of the + clergy, besides, is inherently bad,<a href="#linknote-2252" + name="linknoteref-2252" id="linknoteref-2252"><small>2252</small></a> + because "its system is in constant antagonism to the rights of man." An + institution in which a vow of obedience is necessary is "incompatible" + with the constitution. Congregations "subject to independent chiefs are + out of the social pale and incompatible with public spirit." As to the + right of society over these, and also over the Church, this is not + doubtful. "Corporate bodies exist only through society, and, in destroying + them, society merely takes back the life she has imparted to them." "They + are simply instruments fabricated by the law.<a href="#linknote-2253" + name="linknoteref-2253" id="linknoteref-2253"><small>2253</small></a> What + does the workman do when the tool he works with no longer suits him? He + breaks or alters it."—This primary sophism being admitted the + conclusion is plain. Since corporate bodies are abolished they no longer + exist, and since they no longer exist, they cannot again become + proprietors. + </p> + <p> + "Your aim was to destroy ecclesiastical orders,<a href="#linknote-2254" + name="linknoteref-2254" id="linknoteref-2254"><small>2254</small></a> + because their destruction was essential to the safety of the State. If the + clergy preserve their property, the clerical order is not destroyed: you + necessarily leave it the right of assembling; you sanction its + independence." In no case must ecclesiastics hold possessions. "If they + are proprietors they are independent, and if they are independent they + will associate this independence with the exercise of their functions." + The clergy, cost what it will, must be in the hands of the State, as + simple functionaries and supported by its subsidies. It would be too + dangerous for a nation, "to admit in its bosom as proprietors a large body + of men to whom so many sources of credit already give so great power. As + religion is the property of all, its ministers, through this fact alone, + should be in the pay of the nation;" they are essentially "officers of + morality and instruction," and "salaried" like judges and professors. Let + us fetch them back to this condition of things, which is the only one + compatible with the rights of man, and ordain that "the clergy, as well as + all corporations and bodies with power of inheritance, are now, and shall + be for ever incapable of holding any personal or landed estate."<a + href="#linknote-2255" name="linknoteref-2255" id="linknoteref-2255"><small>2255</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Who, now, is the legitimate heir of all these vacated possessions? Through + another sophism, the State, at once judge and party in the cause, assigns + them to the State: + </p> + <p> + "The founders presented them to the Church, that is to say, to the + nation."<a href="#linknote-2256" name="linknoteref-2256" + id="linknoteref-2256"><small>2256</small></a> "Since the nation has + permitted their possession by the clergy, she may re-demand that which is + possessed only through her authorization." "The principle must be + maintained that every nation is solely and veritably proprietor of the + possessions of its clergy." + </p> + <p> + This principle, it must be noted, as it is laid down, involves the + destruction of ecclesiastical and lay corporations, along with the + confiscation of all their possessions, and soon we shall see appearing on + the horizon the final and complete decree<a href="#linknote-2257" + name="linknoteref-2257" id="linknoteref-2257"><small>2257</small></a> by + which the Legislative Assembly, + </p> + <p> + "considering that a State truly free should not suffer any corporation + within its bosom, not even those which, devoted to public instruction, + deserve well of the country," not even those "which are solely devoted to + the service of the hospitals-and the relief of the sick," suppresses all + congregations, all associations of men or of women, lay or ecclesiastical, + all endowments for pious, charitable, and missionary purposes, all houses + of education, all seminaries and colleges, and those of the Sorbonne and + Navarre. Add to these the last sweep of the broom: under the Legislative + Assembly the division of all communal property, except woods: under the + Convention, the abolition of all literary societies, academies of science + and of literature, the confiscation of all their property, their + libraries, museums, and botanical gardens; the confiscation of all + communal possessions not previously divided; and the confiscation of all + the property of hospitals and other philanthropic establishments.<a + href="#linknote-2258" name="linknoteref-2258" id="linknoteref-2258"><small>2258</small></a>—The + abstract principle, proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly, reveals, by + degrees, its exterminating virtues. France now, owing to it, contains + nothing but dispersed, powerless, ephemeral individuals, and confronting + them, the State, the sole, the only permanent body that has devoured all + the others, a veritable Colossus, alone erect in the midst of these + insignificant dwarfs. + </p> + <p> + Substituted for the others, it is henceforth to perform their duties, and + spend the money well which they have expended badly.—In the first + place, it abolishes tithes, not gradually and by means of a process of + redemption, as in England, but at one stroke, and with no indemnity, on + the ground that the tax, being an abusive, illegitimate impost, a private + tax levied by individuals in cowl and cassock on others in smock frocks, + is a vexatious usurpation, and resembles the feudal dues. It is a radical + operation, and in conformity with principle. Unfortunately, the puerility + of the thing is so gross as to defeat its own object. In effect, since the + days of Charlemagne, all the estates in the country which have been sold + and resold over and over again have always paid tithes, and have never + been purchased except with this charge upon them, which amounts to about + one-seventh of the net revenue of the country. Take off this tax and + one-seventh is added to the income of the proprietor, and, consequently, a + seventh to his capital. A present is made to him of one hundred francs if + his land is worth seven hundred-francs, and of one thousand if it is worth + seven thousand, of ten thousand if it is worth seventy thousand, and of + one hundred thousand if it is worth seven hundred thousand. Some people + gain six hundred thousand francs by this act, and thirty thousand francs + in Income.<a href="#linknote-2259" name="linknoteref-2259" + id="linknoteref-2259"><small>2259</small></a> Through this gratuitous and + unexpected gift, one hundred and twenty-three millions of revenue, and two + milliards and a half of capital, is divided among the holders of real + estate in France, and in a manner so ingenious that the rich receive the + most. Such is the effect of abstract principles. To afford a relief of + thirty millions a year to the peasants in wooden shoes, an assembly of + democrats adds thirty millions a year to the revenue of wealthy bourgeois + and thirty millions a year to opulent nobles. The first part of this + operation moreover, is but another burden to the State; for, in taking off + the load from the holders of real property, it has encumbered itself, the + State henceforth, without pocketing a penny, being obliged to defray the + expenses of worship in their place.—As to the second part of the + operation, which consists in the confiscation of four milliards of real + estate, it proves, after all, to be ruinous, although promising to be + lucrative. It makes the same impression on our statesmen that the + inheritance of a great estate makes on a needy and fanciful upstart. + Regarding it as a bottomless well of gold, he draws upon it without stint + and strives to realize all his fancies; as he can afford to pay for it + all, he is free to smash it all. It is thus that the Assembly suppresses + and compensates magisterial offices to the amount of four hundred and + fifty millions; financial securities and obligations to the amount of + three hundred and twenty-one millions; the household charges of the King, + Queen, and princes, fifty-two millions; military services and + encumbrances, thirty-five millions; enfeoffed tithes, one hundred + millions, and so on.<a href="#linknote-2260" name="linknoteref-2260" + id="linknoteref-2260"><small>2260</small></a> "In the month of May, 1789," + says Necker, "the re-establishment of order in the finances were mere + child's-play." At the end of a year, by dint of involving itself in debt, + by increasing its expenses, and by abolishing or abandoning its income, + the State lives now on the paper-currency it issues, eats up its capital, + and rapidly marches onward to bankruptcy. Never was such a vast + inheritance so quickly reduced to nothing, and to less than nothing. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, we can demonstrate, from the first few months, what use the + administrators will be able to make of it, and the manner in which they + will endow the service to which it binds them.—No portion of this + confiscated property is reserved for the maintenance of public worship, or + to keep up the hospitals, asylums, and schools. Not only do all + obligations and all productive real property find their way into the great + national crucible to be converted into assignats<a href="#linknote-2261" + name="linknoteref-2261" id="linknoteref-2261"><small>2261</small></a>, but + a number of special buildings, all monastic real estate and a portion of + the ecclesiastical real estate, diverted from its natural course, becomes + swallowed up in the same gulf. At Besançon,<a href="#linknote-2262" + name="linknoteref-2262" id="linknoteref-2262"><small>2262</small></a> + three churches out of eight, with their land and treasure, the funds of + the chapter, all the money of the monastic churches, the sacred vessels, + shrines, crosses, reliquaries, votive offerings, ivories, statues, + pictures, tapestry, sacerdotal dresses and ornaments, plate, jewels and + precious furniture, libraries, railings, bells, masterpieces of art and of + piety, all are broken up and melted in the Mint, or sold by auction for + almost nothing. This is the way in which the intentions of the founders + and donors are carried out.—How are so many communities, which are + deprived of their rentals, to support their schools, hospices, and + asylums? Even after the decree<a href="#linknote-2263" + name="linknoteref-2263" id="linknoteref-2263"><small>2263</small></a> + which, exceptionally and provisionally, orders the whole of their revenue + to be accounted for to them, will it be paid over now that it is collected + by a local administration whose coffers are always empty, and whose + intentions are almost always hostile? Every establishment for benevolent + and educational purposes is evidently sinking, now that the special + streams which nourished them run into and are lost in the dry bed of the + public treasury.<a href="#linknote-2264" name="linknoteref-2264" + id="linknoteref-2264"><small>2264</small></a> Already, in 1790, there are + no funds with which to pay the monks and nuns their small pensions for + their maintenance. In Franche-Comté the Capuchins of Baume have no bread, + and, to live, they are obliged to re-sell, with the consent of the + district, a portion of the stores of their monastery which had been + confiscated. The Ursuline nuns of Ornans live on the means furnished them + by private individuals in order to keep up the only school which the town + possesses. The Bernardine nuns of Pontarlier are reduced to the lowest + stage of want: "We are satisfied," the district reports, "that they have + nothing to put into their mouths. We have to contribute something every + day amongst ourselves to keep them from starving."<a href="#linknote-2265" + name="linknoteref-2265" id="linknoteref-2265"><small>2265</small></a> Only + too thankful are they when the local administration gives them something + to eat, or allows others to give them something. In many places it strives + to famish them, or takes delight in annoying them. In March, 1791, the + department of Doubs, in spite of the entreaties of the district, reduces + the pension of the Visitant nuns to one hundred and one livres for the + choristers, and fifty for the lay-sisters. Two months before this, the + municipality of Besançon, putting its own interpretation on the decree + which allowed nuns to dress as they pleased, enjoins them all, including + even the sisters of charity, to abandon their old costume, which few among + them had the means of replacing.—Helplessness, indifference, or + malevolence, such are the various dispositions which are encountered among + the new authorities whose duty it is to support and protect them. To let + loose persecution there is now only needed a decree which puts the civil + power in conflict with religious convictions. That decree is promulgated, + and, on the 12th of July, 1790, the Assembly establishes the civil + constitution of the clergy. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the confiscation of ecclesiastical property, and the + dispersion of the monastic communities, the main body of the + ecclesiastical corps remains intact: seventy thousand priests ranged under + the bishops, with the Pope in the center as the commander-in-chief. There + is no corporation more solid, more incompatible, or more attacked. For, + against it are opposed implacable hatreds and fixed opinions: the + Gallicanism of the jurists who, from St. Louis downwards, are the + adversaries of ecclesiastical power; the doctrine of the Jansenists who, + since Louis XIII., desire to bring back the Church to its primitive form; + and the theory of the philosophers who, for sixty years, have considered + Christianity as a mistake and Catholicism as a scourge. At the very least + the institution of a clergy in Catholicism is condemned, and they think + that they are moderate if they respect the rest. + </p> + <p> + "WE MIGHT CHANGE THE RELIGION," + </p> + <p> + say the deputies in the tribune.<a href="#linknote-2266" + name="linknoteref-2266" id="linknoteref-2266"><small>2266</small></a> Now, + the decree affects neither dogma nor worship; it is confined to a revision + of matters of discipline, and on this particular domain which is claimed + for the civil power, it is pretended that demolition and re-construction + may be effected at discretion without the concurrence of the + ecclesiastical power. + </p> + <p> + Here there is an abuse of power, for an ecclesiastical as well as civil + society has the right to choose its own form, its own hierarchy, its own + government.—On this point, every argument that can be advanced in + favor of the former can be repeated in favor of the latter, and the moment + one becomes legitimate the other becomes legitimate also. The + justification for a civil or of a religious community or society may be + the performance of a long series of services which, for centuries, it has + rendered to its members, the zeal and success with which it discharges its + functions, the feelings of gratitude they entertain for it, the importance + they attribute to its offices, the need they have of it, and their + attachment to it, the conviction imprinted in their minds that without it + they would be deprived of a benefit upon which they set more store than + upon any other. This benefit, in a civil society, is the security of + persons and property. In the religious society it is the eternal salvation + of the soul. iii In all other particulars the resemblance is complete, and + the titles of the Church are as good as those of the State. Hence, if it + be just for one to be sovereign and free on its own domain, it is just for + the other to be equally sovereign and free, If the Church encroaches when + it assumes to regulate the constitution of the State, then the State also + encroaches when it pretends to regulate the constitution of the Church. If + the former claims the respect of the latter on its domain, the latter must + show equal respect for the former on its ground. The boundary-line between + the two territories is, undoubtedly, not clearly defined and frequent + contests arise between the two. Sometimes these may be forestalled or + terminated by each shutting itself up within a wall of separation, and by + their remaining as much as possible indifferent to each other, as is the + case in America. At another, they may, by a carefully considered contract,<a + href="#linknote-2267" name="linknoteref-2267" id="linknoteref-2267"><small>2267</small></a> + each accord to the other specific rights on the intermediate zone, and + both exercise their divided authority on that zone, which is the case in + France. In both cases, however, the two powers, like the two societies, + must remain distinct. It is necessary for each of them that the other + should be an equal, and not a subordinate to which it prescribes + conditions. Whatever the civil system may be, whether monarchical or + republican, oligarchic or democratic, the Church abuses its credit when it + condemns or attacks it. Whatever may be the ecclesiastical system, whether + papal, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or congregational, the State abuses its + strength when, without the assent of the faithful, it abolishes their + systems or imposes a new one upon them. Not only does it violate right, + but its violence, most frequently, is fruitless. It may strike as it will, + the root of the tree is beyond its reach, and, in the unjust war which it + wages against an institution as vital as itself, it often ends in getting + the worst of it. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, the Assembly, in this as in other matters, being + preoccupied with principles, fails to look at practical facts; and, aiming + to remove only the dead bark, it injures the living trunk.—For many + centuries, and especially since the Council of Trent, the vigorous element + of Catholicism is much less religion itself than the Church. Theology has + retired into the background, while discipline has come to the front. + Believers who, according to Church law, are required to regard spiritual + authority as dogma, in fact attach their faith to the spiritual authority + much more than to the dogma.— + </p> + <p> + Catholic Faith insists, in relation to discipline as well as to dogma, + that if one rejects the decision of the Roman Church one ceases to be a + Catholic; that the constitution of the Church is monarchical, that the + ordaining of priests and bishops is made from above so that without + communion with the Pope, its supreme head, one is schismatic and that no + schismatic priest legitimately can perform a holy service, and that no + true faithful may attend his service or receive his blessings without + committing a sin.—It is a fact that the faithful, apart from a few + Jansenists, are neither theologians nor canonists; that they read neither + prayers nor scriptures, and if they accept the creed, it is in a lump, + without investigation, confiding in the hand which presents it; that their + obedient conscience is in the keeping of this pastoral guide; that the + Church of the third century is of little consequence to them; and that, as + far as the true form of the actual Church goes, the doctor whose advice + they follow is not St. Cyprian, of whom they know nothing, but their + visible bishop and their living curé. Put these two premises together and + the conclusion is self-evident: it is clear that they will not believe + that they are baptized, absolved, or married except by this curé + authorized by this bishop. Let others be put in their places whom they + condemn, and you suppress worship, sacraments, and the most precious + functions of spiritual life to twenty-four millions of French people, to + all the peasantry, all the children, and to almost all the women; you stir + up in rebellion against you the two greatest forces which move the mind, + conscience and habit.—And observe the result of this. You not only + convert the State into a policeman in the service of heresy, but also, + through this fruitless and tyrannous attempt of Gallican Jansenism, you + bring into permanent discredit Gallican maxims and Jansenist doctrines. + You cut away the last two roots by which a liberal sentiment still + vegetated in orthodox Catholicism. You throw the clergy back on Rome; you + attach them to the Pope from whom you wish to separate them, and deprive + them of the national character which you wish to impose on them. They were + French, and you render them Ultramontane.<a href="#linknote-2268" + name="linknoteref-2268" id="linknoteref-2268"><small>2268</small></a> They + excited ill-will and envy, and you render them sympathetic and popular. + They were a divided body, and you give them unanimity. They were a + straggling militia, scattered about under several independent authorities, + and rooted to the soil through the possession of the ground; thanks to + you, they are to become a regular, manageable army, emancipated from every + local attachment, organized under one head, and always prepared to take + the field at the word of command. Compare the authority of a bishop in his + diocese in 1789 with that of a bishop sixty years later. In 1789, the + Archbishop of Besançon, out of fifteen hundred offices and benefices, had + the patronage of one hundred, In ninety-three incumbencies the selections + were made by the metropolitan chapter; in eighteen it was made by the + chapter of the Madeleine; in seventy parishes by the noble founder or + benefactor. One abbé had thirteen incumbencies at his disposal, another + thirty-four, another thirty-five, a prior nine, an abbess twenty; five + communes directly nominated their own pastor, while abbeys, priories and + canonries were in the hands of the King.<a href="#linknote-2269" + name="linknoteref-2269" id="linknoteref-2269"><small>2269</small></a> At + the present day (1880) in a diocese the bishop appoints all the curés or + officiating priests, and may deprive nine out of ten of them; in the + diocese above named, from 1850 to 1860, scarcely one lay functionary was + nominated without the consent or intervention of the cardinal-archbishop.<a + href="#linknote-2270" name="linknoteref-2270" id="linknoteref-2270"><small>2270</small></a> + To comprehend the spirit, discipline, and influence of our contemporary + clergy, go back to the source of it, and you will find it in the decree of + the Constituent Assembly. A natural organization cannot be broken up with + impunity; it forms anew, adapting itself to circumstances, and closes up + its ranks in proportion to its danger. + </p> + <p> + But even if, according to the maxims of the Assembly, faith and worship + are free, as far as the sovereign State is concerned, the churches are + subjects.—For these are societies, administrations, and hierarchies, + and no society, administration, or hierarchy may exist in the State + without entering into its—departments under the title of + subordinate, delegate, or employee. A priest is now essentially a salaried + officer like the rest, a functionary<a href="#linknote-2271" + name="linknoteref-2271" id="linknoteref-2271"><small>2271</small></a> + presiding over matters pertaining to worship and morality. If the State is + disposed to change the number, the mode of nomination, the duties and the + posts of its engineers, it is not bound to assemble its engineers and ask + their permission, least of all that of a foreign engineer established at + Rome. If it wishes to change the condition of "its ecclesiastical + officers," its right to do so is the same, and therefore unquestioned. + There is no need of asking anybody's consent in the exercise of this + right, and it allows no interference between it and its clerks. The + Assembly refuses to call a Gallican council; it refuses to negotiate with + the Pope, and, on its own authority alone, it recasts the whole + Constitution of the Church. Henceforth this branch of the public + administration is to be organized on the model of the others.—In the + first place<a href="#linknote-2272" name="linknoteref-2272" + id="linknoteref-2272"><small>2272</small></a> the diocese is to be in + extent and limits the same as the French department; consequently, all + ecclesiastical districts are marked out anew, and forty-eight episcopal + sees disappear.—In the second place, the appointed bishop is + forbidden "to refer to the Pope to obtain any confirmation whatever." All + he can do is to write to him "in testimony of the unity of faith and of + the communion which he is to maintain with him." The bishop is thus no + longer installed by his canonical chief, and the Church of France becomes + schismatic.—In the third place, the metropolitan or bishop is + forbidden to exact from the new bishops or curés "any oath other than that + they profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion." Assisted by his + council he may examine them on their doctrine and morals, and refuse them + canonical installation, but in this case his reasons must be given in + writing, and he signed by himself and his council. His authority, in other + respects, does not extend beyond this for it is the civil tribunal which + decides between contending parties. Thus is the catholic hierarchy broken + up; the ecclesiastical superior has his hands tied; if he still delegates + sacerdotal functions it is only as a matter of form. Between the curé and + the bishop subordination ceases to exist just as it has ceased to exist + between the bishop and the Pope, and the Church of France becomes + Presbyterian.—The people now, in effect, choose their own ministers, + as they do in the Presbyterian church; the bishop is appointed by the + electors of the department, the cure by the district electors, and, what + is an extraordinary aggravation, these need not be of his communion. It is + of no consequence whether the electoral Assembly contains, as at Nîmes, + Montauban, Strasbourg, and Metz, a notable proportion of Calvinists, + Lutherans, and Jews, or whether its majority, furnished by the club, is + notoriously hostile to Catholicism, and even to Christianity itself. The + bishop and the curé must be chosen by the electoral body; the Holy Ghost + dwells with it, and with the civil tribunals, and these may install its + elect in spite of any resistance.—To complete the dependence of the + clergy, every bishop is forbidden to absent himself more than fifteen days + without permission from the department; every curé the same length of time + without the permission of the district, even to attend upon a dying father + or to undergo the operation of lithotomy. In default of this permission + his salary is suspended: as a functionary under salary, he owes all his + time to his bureau, and if he desires a leave of absence he must ask for + it from his chiefs in the Hôtel-de-Ville.<a href="#linknote-2273" + name="linknoteref-2273" id="linknoteref-2273"><small>2273</small></a>—He + must assent to all these innovations, not only with passive obedience, but + by a solemn oath. All old or new ecclesiastics, archbishops, bishops, + curés, vicars, preachers, hospital and prison chaplains, superiors and + directors of seminaries, professors of seminaries and colleges, are to + state in writing that they are ready to take this oath: moreover, they + must take it publicly, in church, "in the presence of the general council, + the commune, and the faithful," and promise "to maintain with all their + power" a schismatic and Presbyterian Church.—For there can be no + doubt about the sense and bearing of the prescribed oath. It was all very + well to incorporate it with a broader one, that of maintaining the + Constitution. But the Constitution of the clergy is too clearly comprised + in the general Constitution, like a chapter in a book, and to sign the + book is to sign the chapter. Besides, in the formula to which the + ecclesiastics in the Assembly are obliged to swear in the tribune, the + chapter is precisely indicated, and no exception or reservation is + allowed.<a href="#linknote-2274" name="linknoteref-2274" + id="linknoteref-2274"><small>2274</small></a> The Bishop of Clermont, with + all those who have accepted the Constitution in full, save the decrees + affecting spiritual matters, are silenced. Where the spiritual begins and + where it ends the Assembly knows better than they, for it has defined + this, and it imposes its definition on canonist and theologian; it is, in + its turn, the Pope, and all consciences must bow to its decision. Let them + take the "oath, pure and simple," or if they do not they are 'refractory." + The fiat goes forth, and the effect of it is immense, for, along with the + clergy, the law reaches to laymen. On the one hand, all the ecclesiastics + who refuse the oath are dismissed. If they continue "to interfere with + public functions which they have personally or corporately exercised" they + "shall be prosecuted as disturbers of the peace, and condemned as rebels + against the law," deprived of all rights as active citizens, and declared + incompetent to hold any public office. This is the penalty already + inflicted on the nonjuring bishop who persists in considering himself a + bishop, who ordains priests and who issues a pastoral letter. Such is soon + to be the penalty inflicted on the nonjuring curé who presumes to hear + confession or officiate at a mass.<a href="#linknote-2275" + name="linknoteref-2275" id="linknoteref-2275"><small>2275</small></a> On + the other hand, all citizens who refuse to take the prescribed oath, all + electors, municipal officers, judges and administrative agents, shall lose + their right of suffrage, have their functions revoked, and be declared + incompetent for all public duties.<a href="#linknote-2276" + name="linknoteref-2276" id="linknoteref-2276"><small>2276</small></a> The + result is that scrupulous Catholics are excluded from every administrative + post, from all elections, and especially from ecclesiastical elections; + from which it follows that, the stronger one's faith the less one's share + in the choice of a priest.<a href="#linknote-2277" name="linknoteref-2277" + id="linknoteref-2277"><small>2277</small></a>—What an admirable law, + that which, under the pretext of doing away with ecclesiastical abuses, + places the faithful, lay or clerical, outside the pale of the law! + </p> + <p> + This soon becomes apparent. One hundred and thirty four archbishops, + bishops, and coadjutors refuse to take the oath; there are only four of + them who do so, three of whom, MM. de Talleyrand, de Jarente, and de + Brienne, are unbelievers and notorious for their licentiousness; the + others are influenced by their consciences, above all, by their esprit de + corps and a point of honor. Most of the curés rally around this staff of + officers. In the diocese of Besançon,<a href="#linknote-2278" + name="linknoteref-2278" id="linknoteref-2278"><small>2278</small></a> out + of fourteen hundred priests, three hundred take the oath, a thousand + refuse it, and eighty retract. In the department of Doubs, only four + consent to swear. In the department of Lozère, there are only "ten out of + two hundred and fifty." It is stated positively," writes the best informed + of all observers that everywhere in France two-thirds of the ecclesiastics + have refused the oath, or have only taken it with the same reservations as + the Bishop of Clermont." + </p> + <p> + Thus, out of seventy thousand priests, forty-six thousand are turned out + of office, and the majority of their parishioners are on their side. This + is apparent in the absence of electors convoked to replace them: at + Bordeaux only four hundred and fifty came to the poll out of nine hundred, + while elsewhere the summons brings together only "a third or a quarter" In + many places there are no candidates, or those elected decline to accept. + They are obliged, in order to supply their places, to hunt up unfrocked + monks of a questionable character. There are two parties, after this, in + each parish; two faiths, two systems of worship, and permanent discord. + Even when the new and the old curés are accommodating, their situations + bring them into conflict. To the former the latter are "intruders." To the + latter the former are "refractories." By virtue of his being a guardian of + souls, the former cannot dispense with telling his parishioners that the + intruder is excommunicated, that his sacraments are null or sacrilegious, + and that it is a sin to attend his mass. By virtue of his being a public + functionary, the latter does not fail to write to the authorities that the + "refractory" entraps the faithful, excites their consciences, saps the + Constitution, and that he ought to be put down by force. In other words, + the former draws everybody away from the latter, while the latter sends + the gendarmes against the former, and persecution begins.—In a + strange reversal, it is the majority which undergoes persecution, and the + minority which carries it out. The mass of the constitutional curé is, + everywhere, deserted.<a href="#linknote-2279" name="linknoteref-2279" + id="linknoteref-2279"><small>2279</small></a> In La Vendée there are ten + or twelve present in the church out of five or six hundred parishioners; + on Sundays and holidays whole villages and market-towns travel from one to + two leagues off to attend the orthodox mass, the villagers declaring that + "if the old curé can only be restored to them, they will gladly pay a + double tax." In Alsace, "nine tenths, at least, of the Catholics refuse to + recognize the legally sworn priests." The same spectacle presents itself + in Franche-Comté, Artois, and in ten of the other provinces.—Finally, + as in a chemical composition, the analysis is complete. Those who believe, + or who recover their belief, are ranged around the old curé; all who, + through conviction or tradition, hold to the sacraments, all who, through + faith or habit, wish or feel a need to attend the mass. The auditors of + the new curé consist of unbelievers, deists, the indifferent members of + the clubs and of the administration, who resort to the church as to the + Hôtel-de-ville or to a popular meeting, not through religious but through + political zeal, and who support the "intruder" in order to sustain the + Constitution. All this does not secure to him very fervent followers, but + it provides him with very zealous defenders; and, in default of the faith + which they do not possess, they give the force which is at their disposal. + All means are proper against an intractable bishop or curé; not only the + law which they aggravate through their forced interpretation of it and + through their arbitrary verdicts, but also the riots which they stir up by + their instigation and which they sanction by their toleration.<a + href="#linknote-2280" name="linknoteref-2280" id="linknoteref-2280"><small>2280</small></a> + He is driven out of his parish, consigned to the county town, and kept in + a safe place. The Directory of Aisne denounces him as a disturber of the + public peace, and forbids him, under severe penalties, from administering + the sacraments. The municipality of Cahors shuts up particular churches + and orders the nonjuring ecclesiastics to leave the town in twenty-four + hours. The electoral corps of Lot denounces them publicly as "ferocious + brutes," incendiaries, and provokers of civil war. The Directory of the + Bas-Rhin banishes them to Strasbourg or to fifteen leagues from the + frontier. At Saint-Leon the bishop is forced to fly. At Auch the + archbishop is imprisoned; at Lyons M. de Boisboissel, grand vicar, is + confined in Pierre-Encize, for having preserved an archiepiscopal mandate + in his house; brutality is everywhere the minister of intolerance. A + certain cure of Aisne who, in 1789, had fed two thousand poor, having + presumed to read from his pulpit a pastoral charge concerning the + observance of Lent, the mayor seizes him by the collar and prevents him + from going to the altar; "two of the National Yeomanry" draw their sabers + on him, and forthwith lead him away bareheaded, not allowing him to return + to his house, and drive him to a distance of two leagues by beat of drum + and under escort. At Paris, in the church of Saint-Eustache, the curé is + greeted with outcries, a pistol is pointed at his head, he is seized by + the hair, struck with fists, and only reaches the sacristy through the + intervention of the National Guard. In the church of the Théatins, rented + by the orthodox with all legal formality, a furious band disperses the + priests and their assistants, upsets the altar and profanes the sacred + vessels. A placard, posted up by the department, calls upon the people to + respect the law, "I saw it," says an eye-witness, "torn down amidst + imprecations against the department, the priests, and the devout. One of + the chief haranguers, standing on the steps terminated his speech by + stating that schism ought to be stopped at any cost, that no worship but + his should be allowed, that women should be whipped and priests knocked on + the head." And, in fact, "a young lady accompanied by her mother is + whipped on the steps of the church." Elsewhere nuns are the sufferers, + even the sisters of Saint-Vincent de Paul; and, from April, 1793, onward; + the same outrages on modesty and against life are propagated from town to + town. At Dijon, rods are nailed fast to the gates of all the convents; at + Montpellier, two or three hundred ruffians, armed with large iron—bound + sticks, murder the men and outrage the women.—Nothing remains but to + put the gangsters under the shelter of an amnesty, which is done by the + Constituent Assembly, and to legally sanction the animosity of local + administrations, which is done by the Legislative Assembly.<a + href="#linknote-2281" name="linknoteref-2281" id="linknoteref-2281"><small>2281</small></a> + Henceforth the nonjuring ecclesiastics are deprived of their sustenance; + they are declared "suspected of revolt against the law and of evil + intentions against the country."—Thus, says a contemporary + Protestant, "on the strength of these suspicions and these intentions, a + Directory, to which the law interdicts judicial functions, may arbitrarily + drive out of his house the minister of a God of peace and charity, grown + gray in the shadow of the altar" Thus, "everywhere, where disturbances + occur on account of religious opinions, and whether these troubles are due + to the frantic scourgers of the virtuous sisters of charity or to the + ruffians armed with cow-hides who, at Nîmes and Montpellier, outrage all + the laws of decorum and of liberty for six whole months, the non-juring + priests are to be punished with banishment. Torn from their families whose + means of living they share, they are sent away to wander on the highways, + abandoned to public pity or ferocity the moment any scoundrel chooses to + excite a disturbance that he can impute to them."—Thus we see + approaching the revolt of the peasantry, the insurrections of Nîmes, + Franche-Comté, la Vendée and Brittany, emigration, transportation; + imprisonment, the guillotine or drowning for two thirds of the clergy of + France, and likewise for myriads of the loyal, for husbandmen, artisans, + day-laborers, seamstresses, and servants, and the humblest among the lower + class of the people. This is what the laws of the Constituent Assembly are + leading to.—In the institution of the clergy, as in that of the + nobles and the King, it demolished a solid wall in order to dig through it + an open door, and it is nothing strange if the whole structure tumbles + down on the heads of its inmates. The true course was to respect, to + reform, to utilize rank and corporations: all that the Assembly thought of + was the abolition of these in the name of abstract equality and of + national sovereignty. In order to abolish these it executed, tolerated, or + initiated all the attacks on persons and on property. Those it is about to + commit are the inevitable result of those which it has already committed; + for, through its Constitution, bad is changed to worse, and the social + edifice, already half in ruins through the clumsy havoc that is effected + in it, will fall in completely under the weight of the incongruous or + extravagant constructions which it proceeds to extemporize. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2201" id="linknote-2201"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2201 (<a href="#linknoteref-2201">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. "The Ancient + Régime," books I. and V.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2202" id="linknote-2202"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2202 (<a href="#linknoteref-2202">return</a>)<br /> [ Perhaps we are here + at the core of why all regimes end up becoming corrupt, inefficient and + sick; their leaders take their privileges for granted and become more and + more inattentive to the work which must be done if the people are to be + kept at work and possible adversaries kept under control. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2203" id="linknote-2203"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2203 (<a href="#linknoteref-2203">return</a>)<br /> [ A special tax paid + the king by a plebeian owning a fief. (TR)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2204" id="linknote-2204"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2204 (<a href="#linknoteref-2204">return</a>)<br /> [ The right to an + income from trust funds. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2205" id="linknote-2205"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2205 (<a href="#linknoteref-2205">return</a>)<br /> [ Arthur Young, I. 209, + 223. "If the communes steadily refuse what is now offered to them, they + put immense and certain benefits to the chance of fortune, to that hazard + which may make posterity curse instead of bless their memories as real + patriots who had nothing in view but the happiness of their country."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2206" id="linknote-2206"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2206 (<a href="#linknoteref-2206">return</a>)<br /> [ According to + valuations by the Constituent Assembly, the tax on real estate ought to + bring 240,000,000 francs, and provide one-fifth of the net revenue of + France, estimated at 1,200,000,000. Additionally, the personal tax on + movable property, which replaced the capitation, ought to bring + 60,000,000. Total for direct taxation, 300,000,000, or one-fourth—that + is to say, twenty-five per cent, of the net revenue.—If the direct + taxation had been maintained up to the rate of the ancient régime + (190,000,000, according to Necker's report in May, 1689), this impost + would only have provided one-sixth of the net revenue, or sixteen + percent.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2207" id="linknote-2207"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2207 (<a href="#linknoteref-2207">return</a>)<br /> [ Dumont, 267. (The + words of Mirabeau three months before his death:) "Ah, my friend, how + right we were at the start when we wanted to prevent the commons from + declaring themselves the National Assembly! That was the source of the + evil. They wanted to rule the King, instead of ruling through him."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2208" id="linknote-2208"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2208 (<a href="#linknoteref-2208">return</a>)<br /> [ Gouverneur Morris, + April 29, 1789 (on the principles of the future constitution), "One + generation at least will be required to render the public familiar with + them."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2209" id="linknote-2209"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2209 (<a href="#linknoteref-2209">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. "The Ancient + Régime," book II, ch. III.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2210" id="linknote-2210"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2210 (<a href="#linknoteref-2210">return</a>)<br /> [ French women did not + obtain the right to vote until 1946. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2211" id="linknote-2211"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2211 (<a href="#linknoteref-2211">return</a>)<br /> [ According to Voltaire + ("L'Homme aux Quarante Écus"), the average duration of human life was only + twenty-three years.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2212" id="linknote-2212"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2212 (<a href="#linknoteref-2212">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure, July 6, + 1790. According to the report of Camus (sitting of July 2nd), the official + total of pensions amounted to thirty-two millions; but if we add the + gratuities and allowances out of the various treasuries, the actual total + was fifty-six millions.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2213" id="linknote-2213"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2213 (<a href="#linknoteref-2213">return</a>)<br /> [ I note that today in + 1998, 100 years after Taine's death, Denmark, my country, has had total + democracy, that is universal suffrage for women and men of 18 years of age + for a considerable time, and a witty author has noted that the first rule + of our unwritten constitution is that "thou shalt not think that thou art + important". I have noted, however, that when a Dane praises Denmark and + the Danes even in the most excessive manner, then he is not considered as + a chauvinist but admired as being a man of truth. In spite of the process + of 'democratization' even socialist chieftains seem to favor and protect + their own children, send them to good private schools and later abroad to + study and help them to find favorable employment in the party or with the + public services. A new élite is thus continuously created by the ruling + political and administrative upper class. (SR.).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2214" id="linknote-2214"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2214 (<a href="#linknoteref-2214">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Ancient Régime," + p.388, and the following pages.— "Le Duc de Broglie," by M. Goizot, + p. 11. (Last words of Prince Victor de Broglie, and the opinions of M. + d'Argenson.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2215" id="linknote-2215"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2215 (<a href="#linknoteref-2215">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. + p.2.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2216" id="linknote-2216"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2216 (<a href="#linknoteref-2216">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + September 7, 1790, I. 431-437. Speeches, of MM. de Sillery, de Lanjuinais, + Thouret, de Lameth, and Rabaut-Saint-Etienne. Barnave wrote in 1791: "It + was necessary to be content with one single chamber; the instinct of + equality required it. A second Chamber would have been the refuge of the + aristocrats."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2217" id="linknote-2217"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2217 (<a href="#linknoteref-2217">return</a>)<br /> [ Lenin should later + create an elite, an aristocracy which, under his leadership was to become + the Communist party. Lenin could not have imagined or at least would not + have been concerned that the leadership of this party would fall into the + hands of tyrants later, under the pressure of age and corruption, to be + replaced by the KGB and later the FSB. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2218" id="linknote-2218"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2218 (<a href="#linknoteref-2218">return</a>)<br /> [ "De Bouillé," p. 50: + "All the old noble families, save two or three hundred, were ruined."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2219" id="linknote-2219"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2219 (<a href="#linknoteref-2219">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. Doniol, "La + Révolution et la Féodalité."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2220" id="linknote-2220"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2220 (<a href="#linknoteref-2220">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + August 6, 1789. Speech of Duport: "Whatever is unjust cannot last. + Similarly, no compensation for these unjust rights can be maintained." + Sitting of February 27, 1790. M. Populus: "As slavery could not spring + from a legitimate contract, because liberty cannot be alienated, you have + abolished without indemnity hereditary property in persons." Instructions + and decree of June 15-19, 1791: "The National Assembly has recognized in + the most emphatic manner that a man never could become the proprietor of + another man, and consequently, that the rights which one had assumed to + have over the person of the other, could not become the property of the + former." Cf. the diverse reports of Merlin to the Committee of Feudality + and the National Assembly.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2221" id="linknote-2221"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2221 (<a href="#linknoteref-2221">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, + "Collection des Lois et Décrets." Laws of the 4-11 August, 1789; March + 15-28, 1790; May 3-9, 1790; June 15-19, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2222" id="linknote-2222"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2222 (<a href="#linknoteref-2222">return</a>)<br /> [ Agrier percières—terms + denoting taxes paid in the shape of shares of produce. Those which follow: + lods, rentes, quint, requint belong to the taxes levied on real property. + 22Tr.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2223" id="linknote-2223"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2223 (<a href="#linknoteref-2223">return</a>)<br /> [ Doniol ("Noveaux + cahiers de 1790"). Complaints of the copy-holders of Rouergues and of + Quercy, pp. 97-105.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2224" id="linknote-2224"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2224 (<a href="#linknoteref-2224">return</a>)<br /> [ See further on, book + III. ch. II. § 4 and also ch. III.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2225" id="linknote-2225"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2225 (<a href="#linknoteref-2225">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + March 2, 1790. Speech by Merlin: "The peasants have been made to believe + that the annulation of the banalities (the obligation to use the public + mill, wine-press, and oven, which belonged to the noble) carried along + with it the loss to the noble of all these; the peasants regarding + themselves as proprietors of them."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2226" id="linknote-2226"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2226 (<a href="#linknoteref-2226">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur; sitting of + June 9, 1790. Speech of M. Charles de Lameth—Duvergier (laws of June + 19-23 1790; September 27 and October 16, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2227" id="linknote-2227"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2227 (<a href="#linknoteref-2227">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, V. 400—410.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2228" id="linknote-2228"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2228 (<a href="#linknoteref-2228">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, laws of + June 15-19, 1791; of June 18—July 6, 1792; of August 25-28, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2229" id="linknote-2229"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2229 (<a href="#linknoteref-2229">return</a>)<br /> [ "Institution du Droit + Français," par Argou, I.103. (He wrote under the Regency.) "The origin of + most of the feoffs is so ancient that, if the seigneurs were obliged to + produce the titles of the original concession to obtain their rents, there + would scarcely be one able to produce them. This deficiency is made up by + common law."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2230" id="linknote-2230"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2230 (<a href="#linknoteref-2230">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier (laws of + April 8-15, 1791; March 7-11; October 26, 1791; January 6-10, 1794).—Mirabeau + had already proposed to reduce the disposable portion to one-tenth.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2231" id="linknote-2231"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2231 (<a href="#linknoteref-2231">return</a>)<br /> [ See farther on, book + III, ch. III.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2232" id="linknote-2232"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2232 (<a href="#linknoteref-2232">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure, September + 10, 1791. Article by Mallet du Pan.—Ibid. October 15, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2233" id="linknote-2233"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2233 (<a href="#linknoteref-2233">return</a>)<br /> [ Should Hitler or + Lenin have read and understood the consequences of these events they would + have deduced that given the command from official sources or recognized + leaders ordinary people all over the world could easily be tempted to + attack any group, being it Jews, Protestants, Hindus or foreigners. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2234" id="linknote-2234"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2234 (<a href="#linknoteref-2234">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," II. 784. Letters of M. de Langeron, October 16 and 18, 1789.—Albert + Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," letters addressed to the Chevalier de + Poterats, July, 1790.—"Archives Nationales," papers of the Committee + on Reports, bundle 4, letter of M. le Belin-Chatellenot to the to the + President of the National Assembly, July 1, 1791.—Mercure, October + 15, 1791. Article by Mallet du Pan: "Such is literally the language of + these emigrants; I do not add a word."—Ibid. May 15, 1790. Letter of + the Baron de Bois d'Aizy, April 29,1790, demanding a decree of protection + fur the nobles. "We shall know (then) whether we are outlawed or are of + any account in the rights of man written out with so much blood, or + whether, finally, no other option is left to us but that of carrying to + distant skies the remains of our property and our wretched existence."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2235" id="linknote-2235"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2235 (<a href="#linknoteref-2235">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure, October 15, + 1791, and September 10, 1791. Read the admirable letter of the Chevalier + de Mesgrigny, appointed colonel during the suspension of the King, and + refusing his new rank.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2236" id="linknote-2236"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2236 (<a href="#linknoteref-2236">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. the "Mémoires" of + M. de Boustaquet, a Norman gentleman.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2237" id="linknote-2237"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2237 (<a href="#linknoteref-2237">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. "The Ancient + Régime," books I. and II.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2238" id="linknote-2238"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2238 (<a href="#linknoteref-2238">return</a>)<br /> [ Boivin—Champeaux, + "Notice Historique sur la Révolution dans le Département de L'Eure," the + register of grievances. In 1788, at Rouen, there was not a single + profession made by men. In the monastery of the Deux-Amants the chapter + convoked in 1789 consisted of two monks.—"Archives Nationales," + papers of the ecclesiastic committee, passim.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2239" id="linknote-2239"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2239 (<a href="#linknoteref-2239">return</a>)<br /> [ "Apologie de l'État + Religieux" (1775), with statistics. Since 1768 the decline is "frightful." + "It is easy to foresee that in ten or twelve years most of the regular + bodies will be absolutely extinct, or reduced to a state of feebleness + akin to death."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2240" id="linknote-2240"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2240 (<a href="#linknoteref-2240">return</a>)<br /> [ Sanzay, I. 224 + (November, 1790). At Besançon, out of 266 monks, "79 only showed any + loyalty to their engagements or any affection for their calling." Others + preferred to abandon it, especially all the Dominicans but five, all but + one of the bare footed Carmelites, and all the Grand Carmelites. The same + disposition is apparent throughout the department, as, for instance, with + the Benedictines of Cluny except one, all the Minimes but three, all the + Capuchins but five, the Bernandins, Dominicans, and Augustins, all + preferring to leave.—Montalembert, "Les Moines d'Occident," + introduction, pp. 105-164. Letter of a Benedictine of + Saint-Germain-des-Prés to a Benedictine of Vannes. "Of all the members of + your congregation which come here to lodge, I have scarcely found one + capable of edifying us. You may probably say the same of those who came to + you from our place."—Cf. in the "Mémoires" of Merlin de Thionville + the description of the Chartreuse of Val St. Pierre.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2241" id="linknote-2241"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2241 (<a href="#linknoteref-2241">return</a>)<br /> [ Ch. Guerin, "Revue + des Questions Historiques" (July 1, 1875; April 1, 1876).—Abbé + Guettée, "Histoire de l'Eglise de France," XII, 128. ("Minutes of the + meeting of l'Assemblée du Clergé," in 1780.)—"Archives nationales," + official reports and memorandums of the States-General in 1789. The most + obnoxious proceeding to the chiefs of the order is the postponement of the + age at which vows may be taken, it being, in their view, the ruin of their + institutions.—"The Ancient Régime," p. 403.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2242" id="linknote-2242"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2242 (<a href="#linknoteref-2242">return</a>)<br /> [ In order for a modern + uninstructed non-believing reader to understand the motivation which moved + thousands of self-less sisters and brothers to do their useful and kind + work read St. Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 to 46 where Jesus predicts how + he will sit in judgment on mankind and separate the sheep from the goats. + (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2243" id="linknote-2243"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2243 (<a href="#linknoteref-2243">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Ancient Régime," + P.33—Cf. Guerin "The monastery of the Trois-Rois, in the north of + Franche-Comté, founded four villages collected from foreign colonists. It + is the only center of charity and civilization in a radius of three + leagues. It took care of two hundred of the sick in a recent epidemic; it + lodges the troops which pass from Alsace into Franche-Comté, and in the + late hailstorm it supplied the whole neighborhood with food."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2244" id="linknote-2244"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2244 (<a href="#linknoteref-2244">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + February 13,1790. (Speech of the Abbé de Montesquiou).—Archives + Nationales," papers of the Ecclesiastical Committee, DXIX. 6, Visitation + de Limoges, DXIX. 25, Annonciades de Saint-Denis; ibid. Annonciades de + Saint Amour, Ursulines d'Auch, de Beaulieu, d'Eymoutier, de la Ciotat, de + Pont Saint-Esprit, Hospitalières d'Ernée, de Laval; Sainte Claire de + Laval, de Marseilles, etc. "] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2245" id="linknote-2245"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2245 (<a href="#linknoteref-2245">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 247. Out + of three hundred and seventy-seven nuns at Doubs, three hundred and + fifty-eight preferred to remain as they were, especially at Pontarlier, + all the Bernardines, Annonciades, and Ursulines; at Besançon, all the + Carmelites, the Visitandines, the Annonciades, the Clarisses, the Sisters + of Refuge, the Nuns of the Saint-Esprit and, save one, all the Benedictine + Nuns.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2246" id="linknote-2246"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2246 (<a href="#linknoteref-2246">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales." Papers of the Ecclesiastical Committee, passim.—Suzay, + I. 51.—Statistics of France for 1866.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2247" id="linknote-2247"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2247 (<a href="#linknoteref-2247">return</a>)<br /> [ In 1993 this number + has once more fallen, and continues to fall, to 55 900. "Quid", 1996 page + 623. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2248" id="linknote-2248"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2248 (<a href="#linknoteref-2248">return</a>)<br /> [ Felix Rocquain, "La + France aprés le 18 Brumaire." (Reports of the Councillors of State + dispatched on this service, passim).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2249" id="linknote-2249"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2249 (<a href="#linknoteref-2249">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, October 24, + 1789. (Speech of Dupont de Nemours.) All these speeches, often more fully + reported and with various renderings, may be found in "Les Archives + Parlementaires," 1st series, vols. VIII. and IX.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2250" id="linknote-2250"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2250 (<a href="#linknoteref-2250">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, decree of + June 14-17, 1791. "The annihilation of every corporation of citizens of + any one condition or profession being on of the foundation-stones of the + French constitution, it is forbidden to re-establish these de-facto under + any pretext or form whatever. Citizens of a like condition or profession, + such as contractors, shopkeepers, workmen of all classes, and associates + in any art whatever shall not, on assembling together, appoint either + president, or secretaries, or syndics, discuss or pass resolutions, or + frame any regulations in relation to their assumed common interests."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2251" id="linknote-2251"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2251 (<a href="#linknoteref-2251">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + November 2nd, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2252" id="linknote-2252"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2252 (<a href="#linknoteref-2252">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + February 12, 1790. Speeches of Dally d'Agier and Barnave.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2253" id="linknote-2253"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2253 (<a href="#linknoteref-2253">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + August 10, 1789. Speech by Garat; February 12, 1790, speech by Pétion; + October 30, 1789, speech by Thouret.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2254" id="linknote-2254"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2254 (<a href="#linknoteref-2254">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + November 2, 1789. Speech by Chapelier; October 24, 1789, speech by Garat; + October 30, 1789, speech by Mirabeau, and the sitting of August 10, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2255" id="linknote-2255"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2255 (<a href="#linknoteref-2255">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + October 23, 1789. Speech by Thouret.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2256" id="linknote-2256"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2256 (<a href="#linknoteref-2256">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + October 23, 1789. Speech by Treilhard; October 24th, speech by Garat; + October 30, speech by Mirabeau.—On the 8th of August, 1789, Al. de + Lameth says in the tribune: "When an foundation was set up, it is to the + nation, which the grant was given."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2257" id="linknote-2257"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2257 (<a href="#linknoteref-2257">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, laws of + August 18, 1792; August 8-14, 1793; July 11, 1794; July 14, 1792; August + 24, 1793.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2258" id="linknote-2258"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2258 (<a href="#linknoteref-2258">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + July 31, 1792. Speech of M. Boistard; the property of the hospitals, at + this time was estimated at eight hundred millions.—Already in 1791 + (sitting of January 30th) M. de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said to the + Assembly: "Nothing will more readily restore confidence to the poor than + to see the nation assuming the right of rendering them assistance." He + proposes to decree; accordingly, that all hospitals and places of + beneficence be placed under the control of the nation. (Mercure, February + 12, 1791.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2259" id="linknote-2259"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2259 (<a href="#linknoteref-2259">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + August 10, 1789. Speech by Sieyès.—The figures given here are + deduced from the statistics already given in the "Ancient Régime."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2260" id="linknote-2260"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2260 (<a href="#linknoteref-2260">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, v. 571. + sitting of September 4, 1790. Report of the Committee on Finances—V. + 675, sitting of September 17, 1790. Report by Necker.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2261" id="linknote-2261"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2261 (<a href="#linknoteref-2261">return</a>)<br /> [ A Revolutionary + Government promissory bank note. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2262" id="linknote-2262"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2262 (<a href="#linknoteref-2262">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 228 (from + October 10, 1790, to February 20, 1791). "The total weight of the spoil of + the monastic establishments in gold, silver, and plated ware, sent to the + Mint amounted to more than 525 kilograms (for the department)."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2263" id="linknote-2263"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2263 (<a href="#linknoteref-2263">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, law of + October 8-14.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2264" id="linknote-2264"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2264 (<a href="#linknoteref-2264">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + June 3,1792. Speech of M. Bernard, in the name of the committee of Public + Assistance: "Not a day passes in which we do not receive the saddest news + from the departments on the penury of their hospitals."—Mercure de + France, December 17, 1791, sitting of December 5. A number of deputies of + the Department of the North demand aid for their hospitals and + municipalities. Out of 480,000 livres revenue there remains 10,000 to + them. "The property of the Communes is mortgaged, and no longer affords + them any resources. 280,000 persons are without bread."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2265" id="linknote-2265"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2265 (<a href="#linknoteref-2265">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 252 + (December 3, 1790. April 13, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2266" id="linknote-2266"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2266 (<a href="#linknoteref-2266">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + June 1, 1790. Speeches by Camus, Treilhard, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2267" id="linknote-2267"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2267 (<a href="#linknoteref-2267">return</a>)<br /> [ But on the assumption + that all religion has been invented by human beings for their own comfort + or use, then what would be more natural than clever rulers using their + power to influence the religious authorities to their own advantage. + (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2268" id="linknote-2268"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2268 (<a href="#linknoteref-2268">return</a>)<br /> [ Ultramontane: Extreme + in favoring the Pope's supremacy. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2269" id="linknote-2269"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2269 (<a href="#linknoteref-2269">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 168.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2270" id="linknote-2270"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2270 (<a href="#linknoteref-2270">return</a>)<br /> [ Personal knowledge, + as I visited Besançon four times between 1863 and 1867.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2271" id="linknote-2271"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2271 (<a href="#linknoteref-2271">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + May 30, 1790, and others following. (Report of Treilhard, speech by + Robespierre.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2272" id="linknote-2272"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2272 (<a href="#linknoteref-2272">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, laws of + July 12th-August 14th; November 14-25, 1790; January 21-26, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2273" id="linknote-2273"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2273 (<a href="#linknoteref-2273">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + May 31, 1790. Robespierre, in covert terms, demands the marriage of + priests.—Mirabeau prepared a speech in the same sense, concluding + that every priest and monk should be able to contract marriage; on the + priest or monk presenting himself with his bride before the curé, the + latter should be obliged to give them the nuptial benediction etc. + Mirabeau wrote, June 2, 1790: "Robespierre... has juggled me out of my + motion on the marriage of priests."—In general the germ of all the + laws of the Convention is found in the Constituent Assembly. (Ph. Plan, + "Un Collaborateur de Mirabeau," p.56, 144.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2274" id="linknote-2274"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2274 (<a href="#linknoteref-2274">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, laws of + November 27th—December 26, 1790; February 5th, March 22nd, and April + 5, 1791.—Moniteur, sitting of November 6, 1790, and those that + follow, especially that of December 27th. "I swear to maintain with all my + power the French Constitution and especially the decrees relating to the + Civil Constitution of the clergy."—Cf. sitting of January 2, 1791, + speech by the Bishop of Clermont.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2275" id="linknote-2275"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2275 (<a href="#linknoteref-2275">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, law of May + 7, 1791, to maintain the right of nonjuring priests to perform mass in + national or private edifices. (Demanded by Talleyrand and Sieyès.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2276" id="linknote-2276"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2276 (<a href="#linknoteref-2276">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3235. Letter of M. de Château-Randon, deputy of la + Lozère, May 28, 1791. After the decree of May 23rd, all the functionaries + of the department handed in their resignations.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2277" id="linknote-2277"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2277 (<a href="#linknoteref-2277">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, law of May + 21-29, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2278" id="linknote-2278"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2278 (<a href="#linknoteref-2278">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 366, 538 + to 593, 750.—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3235, Letter of M. de + Chânteau-Randon, May 10, 1791.—Mercure, April 23rd, and April 16, + 1701. Articles of Mallet du Pan, letter from Bordeaux, March 20, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2279" id="linknote-2279"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2279 (<a href="#linknoteref-2279">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, XII, + 77. Report of Gallois and Gensonné sent to La Vendée and the Deux Sévres + (July 25, 1791).—" Archives Nationales," F7, 3253, letter of the + Directory of the Bas-Rhin (letter of January 7, 1792).—" Le District + de Machecoul de 1788 à 1793," by Lallier.—" Histoire de Joseph + Lebon," by Paris.—Sauzay, vol. I. and II. in full.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2280" id="linknote-2280"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2280 (<a href="#linknoteref-2280">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure, January + 15th, April 23rd, May 16th and 30th, June 1st, November 23rd, 1791.—"Le + District de Machecoul," by Lallier, 173.—Sauzay, I. 295.—Lavirotte, + "Annales d'Arnay-le-Duc" (February 5, 1792).—"Archives Nationales," + F7, 3223. Petition of a number of the inhabitants of Montpellier, November + 17, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2281" id="linknote-2281"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2281 (<a href="#linknoteref-2281">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, decree of + November 29, 1791.—Mercure, November 30, 1791 (article by Mallet du + Pan).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE CONSTRUCTIONS—THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791. + </h2> + <p> + That which is called a Government is a concert of powers, each with a + distinct function, and all working towards a final and complete end. The + merit of a Government consists in the attainment of this end; the worth of + a machine depends upon the work it accomplishes. The important thing is + not to produce a good mechanical design on paper, but to see that the + machine works well when set up on the ground. In vain might its founders + allege the beauty of their plan and the logical connection of their + theorems; they are not required to furnish either plan or theorems, but an + instrument. + </p> + <p> + Two conditions are requisite to render this instrument serviceable and + effective. In the first place, the public powers must harmonize with each + other, if not, one will neutralize the other; in the second place they + must be obeyed, or they are null. + </p> + <p> + The Constituent Assembly made no provision for securing this harmony or + this obedience. In the machine which it constructed the motions all + counteract each other; the impulse is not transmitted; the gearing is not + complete between the center and the extremities; the large central and + upper wheels turn to no purpose; the innumerable small wheels near the + ground break or get out of order: the machine, by virtue of its own + mechanism, remains useless, over-heated, under clouds of waste steam, + creaking and thumping in such a matter as to show clearly that it must + explode. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Powers of the Central Government. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The Assembly on the partition of power.—Rupture of every + tie between the Legislature and the King.—The Assembly on + the subordination of the executive power.—How this is + nullified.—Certainty of a conflict.—The deposition of the + King is inevitable. +</pre> + <p> + Let us first consider the two central powers, the Assembly and the King.—Ordinarily + when distinct powers of different origin are established by a + Constitution, it makes, in the case of conflict between them, a provision + for an arbiter in the institution of an Upper Chamber. Each of these + powers, at least, has a hold on the other. The Assembly must have one on + the King: which is the right to refuse taxation. The King must have one on + the Assembly: which is the right of dissolving it. Otherwise, one of the + two being disarmed, the other becomes omnipotent, and, consequently, + insane. The peril here is as great for an omnipotent Assembly as it is for + an absolute King. If the former is desirous of remaining in its right + mind, it needs repression and control as much as the latter. If it is + proper for the Assembly to restrain the King by refusing him subsidies, it + is proper for him to be able to defend himself by appealing to the + electors.—But, besides these extreme measures, which are dangerous + and rarely resorted to, there is another which is ordinarily employed and + is safe, that is, the right for the King to take his ministers from the + Chamber. Generally, the leaders of the majority form the ministry, their + nomination being the means of restoring harmony between the King and + Assembly; they are at once men belonging to the Assembly and men belonging + to the King. Through this expedient not only is the confidence of the + Assembly assured, since the Government remains in the hands of its + leaders, but also it is under restraint because these become + simultaneously both powerful and responsible. Placed at the head of all + branches of the service, they are, before proposing it or accepting it, in + a position to judge whether a law is useful and practicable. Nothing is so + healthy for a majority as a ministry composed of its own chiefs; nothing + is so effective in repressing rashness or intemperance. A railway + conductor is not willing that his locomotive should be deprived of coal, + nor to have the rails he is about to run on broken up.—This + arrangement, with all its drawbacks and inconveniences, is the best one + yet arrived at by human experience for the security of societies against + despotism and anarchy. For the absolute power which establishes or saves + them may also oppress or exhaust them, there is a gradual substitution of + differentiated powers, held together through the mediation of a third + umpire, caused by reciprocal dependence and an which is common to both. + </p> + <p> + Experience, however, is unimportant to the members of the Constituent + Assembly; under the banner of principles they sunder one after another all + the ties which keep the two powers together harmoniously.—There must + not be an Upper Chamber, because this would be an asylum or a nursery for + aristocrats. Moreover, "the nation being of one mind," it is averse to + "the creation of different organs." So, applying ready-made formulas and + metaphors, they continue to produce ideological definitions and + distinctions. + </p> + <p> + The King must not have a hold on the legislative body: the executive is an + arm, whose business it is to obey; it is absurd for the arm to constrain + or direct the head. Scarcely is the monarch allowed a delaying veto. + Sieyès here enters with his protest declaring that this is a "lettre de + cachet<a href="#linknote-2301" name="linknoteref-2301" + id="linknoteref-2301"><small>2301</small></a> launched against the + universal will," and there is excluded from the action of the veto the + articles of the Constitution, all money-bills, and some other laws.—Neither + the monarch nor the electors of the Assembly are to convoke the Assembly; + he has no voice in or oversight of the details of its formation; the + electors are to meet together and vote without his summons or supervision. + Once the Assembly is elected he can neither adjourn nor dissolve it. He + cannot even propose a law;<a href="#linknote-2302" name="linknoteref-2302" + id="linknoteref-2302"><small>2302</small></a> per-mission is only granted + to him "to invite it to take a subject into consideration." He is limited + to his executive duties; and still more, a sort of wall is built up + between him and the Assembly, and the opening in it, by which each could + take the other's hand, is carefully closed up. The deputies are forbidden + to become ministers throughout the term of their service and for two years + afterwards. This is because fears are entertained that they might be + corrupted through contact with the Court, and, again, whoever the + ministers might be, there is no disposition to accept their ascendancy.<a + href="#linknote-2303" name="linknoteref-2303" id="linknoteref-2303"><small>2303</small></a> + If one of them is admitted into the Assembly it is not for the purpose of + giving advice, but to furnish information, reply to interrogatories, and + make protestations of his zeal in humble terms and in a dubious position.<a + href="#linknote-2304" name="linknoteref-2304" id="linknoteref-2304"><small>2304</small></a> + By virtue of being a royal agent he is under suspicion like the King + himself, and he is sequestered in his bureau as the King is sequestered in + his palace.—Such is the spirit of the Constitution: by force of the + theory, and the better to secure a separation of the powers,<a + href="#linknote-2305" name="linknoteref-2305" id="linknoteref-2305"><small>2305</small></a> + a common understanding between them is for ever rendered impossible, and + to make up for this impossibility there remains nothing but to make one + the master and the other the clerk. + </p> + <p> + This they did not fail to do, and for greater security, the latter is made + an honorary clerk, The executive power is conferred on him nominally and + in appearance; he does not possess it in fact, care having been taken to + place it in other hands.—In effect, all executive agents and all + secondary and local powers are elective. The King has no voice, directly + or indirectly, in the choice of judges, public prosecutors, bishops, + curés, collectors and assessors of the taxes, commissaries of police, + district and departmental administrators, mayors, and municipal officers. + At most, should an administrator violate a law, he may annul his acts and + suspend him; but the Assembly, the superior power, has the right to cancel + this suspension.—As to the armed force, of which he is supposed to + be the commander-in-chief, this escapes from him entirely: the National + Guard is not to receive orders from him; the gendarmerie and the troops + are bound to respond to the requisitions of the municipal authorities, + whom the King can neither select nor displace: in short, local action of + any kind—that is to say, all effective action—is denied to + him.—The executive instrument is purposely destroyed. The connection + which existed between the wheels of the extremities and the central shaft + is broken, and henceforth, incapable of distributing its energy, this + shaft, in the hands of the monarch, stands still or else turns to no + purpose. The King, "supreme head of the general administration, of the + army, and of the navy, guardian of public peace and order, hereditary + representative of the nation," is without the means, in spite of his lofty + titles, of directly applying his pretended powers, of causing a schedule + of assessments to be drawn up in a refractory commune, of compelling + payment by a delinquent tax-payer, of enforcing the free circulation of a + convoy of grain, of executing the judgment of a court, of suppressing an + outbreak, or of securing protection to persons and property. For he can + bring no constraint to bear on the agents who are declared to be + subordinate to him; he has no resources but those of warning and + persuasion. He sends to each Departmental Assembly the decrees which he + has sanctioned, requesting it to transmit them and cause them to be + carried out; he receives its correspondence and bestows his censure or + approval—and that is all. He is merely a powerless medium of + communication, a herald or public advertiser, a sort of central echo, + sonorous and empty, to which news is brought, and from which laws depart, + to spread abroad like a common rumor. Such as he is, and thus diminished, + he is still considered to be too strong. He is deprived of the right of + pardon, "which severs the last artery of monarchical government."<a + href="#linknote-2306" name="linknoteref-2306" id="linknoteref-2306"><small>2306</small></a> + All sorts of precautions are taken against him. He cannot declare war + without a decree of the Assembly; he is obliged to bring war to an end on + the decree of the Assembly; he cannot make a treaty of peace, an alliance, + or a commercial treaty, without the ratification of these by the Assembly. + It is expressly declared that he is to nominate but two-thirds of the + rear-admirals, one-half of the lieutenant-generals, field-marshals, + captains of Vessels and colonels of the gendarmerie, one-third of the + colonels and lieutenant-colonels of the line, and a sixth of the naval + lieutenants. He must not allow troops to stay or pass within 30,000 yards + of the Assembly. His guard must not consist of more than 1,800 men, duly + verified, and protected against his seductions by the civil oath. The + heir-presumptive must not leave the country without the Assembly's assent. + It is the Assembly which is to regulate by law the education of his son + during minority.—All these precautions are accompanied with threats. + There are against him five possible causes of dethronement; against his + responsible Ministers, eight causes for condemnation to from twelve to + twenty years of constraint, and eight grounds for condemnations to death.<a + href="#linknote-2307" name="linknoteref-2307" id="linknoteref-2307"><small>2307</small></a> + Everywhere between the lines of the Constitution, we read the constant + disposition to assume an attitude of defense, the secret dread of + treachery, the conviction that executive power, of whatever kind, is in + its nature inimical to the public welfare.—For withholding the + nomination of judges, the reason alleged is that "the Court and the + Ministers are the most contemptible portion of the nation."<a + href="#linknote-2308" name="linknoteref-2308" id="linknoteref-2308"><small>2308</small></a> + If the nomination of Ministers is conceded, it is on the ground that" + Ministers appointed by the people would necessarily be too highly + esteemed." The principle is that "the legislative body alone must possess + the confidence of the people," that royal authority corrupts its + depository, and that executive power is always tempted to commit abuses + and to engage in conspiracies. If it is provided for in the Constitution + it is with regret, through the necessity of the case, and on the condition + of its being trammeled by impediments; it will prove so much the less + baneful in proportion as it is restrained, guarded, threatened, and + denounced.—A position of this kind is manifestly intolerable; and + only a man as passive as Louis XVI. could have put up with it. Do what he + will, however, he cannot make it a tenable one. In vain does he + scrupulously adhere to the Constitution, and fulfill it to the letter. + Because he is powerless the Assembly regards him as lukewarm, and imputes + to him the friction of the machine which is not under his control. If he + presumes once to exercise his veto it is rebellion, and the rebellion of + an official against his superior, which is the Assembly; the rebellion of + a subject against his Sovereign, which is the people. In this case + dethronement is proper, and the Assembly has only to pass the decree; the + people have simply to execute the act, and the Constitution ends in a + Revolution.—A piece of machinery of this stamp breaks down through + its own movement. In conformity with the philosophic theory the two wheels + of government must be separated, and to do this they have to be + disconnected and isolated one from the other. In conformity with the + popular creed, the driving-wheel must be subordinated and its influence + neutralized: to do this it is necessary to reduce its energy to a minimum, + break up its connections, and raise it up in the air to turn round like a + top, or to remain there as an obstacle to something else. It is certain + that, after much ill-usage as a plaything, it will finally be removed as a + hindrance. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—The Creation Of Popular Democracy. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Administrative powers.—The Assembly on the hierarchy. + —Grades abolished.—Collective powers.—Election introduced, + and the influence of subordinates in all branches of the + service.—Certainty of disorganization.—Power in the hands + of municipal bodies. +</pre> + <p> + Let us leave the center of government and go to the extremities, and + observe the various administrations in working operation.<a + href="#linknote-2309" name="linknoteref-2309" id="linknoteref-2309"><small>2309</small></a> + </p> + <p> + For any service to work well and with precision, there must be a single + and unique chief who can appoint, pay, punish and dismiss his + subordinates.—For, on the one hand, he stands alone and feels his + responsibility; he brings to bear on the management of affairs a degree of + attention and consistency, a tact and a power of initiation of which a + committee is incapable; corporate follies or defects do not involve any + one in particular, and authority is effective only when it is in one hand.—On + the other hand, being master, he can rely on the subalterns whom he has + himself selected, whom he controls through their hopes or fears, and whom + he discharges if they do not perform their duties; otherwise he has no + hold on them and they are not instruments to be depended on. Only on these + conditions can a railway manager be sure that his pointsmen are on the + job. Only on these conditions can the foreman of a foundry engage to + execute work by a given day. In every public or private enterprise, + direct, immediate authority is the only known, the only human and possible + way to ensure the obedience and punctuality of agents.—Administration + is thus carried on in all countries, by one or several series of + functionaries, each under some central manager who holds the reins in his + single grasp.<a href="#linknote-2310" name="linknoteref-2310" + id="linknoteref-2310"><small>2310</small></a> + </p> + <p> + This is all reversed in the new Constitution. In the eyes of our + legislators obedience must be spontaneous and never compulsory, and, in + the suppression of despotism, they suppress government. The general rule + in the hierarchy which they establish is that the subordinates should be + independent of their superior, for he must neither appoint nor displace + them: the only right he has is to give them advice and remonstrate with + them.<a href="#linknote-2311" name="linknoteref-2311" id="linknoteref-2311"><small>2311</small></a> + At best, in certain cases, he can annul their acts and inflict on them a + provisional suspension of their functions, which can be contested and is + revocable.<a href="#linknote-2312" name="linknoteref-2312" + id="linknoteref-2312"><small>2312</small></a> We see, thus, that none of + the local powers are delegated by the central power; the latter is simply + like a man without either hands or arms, seated in a gilt chair. The + Minister of the Finances cannot appoint or dismiss either an assessor or a + collector; the Minister of the Interior, not one of the departmental, + district, or communal administrators; the Minister of Justice, not one + judge or public prosecutor. The King, in these three branches of the + service, has but one officer of his own, the commissioner whose duty it is + to advocate the observance of the laws in the courts, and, on sentence + being given, to enforce its execution.—All the muscles of the + central power are paralyzed by this stroke, and henceforth each department + is a State apart, living by itself. + </p> + <p> + An similar amputation, however, in the department itself, has cut away all + the ties by which the superior could control and direct his subordinate.—If + the administrators of the department are suffered to influence those of + the district, and those of the district those of the municipality, it is + only, again, in the way of council and solicitation. Nowhere is the + superior a commander who orders and constrains, but everywhere a censor + who gives warnings and scolds. To render this already feeble authority + still more feeble at each step of the hierarchy, it is divided among + several bodies. These consist of superposed councils, which administer the + department, the district, and the commune. There is no directing head in + any of these councils. Permanency and executive functions throughout are + vested in the directories of four or eight members, or in bureaus of two, + three, four, six, and even seven members whose elected chief, a president + or mayor,<a href="#linknote-2313" name="linknoteref-2313" + id="linknoteref-2313"><small>2313</small></a> has simply an honorary + primacy. Decision and action, everywhere blunted, delayed, or curtailed by + talk and the processes of discussion, are brought forth only after the + difficult, tumultuous assent of several discordant wills.<a + href="#linknote-2314" name="linknoteref-2314" id="linknoteref-2314"><small>2314</small></a> + Elective and collective as these powers are, measures are still taken to + guard against them. Not only are they subject to the control of an elected + council, one-half renewable every two years, but, again, the mayor and + public prosecutor of the commune after serving four years, and the + procureur-syndic of the department or district after eight years service, + and the district collector after six years' service, are not re-elected. + Should these officials have deserved and won the confidence of the + electors, should familiarity with affairs have made them specially + competent and valuable, so much the worse for affairs and the public; they + are not to be anchored to their post.<a href="#linknote-2315" + name="linknoteref-2315" id="linknoteref-2315"><small>2315</small></a> + Should their continuance in office introduce into the service a spirit of + order and economy, that is of no consequence; there is danger of their + acquiring to much influence, and the law sends them off as soon as they + become expert and entitled to rule.—Never has jealousy and suspicion + been more on the alert against power, even legal and legitimate. Sapping + and mining goes on even in services which are recognized as essential, as + the army and the gendarmerie.<a href="#linknote-2316" + name="linknoteref-2316" id="linknoteref-2316"><small>2316</small></a> In + the army, on the appointment of a non-commissioned officer, the other + non-commissioned officers make up a list of candidates, and the captain + selects three, one of whom is chosen by the colonel. In the choice of a + sub-lieutenant, all the officers of the regiment vote, and he who receives + a majority is appointed. In the gendarmerie, for the appointment of a + gendarme, the directory of the department forms a list; the colonel + designates five names on it, and the directory selects one of them. For + the choice of a corporal, quartermaster or lieutenant, there is, besides + the directory and the colonel, another intervention, that of the officers, + both commissioned and non-commissioned. It is a system of elective + complications and lot-drawings; one which, giving a voice in the choice of + officers to the civil authorities and to military subordinates, leaves the + colonel with only a third or one-quarter of his former ascendancy. In + relation to the National Guard, the new principle is applied without any + reservation. All the officers and non-commissioned officers up to the + grade of captain are elected by their own men. All the superior officers + are elected by the inferior officers. All under-officers and all inferior + and superior officers are elected for one year only, and are not eligible + for re-election until after an interval of a year, during which they must + serve in the ranks.<a href="#linknote-2317" name="linknoteref-2317" + id="linknoteref-2317"><small>2317</small></a>—The result is + manifest: command, in every civil and in every military order, becomes + upset; subalterns are no longer precise and trustworthy instruments; the + chief no longer has any practical hold on them; his orders, consequently, + encounter only tame obedience, doubtful deference, sometimes even open + resistance; their execution remains dilatory, uncertain, incomplete, and + at length is utterly neglected; a latent and soon flagrant system of + disorganization is instituted by the law. Step by step, in the hierarchy + of Government, power has slipped downwards, and henceforth belongs by + virtue of the Constitution to the authorities who sit at the bottom of the + ladder. It is not the King, or the minister, or the directory of the + department or of the district who rules, but its municipal officers; and + their sway is as omnipotent as it can be in a small independent republic. + They alone have the "strong hand" with which to search the pockets of + refractory tax-payers, and ensure the collection of the revenue; to seize + the rioter by the throat, and protect life and property; in short, to + convert the promises and menaces of the law into acts. Every armed force, + the National Guard, the regulars, and the gendarmerie, must march on their + requisition. They alone, among the body of administrators, are endowed + with this sovereign right; all that the department or the district can do + is to invite them to exercise it. It is they who proclaim martial law. + Accordingly, the sword is in their hands.<a href="#linknote-2318" + name="linknoteref-2318" id="linknoteref-2318"><small>2318</small></a> + Assisted by commissioners who are appointed by the council-general of the + commune, they prepare the schedule of taxation of real and personal + property, fix the quota of each tax-payer, adjust assessments, verify the + registers and the collector's receipts, audit his accounts, discharge the + insolvent, answer for returns and authorize prosecutions.<a + href="#linknote-2319" name="linknoteref-2319" id="linknoteref-2319"><small>2319</small></a> + Private purses are, in this way, at their mercy, and they take from them + whatever they determine to belong to the public.—With the purse and + the sword in their hands they lack nothing that is necessary to make them + masters, and all the more because the application of every law belongs to + them; because no orders of the Assembly to the King, of the King to the + ministers, of ministers to the departments, of departments to the + districts, of the districts to the communes, brings about any real local + result except through them; because each measure of general application + undergoes their special interpretation, and can always be optionally + disfigured, softened, or exaggerated according to their timidity, inertia, + violence or partiality. Moreover, they are not long in discovering their + strength. We see them on all sides arguing with their superiors against + district, departmental, and ministerial orders, and even against the + Assembly itself; alleging circumstances; lack of means, their own danger + and the public safety, failing to obey, acting for themselves, openly + disobeying and glorying in the act,<a href="#linknote-2320" + name="linknoteref-2320" id="linknoteref-2320"><small>2320</small></a> and + claiming, as a right, the omnipotence which they exercise in point of + fact. Those of Troyes, at the festival of the Federation, refuse to submit + to the precedence of the department and claim it for themselves, as + "immediate representatives of the people." Those of Brest, notwithstanding + the reiterated prohibitions of their district, dispatch four hundred men + and two cannon to force the submission of a neighboring commune to a cure' + who has taken the oath. Those of Arnay-le-Duc arrest Mesdames (the King's + aunts), in spite of their passport signed by the ministers, hold them in + spite of departmental and district orders, persist in barring the way to + them in spite of a special decree of the National Assembly, and send two + deputies to Paris to obtain the sanction of their decision. What with + arsenals pillaged, citadels invaded, convoys arrested, couriers stopped, + letters intercepted, constant and increasing insubordination, usurpations + without truce or measure, the municipalities arrogate to themselves every + species of license on their own territory and frequently outside of it. + Henceforth, forty thousand sovereign bodies exist in the kingdom. Force is + placed in their hands, and they make good use of it. They make such good + use of it that one of them, the commune of Paris, taking advantage of its + proximity, lays siege to, mutilates, and rules the National Convention, + and through it France. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—Municipal Kingdoms. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The Municipal bodies.—Their great task.—Their incapacity. + —Their feeble authority.—Insufficiency of their means of + action.—The role of the National Guard.— +</pre> + <p> + Let us follow these municipal kings into their own domain: the burden on + their shoulders is immense, and much beyond what human strength can + support. All the details of executive duty are confided to them; they have + not to busy themselves with a petty routine, but with a complete social + system which is being taken to pieces, while another is reconstructed in + its place.—They are in possession of four milliards of + ecclesiastical property, real and personal, and soon there will be two and + a half milliards of property belonging to the emigrants, which must be + sequestered, valued, managed, inventoried, divided, sold, and the proceeds + received. They have seven or eight thousand monks and thirty thousand nuns + to displace, install, sanction, and provide for. They have forty-six + thousand ecclesiastics, bishops, canons, curés, and vicars, to dispossess, + replace, often by force, and later on to expel, intern, imprison, and + support. They are obliged to discuss, trace out, teach and make public new + territorial boundaries, those of the commune, of the district and of the + department. They have to convoke, lodge, and protect the numerous primary + and secondary Assemblies, to supervise their operations, which sometimes + last for weeks. They must install those elected by them, justices of the + peace, officers of the National Guard, judges, public prosecutors, curés, + bishops, district and departmental administrators. They are to form new + lists of tax-payers, apportion amongst themselves, according to a new + system of impost, entirely new real and personal taxes, decide on claims, + appoint an assessor, regularly audit his accounts and verify his books, + aid him with force, use force in the collection of the excise and salt + duties, which being reduced, equalized, and transformed in vain by the + National Assembly, afford no returns in spite of its decrees. They are + obliged to find the funds for dressing, equipping, and arming the National + Guard, to step in between it and the military commanders, and to maintain + concord between its diverse battalions. They have to protect forests from + pillage, communal land from being invaded, to maintain the octroi, to + protect former functionaries, ecclesiastics, and nobles, suspected and + threatened, and, above all, to provide, no matter how, provisions for the + commune which lacks food, and consequently, to raise subscriptions, + negotiate purchases at a distance and even abroad, organize escorts, + indemnify bakers, supply the market every week notwithstanding the dearth, + the insecurity of roads, and the resistance of cultivators.—Even an + absolute chief; sent from a distance and from high place, the most + energetic and expert possible, supported by the best-disciplined and most + obedient troops, would scarcely succeed in such an undertaking; and there + is instead only a municipality which has neither the authority, the means, + the experience, the capacity, nor the will. + </p> + <p> + In the country, says an orator in the tribune,<a href="#linknote-2321" + name="linknoteref-2321" id="linknoteref-2321"><small>2321</small></a> "the + municipal officers, in twenty thousand out of forty thousand + municipalities, do not know how to read or write." The curé, in effect, is + excluded from such offices by law, and, save in La Vendée and the noble is + excluded by public opinion. Besides, in many of the provinces, nothing but + patois is spoken.<a href="#linknote-2322" name="linknoteref-2322" + id="linknoteref-2322"><small>2322</small></a> French, especially the + philosophic and abstract phraseology of the new laws and proclamations, + remains gibberish to their inhabitants. They cannot possibly understand + and apply the complicated decrees and fine-spun instructions which reach + them from Paris. They hurry off to the towns, get the duties of the office + imposed on them explained and commented on in detail, try to comprehend, + imagine they do, and then, the following week, come back again without + having understood anything, either the mode of keeping state registers, + the distinction between feudal rights which are abolished and those + retained, the regulations they should enforce in cases of election, the + limits which the law imposes as to their powers and subordination. Nothing + of all this finds its way into their rude, untrained brains; instead of a + peasant who has just left his oxen, there is needed here a legal adept + aided by a trained clerk.—Prudential considerations must be added to + their ignorance. They do not wish to make enemies for themselves in their + commune, and they abstain from any positive action, especially in all tax + matters. Nine months after the decree on the patriotic contribution, + "twenty-eight thousand municipalities are overdue, not having (yet) + returned either rolls or estimates."<a href="#linknote-2323" + name="linknoteref-2323" id="linknoteref-2323"><small>2323</small></a> At + the end of January, 1792, "out of forty thousand nine hundred and eleven + municipalities, only five thousand four hundred and forty-eight have + deposited their registers; two thousand five hundred and eighty rolls only + are definitive and in process of collection. A large number have not even + begun their sectional statements."<a href="#linknote-2324" + name="linknoteref-2324" id="linknoteref-2324"><small>2324</small></a>—It + is much worse when, thinking that they do understand it, they undertake to + do their work. In their minds, incapable of abstraction, the law is + transformed and deformed by extraordinary interpretations. We shall see + what it becomes when it is brought to bear on feudal dues, on the forests, + on communal rights, on the circulation of corn, on the taxes on + provisions, on the supervision of the aristocrats, and on the protection + of persons and property. According to them, it authorizes and invites them + to do by force, and at once, whatever they need or desire for the time + being.—The municipal officers of the large boroughs and towns, more + acute and often able to comprehend the decrees, are scarcely in a better + condition to carry them out effectively. They are undoubtedly intelligent, + inspired by the best disposition, and zealous for the public welfare. + During the first two years of the Revolution it is, on the whole, the best + informed and most liberal portion of the bourgeoisie which, in the + department as in the district, undertakes the management of affairs. + Almost all are men of the law, advocates, notaries, and attorneys, with a + small number of the old privileged class imbued with the same spirit, a + canon at Besançon, a gentleman at Nîmes. Their intentions are of the very + best; they love order and liberty, they give their time and their money, + they hold permanent sessions and accomplish an incredible amount of work, + and they often voluntarily expose themselves to great danger.—But + they are bourgeois philosophers, and, in this latter particular, similar + to their deputies in the National Assembly, and, with this twofold + character, as incapable as their deputies of governing a disintegrated + nation. In this twofold character they are ill-disposed towards the + ancient régime, hostile to Catholicism and feudal rights, unfavorable to + the clergy and the nobility, inclined to extend the bearing and exaggerate + the rigor of recent decrees, partisans of the Rights of Man, and, + therefore, humanitarians and optimists, disposed to excuse the misdeeds of + the people, hesitating, tardy and often timid in the face of an outbreak—in + short, admirable writers, exhorters, and reformers, but good for nothing + when it comes to breaking heads and risking their own bones. They have not + been brought up in such a way as to become men of action in a single day. + Up to this time they have always lived as passive administrators, as quiet + individuals, as studious men and clerks, domesticated, conversational, and + polished, to whom words concealed facts, and who, on their evening + promenade, warmly discussed important principles of government, without + any consciousness of the practical machinery which, with a police-system + for its ultimate wheel, rendered themselves, their promenade, and their + conversation perfectly secure. They are not imbued with that sentiment of + social danger which produces the veritable chief; the man who subordinates + the emotions of pity to the exigencies of the public service. They are not + aware that it is better to mow down a hundred conscientious citizens + rather than let them hang a culprit without a trial. Repression, in their + hands, is neither prompt, rigid, nor constant. They continue to be in the + Hôtel-de-Ville what they were when they went into it, so many jurists and + scribes, fruitful in proclamations, reports, and correspondence. Such is + wholly their role, and, if any amongst them, with more energy, desires to + depart from it, he has no hold on the commune which, according to the + Constitution, he has to direct, and on that armed force which is entrusted + to him with a view to insure the observance of the laws. + </p> + <p> + To insure respect for authority, indeed, it must not spring up on the spot + and under the hands of its subordinates. It loses its prestige and + independence when those who create it are precisely those who have to + submit to it. For, in submitting to it, they remember that they have + created it. This or that candidate among them who has but lately solicited + their suffrages is now a magistrate who issues orders, and this sudden + transformation is their work. It is with difficulty that they pass from + the role of sovereign electors to that of docile subjects of the + administration, and recognize a commander in one of their own creatures.<a + href="#linknote-2325" name="linknoteref-2325" id="linknoteref-2325"><small>2325</small></a> + On the contrary, they will submit to his control only in their own + fashion, reserving to themselves in practice the powers the right to which + they have conferred on him. + </p> + <p> + "We gave him his place, and he must do as we want him to do." + </p> + <p> + Such popular reasoning is the most natural in the world. It is as + applicable to the municipal officer wearing his scarf as to the officer in + the National Guard wearing his epaulettes; the former as well as the + latter being conferred by the arbitrary voice of the electors, and always + seeming to them a gift which is revocable at their pleasure. The superior + always, and more particularly in times of danger or of great public + excitement, seems, if directly appointed by those whom he commands, to be + their clerk.—Such is municipal authority at this epoch, + intermittent, uncertain, and weak; and all the weaker because the sword, + whose hilt the men of the Hôtel-de-Ville seem to hold, does not always + leave its scabbard at their bidding. They alone are empowered to summon + the National Guard, but it does not depend on them, and it is not at their + disposal. To obtain its support it is needful that its independent chiefs + should be willing to respond to their requisition; that the men should + willingly obey their elected officers; that these improvised soldiers + should consent to quit their plow, their stores, their workshops and + offices, to lose their day, to patrol the streets at night, to be pelted + with stones, to fire on a riotous crowd whose enmities and prejudices they + often share. Undoubtedly, they will fire on some occasions, but generally + they will remain quiet, with their arms at rest; and, at last, they will + grow weary of a trying, dangerous, and constant service, which is + disagreeable to them, and for which they are not fitted. They will not + answer the summons, or, if they do, they will come too late, and in too + small a number. In this event, the regulars who are sent for, will do as + they do and remain quiet, following their example, while the municipal + magistrate, into whose hands the sword has glided, will be able to do no + more than make grievous reports, to his superiors of the department or + district, concerning the popular violence of which he is a powerless + witness.—In other cases, and especially in the country, his + condition is worse. The National Guard, preceded by its drums, will come + and take him off to the town hall to authorize by his presence, and to + legalize by his orders, the outrages that it is about to commit. He + marches along seized by the collar, and affixes his signature at the point + of the bayonet. In this case not only is his instrument taken away from + him, but it is turned against of holding it by the hilt, he feels the + point: the armed force which he ought to make use of makes use of him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—On Universal Suffrage. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The National Guard as electors.—Its great power.—Its + important task.—The work imposed on active citizens.—They + avoid it. +</pre> + <p> + Behold, then, the true sovereign, the elector, both National Guard and + voter. They are the kings designed by the Constitution; there he is, in + every hierarchical stage, with his suffrage, with which to delegate + authority, and his gun to assure its exercise.—Through his free + choice he creates all local powers, intermediary, central, legislative, + administrative, ecclesiastical, and judiciary. He appoints directly, and + in the primary assemblies, the mayor, the municipal board, the public + prosecutor and council of the commune, the justice of the peace and his + assessors, and the electors of the second degree. Indirectly, and through + these elected electors, he appoints the administrators and + procureurs-syndics of both district and department, the civil and criminal + judges, the public prosecutor, bishops, and priests, the members of the + National Assembly and jurors of the higher National Court<a + href="#linknote-2326" name="linknoteref-2326" id="linknoteref-2326"><small>2326</small></a>. + All these commissions which he issues are of short date, the principal + ones, those of municipal officer, elector, and deputy, having but two + years to run; at the end of this brief term their recipients are again + subject to his vote, in order that, if he is displeased with them, he may + replace them by others. He must not be fettered in his choice; in every + well-conducted establishment the legitimate proprietor must be free easily + and frequently to renew his staff of clerks. He is the only one in whom + confidence can be placed, and, for greater security, all arms are given up + to him. When his clerks wish to employ force he is the one to place it at + their disposal. Whatever he desired as elector he executes as National + Guard. On two occasions he interferes, both times in a decisive manner; + and his control over the legal powers is irresistible because these are + born out of his vote and are obeyed only through his support.—But + these rights are, at the same time, burdens. The Constitution describes + him as an "active citizen," and this he eminently is or should be, since + public action begins and ends with him, since everything depends on his + zeal and capacity, since the machine is good and only works well in + proportion to his discernment, punctuality, calmness, firmness, discipline + at the polls, and in the ranks. The law requires his services incessantly + day and night, in body and mind, as gendarme and as elector.—How + burdensome this service of gendarme must be, can be judged by the number + of riots. How burdensome that of elector must be, the list of elections + will show. + </p> + <p> + In February, March, April, and May, 1789, there are prolonged parish + meetings, for the purpose of choosing electors and writing out grievances, + also bailiwick meetings of still longer duration to choose deputies and + draw up the memorial. During the months of July and August, 1789, there + are spontaneous gatherings to elect or confirm the municipal bodies; other + spontaneous meetings by which the militia is formed and officered; and + then, following these, constant meetings of this same militia to fuse + themselves into a National Guard, to renew officers and appoint deputies + to the federative assemblies. In December, 1789, and January, 1790, there + are primary meetings, to elect municipal officers and their councils. In + May, 1790, there are primary and secondary meetings, to appoint district + and departmental administrators. In October, 1790, there are primary + meetings, to elect the justice of the peace and his assessors, also + secondary meetings, to elect the district courts. In November, 1790, there + are primary meetings, to renew one-half of the municipal bodies. In + February and March, 1791, there are secondary meetings, to nominate the + bishop and curés. In June, July, August, September, 1791, there are + primary and secondary meetings, to renew one-half of the district and + departmental administrators, to nominate the president, the public + prosecutor, and the clerk of the criminal court, and to choose deputies. + In November, 1791, there are primary meetings to renew one-half of the + municipal council. Observe that many of these elections drag along because + the voters lack experience, because the formalities are complicated, and + because opinions are divided. In August and September, 1791, at Tours, + they are prolonged for thirteen days;<a href="#linknote-2327" + name="linknoteref-2327" id="linknoteref-2327"><small>2327</small></a> at + Troyes, in January, 1790, instead of three days they last for three weeks; + at Paris, in September and October, 1791, only for the purpose of choosing + deputies, they last for thirty-seven days; in many places their + proceedings are contested, annulled, and begun over again. To these + universal gatherings, which put all France in motion, we must add the + local gatherings by which a commune approves or gainsays its municipal + officers, makes claims on the department, on the King, or on the Assembly, + demands the maintenance of its parish priest, the provisioning of its + market, the arrival or dispatch of a military detachment,—and think + of all that these meetings, petitions, and nominations presuppose in the + way of preparatory committees and preliminary meetings and debates! Every + public representation begins with rehearsals in secret session. In the + choice of a candidate, and, above all, of a list of candidates; in the + appointment in each commune of from three to twenty-one municipal + officers, and from six to forty-two notables; in the selection of twelve + district administrators and thirty-six departmental administrators, + especially as the list must be of a double length and contain twice as + many officers as there are places to fill, immediate agreement is + impossible. In every important election the electors are sure to be in a + state of agitation a month beforehand, while four weeks of discussion and + caucus is not too much to give to inquiries about candidates, and to + canvassing voters. Let us add, accordingly, this long preface to each of + the elections, so long and so often repeated, and now sum up the troubles + and disturbances, all this loss of time, all the labor which the process + demands. Each convocation of the primary assemblies, summons to the + town-hall or principal town of the canton, for one or for several days, + about three million five hundred thousand electors of the first degree. + Each convocation of the assemblies of the second class compels the + attendance and sojourn at the principal town of the department, and again + in the principal town of the district, of about three hundred and fifty + thousand elected electors. Each revision or re-election in the National + Guard gathers together on the public square, or subjects to roll-call at + the town-hall, three or four millions of National Guards. Each federation, + after exacting the same gathering or the same roll-call, sends delegates + by hundreds of thousands to the principal towns of the districts and + departments, and tens of thousands to Paris.—The powers thus + instituted at the cost of so great an effort, require an equal effort to + make them work; one branch alone of the administration<a + href="#linknote-2328" name="linknoteref-2328" id="linknoteref-2328"><small>2328</small></a> + keeps 2,988 officials busy in the departments, 6,950 in the districts, + 1,175,000 in the communes—in all, nearly one million two hundred + thousand administrators, whose places, as we have seen above, are no + sinecures. Never did a political machine require so prodigious an + expenditure of force to set it up and keep it in motion. In the United + States, where it is now (around 1875) deranged by its own action, it has + been estimated that, to meet the intentions of the law and keep each wheel + in its proper place, it would be necessary for each citizen to give one + whole day in each week, or on-sixth of his time, to public business. In + France, under the newly adopted system, where disorder is universal, where + the duty of National Guard is added to and complicates that of elector and + administrator, I estimate that two days would be necessary. This is what + the Constitution comes to, this is its essential and supreme requirement: + each active citizen has to give up one-third of his time to public + affairs. + </p> + <p> + Now, these twelve hundred thousand administrators and three or four + million electors and National Guards, are just the men in France who have + the least leisure. The class of active citizens, indeed, comprises about + all the men who labor with their hands or with their heads. The law + exempts only domestics devoted to personal service or common laborers who, + possessing no property or income, earn less than twenty-one sous a day. + Every journeyman-miller, the smallest farmer, every village proprietor of + a cottage or of a vegetable-garden, any ordinary workman, votes at the + primary meetings, and may become a municipal officer. Again, if he pays + ten francs a year direct tax, if he is a farmer or yeomen on any property + which brings him in four hundred francs, if his rent is one hundred and + fifty francs, he may become an elected elector and an administrator of the + district or department. According to this standard the eligible are + innumerable; in Doubs, in 1790,<a href="#linknote-2329" + name="linknoteref-2329" id="linknoteref-2329"><small>2329</small></a> they + form two-thirds of the active citizens. Thus, the way to office is open to + all, or almost all, and the law has taken no precaution whatever to + reserve or provide places for the elite, who could best fill them. On the + contrary, the nobles, the ecclesiastical dignitaries, the members of the + parliaments, the grand functionaries of the ancient regime, the upper + class of the bourgeoisie, almost all the rich who possess leisure, are + practically excluded from the elections by violence, and from the various + offices by public opinion: they soon retire into private life, and, + through discouragement or disgust, through monarchical or religious + scruples, abandon entirely a public career.—The burden of the new + system falls, accordingly, on the most occupied portion of the community: + on merchants, manufacturers, agents of the law, employees, shopkeepers, + artisans, and cultivators. They are the people who must give up one-third + of their time already appropriated, neglect private for public business, + leave their harvests, their bench, their shop, or their briefs to escort + convoys and patrol the highways, to run off to the principal town of the + canton, district, or department, and stay and sit there in the town-hall,<a + href="#linknote-2330" name="linknoteref-2330" id="linknoteref-2330"><small>2330</small></a> + subject to a deluge of phrases and papers, conscious that they are forced + to gratuitous drudgery, and that this drudgery is of little advantage to + the public.—For the first six months they do it with good grace; + their zeal in penning memorials, in providing themselves with arms against + "brigands," and in suppressing taxes, rents, and tithes, is active enough. + But now that this much is obtained or extorted, decreed as a right, or + accomplished in fact, they must not be further disturbed. They need the + whole of their time: they have their crops to get in, their customers to + serve, their orders to give, their books to make up, their credits to + adjust, all which are urgent matters, and neither ought to be neglected or + interrupted. Under the lash of necessity and of the crisis they have put + their backs to it, and, if we take their word for it, they hauled the + public cart out of the mud; but they had no idea of putting themselves + permanently in harness to drag it along themselves. Confined as this class + has been for centuries to private life, each has his own wheelbarrow to + trundle along, and it is for this, before all and above all, that he holds + himself responsible. From the beginning of the year 1790 the returns of + the votes taken show that as many are absent as present; at Besançon there + are only nine hundred and fifty-nine voters out of thirty-two hundred + inscribed; four months after this more than one-half of the electors fail + to come to the polls;<a href="#linknote-2331" name="linknoteref-2331" + id="linknoteref-2331"><small>2331</small></a> and throughout France, even + at Paris, the indifference to voting keeps on increasing. Puppets of such + an administration as that of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. do not become + Florentine or Athenian citizens in a single night. The hearts and heads of + three or four millions of men are not suddenly endowed with faculties and + habits which render them capable of diverting one-third of their energies + to work which is new, disproportionate, gratuitous, and supererogatory.—A + fallacy of monstrous duplicity lies at the basis of the political theories + of the day and of those which were invented during the following ten + years. Arbitrarily, and without any examination, a certain weight and + resistance are attributed to the human metal employed. It is found on + trial to have ten times less resistance and twenty times more weight than + was supposed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—The Ruling Minority. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The restless minority.—Its elements.—The clubs.—Their + ascendancy.—How they interpret the Rights of Man.—Their + usurpations and violence. +</pre> + <p> + In default of the majority, who shirk their responsibilities, it is the + minority which does the work and assumes the power. The majority having + resigned, the minority becomes sovereign, and public business, abandoned + by the hesitating, weak, and absent multitude, falls into the hands of the + resolute, energetic, ever-present few who find the leisure and the + disposition to assume the responsibility. In a system in which all offices + are elective, and in which elections are frequent, politics becomes a + profession for those who subordinate their private interests to it, and + who find it of personal advantage; every village contains five or six men + of this class, every borough twenty or thirty, every town its hundreds and + Paris its many thousands.<a href="#linknote-2332" name="linknoteref-2332" + id="linknoteref-2332"><small>2332</small></a> These are veritable active + citizens They alone give all their time and attention to public matters, + correspond with the newspapers and with the deputies at Paris, receive and + spread abroad the party watchword on every important question, hold + caucuses, get up meetings, make motions, draw up addresses, overlook, + rebuke, or denounce the local magistrates, form themselves into + committees, publish and push candidates, and go into the suburbs and the + country to canvass for votes. They hold the power in recompense for their + labor, for they manage the elections, and are elected to office or + provided with places by the successful candidates. There is a prodigious + number of these offices and places, not only those of officers of the + National Guard and the administrators of the commune, the district, and + the department, whose duties are gratuitous, or little short of it, but a + quantity of others which are paid,<a href="#linknote-2333" + name="linknoteref-2333" id="linknoteref-2333"><small>2333</small></a>—eighty-three + bishops, seven hundred and fifty deputies, four hundred criminal judges, + three thousand and seven civil judges, five thousand justices of the + peace, twenty thousand assessors forty thousand communal collectors, + forty-six thousand curés, without counting the accessory or insignificant + places which exist by tens and hundreds of thousands, from secretaries, + clerks, bailiffs and notaries, to gendarmes, constables, office-clerks, + beadles, grave-diggers, and keepers of sequestered goods. The pasture is + vast for the ambitious; it is not small for the needy, and they seize upon + it. Such is the rule in pure democracies: hence the swarm of politicians + in the United States. When the law incessantly calls all citizens to + political action, there are only a few who devote themselves to it; these + become expert in this particular work, and, consequently, preponderant. + But they must be paid for their trouble, and the election secures to them + their places because they manage the elections. + </p> + <p> + Two sorts of men furnish the recruits for this dominant minority: on the + one hand the enthusiasts, and on the other those who have no social + position. Towards the end of 1789, moderate people, who are minding their + own business, retire into privacy, and are daily less disposed to show + themselves. The public square is occupied by others who, through zeal and + political passion, abandon their pursuits, and by those who, finding + themselves hampered in their social sphere, or repelled from ordinary + circles, were merely awaiting a new opening to take a fresh start. In + these utopian and revolutionary times, there is no lack of either class. + Flung out by handfuls, the dogma of popular sovereignty falls like a seed + scattered around, to end up vegetating in heated brains, in the narrow and + rash minds which, once possessed by an idea, adhere to it and are mastered + by it. It falls amongst a class of reasoners who, starting from a + principle, dash forward like a horse who has had blinders put on. This is + especially the case with the legal class, whose profession accustoms them + to deductions; nor less with the village attorney, the unfrocked monk, the + "intruding" and excommunicated curé, and above all, the journalist and the + local orator, who, for the first time in his life, finds that he has an + audience, applause, influence and a future before him. These are the only + people who can do the complicated and constant work which the new + Constitution calls for; for they are the only men whose desires are + unlimited, whose dreams are coherent, whose doctrine is explicit, whose + enthusiasm is contagious, who cherish no scruples, and whose presumption + is unbounded. Thus has the rigid will been wrought and tempered within + them, the inward spring of energy which, being daily more tightly wound + up, urges them on to propaganda and to action.—During the second + half of the year 1790 we see them everywhere following the example of the + Paris Jacobins, styling themselves friends of the Constitution, and + grouping themselves together in popular associations. Each town and + village gives birth to a club of patriots who regularly every evening, or + several times a week, meet "for the purpose of co-operating for the safety + of the commonwealth."<a href="#linknote-2334" name="linknoteref-2334" + id="linknoteref-2334"><small>2334</small></a> This is a new and + spontaneous organ,<a href="#linknote-2335" name="linknoteref-2335" + id="linknoteref-2335"><small>2335</small></a> an cancer and a parasite, + which develops itself in the social body alongside of its legal + organizations. Its growth insensibly increases, attracting to itself the + substance of the others, employing them for its own ends, substituting + itself for them, acting by and for itself alone, a sort of omnivorous + outgrowth the encroachment of which is irresistible, not only because + circumstances and the working of the Constitution nourish it, but also + because its germ, deposited at a great depth, is a living portion of the + Constitution itself. + </p> + <p> + For, placed at the head of the Constitution, as well as of the decrees + which are attached to it, stands the Declaration of the Rights of Man. + According to this, and by the avowal of the legislators themselves, there + are two parts to be distinguished in the law, the one superior, eternal, + inviolable, which is the self-evident principle, and the other inferior, + temporary, and open to discussion, which comprehends more or less exact or + erroneous applications of this principle. No application of the law is + valid if it derogates from the principle. No institution or authority is + entitled to obedience if it is opposed to the rights which it aims to + guarantee. These sacred rights, anterior to all society, take precedence + of every social convention, and whenever we would know if a legal order is + legitimate, we have merely to ascertain if it is in conformity with + natural right. Let us, accordingly, in every doubtful or difficult case, + refer to this philosophic gospel, to this incontestable catechism, this + primordial creed proclaimed by the National Assembly.—The National + Assembly itself invites us to do so. For it announces that + </p> + <p> + "ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes + of public misfortune, and of the corruption of governments." + </p> + <p> + It declares that + </p> + <p> + "the object of every political association is the preservation of natural + and imprescriptible rights." + </p> + <p> + It enumerates them, "in order that the acts of legislative power and the + acts of executive power may at once be compared with the purpose of every + political institution." It desires "that every member of the social body + should have its declaration constantly in mind."—Thus we are told to + control all acts of application by the principle, and also we are provided + with the rule by which we may and should accord, measure, or even refuse + our submission to, deference for, and toleration of established + institutions and legal authority. + </p> + <p> + What are these superior rights, and, in case of dispute, who will decide + as arbitrator?—There is nothing here like the precise declarations + of the American Constitution,<a href="#linknote-2336" + name="linknoteref-2336" id="linknoteref-2336"><small>2336</small></a> + those positive prescriptions which serve to sustain a judicial appeal, + those express prohibitions which prevent beforehand certain species of + laws from being passed, which prescribe limits to public powers, which + mark out the province not to be invaded by the State because it is + reserved to the individual. + </p> + <p> + On the contrary, in the declaration of the national Assembly, most of the + articles are abstract dogmas,<a href="#linknote-2337" + name="linknoteref-2337" id="linknoteref-2337"><small>2337</small></a> + metaphysical definitions, more or less literary axioms, that is to say, + more or less false, now vague and now contradictory, open to various + interpretations and to opposite constructions, These are good for platform + display but bad in practice, mere stage effect, a sort of pompous + standard, useless and heavy, which, hoisted in front of the Constitutional + house and shaken every day by violent hands, cannot fail soon to tumble on + the heads of passers by.<a href="#linknote-2338" name="linknoteref-2338" + id="linknoteref-2338"><small>2338</small></a>—Nothing is done to + ward off this visible danger. There is nothing here like that Supreme + Court which, in the United States, guards the Constitution even against + its Congress, and which, in the name of the Constitution, actually + invalidates a law, even when it has passed through all formalities and + been voted on by all the powers; which listens to the complaints of the + individual affected by an unconstitutional law; which stays the sheriff's + or collector's hand raised against him, and which above their heads gives + judgment on his interests and wrongs. Ill-defined and discordant laws are + proclaimed without any provision being made for their interpretation, + application or sanction. No means are taken to have them specially + expounded. No district tribunal is assigned to consider the claims which + grow out of them, to put an end to litigation legally, peacefully, on a + last appeal, and through a final decision which becomes a precedent and + fixes the loose sense of the text. All this is made the duty of everybody, + that is to say of those who are disposed to charge themselves with it,—in + other words, the active minority in council assembled.—Thus, in each + town or village it is the local club which, by the authorization of the + legislator himself, becomes the champion, judge, interpreter and + administrator of the rights of man, and which, in the name of these + superior rights, may protest or rebel, as it seems best, not only against + the legitimate acts of legal powers, but also against the authentic text + of the Constitution and the Laws.<a href="#linknote-2339" + name="linknoteref-2339" id="linknoteref-2339"><small>2339</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Consider, indeed, these rights as they are proclaimed, along with the + commentary of the speaker who expounds them at the club before an audience + of heated and daring spirits, or in the street to the rude and fanatical + multitude. Every article in the Declaration is a dagger pointed at human + society, and the handle has only to be pressed to make the blade enter the + flesh.<a href="#linknote-2340" name="linknoteref-2340" + id="linknoteref-2340"><small>2340</small></a> Among "these natural and + imprescriptible rights" the legislator has placed "resistance to + oppression." We are oppressed: let us resist and take up arms. According + to this legislator, "society has the right to bring every public agent of + the Administration to account." Let us away to the Hôtel-de-Ville, and + interrogate our lukewarm or suspected magistrates, and watch their + sessions to see if they prosecute priests and disarm the aristocrats; let + us stop their intrigues against the people; let us force these slow clerks + to hasten their steps.—According to this legislator "all citizens + have the right to take part in person, or through their representatives, + in the formation of the law." There must thus be no more electors + privileged by their payment of a three-franc tax. Down with the new + aristocracy of active citizens! Let us restore to the two millions of + proletarians the right of suffrage, of which the Constitution has unjustly + defrauded them!—According to this legislator, "men are born and + remain free, and equal in their rights." Consequently, let no one be + excluded from the National Guard; let everybody, even the pauper, have + some kind of weapon, a pike or gun, to defend his freedom!—In the + very terms of the Declaration, "the law is the expression of the universal + will." Listen to these clamors in the open streets, to these petitions + flowing in from the towns on all sides; behold the universal will, the + living law which abolishes the written law! On the strength of this the + leader of a few clubs in Paris are to depose the King, to violate the + Legislative Assembly and decimate the National Convention.—In other + terms, the turbulent, factious minority is to supplant the sovereign + nation, and henceforth there is nothing to hinder it from doing what it + pleases just when it pleases. The operation of the Constitution has given + to it the reality of power, while the preamble of the Constitution clothes + it with the semblance of right. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—Summary of the work of the Constituent Assembly. + </h2> + <p> + Such is the work of the Constituent Assembly. In several of its laws, + especially those which relate to private interests, in the institution of + civil regulations, in the penal and rural codes,<a href="#linknote-2341" + name="linknoteref-2341" id="linknoteref-2341"><small>2341</small></a> in + the first attempts at, and the promise of, a uniform civil code, in the + enunciation of a few simple regulations regarding taxation, procedure, and + administration, it planted good seed. But in all that relates to political + institutions and social organization its proceedings are those of an + academy of Utopians, and not those of practical legislators.—On the + sick body entrusted to it, it performed amputations which were as useless + as they were excessive, and applied bandages as inadequate as they were + injurious. With the exception of two or three restrictions admitted + inadvertently, and the maintenance of the show of royalty, also the + obligation of a small electoral qualification, it carried out its + principle to the end, the principle of Rousseau. It deliberately refused + to consider man as he really was under its own eyes, and persisted in + seeing nothing in him but the abstract being created in books. + Consequently, with the blindness and obstinacy characteristic of a + speculative surgeon, it destroyed, in the society submitted to its scalpel + and its theories, not only the tumors, the enlargements, and the inflamed + parts of the organs, but also the organs themselves, and even the vital + governing centers around which cells arrange themselves to recompose an + injured organ. That is, the Assembly destroyed on the one hand the + time-honored, spontaneous, and lasting societies formed by geographical + position, history, common occupations and interests, and on the other, + those natural chiefs whose name, repute, education, independence, and + earnestness designated them as the best qualified to occupy high + positions. In one direction it despoils and permits the ruin and + proscription of the superior class, the nobles, the members of Parliament, + and the upper middle class. In another it dispossesses and breaks up all + historic or natural corporations, religious congregations, clerical + bodies, provinces, parliaments, societies of art and of all other + professions and pursuits. This done, every tie or bond which holds men + together is found to be severed; all subordination and every graduated + scale of rank have disappeared. There is no longer rank and file, or + commander-in-chief. Nothing remains but individual particles, 26 millions + of equal and disconnected atoms. Never was so much disintegrated matter, + less capable of resistance, offered to hands undertaking to mold it. + Harshness and violence will be sufficient to ensure success. These brutal + hands are ready for the work, and the Assembly which has reduced the + material to powder has likewise provided the mortar and pestle. As awkward + in destruction as it is in construction, it invents for the restoration of + order in a society which is turned upside down a machine which would, of + itself, create disorder in a tranquil society. The most absolute and most + concentrated government would not be strong enough to effect without + disturbance a similar equalization of ranks, the same dismemberment of + associations, and the same displacement of property. No social + transformation can be peacefully accomplished without a well-commanded + army, obedient and everywhere present, as was the case in the emancipation + of the Russian serfs by Emperor Alexander. The new Constitution,<a + href="#linknote-2342" name="linknoteref-2342" id="linknoteref-2342"><small>2342</small></a> + on the contrary, reduces the King to the position of an honorary + president, suspected and called in question by a disorganized State. + Between him and the legislative body it interposes nothing but sources of + conflict, and suppresses all means of concord. The monarch has no hold + whatever on the administrative departments which he must direct; the + mutual independence of the powers, from the center to the extremities of + the State, everywhere produces indifference, negligence, and disobedience + between the injunctions issued and their execution. France is a federation + of forty thousand municipal sovereignties, in which the authority of legal + magistrates varies according to the caprice of active citizens. These + active citizens, too heavily loaded, shy away from the performance of + public duty; in which a minority of fanatics and ambitious men monopolize + the right to speak, to vote, all influence, the power and all action. They + justify their multiple ursurpations, their unbridled despotism, and their + increasing encroachments by the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The + masterpiece<a href="#linknote-2343" name="linknoteref-2343" + id="linknoteref-2343"><small>2343</small></a> of ideal abstractions and of + practical absurdities is accomplished. In accordance with the Constitution + spontaneous anarchy becomes legalized anarchy. The latter is perfect; + nothing finer of the kind has been seen since the ninth century. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2301" id="linknote-2301"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2301 (<a href="#linknoteref-2301">return</a>)<br /> [ The name for the + dreaded secret Royal warrant of arrest. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2302" id="linknote-2302"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2302 (<a href="#linknoteref-2302">return</a>)<br /> [ The initiative rests + with the King on one point: war cannot be decreed by the Assembly except + on his formal and preliminary proposition. This exception was secured only + after a violent struggle and a supreme effort by Mirabeau.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2303" id="linknote-2303"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2303 (<a href="#linknoteref-2303">return</a>)<br /> [ Speech by Lanjuinais, + November 7, 1789. "We determined on the separation of the powers. Why, + then, should the proposal he made to us to unite the legislative power + with the executive power in the persons of the ministers?"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2304" id="linknote-2304"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2304 (<a href="#linknoteref-2304">return</a>)<br /> [ See the attendance of + the Ministers before the Legislative Assembly.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2305" id="linknote-2305"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2305 (<a href="#linknoteref-2305">return</a>)<br /> [ "Any society in which + the separation of the powers is not clearly defined has no constitution." + (Declaration of Rights, article XVI.)—This principle is borrowed + from a text by Montesquieu, also from the American Constitution. In the + rest the theory of Rousseau is followed.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2306" id="linknote-2306"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2306 (<a href="#linknoteref-2306">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, an + expression by Mallet du Pan.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2307" id="linknote-2307"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2307 (<a href="#linknoteref-2307">return</a>)<br /> [ Constitution of 1791, + ch. II. articles 5, 6, 7.—Decree of September 25—October 6, + 1791, section III. articles, 8 to 25.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2308" id="linknote-2308"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2308 (<a href="#linknoteref-2308">return</a>)<br /> [ Speeches by Barnave + and Roederer in the constituent Assembly.—Speeches by Barnave and + Duport in the Jacobin Club.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2309" id="linknote-2309"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2309 (<a href="#linknoteref-2309">return</a>)<br /> [ Principal texts. + (Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et Decrets.")—Laws on municipal and + administrative organization, December 14 and 22, 1789; August 12-20, 1790; + March 12, 1791. On the municipal organization of Paris, May 21st, June 27, + 1790.—Laws on the organization of the Judiciary, August 16-24, 1790; + September 16-29, 1791; September 29, October 21, 1791.—Laws on + military organization, September 23, October 29, 1790; January 16, 1791; + July 27, 28, 1791—Laws on the financial organization, November + 14-24,.1790; November 23, 1790; March 17, 1791; September 26, October 2, + 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2310" id="linknote-2310"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2310 (<a href="#linknoteref-2310">return</a>)<br /> [ The removal of such + managerial authority has since the second World war taken place inside the + United Nations and other Western public administrations and seems to be + the aim of much communist trade union effort. The result has everywhere + been added cost and decreased efficiency. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2311" id="linknote-2311"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2311 (<a href="#linknoteref-2311">return</a>)<br /> [ This principle has + been introduced in Western educational systems when clever self-appointed + psychologists told parents and teacher alike that they could and should + not punish their children but only talk and explain to them. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2312" id="linknote-2312"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2312 (<a href="#linknoteref-2312">return</a>)<br /> [ This description fits + the staff regulations of the United Nations secretariat in which I served + for 32 years. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2313" id="linknote-2313"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2313 (<a href="#linknoteref-2313">return</a>)<br /> [ Decrees of December + 14 and December 22, 1789: "In municipalities reduced to three members + (communes below five hundred inhabitants), all executive functions shall + belong to the mayor alone."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2314" id="linknote-2314"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2314 (<a href="#linknoteref-2314">return</a>)<br /> [ Could it be that + Lenin took note of this and had it this translated in Russian and made use + of it in his and later in Stalin's schools for international + revolutionaries. It would in any case have weakened the Bourgeois + Capitalist countries. In any case such measures have been introduced both + in the international organizations and in most Western Democratic + Governments after World War II. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2315" id="linknote-2315"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2315 (<a href="#linknoteref-2315">return</a>)<br /> [ This was in the + United Nations called 'Rotation' and made the administration of missions + and forces difficult, expensive and inefficient. This rotation was also + used in the Indian and other armies in order to prevent the officers to + reach an understanding or achieve any power over the troops under their + command. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2316" id="linknote-2316"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2316 (<a href="#linknoteref-2316">return</a>)<br /> [ Laws of September 23—October + 29, 1790; January 16, 1791. (Titles II. And VII.)—Cf. the legal + prescriptions in relation to the military tribunals. In every prosecuting + or judicial jury one-seventh of the sworn members are taken from the + non-commissioned officers, and one-seventh from the soldiers, and again, + according to the rank of the accused, the number of those of the same rank + is doubled.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2317" id="linknote-2317"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2317 (<a href="#linknoteref-2317">return</a>)<br /> [ Law of July 28th, + August 12, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2318" id="linknote-2318"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2318 (<a href="#linknoteref-2318">return</a>)<br /> [ Laws of November 24, + 1789 (article 52), August 10-14, 1789.—Instruction of August 10-20, + 1790; § 8—Law of October 21, November 21, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2319" id="linknote-2319"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2319 (<a href="#linknoteref-2319">return</a>)<br /> [ Laws of November 14 + and 23, 1790; January 13th, September 26th, October 9, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2320" id="linknote-2320"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2320 (<a href="#linknoteref-2320">return</a>)<br /> [ Albert Babeau, I. 327 + (Féte of the Federation, July 14, 1790).—"Archives Nationales," F7, + 3215 (May 17,1791, Deliberation of the council-general of the commune of + Brest. May 17 and 19, Letters of the directory of the district).—Mercure, + March 5, 1791. "Mesdames are stopped until the return of the two deputies, + whom the Republic of Arnay-le-Duc has sent to the representatives of the + nation to demonstrate to them the necessity of keeping the king's aunts in + the kingdom."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2321" id="linknote-2321"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2321 (<a href="#linknoteref-2321">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, X. 132. + Speech by M. Labergerie, November 8, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2322" id="linknote-2322"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2322 (<a href="#linknoteref-2322">return</a>)<br /> [ At Montauban, in the + intendant's salon, the ladies of the place spoke patois only, the + grandmother of the gentleman who has informed me of this fact did not + understand any other language.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2323" id="linknote-2323"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2323 (<a href="#linknoteref-2323">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, V.163, + sitting of July 18, 1791. Speech by M. Lecoulteux, reporter.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2324" id="linknote-2324"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2324 (<a href="#linknoteref-2324">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XI. 283, + sitting of February 2, 1792. Speech by Cambon: "They go away thinking that + they understand what is explained to them, but return the following day to + obtain fresh explanations. The attorneys refuse to give the municipalities + any assistance, stating that they know nothing about these matters."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2325" id="linknote-2325"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2325 (<a href="#linknoteref-2325">return</a>)<br /> [ The same may happen + when a subordinate is promoted to be placed in charge of his or her former + equals and colleagues. This is why it is often preferably to transfer + someone who is recognized as being of superior talent whenever a + promotions is to take place. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2326" id="linknote-2326"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2326 (<a href="#linknoteref-2326">return</a>)<br /> [ Law of May 11-15, + 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2327" id="linknote-2327"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2327 (<a href="#linknoteref-2327">return</a>)<br /> [ Minutes of the + meeting of the Electoral Assembly of the Department of Indre-et-Loire + (1791, printed).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2328" id="linknote-2328"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2328 (<a href="#linknoteref-2328">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. + 367.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2329" id="linknote-2329"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2329 (<a href="#linknoteref-2329">return</a>)<br /> [ Suzay, I, 191 (21,711 + are eligible out of 32,288 inscribed citizens).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2330" id="linknote-2330"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2330 (<a href="#linknoteref-2330">return</a>)<br /> [ Official report of + the Electoral Assembly of the Department of Indre-et-Loire, Aug. 27, 1791. + "A member of the Assembly made a motion that all the members composing it + should be indemnified for the expenses which would be incurred by their + absence from home and the long sojourn they had to make in the town where + the Assembly was held. He remarked that the inhabitants of the country + were those who suffered the most, their labor being their sole riches; + that if no attention was paid to this demand, they would be obliged, in + spite of their patriotism, to withdraw and abandon their important + mission; that the electoral assemblies would then be deserted, or would be + composed of those whose resources permitted them to make this sacrifice."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2331" id="linknote-2331"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2331 (<a href="#linknoteref-2331">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 147, 192.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2332" id="linknote-2332"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2332 (<a href="#linknoteref-2332">return</a>)<br /> [ For the detail of + these figures, see vol. II. Book IV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2333" id="linknote-2333"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2333 (<a href="#linknoteref-2333">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, I. 367. + Cf. The various laws above mentioned.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2334" id="linknote-2334"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2334 (<a href="#linknoteref-2334">return</a>)<br /> [ Constant, "Histoire + d'un Club Jacobin en Province" (Fontainebleau) p.15. (Procés-verbaux of + the founding of the clubs of Moret, Thomery, Nemours, and Montereau.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2335" id="linknote-2335"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2335 (<a href="#linknoteref-2335">return</a>)<br /> [ Later to change and + become socialist and communist parties everywhere. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2336" id="linknote-2336"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2336 (<a href="#linknoteref-2336">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. The Declaration + of Independence, July 4, 1776 (except the first phrase, which is a + catchword thrown out for the European philosophers).—Jefferson + proposed a Declaration of Rights for the Constitution of March 4, 1789, + but it was refused. They were content to add to it the eleven amendments + which set forth the fundamental rights of the citizen.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2337" id="linknote-2337"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2337 (<a href="#linknoteref-2337">return</a>)<br /> [ Article I. "Men are + born and remain free and equal in rights common to all. Social + distinctions are founded solely on public utility." The first phrase + condemns the hereditary royalty which is sanctioned by the Constitution. + The second phrase can be used to legitimate hereditary monarchy and an + aristocracy.—Articles 10 and 11 bear upon the manifestations of + religious convictions and on freedom of speech and of the press. By virtue + of these two articles worship, speech, and the press may be made subject + to the most repressive restrictions, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2338" id="linknote-2338"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2338 (<a href="#linknoteref-2338">return</a>)<br /> [ The International + Bill of Human Rights of 1948 is quite different from the one approved in + 1789. In 1948 there is no more any mention of any "right to resistance to + oppression", there is a softening of the position on the right of property + and new rights, to free education, to a country, to rest and leisure, to a + high standard of health and to an adequate standard of living have been + introduced. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2339" id="linknote-2339"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2339 (<a href="#linknoteref-2339">return</a>)<br /> [ Stalin and his + successors organized such a system of "clubs" world-wide which even today + remain active as "protectors" of the environment, refugees, prisoners, + animals and the environment. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2340" id="linknote-2340"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2340 (<a href="#linknoteref-2340">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, XI. + 237. (Speech by Malouet in relation to the revision, August 5, 1791.) "You + constantly tempt the people with sovereignty without giving them the + immediate use of it."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2341" id="linknote-2341"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2341 (<a href="#linknoteref-2341">return</a>)<br /> [ Decrees of September + 25—October 6, 1791; September 28—October 6, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2342" id="linknote-2342"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2342 (<a href="#linknoteref-2342">return</a>)<br /> [ Impartial + contemporaries, those well qualified to judge, agree as to the absurdity + of the Constitution. "The Constitution was a veritable monster. There was + too much of monarchy in it for a republic, and too much of a republic for + a monarchy. The King was a side-dish, un hors d'oeuvre, everywhere present + in appearance but without any actual power." (Dumont, 339.) "It is a + general and almost universal conviction that this Constitution is + inexecutable. The makers of it to a man condemn it." (G. Morris, September + 30, 1791.) "Every day proves more clearly that their new Constitution is + good for nothing." (ibid. December 27, 1791.) Cf. The sensible and + prophetic speech made by Malouet (August 5, 1791, Buchez and Roux, XI. + 237).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2343" id="linknote-2343"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2343 (<a href="#linknoteref-2343">return</a>)<br /> [ Taine's vivid + description is likely to have encouraged any radical revolutionary having + the luck to read his explicit description of how to proceed with the + destruction of a naïve corrupt capitalist, bourgeois society. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BOOK THIRD. THE APPLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. <a href="#linknote-3101" + name="linknoteref-3101" id="linknoteref-3101"><small>3101</small></a> + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—The Federations. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Popular application of philosophic theory.—Idyllic + celebration of the Contrat-Social.—The two strata of the + human mind.—Permanent disorder. +</pre> + <p> + If there ever was an Utopia which seemed capable of realization, or, what + is still more to the purpose, was really applied, converted into a fact, + fully established, it is that of Rousseau, in 1789 and during the three + following years. For, not only are his principles embodied in the laws, + and the Constitution throughout animated with his spirit, but it seems as + if the nation looked upon his ideological gambols, his abstract fiction, + as serious. This fiction it carried out in every particular. A social + contract, at one spontaneous and practical, an immense gathering of men + associating together freely for the first time for the recognition of + their respective rights, forming a specific compact, and binding + themselves by a solemn oath: such is the social recipe prescribed by the + philosophers, and which is carried out to the letter. Moreover, as this + recipe is esteemed infallible, the imagination is worked upon and the + sensibilities of the day are brought into play. It is admitted that men, + on again becoming equals, have again become brothers.<a + href="#linknote-3102" name="linknoteref-3102" id="linknoteref-3102"><small>3102</small></a> + A sudden and amazing harmony of all volitions and all intelligences will + restore the golden age on earth. It is proper, accordingly, to regard the + social contract as a festival, an affecting, sublime idyll, in which, from + one end of France to the other, all, hand in hand, should assemble and + swear to the new compact, with song, with dance, with tears of joy, with + shouts of gladness, the worthy beginning of public felicity. With + unanimous assent, indeed, the idyll is performed as if according to a + written program. + </p> + <p> + On the 29th of November, 1789, at Etoile, near Valence, the federations + began.<a href="#linknote-3103" name="linknoteref-3103" + id="linknoteref-3103"><small>3103</small></a> Twelve thousand National + Guards, from the two banks of the Rhône, promise "to remain for ever + united, to insure the circulation of grain, and to maintain the laws + passed by the National Assembly." On the 13th of December, at Montélimart, + six thousand men, the representatives of 27 000 other men, take a similar + oath and confederate themselves with the foregoing.—Upon this the + excitement spreads from month to month and from province to province. + Fourteen towns of the bailiwicks of Franche-Comté form a patriotic league. + At Pontivy, Brittany enters into federal relations with Anjou. One + thousand National Guards of Vivarais and Languedoc send their delegates to + Voute. 48 000 in the Vosges send their deputies to Epinal. During + February, March, April, and May, 1790, in Alsace, Champagne, Dauphiny, + Orléanais, Touraine, Lyonnais, and Provence, there is the same spectacle. + At Draguignan eight thousand National Guards take the oath in the presence + of 20 000 spectators. At Lyons 50 000 men, delegates of more than 500 000 + others take the civic oath.—But local unions are not sufficient to + complete the organization of France; a general union of all Frenchmen must + take place. Many of the various National Guards have already written to + Paris for the purpose of affiliating themselves with the National Guard + there; and, one the 5th of June, the Parisian municipal body having + proposed it, the Assembly decrees the universal federation. It is to take + place on the 14th of July, everywhere on the same day, both at the center + and at the extremities of the kingdom. There is to be one in the principal + town of each district and of each department, and one in the capital. To + the latter each body of the National Guards is to send deputies in the + proportion of one man to every two hundred; and each regiment one officer, + one non-commissioned officer, and four privates. Fourteen thousand + representatives of the National Guard of the provinces appear on the Champ + de Mars, the theater of the festival; also eleven to twelve thousand + representatives of the land and marine forces, besides the National Guard + of Paris, and sixty thousand spectators on the surrounding slopes, with a + still greater crowd on the heights of Chaillot and of Passy. All rise to + their feet and swear fidelity to the nation, to the law, to the King and + to the new Constitution. When the report of the cannon is heard which + announces the taking of the oath, those of the Parisians who have remained + at home, men, women, and children, raise their hands in the direction of + the Champ de Mars and likewise make their affirmation. In every principal + town of every district, department, and commune in France there is the + same oath on the same day. Never was there a more perfect social compact + heard of. Here, for the first time in the world, everybody beholds a + veritable legitimate society, for it is founded on free pledges, on solemn + stipulations, and on actual consent. They possess the authentic act and + the dated official report of it.<a href="#linknote-3104" + name="linknoteref-3104" id="linknoteref-3104"><small>3104</small></a> + </p> + <p> + There is still something more—the time and the occasion betoken a + union of all hearts. The barriers which have hitherto separated men from + each other are all removed and without effort. Provincial antagonisms are + now to cease: the confederates of Brittany and Anjou write that they no + longer desire to be Angevins and Bretons, but simply Frenchmen. All + religious discords are to come to an end: at Saint-Jean-du-Gard, near + Alais, the Catholic curé and the Protestant pastor embrace each other at + the altar; the pastor occupies the best seat in the church, and at the + Protestant meeting-house the curé has the place of honor, and listens to + the sermon of the pastor.<a href="#linknote-3105" name="linknoteref-3105" + id="linknoteref-3105"><small>3105</small></a> Distinctions of rank and + condition will no longer exist; at Saint-Andéol "the honor of taking the + oath in the name of the people is conferred on two old men, one + ninety-three and the other ninety-four years of age, one a noble and a + colonel of the National Guard, and the other a simple peasant." At Paris, + two hundred thousand persons of all conditions, ages, and sexes, officers + and soldiers, monks and actors, school-boys and masters, dandies and + ragamuffins, elegant ladies and fishwives, workmen of every class and the + peasants from the vicinity, all flocked to the Champ de Mars to dig the + earth which was not ready, and in a week, trundling wheelbarrows and + handling the pick-ax as equals and comrades, all voluntarily yoked in the + same service, converted a flat surface into a valley between two hills.—At + Strasbourg, General Luckner, commander-in-chief, worked a whole afternoon + in his shirt-sleeves just like the commonest laborer. The confederates are + fed, housed, and have their expenses paid everywhere on all the roads. At + Paris the publicans and keepers of furnished houses lower their prices of + their own accord, and do not think of robbing their new guests. "The + districts," moreover, "feast the provincials to their heart's content.<a + href="#linknote-3106" name="linknoteref-3106" id="linknoteref-3106"><small>3106</small></a> + There are meals every day for from twelve to fifteen hundred people." + Provincials and Parisians, soldiers and bourgeois, seated and mingled + together, drink each other's health and embrace. The soldiers, especially, + and the inferior officers are surrounded, welcomed, and entertained to + such an extent that they lose their heads, their health, and more besides. + One "old trooper, who had been over fifty years in the service, died on + the way home, used up with cordials and excess of pleasure." In short, the + joy is excessive, as it should be on the great day when the wish of an + entire century is accomplished.—Behold ideal felicity, as displayed + in the books and illustrations of the time! The natural man buried + underneath an artificial civilization is disinterred, and again appears as + in early days, as in Tahiti, as in philosophic and literary pastorals, as + in bucolic and mythological operas, confiding, affectionate, and happy. + "The sight of all these beings again restored to the sweet sentiments of + primitive brotherhood is an exquisite delight almost too great for the + soul to support," and the Frenchman, more light-hearted and far more + childlike than he is to-day, gives himself up unrestrainedly to his + social, sympathetic, and generous instincts. Whatever the imagination of + the day offers him to increase his emotions, all the classical, + rhetorical, and dramatic material at his command, are employed for the + embellishment of his festival. Already wildly enthusiastic, he is anxious + to increase his enthusiasm.—At Lyons, the fifty thousand + confederates from the south range themselves in line of battle around an + artificial rock, fifty feet high, covered with shrubs, and surmounted by a + Temple of Concord in which stands a huge statue of Liberty; the steps of + the rock are decked with flags, and a solemn mass precedes the + administration of the oath.—At Paris, an alter dedicated to the + nation is erected in the middle of the Champ de Mars, which is transformed + into a colossal circus. The regular troops and the federations of the + departments stand in position around it, the King being in front with the + Queen and the dauphin, while near them are the princes and princesses in a + gallery, and the members of the National Assembly in an amphitheater; two + hundred priests, draped in their albs and with tricolored belts, officiate + around Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun; three hundred drums and twelve hundred + musicians all play at once; forty piece of cannon are discharged at one + volley, and four hundred thousand cheers go up as if from one threat. + Never was such an effort made to intoxicate the senses and strain the + nerves beyond their powers of endurance!—The moral machine is made + to vibrate to the same and even to a greater extent. For more than a year + past, harangues, proclamations, addresses, newspapers and events have + daily added one degree more to the pressure. On this occasion, thousands + of speeches, multiplied by myriads of newspapers, carry the enthusiasm to + the highest pitch. Declamation foams and rolls along in a steady stream of + rhetoric everywhere throughout France.<a href="#linknote-3107" + name="linknoteref-3107" id="linknoteref-3107"><small>3107</small></a> In + this state of excitement the difference between magniloquence and + sincerity, between the false and the true, between show and substance, is + no longer distinguishable. The Federation becomes an opera which is + seriously played in the open street—children have parts assigned + them in it; it occurs to no one that they are puppets, and that the words + taken for an expression of the heart are simply memorized speeches that + have been put into their mouths. At Besançon, on the return of the + confederates, hundreds of "youthful citizens" from twelve to fourteen + years of age,<a href="#linknote-3108" name="linknoteref-3108" + id="linknoteref-3108"><small>3108</small></a> in the national uniform, + "with sword in hand," march up to the standard of Liberty. Three little + girls from eleven to thirteen years old and two little boy of nine years + each pronounce "a discourse full of fire and breathing nothing but + patriotism;" after which, a young lady of fourteen, raising her voice and + pointing to the flag, harangues in turn the crowd, the deputies, the + National Guard, the mayor, and the commander of the troops, the scene + ending with a ball. This is the universal finale—men and women, + children and adults, common people and men of the world, chiefs and + subordinates, all, everywhere, frisk about as in the last act of a + pastoral drama. At Paris,—writes an eye-witness, "I saw chevaliers + of Saint-Louis and chaplains dancing in the street with people belonging + to their department."<a href="#linknote-3109" name="linknoteref-3109" + id="linknoteref-3109"><small>3109</small></a> At the Champ de Mars, on the + day of the Federation, notwithstanding that rain was falling in torrents, + "the first arrivals began to dance, and those who came after them, joining + in, formed a circle which soon spread over a portion of the Champ de Mars. + . . .Three hundred thousand spectators kept time with their hands." On the + following days dancing is kept up on the Champ de Mars and in the streets, + and there is drinking and carousing; "there was a ball with refreshments + at the Corn-Exchange, and on the site of the Bastille."—At Tours, + where fifty-two detachments from the neighboring provinces are collected, + about four o'clock in the afternoon,<a href="#linknote-3110" + name="linknoteref-3110" id="linknoteref-3110"><small>3110</small></a> + through an irresistible outburst of insane gaiety, "the officers, inferior + officers, and soldiers, pell-mell, race through the streets, some with + saber in hand and others dancing and shouting 'Vive le Roi!' 'Vive la + Nation!' flinging up their hats and compelling every one they met to join + in the dance. One of the canons of the cathedral, who happens to be + passing quietly along, has a grenadier's cap put on his head," and is + dragged into the circle, and after him two monks; "they are often + embraced," and then allowed to depart. The carriages of the mayor and the + Marquise de Montausier arrive; people mount up behind, get inside, and + seat themselves in front, as many as can find room, and force the coachmen + to parade through the principal streets in this fashion. There is no + malice in it, nothing but sport and the overflow of spirits. "Nobody was + maltreated or insulted, although almost every one was drunk."—Nevertheless, + there is one bad symptom: the soldiers of the Anjou regiment leave their + barracks the following day and "pass the whole night abroad, no one being + able to hinder them." And there is another of still graver aspect; at + Orleans, after the companies of the National Militia had danced on the + square in the evening, "a large number of volunteers marched in procession + through the town with drums, shouting out with all their might that the + aristocracy must be destroyed, and that priests and aristocrats should be + strung up to the lamp post. They enter a suspected coffee-house, drive out + the inmates with insults, lay hands on a gentleman who is supposed not to + have cried out as correctly and as lustily as themselves, and come near to + hanging him.<a href="#linknote-3111" name="linknoteref-3111" + id="linknoteref-3111"><small>3111</small></a>—Such is the fruit of + the philosophy and the attitudes of the eighteenth century. Men believed + that, for the organization of a perfect society and the permanent + establishment of freedom, justice, and happiness on earth, an inspiration + of sentiments and an act of the will would suffice. The inspiration came + and the act was fulfilled; they have been carried away, delighted, + affected and out of their minds. Now comes the reaction, when they have to + fall back upon themselves. The effort has succeeded in accomplishing all + that it could accomplish, namely, a deluge of emotional demonstrations and + slogans, a verbal and not a real contract ostentatious fraternity + skin-deep, a well-meaning masquerade, an outpouring of feeling evaporating + through its own pageantry—in short, an agreeable carnival of a day's + duration. + </p> + <p> + The reason is that in the human mind there are two strata. One + superficial, of which men are conscious, the other deep down, of which + they are unconscious.<a href="#linknote-3112" name="linknoteref-3112" + id="linknoteref-3112"><small>3112</small></a> The former unstable and + vacillating like shifting sand, the latter stable and fixed like a solid + rock, to which their caprices and agitation never descend. The latter + alone determines the general inclination of the soil, the main current of + human activity necessarily following the bent thus prepared for it.—Certainly + embraces have been interchanged and oaths have been taken; but after, as + before the ceremony, men are just what many centuries of administrative + thralldom and one century of political literature have made them. Their + ignorance and presumption, their prejudices, hatreds, and distrusts, their + inveterate intellectual and emotional habits are still preserved. They are + human, and their stomachs need to be filled daily. They have imagination, + and, if bread be scarce, they fear that they may not get enough of it. + They prefer to keep their money rather than to give it away. For this + reason they spurn the claims which the State and individuals have upon + them as much as possible. They avoid paying their debts. They willingly + lay their hands on public property which is badly protected; finally they + are disposed to regard gendarmes and proprietors as detrimental, and all + the more so because this has been repeated to them over and over again, + day after day, for a whole year.—On the other hand there is no + change in the situation of things. They are ever living in a disorganized + community, under an impracticable constitution, the passions which sap + public order being only the more stimulated by the semblance of fraternity + under which they seemed to be allayed. Men cannot be persuaded with + impunity that the millennium has come, for they will want to enjoy it + immediately, and will tolerate no deception practiced on their + expectations. In this violent state, fired by boundless expectations, all + their whims appear reasonable and all their opinions rational. They are no + longer able to find faults with or control themselves. In their brain, + overflowing with emotions and enthusiasm, there is no room but for one + intense, absorbing, fixed idea. Each is confident and over-confident in + his own opinion; all become impassioned, imperious, and intractable. + Having assumed that all obstacles are taken out of the way, they grow + indignant at each obstacle they actually encounter. Whatever it may be, + they shatter it on the instant, and their over-excited imagination covers + with the fine name of patriotism their natural appetite for despotism and + domination. + </p> + <p> + France, accordingly, in the three years which follow the taking of the + Bastille, presents a strange spectacle. In the words we find charity and + in the laws symmetry; while the actual events present a spectacle of + disorder and violence. Afar, is the reign of philosophy; close up is the + chaos of the Carlovingian era. + </p> + <p> + "Foreigners," remarks an observer,<a href="#linknote-3113" + name="linknoteref-3113" id="linknoteref-3113"><small>3113</small></a> "are + not aware that, with a great extension of political rights, the liberty of + the individual is in law reduced to nothing, while in practice it is + subject to the caprice of sixty thousand constitutional assemblies; that + no citizen enjoys any protection against the annoyances of these popular + assemblies; that, according to the opinions which they entertain of + persons and things, they act in one place in one way and in another place + in another way. Here, a department, acting for itself and without + referring elsewhere, puts an embargo on vessels, while another orders the + expulsion of a military detachment essential for the security of places + devastated by ruffians; and the minister, who responds to the demands of + those interested, replies: 'Such are the orders of the department.' + Elsewhere are administrative bodies which, the moment the Assembly decrees + relief of consciences and the freedom of nonjuring priests, order the + latter out of their homes within 24 hours. Always in advance of or lagging + behind the laws; alternately bold and cowardly; daring all things when + seconded by public license, and daring nothing to repress it; eager to + abuse their momentary authority against the weak in order to acquire + titles to popularity in the future; incapable of maintaining order except + at the expense of public safety and tranquility; entangled in the reins of + their new and complex administration, adding the fury of passion to + incapacity and inexperience; such are, for the most part, the men sprung + from nothing, void of ideas and drunk with pretension, on whom now rests + responsibility for public powers and resources, the interest of security, + and the foundations of the power of government. In all sections of the + nation, in every branch of the administration, in every report, we detect + the confusion of authorities, the uncertainty of obedience, the + dissolution of all restraints, the absence of all resources, the + deplorable complication of enervated springs, without any of the means of + real power, and, for their sole support, laws which, in supposing France + to be peopled with men without vices or passions, abandon humanity to its + primitive state of independence." + </p> + <p> + A few months after this, in the beginning of 1792, Malouet sums up all in + one phrase: + </p> + <p> + "It is the Government of Algiers without the Dey." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—Independence of the municipalities. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The causes of their initiative.—Sentiment of danger. + —Issy-l'Evêque in 1789.—Exalted pride.—Brittany in 1790. + —Usurpations of the municipalities.—Capture of the + citadels.—Violence increased against their commanders. + —Stoppage of convoys.—Powerlessness of the Directories and + the ministers.—Marseilles in 1790. +</pre> + <p> + Things could not work otherwise. For, before the 6th of October, and the + King's captivity in Paris, the Government had already been destroyed. Now, + through the successive decrees of the Assembly, it is legally done away + with, and each local group is left to itself.—The intendants have + fled, military commanders are not obeyed, the bailiwicks dare hold no + courts, the parliaments are suspended, and seven months elapse before the + district and department administrations are elected, a year before the new + judgeships are instituted, while afterwards, as well as before, the real + power is in the hands of the communes.—The commune must arm itself, + appoint its own chiefs, provide its own supplies, protect itself against + brigands, and feed its own poor. It has to sell its national property, + install the constitutional priest, and, amidst so many eager passions and + injured interest, accomplish the transformation by which a new society + replaces the ancient one. It alone has to ward off the perpetual and + constantly reviving dangers which assail it or which it imagines. These + are great, and it exaggerates them. It is inexperienced and alarmed. It is + not surprising that, in the exercise of its extemporized power, it should + pass beyond its natural or legal limit, and without being aware of it, + overstep the metaphysical line which the Constitution defines between its + rights and the rights of the State. Neither hunger, fear, rage, nor any of + the popular passions can wait; there is no time to refer to Paris. Action + is necessary, immediate action, and, with the means at hand, they must + save themselves as well as they can. This or that mayor of a village is + soon to find himself a general and a legislator. This or that petty town + is to give itself a charter like Laon or Vezelay in the twelfth century. + "On the 6th of October, 1789,<a href="#linknote-3114" + name="linknoteref-3114" id="linknoteref-3114"><small>3114</small></a> near + Autun, the market-town of Issy-l'Evêque declares itself an independent + State. The parish assembly is convoked by the priest, M. Carion, who is + appointed member of the administrative committee and of the new military + staff. In full session he secures the adoption of a complete code, + political, judiciary, penal and military, consisting of sixty articles. + Nothing is overlooked; we find ordinances concerning + </p> + <p> + "the town police, the laying out of streets and public squares, the + repairs of prisons, the road taxes and price of grain, the administration + of justice, fines, confiscations, and the diet of the National Guards." + </p> + <p> + He is a provincial Solon,<a href="#linknote-3115" name="linknoteref-3115" + id="linknoteref-3115"><small>3115</small></a> zealous for the public + welfare, and a man of executive power, he expounds his ordinances from the + pulpit, and threatens the refractory. He passes decrees and renders + judgments in the town-hall: outside the town limits, at the head of the + National Guard, saber in hand, he will enforce his own decisions. He + causes it to be decided that, on the written order of the committee, every + citizen may be imprisoned. He imposes and collects taxes; he has boundary + walls torn down; he goes in person to the houses of cultivators and makes + requisitions for grain; he seizes the convoys which have not deposited + their quote in his own richly stored granaries. One day, preceded by a + drummer, he marches outside the walls, makes proclamation of "his agrarian + laws," and proceeds at once to the partition of the territory, and, by + virtue of the ancient communal or church property rights, to assign to + himself a portion of it. All this is done in public and consciously, the + notary and the scrivener being called in to draw up the official record of + his acts; he is satisfied that human society has come to an end, and that + each local group has the right to begin over again and apply in its own + way the Constitution which it has accorded to itself without reference to + anybody else.—This man, undoubtedly, talks too loudly, an proceeds + too quickly; and first the bailiwick, next the Châtelet, and afterwards + the National Assembly temporarily put a stop to his proceedings; but his + principle is a popular one, and the forty thousand communes of France are + about to act like so many distinct republics, under the sentimental and + constantly more powerless reprimands of the central authority. + </p> + <p> + Excited and invigorated by a new sentiment, men now abandon themselves to + the proud consciousness of their own power and independence. Nowhere is + greater satisfaction found than among the new local chiefs, the municipal + officers and commanders of the National Guard, for never before has such + supreme authority and such great dignity fallen upon men previously so + submissive and so insignificant.—Formerly the subordinates of an + intendant or sub-delegate, appointed, maintained, and ill-used by him, + kept aloof from transactions of any importance, unable to defend + themselves except by humble protestations against the aggravation of + taxation, concerned with precedence and the conflicts of etiquette,<a + href="#linknote-3116" name="linknoteref-3116" id="linknoteref-3116"><small>3116</small></a> + plain townspeople or peasants who never dreamt of interfering in military + matters, henceforth become sovereigns in all military and civil affairs. + This or that mayor or syndic of a little town or parish, a petty bourgeois + or villager in a blouse, whom the intendant or military commander could + imprison at will, now orders a gentleman, a captain of dragoons, to march + or stand still, and the captain stands still or marches at his command. On + the same bourgeois or villager depends the safety of the neighboring + chateau, of the large land-owner and his family, of the prelate, and of + all the prominent personages of the district in order that they may be out + of harm's way he must protect them; they will be pillaged if, in case of + insurrection, he does not send troops and the National Guard to their + assistance. It is he who, lending or refusing public force to the + collection of their rents, gives them or deprives them of the means of + living. He accordingly rules, and on the sole condition of ruling + according to the wishes of his equals, the vociferous multitude, the + restless, dominant mob which has elected him.—In the towns, + especially, and notably in the large towns, the contrast between what he + was and what he is immense, since to the plenitude of his power is added + the extent of his jurisdiction. Judge of the effect on his brain in cities + like those of Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rouen and Lyons, where he + holds in his hand the lives and property of eighty or a hundred thousand + men. And the more as, amid the municipal officers of the towns, + three-quarters of them, prosecutors or lawyers, are imbued with the new + dogmas, and are persuaded that in themselves alone, the directly elected + of the people, is vested all legitimate authority. Bewildered by their + recent elevation, distrustful as upstarts, in revolt against all ancient + or rival powers, they are additionally alarmed by their imagination and + ignorance, their minds being vaguely disturbed by the contrast between + their role in the past and their present role: anxious on their own + account, they find no security but in abuse and use of power. The + municipalities, on the strength of the reports emanating from the + coffee-houses, decide that the ministry are traitors. With an obstinacy of + conviction and a boldness of presumption alike extraordinary, they believe + that they have the right to act without and against their orders, and + against the orders of the National Assembly itself, as if, in the now + disintegrated France, each municipality constituted the nation. + </p> + <p> + Thus, if the armed force of the country is now obedient to any body, it is + to them and to them alone, and not only the National Guard, but also the + regular troops which, placed under the orders of municipalities by a + decree of the National Assembly,<a href="#linknote-3117" + name="linknoteref-3117" id="linknoteref-3117"><small>3117</small></a> will + comply with no other. Military commanders in the provinces, after + September, 1787, declare themselves powerless; when they and the + municipality give orders, it is only those of the municipality which the + troops recognize. "However pressing may be the necessity for moving the + troops where their presence is required, they are stopped by the + resistance of the village committee."<a href="#linknote-3118" + name="linknoteref-3118" id="linknoteref-3118"><small>3118</small></a> + "Without any reasonable motive," writes the commander of the forces in + Brittany, "Vannes and Auray made opposition to the detachment which I + thought it prudent to send to Belle-Ile, to replace another one. . . The + Government cannot move without encountering obstacles. . . . The Minister + of War no longer has the direction of the army. . . . No orders are + executed. . . Every one wants to command, and no one to obey. . . How + could the King, the Government, or the Minister of War send troops where + they are wanted if the towns believe that they have the right to + countermand the orders given to the regiments and change their + destination?"-And it is still worse, for, "on the false supposition of + brigands and conspiracies which do not exist,<a href="#linknote-3119" + name="linknoteref-3119" id="linknoteref-3119"><small>3119</small></a> the + towns and villages make demands on me for arms and even cannon. . . The + whole of Brittany will soon be in a frightful belligerent state on this + account, for, having no real enemies, they will turn their arms against + each other."—This is of no consequence. The panic is an "epidemic." + People are determined to believe in "brigands and enemies." At Nantes, the + assertion is constantly repeated that the Spaniards are going to land, + that the French regiments are going to make an attack, that an army of + brigands is approaching, that the castle is threatened, that it is + threatening, and that it contains too many engines of war. The commandant + of the province writes in vain to the mayor to reassure him, and to + explain to him that "the municipality, being master of the chateau, is + likewise master of its magazine. Why then should it entertain fear about + that which is in its own possession? Why should any surprise be manifested + at an arsenal containing arms and gunpowder?"—Nothing is of any + effect. The chateau is invaded; two hundred workmen set to work to + demolish the fortifications; they listen only to their fears, and cannot + exercise too great precaution. However inoffensive the citadels may be, + they are held to be dangerous; however accommodating the commanders may + be, they are regarded with suspicion. The people chafe against the bridle, + relaxed and slack as it is. It is broken and cast aside, that it may not + be used again when occasion requires. Each municipal body, each company of + the National Guard, wants to reign on its own plot of ground out of the + way of any foreign control; and this is what is called liberty. Its + adversary, therefore, is the central power. This must be disarmed for fear + that it may interpose. On all sides, with a sure and persistent instinct, + through the capture of fortresses, the pillage of arsenals, the seduction + of the soldiery, and the expulsion of generals, the municipality ensures + its omnipotence by guaranteeing itself beforehand against all repression. + </p> + <p> + At Brest the municipal authorities insist that a naval officer shall be + surrendered to the people, and on the refusal of the King's lieutenant to + give him up, the permanent committee orders the National Guard to load its + guns.<a href="#linknote-3120" name="linknoteref-3120" id="linknoteref-3120"><small>3120</small></a> + At Nantes the municipal body refuses to recognize M. d'Hervilly, sent to + take command of a camp, and the towns of the province write to declare + that they will suffer no other than the federated troops on their + territory. At Lille the permanent committee insists that the military + authorities shall place the keys of the town in its keeping every evening, + and, a few months after this, the National Guard, joined by mutinous + soldiers, seize the citadel and the person of Livarot, its commander. At + Toulon the commander of the arsenal, M. de Rioms, and several naval + officers, are put in the dungeon. At Montpellier the citadel is surprised, + and the club writes to the National Assembly to demand its demolition. At + Valence, the commandant, M. de Voisin, on taking measures of defense, is + massacred, and henceforth the municipality issues all orders to the + garrison. At Bastia, Colonel de Rully falls under a shower of bullets, and + the National Guard takes possession of the citadel and the powder + magazine. These are not passing outbursts: at the end of two years the + same insubordinate spirit is apparent everywhere.<a href="#linknote-3121" + name="linknoteref-3121" id="linknoteref-3121"><small>3121</small></a> In + vain do the commissioners of the National Assembly seek to transfer the + Nassau regiment from Metz. Sedan refuses to receive it; while Thionville + declares that, if it comes, she will blow up the bridges, and Sarrebuis + threatens, if it approaches, that it will open fire on it. At Caen neither + the municipality nor the directory dares enforce the law which assigns the + castle to the troops of the line; the National Guard refuses to leave it, + and forbids the director of the artillery to inspect the munitions.—In + this state of things a Government subsists in name but not in fact, for it + no longer possesses the means of enforcing obedience. Each commune + arrogates to itself the right of suspending or preventing the execution of + the simplest and most urgent orders. Arnay-le-Duc, in spite of passports + and legal injunctions, persists in retaining Mesdames; Arcis-sur-Aube + retains Necker, and Montigny is about to retain M. Caillard, Ambassador of + France.<a href="#linknote-3122" name="linknoteref-3122" + id="linknoteref-3122"><small>3122</small></a>—In the month of June, + 1791, a convoy of eighty thousand crowns of six livres sets out from Paris + for Switzerland; this is a repayment by the French Government to that of + Soleure; the date of payment is fixed, the itinerary marked out; all the + necessary documents are provided; it is important that it should arrive on + the day when the bill falls due. But they have counted without the + municipalities and the National Guards. Arrested at Bar-sur-Aube, it is + only at the end of a month, and on a decree of the National Assembly, that + the convoy can resume its march. At Belfort it is seized again, and it + still remains there in the month of November. In vain has the directory of + the Bas-Rhin ordered its release; the Belfort municipality paid no + attention to the order. In vain the same directory dispatches a + commissioner, who is near being cut to pieces. The personal interference + of General Luckner, with the strong arm, is necessary, before the convoy + can pass the frontier, after five months of delay.<a href="#linknote-3123" + name="linknoteref-3123" id="linknoteref-3123"><small>3123</small></a> In + the month of July 1791, a French vessel on the way from Rouen to Caudebec, + said to be loaded with kegs of gold and silver, is stopped. On the + examination being made, it has a right to leave; its papers are all + correct, and the department enjoins the district to respect the law. The + district, however, replies that it is impossible, since "all the + municipalities on the banks of the Seine have armed and are awaiting the + passing of the vessel," and the National Assembly itself is obliged to + pass a decree that the vessel shall be discharged. + </p> + <p> + If the rebellion of the small communes is of this stamp, what must be that + of the larger ones?<a href="#linknote-3124" name="linknoteref-3124" + id="linknoteref-3124"><small>3124</small></a> The departments and + districts summon the municipality in vain; it disobeys or pays no + attention to the summons. + </p> + <p> + "Since the session began," writes the directory of Saône-et-Loire; "the + municipality of Maçon has taken no step in relation to us which has not + been an encroachment. It has not uttered a word, which has not been an + insult. It has not entered upon a deliberation which has not been an + outrage." + </p> + <p> + "If the regiment of Aunis is not ordered here immediately," writes the + directory of Calvados, "if prompt and efficient measures are not taken to + provide us with an armed force, we shall abandon a post which we can not + longer hold due to insubordination, license, contempt for all the + authorities. We shall in this case be unable to perform the duties which + were imposed upon us." + </p> + <p> + The directory of the Bouches-du-Rhone, on being attacked, flies before the + bayonets of Marseilles. The members of the directory of Gers, in conflict + with the municipality of Auch, are almost beaten to death. As to the + ministers, who are distrusted by virtue of their office, they are still + less respected than the directories, They are constantly denounced to the + Assembly, while the municipalities send back their dispatches without + deigning to open them,<a href="#linknote-3125" name="linknoteref-3125" + id="linknoteref-3125"><small>3125</small></a> and, towards the end of + 1791, their increasing powerlessness ends in complete annihilation. We can + judge of this by one example. In the month of December 1791, Limoges is + not allowed to carry away the grain, which it had just purchased in Indre, + a force of sixty horsemen being necessary to protect its transportation. + The directory of Indre at once calls upon the ministers to furnish them + with this small troop.<a href="#linknote-3126" name="linknoteref-3126" + id="linknoteref-3126"><small>3126</small></a> After trying for three + weeks, the minister replies that it is out of his power; he has knocked at + all doors in vain. "I have pointed out one way," he says, "to the deputies + of your department in the National Assembly, namely, to withdraw the 20th + regiment of cavalry from Orleans, and I have recommended them to broach + the matter to the deputies of Loiret." The answer is still delayed: the + deputies of the two departments have to come to an agreement, for, + otherwise, the minister dares not displace sixty men to protect a convoy + of grain. It is plain enough that there is no longer any executive power. + There is no longer a central authority. There is no longer a France, but + merely so many disintegrated and independent communes, like Orleans and + Limoges, which, through their representatives, carry on negotiations with + each other, one to secure itself from a deficiency of troops, and the + other to secure itself from a want of bread. + </p> + <p> + Let us consider this general dissolution on the spot, and take up a case + in detail. On the 18th of January 1790, the new municipal authorities of + Marseilles enter upon their duties. As is generally the case, the majority + of the electors have had nothing to do with the balloting. The mayor, + Martin, having been elected by only an eighth of the active citizens.<a + href="#linknote-3127" name="linknoteref-3127" id="linknoteref-3127"><small>3127</small></a> + If, however, the dominant minority is a small one, it is resolute and not + inclined to stop at trifles. "Scarcely is it organized,"<a + href="#linknote-3128" name="linknoteref-3128" id="linknoteref-3128"><small>3128</small></a> + when it sends deputies to the King to have him withdraw his troops from + Marseilles. The King, always weak and accommodating, finally consents; + and, the orders to march being prepared, the municipality is duly advised + of them. But the municipality will tolerate no delay, and immediately + "draws up, prints, and issues a denunciation to the National Assembly" + against the commandant and the two ministers who, according to it, are + guilty of having forged or suppressed the King's orders. In the meantime + it equips and fortifies itself as for a combat. At its first establishment + the municipality broke up the bourgeois guard, which was too great a lover + of order, and organized a National Guard, in which those who have no + property are soon to be admitted. "Daily additions are made to its + military apparatus;<a href="#linknote-3129" name="linknoteref-3129" + id="linknoteref-3129"><small>3129</small></a> entrenchments and barricades + at the Hôtel-de-Ville, are increasing, the artillery is increased; the + town is filled with the excitement of a military camp in the immediate + presence of an enemy." Thus, in possession of force, it makes use of it, + and in the first place against justice.—A popular insurrection had + been suppressed in the month of August 1789, and the three principal + leaders, Rebecqui, Pascal, and Granet, had been imprisoned in the Chateau + d'If. They are the friends of the municipal authorities, and they must be + set free. At the demand of this body the affair is taken out of the hands + of the grand-prévôt and put into those of the sénéchaussée, the former, + meanwhile, together with his councilors, undergoing punishment for having + performed their duty. The municipality, on its own authority, forbids them + from further exercise of their functions. They are publicly denounced, + "threatened with poniards, the scaffold, and every species of + assassination." <a href="#linknote-3130" name="linknoteref-3130" + id="linknoteref-3130"><small>3130</small></a> No printer dares publish + their defense, for fear of "municipal annoyances." It is not long before + the royal procureur and a councillor are reduced to seeking refuge in Fort + Saint-Jean, while the grand-prévôt after having resisted a little longer, + leaves Marseilles in order to save his life. As to the three imprisoned + men, the municipal authorities visit them in a body and demand their + provisional release. One of them having made his escape, they refuse to + give the commandant the order for his re-arrest. The other two + triumphantly leave the chateau on the 11th of April, escorted by eight + hundred National Guards. They go, for form's sake, to the prisons of the + sénéchaussée but the next day are set at liberty, and further prosecution + ceases. As an offset to this, M. d'Ambert, colonel in the Royal Marine, + guilty of expressing himself too warmly against the National Guard, + although acquitted by the tribunal before which he was brought, can be set + at liberty only in secret and under the protection of two thousand + soldiers. The populace want to burn the house of the criminal lieutenant + that dared absolve him. The magistrate himself is in danger, and is forced + to take refuge in the house of the military commander.<a + href="#linknote-3131" name="linknoteref-3131" id="linknoteref-3131"><small>3131</small></a> + Meanwhile, printed and written papers, insulting libels by the municipal + body and the club, the seditious or violent discussions of the district + assemblies, and a lot of pamphlets, are freely distributed among the + people and the soldiers: the latter are purposely stirred up in advance + against their chiefs.—In vain are the officers mild, conciliatory, + and cautious. In vain does the commander-in-chief depart with a portion of + the troops. The object now is to dislodge the regiment occupying the three + forts. The club sets the ball in motion, and, forcibly or otherwise, the + will of the people must be carried out. On the 29th of April, two actors, + supported by fifty volunteers, surprise a sentinel and get possession of + Notre-Dame de la Garde. On the same day, six thousand National Guards + invest the forts of Saint-Jean and Saint-Nicolas. The municipal + authorities, summoned to respect the fortresses, reply by demanding the + opening of the gates to the National Guard, that it may do duty jointly + with the soldiers. The commandants hesitate, refer to the law, and demand + time to consult their superiors. A second requisition, more urgent, is + made; the commandants are held responsible for the disturbances they + provoke by their refusal. If they resist they are declared promoters of + civil war.<a href="#linknote-3132" name="linknoteref-3132" + id="linknoteref-3132"><small>3132</small></a> They accordingly yield and + sign a capitulation. One among them, the Chevalier de Beausset, major in + Fort Saint-Jean, is opposed to this, and refuses his signature. On the + following day he is seized as he is about to enter the Hôtel-de-Ville, and + massacred, his head being borne about on the end of a pike, while the band + of assassins, the soldiers, and the rabble dance about and shout over his + remains.—" It is a sad accident," writes the municipality.<a + href="#linknote-3133" name="linknoteref-3133" id="linknoteref-3133"><small>3133</small></a> + How does it happen that, "after having thus far merited and obtained all + praise, a Beausset, whom we were unable to protect against the decrees of + Providence, should sully our laurels? Having had nothing to do with this + tragic affair, it is not for us to prosecute the authors of it." Moreover, + he was "culpable. . .. rebellious, condemned by public opinion, and + Providence itself seems to have abandoned him to the irrevocable decrees + of its vengeance."—As to the taking of the forts, nothing is more + legitimate. "These places were in the hands of the enemies of the State, + while now they are in the hands of the defenders of the Constitution of + the empire. Woe to whoever would take them from us again, to convert them + into a focus of counter-revolution "—M. de Miran, commandant of the + province, has, it is true, made a demand for them. But, "is it not + somewhat pitiable to see the requisition of a Sieur de Miran, made in the + name of the King he betrays, to surrender to his Majesty's troops places + which, henceforth in our hands, guarantee public security to the nation, + to the law, and to the King?" In vain does the King, at the request of the + National Assembly,<a href="#linknote-3134" name="linknoteref-3134" + id="linknoteref-3134"><small>3134</small></a> order the municipality to + restore the forts to the commandants, and to make the National Guards + leave them. The municipal authorities become indignant, and resist. + According to them the wrong is all on the side of the commandant and the + ministers. It is the commandants who, "with the threatening equipment of + their citadels, their stores of provisions and of artillery, are + disturbers of the public peace. What does the minister mean by driving the + national troops out of the forts, in order to entrust their guardianship + to foreign troops? His object is apparent in this plan. . . . he wants to + kindle civil war."—"All the misfortunes of Marseilles originate in + the secret under-standing existing between the ministers and the enemies + of the State." The municipal corps is at last obliged to evacuate the + forts, but it is determined not to give them up. The day following that on + which it receives the decree of the National Assembly, it conceives the + design of demolishing them. On the 17th of May, two hundred laborers, paid + in advance, begin the work of destruction. To save appearances the + municipal body betakes itself at eleven o'clock in the morning to the + different localities, and orders them to stop. But, on its departure, the + laborers keep on; and, at six o'clock in the evening, a resolution is + passed that, "to prevent the entire demolition of the citadel, it is + deemed advisable to authorize only that of the part overlooking the town." + On the 18th of May the Jacobin club, at once agent, accomplice, and + councilor of the municipal body, compels private individuals to contribute + something towards defraying the expenses of the demolition. It "sends + round to every house, and to the syndics of all corporations, exacting + their quotas, and making all citizens subscribe a document by which they + appear to sanction the action of the municipal body, and to express their + thanks to it. People had to sign it, pay, and keep silent. Woe to any one + that refused!" On the 20th of May the municipal body presumes to write to + the Assembly, that "this threatening citadel, this odious monument of a + stupendous despotism, is about to disappear." To justify its disobedience, + it takes occasion to remark, "that the love of country is the most + powerful and most enduring of an empire's ramparts." On the 28th of May it + secures the performance in two theaters of a piece representing the + capture of the forts of Marseilles, for the benefit of the men engaged in + their demolition. Meanwhile, it has summoned the Paris Jacobins to its + support; it has proposed to invite the Lyons federation and all the + municipalities of the kingdom to denounce the minister. It has forced M. + de Miran, threatened with death and watched by a party in ambush on the + road, to quit Aix, and then demands his recall.<a href="#linknote-3135" + name="linknoteref-3135" id="linknoteref-3135"><small>3135</small></a> Only + on the 6th of June does it decide, at the express command of the National + Assembly, to suspend the almost completed demolition.—Authorities to + which obedience is due could not be treated more insolently. The end, + however, is attained; there is no longer a citadel, and the troops have + departed; the regiment commanded by Ernest alone remains, to be tampered + with, insulted, and then sent off. It is ordered to Aix, and the National + Guard of Marseilles will go there to disarm and disband it. Henceforth the + municipal body has full sway. It "observes only those laws which suit it, + makes others to its own liking, and, in short, governs in the most + despotic and arbitrary manner."<a href="#linknote-3136" + name="linknoteref-3136" id="linknoteref-3136"><small>3136</small></a> And + not only at Marseilles, but throughout the department where, under no + authority but its own, it undertakes armed expeditions and makes raids and + sudden attacks. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—Independent Assemblies. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Why they took the initiative.—The people in council. + —Powerlessness of the municipalities.—the violence to which + they are subject.—Aix in 1790.—Government disobeyed and + perverted everywhere. +</pre> + <p> + Were it but possible for the dissolution to stop here! But each commune is + far from being a tranquil little state under the rule of a body of + respected magistrates. The same causes which render municipalities + rebellious against the central authority render individuals rebellious + against local authority. They also feel that they are in danger and want + to provide for their own safety. They also, in virtue of the Constitution + and of circumstances, believe themselves appointed to save the country. + They also consider themselves qualified to judge for themselves on all + points and entitled to carry out their judgments with their own hands. The + shopkeeper, workman or peasant, at once elector and National Guard, + furnished with his vote and a musket, suddenly becomes the equal and + master of his superiors; instead of obeying, he commands, while all who + see him again after some years' absence, find that "in his demeanor and + manner all is changed." "There was great agitation everywhere,"<a + href="#linknote-3137" name="linknoteref-3137" id="linknoteref-3137"><small>3137</small></a> + says M. de Ségur; "I noticed groups of men talking earnestly in the + streets and on the squares. The sound of the drum struck my ear in the + villages, while I was astonished at the great number of armed men I + encountered in the little towns. On interrogating various persons among + the lower classes they would reply with a proud look and in a bold and + confident tone. I observed everywhere the effect of those sentiments of + equality and liberty which had then become such violent passions."—Thus + exalted in their own eyes they believed themselves qualified to take the + lead in everything, not only in local affairs, but also in general + matters. France is to be governed by them; by virtue of the Constitution + they arrogate to themselves the right, and, by dint of ignorance, + attribute to themselves the capacity, to govern it. A torrent of new, + shapeless, and disproportionate ideas have taken possession of their + brains in the space of a few months. Vast interests about which they have + never thought, have to be considered. Government, royalty, the church, + creeds, foreign powers, internal and external dangers, what is occurring + at Paris and at Coblentz, the insurrection in the Low Countries, the acts + of the cabinets of London, Vienna, Madrid, Berlin; and, of all this, they + inform themselves as they best can. An officer,<a href="#linknote-3138" + name="linknoteref-3138" id="linknoteref-3138"><small>3138</small></a> who + traverses France at this time, narrates that at the post-stations they + made him wait for horses until he had "given them details. The peasants + stopped my carriage in the middle of the road and overwhelmed me with + questions. At Autun, I was obliged, in spite of the cold, to talk out of a + window opening upon the square and tell what I knew about the Assembly."—These + on-dits are all changed and amplified in passing from mouth to mouth. They + finally become circumstantial stories adapted to the caliber of the minds + they pass into and to the dominant passion that propagates them. Trace the + effect of these fables in the house of a peasant or fish-woman in an + outlying village or a populous suburb, on brutish or almost brutal minds, + especially when they are lively, heated, and over-excited—the effect + is tremendous. For, in minds of this stamp, belief is at once converted + into action, and into rude and destructive action. It is an acquired + self-control, reflection, and culture which interposes between belief and + action the solicitude for social interests, the observance of forms and + respect for the law. These restraints are all wanting in the new + sovereign. He does not know how to stop and will not suffer himself to be + stopped. Why so many delays when the peril is urgent? What is the use of + observing formalities when the safety of the people is at stake? What is + there sacred in the law when it protects public enemies? What is more + pernicious than passive deference and patient waiting under timid or blind + officials? What can be more just than to do one's self justice at once and + on the spot?—Precipitation and passion, in their eyes, are both + duties and merits. One day "the militia of Lorient decide upon marching to + Versailles and to Paris without considering how they are to get over the + ground or what they will do on their arrival."<a href="#linknote-3139" + name="linknoteref-3139" id="linknoteref-3139"><small>3139</small></a> Were + the central government within reach they would lay their hands on it. In + default of this they substitute themselves for it on their own territory, + and exercise its functions with a full conviction of right, principally + those of gendarme, judge, and executioner. + </p> + <p> + During the month of October, 1789, at Paris, after the assassination of + the baker François, the leading murderer, who is a porter at the grain + depot, declares "that he wanted to avenge the nation." It is quite + probable that this declaration is sincere. In his mind, assassination is + one of the forms of patriotism, and it does not take long for his way of + thinking to become prevalent. In ordinary times, social and political + ideas slumber in uncultured minds in the shape of vague antipathies, + restrained aspirations, and fleeting desires. Behold them aroused—energetic, + imperious, stubborn, and unbridled. Objection or opposition is not to be + tolerated; dissent, with them, is a sure sign of treachery.—Apropos + of the nonjuring priests,<a href="#linknote-3140" name="linknoteref-3140" + id="linknoteref-3140"><small>3140</small></a> five hundred and + twenty-seven of the National Guards of Arras write, "that no one could + doubt their iniquity without being suspected of being their accomplices. . + . . Should the whole town combine and express a contrary opinion, it would + simply show that it is filled with enemies of the Constitution;" and + forthwith, in spite of the law and the remonstrances of the authorities, + they insist on the closing of the churches. At Boulogne-sur-Mer, an + English vessel having shipped a quantity of poultry, game, and eggs, "the + National Guards, of their own authority," go on board and remove the + cargo. On the strength of this, the accommodating municipal body approves + of the act, declares the cargo confiscated, orders it to be sold, and + awards one-half of the proceeds to the National Guards and the other half + to charitable purposes. The concession is a vain one, for the National + Guards consider that one-half is too little, "insult and threaten the + municipal officers," and immediately proceed to divide the booty in kind, + each one going home with a share of stolen hams and chickens.<a + href="#linknote-3141" name="linknoteref-3141" id="linknoteref-3141"><small>3141</small></a> + The magistrates must necessarily keep quiet with the guns of those they + govern pointed at them.—Sometimes, and it is generally the case, + they are timid, and do not try to resist. At Douai,<a href="#linknote-3142" + name="linknoteref-3142" id="linknoteref-3142"><small>3142</small></a> the + municipal officers, on being summoned three times to proclaim martial law, + refuse, and end by avowing that they dare not unfold the red flag: "Were + we to take this course we should all be sacrificed on the spot." Neither + the troops nor the National Guards, in fact, are to be relied on. In this + universal state of apathy the field is open to savages, and a dealer in + wheat is hung.—Sometimes the administrative corps tries to resist, + but in the end it has to succumb to violence. "For more than six hours," + writes one of the members of the district of Etampes,<a + href="#linknote-3143" name="linknoteref-3143" id="linknoteref-3143"><small>3143</small></a> + "we were closed in by bayonets leveled at us and with pistols at our + breasts; and they were obliged to sign a dismissal of the troops which had + arrived to protect the market. At present "we are all away from Etampes; + there is no longer a district or a municipality;" almost all have handed + in their resignations, or are to return for that purpose.—Sometimes, + and this is the rarest case,<a href="#linknote-3144" + name="linknoteref-3144" id="linknoteref-3144"><small>3144</small></a> the + officials do their duty to the end, and perish. In this same town, six + months later, Simoneau, the mayor, having refused to cut down the price of + wheat, is beaten with iron-pointed sticks, and his corpse is riddled with + balls by the murderers.—Municipal bodies must take heed how they + undertake to stem the torrent; the slightest opposition will soon be at + the expense of their lives. In Touraine,<a href="#linknote-3145" + name="linknoteref-3145" id="linknoteref-3145"><small>3145</small></a> "as + the publication of the tax-rolls takes place, riots break out against the + municipal authorities; they are forced to surrender the rolls they have + drawn up, and their papers are torn up." And still more, "they kill, they + assassinate the municipal authorities." In that large commune men and + women "beat and kick them with their fists and sabots. . . . The mayor is + laid up after it, and the procureur of the commune died between nine and + ten o'clock in the morning. Véteau, a municipal officer, received the last + sacrament this morning;" the rest have fled, being constantly threatened + with death and incendiarism. They do not, consequently, return, and "no + one now will take the office of either mayor or administrator."—The + outrages which the municipalities thus commit against their superiors are + committed against themselves. The National Guards, the mob, the + controlling faction, arrogating to themselves in the commune the same + violent sovereignty which the commune pretends to exercise against the + State. + </p> + <p> + I should never finish if I undertook to enumerate the outbreaks in which + the magistrates are constrained to tolerate or to sanction popular + usurpations, to shut up churches, to drive off or imprison priests, to + suppress octrois, tax grain, and allow clerks; bakers, corn-dealers, + ecclesiastics, nobles, and officers to be hung, beaten to death, or to + have their throats cut. Ninety-four thick files of records in the national + archives are filled with these acts of violence, and do not contain + two-thirds of them. It is worth while to take in detail one case more, a + special one, and one that is authentic, which serves as a specimen, and + which presents a foreshortened image of France during one tranquil year. + At Aix, in the month of December, 1790,<a href="#linknote-3146" + name="linknoteref-3146" id="linknoteref-3146"><small>3146</small></a> in + Opposition to the two Jacobin clubs, a club had been organized, had + complied with all the formalities, and, like the "Club des Monarchiens" at + Paris, claimed the same right of meeting as the others. But here, as at + Paris, the Jacobins recognize no rights but for themselves alone, and + refuse to admit their adversaries to the privileges of the law. Moreover, + alarming rumors are circulated. A person who has arrived from Nice states + that he had "heard that there were twenty thousand men between Turin and + Nice, under the pay of the emigrants, and that at Nice a neuvaine<a + href="#linknote-3147" name="linknoteref-3147" id="linknoteref-3147"><small>3147</small></a> + was held in Saint François-de-Paule to pray God to enlighten the French." + A counter-revolution is certainly under way. Some of the aristocrats have + stated "with an air of triumph, that the National Guard and municipalities + are a mere toy, and that this sort of thing will not last long." One of + the leading members of the new club, M. de Guiraitiand, an old officer of + seventy-eight years, makes speeches in public against the National + Assembly, tries to enlist artisans in his party, "affects to wear a white + button on his hat fastened by pins with their points jutting out," and, as + it is stated, he has given to several mercers a large order for white + cockades. In reality, on examination, not one is found in any shop, and + all the dealers in ribbons, on being interrogated, reply that they know of + no transaction of that description. But this simply proves that the + culprit is a clever dissimulator, and the more dangerous because he is + eager to save the country.—On the 12th of December, at four o'clock + in the afternoon, the two Jacobin clubs fraternise, and pass in long + procession before the place of meeting, "where some of the members, a few + officers of the Lyons regiment and other individuals, are quietly engaged + at play or seeing others play." The crowd hoot, but they remain quiet. The + procession passes by again, and they hoot and shout, "Down with the + aristocrats to the lamp post with them!" Two or three of the officers + standing on the threshold of the door become irritated, and one of them, + drawing his sword, threatens to strike a young man if he keeps on. Upon + this the crowd cries out, "Guard! Help! An assassin!" and rushes at the + officer, who withdraws into the house, exclaiming, "To arms!" His + comrades, sword in hand, descend in order to defend the door; M. de + Guiramand fires two pistol shots and receives a stab in the thigh. A + shower of stones smashes in the windows, and the door is on the point of + being burst open when several of the members of the club save themselves + by taking to the roof. About a dozen others, most of them officers, form + in line, penetrate the crowd with uplifted swords, strike and get struck, + and escape, five of them being wounded. The municipality orders the doors + and windows of the club-house to be walled up, sends the Lyons regiment + away, decrees the arrest of seven officers and of M. de Guiramand, and all + this in a few hours, with no other testimony than that of the conquerors. + </p> + <p> + But these prompt, vigorous and partial measures are not sufficient for the + Jacobin club; other conspirators must be seized, and it is the club which + designates them and goes to take them.—Three months before this, M. + Pascalis, an advocate, on addressing along with some of his professional + brethren the dissolved parliament, deplored the blindness of the people, + "exalted by prerogatives of which they knew not the danger." A man who + dared talk in this way is evidently a traitor.—There is another, M. + Morellet de la Roquette, who refused to join the proscribed club. His + former vassals, however, had been obliged to bring an action against him + to make him accept the redemption of his feudal dues; also, six years + before this, his carriage, passing along the public promenade, had run + over a child; he likewise is an enemy of the people. While the municipal + officers are deliberating, "a few members of the club" get together and + decide that M. Pascalis and M. de la Roquette must be arrested. At eleven + o'clock at night eighty trustworthy National Guards, led by the president + of the club, travel a league off to seize them in their beds and lodge + them in the town prison.—Zeal of this kind excites some uneasiness, + and if the municipality tolerates the arrests, it is because it is + desirous of preventing murder. Consequently, on the following day, + December 13th, it sends to Marseilles for four hundred men of the Swiss + Guard commanded by Ernest, and four hundred National Guards, adding to + these the National Guard of Aix, and orders this company to protect the + prison against any violence. But, along with the Marseilles National + Guards, there came a lot of armed people who are volunteers of disorder. + On the afternoon of the 13th the first mob strives to force the prison, + and the next day, fresh squads congregate around it demanding the head of + M. Pascalis. The members of the club head the riot with "a crowd of + unknown men from outside the town, who give orders and carry them out." + During the night the populace of Aix are tampered with, and the dikes all + give way at the same moment. At the first clamors the National Guard on + duty on the public promenade disband and disperse, while, as there is no + signal for the assemblage of the others, notwithstanding the regulations, + the general alarm is not sounded. "The largest portion of the National + Guard draws off so as not to appear to authorize by its presence outrages + which it has not been ordered to prevent. Peaceable Citizens are in great + consternation;" each one takes to flight or shuts himself up in his house, + the streets being deserted and silent. Meanwhile the prison gates are + shattered with axes. The procureur-syndic of the department, who requests + the commandant of the Swiss regiment to protect the prisoners, is seized, + borne off, and runs the risk of losing his life. Three municipal officers + in their scarves, who arrive on the ground, dare not give the order + required by the commandant. At this decisive moment, when it is necessary + to shed blood and kill a number of men, they obviously fear to take the + responsibility; their reply is, "We have no orders to give."—An + extraordinary spectacle now presents itself in this barrack courtyard + surrounding the prison. On the side of the law stand eight hundred armed + men, four hundred of the "Swiss" and four hundred of the National Guard of + Marseilles. They are drawn up in battle array, with guns to their + shoulders, with special orders repeated the evening before at three + different times by the municipal district and departmental authorities and + they have the sympathies of all honest people and of most of the National + Guard. But the legal indispensable phrase does not pass the lips of those + who by virtue of the Constitution should utter it, and a small group of + convicts are found to be sovereign.—The three municipal officers are + seized in their turn under the eyes of their own soldiers who remain + motionless, and "with bayonets at their breasts they sign, under + constraint, the order to give up M. Pascalis to the people." M. de la + Roquette is likewise surrendered. "The only portion of the National Guard + of Aix which was visible," that is to say, the Jacobin minority, form a + circle around the gate of the prison and organize themselves into a + council of war. And there they stand; at once "accusers, witnesses, + judges, and executioners." A captain conducts the two victims to the + public promenade where they are hung. Very soon after this old M. de + Guiramand, whom the National Guard of his village have brought a prisoner + to Aix, is hung in the same manner. + </p> + <p> + There is no prosecution of the assassins. The new tribunal, frightened or + forestalled, has for some time back ranged itself on the popular side; its + writs, consequently, are served on the oppressed, against the members of + the assaulted dub. Writs of arrest, summonses to attend court, searches, + seizures of correspondence, and other proceedings, rain down upon them. + Three hundred witnesses are examined. Some of the arrested officers are + "loaded with chains and thrust into dungeons." Henceforth the club rules, + and "makes everybody tremble."<a href="#linknote-3148" + name="linknoteref-3148" id="linknoteref-3148"><small>3148</small></a> + "From the 23rd to the 27th of December, more than ten thousand passports + are delivered at Aix." "If the emigrations continue," write the + commissioners, "there will be no one left at Aix but workmen without work + and with no resources. Whole streets are uninhabited. . . . . As long as + such crimes can be permitted with impunity fear will drive out of this + town every one who has the means of living elsewhere."—Many come + back after the arrival of the commissioners, hoping to obtain justice and + security through them. But, "if a prosecution is not ordered, we shall + scarcely have departed from Aix when three or four hundred families will + abandon it. . . . And what man in his senses would dare guarantee that + each village will not soon have some one hung in it?. . . Country valets + arrest their masters. . . . The expectation of impunity leads the + inhabitants of villages to commit all sorts of depredations in the + forests, which is very harmful in a region where woods are very scarce. + They set up the most absurd and most unjust pretensions against rich + proprietors, and the fatal rope is ever the interpreter and the signal of + their will." There is no refuge against these outrages. "The department, + the districts, the municipalities, administer only in conformity with the + multiplied petitions of the club." In the sight of all, and on one solemn + day, a crushing defeat has demonstrated the weakness of the government + officials; and, bowed beneath the yoke of their new masters, they preserve + their legal authority only on the condition that it remains at the service + of the victorious party. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3101" id="linknote-3101"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3101 (<a href="#linknoteref-3101">return</a>)<br /> [ Festivals approving + the federation of all the National Guards in France. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3102" id="linknote-3102"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3102 (<a href="#linknoteref-3102">return</a>)<br /> [ See the address of + the commune of Paris, June 5, 1790. "Let the most touching of all + utterances be heard on this day (the anniversary of the taking of the + Bastille), Frenchmen, we are brothers! Yes, brothers, freemen and with a + country!" Roux et Buchez, VI. 275.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3103" id="linknote-3103"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3103 (<a href="#linknoteref-3103">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, IV. + 3, 309; V. 123; VI. 274, 399.—Duvergier, Collection of Laws and + Decrees. Decree of June 8 and 9, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3104" id="linknote-3104"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3104 (<a href="#linknoteref-3104">return</a>)<br /> [ For one who, like + myself, has lived for years among the Moslems, the 5 daily ritual prayers + all performed while turned towards Mecca, this description of the French + taking of the oath, has something familiar in it. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3105" id="linknote-3105"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3105 (<a href="#linknoteref-3105">return</a>)<br /> [ Michelet, "Histoire + de la Révolution Française," II, 470, 474.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3106" id="linknote-3106"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3106 (<a href="#linknoteref-3106">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, II. 91.—Albert + Babeau, I. 340. (Letter addressed to the Chevalier de Poterat, July 18, + 1790.)—De Dampmartin, "Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes yeux," + etc., 155.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3107" id="linknote-3107"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3107 (<a href="#linknoteref-3107">return</a>)<br /> [ One may imagine the + impression Taine's description made upon the thousands of political + science students and others in the years after this book was printed and + widely sold all over Europe. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3108" id="linknote-3108"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3108 (<a href="#linknoteref-3108">return</a>)<br /> [ Sauzay, I. 202.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3109" id="linknote-3109"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3109 (<a href="#linknoteref-3109">return</a>)<br /> [ Albert Babeau, ib. I, + 339—De Ferrières, II, 92.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3110" id="linknote-3110"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3110 (<a href="#linknoteref-3110">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453, Correspondence of M. de Bercheney, May 23, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3111" id="linknote-3111"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3111 (<a href="#linknoteref-3111">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," ibid, May 13, 1790. "M. de la Rifaudière was dragged from his + carriage and brought to the guard-house, which was immediately filled with + people, shouting, 'To the lamp post, the aristocrat!'—The fact is + this: after his having repeatedly shouted Vive le Roi et la Nation! They + wanted him to shout Vive la Nation! alone, upon which he gave Vive la + Nation tant qu'elle pourra."—At Blois, on the day of the Federation, + a mob promenades the streets with a wooden head covered with a wig, and a + placard stating that the aristocrats must be decapitated.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3112" id="linknote-3112"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3112 (<a href="#linknoteref-3112">return</a>)<br /> [ Might Freud ( 1856—1939) + have been inspired, directly or indirectly, by Taine's observation? 'La + Révolution' vol. I, was published in 1877 when Freud was 21 years old!! + (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3113" id="linknote-3113"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3113 (<a href="#linknoteref-3113">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + the articles by Mallet du Pan (June 18th and August 16, 1791; April 14, + 1792).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3114" id="linknote-3114"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3114 (<a href="#linknoteref-3114">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, IV. 560. + (sitting of June 5, 1790) report of M. Freteau. "These facts are attested + by fifty witnesses."—Cf. The number of April 19, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3115" id="linknote-3115"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3115 (<a href="#linknoteref-3115">return</a>)<br /> [ Solon was a famous + legislator who reformed Athens some 2500 years ago. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3116" id="linknote-3116"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3116 (<a href="#linknoteref-3116">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de Thiard, military commandant + in Brittany (September, 1789), "There are in every petty village three + conflicting powers, the présidial, the bourgeois militia, and the + permanent committee. Each is anxious to outrank the other, and, on this + occasion, a scene happened to come under my eyes at Landivisiau which + might have had a bloody termination, but which turned out to be simply + ridiculous. A lively dispute arose between three speakers to determine + which should make the first address. They appealed to me to decide. Not to + offend either of the parties, I decided that all three should speak at the + same time; which decision was immediately carried out."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3117" id="linknote-3117"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3117 (<a href="#linknoteref-3117">return</a>)<br /> [ Decree of August + 10-14, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3118" id="linknote-3118"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3118 (<a href="#linknoteref-3118">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de Thiard, September 21, 1789. + "The troops now obey the municipalities only."—Also July 30th, + August 11, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3119" id="linknote-3119"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3119 (<a href="#linknoteref-3119">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of 31. M. de Thiard, September 11 + and 25, November 20, December 25 and 30, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3120" id="linknote-3120"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3120 (<a href="#linknoteref-3120">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, + V.304 (April, 1790).—"Archives Nationales," Papers of the committee + of Investigation, DXXIX. I (note of M. Latour-du-Pin, October 28, 1789)—? + Buchez and Roux, IV. 3 (December 1, 1789); IV. 390 (February, 1790); VI. + 179 (April and May, 1790).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3121" id="linknote-3121"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3121 (<a href="#linknoteref-3121">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + Report of M. Emery, sitting of July 21, 1790, Number for July 32.—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the directory of Calvados, September 26 + and October 20, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3122" id="linknote-3122"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3122 (<a href="#linknoteref-3122">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3207. Letter of the minister Dumouriez, June 15, 1792. + Report of M. Caillard, May 29, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3123" id="linknote-3123"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3123 (<a href="#linknoteref-3123">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + No. for July, 1791 (sitting of the 6th); Nos. for November 5 and 26, + 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3124" id="linknote-3124"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3124 (<a href="#linknoteref-3124">return</a>)<br /> [ Albert Babeau, + "Histoire de Troyes," vol. I. passim.—"Archives Nationales," F7, + 3257. Address of the Directory of Saône-et-Loire to the National Assembly, + November 1, 1790.—F7, 3200. Letter of the Directory of Calvados, + November 9, 1791.—F 7, 3195. Minutes of the meeting of the + municipality of Aix, March 1, 1792 (on the events of February 26th); + letter of M. Villard, President of the Directory, March 20, 1792.—F7, + 3220. Extracts from the deliberations of the Directory of Gers, and a + letter to the King, January 28, 1792. Letter of M. Lafitau, President of + the Directory, January 30. (He was dragged along by his hair and obliged + to leave the town.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3125" id="linknote-3125"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3125 (<a href="#linknoteref-3125">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + No. for October 30, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3126" id="linknote-3126"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3126 (<a href="#linknoteref-3126">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter of the directory of Indre to M. Cahier, + minister, December 6, 1791.—Letter of M. Delessart, minister, to the + directory of Indre, December 31, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3127" id="linknote-3127"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3127 (<a href="#linknoteref-3127">return</a>)<br /> [ Fabre, "Histoire de + Marseille," II. 442. Martin had but 3,555 votes, when shortly after the + National Guard numbered 24,000 men.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3128" id="linknote-3128"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3128 (<a href="#linknoteref-3128">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of the minister, M. de Saint-Priest, to the + President of the National Assembly, May 11, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3129" id="linknote-3129"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3129 (<a href="#linknoteref-3129">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7 3196. Letters of the military commandant, M. de Miran, + March 6, 14, 30, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3130" id="linknote-3130"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3130 (<a href="#linknoteref-3130">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of M. de Bournissac, grand-privot, March + 6,1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3131" id="linknote-3131"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3131 (<a href="#linknoteref-3131">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of M. du Miran, April 11th and 16th, and + May 1, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3132" id="linknote-3132"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3132 (<a href="#linknoteref-3132">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Procés-verbal of events on the 30th of April.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3133" id="linknote-3133"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3133 (<a href="#linknoteref-3133">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of the Municipality of Marseilles to the + National Assembly, May 5 and 20, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3134" id="linknote-3134"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3134 (<a href="#linknoteref-3134">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Order of the king, May10. Letter of M. de + Saint-Priest to the National Assembly, May 11. Decree of the National + Assembly, May 12. Letter of the Municipality to the King. May 20. Letter + of M. de Rubum, May 20. Note sent from Marseilles, May 31. Address of the + Municipality to the President of the Friends of the Constitution, at + Paris, May 5. In his narration of the taking of the forts we read the + following sentence: "We arrived without hindrance in the presence of the + commandant, whom we brought to an agreement by means of the influence + which force, fear and reason give to persuasion."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3135" id="linknote-3135"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3135 (<a href="#linknoteref-3135">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196, Letter of M. de Miran, May 5.—The spirit of + the ruling party at Marseilles is indicated by several printed documents + joined to the dossier, and, among others, by a "Requéte à Desmoulins, + procureur-général de la Lanterne." It relates to a "patriotic inkstand," + recently made out of the stones of the demolished citadel, representing a + hydra with four heads, symbolizing the nobility, the clergy, the ministry + and the judges. "It is from the four patriotic skulls of the hydra that + the ink of proscription will be taken for the enemies of the Constitution. + This inkstand, cut out of the first stone that fell in the demolition of + Fort Saint-Nicolas, is dedicated to the patriotic Assembly of Marseilles. + The magic art of the hero of the liberty of Marseilles, that Renaud who, + under the mask of devotion, surprised the watchful sentinel of Notre-Dame + de la Garde, and whose manly courage and cunning ensured the conquest of + that key of the great focus of counter-revolution, has just given birth to + a new trait of genius a new Deucalion, he personifies this stone which + Liberty has flung from the summit of our menacing Bastilles, etc."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3136" id="linknote-3136"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3136 (<a href="#linknoteref-3136">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7. 3198. Letters of the royal commissioners, April 13 and 5, + 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3137" id="linknote-3137"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3137 (<a href="#linknoteref-3137">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ségur, "Memoires," + III, 482 (early in 1790).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3138" id="linknote-3138"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3138 (<a href="#linknoteref-3138">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, I. 184 + (January, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3139" id="linknote-3139"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3139 (<a href="#linknoteref-3139">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de Thiard (October 12, 1789).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3140" id="linknote-3140"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3140 (<a href="#linknoteref-3140">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3250. Minutes from the meeting of the directory of the + department. March 28, 1792. "As the ferment was at the highest point and + fears were entertained that greater evils would follow, M. le Président, + with painful emotion declared that he yielded and passed the + unconstitutional act." Reply of the minister, June 23: "If the constituted + authorities are thus forced to yield to the arbitrary will of a wild + multitude, government no longer exists and we are in the saddest stage of + anarchy. If you think it best I will propose to the King to reverse your + last decision."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3141" id="linknote-3141"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3141 (<a href="#linknoteref-3141">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3250. Letter of M. Duport, minister of justice, December + 24, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3142" id="linknote-3142"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3142 (<a href="#linknoteref-3142">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3248, Report of the members of the department, finished + March 18, 1792.—Buchez and Roux, IX. 240 (Report of M. Alquier).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3143" id="linknote-3143"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3143 (<a href="#linknoteref-3143">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268. Extract from the deliberations of the directory of + Seine-et-Oise, with the documents relating to the insurrection at Etampes, + September 16, 1791. Letter of M. Venard, administrator of the district, + September 20—" I shall not set foot in Etampes until the + re-establishment of order and tranquility, and the first thing I shall do + will be to record my resignation in the register. I am tired of making + sacrifices, for ungrateful wretches."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3144" id="linknote-3144"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3144 (<a href="#linknoteref-3144">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, March 16, + 1792.—Mortimer-Ternaux, "Histoire de la Terreur" (Proceedings + against the assassins of Simoneau), I. 381.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3145" id="linknote-3145"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3145 (<a href="#linknoteref-3145">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter and memorandum of Chenantin, cultivator, + November 7, 1792. Extract from the deliberations of the directory of + Langeais, November 5, 1792 (sedition at Chapelle-Blanche, near Langeais, + October 5, 1792).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3146" id="linknote-3146"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3146 (<a href="#linknoteref-3146">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3105. Report of the commissioners sent by the National + Assembly and the King, February 23, 1791. (On the events of December 12 + and 14, 1790)—Mercure de France, February 29, 5791. (Letters from + Aix, and notably a letter from seven officers shut up in prison at Aix, + January 30, 1791.) The oldest Jacobin Club formed in February, 1790, was + entitled "(Club des vrais amis de la Constitution.)" The second Jacobin + club, formed in October, 1790, was "composed from the beginning of + artisans and laborers from the faubourgs and suburbs." Its title was" + Société des frères anti-politiques," or "frères vrais, justes et utiles à + la patrie." The opposition club, formed in December, 1790, bore the title, + according to some, of "Les Amis du Roi, de la paix et de la religion;" + according to others, "Les amis de la paix;" and finally, according to + another report, "Les Défenseurs de la religion, des personnes et des + proprietés."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3147" id="linknote-3147"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3147 (<a href="#linknoteref-3147">return</a>)<br /> [ A special series of + religious services. (TR)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3148" id="linknote-3148"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3148 (<a href="#linknoteref-3148">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3195. Letters of the commissioners, March 20, February + 11, May 10, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. SOVEREIGNTY OF UNRESTRAINED PASSIONS. + </h2> + <p> + Under these conditions when passions are freed; any determined and + competent man who can gather a couple of hundred men may form a band and + slip through the enlarged or weakened meshes of the net held by the + passive or ineffective government. An experiment on a grand scale is about + to be made on human society; owing to the slackening of the regular + restraints which have maintained it, it is now possible to measure the + force of the permanent instincts which attack it. They are always there + even in ordinary times; we do not notice them because they are kept in + check; but they are not the less energetic and effective, and, moreover, + indestructible. The moment their repression ceases, their power of + mischief becomes evident; just as that of the water which floats a ship, + but which, at the first leak enters into it and sinks it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Old Religious Grudges + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Montauban and Nîmes in 1790. +</pre> + <p> + Religious passions, to begin with, are not to be kept down by federations, + embraces, and effusions of fraternity. In the south, where the Protestants + have been persecuted for more than a century, hatreds exist more than a + century old.<a href="#linknote-3201" name="linknoteref-3201" + id="linknoteref-3201"><small>3201</small></a> In vain have the odious + edicts which oppressed them fallen into desuetude for the past twenty + years; in vain have civil rights been restored to them since 1787: The + past still lives in transmitted recollections; and two groups are + confronting each other, one Protestant and the other Catholic, each + defiant, hostile, ready to act on the defensive, and interpreting the + preparations of its adversary as a plan of attack. Under such + circumstances the guns go off of their own accord.—On a sudden alarm + at Uzès<a href="#linknote-3202" name="linknoteref-3202" + id="linknoteref-3202"><small>3202</small></a> the Catholics, two thousand + in number, take possession of the bishop's palace and the Hôtel-de-Ville; + while the Protestants, numbering four hundred, assemble outside the walls + on the esplanade, and pass the night under arms, each troop persuaded that + the other is going to massacre it, one party summoning the Catholics of + Jalès to its aid, and the other the Protestants of Gardonnenque.—There + is but one way of avoiding civil war between parties in such an attitude, + and that is the ascendancy of an energetic third party, impartial and on + the spot. A plan to this effect, which promises well, is proposed by the + military commandant of Languedoc.<a href="#linknote-3203" + name="linknoteref-3203" id="linknoteref-3203"><small>3203</small></a> + According to him the two firebrands are, on the one hand, the bishops of + Lower Languedoc, and on the other, MM. Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, father and + two sons, all three being pastors. Let them be responsible "with their + heads" for any mob, insurrection, or attempt to debauch the army; let a + tribunal of twelve judges be selected from the municipal bodies of twelve + towns, and all delinquents be brought before it; let this be the court of + final appeal, and its sentence immediately executed. The system in vogue, + however, is just the reverse. Both parties being organized into a body of + militia, each takes care of itself, and is sure to fire on the other; and + the more readily, inasmuch as the new ecclesiastical regulations, which + are issued from month to month, strike like so many hammers on Catholic + sensibility, and scatter showers of sparks on the primings of the already + loaded guns. + </p> + <p> + At Montauban, on the 10th of May, 1790, the day of the inventory and + expropriation of the religious communities,<a href="#linknote-3204" + name="linknoteref-3204" id="linknoteref-3204"><small>3204</small></a> the + commissioners are not allowed to enter. Women in a state of frenzy lie + across the thresholds of the doors, and it would be necessary to pass over + their bodies; a large mob gathers around the "Cordeliers," and a petition + is signed to have the convents maintained.—The Protestants who + witness this commotion become alarmed, and eighty of their National Guards + march to the Hôtel-de-Ville, and take forcible possession of the + guard-house which protects it. The municipal authorities order them to + withdraw, which they refuse to do. Thereupon the Catholics assembled at + the "Cordeliers" begin a riot, throw stones, and drive in the doors with + pieces of timber, while a cry is heard that the Protestants, who have + taken refuge in the guard-house, are firing from the windows. The enraged + multitude immediately invade the arsenal, seize all the guns they can lay + their hands on, and fire volleys on the guard-house, the effect of which + is to kill five of the Protestants and wound twenty-four others. The rest + are saved by a municipal officer and the police; but they are obliged to + appear, two and two, before the cathedral in their shirts, and do public + penance, after which they are put in prison. During the tumult political + shouts have been heard: "Hurrah for the nobles! Hurrah for the + aristocracy! Down with the nation! Down with the tricolor flag!" Bordeaux, + regarding Montauban as in rebellion against France, dispatches fifteen + hundred of its National Guard to set the prisoners free. Toulouse gives + its aid to Bordeaux. The fermentation is frightful. Four thousand of the + Protestants of Montauban take flight; armed cities are about to contend + with each other, as formerly in Italy. It is necessary that a commissioner + of the National Assembly and of the King, Mathieu Dumas, should be + dispatched to harangue the people of Montauban, obtain the release of the + prisoners, and re-establish order. + </p> + <p> + One month after this a more bloody affray takes place at Nîmes<a + href="#linknote-3205" name="linknoteref-3205" id="linknoteref-3205"><small>3205</small></a> + against the Catholics. The Protestants, in fact, are but twelve thousand + out of fifty-four thousand inhabitants, but the principal trade of the + place is in their hands; they hold the manufactories and support thirty + thousand workmen; in the elections of 1789 they furnished five out of the + eight deputies. The sympathies of that time were in their favor; nobody + then imagined that the dominant Church was exposed to any risk. It is to + be attacked in its turn, and the two parties are seen confronting each + other.—The Catholics sign a petition,<a href="#linknote-3206" + name="linknoteref-3206" id="linknoteref-3206"><small>3206</small></a> hunt + up recruits among the market-gardeners of the suburbs, retain the white + cockade, and, when this is prohibited, replace it with a red rosette, + another sign of recognition. At their head is an energetic man named + Froment, who has vast projects in view; but as the soil on which he treads + is undermined, he cannot prevent the explosion. It takes place naturally, + by chance, through the simple collision of two equally distrustful bodies; + and before the final day it has commenced and recommenced twenty times, + through mutual provocations and denunciations, through insults, libels, + scuffles, stone-throwing, and gun-shots.—On the 13th of June, 1790, + the question is which party shall furnish administrators for the district + and department, and the conflict begins in relation to the elections. The + Electoral Assembly is held at the guard-house of the bishop's palace, + where the Protestant dragoons and patriots have come "three times as many + as usual, with loaded muskets and pistols, and with full cartridge-boxes," + and they patrol the surrounding neighborhood. On their side, the red + rosettes, royalists and Catholics, complain of being threatened and + "treated contemptuously" (nargués). They give notice to the gate-keeper + "not to let any dragoon enter the town either on foot or mounted, at the + peril of his life," and declare that "the bishop's quarters were not made + for a guard-house."—A mob forms, and shouting takes place under the + windows; stones are thrown; the bugle of a dragoon, who sounds the + roll-call, is broken and two shots are fired.<a href="#linknote-3207" + name="linknoteref-3207" id="linknoteref-3207"><small>3207</small></a> The + dragoons immediately fire a volley, which wounds a good many people and + kills seven. From this moment, firing goes on during the evening and all + night, in every quarter of the town, each party believing that the other + wants to exterminate it, the Protestants satisfied that it is another St. + Bartholomew, and the Catholics that it is "a Michelade."<a + href="#linknote-3208" name="linknoteref-3208" id="linknoteref-3208"><small>3208</small></a> + There is no one to act between them. The municipality authorities, far + from issuing orders, receive them: they are roughly handled, hustled and + jostled about, and made to march about like servants. The patriots seize + the Abbé de Belmont, a municipal officer, at the Hôtel-de-Ville, order + him, on pain of death, to proclaim martial—law, and place the red + flag in his hand. "March, rascal, you bastard! Hold up your flag—higher + up still—you are big enough to do that!" Blows follow with the + but-ends of their muskets. The poor man spits blood, but this is of no + consequence; he must be in full sight at the head of the crowd, like a + target, whilst his conductors prudently remain behind. Thus does he + advance, exposed to bullets, holding the flag, and finally becomes the + prisoner of the red rosettes, who release him, but keep his flag. There is + a second march with a red flag held by a town valet, and fresh gunshots; + the red rosettes capture this flag also, as well as another municipal + officer. The rest of the municipal body, with a royal commissioner, take + refuge in the barracks and order out the troops. Meanwhile Froment, with + his three companies, posted in their towers and in the houses on the + ramparts, resist to the last extremity. Daylight comes, the tocsin is + sounded, the drums beat to arms, and the patriot militia of the + neighborhood, the Protestants from the mountains, the rude Cévenols, + arrive in crowds. The red rosettes are besieged; a Capuchin convent, from + which it is pretended that they have fired, is sacked, and five of the + monks are killed. Froment's tower is demolished with cannon and taken by + assault. His brother is massacred and thrown from the walls, while a + Jacobin convent next to the ramparts is sacked. Towards night, all the red + rosettes who have fought are slain or have fled, and there is no longer + any resistance.—But the fury still lasts; the fifteen thousand + rustics who have flooded the town think that they have not yet done + enough. In vain are they told that the other fifteen companies of red + rosettes have not moved; that the pretended aggressors "did not even put + themselves in a state of defense;" that during the battle they remained at + home, and that afterwards, through extra precaution, the municipal + authorities had made them give up their arms. In vain does the Electoral + Assembly, preceded by a white flag, march to the public square and exhort + the people to keep the peace. "Under the pretext of searching suspicious + houses, they pillage or destroy, and what-ever cannot be carried away is + broken." One hundred and twenty houses are sacked in Nîmes alone, while + the same ravages are committed in the environs, the damage, at the end of + three days, amounting to seven or eight hundred thousand livres. A number + of poor creatures, workmen, merchants, old and infirm men, are massacred + in their houses; some, "who have been bedridden for many years, are + dragged to the sills of their doors to be shot." Others are hung on the + esplanade and at the Cours Neuf, while others have their noses, ears, + feet, and hands cut off; and are hacked to pieces with sabers and scythes. + Horrible stories, as is commonly the case, provoke the most atrocious + acts. + </p> + <p> + A publican, who refuses to distribute anti-Catholic lists, is supposed to + have a mine in his cellar filled with kegs of gunpowder and with sulfur + matches all ready; he is hacked to pieces with a saber, and twenty guns + are discharged into his corpse: they expose the body before his house with + a long loaf of bread on his breast, and they again stab him with bayonets, + saying to him: "Eat, you bastard, eat"—More than five hundred + Catholics were assassinated, and many others, covered with blood, "are + crowded together in the prisons, while the search for the proscribed is + continued; whenever they are seen, they are fired upon like so many + wolves." Thousands of the inhabitants, accordingly, demand their passports + and leave the town. The rural Catholics, meanwhile, on their side, + massacre six Protestants in the environs—an old man of eighty-two + years, a youth of fifteen, and a husband and his wife in their farm-house. + In order to put a stop to the murderous acts, the National Guard of + Montpellier have to be summoned. But the restoration of order is for the + benefit of the victorious party. Three-fifths of the electors have fled; + one-third of the district and departmental administrators have been + appointed in their absence, and the majority of the new directories is + taken from the club of patriots. It is for this reason that the prisoners + are prejudged as guilty. "No bailiff of the court dares give them the + benefit of his services; they are not allowed to bring forward justifying + facts in evidence, while everybody knows that the judges are not + impartial."<a href="#linknote-3209" name="linknoteref-3209" + id="linknoteref-3209"><small>3209</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Thus do the violent measures of political and religious discord come to an + end. The victor stops the mouth of the law when it is about to speak in + his adversary's behalf; and, under the legal iniquity of an administration + which he has himself established, he crushes those whom the illegal force + of his own strong hand has stricken down. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—Passion Supreme. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dread of hunger its most acute form.—The non-circulation of + grain.—Intervention and usurpations of the electoral + assemblies.—The rural code in Nivernais.—The four central + provinces in 1790.—Why high prices are kept up.—Anxiety + and insecurity.—Stagnation of the grain market.—The + departments near Paris in 1791.—The supply and price of + grain regulated by force.—The mobs in 1792.—Village armies + of Eure and of the lower Seine and of Aisne.—Aggravation of + the disorder after August 10th.—The dictatorship of + unbridled instinct.—Its practical and political expedients. +</pre> + <p> + Passions of this stamp are the product of human cultivation, and break + loose only within narrow bounds. Another passion exists which is neither + historic nor local, but natural and universal, the most indomitable, most + imperious, and most formidable of all, namely, the fear of hunger. There + is no such thing with this passion as delay, or reflection, or looking + beyond itself. Each commune or canton wants its bread, and a sure and + unlimited supply of it. Our neighbor may provide for himself as best he + can, but let us look out for ourselves first and then for other people. + Each group of people, accordingly, through its own decrees, or by main + force, keeps for itself whatever subsistence it possesses, or takes from + others the subsistence which it does not possess. ii + </p> + <p> + At the end of 1789,<a href="#linknote-3210" name="linknoteref-3210" + id="linknoteref-3210"><small>3210</small></a> "Roussillon refuses aid to + Languedoc; Upper Languedoc to the rest of the province, and Burgundy to + Lyonnais; Dauphiny shuts herself up, and Normandy retains the wheat + purchased for the relief of Paris." At Paris, sentinels are posted at the + doors of all the bakers; on the 21st of October one of the latter is hung, + and his head is borne about on a pike. On the 27th of October, at Vernon, + a corn-merchant named Planter, who the preceding winter had supported the + poor for six leagues around, has to take his turn. At the present moment + the people do not forgive him for having sent flour to Paris, and he is + hung twice, but is saved through the breaking of the rope each time.—It + is only by force and under an escort that it is possible to insure the + arrival of grain in a town; the excited people or the National Guards + constantly seize it on its passage. In Normandy the militia of Caen stops + wheat on the highways which is destined for Harcourt and elsewhere.<a + href="#linknote-3211" name="linknoteref-3211" id="linknoteref-3211"><small>3211</small></a> + In Brittany, Auray and Vannes retain the convoys for Nantes, and Lannion + those for Brest. Brest having attempted to negotiate, its commissioners + are seized, and, with knives at their throats, are forced to sign a + renunciation, pure and simple, of the grain which they have paid for, and + they are led out of Lannion and stoned on the way. Eighteen hundred men, + consequently, leave Brest with four cannon, and go to recover their + property with their guns loaded. These are the customs prevalent during + the great famines of feudal times; and, from one end of France to the + other, to say nothing of the out-breaks of the famished in the large + towns, similar outrages or attempts at recovery are constantly occurring.—" + The armed population of Nantua, Saint-Claude, and Septmoncel," says a + dispatch,<a href="#linknote-3212" name="linknoteref-3212" + id="linknoteref-3212"><small>3212</small></a> "have again cut off + provisions from the Gex region; there is no wheat coming there from any + direction, all the roads being guarded. Without the aid of the government + of Geneva, which is willing to lend to this region eight hundred Cuttings + of wheat, we should either die of starvation or be compelled to take grain + by force from the municipalities which keep it to themselves." Narbonne + starves Toulon; the navigation of the Languedoc canal is intercepted; the + people on its banks repulse two companies of soldiers, burn a large + building, and want to destroy the canal itself." Boats are stopped, wagons + are pillaged, bread is forcibly lowered in price, stones are thrown and + guns discharged; the populace contend with the National Guard, peasants + with townsmen, purchasers with dealers, artisans and laborers with farmers + and land-owners, at Castelnaudary, Niort, Saint-Etienne, in Aisne, in + Pas-de-Calais, and especially along the line stretching from Montbrison to + Angers—that is to say, for almost the whole of the extent of the + vast basin of the Loire,—such is the spectacle presented by the year + 1790.—And yet the crop has not been a bad one. But there is no + circulation of grain. Each petty center has formed a league for the + monopoly of food; and hence the fasting of others and the convulsions of + the entire body are the first effects of the unbridled freedom which the + Constitution and circumstances have conferred on each local group. + </p> + <p> + "We are told to assemble, vote, and elect men that will attend to our + business; let us attend to it ourselves. We have had enough of talk and + hypocrisy. Bread at two sous, and let us go after wheat where it can be + found!" Such is the reasoning of the peasantry, and, in Nivernais, + Bourbonnais, Berri, and Touraine, electoral gatherings are the firebrands + of the insurrections.<a href="#linknote-3213" name="linknoteref-3213" + id="linknoteref-3213"><small>3213</small></a> At Saint-Sauge, "the first + work of the primary meeting is to oblige the municipal officers to fix the + price of wheat under the penalty of being decapitated." At Saint-Géran the + same course is taken with regard to bread, wheat, and meat; at + Châtillon-en-Bayait it is done with all supplies, and always a third or a + half under the market price, without mentioning other exactions.—They + come by degrees to the drafting of a tariff for all the valuables they + know, proclaiming the maximum price which an article may reach, and so + establishing a complete code of rural and social economy. We see in the + turbulent and spasmodic wording of this instrument their dispositions and + sentiments, as in a mirror.<a href="#linknote-3214" name="linknoteref-3214" + id="linknoteref-3214"><small>3214</small></a> It is the program of + villagers. Its diverse articles, save local variations, must be executed, + now one and now the other, according to the occasion, the need, and the + time, and, above all, whatever concerns provisions.—The wish, as + usual, is the father of the thought; the peasantry thinks that it is + acting by authority: here, through a decree of the King and the National + Assembly, there, by a commission directly entrusted to the Comte + d'Estrées. Even before this, in the market-place of Saint-Amand, "a man + jumped on a heap of wheat and cried out, 'In the name of the King and the + nation, wheat at one-half the market-price!"' An old officer of the Royal + Grenadiers, a chevalier of the order of Saint-Louis, is reported to be + marching at the head of several parishes, and promulgating ordinances in + his own name and that of the King, imposing a fine of eight livres on + whoever may refuse to join him.—On all sides there is a swarm of + working people, and resistance is fruitless. There are too many of them, + the constabulary being drowned in the flood. For, these rustic legislators + are the National Guard itself, and when they vote reductions upon, or + requisitions for, supplies, they enforce their demands with their guns. + The municipal officials, willingly or unwillingly, must needs serve the + insurgents. At Donjon the Electoral Assembly has seized the mayor of the + place and threatened to kill him, or to burn his house, if he did not put + the cutting of wheat at forty sous; whereupon he signs, and all the mayors + with him, "under the penalty of death." As soon as this is done the + peasants, "to the sound of fifes and drums," spread through the + neighboring parishes and force the delivery of wheat at forty sous, and + show such a determined spirit that the four brigades of gendarmes sent out + against them think it best to retire.—Not content with taking what + they want, they provide for reserve supplies; wheat is a prisoner. In + Nivernais and Bourbonnais, the peasants trace a boundary line over which + no sack of grain of that region must pass; in case of any infraction of + this law the rope and the torch are close at hand for the delinquent.—It + remains to make sure that this rule is enforced. In Berri bands of + peasants visit the markets to see that their tariff is everywhere + maintained. In vain are they told that they are emptying the markets; + "they reply that they know how to make grain come, that they will take it + from private hands, and money besides, if necessary." In fact, the + granaries and cellars belonging to a large number of persons are pillaged. + Farmers are constrained to put their crops into a common granary, and the + rich are put to ransom; "the nobles are compelled to contribute, and + obliged to give entire domains as donations; cattle are carried off; and + they want to take the lives of the proprietors," while the towns, which + defend their storehouses and markets, are openly attacked.<a + href="#linknote-3215" name="linknoteref-3215" id="linknoteref-3215"><small>3215</small></a> + Bourbon-Lancy, Bourbon-l'Archambault, Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Montluçon, + Saint-Amand, Chateau-Gontier, Decises, each petty community is an islet + assailed by the mounting tide of rustic insurrection. The militia pass the + night under arms; detachments of the National Guards of the large towns + with regular troops come and garrison them. The red flag is continuously + raised for eight days at Bourbon-Lancy, and cannon stand loaded and + pointed in the public square. On the 24th of May an attack is made on + Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, and fusillades take place all night on both + sides. On the 2nd of June, Saint-Amand, menaced by twenty-seven parishes, + is saved only by the preparations it makes and by the garrison. About the + same time Bourbon-Lancy is attacked by twelve parishes combined, and + Chateau-Gontier by the sabotiers of the forests in the vicinity. A band of + from four to five hundred villagers arrests the convoys of Saint-Amand, + and forces their escorts to capitulate; another band entrenches itself in + the Chateau de la Fin, and fires throughout the day on the regulars and + the National Guard.—The large towns themselves are not safe. Three + or four hundred rustics, led by their municipal officers, forcibly enter + Tours, to compel the municipality to lower the price of corn and diminish + the rate of leases. Two thousand slate-quarry-men, armed with guns, spits, + and forks, force their way into Angers to obtain a reduction on bread, + fire upon the guard, and are charged by the troops and the National Guard; + a number remain dead in the streets, two are hung that very evening, and + the red flag is displayed for eight days. "The town," say the dispatches, + "would have been pillaged and burnt had it not been for the Picardy + regiment." Fortunately, as the crop promises to be a good one, prices + fall. As the Electoral Assemblies are closed, the fermentation subsides; + and towards the end of the year, like a clear spell in a steady storm, the + gleam of a truce appears in the civil war excited by hunger. + </p> + <p> + But the truce does not last long, as it is broken in twenty places by + isolated explosions; and towards the month of July, 1791, the disturbances + arising from the uncertainty of basic food supplies begin again, to cease + no more. We will consider but one group in this universal state of + disorder—that of the eight or ten departments which surround Paris + and furnish it with supplies. These districts, Brie and Beauce, are rich + wheat regions, and not only was the crop of 1790 good, but that of 1791 is + ample. Information is sent to the minister from Laon<a + href="#linknote-3216" name="linknoteref-3216" id="linknoteref-3216"><small>3216</small></a> + that, in the department of Aisne, "there is a supply of wheat for two + years. . . that the barns, generally empty by the month of April, will not + be so this season before July," and, consequently, "subsistence is + assured." But this does not suffice, for the source of the evil is not in + a scarcity of wheat. In order that everybody, in a vast and populous + country, where the soil, cultivation, and occupations differ, may eat, it + is essential that food should be attainable by the non-producers; and for + it to reach them freely, without delay, solely by the natural operation of + supply and demand, it is essential that there should be a police able to + protect property, transactions, and transport. Just in proportion as the + authority of a State becomes weakened, and in proportion as security + diminishes, the distribution of subsistence becomes more and more + difficult: a gendarmerie, therefore, is an indispensable wheel in the + machine by which we are able to secure our daily bread. Hence it is that, + in 1791, daily bread is wanting to a large number of men. Simply through + the working of the Constitution, all restraints, already slackened both at + the extremities and at the center, are becoming looser and more loose each + day. The municipalities, which are really sovereign, repress the people + more feebly, some because the latter are the bolder and themselves more + timid, and others because they are more radical and always consider them + in the right. The National Guard is wearied, never comes forward, or + refuses to use its arms. The active citizens are disgusted, and remain at + home. At Étampes,<a href="#linknote-3217" name="linknoteref-3217" + id="linknoteref-3217"><small>3217</small></a> where they are convoked by + the commissioners of the department to take steps to re-establish some + kind of order, only twenty assemble; the others excuse themselves by + saying that, if the populace knew that they opposed its will, "their + houses would be burnt," and they accordingly stay away. "Thus," write the + commissioners, "the common-weal is given up to artisans and laborers whose + views are limited to their own existence."—It is, accordingly, the + lower class which rules, and the information upon which it bases its + decrees consists of rumors which it accepts or manufactures, to hide by an + appearance of right the outrages which are due to its cupidity or to the + brutalities of its hunger. At Étampes, "they have been made to believe + that the grain which had been sold for supplying the departments below the + Loire, is shipped at Paimboeuf and taken out of the kingdom from there to + be sold abroad." In the suburbs of Rouen they imagine that grain is + purposely "engulfed in the swamps, ponds, and clay-pits." At Laon, + imbecile and Jacobin committees attribute the dearness of provisions to + the avidity of the rich and the malevolence of the aristocrats according + to them, "jealous millionaires grow rich at the expense of the people. + They know the popular strength," and, not daring to measure their forces + with it, "in an honorable fight," have recourse "to treachery." To conquer + the people easily they have determined to reduce them in advance by + extreme suffering and by the length of their fast, and hence they + monopolize "wheat, rye, and meal, soap, sugar, and brandy."<a + href="#linknote-3218" name="linknoteref-3218" id="linknoteref-3218"><small>3218</small></a>—Similar + reports suffice to excite a suffering crowd to acts of violence, and it + must inevitably accept for its leaders and advisers those who urge it + forward on the side to which it is inclined. The people always require + leaders, and they are chosen wherever they can be found, at one time + amongst the elite, and at another amongst the dregs. Now that the nobles + are driven out, the bourgeoisie in retirement, the large cultivators under + suspicion, while animal necessities exercise their blind and intermittent + despotism, the appropriate popular ministers consist of adventurers and of + bandits. They need not be very numerous, for in a place full of + combustible matter a few firebrands suffice to start the conflagration. + "About twenty, at most, can be counted in the towns of Étampes and + Dourdan, men with nothing to lose and everything to gain by disturbances; + they are those who always produce excitement and disorder, while other + citizens afford them the means through their indifference." Those whose + names are known among the new guides of the crowd are almost all escaped + convicts whose previous habits have accustomed them to blows, violence, + frequently to murder, and always to contempt for the law. At Brunoy,<a + href="#linknote-3219" name="linknoteref-3219" id="linknoteref-3219"><small>3219</small></a> + the leaders of the outbreak are "two deserters of the 18th regiment, + sentenced and unpunished, who, in company with the vilest and most + desperate of the parish, always go about armed and threatening." At + Étampes, "the two principal assassins of the mayor are a poacher + repeatedly condemned for poaching, and an old carabiniere dismissed from + his regiment with a bad record against him."<a href="#linknote-3220" + name="linknoteref-3220" id="linknoteref-3220"><small>3220</small></a> + Around these are artisans "without a known residence," wandering workmen, + journeymen and apprentices, vagrants and highway rovers, who flock into + the towns on market-days and are always—ready for mischief when an + opportunity occurs. Vagabonds, indeed, now roam about the country + everywhere, all restrictions against them having ceased. + </p> + <p> + "For a year past," write several parishes in the neighborhood of + Versailles, "we have seen no gendarmes except those who come with + decrees," and hence the multiplication of "murders and brigandage" between + Étampes and Versailles, on the highways and in the country. Bands of + thirteen, fifteen, twenty and twenty-two beggars rob the vineyards, enter + farm-houses at night, and compel their inmates to lodge and feed them, + returning in the same way every fortnight, all farms or isolated dwellings + being their prey. An ecclesiastic is killed in his own house in the + suburbs of Versailles, on the 26th of September, 1791, and, on the same + day, a bourgeois and his wife are garroted and robbed. On the 22nd of + September, near Saint-Rémi-Honoré, eight bandits ransack the dwelling of a + farmer. On the 25th of September, at Villers-le-Sec, thirteen others strip + another farmer, and then add with much politeness, "It is lucky for your + masters that they are not here, for we would have roasted them at yonder + fire." Six similar outrages are committed by armed ruffians in + dwelling-places, within a radius of from three to four leagues, + accompanied with the threats of the chauffeurs.<a href="#linknote-3221" + name="linknoteref-3221" id="linknoteref-3221"><small>3221</small></a> + "After enterprises of such force and boldness," write the people of this + region, "there is not a well-to-do man in the country who can rely upon an + hour's security in his house. Already many of our best cultivators are + giving up their business, while others threaten to do the same in case + these disorders continue."—What is worse still is the fact that in + these outrages most of the bandits were "in the national uniform." The + most ignorant, the poorest, and most fanatical of the National Guard thus + enlist for the sake of plunder. It is so natural for men to believe in + their right to that of which they feel the need, that the possessors of + wheat thus become its monopolists, and the superfluity of the rich the + property of the poor! This is what the peasants say who devastate the + forest of Bruyères-le-Chatel: "We have neither wood, bread, nor work—necessity + knows no law." + </p> + <p> + The necessaries of life are not to be had cheap under such a system. There + is too much anxiety, and property is too precarious; there are too many + obstacles to commerce; purchases, sales, shipments, arrivals and payments + are too uncertain. How are goods to be stored and transported in a country + where neither the central government, the local authorities, the National + Guard, nor the regular troops perform their duties, and where every + transaction in produce, even the most legal and the most serviceable, is + subject to the caprice of a dozen villains whom the populace obey.—Wheat + remains in the barn, or is secreted, or is kept waiting, and only reaches + by stealth the hands of those who are rich enough to pay, not only its + price, but the extra cost of the risk. Thus forced into a narrow channel, + it rises to a rate which the depreciation of the assignats augments, its + dearness being not only maintained, but ever on the increase.—Thereupon + popular instinct invents for the cure of the evil a remedy which serves to + aggravate it: henceforth, wheat must not travel; it is impounded in the + canton in which it is gathered. At Laon, "the people have sworn to die + rather than let their food be carried off." At Étampes, to which the + municipality of Angers dispatches an administrator of its hospital to buy + two hundred and fifty sacks of flour, the commission cannot be executed, + the delegate not even daring to avow for several days the object of his + coming; all he can do is "to visit incognito, and at night, the different + flour-dealers in the valley, who would offer to furnish the supply, but + fear for their lives and dare not even leave their houses."—The same + violence is shown in the more distant circle of departments which surround + the first circle. At Aubigny, in Cher,<a href="#linknote-3222" + name="linknoteref-3222" id="linknoteref-3222"><small>3222</small></a> + grain-wagons are stopped, the district administrators are menaced; two + have a price set on their heads; a portion of the National Guard sides + with the mutineers. At Chaumont, in Haute-Marne, the whole of the National + Guard is in a state of mutiny; a convoy of over three hundred sacks is + stopped, the Hôtel-de-Ville forced, and the insurrection lasts four days; + the directory of the department takes flight; and the people seize on the + powder and cannons. At Douai, in the "Nord," to save a grain-dealer, he is + put in prison; the mob forces the gates, the soldiers refuse to fire, and + the man is hung, while the directory of the department takes refuge in + Lille. At Montreuil-sur-Mer, in Pas-de-Calais, the two leaders of the + insurrection, a brazier and a horse-shoer, "Bèquelin, called Petit-Gueux," + the latter with his saber in hand, reply to the summons of the municipal + authorities, that "not a grain shall go now that they are masters," and + that if they dare to make such proclamations "they will cut off their + heads." There are no means of resistance. The National Guard, when it is + convoked, does not respond; the volunteers when called upon turn their + muskets down, and the crowd, assembled beneath the windows, shouts out its + huzzahs. So much the worse for the law when it opposes popular passion: + "We will not obey it," they say; "people make laws to please themselves."—By + way of practical illustration, at Tortes, in Seine-Inférieure, six + thousand armed men belonging to the surrounding parishes form a + deliberative armed body; the better to establish their rights, they bring + two cannon with them fastened by ropes on a couple of carts; twenty-two + companies of the National Guard, each under its own banner, march beside + them, while all peaceable inhabitants are compelled to fall in "under + penalty of death," the municipal officers being at their head. This + improvised parliament promulgates a complete law in relation to grain, + which, as a matter of form, is sent for acceptance to the department, and + to the National Assembly; and one of its articles declares that all + husbandmen shall be forbidden "to sell their wheat elsewhere than on the + market-places." With no other outlet for it, wheat must be brought to the + corn markets (halles), and when these are full the price must necessarily + fall. + </p> + <p> + What a profound deception! Even in the granary of France wheat remains + dear, and costs about one-third more than would be necessary to secure the + sale of bread at two sous the pound, in conformity with the will of the + people. For instance,<a href="#linknote-3223" name="linknoteref-3223" + id="linknoteref-3223"><small>3223</small></a> at Gonesse, Dourdan, + Corbeil, Mennecy, Brunoy, Limours, Brie-Comte-Robert, and especially at + Étampes and Montlhéry, the holders of grain are compelled almost weekly, + through the clamors and violence of the people, to reduce prices one-third + and more. It is impossible for the authorities to maintain, on their + corn-exchange, the freedom of buying and selling. The regular troops have + been sent off by the people beforehand. Whatever the tolerance or + connivance of the soldiers may be, the people have a vague sentiment that + they are not there to permit the ripping open of sacks of flour, or the + seizing of farmers by the throat. To get rid of all obstacles and of being + watched, they make use of the municipality itself, and force it to effect + its own disarmament. The municipal officers, besieged in the town-hall, at + times threatened with pistols and bayonets,<a href="#linknote-3224" + name="linknoteref-3224" id="linknoteref-3224"><small>3224</small></a> + dispatch to the detachments they are expecting an order to turn back, and + entreat the Directory not to send any more troops, for, if any come, they + have been told that "they will be sorry for it." Nowhere are there regular + troops. At Étampes, the people repeat that "they are sent for and paid by + the flour-dealers;" at Montlhéry, that "they merely serve to arm citizens + against each other;" at Limours, that "they make grain dearer." All + pretexts seem good in this direction; the popular will is absolute, and + the authorities complacently meet its decrees half-way. At Montlhéry, the + municipal body orders the gendarmerie to remain at the gates of the town, + which gives full play to the insurrection.—The administrators, + however, are not relieved by leaving the people free to act; they are + obliged to sanction their exactions by ordinances. They are taken out of + the Hôtel-de-Ville, led to the marketplace, and there forthwith, under the + dictation of the uproar which establishes prices, they, like simple + clerks, proclaim the reduction. When, moreover, the armed rabble of a + village marches forth to tyrannize over a neighboring market, it carries + its mayor along with it in spite of himself, as an official instrument + which belongs to it.<a href="#linknote-3225" name="linknoteref-3225" + id="linknoteref-3225"><small>3225</small></a> "There is no resistance + against force," writes the mayor of Vert-le-Petit; "we had to set forth + immediately."—" They assured me," says the Mayor of Fontenay, "that, + if I did not obey them, they would hang me."—On any municipal + officer hazarding a remonstrance, they tell him that "he is getting to be + an aristocrat." Aristocrat and hung, the argument is irresistible, and all + the more so because it is actually applied. At Corbeil, the + procureur-syndic who tries to enforce the law is almost beaten to death, + and three houses in which they try to find him are demolished. At + Montlhéry, a seed merchant, accused of mixing the flour of beans (twice as + dear) with wheaten flour, is massacred in his own house. At Étampes, the + mayor who promulgates the law is cudgeled to death. Mobs talk of nothing + but "burning and destroying," while the farmers, abused, hooted at, forced + to sell, threatened with death and robbed, run away, declaring they will + never return to the market again. + </p> + <p> + Such is the first effect of popular dictatorship. Like all unintelligent + forces, it operates in a direction the reverse of its intention: to + dearness it adds dearth, and empties, instead of replenishing, the + markets. That of Étampes often contained fifteen or sixteen hundred sacks + of flour; the week following this insurrection there were, at most, sixty + brought to it. At Montlhéry, where six thousand men had collected + together, each one obtains for his share only a small measure, while the + bakers of the town have none at all. This being the case, the enraged + National Guards tell the farmers that they are coming to see them on their + farms. And they really go.<a href="#linknote-3226" name="linknoteref-3226" + id="linknoteref-3226"><small>3226</small></a> Drums roll constantly on the + roads around Montlhéry, Limours, and other large market-towns. Columns of + two, three, and four hundred men are seen passing under the lead of their + commandant and of the mayor whom they take along with them. They enter + each farm, mount into the granaries, estimate the quantity of grain + thrashed out, and force the proprietor to sign an agreement to bring it to + market the following week. Sometimes, as they are hungry, they compel + people to give them something to eat and drink on the spot, and it will + not do to enrage them,—a farmer and his wife come near being hung in + their own barn. + </p> + <p> + Their effort is useless: Wheat is impounded and hunted up in vain; it + takes to the earth or slips off like a frightened animal. In vain do + insurrections continue. In vain do armed mobs, in all the market-towns of + the department,<a href="#linknote-3227" name="linknoteref-3227" + id="linknoteref-3227"><small>3227</small></a> subject grain to a forced + reduction of price. Wheat becomes scarcer and dearer from month to month, + rising in price from twenty-six francs to thirty-three. And because the + outraged farmer "brings now a very little," just "what is necessary to + sacrifice in order to avoid threats, he sells at home, or in the inns, to + the flour-dealers from Paris."—The people, in running after + abundance, have thus fallen deeper down into want: their brutality has + aggravated their misery, and it is to themselves that their starvation is + owing. But they are far from attributing all this to their own + insubordination; the magistrates are accused; these, in the eyes of the + populace, are "in league with the monopolists." On this incline no + stoppage is possible. Distress increases rage, and rage increases + distress; and on this fatal declivity men are precipitated from one + outrage to another. + </p> + <p> + After the month of February, 1792, such outrages are innumerable; the mobs + which go in quest of grain or which cut down its price consist of armies. + One of six thousand men comes to control the market of Montlhéry.<a + href="#linknote-3228" name="linknoteref-3228" id="linknoteref-3228"><small>3228</small></a> + There are seven to eight—thousand men who invade the market-place of + Verneuil, and there is an army of ten and another of twenty-five thousand + men, who remain organized for ten days near Laon. One hundred and fifty + parishes have sounded the tocsin, and the insurrection spreads for ten + leagues around. Five boats loaded with grain are stopped, and, in spite of + the orders of district, department, minister, King, and National Assembly, + they refuse to surrender them. Their contents, in the meantime, are made + the most of: "The municipal officers of the different parishes, assembled + together, pay themselves their fees, to wit: one hundred sous per diem for + the mayor, three livres for the municipal officers, two livres ten sous + for the guards, two livres for the porters. They have ordered that these + sums should be paid in grain, and they reduce grain, it is said, fifteen + livres the sack. It is certain that they have divided it amongst + themselves, and that fourteen hundred sacks have been distributed." In + vain do the commissioners of the National Assembly make speeches to them + three hours in length. The discourse being finished, they deliberate, in + presence of the commissioners, whether the latter shall be hung, drowned, + or cut up, and their heads put on the five points of the middle of the + abbey railing. On being threatened with military force, they make their + dispositions accordingly. Nine hundred men who relieve each other watch + day and night on the ground, in a well chosen and permanent encampment, + while lookouts stationed in the belfries of the surrounding villages have + only to sound the alarm to bring together twenty-five thousand men in a + few hours.—So long as the Government remains on its feet it carries + on the combat as well as it can; but it grows weaker from month to month, + and, after the 10th of August, when it lies on the ground, the mob takes + its place and becomes the universal sovereign. From this time forth not + only is the law which protects provisioning powerless against the + disturbers of sale and circulation, but the Assembly actually sanctions + their acts, since it decrees<a href="#linknote-3229" + name="linknoteref-3229" id="linknoteref-3229"><small>3229</small></a> the + stoppage of all proceedings commenced against them, remits sentences + already passed, and sets free all who are imprisoned or in irons. Behold + every administration, with merchants, proprietors, and farmers abandoned + to the famished, the furious, and to robbers; henceforth food supplies are + for those who are disposed and able to take them. + </p> + <p> + "You will be told," says a petition,<a href="#linknote-3230" + name="linknoteref-3230" id="linknoteref-3230"><small>3230</small></a> + "that we violate the law. We reply to these perfidious insinuations that + the salvation of the people is the supreme law. We come in order to keep + the markets supplied, and to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout + the Republic. For, there is no doubt about it, the purest patriotism dies + out (sic) when there is no bread to be had. . . . Resistance to oppression—yes, + resistance to oppression is the most sacred of duties; is there any + oppression more terrible than that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly, no. . . + . Join us and 'Ça ira, ça ira!' We cannot end our petition better than + with this patriotic air." + </p> + <p> + This supplication was written on a drum, amidst a circle of firearms; and + with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a command.—They are + well aware of it, and of their own authority they often confer upon + themselves not only the right but also the title. In Loire-et-Cher,<a + href="#linknote-3231" name="linknoteref-3231" id="linknoteref-3231"><small>3231</small></a> + a band of from four to five thousand men assume the name of "Sovereign + Power." They go from one market-town to another, to Saint-Calais, + Montdoubleau, Blois, Vendôme, reducing the cost of provisions, their troop + increasing like a snowball—for they threaten "to burn the effects + and set fire to the houses of all who are not as courageous as + themselves." + </p> + <p> + In this state of social disintegration, insurrection is a gangrene in + which the healthy are infected by the morbid parts. Mobs are everywhere + produced and re-produced, incessantly, large and small, like abscesses + which break out side by side, and painfully irritate each other and + finally combine. There are the towns against the rural districts and rural + districts against the towns. On the one hand "every farmer who transports + anything to the market passes (at home) for an aristocrat,<a + href="#linknote-3232" name="linknoteref-3232" id="linknoteref-3232"><small>3232</small></a> + and becomes the horror of his fellow-citizens in the village." On the + other hand the National Guards of the towns spread themselves through the + rural districts and make raids to save themselves from death by hunger.<a + href="#linknote-3233" name="linknoteref-3233" id="linknoteref-3233"><small>3233</small></a> + It is admitted in the rural districts that each municipality has the right + to isolate itself from the rest. It is admitted in the towns that each + town has the right to derive its provisions from the country. It is + admitted by the indigent of each commune that the commune must provide + bread gratis or at a cheap rate. On the strength of this there is a shower + of stones and a fusillade; department against department, district against + district, canton against canton, all fight for food, and the strongest get + it and keep it for themselves.—I have simply described the North, + where, for the past three years, the crops are good. I have omitted the + South, where trade is interrupted on the canal of the Deux Mers, where the + procureur-syndic of Aude has lately been massacred for trying to secure + the passage of a convoy; where the harvest has been poor; where, in many + places, bread costs eight sous the pound; where, in almost every + department, a bushel of wheat is sold twice as dear as in the North! + </p> + <p> + Strange phenomenon! and the most instructive of all, for in it we see down + into the depths of humanity; for, as on a raft of shipwrecked beings + without food, there is a reversion to a state of nature. The light tissue + of habit and of rational ideas in which civilization has enveloped man, is + torn asunder and is floating in rags around him; the bare arms of the + savage show themselves, and they are striking out. The only guide he has + for his conduct is that of primitive days, the startled instinct of a + craving stomach. Henceforth that which rules in him and through him is + animal necessity with its train of violent and narrow suggestions, + sometimes sanguinary and sometimes grotesque. Incompetent or savage, in + all respects like a Negro monarch, his sole political expedients are + either the methods of a slaughter house or the dreams of a carnival. Two + commissioners whom Roland, Minister of the Interior, sends to Lyons, are + able to see within a few days the carnival and the slaughter-house.<a + href="#linknote-3234" name="linknoteref-3234" id="linknoteref-3234"><small>3234</small></a>—On + the one hand the peasants, all along the road, arrest everybody; the + people regard every traveler as an aristocrat who is running away—which + is so much the worse for those who fall into their hands. Near Autun, four + priests who, to obey the law, are betaking themselves to the frontier, are + put in prison "for their own protection;" they are taken out a quarter of + an hour later, and, in spite of thirty-two of the mounted police, are + massacred. "Their carriage was still burning as I passed, and the corpses + were stretched out not far off. Their driver was still in durance, and it + was it vain that I solicited his release."—On the other hand, at + Lyons, the power has fallen into the hands of the degraded women of the + streets. "They seized the central club, constituted themselves + commissaries of police, signed notices as such, and paid visits of + inspection to store-houses;" they drew up a tariff of provisions, "from + bread and meat up to common peaches, and peaches of fine quality." They + announced that "whoever dared to dispute it would be considered a traitor + to the country, an adherent of the civil list, and prosecuted as such." + All this is published, proclaimed and applied by "female commissaries of + police," themselves the dregs of the lowest sinks of corruption. + Respectable housewives and workwomen had nothing to do with it, nor + "working-people of any class." The sole actors of this administrative + parody are "scamps, a few bullies of houses of ill-fame, and a portion of + the dregs of the female sex."—To this end comes the dictatorship of + instinct, yonder let loose on the highway in a massacre of priests, and + here, in the second city of France, in the government of strumpets. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—Egotism of the tax-payer. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Issoudun in 1790.—Rebellion against taxation.—Indirect + taxes in 1789 and 1790.—Abolition of the salt tax, excise, + and octrois.—Direct taxation in 1789 and 1790.—Delay and + insufficiency of the returns.—New levies in 1791 and 1792. + —Delays, partiality, and concealment in preparing the + rolls.—Insufficiency of, and the delay in, the returns. + —Payment in assignats.—The tax-payer relieves himself of + one-half.—Devastation of the forests.—Division of the + communal property. +</pre> + <p> + The fear of starvation is only the sharper form of a more general passion, + which is the desire of possession and the determination not to give + anything up. No popular instinct, had been longer, more rudely, more + universally offended under the ancient régime; and there is none which + gushes out more readily under constraint, none which requires a higher or + broader public barrier, or one more entirely constructed of solid blocks, + to keep it in check. Hence it is that this passion from the commencement + breaks down or engulfs the slight and low boundaries, the tottering + embankments of crumbling earth between which the Constitution pretends to + confine it.—The first flood sweeps away the pecuniary claims of the + State, of the clergy, and of the noblesse. The people regard them as + abolished, or, at least, they consider their debts discharged. Their idea, + in relation to this, is formed and fixed; for them it is that which + constitutes the Revolution. The people have no longer a creditor; they are + determined to have none, they will pay nobody, and first of all, they will + make no further payment to the State. + </p> + <p> + On the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation, the population of + Issoudun, in Touraine, solemnly convoked for the purpose, had just taken + the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace, social harmony, and + respect for the law for evermore.<a href="#linknote-3235" + name="linknoteref-3235" id="linknoteref-3235"><small>3235</small></a> + Here, probably, as elsewhere, arrangements had been made for an stirring + ceremonial; there were young girls dressed in white, and learned and + impressionable magistrates were to pronounce philosophical harangues. All + at once they discover that the people gathered on the public square are + provided with clubs, scythes, and axes, and that the National Guard will + not prevent their use; on the contrary, the Guard itself is composed + almost wholly of wine growers and others interested in the suppression of + the duties on wine, of coopers, innkeepers, workmen, carters of casks, and + others of the same stamp, all rough fellows who have their own way of + interpreting the Social Contract. The whole mass of decrees, acts, and + rhetorical flourishes which are dispatched to them from Paris, or which + emanate from the new authorities, are not worth a halfpenny tax maintained + on each bottle of wine. There are to be no more excise duties; they will + only take the civic oath on this express condition, and that very evening + they hang, in effigy, their two deputies, who "had not supported their + interests" in the National Assembly. A few months later, of all the + National Guard called upon to protect the clerks, only the commandant and + two officers respond to the summons. If a docile taxpayer happens to be + found, he is not allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and + almost treachery. An entry of three puncheons of wine having been made, + they are stove in with stones, a portion is drunk, and the rest taken to + the barracks to debauch the soldiers; M. de Sauzay, commandant of the + "Royal Roussillon," who was bold enough to save the clerks, is menaced, + and for this misdeed he barely escapes being hung himself. When the + municipal body is called upon to interpose and employ force, it replies + that "for so small a matter, it is not worth while to compromise the lives + of the citizens," and the regular troops sent to the Hôtel-de-Ville are + ordered by the people not to go except with the but-ends of their muskets + in the air. Five days after this the windows of the excise office are + smashed, and the public notices are torn down; the fermentation does not + subside, and M. de Sauzay writes that a regiment would be necessary to + restrain the town. At Saint-Amand the insurrection breaks out violently, + and is only put down by violence. At Saint-Étienne-en-Forez, Bertheas, a + clerk in the excise office, falsely accused of monopolizing grain,<a + href="#linknote-3236" name="linknoteref-3236" id="linknoteref-3236"><small>3236</small></a> + is fruitlessly defended by the National Guard; he is put in prison, + according to the usual custom, to save his life, and, for greater + security, the crowd insist on his being fastened by an iron collar. But, + suddenly changing its mind, it breaks upon the door and drags him outside, + beating him till he is unconscious. Stretched on the ground, his head + still moves and he raises his hand to it, when a woman, picking up a large + stone, smashes his skull.—These are not isolated occurrences. During + the months of July and August, 1789, the tax offices are burnt in almost + every town in the kingdom. In vain does the National Assembly order their + reconstruction, insist on the maintenance of duties and octrois, and + explain to the people the public needs, pathetically reminding them, + moreover, that the Assembly has already given them relief;—the + people prefer to relieve themselves instantly and entirely. Whatever is + consumed must no longer be taxed, either for the benefit of the State or + for that of the towns. "Entrance dues on wine and cattle," writes the + municipality of Saint-Etienne, "scarcely amount to anything, and our + powers are inadequate for their enforcement." At Cambrai, two successive + outbreaks compel the excise office and the magistracy of the town<a + href="#linknote-3237" name="linknoteref-3237" id="linknoteref-3237"><small>3237</small></a> + to reduce the duties on beer one-half. But "the evil, at first confined to + one corner of the province, soon spreads;" the grands baillis of Lille, + Douai, and Orchies write that "we have hardly a bureau which has not been + molested, and in which the taxes are not wholly subject to popular + discretion." Those only pay who are disposed to do so, and, consequently, + "greater fraud could not exist." The taxpayers, indeed, cunningly defend + themselves, and find plenty of arguments or quibbles to avoid paying their + dues. At Cambrai they allege that, as the privileged now pay as well as + the rest, the Treasury must be rich enough.<a href="#linknote-3238" + name="linknoteref-3238" id="linknoteref-3238"><small>3238</small></a> At + Noyon, Ham, and Chauny, and in the surrounding parishes, the butchers, + innkeepers, and publicans combined, who have refused to pay excise duties, + pick flaws in the special decree by which the Assembly subjects them to + the law, and a second special decree is necessary to circumvent these new + legal experts. The process at Lyons is simpler. Here the thirty-two + sections appoint commissioners; these decide against the octroi, and + request the municipal authorities to abolish it. They must necessarily + comply, for the people are at hand and are furious. Without waiting, + however, for any legal measures, they take the authority on themselves, + rush to the toll-houses and drive out the clerks, while large quantities + of provisions, which "through a singular predestination" were waiting at + the gates, come in free of duty.—The Treasury defends itself as it + best can against this universally bad disposition of the tax-payer, + against these irruptions and infiltrations of fraud; it repairs the dike + where it has been carried away, stops up the fissures and again resumes + collections. But how can these be regular and complete in a State where + the courts dare not condemn delinquents, where public force dares not + support the courts,<a href="#linknote-3239" name="linknoteref-3239" + id="linknoteref-3239"><small>3239</small></a> where popular favor protects + the most notorious bandits and the worst vagabonds against the tribunals + and against the public powers? At Paris, where, After eight months of + impunity, proceedings are begun against the pillagers who, on the 13th of + August, 1789, set fire to the tax offices, the officers of the election, + "considering that their audiences have become too tumultuous, that the + thronging of the people excites uneasiness, that threats have been uttered + of a kind calculated to create reasonable alarm," are constrained to + suspend their sittings and refer matters to the National Assembly, while + the latter, considering that "if prosecutions are authorized in Paris it + will be necessary to authorize them throughout the kingdom," decides that + it is best "to veil the statue of the Law."<a href="#linknote-3240" + name="linknoteref-3240" id="linknoteref-3240"><small>3240</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Not only does the Assembly veil the statue of the Law, but it takes to + pieces, remakes, and mutilates it, according to the requirements of the + popular will; and, in the matter of indirect imposts all its decrees are + forced upon it. The outbreak against the salt impost was terrible from the + beginning; sixty thousand men in Anjou alone combined to destroy it, and + the price of salt had to be reduced from sixteen to six sous.<a + href="#linknote-3241" name="linknoteref-3241" id="linknoteref-3241"><small>3241</small></a> + The people, however, are not satisfied with this. This monopoly has been + the cause of so much suffering that they are not disposed to put up with + any remains of it, and are always on the side of the smugglers against the + excise officers. In the month of January, 1790, at Béziers, thirty-two + employees, who had seized a quantity of contraband salt on the persons of + armed smugglers,<a href="#linknote-3242" name="linknoteref-3242" + id="linknoteref-3242"><small>3242</small></a> are pursued by the crowd to + the Hôtel-de-Ville; the consuls decline to defend them and run away; the + troops defend them, but in vain. Five are tortured, horribly mutilated, + and then hung. In the month of March, 1790, Necker states that, according + to the returns of the past three months, the deficit in the salt-tax + amounts to more than four millions a month, which is four-fifths of the + ordinary revenue, while the tobacco monopoly is no more respected than + that of salt. At Tours,<a href="#linknote-3243" name="linknoteref-3243" + id="linknoteref-3243"><small>3243</small></a> the bourgeois militia refuse + to give assistance to the employees, and "openly protect smuggling," "and + contraband tobacco is publicly sold at the fair, under the eyes of the + municipal authorities, who dare make no Opposition to it." All receipts, + consequently, diminish at the same time.<a href="#linknote-3244" + name="linknoteref-3244" id="linknoteref-3244"><small>3244</small></a> From + the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790, the general collections + amount to 127 millions instead of 150 millions; the dues and excise + combined return only 31, instead of 50 millions. The streams which filled + the public exchequer are more and more obstructed by popular resistance, + and under the popular pressure, the Assembly ends by closing them + entirely. In the month of March, 1790,<a href="#linknote-3245" + name="linknoteref-3245" id="linknoteref-3245"><small>3245</small></a> it + abolishes salt duties, internal customs-duties, taxes on leather, on oil, + on starch, and the stamp of iron. In February and March, 1791, it + abolishes octrois and entrance-dues in all the cities and boroughs of the + kingdom, all the excise duties and those connected with the excise, + especially all taxes which affect the manufacture, sale, or circulation of + beverages. The people have in the end prevailed, and on the 1st of May, + 1791, the day of the application of the decree, the National Guard of + Paris parades around the walls playing patriotic airs. The cannon of the + Invalides and those on the Pont-Neuf thunder out as if for an important + victory. There is an illumination in the evening, there is drinking all + night, a universal revel. Beer, indeed, is to be had at three sous the + pot, and wine at six sous a pint, which is a reduction of one-half; no + conquest could be more popular, since it brings intoxication within easy + reach of the thirsty.<a href="#linknote-3246" name="linknoteref-3246" + id="linknoteref-3246"><small>3246</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The object, now, is to provide for the expenses which have been defrayed + by the suppressed octrois. In 1790, the octroi of Paris had produced + 35,910,859 francs, of which 25,059,446 went to the State, and 10,851,413 + went to the city. How is the city going to pay for its watch, the lighting + and cleaning of its streets, and the support of its hospitals? What are + the twelve hundred other cities and boroughs going to do which are brought + by the same stroke to the same situation? What will the State do, which, + in abolishing the general revenue from all entrance-dues and excise, is + suddenly deprived of two-fifths of its revenue?—In the month of + March, 1790, when the Assembly suppressed the salt and other duties, it + established in the place of these a tax of fifty millions, to be divided + between the direct imposts and dues on entrance to the towns. Now, + consequently, that the entrance-dues are abolished, the new charge falls + entirely upon the direct imposts. Do returns come in, and will they come + in?—In the face of so many outbreaks, any indirect taxation (VAT) + is, certainly, difficult to collect. Nevertheless it is not so repulsive + as the other because the levies of the State disappear in the price of the + article, the hand of the Exchequer being hidden by the hand of the dealer. + The Government clerk formerly presented himself with his stamped paper and + the seller handed him the money without much grumbling, knowing that he + would soon be more than reimbursed by his customer: the indirect tax is + thus collected. Should any difficulty arise, it is between the dealer and + the taxpayer who comes to his shop to lay in his little store; the latter + grumbles, but it is at the high price which he feels, and possibly at the + seller who pockets his silver; he does not find fault with the clerk of + the Exchequer, whom he does not see and who is not then present In the + collection of the direct tax, on the contrary, it is the clerk himself + whom he sees before him, who abstracts the precious piece of silver. This + authorized robber, moreover, gives him nothing in exchange; it is an + entire loss. On leaving the dealer's shop he goes away with a jug of wine, + a pot of salt, or similar commodities; on leaving the tax office he has + nothing in hand but an acquittance, a miserable bit of scribbled paper.—But + now he is master in his own commune, an elector, a National Guard, mayor, + the sole authority in the use of armed force, and charged with his own + taxation. Come and ask him to unearth the buried mite on which he has set + all his heart and all his soul, the earthen pot wherein he has deposited + his cherished pieces of silver one by one, and which he has laid by for so + many years at the cost of so much misery and fasting, in the very face of + the bailiff in spite of the prosecutions of the sub-delegate, + commissioner, collector, and clerk! + </p> + <p> + From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790,<a href="#linknote-3247" + name="linknoteref-3247" id="linknoteref-3247"><small>3247</small></a> the + general returns, the taille and its accessories, the poll-tax and + "twentieths," instead of yielding 161.000,000 francs, yield but 28,000,000 + francs in the provinces which impose their own taxes (pays d'Etats); + instead of 28,000,000 francs, the Treasury obtains but 6,000,000. On the + patriotic contribution which was to deduct one quarter of all incomes over + four hundred livres, and to levy two and a half per cent. on plate, + jewels, and whatever gold and silver each person has in reserve, the State + received 9.700,000 francs. As to patriotic gifts, their total, comprising + the silver buckles of the deputies, reaches only 361,587 francs; and the + closer our examination into the particulars of these figures, the more do + we see the contributions of the villager, artisan, and former subjects of + the taille diminish.—Since the month of October, 1789, the + privileged classes, in fact, appear in the tax-rolls, and they certainly + form the class which is best off, the most alive to general ideas and the + most truly patriotic. It is therefore probable that, of the forty-three + millions of returns from the direct imposts and from the patriotic + contribution, they have furnished the larger portion, perhaps two thirds + of it, or even three-quarters. If this be the case, the peasant, the + former tax-payer, gave nothing or almost nothing from his pocket during + the first year of the Revolution. For instance, in regard to the patriotic + contribution, the Assembly left it to the conscience of each person to fix + his own quota; at the end of six months, consciences are found too + elastic, and the Assembly is obliged to confer this right on the + municipalities. The result is<a href="#linknote-3248" + name="linknoteref-3248" id="linknoteref-3248"><small>3248</small></a> that + this or that individual who taxed himself at forty-eight livres, is taxed + at a hundred and fifty; another, a cultivator, who had offered six livres, + is judged to be able to pay over one hundred. Every regiment contains a + small number of select brave men, and it is always these who are ready to + advance under fire. Every State contains a select few of honest men who + advance to meet the tax-collector. Some effective constraint is essential + in the regiment to supply those with courage who have but little, and in + the State to supply those with probity who do not possess it. Hence, + during the eight months which follow, from May 1st, 1790, to January 1st, + 1791, the patriotic contribution furnishes but 11,000,000 livres. Two + years later, on the 1st of February, 1793, out of the forty thousand + communal tax-rolls which should provide for it, there are seven thousand + which are not yet drawn up; out of 180,000,000 livres which it ought to + produce, there are 70,000,000 livres which are still due.—The + resistance of the tax-payer produces a similar deficit, and similar delays + in all branches of the national income.<a href="#linknote-3249" + name="linknoteref-3249" id="linknoteref-3249"><small>3249</small></a> In + the month of June, 1790, a deputy declares in the tribune that "out of + thirty-six millions of imposts which ought to be returned each month only + nine have been received."<a href="#linknote-3250" name="linknoteref-3250" + id="linknoteref-3250"><small>3250</small></a> In the month of November, + 1791, a reporter on the budget states that the receipts, which should + amount to forty or forty-eight millions a month, do not reach eleven + millions and a half. On February 1, 1793, there remains still due on the + direct taxes of 1789 and 1790 one hundred and seventy-six millions. It is + evident that the people struggle with all their might against the old + taxes, even authorized and prolonged by the Constituent Assembly, and all + that is obtained from them is wrested from them. + </p> + <p> + Will the people be more docile under the new taxation? The Assembly + exhorts them to be so and shows them how, with the relief they have gained + and with the patriotism they ought to possess, they can and should + discharge their dues. The people are able to do it because, having got rid + of tithes, feudal dues, the salt-tax, octrois and excise duties, they are + in a comfortable position. They should do so, because the taxation adopted + is indispensable to the State, equitable, assessed on all in proportion to + their fortune, collected and expended under rigid scrutiny, without + perversion or waste, according to precise, clear, periodical and audited + accounts. No doubt exists that, after the 1st of January, 1791, the date + when the new financial scheme comes into operation, each tax-payer will + gladly pay as a good citizen, and the two hundred and forty millions of + the new tax on real property, and the sixty millions of that on personal + property, leaving out the rest—registries, license, and customs + duties—will flow in regularly and easily of their own accord. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, before the tax-gatherer can collect the first two levies + these have to be assessed, and as there are complicated writings and + formalities, claims to settle amidst great resistance and local ignorance, + the operation is indefinitely prolonged. The personal and land-tax + schedule of 1791 is not transmitted to the departments by the Assembly + until June, 1791. The departments do not distribute it among the districts + until the months of July, August, and September, 1791. It is not + distributed by the districts among the communes before October, November, + and December, 1791. Thus in the last month of 1791 it is not yet + distributed to the tax-payers by the communes; from which it follows that + on the budget of 1791 and throughout that year, the tax-payer has paid + nothing.—At last, in 1792, everybody begins to receive this + assessment. It would require a volume to set forth the partiality and + dissimulation of these assessments. In the first place the office of + assessor is one of danger; the municipal authorities, whose duty it is to + assign the quotas, are not comfortable in their town quarters. Already, in + 1790,<a href="#linknote-3251" name="linknoteref-3251" id="linknoteref-3251"><small>3251</small></a> + the municipal officers of Monbazon have been threatened with death if they + dared to tax industrial pursuits on the tax-roll, and they escaped to + Tours in the middle of the night. Even at Tours, three or four hundred + insurgents of the vicinity, dragging along with them the municipal + officers of three market-towns, come and declare to the town authorities + "that for all taxes they will not pay more than forty-five sous per + household." I have already narrated how, in 1792, in the same department, + "they kill, they assassinate the municipal officers" who presume to + publish the tax-rolls of personal property. In Creuse, at Clugnac, the + moment the clerk begins to read the document, the women spring upon him, + seize the tax-roll, and "tear it up with countless imprecations;" the + municipal council is assailed, and two hundred persons stone its members, + one of whom is thrown down, has his head shaved, and is promenaded through + the village in derision.—When the small tax-payer defends himself in + this manner, it is a warning that he must be humored. The assessment, + accordingly, in the village councils is made amongst a knot of cronies. + Each relieves himself of the burden by shoving it off on somebody else. + "They tax the large proprietors, whom they want to make pay the whole + tax." The noble, the old seigneur, is the most taxed, and to such an + extent that in many places his income does not suffice to pay his quota.—In + the next place they make themselves out poor, and falsify or elude the + prescriptions of the law. "In most of the municipalities, houses, + tenements, and factories<a href="#linknote-3252" name="linknoteref-3252" + id="linknoteref-3252"><small>3252</small></a> are estimated according to + the value of the area they cover, and considered as land of the first + class, which reduces the quota to almost nothing." And this fraud is not + practiced in the villages alone. "Communes of eight or ten thousand souls + might be cited which have arranged matters so well amongst themselves in + this respect that not a house is to be found worth more than fifty sous."—Last + expedient of all, the commune defers as long as it can the preparation of + its tax-rolls. On the 30th of January, 1792, out of 40,211, there are only + 2,560 which are complete; on the 5th of October, 1792, the schedules are + not made out in 4,800 municipalities, and it must be noted that all this + relates to a term of administration which has been finished for more than + nine months. At the same date, there are more than six thousand communes + which have not yet begun to collect the land-tax of 1791, and more than + fifteen thousand communes which have not yet begun to collect the personal + tax; the Treasury and the departments have not yet received 152,000,000 + francs, there being still 222,000,000 to collect. On the 1st February, + 1793, there still remains due on the same period 161,000,000 francs, while + of the 50,000,000 assessed in 1790, to replace the salt-tax and other + suppressed duties, only 2,000,000 have been collected. Finally, at the + same date, out of the two direct taxes of 1792, which should produce + 300,000,000, less than 4,000,000 have been received.—It is a maxim + of the debtor that he must put off payment as long as possible. Whoever + the creditor may be, the State or a private individual, a leg or a wing + may be saved by dint of procrastination. The maxim is true, and, on this + occasion, success once more demonstrates its soundness. During the year + 1792, the peasant begins to discharge a portion of his arrears, but it is + with assignats. In January, February, and March, 1792, the assignats + diminish thirty-four, forty-four, and forty-five per cent. in value; in + January, February, and March, 1793, forty-seven and fifty percent.; in + May, June, and July, 1793, fifty-four, sixty, and sixty-seven per cent. + Thus has the old credit of the State melted away in its hands; those who + have held on to their crowns gain fifty per cent. and more. Again, the + greater their delay the more their debts diminish, and already, on the + strength of this, the way to release themselves at half-price is found. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, hands are laid on the badly defended landed property of this + feeble creditor.—It is always difficult for rude brains to form any + conception of the vague, invisible, abstract entity called the State, to + regard it as a veritable personage and a legitimate proprietor, especially + when they are persistently told that the State is everybody. The property + of all is the property of each, and as the forests belong to the public, + the first-comer has a right to profit by them. In the month of December, + 1789,<a href="#linknote-3253" name="linknoteref-3253" id="linknoteref-3253"><small>3253</small></a> + bands of sixty men or more chop down the trees in the Bois de Boulogne and + at Vincennes. In April, 1790, in the forest of Saint-Germain, "the patrols + arrest all kinds of delinquents day and night:" handed over to the + National Guards and municipalities in the vicinity, these are "almost + immediately released, even with the wood which they have cut down against + the law." iii There is no means of repressing "the reiterated threats and + insults of the low class of people." A mob of women, urged on by an old + French guardsman, come and pillage under the nose of the escort a load of + faggots confiscated for the benefit of a hospital; and in the forest + itself, bands of marauders fire upon the patrols.—At Chantilly, + three game-keepers are mortally wounded;<a href="#linknote-3254" + name="linknoteref-3254" id="linknoteref-3254"><small>3254</small></a> both + parks are devastated for eighteen consecutive days; the game is all + killed, transported to Paris and sold.—At Chambord the lieutenant of + the constabulary writes to announce his powerlessness; the woods are + ravaged and even burnt; the poachers are now masters of the situation; + breaches in the wall are made by them, and the water from the pond is + drawn off to enable them to catch the fish.—At Claix, in Dauphiny, + an officer of the jurisdiction of woods and forests, who has secured an + injunction against the inhabitants for cutting down trees on leased + ground, is seized, tortured during five hours, and then stoned to death.—In + vain does the National Assembly issue three decrees and regulations, + placing the forests under the supervision and protection of administrative + bodies,—he latter are too much afraid of their charge. Between the + central power, which is weak and remote, and the people, present and + strong, they always decide in favor of the latter. Not one of the five + municipalities surrounding Chantilly is disposed to assist in the + execution of the laws, while the directories of the district and + department respectively, sanction their inertia.—Similarly, near + Toulouse,<a href="#linknote-3255" name="linknoteref-3255" + id="linknoteref-3255"><small>3255</small></a> where the magnificent forest + of Larramet is devastated in open day and by an armed force, where the + wanton destruction by the populace leaves nothing of the underwood and + shrubbery but "a few scattered trees and the remains of trunks cut at + different heights," the municipalities of Toulouse and of Tournefeuille + refuse all aid. And worse still, in other provinces, as for instance in + Alsace, "whole municipalities, with their mayors at the head, cut down + woods which are confided to them, and carry them off."<a + href="#linknote-3256" name="linknoteref-3256" id="linknoteref-3256"><small>3256</small></a> + If some tribunal is disposed to enforce the law, it is to no purpose; it + takes the risk, either of not being allowed to give judgment, or of being + constrained to reverse its decision. At Paris the judgment prepared + against the incendiaries of the tax-offices could not be given. At + Montargis, the sentence pronounced against the marauders who had stolen + cartloads of wood in the national forests had to be revised, and by the + judges themselves. The moment the tribunal announced the confiscation of + the carts and horses which had been seized, there arose a furious outcry + against it; the court was insulted by those present; the condemned parties + openly declared that they would have their carts and horses back by force. + Upon this "the judges withdrew into the council-chamber, and when soon + after they resumed their seats, that part of their decision which related + to the confiscation was canceled." + </p> + <p> + And yet this administration of justice, ludicrous and flouted as it may + be, is still a sort of barrier. When it falls, along with the Government, + everything is exposed to plunder, and there is no such thing as public + property.—After August 10, 1792, each commune or individual + appropriates whatever comes in its way, either products or the soil + itself. Some of the plunderers go so far as to say that, since the + Government no longer represses them, they act under its authority.<a + href="#linknote-3257" name="linknoteref-3257" id="linknoteref-3257"><small>3257</small></a> + "They have destroyed even the recent plantation of young trees." "One of + the villages near Fontainebleau cleared off and divided an entire grove. + At Rambouillet, from August 10th to the end of October," the loss is more + than 100,000 crowns; the rural agitators demand with threats the partition + of the forest among the inhabitants. "The destruction is enormous" + everywhere, prolonged for entire months, and of such a kind, says the + minister, as to dry up this source of public revenue for a long time to + come.—Communal property is no more respected than national property. + In each commune, these bold and needy folk, the rural populace, are + privileged to enjoy and make the most of it. Not content with enjoying it, + they desire to acquire ownership of it, and, for days after the King's + fall, the Legislative Assembly, losing its footing in the universal + breaking up, empowers the indigent to put in force the agrarian law. + Henceforth it suffices in any commune for one-third of its inhabitants of + both sexes, servants, common laborers, shepherds, farm-hands or cowherds, + and even paupers, to demand a partition of the communal possessions. All + that the commune owns, save public edifices and woods, is to be cut up + into as many equal lots as there are heads, the lots to be drawn for, and + each individual to take possession of his or her portion.<a + href="#linknote-3258" name="linknoteref-3258" id="linknoteref-3258"><small>3258</small></a> + The Operation is carried out, for "those who are least well off are + infinitely flattered by it." In the district of Arcis-sur-Aube, there are + not a dozen communes out of ninety in which more than two-thirds of the + voters had the good sense to pronounce against it. From this time forth + the commune ceases to be an independent proprietor; it has nothing to fall + back upon. In case of distress it is obliged to lay on extra taxes and + obtain, if it can, a few additional sous. Its future revenue is at present + in the tightly buttoned pockets of the new proprietors.—The + prevalence of short-sighted views is once more due to the covetousness of + individuals. Whether national or communal, it is always public interest + which succumbs, and it succumbs always under the usurpations of indigent + minorities, at one time through the feebleness of public authority, which + dares not oppose their violence, and at another through the complicity of + public authority, which has conferred upon them the rights of the + majority. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—Cupidity of tenants. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The third and fourth jacquerie.—Brittany and other + provinces in 1790 and 1791.—The burning of chateaux. + —Title-deeds destroyed.—Refusal of claims.—Destruction of + reservoirs.—Principal characteristics, prime motive and + ruling passion of the revolution +</pre> + <p> + When there is a lack of public force for the protection of public + property, there is also a lack of it for the protection of private + property, for the same greed and the same needs attack both. Let a man owe + anything either to the State or to an individual, and the temptation not + to pay is equally the same. In both cases it suffices to find a pretext + for denying the debt; in finding this pretext the cupidity of the tenant + is as good as the selfishness of the tax-payer. Now that the feudal system + is abolished let nothing remain of it: let there be no more seignorial + claims. "If the Assembly has maintained some of them, yonder in Paris, it + did so inadvertently or through corruption: we shall soon hear of all + being suppressed. In the meantime we will relieve ourselves, and burn the + agreements in the places where they are kept." + </p> + <p> + Such being the argument, the jacquerie breaks out afresh: in truth, it is + permanent and universal. Just as in a body in which some of the elements + of its vital substance are affected by an organic disease, the evil is + apparent in the parts which seem to be sound: even where as yet no + outbreak has occurred, one is imminent; constant anxiety, a profound + restlessness, a low fever, denote its presence. Here, the debtor does not + pay, and the creditor is afraid to prosecute him. In other places isolated + eruptions occur. At Auxon,<a href="#linknote-3259" name="linknoteref-3259" + id="linknoteref-3259"><small>3259</small></a> on an estate spared by the + great jacquerie of July, 1789, the woods are ravaged, and the peasants, + enraged at being denounced by the keepers, march to the chateau, which is + occupied by an old man and a child; everybody belonging to the village is + there, men and women; they hew down the barricaded door with their axes, + and fire on the neighbors who come to the assistance of its inmates.—In + other places, in the districts of Saint-Étienne and Montbrison, "the trees + belonging to the proprietors are carried away with impunity, and the walls + of their grounds and terraces are demolished, the complainants being + threatened with death or with the sight of the destruction of their + dwellings." Near Paris, around Montargis, Nemours, and Fontainebleau, a + number of parishes refuse to pay the tithes and ground-rent (champart) + which the Assembly has a second time sanctioned; gibbets are erected and + the collectors are threatened with hanging, while, in the neighborhood of + Tonnerre, a mob of debtors fire upon the body of police which comes to + enforce the claims.—Near Amiens, the Comtesse de la Mire,<a + href="#linknote-3260" name="linknoteref-3260" id="linknoteref-3260"><small>3260</small></a> + on her estate of Davencourt, is visited by the municipal authorities of + the village, who request her to renounce her right to ground-rent + (champart) and thirds (tiers). She refuses and they insist, and she + refuses again, when they inform her that "some misfortune will happen to + her." In effect, two of the municipal officers cause the tocsin to be + rung, and the whole village rushes to arms. One of the domestics has an + arm broken by a ball, and for three hours the countess and her two + children are subject to the grossest insults and to blows: she is forced + to sign a paper which she is not allowed to read, and, in warding off the + stroke of a saber, her arm is cleft from the elbow to the wrist; the + chateau is pillaged, and she owes her escape to the zeal of some of her + servants.—Large eruptions take place at the same time over entire + provinces; one succeeds the other almost without interruption, the fever + encroaching on parts which were supposed to be cured, and to such an + extent that the virulent ulcers finally combine and form one over the + whole surface of the social body. + </p> + <p> + By the end of December, 1789, the chronic fermentation comes to a head in + Brittany. Imagination, as usual, has forged a plot, and, as the people + say, if they make an attack it is in their own defense.—A report + spreads<a href="#linknote-3261" name="linknoteref-3261" + id="linknoteref-3261"><small>3261</small></a> that M. de Goyon, near + Lamballe, has assembled in his chateau a number of gentlemen and six + hundred soldiers. The mayor and National Guard of Lamballe immediately + depart in force; they find everything tranquil there, and no company but + two or three friends, and no other arms than a few fowling-pieces.—The + impulse, however, is given, and, on the 15th of January, the great + federation of Pontivy has excited the wildest enthusiasm. The people + drink, sing, and shout in honor of the new decrees before armed peasants + who do not comprehend the French tongue, still less legal terms, and who, + on their return home, arguing with each other in bas-breton, interpret the + law in a peculiar way. "A decree of the Assembly, in their eyes, is a + decree of arrest" and as the principal decrees of the Assembly are issued + against the nobles, they are so many decrees of arrest against them.—Some + days after this, about the end of January, during the whole of February, + and down to the month of April, the execution of this theory is + tumultuously carried out by mobs of villagers and vagabonds around Nantes, + Auray, Redon, Dinan, Ploërmel, Rennes, Guingamp, and other villages. + Everywhere, writes the Mayor of Nantes,<a href="#linknote-3262" + name="linknoteref-3262" id="linknoteref-3262"><small>3262</small></a> "the + country-people believe that in burning deeds and contracts they get rid of + their debts; the very best of them concur in this belief," or let things + take their course; the excesses are enormous, because many gratify + "special animosities, and all are heated with wine.—At Beuvres, "the + peasants and vassals of the manor, after burning title-deeds, establish + themselves in the chateau, and threaten to fire it if other papers, which + they allege are concealed there, are not surrendered." Near Redon the + Abbey of Saint-Sauveur is reduced to ashes. Redon is menaced, and Ploërmel + almost besieged. At the end of a month thirty-seven chateaux are + enumerated as attacked: twenty-five in which the title-deeds are burnt, + and twelve in which the proprietors are obliged to sign an abandonment of + their rights. Two chateaux which began to burn are saved by the National + Guard. That of Bois-au-Voyer is entirely consumed, and several have been + sacked. By way of addition, "more than fifteen procureurs-fiscaux, clerks, + notaries, and officers of seignorial courts have been plundered or burnt," + while proprietors take refuge in the towns because the country is now + uninhabitable for them. + </p> + <p> + A second tumor makes its appearance at the same time at another point.<a + href="#linknote-3263" name="linknoteref-3263" id="linknoteref-3263"><small>3263</small></a> + It showed itself in Lower Limousin in the beginning of January. From + thence the purulent inflammation spreads to Quercy, Upper Languedoc, + Perigord, and Rouergue, and in February from Tulle to Montauban, and from + Agen to Périgueux and Cahors, extending over three departments.—Then, + also, expectancy is the creator, according to rule, of its own object. By + dint of longing for a law for the suppression of all claims, it is + imagined that it is passed, and the statement is current that "the King + and the National Assembly have ordered deputations to set up the maypole<a + href="#linknote-3264" name="linknoteref-3264" id="linknoteref-3264"><small>3264</small></a> + and to 'light up' the chateaux."—Moreover, and always in accordance + with current practice, bandits, people without occupation, take the lead + of the furious crowd and manage things their own way. As soon as a band is + formed it arrests all the peaceable people it can find on the roads, in + the fields, and in isolated farmhouses, and takes good care to put them in + front in case of blows.—These miscreants add terror to compulsion. + They erect gibbets for any one that pays casual duties or annual dues, + while the parishes of Quercy threaten their neighbors of Perigord with + fire and sword in a week's time if they do not do in Perigord as they have + done in Quercy.—The tocsin rings, the drums beat, and "the ceremony" + is performed from commune to commune. The keys of the church are forcibly + taken from the curé the seats are burned, and, frequently, the woodwork + marked with the seigneur's arms. They march to the seigneur's mansion, + tear down his weathercocks, and compel him to furnish his finest tree, + together with feathers and ribbons with which to deck it, without omitting + the three measures which he uses in the collection of his dues in grain or + flour. The maypole is planted in the village square, and the weathercocks, + ribbons, and feathers are attached to its top, together with the three + measures and this inscription, "By order of the King and National + Assembly, the final quittance for all rentals." When this is done it is + evident that the seigneur, who no longer possesses weathercocks, or a seat + in the church, or measures to rate his dues by, is no longer a seigneur, + and can no longer put forth claims of any kind. Huzzahs and acclamations + accordingly burst forth, and there is a revel and an orgy on the public + square. All who can pay—the seigneur, the curé, and the rich—are + put under contribution for the festival, while the people eat and drink + "without any interval of sobriety."—In this condition, being armed, + they strike, and when resistance is offered, they burn. In Agénois, a + chateau belonging to M. de Lameth, and another of M. d'Aiguillon; in Upper + Languedoc, that of M. de Bournazel, and in Perigord that of M. de Bar, are + burnt down: + </p> + <p> + M. de Bar is almost beaten to death, while six others are killed in + Quercy. A number of chateaux in the environs of Montauban and in Limousin + are assaulted with firearms, and several are pillaged.—Bands of + twelve hundred men swarm the country; "they have a spite against every + estate;" they redress wrongs; "they try over again cases disposed of + thirty years ago, and give judgments which they put into execution."—If + anybody fails to conform to the new code he is punished, and to the + advantage of the new sovereigns. In Agénois, a gentleman having paid the + rent which was associated with his fief the people take his receipt from + him, mulct him in a sum equal to that which he paid, and come under his + windows to spend the money on good cheer, in triumph and with derision. + </p> + <p> + Many of the National Guards who still possess some degree of energy, + several of the municipalities which still preserve some love of order, and + a number of the resident gentry, employ their arms against these excited + swarms of brutal usurpers. Some of the ruffians, taken in the act, are + judged somewhat after the fashion of a drum-head court-martial, and + immediately executed as examples. Everybody in the country sees that the + peril to society is great and urgent, and that if such acts go unpunished, + there will be no such thing as law and property in France. The Bordeaux + parliament, moreover, insists upon prosecutions. Eighty-three boroughs and + cities sign addresses, and send a special deputation to the National + Assembly to urge on prosecutions already commenced, the punishment of + criminals under arrest, and, above all, the maintenance of the prévôtés.<a + href="#linknote-3265" name="linknoteref-3265" id="linknoteref-3265"><small>3265</small></a> + In reply to this, the Assembly inflicts upon the parliament of Bordeaux + its disapprobation in the rudest manner, and enters upon the demolition of + every judicial corporation.<a href="#linknote-3266" name="linknoteref-3266" + id="linknoteref-3266"><small>3266</small></a> After this, the execution of + all prévotal decisions is adjourned. A few months later the Assembly will + oblige the King to declare that the proceedings begun against the + jacquerie of Brittany shall be regarded as null and void, and that the + arrested insurgents shall be set free. For repressive purposes, it + dispatches a sentimental exhortation to the French people, consisting of + twelve pages of literary insipidity, which Florian might have composed for + his Estilles and his Nemorins.<a href="#linknote-3267" + name="linknoteref-3267" id="linknoteref-3267"><small>3267</small></a>—New + conflagrations, as an inevitable consequence, kindle around live coals + which have been imperfectly extinguished. In the district of Saintes,<a + href="#linknote-3268" name="linknoteref-3268" id="linknoteref-3268"><small>3268</small></a> + M. Dupaty, counselor of the parliament of Bordeaux, after having exhausted + mild resources, and having concluded by issuing writs against those of his + tenantry who would not pay their rents, the parish of Saint-Thomas de + Cosnac, combined with five or six others, puts itself in motion and + assails his two chateaux of Bois-Roche and Saint-George-des-Agouts; these + are plundered and then set on fire, his son escaping through a volley of + musket-balls. They visit Martin, the notary and steward, in the same + fashion; his furniture is pillaged and his money is taken, and "his + daughter undergoes the most frightful outrages." Another detachment pushes + on to the house of-the Marquis de Cumont, and forces him, under the + penalty of having his house burnt down, to give a discharge for all the + claims he has upon them. At the head of these incendiaries are the + municipal officers of Saint-Thomas, except the mayor, who has taken to + flight. + </p> + <p> + The electoral system organized by the Constituent Assembly is beginning to + take effect. "Almost everywhere," writes the royal commissioner, "the + large proprietors have been eliminated, and the offices have been filled + by men who strictly fulfill the conditions of eligibility. The result is a + sort of rage of the petty rich to annoy those who enjoy large heritages."—Six + months later, the National Guards and village authorities in this same + department at Aujean, Migron, and Varaise, decide that no more tithes, + agriers or champarts, nor any of the dues which are retained, shall be + paid. In vain does the department annul the decision, and send its + commissioners, gendarmes, and law-officers. The commissioners are driven + away, and the officers and gendarmes are fired upon; the vice-president of + the district, who was on his way to make his report to the department, is + seized on the road and forced to give in his resignation. Seven parishes + have coalesced with Aujean and ten with Migron; Varaise has sounded the + tocsin, and the villages for four leagues round have risen; fifteen + hundred men, armed with guns, scythes, hatchets and pitchforks, lend their + aid. The object is to set free the principal leader at Varaise, one + Planche, who was arrested, and to punish the mayor of Varaise, Latierce, + who is suspected of having denounced Planche. Latierce is unmercifully + beaten, and "forced to undergo a thousand torments during thirty hours;" + then they set out with him to Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and demand the release + of Planche. The municipality at first refuses, but finally consents on the + condition that Latierce be given up in exchange for him. Planche, + consequently, is set at liberty and welcomed with shouts of triumph. + Latierce, however, is not given up; on the contrary, he is tormented for + an hour and then massacred, while the directory of the district, which is + less submissive than the municipal body, is forced to fly.—Symptoms + of this kind are not to be mistaken, and similar ones exist in Brittany. + It is evident that the minds of the people are permanently in revolt. + Instead of the social abscess being relieved by the discharge, it is + always filling up and getting more inflamed. It will burst a second time + in the same places; in 1791 as in 1790, the jacquerie spreads throughout + Brittany as it has spread over Limousin. + </p> + <p> + This is because the determination of the peasant is of another nature than + ours, his will being more firm and tenacious. When an idea obtains a hold + on him it takes root in an obscure and profound conviction upon which + neither discussion nor argument have any effect; once planted, it + vegetates according to his notions, not according to ours, and no + legislative text, no judicial verdict, no administrative remonstrance can + change in any respect the fruit it produces. This fruit, developed during + centuries, is the feeling of an excessive plunder, and, consequently, the + need of an absolute release. Too much having been paid to everybody, the + peasant now is not disposed to pay anything to anybody, and this idea, + vainly repressed, always rises up in the manner of an instinct.—In + the month of January, 1791,<a href="#linknote-3269" name="linknoteref-3269" + id="linknoteref-3269"><small>3269</small></a> bands again form in + Brittany, owing to the proprietors of the ancient fiefs having insisted on + the payment of their rents. At first the coalesced parishes refuse to pay + the stewards, and after this the rustic National Guards enter the chateaux + to constrain the proprietors. Generally, it is the commander of the + National Guard, and sometimes the communal attorney, who dictates to the + lord of the manor the renunciation of his claims; they oblige him, + moreover, to sign notes for the benefit of the parish, or for that of + various private individuals. This is considered by them to be compensation + for damages; all feudal dues being abolished, he must return what he + received from them during the past year, and as they have been put to + inconvenience he must indemnify them by "paying them for their time and + journey." Such are the operations of two of the principal bands, one of + them numbering fifteen hundred men, around Dinan and St. Malo; for greater + security they burn title-deeds in the chateaux of Saint-Tual, Besso, + Beaumanoir, La Rivière, La Bellière, Chateauneuf, Chenay, Chausavoir, + Tourdelon, and Chalonge; and as a climax they set fire to Chateauneuf just + before the arrival of the regular troops.—In the beginning, a dim + conception of legal and social order seems to be floating in their brains; + at Saint-Tual, before taking 2,000 livres from the steward, they oblige + the mayor to give them his consent in writing; at Yvignac, their chief, + called upon to show the authority under which he acted, declares that "he + is authorized by the general will of the populace of the nation."<a + href="#linknote-3270" name="linknoteref-3270" id="linknoteref-3270"><small>3270</small></a>—But + when, at the end of a month, they are beaten by the regular troops, made + furious by the blows given and taken, and excited by the weakness of the + municipal authorities who release their prisoners, they then become + bandits of the worst species. During the night of the 22nd of February, + the chateau of Villefranche, three leagues from Malestroit, is attacked. + Thirty-two rascals with their faces masked, and led by a chief in the + national uniform, break open the door. The domestics are strangled. The + proprietor, M. de la Bourdonnaie, an old man, with his wife aged sixty, + are half killed by blows and tied fast to their bed, and after this a fire + is applied to their feet and they are warmed (chauffé). In the meantime + the plate, linen, stuffs, jewelry, two thousand francs in silver, and even + watches, buckles, and rings,—everything is pillaged, piled on the + backs of the eleven horses in the stables, and carried off.—When + property is concerned, one sort of outrage provokes another, the narrow + cupidity of the lease-holder being completed by the unlimited rapacity of + the brigand. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, in the south-western provinces, the same causes have produced + the same results; and towards the end of autumn, when the crops are + gathered in and the proprietors demand their dues in money or in produce, + the peasant, immovably fixed in his idea, again refuses.<a + href="#linknote-3271" name="linknoteref-3271" id="linknoteref-3271"><small>3271</small></a> + In his eyes, any law that may be against him is not that of the National + Assembly, but of the so-called seigneurs, who have extorted or + manufactured it; and therefore it is null. The department and district + administrators may promulgate it as much as they please: it does not + concern him, and if the opportunity occurs, he knows how to make them + smart for it. The village National Guards, who are lease-holders like + himself, side with him, and instead of repressing him give him their + support. As a commencement, he replants the maypoles, as a sign of + emancipation, and erects the gibbet by way of a threat.—In the + district of Gourdon, the regulars and the police having been sent to put + them down, the tocsin is at once sounded: a crowd of peasants, amounting + to four or five thousand, arrives from every surrounding parish, armed + with scythes and guns; the soldiers, forming a body of one hundred, retire + into a church, where they capitulate after a siege of twenty-four hours, + being obliged to give the names of the proprietors who demanded their + intervention of the district, and who are Messrs. Hébray, de Fontange, and + many others. All their houses are destroyed from top to bottom, and they + effect their escape in order not to be hung. The chateaux of Repaire and + Salviat are burned. At the expiration of eight days Quercy is in flames + and thirty chateaux are destroyed.—The leader of a band of rustic + National Guards, Joseph Linard, at the head of a village army, penetrates + into Gourdon, installs himself in the Hôtel-de-Ville, declares himself the + people's protector against the directory of the district, writes to the + department in the name of his "companions in arms," and vaunts his + patriotism. Meanwhile he commands as a conqueror, throws open the prisons, + and promises that, if the regular troops and police be sent off; he and + his companions will withdraw in good order.—This species of + tumultuous authority, however, instituted by acclamation for attack, is + powerless for resistance. Scarcely has Linard retired when savagery is let + loose. "A price is set upon the heads of the administrators; their houses + are the first devastated; all the houses of wealthy citizens are pillaged; + and the same is the case with all chateaux and country habitations which + display any signs of luxury."—Fifteen gentlemen, assembled together + at the house of M. d'Escayrac, in Castel, appeal to all good citizens to + march to the assistance of the proprietors who may be attacked in this + jacquerie, which is spreading everywhere;<a href="#linknote-3272" + name="linknoteref-3272" id="linknoteref-3272"><small>3272</small></a> but + there are too few proprietors in the country, and none of the towns have + too many of them for their own protection. M. d'Escayrac, after a few + skirmishes, abandoned by the municipal officers of his village, and + wounded, withdraws to the house of the Comte de Clarac, a major-general, + in Languedoc. Here, too, the chateau, is surrounded,<a + href="#linknote-3273" name="linknoteref-3273" id="linknoteref-3273"><small>3273</small></a> + blockaded, and besieged by the local National Guard. M. de Clarac descends + and tries to hold a parley with the attacking party, and is fired upon. He + goes back inside and throws money out of the window; the money is gathered + up, and he is again fired upon. The chateau is set on fire, and M. + d'Escayrac receives five shots, and is killed. M. de Clarac, with another + person, having taken refuge in a subterranean vault, are taken out almost + stifled the next morning but one by the National Guard of the vicinity, + who conduct them to Toulouse, where they are kept in prison and where the + public prosecutor takes proceedings against them. The chateau of Bagat, + near Montouq, is demolished at the same time. The abbey of Espagnac, near + Figeac, is assaulted with fire-arms; the abbess is forced to refund all + rents she has collected, and to restore four thousand livres for the + expenses of a trial which the convent had gained twenty years before. + </p> + <p> + After such successes, the extension of the revolt is inevitable; and at + the end of some weeks and months it becomes permanent in the three + neighboring departments.—In Creuse,<a href="#linknote-3274" + name="linknoteref-3274" id="linknoteref-3274"><small>3274</small></a> the + judges are threatened with death if they order the payment of seignorial + dues, and the same fate awaits all proprietors who claim their rents. In + many places, and especially in the mountains, the peasants, "considering + that they form the nation, and that clerical possessions are national," + want to have these divided amongst themselves, instead of their being + sold. Fifty parishes around La Souterraine receive incendiary letters + inviting them to come in arms to the town, in order to secure by force, + and by staking their lives, the production of all titles to rentals. The + peasants, in a circle of eight leagues, are all stirred up by the sound of + the tocsin, and preceded by the municipal officers in their scarves; there + are four thousand of them, and they drag with them a wagon full of arms: + this is for the revision and re-constitution of the ownership of the soil.—In + Dordogne,<a href="#linknote-3275" name="linknoteref-3275" + id="linknoteref-3275"><small>3275</small></a> self-appointed arbitrators + interpose imperiously between the proprietor and the small farmer, at the + time of harvest, to prevent the proprietor from claiming, and the farmer + from paying, the tithes or the réve;<a href="#linknote-3276" + name="linknoteref-3276" id="linknoteref-3276"><small>3276</small></a> any + agreement to this end is forbidden; whoever shall transgress the new order + of things, proprietor or farmer, shall be hung. Accordingly, the rural + militia in the districts of Bergerac, Excideuil, Ribérac, Mucidan, + Montignac, and Perigueux, led by the municipal officers, go from commune + to commune in order to force the proprietors to sign an act of withdrawal; + and these visits "are always accompanied with robberies, outrages, and + ill-treatment from which there is no escape but in absolute submission." + Moreover, "they demand the abolition of every species of tax and the + partition of the soil. "—It is impossible for "proprietors + moderately rich" to remain in the country; on all sides they take refuge + in Perigueux, and there, organizing in companies, along with the + gendarmerie and the National Guard of the town, overrun the cantons to + restore order. But there is no way of persuading the peasantry that it is + order which they wish to restore. With that stubbornness of the + imagination which no obstacle arrests, and which, like a vigorous spring, + always finds some outlet, the people declare that "the gendarmes and + National Guard" who come to restrain them "are priests and gentlemen in + disguise."—The new theories, moreover, have struck down to the + lowest depths; and nothing is easier than to draw from them the abolition + of debts, and even the agrarian law. At Ribérac, which is invaded by the + people of the neighboring parishes, a village tailor, taking the catechism + of the Constitution from his pocket, argues with the procureur-syndic, and + proves to him that the insurgents are only exercising the rights of man. + The book states, in the first place, "that Frenchmen are equals and + brethren, and that they should give each other aid;" and that "the masters + should share with their fellows, especially this year, which is one of + scarcity." In the next place, it is written that "all property belongs to + the nation," and that is the reason why "it has taken the possessions of + the Church." Now, all Frenchmen compose the nation, and the conclusion is + clearly apparent. Since, in the eyes of the tailor, the property of + individual Frenchmen belongs to all the French, he, the tailor, has a + right to at least the quota which belongs to him.—One travels fast + and far on this downhill road, for every mob considers that this means + immediate enjoyment, and enjoyment according to its own ideas. There is no + care for neighbors or for consequences, even when imminent and physical, + and in twenty places the confiscated property perishes in the hands of the + usurpers. + </p> + <p> + This voluntary destruction of property can be best observed in the third + department, that of Corrèze.<a href="#linknote-3277" + name="linknoteref-3277" id="linknoteref-3277"><small>3277</small></a> Not + only have the peasants here refused to pay rents from the beginning of the + Revolution; not only have they "planted maypoles, supplied with iron + hooks, to hang the first one that dared to claim or to pay them;" not only + are violent acts of every description committed "by entire communes," "the + National Guards of the small communes participating in them;" not only do + the culprits, whose arrest is ordered, remain at liberty, while "nothing + is spoken of but the hanging of the constables who serve writs," but + farther, together with the ownership of the water-sources, the power of + collecting, directing, and distributing the water is overthrown, and, in a + country of in a country of steep slopes, the consequences of such an + operation may be imagined. Three leagues from Tulle, in a forming a + semi-circle, a pond twenty feet in depth, and covering an area of three + hundred acres, was enclosed by a broad embankment on the side of a very + deep gorge, which was completely covered with houses, mills, and + cultivation. On the 17th of April, 1791, a troop of five hundred armed men + assembled by the beat of a drum, and collected from three villages in the + vicinity, set themselves to demolish the dike. The proprietor, M. de + Sedières, a substitute-deputy in the National Assembly, is not advised of + it until eleven o'clock in the evening. Mounting his horse, along with his + guests and domestics, he makes a charge on the insane wretches, and, with + the aid of pistol and gun shots, disperses them. It was time, for the + trench they had dug was already eight feet deep, and the water was nearly + on a level with it: a half-hour later and the terrible rolling mass of + waters would have poured out on the inhabitants of the gorge.—But + such vigorous strokes, which are rare and hardly ever successful, are no + defense against universal and continuous attacks. The regular troops and + the gendarmerie, both of which are in the way of reorganization or of + dissolution, are not trustworthy, or are too weak. There are no more than + thirty of the cavalry in Creuse, and as many in Corrèze. The National + Guards of the towns are knocked up by expeditions into the country, and + there is no money with which to provide for their change of quarters. And + finally, as the elections are in the hands of the people, this brings into + power men disposed to tolerate popular excesses. At Tulle, the electors of + the second class, almost all chosen from among the cultivators, and, + moreover, catechized by the club, nominate for deputies and public + prosecutor only the candidates who are pledged against rentals and against + water privileges.—Accordingly, the general demolition of the dikes + begins as the month of May approaches. This operation continues unopposed + on a vast pond, a league and a half from the town, and lasts for a whole + week; elsewhere, on the arrival of the guards or of the gendarmerie, they + are fired upon. Towards the end of September, all the embankments in the + department are broken down: nothing is left in the place of the ponds but + fetid marshes; the mill-wheels no longer turn, and the fields are no + longer watered. But those who demolish them carry away baskets full of + fish, and the soil of the ponds again becomes communal.—Hatred is + not the motive which impels them, but the instinct of acquisition: all + these violent outstretched hands, which rigidly resist the law, are + directed against property, but not against the proprietor; they are more + greedy than hostile. One of the noblemen of Corrèze,<a + href="#linknote-3278" name="linknoteref-3278" id="linknoteref-3278"><small>3278</small></a> + M. de Saint-Victour, has been absent for five years. From the beginning of + the Revolution, although his feudal dues constitute one-half of the income + of his estate, he has given orders that no rigorous measures shall be + employed in their collection, and the result is that, since 1789, none of + them were collected. Moreover, having a reserve stock of wheat on hand, he + lent grain, to the amount of four thousand francs, to those of his tenants + who had none. In short, he is liberal, and, in the neighboring town, at + Ussel, he even passes for a Jacobin. In spite of all this, he is treated + just like the rest. It is because the parishes in his domain are + "clubbist," governed by associations of moral and practical levelers; in + one of them "the brigands have organized themselves into a municipal + body," and have chosen their leader as procureur-syndic. Consequently, on + the 22nd of August, eighty armed peasants opened the dam of his large + pond, at the risk of submerging a village in the neighborhood, the + inhabitants of which came and closed it up. Five other ponds belonging to + him are demolished in the course of the two following weeks; fish to the + value of from four to five thousand francs are stolen, and the rest perish + in the weeds. In order to make this expropriation sure, an effort is made + to burn his title-deeds; his chateau, twice attacked in the night, is + saved only by the National Guard of Ussel. His farmers and domestics + hesitate, for the time being, whether or not to cultivate the ground, and + come and ask the steward if they could sow the seeds. There is no recourse + to the proper authorities: the administrators and judges, even when their + own property is concerned, "dare not openly show themselves," because + "they do not find themselves protected by the shield of the law. "—Popular + will, traversing both the old and the new law, obstinately persists in its + work, and forcibly attains its ends. Thus, whatever the grand terms of + liberty, equality, and fraternity may be, with which the Revolution graces + itself, it is, in its essence, a transfer of property; in this alone + consists its chief support, its enduring energy, its primary impulse and + its historical significance.—Formerly, in antiquity, similar + movements were accomplished, debts were abolished or lessened, the + possessions of the rich were confiscated, and the public lands were + divided; but this operation was confined to a city and limited to a small + territory. For the first time it takes place on a large scale and in a + modern State.—Thus far, in these vast States, when the deeper + foundations have been disturbed, it has ever been on account of foreign + domination or on account of an oppression of conscience. In France in the + fifteenth century, in Holland in the sixteenth and in England in the + seventeenth century, the peasant, the mechanic, and the laborer had taken + up arms against an enemy or in behalf of their faith. On religious or + patriotic zeal has followed the craving for prosperity and comfort, and + the new motive is as powerful as the others; for in our industrial, + democratic, and utilitarian societies it is this which governs almost all + lives, and excites almost all efforts. Kept down for centuries, the + passion recovers itself by throwing off government and privilege, the two + great weights which have borne it down. At the present time this passion + launches itself impetuously with its whole force, with brutal + insensibility, athwart every kind of proprietorship that is legal and + legitimate, whether it be public or private. The obstacles it encounters + only render it the more destructive, beyond property it attacks + proprietors, and completes plunder with proscriptions. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3201" id="linknote-3201"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3201 (<a href="#linknoteref-3201">return</a>)<br /> [ The expression is + that of Jean Bon Saint-André to Mathieu Dumas, sent to re-establish + tranquillity in Montauban (1790): "The day of vengeance, which we have + been awaiting for a hundred years, has come!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3202" id="linknote-3202"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3202 (<a href="#linknoteref-3202">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, I. 187 + (an eye-witness).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3203" id="linknote-3203"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3203 (<a href="#linknoteref-3203">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3223 and 3216. Letters of M. de Bouzols, major general, + residing at Montpellier, May 21, 25, 28, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3204" id="linknote-3204"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3204 (<a href="#linknoteref-3204">return</a>)<br /> [ Mary Lafon, "Histoire + d'une Ville Protestante ".(with original documents derived from the + archives of Montauban).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3205" id="linknote-3205"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3205 (<a href="#linknoteref-3205">return</a>)<br /> [ Archives Nationales," + F7, 2216. Procés-verbal of the Municipality of Nîmes and report of the + Abbé de Belmont.—Report of the Administrative commissioners, June + 28, 1790.—Petition of the Catholics, April 20.—Letters of the + Municipality, the commissioners, and M. de Nausel, on the events of May 2 + and 3.—Letter of M. Rabaut Saint-Etienne, May 12—Petition of + the widow Gas, July 30.—Report (printed) of M. Alquier, February 19, + 1791.—Memoir (printed) of the massacre of the Catholics at Nîmes, by + Froment (1790).—New address of the Municipality of Nîmes, presented + by M. de Marguerite, mayor and deputy (1790), printed. Mercure de France, + February 23, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3206" id="linknote-3206"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3206 (<a href="#linknoteref-3206">return</a>)<br /> [ The petition is + signed by 3,127 persons, besides 1560 who put a cross declaring that they + could not write. The counter-petition of the club is signed by 262 + persons.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3207" id="linknote-3207"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3207 (<a href="#linknoteref-3207">return</a>)<br /> [ This last item, + stated in M. Alquier's report, is denied by the municipality. According to + it, the red rosettes gathered around the bishop's quarters had no guns.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3208" id="linknote-3208"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3208 (<a href="#linknoteref-3208">return</a>)<br /> [ An insurrection in + the sixteenth century, when the Protestants fired on the Catholics on St. + Michael's Day.—320TR.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3209" id="linknote-3209"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3209 (<a href="#linknoteref-3209">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3216. Letter of M. de Lespin, Major at Nîmes, to the + commandant of Provence, M de Perigord, July 27, 1790: "The plots and + conspiracies which were attributed to the vanquished party, and which, it + was believed, would be discovered in the depositions of the four hundred + men in prison, vanish as the proceedings advance. The veritable culprits + are to be found among the informers."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3210" id="linknote-3210"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3210 (<a href="#linknoteref-3210">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, III. + 240 (Memorandum of the Ministers, October 28, 1789).—"Archives + Nationales," D, XXIX. 3. Deliberation of the Municipal council of Vernon + (November 4, 1789)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3211" id="linknote-3211"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3211 (<a href="#linknoteref-3211">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. correspondence of M. de Thiard, November 4, 1789.—See + similar occurrences, September 4, October 23, November 4 and 19, 1789, + January 27 and March 27, 1790] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3212" id="linknote-3212"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3212 (<a href="#linknoteref-3212">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3257. Letter from Gex, May 29, 1790.—Buchez and + Roux, VII. 198, 369 (September, October, 1790).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3213" id="linknote-3213"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3213 (<a href="#linknoteref-3213">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. correspondence of M. de Bercheny, Commandant of the + four central provinces. Letters of May 25, June 11, 19, and 27, 1790.—" + Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 4. Deliberations of the district + administrators of Bourbon-Lancy, May 26.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3214" id="linknote-3214"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3214 (<a href="#linknoteref-3214">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 2453. Minutes of the meeting of a dozen parishes in + Nivernais, June 4. "White bread is to be 2 sous, and brown bread 11/2 + sous. Husbandmen are to have 30 sous, reapers 10 sous, wheelwrights 10 + sous, bailiffs 6 sous per league. Butter is to be at 8 sous, meat at 5 + sous, pork at 8 sous, oil at 8 sous the pint, a square foot of + masonry-work 40 sous, a pair of large sabots 3 sous. All rights of + pasturage and of forests are to be surrendered. The roads are to be free + everywhere, as formerly. All seignorial rents are to be suppressed. + Millers are to take only one thirty-second of a bushel. The seigneurs of + our department are to give up all servile holidays and ill-acquired + property. The curé of Bièze is simply to say mass at nine o'clock in the + morning and vespers at two o'clock in the afternoon, in summer and winter; + he must marry and bury gratis, it being reserved to us to pay him a + salary. He is to be paid 6 sous for masses, and not to leave his curé + except to repeat his breviary and make proper calls on the men and women + of his parish. Hats must be had from 3 livres to 30 sous. Nails 3 livres + the gross. Curés are to have none but circumspect females of fifty for + domestics. Curés are not to go to either fairs or markets. All curés are + to be on the same footing as the one at Bièze. There must be no more + wholesale dealers in wheat. Law officers who make unjust seizures must + return the money. Farm leases must expire on St. Martin's Day. M. le + Comte, although not there, M. de Tontenelle, and M. de Commandant must + sign this document without difficulty. M. de Mingot is formally to resign + his place in writing: he went away with his servant-woman—he even + missed his mass on the first Friday of the Fête-Dieu, and it is supposed + that he slept in the woods. Joiners' wages shall be fixed at the same rate + as wheelwrights'. Ox-straps are not to cost over 40 sous, yokes 10 sous. + Masters must pay one-half of the tailles. Notaries are to take only the + half of what they had formerly, as well as comptrollers. The Commune + claims the right of protest against whatever it may have forgotten in the + present article, in fact or in law." (It is signed by about twenty + persons, several of them being mayors and municipal clerks.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3215" id="linknote-3215"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3215 (<a href="#linknoteref-3215">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H. 1453. The same correspondence, May 29, June 11 and 17, + September 15, 1790.—ibid, F7, 3257. Letter of the municipal + authorities of Marsigny, May 3; of the municipal officers of + Bourbon-Lancy, June 5. Extract from letters written to M. Amelot, June + 1st.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3216" id="linknote-3216"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3216 (<a href="#linknoteref-3216">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3185, 3186. Letter of the President of the Tribunal of + the district of Laon, February 8, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3217" id="linknote-3217"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3217 (<a href="#linknoteref-3217">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives Nationales + F7, 3268. Procés-verbal and observations of the two commissioners sent to + Étampes September 22-25, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3218" id="linknote-3218"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3218 (<a href="#linknoteref-3218">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives Nationales + F7, 3265. The following document, among many others, shows the expedients + and conceptions of the popular imagination. Petition of several + inhabitants of the commune of Forges (Seine Inférieure) "to the good and + incorruptible Minister of the Interior" (October 16, 1792). After three + good crops in succession, the famine still continues. Under the ancient + régime wheat was superabundant; hogs were fed with it, and calves were + fattened with bread. It is certain, therefore, that wheat is diverted by + monopolists and the enemies of the new regime. The farms are too large; + let them he divided. There is too much pasture-ground: sow it with wheat. + Compel each farmer and land-owner to give a statement of his crop: let the + quantity be published at the church service, and in case of falsehood let + the man be put to death or imprisoned, and his grain he confiscated. + Oblige all the cultivators of the neighborhood to sell their wheat at + Forges only, etc."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3219" id="linknote-3219"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3219 (<a href="#linknoteref-3219">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268. Report of the commissioners sent by the department, + March 11, 1792 (apropos of the insurrection of March 4).—Mortimer-Ternaux, + I. 381.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3220" id="linknote-3220"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3220 (<a href="#linknoteref-3220">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268. Letters of several mayors, district administrators, + cultivators of Velizy, Villacoublay, La celle-Saint-Cloud, Montigny, etc. + November 12, 1791.—Letter of M. de Narbonne, January 13, 1792; of M. + Sureau, justice of the peace in the canton of Étampes, September 17, 1791.—Letter + of Bruyères-le-Châtel, January 28, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3221" id="linknote-3221"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3221 (<a href="#linknoteref-3221">return</a>)<br /> [ A term applied to + brigands at this epoch who demand money and objects of value, and force + their delivery by exposing the soles of the feet of their victims to a + fire.—32TR.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3222" id="linknote-3222"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3222 (<a href="#linknoteref-3222">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory of Cher, August 25, 1791.—F7, + 3240. Letter of the Directory of Haute Marne, November 6, 1791.—F7, + 3248. Minutes of the meeting of the members of the department of the Nord, + March 18, 1791.—F7, 3250. Minutes of the meeting of the municipal + officers of Montreuil-sur-Mer, October 16, 1791.—F7, 3265. Letter of + the Directory of Seine Infereure, July 22, 1791.—D, XXIX. 4. + Remonstrances of the municipalities assembled at Tostes, July 21, 1791.—Petition, + of the municipal officers of the districts of Dieppe, Cany, and Caudebec, + July 22, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3223" id="linknote-3223"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3223 (<a href="#linknoteref-3223">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3224" id="linknote-3224"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3224 (<a href="#linknoteref-3224">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. Deliberations of the Directory of + Seine-et-Oise, September 20, 1791 (apropos of the insurrection. September + 16, at Étampes).—Letter of Charpentier, president of the district, + September 19.—Report of the Department Commissioners, March 11, 1792 + (on the insurrection at Brunoy, March 4.)—Report of the Department + Commissioners, March 4, 1792 (on the insurrection at Montlhéry, February + 13 to 20).—Deliberation of the Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September + 16, 1791 (on the insurrection at Corbeil).—Letters of the mayors of + Limours, Lonjumeau, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3225" id="linknote-3225"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3225 (<a href="#linknoteref-3225">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim.—Minutes of the meeting of + the Municipality of Montlhéry, February 28, 1792: "We cannot enter into + fuller details without exposing ourselves to extremities which would be + only disastrous to us."—Letter of the justice of the peace of the + canton, February 25: "Public outcry teaches me that if I issue writs of + arrest against those who massacred Thibault, the people would rise."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3226" id="linknote-3226"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3226 (<a href="#linknoteref-3226">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. Reports of the gendarmerie, + February 24, 1792, and the following days.—Letter of the sergeant of + Limours, March 2; of the manager of the farm of Plessis-le-Comte, February + 23.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3227" id="linknote-3227"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3227 (<a href="#linknoteref-3227">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim.—Memorandum to the National + Assembly by the citizens of Rambouillet, September 17, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3228" id="linknote-3228"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3228 (<a href="#linknoteref-3228">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7 3268 and 3269, Passim. Minutes of the meeting of the + Municipality of Montlhéry, February 27, 1792.—Buchez and Roux, XIII. + 421, (March, 1792); and XIII., 317.—Mercure de France, February 25, + 1792. (Letters of M. Dauchy, President of the Directory of the Department; + of M. de Gouy, messenger sent by the minister, etc.)—Moniteur, + sitting of February 15, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3229" id="linknote-3229"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3229 (<a href="#linknoteref-3229">return</a>)<br /> [ Decree of September + 3, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3230" id="linknote-3230"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3230 (<a href="#linknoteref-3230">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269. Petition of the citizens of + Montfort-l'Amaury, Saint-Léger, Gros-Rouvre, Gelin, Laqueue, and Méré, to + the citizens of Rambouillet.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3231" id="linknote-3231"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3231 (<a href="#linknoteref-3231">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3230. Letter of an administrator of the district of + Vendôme, with the deliberation of the commune of Vendôme, November 24, + 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3232" id="linknote-3232"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3232 (<a href="#linknoteref-3232">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the administrators of the Department of + Seine-Inférieure, Octobers 23, 1792.—Letters of the Special + Committee of Rouen, October 22 and 23, 1792: "The more the zeal and + patriotism of the cultivators is stimulated, the more do they seem + determined to avoid the market-places, which are always in a State of + absolute destitution."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3233" id="linknote-3233"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3233 (<a href="#linknoteref-3233">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3265. Letter of David, a cultivator, October 20, 1792.—Letter + of the Department Administrators, October 13, 1792, etc.—Letter + (printed) of the minister to the convention, November 4.—Proclamation + of the Provisional Executive council, October 31, 1792. (The setier of + grain of two hundred and forty pounds is sold at 60 francs in the south, + and at half that sum in the north.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3234" id="linknote-3234"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3234 (<a href="#linknoteref-3234">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3255. Letters of Bonnemant, September 11, 1792; of + Laussel, September 22, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3235" id="linknote-3235"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3235 (<a href="#linknoteref-3235">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de Bercheny, July 28, October + 24 and 26, 1790.—The same disposition lasted. An insurrection + occurred in Issoudun after the three days of July, 1830, against the + combined imposts. Seven or eight thousand wine growers burnt the archives + and tax-offices and dragged an employee through the streets, shouting out + at each street-lamp, "Let him be hung!" The general sent to repress the + outbreak entered the town only through a capitulation; the moment he + reached the Hôtel-de-Ville a man of the Faubourg de Rome put his + pruning-book around his neck, exclaiming, "No more clerks where there is + nothing to do!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3236" id="linknote-3236"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3236 (<a href="#linknoteref-3236">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory of Cher, April 9, 1790.—Ibid, + F7, 3255. Letter of August 4, 1790. Verdict of the présidial, November 4, + 1790.—Letter of the Municipality of Saint-Etienne, August 5, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3237" id="linknote-3237"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3237 (<a href="#linknoteref-3237">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3248. Letter of M. Sénac de Mejlhan, April 10, 1790.—Letter + of the grands baillis, June 30, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3238" id="linknote-3238"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3238 (<a href="#linknoteref-3238">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, VI. + 403. Report of Chabroud on the insurrection at Lyons, July 9 and 10, 1790.—Duvergier, + "Collection des Décrets." Decrees of August 4 and 15, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3239" id="linknote-3239"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3239 (<a href="#linknoteref-3239">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the Minister, July 2, 1790, to the + Directory of Rhône-et-Loire. "The King is informed that, throughout your + department, and especially in the districts of Saint-Etienne and + Montbrison, license is carried to the extreme; that the judges dare not + prosecute; that in many places the municipal officers are at the head of + the disturbances; and that, in others, the National Guard do not obey + requisitions."—Letter of September 5, 1790. "In the bourg of Thisy, + brigands have invaded divers cotton-spinning establishments and partially + destroyed them and after having plundered them, they have sold the goods + by public auction."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3240" id="linknote-3240"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3240 (<a href="#linknoteref-3240">return</a>)<br /> [ Buchez and Roux, VI. + 345. Report of M. Muguet, July 1, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3241" id="linknote-3241"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3241 (<a href="#linknoteref-3241">return</a>)<br /> [ Minutes of the + meeting of the National Assembly. (Sitting of October 24, 1789.)—Decree + of September 27, 1789, applicable the 1st of October. There are other + alleviations applicable on the 1st of January, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3242" id="linknote-3242"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3242 (<a href="#linknoteref-3242">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + February 27, 1790. (Memorandum of the garde des sceaux, January 16.)—Observations + of M. Necker on the report made by the Financial committee, at the sitting + of March 12, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3243" id="linknote-3243"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3243 (<a href="#linknoteref-3243">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de Bercheny, April 24, May 4 + and 6, 1790: "It is much to be feared that the tobacco-tax will share the + fate of the salt-tax."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3244" id="linknote-3244"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3244 (<a href="#linknoteref-3244">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + July 31, 1790 (sitting of July 10.) M. Lambert, Comptroller General of the + Finances, informs the Assembly of "the obstacles which continual + outbreaks, brigandage, and the maxims of anarchical freedom impose, from + one end of France to the other, on the collection of the taxes. On one + side, the people are led to believe that, if they stubbornly refuse a tax + contrary to their rights, it abolition will be secured. Elsewhere, + smuggling is openly carried on by force; the people favor it, while the + National Guards refuse to act against the nation. In other places hatred + is excited, and divisions between the troops and the overseers at the + toll-houses: the latter are massacred, the bureaus are pillaged, and the + prisons are forced open."—Memorandum from M. Necker to the National + Assembly, July 21, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3245" id="linknote-3245"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3245 (<a href="#linknoteref-3245">return</a>)<br /> [ Decrees of March 21 + and 22, 1790, applicable April 21 following.—Decrees of February 19 + and March 2, 1791, applicable May 1 following.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3246" id="linknote-3246"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3246 (<a href="#linknoteref-3246">return</a>)<br /> [ De Goncourt, "La + Societé Française pendant la Révolution," 204.—Maxime Du Camp, + "Paris, sa vie et ses organes," VI. 11.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3247" id="linknote-3247"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3247 (<a href="#linknoteref-3247">return</a>)<br /> [ "Compte des Revenus + et Dépenses au 1er Mai, 1789."—Memorandum of M. Necker, July 21, + 1790.—Memoranda presented by M. de Montesquiou, September 9, 1791.—Comptes-rendus + by the minister, Clavières, October 5, 1792, February 1, 1792.—Report + of Cambon, February, 1793.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3248" id="linknote-3248"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3248 (<a href="#linknoteref-3248">return</a>)<br /> [ Boivin-Champeaux, + 231.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3249" id="linknote-3249"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3249 (<a href="#linknoteref-3249">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + May 28, 1791. (Sitting of May 22.)—Speech of M. d'Allarde: "Burgundy + has paid nothing belonging to 1790."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3250" id="linknote-3250"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3250 (<a href="#linknoteref-3250">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + June 1, 1790. Speech by M. Freteau.—Mercure de France. November 26, + 1791. Report by Lafont-Ladebat.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3251" id="linknote-3251"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3251 (<a href="#linknoteref-3251">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H, 2453. correspondence of M. de Bercheny, June 5, 1790, etc.—F7, + 3226. Letters of Chenantin, cultivator, November 7, 1792, also of the + prosecuting attorney, November 6.—F7, 3269. Minutes of the meeting + of the municipality of Clugnac, August 5th, 1792.—F7, 3202. Letter + of the Minister of Justice, Duport, January 3, 1792. "The utter absence of + public force in the district of Montargis renders every operation of the + Government and all execution of the laws impossible. The arrears of taxes + to be collected is here very considerable, while all proceedings of + constraint are dangerous and impossible to execute, owing to the fears of + the bailiffs, who dare not perform their duties, and the violence of the + tax-payers, on whom there is no check."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3252" id="linknote-3252"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3252 (<a href="#linknoteref-3252">return</a>)<br /> [ Report of the + Committee on Finances, by Ramel, 19th Floréal, year II (The Constituent + Assembly had fixed the real tax of a house at one-sixth of its letting + value.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3253" id="linknote-3253"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3253 (<a href="#linknoteref-3253">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + December 12, 1789.—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Memorandum from + the officers in command of the detachment of the Paris National Guard + stationed at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (April, 1790). Certificate of the + Municipal Officers of Poissy, March 31.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3254" id="linknote-3254"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3254 (<a href="#linknoteref-3254">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + March 12 and 26, 1791.—"Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Letter of the + police-lieutenant of Blois, April 22, 1790.—Mercure de France, July + 24, 1790. Two of the murderers exclaimed to those who tried to save one of + the keepers, "Hanging is well done at Paris! Bah, you are aristocrats! We + shall be talked about in the gazettes of Paris." (Deposition of + witnesses.)—Decrees and proclamations regarding the protection of + the forests, November 3 and December 11, 1789.—Another in October, + 1790.—Another June 29, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3255" id="linknote-3255"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3255 (<a href="#linknoteref-3255">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of the bailli de Virieu, January 26, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3256" id="linknote-3256"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3256 (<a href="#linknoteref-3256">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + December 3, 1791. (Letter from Sarreluis, November 15, 1791.)—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter of the Municipal Officers of Montargis. + January 8, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3257" id="linknote-3257"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3257 (<a href="#linknoteref-3257">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3268. Letter of the overseer of the national domains at + Rambouillet, October 31, 1792.—Report of the minister Clavières, + February 1. 1793.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3258" id="linknote-3258"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3258 (<a href="#linknoteref-3258">return</a>)<br /> [ Decrees of August 14, + 1792, June 10, 1793.—"Archives Nationales," Missions des + Représentants, D, § 7. (Deliberation of the district of Troyes, 2 Ventose, + an. III.)—At Thunelières, the drawing took place on the 10th + Fructidor, year II, and was done over again in behalf of a servant of + Billy, an influential municipal officer who "was the soul of his + colleagues."—Ibid. Abstract of operations in the district of + Arcis-sur-Aube, 30 Pluviose, year III. "Two-thirds of the communes hold + this kind of property. Most of them have voted on and effected the + partition, or are actually engaged on it."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3259" id="linknote-3259"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3259 (<a href="#linknoteref-3259">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + January 7, 1790. (Chateau of Auxon in Haute-Saone.)—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3255. (Letter of the minister to the Directory of + Rhone-et-Loire, July 2, 1790.)—Mercure de France, July 17, 1790. + (Report of M. de Broglie, July 13, and decree of July 13-18.)—"Archives + Nationales," H, 1453. (Correspondence of M. de Bercheny, July 21, 1790.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3260" id="linknote-3260"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3260 (<a href="#linknoteref-3260">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + March 19, 1790. Letter from Amien, February 28. (Mallet du Pan publishes + in the Mercure only letters which are signed and authentic.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3261" id="linknote-3261"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3261 (<a href="#linknoteref-3261">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. (Correspondence of M. de Thiard; letters of + Chevalier de Bévy, December 26, 1789, and others up to April 5, 1790.)—Moniteur, + sitting of February 9, 1790.—Mercure de France, February 6 and March + 6, 1790 (list of chateaux).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3262" id="linknote-3262"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3262 (<a href="#linknoteref-3262">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105. (correspondence of M. de Thiard.) Letters of the + Mayor of Nantes, February 16,!790, of the Municipality of Redon, February + 19, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3263" id="linknote-3263"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3263 (<a href="#linknoteref-3263">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + February 6 and 27, 1790. (Speech of M. de Foucault, sittings of February 2 + and 5)—Moniteur (same dates). (Report of Grégoire, February 9; + speeches by MM. Sallé de Chaux and de Noailles, February 9.)—Memorandum + of the deputies of the town of Tulle, drawn up by the Abbé Morellet (from + the deliberations and addresses of eighty-three boroughs and cities in the + province).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3264" id="linknote-3264"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3264 (<a href="#linknoteref-3264">return</a>)<br /> [ In allusion to the + feudal custom of paying seignorial dues on the first of May around a + maypole. See further on. 32TR] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3265" id="linknote-3265"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3265 (<a href="#linknoteref-3265">return</a>)<br /> [ Criminal Courts + without appeal.—32TR.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3266" id="linknote-3266"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3266 (<a href="#linknoteref-3266">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + March 4, 1790.—Duvergier, decrees of March 6, 1790, and August 6-10 + 1790] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3267" id="linknote-3267"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3267 (<a href="#linknoteref-3267">return</a>)<br /> [ The address is dated + February 11, 1793. This singularly comic document would alone suffice to + make the history of the Revolution perfectly comprehensible.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3268" id="linknote-3268"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3268 (<a href="#linknoteref-3268">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3203. (Letters of the royal commissioner, April 30 and + May 9, 1790.)—Letter of the Duc de Maillé, May 6.—Report from + the administrators of the department, November 12, 1790.—Moniteur + VI. 515.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3269" id="linknote-3269"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3269 (<a href="#linknoteref-3269">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory from Ille-et-Vilaine, + January 30, 1791, and letter from Dinan, January 29—Mercure de + France, April 2 and 16, 1791. Letters from Rennes, March 20th; from Redon, + March 12.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3270" id="linknote-3270"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3270 (<a href="#linknoteref-3270">return</a>)<br /> [ So expressed in the + minutes of the meeting.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3271" id="linknote-3271"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3271 (<a href="#linknoteref-3271">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, sitting of + December 15, 1790. (Address of the department of Lot, December 7.)—Sitting + of December 20 (Speech by M. de Foucault.)—Mercure de France, + December 18, 1790. (Letter from Belves, in Perigord, December 7.)—Ibid., + January 22, 29, 1791. (Letter from M. de Clarac, January 18.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3272" id="linknote-3272"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3272 (<a href="#linknoteref-3272">return</a>)<br /> [ December 17, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3273" id="linknote-3273"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3273 (<a href="#linknoteref-3273">return</a>)<br /> [ January 7, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3274" id="linknote-3274"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3274 (<a href="#linknoteref-3274">return</a>)<br /> [ Revolutionary + archives of the department of Creuse, by Duval. (Letter of the + administrators of the department, March 31, 1791.)—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3209. (Deliberation of the Directory of the Department, + May 12, 1791—Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of La + Souterraine, August 23, 1791.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3275" id="linknote-3275"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3275 (<a href="#linknoteref-3275">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales", F7, 3269.—Order of the directory of the district of + Ribérac, August 5, 1791, and requisitions of the prosecuting attorney of + the department, August 24, and September 11.—Letter of the king's + commissioner, August 22.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3276" id="linknote-3276"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3276 (<a href="#linknoteref-3276">return</a>)<br /> [ A sort of export + duty.—32TR.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3277" id="linknote-3277"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3277 (<a href="#linknoteref-3277">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," P7, 3204.—Letter, from the Directory of the Department, + June 2, 1791; September 8 and 22.—Letter from the Minister of + Justice, May 15, 1791.—Letter from M. de Lentilhac, September 2.—Letter + from M. Melon-Padon, Royal Commissioner, September.—Mercure de + France, May 14, 1791. (Letter of an eye-witness, M.de Loyac, April 25, + 1791.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3278" id="linknote-3278"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3278 (<a href="#linknoteref-3278">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7. 3204. Letters from M. de Saint-Victour, September 25, + October 2 and 10, 1791.—Letter from the steward of his estate, + September 18.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I.—Attitude of the nobles. Their moderate resistance. + </h2> + <p> + If popular passion ended in murder it was not because resistance was great + or violent. On the contrary, never did an aristocracy undergo + dispossession with so much patience, or employ less force in the defense + of its prerogatives, or even of its property. To speak with exactness, the + class in question receives blows without returning them, and when it does + take up arms, it is always with the bourgeois and the National Guard, at + the request of the magistrates, in conformity with the law, and for the + protection of persons and property. The nobles try to avoid being either + killed or robbed, nothing more: for nearly three years they raise no + political banner. In the towns where they exert the most influence and + which are denounced as rebellious, for ex-ample in Mende and Arles, their + opposition is limited to the suppression of riots, the restraining of the + common people, and ensuring respect for the law, It is not the new order + of things against which they conspire, but against brutal disorder.—At + Mende," says the municipal body,<a href="#linknote-3301" + name="linknoteref-3301" id="linknoteref-3301"><small>3301</small></a> "we + had the honor of being the first to furnish the contributions of 1790. We + supplied the place of our bishop and installed his successor without + disturbance, and without the assistance of any foreign force . . . . We + dispersed the members of a cathedral body to which we were attached by the + ties of blood and friendship; we dismissed all, from the bishop down to + the children of the choir. We had but three communities of mendicant + monks, and all three have been suppressed. We have sold all national + possessions without exception."—The commander of their gendarmerie + is, in fact, an old member of the body-guard, while the superior officers + of the National Guard are gentlemen, or belong to the order of + Saint-Louis. It is very evident that, if they defend themselves against + Jacobins, they are not insurgent against the National Assembly.—In + Arles,<a href="#linknote-3302" name="linknoteref-3302" + id="linknoteref-3302"><small>3302</small></a> which has put down its + populace, which has armed itself, which has shut its gates, and which + passes for a focus of royalist conspiracy, the commissioners sent by the + King and by the National Assembly, men of discretion and of consideration, + find nothing, after a month's investigation, but submission to the decrees + and zeal for the public welfare. + </p> + <p> + "Such," they say, "are the men who have been calumniated because, + cherishing the Constitution, they hold fanaticism, demagogues and anarchy, + in horror. If the citizens had not roused themselves when the moment of + danger arrived, they would have been slaughtered like their neighbors (of + Avignon). It is this insurrection against crime which the brigands have + slandered." If their gates were shut it was because "the National Guard of + Marseilles, the same which behaved so badly in the Comtat, flocked there + under the pretext of maintaining liberty and of forestalling the + counter-revolution, but, in reality, to village the town." + </p> + <p> + Vive la Nation! Vive la Loi! Vive le Roi were the only cries heard at the + very quiet and orderly elections that had just taken place. + </p> + <p> + "The attachment of the citizens to the Constitution has been spoken of. . + . . Obedience to the laws, the readiest disposition to discharge public + contributions, were remarked by us among these pretended + counter-revolutionaries. Those who are subject to the license-tax came in + crowds to the Hôtel-de-Ville." Scarcely "was the bureau of receipts opened + when it was filled with respectable people; those on the contrary who + style themselves good patriots, republicans or anarchists, were not + conspicuous on this occasion; but a very small number among them have made + their submission. The rest are surprised at being called upon for money; + they had been given a quite different hope." + </p> + <p> + In short, during more than thirty months, and under a steady fire of + threats, outrages, and plunder, the nobles who remain in France neither + commit nor undertake any hostile act against the Government that + persecutes them. None of them, not even M. de Bouillé, attempts to carry + out any real plan of civil war; I find but one resolute man in their ranks + at this date, ready for action, and who labors to form one militant party + against another militant party: he is really a politician and conspirator; + he has an understanding with the Comte d'Artois; he gets petitions signed + for the freedom of the King and of the Church; he organizes armed + companies; he recruits the peasants; he prepares a Vendée for Languedoc + and Provence; and this person is a bourgeois, Froment of Nîmes.<a + href="#linknote-3303" name="linknoteref-3303" id="linknoteref-3303"><small>3303</small></a> + But, at the moment of action, he finds only three out of eighteen + companies, supposed by him to be enlisted in his cause, that are willing + to march with him. Others remain in their quarters until, Froment being + overcome, they are found there and slaughtered; the survivors, who escape + to Jalès, find, not a stronghold, but a temporary asylum, where they never + succeed in transforming their inclinations into determinations.<a + href="#linknote-3304" name="linknoteref-3304" id="linknoteref-3304"><small>3304</small></a>—The + nobles too, like other Frenchmen, have been subject to the lasting + pressure of monarchical centralization. They no longer form one body; they + have lost the instinct of association. They no longer know how to act for + themselves; they are the puppets of administration awaiting an impulse + from the center, while at the center the King, their hereditary general, a + captive in the hands of the people, commands them to be resigned and to do + nothing.<a href="#linknote-3305" name="linknoteref-3305" + id="linknoteref-3305"><small>3305</small></a> Moreover, like other + Frenchmen, they have been brought up in the philosophy of the eighteenth + century. "Liberty is so precious," wrote the Duc de Brissac,<a + href="#linknote-3306" name="linknoteref-3306" id="linknoteref-3306"><small>3306</small></a> + "that it may well be purchased with some suffering; a destroyed feudalism + will not prevent the good and the true from being respected and loved."—They + persist in this illusion for a long time and remain optimists. As they + feel kindly towards the people, they cannot comprehend that the people + should entertain other sentiments toward them; they firmly believe that + the troubles are transient. Immediately on the proclamation of the + Constitution they return in crowds from Spain, Belgium, and Germany; at + Troyes there are not enough post-horses for many days to supply the + emigrants who are coming back.<a href="#linknote-3307" + name="linknoteref-3307" id="linknoteref-3307"><small>3307</small></a> Thus + they accept not only the abolition of feudalism with civil equality, but + also political equality and numerical sovereignty. + </p> + <p> + Some consideration for them, some outward signs of respect, a few bows, + would, in all probability, have rallied them sincerely to democratic + institutions. They would soon consent to be confounded with the crowd, to + submit to the common level, and to live as private individuals. Had they + been treated like the bourgeois or the peasant, their neighbors, had their + property and persons been respected, they might have accepted the new + régime without any bitterness of feeling. That the leading emigrant nobles + and those forming a part of the old court carry on intrigues at Coblentz + or at Turin is natural, since they have lost everything: authority, + places, pensions, sinecures, pleasures, and the rest. But, to the gentry + and inferior nobles of the provinces, chevaliers of Saint-Louis, subaltern + officers and resident proprietors, the loss is insignificant. The law has + suppressed one-half of their seignorial dues; but by virtue of the same + law their lands are no longer burdened with tithes. Popular elections will + not provide them with places, but they did not enjoy them under the + arbitrary ministerial rule. Little does it matter to them that power, + whether ministerial or popular, has changed hands: they are not accustomed + to its favors, and will pursue their ordinary avocations—the chase, + promenading, reading, visiting, and conversing—provided they, like + the first-comer, the grocer at the corner, or their farm-servant, find + protection, safety, and security on the public road and in their + dwellings.<a href="#linknote-3308" name="linknoteref-3308" + id="linknoteref-3308"><small>3308</small></a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II.—Workings of the popular imagination with respect to them. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The monomania of suspicion.—The nobles distrusted and + treated as enemies.—Situation of a gentleman on his + domain.—M. de. Bussy +</pre> + <p> + Popular passion, unfortunately, is a blind power, and, for lack of + enlightenment, suffers itself to be guided by spectral illusions. + Imaginary conceptions work, and work in conformity with the structure of + the excited brain which has given birth to them: + </p> + <p> + What if the Ancient Regime should return! + </p> + <p> + What if we were obliged to restore the property of the clergy! + </p> + <p> + What if we should be again forced to pay the salt tax, the excise, the + taille, and other dues which, thanks to the law, we no longer pay, besides + other taxes and dues that we do not pay in spite of the law! + </p> + <p> + What if all the nobles whose chateaux are burnt, and who have given rent + acquittances at the point of the sword, should find some way to avenge + themselves and recover their former privileges! + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly they brood over these things, make agreements amongst each + other, and plot with the strangers; at the first opportunity they will + fall upon us: we must watch them, repress them, and, if needs be, destroy + them.—This instinctive process of reasoning prevailed from the + outset, and, in proportion as excesses increase, prevails to a much + greater extent. The noble is ever the past, present, and future creditor, + or, at the very least, a possible one, which means that he is the worst + and most odious of enemies. All his ways are suspicious, even when he is + doing nothing; whatever he may do it is with a view of arming himself. + </p> + <p> + M. de Gilliers, who lives with his wife and sister one league out of + Romans in Dauphiny,<a href="#linknote-3309" name="linknoteref-3309" + id="linknoteref-3309"><small>3309</small></a> amuses himself by planting + trees and flowers; a few steps from his house, on another domain, M. de + Montchorel, an old soldier, and M. Osmond, an old lawyer from Paris, with + their wives and children, occupy their leisure hours in somewhat the same + manner. M. de Gilliers having ordered and received wooden water-pipes, the + report spreads that they are cannon. His guest, M. Servan, receives an + English traveling-trunk, which is said to be full of pistols. When M. + Osmond and M. Servan stroll about the country with pencils and + drawing-paper, it is averred that they are preparing topographical plans + for the Spaniards and Savoyards. The four carriages belonging to the two + families go to Romans to fetch some guests: instead of four there are + nineteen, and they are sent for aristocrats who are coming to hide away in + underground passages. M. de Senneville, decorated with a cordon rouge (red + ribbon), pays a visit on his return from Algiers: the decoration becomes a + blue one, and the wearer is the Comte d'Artois<a href="#linknote-3310" + name="linknoteref-3310" id="linknoteref-3310"><small>3310</small></a> in + person. There is certainly a plot brewing, and at five o'clock in the + morning eighteen communes (two thousand armed men) arrive before the doors + of the two houses; shouts and threats of death last for eight hours; a gun + fired a few paces off at the suspects misfires; a peasant who is aiming at + them says to his neighbor, "Give me a decent gun and I will plant both my + balls in their bodies!" Finally, M. de Gilliers, who was absent, attending + a baptism, returns with the Royal Chasseurs of Dauphiny and the National + Guard of Romans, and with their assistance delivers his family.—It + is only in the towns, that is, in a few towns, and for a very short time, + that an inoffensive noble who is attacked obtains any aid; the phantoms + which people create for themselves there are less gross; a certain degree + of enlightenment, and a remnant of common sense, prevent the hatching of + too absurd stories.—But in the dark recesses of rustic brains + nothing can arrest the monomania of suspicion. Fancies multiply there like + weeds in a dark hole: they take root and vegetate until they become + belief, conviction, and certainty; they produce the fruit of hostility and + hatred, homicidal and incendiary ideas. With eyes constantly fixed on the + chateau, the village regards it as a Bastille which must be captured, and, + instead of saluting the lord of the manor, it thinks only of firing at + him. + </p> + <p> + Let us take up one of these local histories in detail.<a + href="#linknote-3311" name="linknoteref-3311" id="linknoteref-3311"><small>3311</small></a> + In the month of July, 1789, during the jacquerie in Mâçonnais, the parish + of Villiers appealed for assistance to its lord, M. de Bussy, a former + colonel of dragoons. He had returned home, treated the people of his + village to a dinner, and attempted to form them into a body of guards to + protect themselves against incendiaries and brigands; along with the + well-disposed men of the place "he patrolled every evening to restore + tranquillity to the parish." On a rumor spreading that "the wells were + poisoned," he placed sentinels alongside of all the wells except his own, + "to prove that he was acting for the parish and not for himself." In + short, he did all he could to conciliate the villagers, and to interest + them in the common safety.—But, by virtue of being a noble and an + officer he is distrusted, and it is Perron, the syndic of the commune, to + whom the commune now listens. Perron announces that the King "having + abjured his sworn word," no more confidence is to be placed in him, and, + consequently, neither in his officers nor in the gentry. On M. de Bussy + proposing to the National Guards that they should go to the assistance of + the chateau of Thil, which is in flames, Perron prevents them, declaring + that "these fires are kindled by the nobles and the clergy." M. de Bussy + insists, and entreats them to go, offering to abandon "his terrier," that + is to say all his seignorial dues, if they will only accompany him and + arrest this destruction. They refuse to do so. He perseveres, and, on + being informed that the chateau of Juillenas is in peril, he collects, + after great efforts, a body of one hundred and fifty men of his parish, + and, marching with them, arrives in time to save the chateau, which a mob + was about to set on fire. But the popular excitement, which he had just + succeeded in calming at Juillenas, has gained the upper hand amongst his + own troop: the brigands have seduced his men, "which obliges him to lead + them back, while, along the road, they seem inclined to fire at him."—Having + returned, he is followed with threats even to his own house: a band comes + to attack his chateau; finding it on the defensive, they insist on being + led to that of Courcelles.—In the midst of all this violence M. de + Bussy, with about fifteen friends and tenants, succeeds in protecting + himself and, by dint of patience, energy, and cool blood, without killing + or wounding a single man, ends in bringing back security throughout the + whole canton. The jacquerie subsides, and it seems as if the newly + restored order would be maintained. He sends for Madame de Bussy to + return, and some months pass away.—The popular imagination, however, + is poisoned, and whatever a gentleman may do, he is no longer tolerated on + his estate. A few leagues from there, on April 29, 1790, M. de + Bois-d'Aisy, deputy to the National Assembly, had returned to his parish + to vote at the new elections.<a href="#linknote-3312" + name="linknoteref-3312" id="linknoteref-3312"><small>3312</small></a> + "Scarcely has he arrived," when the commune of Bois-d'Aisy gives him + notice through its mayor "that it will not regard him as eligible." He + attends the electoral meeting which is held in the church there, a + municipal officer in the pulpit inveighs against nobles and priests, and + declares that they must not take part in the elections. All eyes turn upon + M. de Boisd'Aisy, who is the only noble present. Nevertheless, he takes + the civic oath, which nearly costs him dear, for murmurs arise around him, + and the peasants say that he ought to have been hanged like the lord of + Sainte-Colombe, to prevent his taking the oath. In fact, the evening + before, the latter, M. de Vitteaux, an old man of seventy-four years of + age, was expelled from the primary assembly, then torn out of the house in + which he had sought refuge, half killed with blows, and dragged through + the streets to the open square; his mouth was stuffed with manure, a stick + was thrust into his ears, and "he expired after a martyrdom of three + hours." The same day, in the church of the Capuchins, at Sémur, the rural + parishes which met together excluded their priests and gentry in the same + fashion. M. de Damas and M. de Sainte-Maure were beaten with clubs and + stones; the curé of Massigny died after six stabs with a knife, and M. de + Virieu saved himself as he best could.—With such examples before + them it is probable that many of the nobles will no longer exercise their + right of suffrage. M. de Bussy does not pretend to do it. He merely tries + to prove that he is loyal to the nation, and that he meditates no wrong to + the National Guard or to the people. He proposed, at the out-set, to the + volunteers of Mâçon to join them, along with his little troop; they + refused to have him and thus the fault is not on his side. On the 14th of + July, 1790, the day of the Federation on his domain, he sends all his + people off to Villiers, furnished with the tricolour cockade. He himself, + with three of his friends, attends the ceremony to take the oath, all four + in uniform, with the cockade on their hats, without any weapons but their + swords and a light cane in their hands. They salute the assembled National + Guards of the three neighboring parishes, and keep outside the enclosure + so as not to give offense. But they have not taken into account the + prejudices and animosities of the new municipal bodies. Perron, the former + syndic, is now mayor. A man named Bailly, who is the village shoemaker, is + another of the municipal officers; their councilor is an old dragoon, one + of those soldiers probably who have deserted or been discharged, and who + are the firebrands of almost every riot that takes place. A squad of a + dozen or fifteen men leave the ranks and march up to the four gentlemen, + who advance, hat in hand, to meet them. Suddenly the men aim at them, and + Bailly, with a furious air, demands: "What the devil do you come here + for?" M. de Bussy replies that, having been informed of the Federation, he + had come to take the oath like the rest of the people. Bailly asks why he + had come armed. M. de Bussy remarks that "having been in the service, the + sword was inseparable from the uniform," and had they come there without + that badge they would have been at fault; besides, they must have observed + that they had no other arms. Bailly, still in a rage, and, moreover, + exasperated by such good reasons, turns round with his gun in his hand + towards the leader of the squad and asks him three times in succession, + "Commander, must I fire?" The commander not daring to take the + responsibility of so gratuitous a murder, remains silent, and finally + orders M. de Bussy to "clear out;" "which I did," says M. de Bussy.—Nevertheless, + on reaching home, he writes to the municipal authorities clearly setting + forth the motive of his coming, and demands an explanation of the + treatment he had received. Mayor Perron throws aside his letter without + reading it, and, on the following day, on leaving the mass, the National + Guards come, by way of menace, to load their guns in sight of M. de Bussy, + round his garden.—A few days after this, at the instigation of + Bailly, two other proprietors in the neighborhood are assassinated in + their houses. Finally, on a journey to Lyons, M. de Bussy learns "that the + chateaux in Poitou are again in flames, and that the work is to begin + again everywhere."—Alarmed at all these indications, "he resolves to + form a company of volunteers, which, taking up their quarters in his + chateau, can serve the whole canton on a legal requisition." He thinks + that about fifteen brave men will be sufficient. He has already six men + with him in the month of October, 1790; green coats are ordered for them, + and buttons are bought for the uniform. Seven or eight domestics may be + added to the number. In the way of arms and munitions the chateau contains + two kegs of gunpowder which were on hand before 1789, seven blunderbusses, + and five cavalry sabers, left there in passing by M. de Bussy's old + dragoons: to these must be added two double-barreled fowling-pieces, three + soldiers' muskets, five brace of pistols, two poor common guns, two old + swords, and a hunting-knife. Such is the garrison, such the arsenal, and + these are the preparations, so well justified and so slight, which + prejudice conjointly with gossip is about to transform into a great + conspiracy. + </p> + <p> + The chateau, in effect, was an object of suspicion in the village from the + very first day. All its visitors, whenever they went out or came in, with + all the details of their actions, were watched, denounced, exaggerated, + and misinterpreted. If through the awkwardness or carelessness of so many + inexperienced National Guards, a stray ball reaches a farm-house one day + in broad daylight, it comes from the chateau; it is the aristocrats who + have fired upon the peasants.—There is the same state of suspicion + in the neighboring towns. The municipal body of Valence, hearing that two + youths had ordered coats made "of a color which seemed suspicious," send + for the tailor; he confesses the fact, and adds that "they intended to put + the buttons on themselves." Such a detail is alarming. An inquiry is set + on foot and the alarm increases; people in a strange uniform have been + seen passing on their way to the chateau of Villiers; from thence, on + reaching the number of two hundred, they will go and join the garrison of + Besançon; they will travel four at a time in order to avoid detection. At + Besançon they are to meet a corps of forty thousand men, commanded by M. + Autichamp, which corps is to march on to Paris to carry off the King, and + break up the National Assembly. The National Guards along the whole route + are to be forced into the lines. At a certain distance each man is to + receive 1,200 francs, and, at the end of the expedition, is to be enrolled + in the Artois Guard, or sent home with a recompense of 12,000 francs.—Meanwhile, + the Prince de Condé; with forty thousand men, will come by the way of Pont + Saint-Esprit in Languedoc, rally the disaffected of Carpentras and of the + Jalès camp to his standard, and occupy Cette and the other seaports; and + finally, the Comte d'Artois, on his side, will enter by Pont-Beauvoisin + with thirty thousand men.—A horrible discovery! The municipal + authorities of Valence immediately inform those of Lyons, Besançon, + Châlons, Maçon, and others beside. On the strength of this the municipal + body of Maçon, "considering that the enemies of the Revolution are ever + making the most strenuous efforts to annihilate the Constitution which + secures the happiness of this empire," and "that it is highly important to + frustrate their designs," sends two hundred men of its National Guard to + the chateau of Villiers," empowered to employ armed force in case of + resistance." For greater security, this troop is joined by the National + Guards of the three neighboring parishes. M. de Bussy, on being told that + they were climbing over the wall into his garden, seizes a gun and takes + aim, but does not fire, and then, the requisition being legal, throws all + open to them. There are found in the house six green coats, seven dozens + of large buttons, and fifteen dozens of small ones. The proof is manifest. + He explains what his project was and states his motive—it is a mere + pretext. He makes a sign, as an order, to his valet—there is a + positive complicity. M. de Bussy, his six guests, and the valet, are + arrested and transported to Maçon. A trial takes place, with depositions + and interrogatories, in which the truth is elicited in spite of the most + adverse testimony; it is clear that M. de Bussy never intended to do more + than defend himself.—But prejudice is a blindfold to hostile eyes. + It cannot be admitted that, under a constitution which is perfect, an + innocent man could incur danger; the objection is made to him that "it is + not natural for an armed company to be formed to resist a massacre by + which it is not menaced;" they are convinced beforehand that he is guilty. + On a decree of the National Assembly the minister had ordered all accused + persons to be brought to Paris by the constabulary and hussars; the + National Guard of Maçon, "in the greatest state of agitation," declares + that, "as it had arrested M. de Bussy, it would not consent to his + transport by any other body. . . Undoubtedly, the object is to allow him + to escape on the way," but it will know how to keep its captive secure. + The guard, in fine, of its own authority, escorts M. de Bussy to Paris, + into the Abbaye prison, where he is kept confined for several months—so + long, indeed, that, after a new trial and investigation, the absurdity of + the accusation being too palpable, they are obliged to set him at liberty.—Such + is the situation of most of the gentry on their own estates, and M. de + Bussy, even acquitted and vindicated, will act wisely in not returning + home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0065" id="link2H_4_0065"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III.—Domiciliary visits. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The fifth jacquerie.—Burgundy and Lyonnais in 1791.—M. de + Chaponay and M. Guillin-Dumoutet +</pre> + <p> + He would be nothing but a hostage there. Alone against thousands, sole + survivor and representative of an abolished régime which all detest, it is + the noble against whom everybody turns whenever a political shock seems to + shake the new régime. He is at least disarmed, as he might be dangerous, + and, in these popular executions, brutal instincts and appetites break + loose like a bull that dashes through a door and rages through a + dwelling-house. In the same department, some months later, on the news + arriving of the arrest of the King at Varennes, "all nonjuring<a + href="#linknote-3313" name="linknoteref-3313" id="linknoteref-3313"><small>3313</small></a> + priests and ci-devant nobles are exposed to the horrors of persecution." + Bands forcibly enter houses to seize arms: Commarin, Grosbois, Montculot, + Chaudenay, Créancé, Toisy, Chatellenot, and other houses are thus visited, + and several are sacked. During the night of June 26-27, 1791, at the + chateau of Créancé "there is pillaging throughout; the mirrors are broken, + the pictures are torn up, and the doors are broken down." The master of + the house, "M. de Comeau-Créncé, Knight of St. Louis, horribly maltreated, + is dragged to the foot of the stairs, where he lies as if dead:" previous + to this, "he was forced to give a considerable contribution, and to refund + all penalties collected by him before the Revolution as the local lord of + the manor. "—Two other proprietors in the neighborhood, both Knights + of St. Louis, are treated in the same way. "That is the way in which three + old and brave soldiers are rewarded for their services!" A fourth, a + peaceable man, escapes beforehand, leaving his keys in the locks and his + gardener in the house. Notwithstanding this, the doors and the + clothes-presses were broken open, the pillaging lasting five hours and a + half; with threats of setting the house on fire if the seigneur did not + make his appearance. Questions were asked "as to whether he attended the + mass of the new curé whether he had formerly exacted fines, and finally, + whether any of the inhabitants had any complaint to make against him." No + complaint is made; on the contrary, he is rather beloved.—But, in + tumults of this sort, a hundred madmen and fifty rogues prescribe the law + to the timid and the indifferent. These outlaws declared that "they were + acting under orders; they compelled the mayor and prosecuting attorney to + take part in their robberies; they likewise took the precaution to force a + few honest citizens, by using the severest threats, to march along with + them." These people come the next day to apologize to the pillaged + proprietor, while the municipal officers draw up a statement of the + violence practiced against them. The violence nevertheless, is + accomplished, and, as it will go unpunished, it is soon to be repeated. + </p> + <p> + A beginning and an end are already made in the two neighboring + departments. There, especially in the south, nothing is more instructive + than to see how an outbreak stimulated by enthusiasm for the public good + immediately degenerates under the impulse of private interest, and ends in + crime.—Around Lyons,<a href="#linknote-3314" name="linknoteref-3314" + id="linknoteref-3314"><small>3314</small></a> under the same pretext and + at the same date, similar mobs perform similar visitations, and, on all + these occasions, "the rent-rolls are burnt, and houses are pillaged and + set on fire. Municipal authority, organized for the security of property, + is in many hands but one facility more for its violation. The National + Guard seems to be armed merely for the protection of robbery and + disorder."—For more than thirty years, M. de Chaponay, the father of + six children of whom three are in the service, expended his vast income on + his estate of Beaulieu, giving occupation to a number of persons, men, + women, and children. After the hailstorm of 1761, which nearly destroyed + the village of Moranée, he rebuilt thirty-three houses, furnished others + with timber for the framework, supplied the commune with wheat, and, for + several years, obtained for the inhabitants a diminution of their + taxation. In 1790, he celebrated the Federation Festival on a magnificent + scale, giving two banquets, one of a hundred and thirty seats, for the + municipal bodies and officers of the National Guards in the vicinity, and + the other of a thousand seats for the privates. If any of the gentry had + reason to believe himself popular and safe it was certainly this man.—On + the 24th of June, 1791, the municipal authorities of Moranée, Lucenay, and + Chazelai, with their mayors and National Guards, in all nearly two + thousand men, arrive at the chateau with drums beating and flags flying. + M. de Chaponay goes out to meet them, and begs to know to what he owes + "the pleasure" of their visit. They reply that they do not come to offend + him, but to carry out the orders of the district, which oblige them to + take possession of the chateau and to place in it a guard of sixty men: on + the following day the "district" and the National Guard of Villefranche + are to come and inspect it.—Be it noted that these orders are + imaginary, for M. de Chaponay asks in vain to see them; they cannot be + produced. The cause of their setting out, probably, is the false rumor + that the National Guard of Villefranche is coming to deprive them of a + booty on which they had calculated.—Nevertheless M. de Chaponay + submits; he merely requests the municipal officers to make the search + themselves and in an orderly manner. Upon this the commandant of the + National Guard of Lucenay exclaims, with some irritation, that "all are + equal and all must go in," and at the same moment all rush forward. "M. de + Chaponay orders the apartments to be opened; they immediately shut them + up, purposely to let the sappers break through the doors with their axes."—Everything + is pillaged, "plate, assignats, stocks of linen, laces and other articles; + the trees of the avenues are hacked and mutilated; the cellars are + emptied, the casks are rolled out on the terrace, the wine is suffered to + run out, and the chateau keep is demolished. . . . The officers urge on + those that are laggard." Towards nine o'clock in the evening M. de + Chaponay is informed by his servants that the municipal authorities have + determined upon forcing him to sign an abandonment of his feudal dues and + afterwards beheading him. He escapes with his wife through the only door + which is left unguarded, wanders about all night, exposed to the gun-shots + of the squads which are on his track, and reaches Lyons only on the + following day.—Meanwhile the pillagers send him notice that if he + does not abandon his rentals, they will cut down his forests and burn up + everything on his estate. The chateau, indeed, is fired three distinct + times, while, in the interval, the band sack another chateau at Bayère, + and, on again passing by that of M. de Chaponay, demolish a dam which had + cost 10,000 livres.—The public prosecutor, for his part, remains + quiet, notwithstanding the appeals to him: he doubtless says to himself + that a gentleman whose house has been searched is lucky to have saved his + life, and that others, like M. Guillin-Dumoutet, for example, have not + been as fortunate. + </p> + <p> + The latter gentleman, formerly captain of a vessel belonging to the India + Company, afterwards Commandant at Senegal, now retired from active life, + occupied his chateau of Poleymieux with his young wife and two infant + children, his sisters, nieces, and sister-in-law—in all, ten women + belonging to his family and domestic service—one Negro servant and + himself; an old man of sixty years of age; here is a haunt of militant + conspirators which must be disarmed as soon as possible.<a + href="#linknote-3315" name="linknoteref-3315" id="linknoteref-3315"><small>3315</small></a> + Unfortunately, a brother of M. Guillin, accused of treason to the nation, + had been arrested ten months previously, which was quite sufficient for + the clubs in the neighborhood. In the month of December, 1790, the chateau + had already been ransacked by the people of the parishes in the vicinity: + nothing was found, and the Department first censured and afterwards + interdicted these arbitrary searches. On this occasion they will manage + things better.—On the 26th of June, 1791, at ten o'clock in the + morning, the municipal body of Poleymicux, along with two other bodies in + their scarves, and three hundred National Guards, are seen approaching, + under the usual pretext of searching for arms. Madame Guillin presents + herself; reminds them of the interdict of the Department, and demands the + legal order under which they act. They refuse to give it. M. Guillin + descends in his turn and offers to open his doors to them if they will + produce the order. They have no order to show him. During the colloquy a + certain man named Rosier, a former soldier who had deserted twice, and who + is now in command of the National Guard, seizes M. Guillin by the throat; + the old captain defends himself; presents a pistol at the man, which + misses fire, and then, throwing the fellow off, withdraws into the house, + closing the door behind him.—Soon after this, the tocsin sounds in + the neighborhood, thirty parishes start up, and two thousand men arrive. + Madame Guillin, by entreaties, succeeds in having delegates appointed, + chosen by the crowd, to inspect the chateau. These delegates examine the + apartments, and declare that they can find nothing but the arms ordinarily + kept on hand. This declaration is of no effect: the multitude, whose + excitement is increased by waiting, feel their strength, and have no idea + of returning empty-handed. A volley is fired, and the chateau windows are + riddled with balls. As a last effort Madame Guillin, with her two children + in her arms, comes out, and going to the municipal officers, calls upon + them to do their duty. Far from doing this they retain her as a hostage, + and place her in such a position that, if there is firing from the + chateau, she may receive the bullets. Meanwhile, the doors are forced, the + house is pillaged from top to bottom, and then set on fire; M. Guillin, + who seeks refuge in the keep, is almost reached by the flames. At this + moment, some of the assailants, less ferocious than the rest, prevail upon + him to descend, and they answer for his life. Scarcely has he shown + himself when others fall on him; they cry that he must be killed, that he + has a life-rent of 36,000 francs from the State, and "this will be so much + saved for the nation." "He is hacked to pieces alive;" his head is cut off + and borne upon a pike; his body is cut up, and sent piece by piece to each + parish; several wash their hands in his blood, and besmear their faces + with it. It seems as if tumult, clamor, incendiarism, robbery, and murder + had aroused in them not only the cruel instincts of the savage, but the + carnivorous appetites of the brute; some of them, seized by the + gendarmerie at Chasselay, had roasted the dead man's arm and dined upon + it.<a href="#linknote-3316" name="linknoteref-3316" id="linknoteref-3316"><small>3316</small></a>—Madame + Guillin, who is saved through the compassion of two of the inhabitants of + the place, succeeds, after encountering many dangers, in reaching Lyons; + she and her children lost everything, "the chateau, its dependencies, the + crop of the preceding year, wine, grain, furniture, plate, ready money, + assignats, notes, and contracts." Ten days later, the department gives + notice to the National Assembly that "similar projects are still being + plotted and arranged, and that there are (always) threats of burning + chateaux and rent-rolls;" that no doubt of this can possibly exist: "the + inhabitants of the country only await the opportunity, to renew these + scenes of horror."<a href="#linknote-3317" name="linknoteref-3317" + id="linknoteref-3317"><small>3317</small></a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0066" id="link2H_4_0066"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV.—The nobles obliged to leave the rural districts. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + They take refuge in towns.—The dangers they incur.—The + eighty-two gentlemen of Caen +</pre> + <p> + Amidst these multiplied and reviving Jacqueries there is nothing left but + flight, and the nobles, driven out of the rural districts, seek refuge in + the towns. But here also a jacquerie awaits them. As the effects of the + Constitution are developed, successive administrations become feebler and + more partial; the unbridled populace has become more excitable and more + violent; the enthroned club has become more suspicious and more despotic. + Henceforth the club, through or in opposition to the administrative + bodies, leads the populace, and the nobles will find it as hostile as the + peasants. All their reunions, even when liberal, are closed like that in + Paris, through the illegal interference of mobs, or through the iniquitous + action of the popular magistrates. All their associations, even when legal + and salutary, are broken up by brute force or by municipal intolerance, + They are punished for having thought of defending themselves, and + slaughtered because they try to avoid assassination.—Three or four + hundred gentlemen, who were threatened on their estates, sought refuge + with their families in Caen;<a href="#linknote-3318" + name="linknoteref-3318" id="linknoteref-3318"><small>3318</small></a> and + they trusted to find one there, for, by three different resolutions, the + municipal body promised them aid and protection. Unfortunately, the club + thinks otherwise, and, on August 23, 1791, prints and posts up a list of + their names and residences, declaring that since "their suspected opinions + have compelled them to abandon the rural districts," they are emigrants in + the interior;" from which it follows that "their conduct must be + scrupulously watched," because "it may be the effect of some dangerous + plot against the country." Fifteen are especially designated; among others + "the former curé of Saint-Loup, the great bloodhound of the aristocrats, + and all of them very suspicious persons, harboring the worst intentions."—Thus + denounced and singled out, it is evident that they can no longer sleep + peacefully: moreover, now that their addresses are published, they are + openly threatened with domiciliary visits and violence. As to the + administrative authorities, their intervention cannot be expected on; the + department itself gives notice to the minister that, as the law stands, it + cannot put the chateau in the hands of the regulars,<a + href="#linknote-3319" name="linknoteref-3319" id="linknoteref-3319"><small>3319</small></a> + as this would, it is said, excite the National Guard. Besides, how without + an army is this post to be wrested from the hands which hold it? It is + impossible with only the resources which the Constitution affords us." + Thus, in the defense of the oppressed, the Constitution is a dead letter.—Hence + it is that the refugees, finding protection only in themselves, undertake + to help each other. No association can be more justifiable, more pacific, + more innocent. Its object is "to demand the execution of the laws + constantly violated, and to protect persons and property." In each quarter + they will try to bring together "all good citizens;" they will form a + committee of eight members, and, in each committee, there will always be + "an officer of justice or a member of the administrative body with an + officer or subaltern of the National Guard." Should any citizen be + attacked in person or property the association will draw up a petition in + his favor. Should any particular act of violence require the employment of + public force, the members of the district will assemble under the orders + of the officer of justice and of the National Guard to enforce obedience. + "In all possible cases" they "will avoid with the greatest care any insult + of individuals; they will consider that the object of the meeting is + solely to ensure public peace, and that protection from the law to which + every citizen is entitled."—In short, they are volunteer constables. + Turn the inquiry which way they will, a hostile municipality and a + prejudiced tribunal can put no other construction upon it; they find + nothing else. The only evidence against one of the leaders is a letter in + which he tries to prevent a gentleman from going to Coblentz, striving to + prove to him that he will be more useful at Caen. The principal evidence + against the association is that of a townsman whom they wished to enroll, + and of whom they demanded his opinions. He had stated that he was in favor + of the execution of the laws; upon which they told him: "In this case you + belong to us, and are more of an aristocrat than you think you are. Their + aristocracy, in effect, consists wholly in the suppression of brigandage. + No claim is more unpalatable, because it interposes an obstacle to the + arbitrary acts of a party which thinks it has a right to do as it pleases. + On the 4th of October the regiment of Aunis left the town, and all good + citizens were handed over to the militia, "in uniform or not," they alone + being armed. That day, for the first time in a long period, M. Bunel, the + former curé of Saint-Jean, with the consent and assistance of his sworn + successor, officiates at the mass. There is a large gathering of the + orthodox, which causes uneasiness among the patriots. The following day M. + Bunel is to say mass again; whereupon, through the municipal authorities, + the patriots forbid him to officiate, to which he submits. Nevertheless, + for lack of due notice, a crowd of the faithful have arrived and the + church is filled. A dangerous mob! The patriots and National Guards arrive + "to preserve order," which has not been disturbed, and which they alone + disturb. Threatening words are exchanged between the servants of the + nobles and the National Guard. The latter draw their swords, and a young + man is hewn down and trampled on; M. de Saffrey, who comes to his + assistance unarmed, is himself cut down and pierced with bayonets, and two + others are wounded.—Meanwhile, in a neighboring street, M. Achard de + Vagogne, seeing a man maltreated by armed men, approaches, in order to + make peace. The man is shot down and M. Achard is covered with saber and + bayonet gashes: "there is not a thread on him which is not dyed with the + blood that ran down even into his shoes." In this condition he is led to + the chateau along with M. de Saifrey. Others break down the door of the + house of M. du Rosel, an old officer of seventy-five years, of which + fifty-nine have been passed in the service, and pursue him even over the + wall of his garden. A fourth squad seizes M. d'Héricy, another venerable + officer, who, like M. du Rosel, was ignorant of all that was going on, and + was quietly leaving for his country seat.—The town is full of + tumult, and, through the orders of the municipal authorities, the general + alarm is sounded. + </p> + <p> + The time for the special constables to act has come; about sixty + gentlemen, with a number of merchants and artisans, set out. According to + the rules of their association, and with significant scruple, they beg an + Officer of the National Guard, who happens to be passing, to put himself + at their head; they reach the Place Saint-Sauveur, encounter the superior + officer sent after them by the municipal authorities, and, at his first + command, follow him to the Hôtel-de-Ville. On reaching this, without any + resistance on their part, they are arrested, disarmed, and searched. The + rules and regulations of their league are found on their persons; they are + evidently hatching a counter-revolution. The uproar against them is + terrible. "To keep them safe," they are conducted to the chateau, while + many of them are cruelly treated on the way by the crowd. Others, seized + in their houses—M. Levaillant and a servant of M. d'Héricy—are + carried off bleeding and pierced with bayonets. Eighty-two prisoners are + thus collected, while fears are constantly entertained that they may + escape. "Their bread and meat are cut up into little pieces, to see that + nothing is concealed therein; the surgeons, who are likewise treated as + aristocrats, are denied access to them." Nocturnal visits are, at the same + time, paid to their houses; every stranger is ordered to present himself + at the Hôtel-de-Ville, to state why he comes to the town to reside, and to + give up his arms; every nonjuring priest is forbidden to say mass. The + Department, which is disposed to resist, has its hands tied and confesses + its powerlessness. "The people," it writes, "know their strength: they + know that we have no power; excited by disreputable citizens, they permit + whatever serves their passions or their interests; they influence our + deliberations, and force us to those which, under other circumstances, we + should carefully avoid."—Three days after this the victors celebrate + their triumph "with drums, music, and lighted torches; the people are + using hammers to destroy on the mansions the coats-of-arms which had + previously been covered over with plaster;" the defeat of the aristocrats + is accomplished.—And yet their innocence is so clearly manifest that + the Legislative Assembly itself cannot help recognizing it. After eleven + weeks of durance the order is given to set them free, with the exception + of two, a youth of less than eighteen years and an old man, almost an + octogenarian, on whom two letters, misunderstood, still leave a shadow of + suspicion.—But it is not certain that the people are disposed to + give them up. The National Guard refuses to discharge them in open + daylight and serve as their escort. Even the evening before numerous + groups of women, a few men mingled with them, talk of murdering all those + fellows the moment they set foot outside the chateau." They have to be let + out at two o'clock in the morning, secretly, under a strong guard, and to + leave the town at once as six months before they left the rural districts.—Neither + in country nor in the town<a href="#linknote-3320" name="linknoteref-3320" + id="linknoteref-3320"><small>3320</small></a> are they under the + protection of civil or religious law; a gentleman, who is not compromised + in the affair, remarks that their situation is worse than that of + Protestants and vagabonds during the worst years of the Ancient Régime of + them and who abuse the use of them? Why should one be on an equality for + purposes of payment, and distinguished? + </p> + <p> + "Does not the law allow (nonjuring) priests the liberty of saying mass? + Why then can we not listen to their mass except at the risk of our lives? + Does not the law command all citizens to preserve the public peace? Why + then are those whom the cry to arms has summoned forth to maintain public + order assailed as aristocrats? Why is the refuge of citizens which the + laws have declared sacred, violated without orders, without accusation, + without any appearance of wrong-doing? Why are all prominent citizens and + those who are well off disarmed in preference to others? Are weapons + exclusively made for those but lately deprived only for purposes of + annoyance and insult?" + </p> + <p> + He has spoken right. Those who now rule form an aristocracy in an inverse + sense, contrary to the law, and yet more contrary to nature.<a + href="#linknote-3321" name="linknoteref-3321" id="linknoteref-3321"><small>3321</small></a> + For, by a violent inversion, the lower grades in the graduated scale of + civilization and culture now are found uppermost, while the superior + grades are found at the uniform. The Constitution having suppressed + inequality, this has again arisen in an inverse sense. The populace, both + of town and country, taxes, imprisons, pillages, and slays more + arbitrarily, more brutally, more unjustly than feudal barons, and for its + serfs or villains it has its ancient chieftains. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0067" id="link2H_4_0067"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V.—Persecutions in private life. + </h2> + <p> + Let us suppose that, in order not to excite suspicion, they are content to + be without arms, to form no more associations, not to attend elections, to + shut themselves up at home, to strictly confine themselves within the + harmless precincts of domestic life. The same distrust, the same + animosity, still pursues them there.—At Cahors,<a + href="#linknote-3322" name="linknoteref-3322" id="linknoteref-3322"><small>3322</small></a> + where the municipal authorities, in spite of the law, had just expelled + the Carthusians who, under legal sanction, chose to remain and live in + common, two of the monks, before their departure, give to M. de Beaumont, + their friend and neighbor, four dwarf pear-trees and some onions in + blossom in their garden. On the strength of this, the municipal body + decree that + </p> + <p> + "the sieur Louis de Beaumont, formerly count, is guilty of having + audaciously and maliciously damaged national property," condemns him to + pay a fine of three hundred livres, and orders "that the four pear-trees, + pulled up in the so-called Carthusian garden, be brought on the following + day, Wednesday, to the door of the said sieur de Beaumont, and there + remain for four consecutive days, guarded, day and night, by two + fusiliers, at the expense of the said sieur de Beaumont; and upon the said + trees shall be placed the following inscription, to wit: Louis de + Beaumont, destroyer of the national property. And the judgment herewith + rendered shall be printed to the number of one thousand copies, read, + published, and posted at the expense of the said sieur de Beaumont, and + duly addressed throughout the department of Lot to the districts and + municipalities thereof, as well as to all societies of the Friends of the + Constitution and of Liberty." + </p> + <p> + Every line of this legal invective discloses the malignant envy of the + local recorder, who revenges himself for having formerly bowed too low.—The + following year, M. de Beaumont, having formally and under notarial + sanction bought a church which was sold by the district, along with the + ornaments and objects of worship it contained, the mayor and municipal + officers, followed by a lot of workmen, come and carry away and destroy + everything—confessionals, altars, and even the saint's canonised + body, which had been interred for one hundred and fifty years: so that, + after their departure, "the edifice resembled a vast barn filled with + ruins and rubbish."<a href="#linknote-3323" name="linknoteref-3323" + id="linknoteref-3323"><small>3323</small></a> It must be noted that, at + this very time, M. de Beaumont is military commandant at Perigord. The + treatment he undergoes shows what is in reserve for ordinary nobles. I do + not recommend them to attend official sales of property.<a + href="#linknote-3324" name="linknoteref-3324" id="linknoteref-3324"><small>3324</small></a>—Will + they even be free in their domestic enjoyments, and on entering a + drawing-room are they sure of quietly passing an evening there?—At + Paris, even, a number of persons of rank, among them the ambassadors of + Denmark and Venice, are listening to a concert in a mansion in the + Faubourg Saint-Honoré given by a foreign virtuoso, when a cart enters the + court loaded with fifty bundles of hay, the monthly supply for the horses. + A patriot, who sees the cart driven in, imagines that the King is + concealed underneath the hay, and that he has come there for the purpose + of plotting with the aristocrats about his flight. A mob gathers, and the + National Guard arrives, along with a commissioner, while four grenadiers + stand guard around the cart. The commissioner, in the meantime, inspects + the hotel; he sees music-stands, and the arrangements for a supper; comes + back, has the cart unloaded, and states to the people that he has found + nothing suspicious. The people do not believe him, and demand a second + inspection. This is made by twenty-four delegates; the bundles of hay, + moreover, are counted, and several of them are unbound, but all in vain. + Disappointed and irritated, having anticipated a spectacle, the crowd + insists that all the invited guests, men and women, should leave the house + on foot, and only get into their carriages at the end of the street. + "First comes a file of empty carriages;" next, "all the guests in their + evening attire, and the ladies in full dress, trembling with fear, with + downcast eyes, between two rows of men, women, and children, who stare + them in the face, and overwhelm them with insults."<a href="#linknote-3325" + name="linknoteref-3325" id="linknoteref-3325"><small>3325</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Suspected of holding secret meetings, and called to account in his own + house, has the noble at least the right to frequent a public saloon, to + eat in a restaurant, and to take the fresh air in a balcony?—The + Vicomte de Mirabeau, who has just dined in the Palais-Royal, stands at the + window to take the air, and is recognized; there is a gathering, and the + cry is soon heard, "Down with Mirabeau-Tonneau (barrel-Mirabeau)!"<a + href="#linknote-3326" name="linknoteref-3326" id="linknoteref-3326"><small>3326</small></a> + "Gravel is flung at him from all sides, and occasionally stones. One of + the window-panes is broken by a stone. Immediately picking up the stone, + he shows it to the crowd, and, at the same time, quietly places it on the + sill of the window, in token of moderation." There is a loud outcry; his + friends force him to withdraw inside, and Bailly, the mayor, comes in + person to quiet the aggressors. In this case there are good reasons for + their hatred. The gentleman whom they stone is a bon-vivant, large and + fat, fond of rich epicurean Suppers; and on this account the populace + imagine him to be a monster, and even worse, an ogre. With regard to these + nobles, whose greatest misfortune is to be over-polished and too worldly, + the over-excited imagination revives its old nursery tales.—M. de + Montlosier, living in the Rue Richelieu, finds that he is watched on his + way to the National Assembly. One woman especially, from thirty to + thirty-two years of age, who sold meat at a stall in the Passage + Saint-Guillaume, "regarded him with special attention. As soon as she saw + him coming she took up a long, broad knife which she sharpened before him, + casting furious looks at him." He asks his housekeeper what this means. + Two children of that quarter have disappeared, carried off by gipsies, and + the report is current that M. de Montlosier, the Marquis de Mirabeau, and + other deputies of the "right," meet together "to hold orgies in which they + eat little children." + </p> + <p> + In this state of public opinion there is no crime which is not imputed to + them, no insult which is not freely bestowed on them. "Traitors, tyrants, + conspirators, assassins," such is the current vocabulary of the clubs and + newspapers in relation to them. "Aristocrat" signifies all this, and + whoever dares to refute the calumny is himself an aristocrat.—At the + Palais-Royal, it is constantly repeated that M. de Castries, in his last + duel, made use of a poisoned sword, and an officer of the navy who + protests against this false report is himself accused, tried on the spot, + and condemned "to be shut up in the guard-house or thrown into the + fountain."<a href="#linknote-3327" name="linknoteref-3327" + id="linknoteref-3327"><small>3327</small></a>—The nobles must beware + of defending their honor in the usual way and of meeting an insult with a + challenge! At Castelnau, near Cahors,<a href="#linknote-3328" + name="linknoteref-3328" id="linknoteref-3328"><small>3328</small></a> one + of those who, the preceding year, marched against the incendiaries, M. de + Bellud, Knight of Saint-Louis, on coming down the public square with his + brother, a guardsman, is greeted with cries of "The aristocrat! to the + lamp post!" His brother is in a morning coat and slippers, and not wishing + to get into trouble they do not reply. A squad of the National Guard, + passing by, repeats the cry, but they still remain silent. The shout + continues, and M. de Bellud, after some time has elapsed, begs the captain + to order his men to be quiet. He refuses, and M. de Bellud demands + satisfaction outside the town. At these words the National Guards rush at + M. de Bellud with fixed bayonets. His brother receives a saber-cut on the + neck, while he, defending himself with his sword, slightly wounds the + captain and one of the men. The two brothers, alone against the whole + body, fight on, retreating to their house, in which they are blockaded. + Towards seven o'clock in the evening, two or three hundred National Guards + from Cahors arrive to reinforce the besiegers. The house is taken, and the + guardsman, escaping across the fields, sprains his ankle and is captured. + M. de Bellud, who has found his way into another house, continues to + defend himself there: the house is set on fire and burnt, together with + two others alongside of it. Taking refuge in a cellar he still keeps on + firing. Bundles of lighted straw are thrown in at the air-holes. Almost + suffocated, he springs out, kills his first assailant with a shot from one + pistol, and himself with another. His head is cut off with that of his + servant. The guardsman is made to kiss the two heads, and, on his + demanding a glass of water, they fill his mouth with the blood which drops + from the severed head of his brother. The victorious gang then set out for + Cahors, with the two heads stuck on bayonets, and the guardsman in a cart. + It comes to a halt before a house in which a literary circle meets, + suspected by the Jacobin club. The wounded man is made to descend from the + cart and is hung: his body is riddled with balls, and everything the house + contains is broken up, "the furniture is thrown out of the windows, and + the house pulled down."—Every popular execution is of this + character, at once prompt and complete, similar to those of an Oriental + monarch who, on the instant, without inquiry or trial, avenges his + offended majesty, and for every offense, knows no other punishment than + death. At Tulle, M. de Massy,<a href="#linknote-3329" + name="linknoteref-3329" id="linknoteref-3329"><small>3329</small></a> + lieutenant of the "Royal Navarre," having struck a man that insulted him, + is seized in the house in which he took refuge, and, in spite of the three + administrative bodies, is at once massacred.—At Brest, two + anti-revolutionary caricatures having been drawn with charcoal on the + walls of the military coffee-house, the excited crowd lay the blame of it + on the officers; one of these, M. Patry, takes it upon himself, and, on + the point of being torn to pieces, attempts to kill himself. He is + disarmed, but, when the municipal authorities come to his assistance, they + find him "already dead through an infinite number of wounds," and his head + is borne about on the end of a pike.<a href="#linknote-3330" + name="linknoteref-3330" id="linknoteref-3330"><small>3330</small></a>— + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0068" id="link2H_4_0068"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—Conduct of officers. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Their self-sacrifice.—Disposition of the soldiery. + —Military outbreaks.—Spread and increase of + insubordination.—Resignation of the officers. +</pre> + <p> + Much better would it be to live under an Eastern king, for he is not found + everywhere, nor always furious and mad, like the populace. Nowhere are the + nobles safe, neither in public nor in private life, neither in the country + nor in the towns, neither associated together nor separate. Popular + hostility hangs over them like a dark and threatening cloud from one end + of the territory to the other, and the tempest bursts upon them in a + continuous storm of vexations, outrages, calumnies, robberies, and acts of + violence; here, there, and almost daily, bloody thunderbolts fall + haphazard on the most inoffensive heads, on an old man asleep, on a Knight + of Saint-Louis taking a walk, on a family at prayers in a church. But, in + this aristocracy, crushed down in some places and attacked everywhere, the + thunderbolt finds one predestined group which attracts it and on which it + constantly falls, and that is the corps of officers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0069" id="link2H_4_0069"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI.—Conduct of the officers. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Their self-sacrifice.—Disposition of the soldiery. + —Military outbreaks.—Spread and increase of + insubordination.—Resignation of the officers. +</pre> + <p> + With the exception of a few fops, frequenters of drawing-rooms, and the + court favorites who have reached a high rank through the intrigues of the + antechamber, it was in this group, especially in the medium ranks, that + true moral nobility was then found. Nowhere in France was there so much + tried, substantial merit. A man of genius, who associated with them in his + youth, rendered them this homage: many among them are men possessing "the + most amiable characters and minds of the highest order."<a + href="#linknote-3331" name="linknoteref-3331" id="linknoteref-3331"><small>3331</small></a> + Indeed, for most of them, military service was not a career of ambition, + but an obligation of birth. It was the rule in each noble family for the + eldest son to enter the army, and advancement was of but little + consequence. He discharged the debt of his rank; this sufficed for him, + and, after twenty or thirty years of service, the order of Saint-Louis, + and sometimes a meager pension, were all he had a right to expect. Amongst + nine or ten thousand officers, the great majority coming from the lower + and poorer class of provincial nobles, body-guards, lieutenants, captains, + majors, lieutenant-colonels, and even colonels, have no other pretension. + Satisfied with favors<a href="#linknote-3332" name="linknoteref-3332" + id="linknoteref-3332"><small>3332</small></a> restricted to their + subordinate rank, they leave the highest grades of the service to the + heirs of the great families, to the courtiers or to the parvenus at + Versailles, and content themselves with remaining the guardians of public + order, and the brave defenders of the State. Under this system, when the + heart is not depraved it becomes exalted; it is made a point of honor to + serve without compensation; there is nothing but the public welfare in + view, and all the more because, at this moment, it is the absorbing topic + of all minds and of all literature. Nowhere has practical philosophy, that + which consists in a spirit of abnegation, more deeply penetrated than + among this unrecognized nobility. Under a polished, brilliant, and + sometimes frivolous exterior, they have a serious soul; the old sentiment + of honor is converted into one of patriotism. Set to execute the laws, + with force in hand to maintain peace through fear, they feel the + importance of their mission, and, for two years, fulfill its duties with + extraordinary moderation, gentleness, and patience, not only at the risk + of their lives, but amidst great and multiplied humiliations, through the + sacrifice of their authority and self-esteem, through the subjection of + their intelligent will to the dictation and incapacity of the masters + imposed upon them. For a noble officer to respond to the requisitions of + an extemporized bourgeois municipal body,<a href="#linknote-3333" + name="linknoteref-3333" id="linknoteref-3333"><small>3333</small></a> to + subordinate his competence, courage, and prudence to the blunders and + alarms of five or six inexperienced, frightened, and timid attorneys, to + place his energy and daring at the service of their presumption, + feebleness, and lack of decision, even when their orders or refusal of + orders are manifestly absurd or injurious, even when they are opposed to + the previous instructions of his general or of his minister, even when + they end in the plundering of a market, the burning of a chateau, the + assassination of an innocent person, even when they impose upon him the + obligation of witnessing crime with his sword sheathed and arms folded,<a + href="#linknote-3334" name="linknoteref-3334" id="linknoteref-3334"><small>3334</small></a>—this + is a hard task. It is hard for the noble officer to see independent, + popular, and bourgeois troops organized in the face of his own troops, + rivals and even hostile, in any case ten times as numerous and no less + exacting than sensitive—hard to be expected to show them deference + and extend civilities to them, to surrender to them posts, arsenals, and + citadels, to treat their chiefs as equals, however ignorant or unworthy, + and whatever they may be—here a lawyer, there a Capuchin, elsewhere + a brewer or a shoemaker, most generally some demagogue, and, in many a + town or village, some deserter or soldier drummed out of his regiment for + bad conduct, perhaps one of the noble's own men, a scamp whom he has + formerly discharged with the yellow cartridge, telling him to go and be + hung elsewhere. It is hard for the noble officer to be publicly and daily + calumniated on account of his rank and title, to be characterized as a + traitor at the club and in the newspapers, to be designated by name as an + object of popular suspicion and fury, to be hooted at in the streets and + in the theater, to submit to the disobedience of his men, to be denounced, + insulted, arrested, fleeced, hunted down and slaughtered by them and by + the populace, to see before him a cruel, ignoble, and unavenged death—that + of M. de Launay, murdered at Paris—that of M. de Belzunce, murdered + at Caen—that of M. de Beausset, murdered at Marseilles—that of + M. de Voisins, murdered at Valence—that of M. de Rully, murdered at + Bastia, or that of M. de Rochetailler, murdered at Port-au-Prince.<a + href="#linknote-3335" name="linknoteref-3335" id="linknoteref-3335"><small>3335</small></a> + All this is endured by the officers among the nobles. Not one of the + municipalities, even Jacobin, can find any pretext which will warrant the + charge of disobeying orders. Through tact and deference they avoid all + conflict with the National Guards. Never do they give provocation, and, + even when insulted, rarely defend themselves. Their gravest faults consist + of imprudent conversations, vivacious expressions and witticisms. Like + good watch-dogs amongst a frightened herd which trample them under foot, + or pierce them with their horns, they allow themselves to be pierced and + trampled on without biting, and would remain at their post to the end were + they not driven away from it. + </p> + <p> + All to no purpose: doubly suspicious as members of a proscribed class, and + as heads of the army, it is against them that public distrust excites the + most frequent explosions, and so much the more as the instrument they + handle is singularly explosive. Recruited by volunteer enlistment "amongst + a passionate, turbulent, and somewhat debauched people," the army is + composed of "all that are most fiery, most turbulent, and most debauched + in the nation."<a href="#linknote-3336" name="linknoteref-3336" + id="linknoteref-3336"><small>3336</small></a> Add to these the sweepings + of the alms-houses, and you find a good many blackguards in uniform! When + we consider that the pay is small, the food bad, discipline severe, no + promotion, and desertion endemic, we are no longer surprised at the + general disorder: license, to such men, is too powerful a temptation. With + wine, women, and money they have from the first been made turncoats, and + from Paris the contagion has spread to the provinces. In Brittany,<a + href="#linknote-3337" name="linknoteref-3337" id="linknoteref-3337"><small>3337</small></a> + the grenadiers and chasseurs of Ile-de-France "sell their coats, their + guns, and their shoes, exacting advances in order to consume it in the + tavern;" fifty-six soldiers of Penthièvre "wanted to murder their + officers," and it is foreseen that, left to themselves, they will soon, + for lack of pay, "betake themselves to the highways, to rob and + assassinate." In Euree-et-Loir, the dragoons,<a href="#linknote-3338" + name="linknoteref-3338" id="linknoteref-3338"><small>3338</small></a> with + saber and pistols in hand, visit the farmers' houses and take bread and + money, while the foot soldiers of the "Royal-Comtois" and the dragoons of + the "Colonel-Général" desert in bands in order to go to Paris, where + amusement is to be had. The main thing with them is "to have a jolly + time." In fact, the extensive military insurrections of the earliest date, + those of Paris, Versailles, Besançon, and Strasbourg, began or ended with + a revel.—Out of these depths of gross desires there has sprung up + natural or legitimate ambitions. A number of soldiers, for twenty years + past, have learned how to read, and think themselves qualified to be + officers. One quarter of those enlisted, moreover, are young men born in + good circumstances, and whom a caprice has thrown into the army. They + choke in this narrow, low, dark, confined passage where the privileged by + birth close up the issue, and they will march over their chiefs to secure + advancement. These are the discontented, the disputants, the orators of + the mess-room, and between these barrack politicians and the politicians + of the street an alliance is at once formed.—Starting from the same + point they march on to the same end, and the imagination which has labored + to blacken the Government in the minds of the people, blackens the + officers in the minds of the soldiers. + </p> + <p> + The Treasury is empty and there are arrears of pay. The towns, burdened + with debt, no longer furnish their quotas of supplies; and at Orleans, + with the distress of the municipality before them, the Swiss of + Chateauvieux were obliged to impose on themselves a stoppage of one sou + per day and per man to have wood in winter.<a href="#linknote-3339" + name="linknoteref-3339" id="linknoteref-3339"><small>3339</small></a> + Grain is scarce, the flour is spoilt, and the army bread, which was bad, + has become worse. The administration, worm-eaten by old abuses, is + deranged through the new disorder, the soldiers suffering as well through + its dissolution as through their extravagance.—They think themselves + robbed and they complain, at first with moderation; and justice is done to + their well-founded claims. Soon they exact accounts, and these are made + out for them. At Strasbourg, on these being verified before Kellermann and + a commissioner of the National Assembly, it is proved that they have not + been wronged out of a sou; nevertheless a gratification of six francs a + head is given to them, and they cry out that they are content and have + nothing more to ask for. A few months after this fresh complaints arise, + and there is a new verification: an ensign, accused of embezzlement and + whom they wished to hang, is tried in their presence; his accounting is + tidy; none of them can cite against him a proven charge, and, once more, + they remain silent. On other occasions, after hearing the reading of + registers for several hours, they yawn, cease to listen, and go outside to + get something to drink.—But the figures of their demands, as these + have been summed up by their mess-room calculators, remain implanted in + their brains; they have taken root there, and are constantly springing up + without any account or refutation being able to extirpate them. No more + writings nor speeches—what they want is money: 11,000 livres for the + Beaune regiment, 39,500 livres for that of Forez, 44,000 livres for that + of Salm, 200,000 livres for that of Chateauvieux, and similarly for the + rest. So much the worse for the officers if the money-chest does not + suffice for them; let them assess each other, or borrow on their note of + hand from the municipality, or from the rich men of the town.—For + greater security, in divers places, the soldiers take possession of the + military chest and mount guard around it: it belongs to them, since they + form the regiment, and, in any case, it is better that it should be in + their hands than in suspected hands.—Already, on the 4th of June, + 1790, the Minister of War announces to the Assembly that "the military + body threatens to fall into a perfect state of anarchy." His report shows + "the most incredible pretensions put forth in the most plain-spoken way—orders + without force, chiefs without authority, the military chest and flags + carried away, the orders of the King himself openly defied, the officers + condemned, insulted, threatened, driven off; some of them even captive + amidst their own troops, leading a precarious life in the midst of disgust + and humiliations, and, as the climax of horror, commanders having their + throat cut under the eyes and almost in the arms of their own soldiers." + </p> + <p> + It is much worse after the July Federation. Entertained, flattered, and + indoctrinated at the clubs, their delegates, inferior officers and + privates, return to the regiment Jacobins; and henceforth correspond with + the Jacobins of Paris, "receiving their instructions and reporting to + them,"<a href="#linknote-3340" name="linknoteref-3340" + id="linknoteref-3340"><small>3340</small></a>—Three weeks later, the + Minister of War gives notice to the National Assembly that there is no + limit to the license in the army. "Couriers, the bearers of fresh + complaints, are arriving constantly." In one place "a statement of the + fund is demanded, and it is proposed to divide it." Elsewhere, a garrison, + with drums beating, leaves the town, deposes its officers, and comes back + sword in hand. Each regiment is governed by a committee of soldiers. "It + is in this committee that the detention of the lieutenant-colonel of + Poitou has been twice arranged; here it is that 'Royal-Champagne' + conceived the insurrection" by which it refused to recognize a + sub-lieutenant sent to it. "Every day the minister's cabinet is filled + with soldiers who are sent as representatives to him, and who proudly come + and intimate to him the will of their constituents." Finally, at + Strasbourg, seven regiments, each represented by three delegates, formed a + military congress. The same month, the terrible insurrection of Nancy + breaks out—three regiments in revolt, the populace with them, the + arsenal pillaged, three hours of furious fighting in the streets, the + insurgents firing from the windows of the houses and from the cellar + openings, five hundred dead among the victors, and three thousand among + the vanquished.—The following month, and for six weeks,<a + href="#linknote-3341" name="linknoteref-3341" id="linknoteref-3341"><small>3341</small></a> + there is another insurrection, less bloody, but more extensive, better + arranged and more obstinate, that of the whole squadron at Brest, a mutiny + of twenty thousand men, at first against their admiral and their officers, + then against the new penal code and against the National Assembly itself. + The latter, after remonstrating in vain, is obliged not only not to take + rigorous measures, but again to revise its laws.<a href="#linknote-3342" + name="linknoteref-3342" id="linknoteref-3342"><small>3342</small></a> + </p> + <p> + From this time forth, I cannot enumerate the constant outbreaks in the + fleet and in the army.—Authorized by the minister, the soldier goes + to the club, where he is repeatedly told that his officers, being + aristocrats, are traitors. At Dunkirk, he is additionally taught how to + get rid of them. Clamors, denunciations, insults, musket-shots—these + are the natural means, and they are put in practice: but there is another, + recently discovered, by which an energetic officer of whom they are afraid + may be driven away. Some patriotic bully is found who comes and insults + him. If the officer fights and is not killed, the municipal authorities + have him arraigned, and his chiefs send him off along with his seconds "in + order not to disturb the harmony between the soldier and the citizen." If + he declines the proposed duel, the contempt of his men obliges him to quit + the regiment. In either case he is got out of the way.<a + href="#linknote-3343" name="linknoteref-3343" id="linknoteref-3343"><small>3343</small></a>—They + have no scruples in relation to him. Present or absent, a noble officer + must certainly be plotting with his emigrant companions; and on this a + story is concocted. Formerly, to prove that sacks of flour were being + thrown into the river, the soldiers alleged that these sacks were tied + with blue cords (cordons bleus). Now, to confirm the belief that an + officer is conspiring with Coblentz, it suffices to state that he rides a + white horse; a certain captain, at Strasbourg, barely escapes being cut to + pieces for this crime; "the devil could not get it out of their heads that + he was acting as a spy, and that the little grey-hound" which accompanies + him on his rides "is used to make signals. "—One year after, at the + time when the National Assembly completes its work, M. de Lameth, M. + Fréteau, and M. Alquier state before it that Luckner, Rochambeau, and the + most popular generals, "no longer are responsible for anything." The + Auvergne regiment has driven away its officers and forms a separate + society, which obeys no one. The second battalion of Beaune is on the + point of setting fire to Arras. It is almost necessary to lay siege to + Phalsbourg, whose garrison has mutinied. Here, "disobedience to the + general's orders is formal." There "are soldiers who have to be urged to + stand sentinel; whom they dare not put in confinement for discipline; who + threaten to fire on their officers; who stray off the road, pillage + everything, and take aim at the corporal who tries to bring them back." At + Blois, a part of the regiment "has just arrived without either clothes or + arms, the soldiers having sold all on the road to provide for their + debauchery." One among them, delegated by his companions, proposes to the + Jacobins at Paris to "de-aristocratise" the army by cashiering all the + nobles. Another declares, with the applause of the club, that "seeing how + the palisades of Givet are constructed, he is going to denounce the + Minister of War at the tribunal of the sixth arrondissement of Paris." + </p> + <p> + It is manifest that, for noble officers, the situation is no longer + tenable. After waiting patiently for twenty-three months, many of them + left through conscientiousness, when the National Assembly, forcing a + third oath upon them, struck out of the formula the name of the King, + their born general.<a href="#linknote-3344" name="linknoteref-3344" + id="linknoteref-3344"><small>3344</small></a>—Others depart at the + end of the Constituent Assembly, "because they risk being hung." A large + number resign at the end of 1791 and during the first months of 1792, in + proportion as the new code and the new recruiting system for the army + develop their results.<a href="#linknote-3345" name="linknoteref-3345" + id="linknoteref-3345"><small>3345</small></a> In fact, on the one hand, + through the soldiers and inferior officers having a voice in the election + of their chiefs and a seat in the military courts, "there is no longer the + shadow of discipline; verdicts are given from pure caprice; the soldier + contracts the habit of despising his superiors, of whose punishments he + has no fear, and from whom he expects no reward; the officers are + paralyzed to such a degree as to become entirely superfluous personages." + On the other hand, the majority of the National Volunteers are composed of + "men bought by the communes" and administrative bodies, worthless + characters of the street-corners, rustic vagabonds forced to march by lot + or bribery,"<a href="#linknote-3346" name="linknoteref-3346" + id="linknoteref-3346"><small>3346</small></a> and along with them, + enthusiasts and fanatics to such an extent that, from March, 1792, from + the spot of their enlistment to the frontier, their track is everywhere + marked by pillage, robbery, devastation, and assassinations. Naturally, on + the road and at the frontier, they denounce, drive away, imprison, or + murder their officers, and especially the nobles. 3/4 And yet, in this + extremity, numbers of noble officers, especially in the artillery and + engineer corps, persist in remaining at their posts, some through liberal + ideas, and others out of respect for their instructions; even after the + 10th of August, even after the 2nd of September, even after the 21st of + January, like their generals Biron, Custine, de Flers, de Broglie, and de + Montesquiou, with the constant perspective of the guillotine that awaits + them on leaving the battlefield and even in the ministerial offices of + Carnot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0070" id="link2H_4_0070"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII.—Emigration and its causes. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The first laws against the emigrants. +</pre> + <p> + It is, accordingly, necessary that the officers and nobles should go away, + should go abroad; and not only they, but also their families. "Gentlemen + who have scarcely six hundred livres income set out on foot,"<a + href="#linknote-3347" name="linknoteref-3347" id="linknoteref-3347"><small>3347</small></a> + and there is no doubt as to the motive of their departure. "Whoever will + impartially consider the sole and veritable causes of the emigration," + says an honest man, "will find them in anarchy. If the liberty of the + individual had not been daily threatened, if;" in the civil as in the + military order of things, "the senseless dogma, preached by the factions, + that crimes committed by the mob are the judgments of heaven, had not been + put in practice, France would have preserved three fourths of her + fugitives. Exposed for two years to ignominious dangers, to every species + of outrage, to innumerable persecutions, to the steel of the assassin, to + the firebrands of incendiaries, to the most infamous charges, 'to the + denouncement of' their corrupted domestics, to domiciliary visits" + prompted by the commonest street rumor, "to arbitrary imprisonment by the + Committee of Inquiry," deprived of their civil rights, driven out of + primary meetings, "they are held accountable for their murmurs, and + punished for a sensibility which would touch the heart in a suffering + criminal."—" Resistance is nowhere seen; from the prince's throne to + the parsonage of the priest, the tempest has prostrated all malcontents in + resignation." Abandoned "to the restless fury of the clubs, to informers, + to intimidated officials, they find executioners on all sides where + prudence and the safety of the State have enjoined them not even to see + enemies. . . . Whoever has detested the enormities of fanaticism and of + public ferocity, whoever has awarded pity to the victims heaped together + under the ruins of so many legitimate rights and odious abuses, whoever, + finally, has dared to raise a doubt or a complaint, has been proclaimed an + enemy of the nation. After this representation of malcontents as so many + conspirators, every crime committed against them has been legitimated in + public opinion.<a href="#linknote-3348" name="linknoteref-3348" + id="linknoteref-3348"><small>3348</small></a> The public conscience, + formed by the factions and by that band of political corsairs who would be + the disgrace of a barbarous nation, have considered attacks against + property and towns simply as national justice, while, more than once, the + news of the murder of an innocent person, or of a sentence which + threatened him with death, has been welcomed with shouts of joy Two + systems of natural right, two orders of justice, two standards of morality + were accordingly established; by one of these it was allowable to do + against one's fellow-creature, a reputed aristocrat, that which would be + criminal if he were a patriot. . . . Was it foreseen that, at the end of + two years, France, teeming with laws, with magistrates, with courts, with + citizen-guards, bound by solemn oaths in the defense of order and the + public safety, would still and continually be an arena in which wild + beasts would devour unarmed men "—With all, even with old men, + widows and children, it is a crime to escape from their clutches. Without + distinguishing between those who fly to avoid becoming a prey, and those + who arm to attack the frontier, the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies + alike condemn all absentees. The Constituent Assembly<a + href="#linknote-3349" name="linknoteref-3349" id="linknoteref-3349"><small>3349</small></a> + trebled their real and personal taxes, and prescribed that there should be + a triple lien on their rents and dues. The Legislative Assembly + sequestrates, confiscates, and puts into the market their possessions, + real and personal, amounting to nearly fifteen hundred millions of cash + value. Let them return and place themselves under the knives of the + populace; otherwise they and their posterity shall all be beggars.—At + this stroke indignation overflows, and a bourgeois who is liberal and a + foreigner, Mallet du Pan, exclaims,<a href="#linknote-3350" + name="linknoteref-3350" id="linknoteref-3350"><small>3350</small></a> + "What! twenty thousand families absolutely ignorant of the Coblentz plans + and of its assemblies, twenty thousand families dispersed over the soil of + Europe by the fury of clubs, by the crimes of brigands, by constant lack + of security, by the stupid and cowardly inertia of petrified authorities, + by the pillage of estates, by the insolence of it cohort of tyrants + without bread or clothes, by assassinations and incendiarism, by the base + servility of silent ministers, by the whole series of revolutionary + scourges,—what' these twenty thousand desolate families, women and + old men, must see their inheritances become the prey of national robbery! + What! Madame Guillin, who was obliged to fly with horror from the land + where monsters have burnt her dwelling, slaughtered and eaten her husband, + and who live with impunity by the side of her home—shall Madame + Guillin see her fortune confiscated for the benefit of the communities to + which she owes her dreadful misfortunes! Shall M. de Clarac, under penalty + of the same punishment, go and restore the ruins of his chateau, where an + army of scoundrels failed to smother him!"—So much the worse for + them if they dare not come back! They are to undergo civil death, + perpetual banishment, and, in case the ban be violated, they will be given + up to the guillotine. In the same case with them are others who, with + still greater innocence, have left the territory, magistrates, ordinary + rich people, burgesses, or peasants, Catholics, and particularly one + entire class, the nonjuring clergy, from the cardinal archbishop down to + the simple village vicar, all prosecuted, then despoiled, then crushed by + the same popular oppression and by the same legislative oppression, each + of these two persecutions exciting and aggravating the other to such an + extent that, at last, the populace and the law, one the accomplice of the + other, no longer leave a roof nor a piece of bread, nor an hour's safety + to a gentleman or to a priest.<a href="#linknote-3351" + name="linknoteref-3351" id="linknoteref-3351"><small>3351</small></a> + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0071" id="link2H_4_0071"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII.—Attitude of the non-juring priests. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + How they become distrusted.—Illegal arrests by local + administrations.—Violence or complicity of the National + Guards.—Outrages by the populace.—Executive power in the + south.—The sixth jacquerie.—Its two causes.—Isolated + outbreaks in the north, east, and west,—General eruption in + the south and in the center. +</pre> + <p> + The ruling passion flings itself on all obstacles, even those placed by + itself across its own track. Through a vast usurpation the minority of + non-believers, indifferent or lukewarm, has striven to impose its + ecclesiastical forms on the Catholic majority, and the situation thereby + created for the Catholic priest is such that unless he becomes schismatic, + he cannot fail to appear as an enemy. In vain has he obeyed! He has + allowed his property to be taken, he has left his parsonage, he has given + the keys of the church to his successor, he has kept aloof; he does not + transgress, either by omission or commission, any article of any decree. + In vain does he avail himself of his legal right to abstain from taking an + oath repugnant to his conscience. This alone makes him appear to refuse + the civic oath in which the ecclesiastical oath is included, to reject the + constitution which he accepts in full minus a parasite chapter, to + conspire against the new social and political order of things which he + often approves of; and to which he almost always submits.<a + href="#linknote-3352" name="linknoteref-3352" id="linknoteref-3352"><small>3352</small></a> + In vain does he confine himself to his special and recognized domain, the + spiritual direction of things. Through this alone he resists the new + legislators who pretend to furnish a spiritual guidance, for, by virtue of + being orthodox, he must believe that the priest whom they elect is + excommunicated, that his sacraments are vain; and, in his office as + pastor, he must prevent his sheep from going to drink at an impure source. + In vain might he preach to them moderation and respect. Through the mere + fact that the schism is effected, its consequences unfold them selves, and + the peasants will not always remain as patient as their pastor. They have + known him for twenty years; he has baptized them and married them; they + believe that his is the only true mass; they are not satisfied to be + obliged to attend another two or three leagues away, and to leave the + church, their church which their ancestors built, and where from father to + son they have prayed for centuries, in the hands of a stranger, an + intruder and heretic, who officiates before almost empty benches, and whom + gendarmes, with guns in their hands, have installed. Assuredly, as he + passes through the street, they will look upon him askance: it is not + surprising that the women and children soon hoot at him, that stones are + thrown at night through his windows, that in the strongly Catholic + departments, Upper and Lower Rhine, Doubs and Jura, Lozère, Deux-Sêvres + and Vendée, Finistère, Morbihan, and Côtes-du-Nord, he is greeted with + universal desertion, and then expelled through public ill-will. It is not + surprising that his mass is interrupted and that his person is threatened;<a + href="#linknote-3353" name="linknoteref-3353" id="linknoteref-3353"><small>3353</small></a> + that disaffection which thus far had only reached the upper class, + descends to the popular strata; that, from one end of France to the other, + a sullen hostility prevails against the new institutions; for now the + political and social constitution is joined to the ecclesiastical + constitution like an edifice to its spire, and, through this sharp + pinnacle, seeks the storm even within the darkening clouds of heaven. The + evil all springs out of this unskillful, gratuitous, compulsory fusion, + and, consequently, from those who effected it. + </p> + <p> + But never will a victorious party admit that it has made a mistake. In its + eyes the nonjuring priests are alone culpable; it is irritated against + their factious conscience; and, to crush the rebellion even in the + inaccessible sanctuary of personal conviction, there is no legal or brutal + act of violence which it will not allow itself to commit. + </p> + <p> + Behold, accordingly, a new sport thrown open; and the game is immensely + plentiful. For it comprises not only the black or gray robes, more than + forty thousand priests, over thirty thousand nuns, and several thousand + monks, but also the devoted orthodox, that is to say the women of the low + or middle class, and, without counting provincial nobles, a majority of + the serious, steady bourgeoisie, a majority of the peasantry-almost the + whole population of several provinces, east, west, and in the south. A + name is bestowed on them, as lately on the nobles; it is that of fanatic, + which is equivalent to aristocrat, for it also designates public enemies + likewise placed by it beyond the pale of the law. + </p> + <p> + Little does it matter whether the law favors them, for it is interpreted + against them, arbitrarily construed and openly violated by the partial or + intimidated administrative bodies which the Constitution has withdrawn + from the control of the central authority and subjected to the authority + of popular gatherings. From the first months of 1791, the hounding begins; + the municipalities, districts, and departments themselves often take the + lead in beating up the game. Six months later, the Legislative Assembly, + by its decree of November 29,<a href="#linknote-3354" + name="linknoteref-3354" id="linknoteref-3354"><small>3354</small></a> + sounds the tally-ho, and, in spite of the King's veto, the hounds on all + sides dash forward. During the month of April, 1792, forty-two departments + pass against nonjuring priests "acts which are neither prescribed nor + authorized by the Constitution," and, before the end of the Legislative + Assembly, forty-three others will have followed in their train.—Through + this series of illegal acts, without offense, without trial, non-jurors + are everywhere in France expelled from their parishes, relegated to the + principal town of the department or district, in some places imprisoned, + put on the same footing with the emigrants, and despoiled of their + property, real and personal.<a href="#linknote-3355" + name="linknoteref-3355" id="linknoteref-3355"><small>3355</small></a> + Nothing more is wanting against them but the general decree of deportation + which is to come as soon as the Assembly can get rid of the King. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime, the National Guards, who have extorted the laws, endeavor + to aggravate them in their application; and there is nothing strange in + their animosity. Commerce is at a standstill, industry languishes, the + artisan and shopkeeper suffer, and, in order to account for the universal + discontent, it is attributed to the insubordination of the priest. Were it + not for his stubbornness all would go well, since the Constitution is + perfect, and he is the only one who does not accept it. But, in not + accepting it, he attacks it. He, therefore, is the last obstacle in the + way of public happiness; he is the scapegoat, let us drive the obnoxious + creature away! And the urban militia, sometimes on its own authority, + sometimes instigated by the municipal body its accomplice; is seen + disturbing public worship, dispersing congregations, seizing priests by + the collar, pushing them by the shoulders out of the town, and threatening + them with hanging if they dare to return. At Douay,<a href="#linknote-3356" + name="linknoteref-3356" id="linknoteref-3356"><small>3356</small></a> with + guns in hand, they force the directory of the department to order the + closing of all the oratories and chapels in hospitals and convents. At + Caen, with loaded guns and with a cannon, they march forth against the + neighboring parish of Verson, break into houses, gather up fifteen persons + suspected of orthodoxy—canons, merchants, artisans, workmen, women, + girls, old men, and the infirm—cut off their hair, strike them with + the but-ends of their muskets, and lead them back to Caen fastened to the + breach of the cannon; and all this because a nonjuring priest still + officiated at Verson, and many pious persons from Caen attended his mass: + Verson, consequently, is a focal center of counter-revolutionary + gatherings. Moreover, in the houses which were broken into, the furniture + was smashed, casks stove in, and the linen, money, and plate stolen, the + rabble of Caen having joined the expedition.—Here, and everywhere, + there is nothing to do but to let this rabble have its own way; and as it + operates against the possessions, the liberty; the life, and the sense of + propriety of dangerous persons, the National Militia is careful not to + interfere with it. Consequently, the orthodox, both priests and believers, + men and women, are now at its mercy, and, thanks to the connivance of the + armed force, which refuses to interpose, the rabble satisfy on the + proscribed class its customary instincts of cruelty, pillage, wantonness, + and destructiveness. + </p> + <p> + Whether public or private, the order of the day is always to hinder + worship, while the means employed are worthy of those who carry them out.—Here, + a nonjuring priest having had the boldness to minister to a sick person, + the house which he has just entered is taken by assault, and the door and + windows of a house occupied by another priest are smashed.<a + href="#linknote-3357" name="linknoteref-3357" id="linknoteref-3357"><small>3357</small></a> + There, the lodgings of two workmen, who are accused of having had their + infants baptized by a refractory priest, are sacked and nearly demolished. + Elsewhere, a mob refuses to allow the body of an old curé, who had died + without taking the oath, to enter the cemetery. Farther on, a church is + assaulted during vespers, and everything is broken to pieces: on the + following day it is the turn of a neighboring church, and, in addition, a + convent of Ursuline nuns is devastated.—At Lyons, on Easter-day, + 1791, as the people are leaving the six o'clock mass, a troop, armed with + whips, falls upon the women.<a href="#linknote-3358" + name="linknoteref-3358" id="linknoteref-3358"><small>3358</small></a> + Stripped, bruised, prostrated, with their heads in the dirt, they are not + left until they are bleeding and half-dead; one young girl is actually at + the point of death; and this sort of outrage occurs so frequently that + even ladies attending the orthodox mass in Paris dare not go out without + sewing up their garments around them in the shape of drawers.—Naturally, + to make the most of the prey offered to them, hunting associations are + formed. These exist in Montpellier, Arles, Uzès, Alais, Nîmes, Carpentras, + and in most of the towns or burgs of Gard, Vaucluse, and l'Hérault, in + greater or less number according to the population of the city: some + counting from ten to twelve, and others from two to three hundred + determined men, of every description: among them are found "strike-hards" + (tape-dur), former brigands, and escaped convicts with the brand still on + their backs. Some of them oblige their members to wear a medal as a + visible mark of recognition; all assume the title of executive power, and + declare that they act of their own authority, and that it is necessary to + "quicken the law."<a href="#linknote-3359" name="linknoteref-3359" + id="linknoteref-3359"><small>3359</small></a> Their pretext is the + protection of sworn priests; and for twenty months, beginning with April, + 1791, they operate to this effect with heavy knotted dubs garnished with + iron points," without counting sabers and bayonets. Generally, their + expeditions are nocturnal. Suddenly, the houses of "citizens suspected of + a want of patriotism," of nonjuring ecclesiastics, of the monks of the + Christian school, are invaded; everything is broken or stolen, and the + owner is ordered to leave the place in twenty-four hours: sometimes, + doubtless through an excess of precaution, he is beaten to death on the + spot. Besides this, the band also works by day in the streets, lashes the + women, enters the churches saber in hand, and drives the nonjuring priest + from the altar. All of this is done with the connivance and in the sight + of the paralyzed or complaisant authorities, by a sort of occult and + complementary government, which not only supplies what is missing in the + ecclesiastical law, but also searches the pockets of private individuals.—At + Nîmes, under the leadership of a patriotic dancing-master, not content + with "decreeing proscriptions, killing, scourging, and often murdering," + these new champions of the Gallican Church undertake to reanimate the zeal + of those liable to contribution. A subscription having been proposed for + the support of the families of the volunteers about to depart, the + executive power takes upon itself to revise the list of offerings: it + arbitrarily taxes those who have not given, or who, in its opinion, have + given too little some "poor workmen fifty livres, others two hundred, + three hundred, nine hundred, and a thousand, under penalty of wrecked + houses and severe treatment." Elsewhere, the volunteers of Baux and other + communes near Tarascon help themselves freely, and, "under the pretext + that they are to march for the defense of the country, levy enormous + contributions on proprietors," on one four thousand, and on another five + thousand livres. In default of payment, they carry away all the grain on + one farm, even to the reserve seed, threatening to make havoc with + everything, and even to burn, in case of complaint, so that the owners + dare not say a word, while the attorney-general of the neighboring + department, afraid on his own account, begs that his denunciation may be + kept secret.—From the slums of the towns the jacquerie has spread + into the rural districts. This is the sixth and the most extensive seen + for three years.<a href="#linknote-3360" name="linknoteref-3360" + id="linknoteref-3360"><small>3360</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Two spurs impel the peasant on.—On the one hand he is frightened by + the clash of arms, and the repeated announcements of an approaching + invasion. The clubs and the newspapers since the declaration of Pilnitz, + and the Orators in the Legislative Assembly for four months past, have + kept him alarmed with their trumpet-blasts, and he urges on his oxen in + the furrow with cries of "Woa, Prussia!" to one, and to the other, "Gee + up, Austria!" Austria and Prussia, foreign kings and nobles in league with + the emigrant nobles, are going to return in force to re-establish the + salt-tax, the excise, feudal-dues, tithes, and to retake national property + already sold and re-sold, with the aid of the gentry who have not left, or + who have returned, and the connivance of non-juring priests who declare + the sale sacrilegious and refuse to absolve the purchasers.—On the + other hand, Holy Week is drawing near, and for the past year qualms of + conscience have disturbed the purchasers. Up to March 24, 1791, the sales + of national property had amounted to only 180 millions; but, the Assembly + having prolonged the date of payment and facilitated further sales in + detail, the temptation proves too strong for the peasant; stockings and + buried pots are all emptied of their savings. In seven months the peasant + has bought to the amount of 1,346 millions,<a href="#linknote-3361" + name="linknoteref-3361" id="linknoteref-3361"><small>3361</small></a> and + finally possesses in full and complete ownership the morsel of land which + he has coveted for so many years, and sometimes an unexpected plot, a + wood, a mill, or a meadow. At the present time he has to settle accounts + with the church, and, if the pecuniary settlement is postponed, the + Catholic settlement comes on the appointed day. According to immemorial + tradition he is obliged to take the communion at Easter,<a + href="#linknote-3362" name="linknoteref-3362" id="linknoteref-3362"><small>3362</small></a> + his wife also, and likewise his mother; and if he, exceptionally, does not + think this of consequence, they do. Moreover, he requires the sacraments + for his old sick father, his new-born child, and for his other child of an + age to be confirmed. Now, communion, baptism, confession, all the + sacraments, to be of good quality, must proceed from a safe source, just + as is the case with flour and coin; there is only too much counterfeit + money now in the world, and the sworn priests are daily losing credit, + like the assignats. There is no other course to pursue, consequently, but + to resort to the non-juror, who is the only one able to give valid + absolutions. And it so happens that he not only refuses this, but he is + said to be inimical to the whole new order of things.—In this + dilemma the peasant falls back upon his usual resource, the strength of + his arms; he seizes the priest by the throat, as formerly his lord, and + extorts an acquittance for his sins as formerly for his feudal dues. At + the very least he strives to constrain the non-jurors to swear, to close + their separatist churches, and bring the entire canton to the same uniform + faith.—Occasionally also he avenges himself against the partisans of + the non-jurors, against chateaux and houses of the opulent, against the + nobles and the rich, against proprietors of every class. Occasionally, + likewise, as, since the amnesty of September, 1791, the prisons have been + emptied, as one-half of the courts are not yet installed,<a + href="#linknote-3363" name="linknoteref-3363" id="linknoteref-3363"><small>3363</small></a> + as there has been no police for thirty months, the common robbers, + bandits, and vagrants, who swarm about without repression or surveillance, + join the mob and fill their pockets. + </p> + <p> + Here, in Pas-de-Calais,<a href="#linknote-3364" name="linknoteref-3364" + id="linknoteref-3364"><small>3364</small></a> three hundred villagers, + headed by a drummer, burst open the doors of a Carthusian convent, steal + everything, eatables, beverages, linen, furniture, and effects, whilst, in + the neighboring parish, another band operates in the same fashion in the + houses of the mayor and of the old curé, threatening "to kill and burn + all," and promising to return on the following Sunday.—There, in + Bas-Rhin, near Fort Louis, twenty houses of the aristocrats are pillaged.—Elsewhere + in Ile-et-Vilaine, bodies of rural militia, combined, go from parish to + parish, and, increasing in numbers in consequence of their very violence + until they form bands of two thousand men. They close churches, drive away + nonjuring priests, remove clappers from the bells, eat and drink what they + please at the expense of the inhabitants, and often, in the houses of the + mayor or tax-registrar, indulge in the pleasure of breaking everything to + pieces. Should any public officer remonstrate with them they shout, "At + the aristocrat!" One of these unlucky counselors is struck on the back + with the but-end of a musket, and two others have guns aimed at them; the + chiefs of the expedition are in no better predicament, and, according to + their own admission, if they are at the head of the mob it is to make sure + they themselves will not be pillaged or hung. The same spectacle presents + itself in Mayenne, in Orne, in Moselle, and in the Landes.<a + href="#linknote-3365" name="linknoteref-3365" id="linknoteref-3365"><small>3365</small></a>—These, + however, are but isolated irruptions, and very mild; in the south and in + the center, the plague is apparent in an immense leprous spot, which + extending from Avignon to Perigueux, and from Aurillac to Toulouse, + suddenly covers, nearly without with any discontinuity, ten departments, + Vaucluse, Ardèche, Gard, Cantal, Corrèze, Lot, Dordogne, Gers, + Haute-Garonne, and Hérault. Vast rural masses are set in motion at the + same time, on all sides and owing to the same causes: the approach of war + and the coming of Easter.—In Cantal, at the assembly of the canton + held at Aurillac for the recruitment of the army,<a href="#linknote-3366" + name="linknoteref-3366" id="linknoteref-3366"><small>3366</small></a> the + commander of a village National Guard demands vengeance "against those who + are not patriots," and the report is spread that an order has come from + Paris to destroy the chateaux. Moreover, the insurgents allege that the + priests, through their refusal to take the oath, are bringing the nation + into civil war: "we are tired of not having peace on their account; let + them become good citizens, so that everybody may go to mass." On the + strength of this, the insurgents enter houses, put the inhabitants to + ransom, not only priests and former nobles, "but also those who are + suspected of being their partisans, those who do not attend the mass of + the constitutional priest," and even poor people, artisans and tillers of + the ground, whom they tax five, ten, twenty, and forty francs, and whose + cellars and bread-bins they empty. Eighteen chateaux are pillaged, burnt, + or demolished, and among others, those of several gentlemen and ladies who + have not left the country. One of these, M. d'Humières, is an old officer + of eighty years; Madame de Peyronenc saves her son only by disguising him + as a peasant; Madame de Beauclerc, who flies across the mountain, sees her + sick child die in her arms. At Aurillac, gibbets are set up before the + principal houses; M. de Niossel, a former lieutenant of a criminal court, + put in prison for his safety, is dragged out, and his severed head is + thrown on a dunghill; M. Collinet, just arrived from Malta, and suspected + of being an aristocrat, is ripped open, cut to pieces, and his head is + carried about on the end of a pike. Finally, when the municipal officers, + judges, and royal commissioner commence proceedings against the assassins, + they find themselves in such great danger that they are obliged to resign + or to run away. In like manner, in Haute-Garonne,<a href="#linknote-3367" + name="linknoteref-3367" id="linknoteref-3367"><small>3367</small></a> it + is also "against non-jurors and their followers" that the insurrection has + begun. This is promoted by the fact that in various parishes the + constitutional curé belongs to the club, and demands the riddance of his + adversaries. One of them at Saint-Jean-Lorne, "mounted on a cart, preaches + pillage to a mob of eight hundred persons." Each band, consequently, + begins by expelling refractory priests, and by forcing their supporters to + attend the mass of the sworn priest.—But such success, wholly + abstract and barren, is of little advantage, and peasants in a state of + revolt are not satisfied so easily. When parishes march forth by the dozen + and devote their day to the service of the public, they must have some + compensation in wood, wheat, wine, or money,<a href="#linknote-3368" + name="linknoteref-3368" id="linknoteref-3368"><small>3368</small></a> and + the expense of the expedition may be defrayed by the aristocrats. Not + merely the upholders of non-jurors are aristocrats, as, for example, an + old lady here and there, "very fanatical, and who for forty years has + devoted all her income to acts of philanthropy," "but well-to-do persons, + peasants or gentlemen;" for, "by keeping their wine and grain unsold in + their cellars and barns, and by not undertaking more work than they need, + so as to deprive workmen in the country of their means of subsistence," + they design "to starve out" the poor folk. Thus, the greater the pillage, + the greater the service to the public. According to the insurgents, it is + important "to diminish revenues enjoyed by the enemies of the nation, in + order that they may not send their revenues to Coblentz and other places + out of the kingdom." Consequently, bands of six or eight hundred or a + thousand men overrun the districts of Toulouse and Castelsarrasin. All + proprietors, aristocrats, and patriots are put under contribution. Here, + in the house of "the philanthropic but fanatical old maid, they break open + everything, destroy the furniture, taking away eighty-two bushels of wheat + and sixteen hogsheads of wine." Elsewhere, at Roqueferrière, feudal + title-deeds are burnt, and a chateau is pillaged. Farther on, at Lasserre, + thirty thousand francs are exacted and the ready money is all carried off. + Almost everywhere the municipal officers, willingly or unwillingly, + authorize pillaging. Moreover, "they cut down provisions to a price in + assignats very much less than their current rate in silver," and they + double the price of a day's work. In the meantime, other bands devastate + the national forests, and the gendarmes, in order not to be called + aristocrats, have no idea but of paying court to the pillagers. + </p> + <p> + After all this, it is manifest that property no longer exists for anybody + except for paupers and robbers.—In effect, in Dordogne,<a + href="#linknote-3369" name="linknoteref-3369" id="linknoteref-3369"><small>3369</small></a> + under the pretext of driving away nonjuring priests, frequently mobs + gather to pillage and rob whatever comes in their way. . . . All the grain + that is found in houses with weathercocks is sequestrated." The rustics + exploit, as communal property, all the forests, all the possessions of the + emigrants; and this operation is radical; for example, a band, on finding + a new barn of which the materials strike them as good, demolish it so as + to share with each other the tiles and timber.—In Corrèze, fifteen + thousand armed peasants, who have come to Tulle to disarm and drive off + the supporters of the non-jurors, break everything in suspected houses, + and a good deal of difficulty is found in sending them off empty-handed. + As soon as they get back home, they sack the chateaux of Saint-Gal, + Seilhac, Gourdon, Saint-Basile, and La Rochette, besides a number of + country-houses, even of absent plebeians. They have found a quarry, and + never was the removal of property more complete. They carefully carry off, + says an official statement, all that can be carried—furniture, + curtains, mirrors, clothes-presses, pictures, wines, provisions, even + floors and wooden panels, "down to the smallest fragments of iron and + wood-work," smashing the rest, so that nothing "remains of the house but + its four walls, the roof and the staircase." In Lot, where for two years + the insurrection is permanent, the damage is much greater. During the + night between the 30th and 31st of January, "all the best houses in + Souillac" are broken open, "sacked and pillaged from top to bottom,"<a + href="#linknote-3370" name="linknoteref-3370" id="linknoteref-3370"><small>3370</small></a> + their owners being obliged to fly, and so many outbreaks occur in the + department, that the directory has no time to render an account of them to + the minister. Entire districts are in revolt; as, "in each commune all the + inhabitants are accomplices, witnesses cannot be had to support a criminal + prosecution, and crime remains unpunished." In the canton of Cabrerets, + the restitution of rents formerly collected is exacted, and the + reimbursement of charges paid during twenty years past. The small town of + Lauzerte is invaded by surrounding bodies of militia, and its disarmed + inhabitants are at the mercy of the Jacobin suburbs. For three months, in + the district of Figeac, "all the mansions of former nobles are sacked and + burnt;" next the pigeon-cots are attacked, "and all country-houses which + have a good appearance." Barefooted gangs "enter the houses of well-to-do + people, physicians, lawyers, merchants, burst open the doors of cellars, + drink the wine," and riot like drunken victors. In several communes these + expeditions have become a custom; "a large number of individuals are found + in them who live on rapine alone," and the club sets them the example. For + six months, in the principal town, a coterie of the National Guard, called + the Black Band, expel all persons who are displeasing to them, "pillaging + houses at will, beating to death, wounding or mutilating by saber-strokes, + all who have been proscribed in their assemblies," and no official or + advocate dares lodge a complaint. Brigandage, borrowing the mask of + patriotism, and patriotism borrowing the methods of brigandage, have + combined against property at the same time as against the ancient régime, + and, to free themselves from all that inspires them with fear, they seize + all which can provide them with booty. + </p> + <p> + And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm; the center is + elsewhere, around Nîmes, Avignon, Arles, and Marseilles, in a country + where, for a long time, the conflict between cities and the conflict + between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant passions.<a + href="#linknote-3371" name="linknoteref-3371" id="linknoteref-3371"><small>3371</small></a> + Looking at the three departments of Gard, Bouches-de-Rhône and Vaucluse, + one would imagine one's self in the midst of a war with savages. In fact, + it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion, and, consequently, conquest, + dispossession, and extermination,—in Gard, a swarm of National + Guards copy the jacquerie: the dregs of the Comtat come to the surface and + cover Vaucluse with its scum; an army of six thousand from Marseilles + sweeps down on Arles.—In the districts of Nîmes, Sommières, Uzès, + Alais, Jalais, and Saint-Hippolyte, title-deeds are burnt, proprietors put + to ransom, and municipal officers threatened with death if they try to + interpose; twenty chateaux and forty country-houses are sacked, burnt, and + demolished.—The same month, Arles and Avignon,<a + href="#linknote-3372" name="linknoteref-3372" id="linknoteref-3372"><small>3372</small></a> + given up to the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat, see confiscation + and massacres approaching.—Around the commandant, who has received + the order to evacuate Aries,<a href="#linknote-3373" + name="linknoteref-3373" id="linknoteref-3373"><small>3373</small></a> "the + inhabitants of all parties" gather as suppliants, "clasping his hands, + entreating him with tears in their eyes not to abandon them; women and + children cling to his boots," so that he does not know how to free himself + without hurting them; on his departure twelve hundred families emigrate. + After the entrance of the Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors + proscribed, their country-houses on the two banks of the Rhone pillaged, + "as in the times of Saracen pirates," a tax of 1,400,000 livres levied on + all people in good circumstances, absent or present, women and girls + promenaded about half-naked on donkeys and publicly whipped." "A saber + committee" disposes of lives, proscribes and executes: it is the reign of + sailors, porters, and the dregs of the populace.—At Avignon,<a + href="#linknote-3374" name="linknoteref-3374" id="linknoteref-3374"><small>3374</small></a> + it is that of simple brigands, incendiaries and assassins, who, six months + previously, converted the Glacière<a href="#linknote-3375" + name="linknoteref-3375" id="linknoteref-3375"><small>3375</small></a> into + a charnel-house. They return in triumph and state that "this time the + Glacière will be full." Five hundred families had already sought asylum in + France before the first massacre; now, the entire remainder of the honest + bourgeoisie, twelve hundred persons, take to flight, and the terror is so + great that the small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants. In + fact, from this time forth, both departments throughout Vaucluse and + Bouches-de-Rhône are a prey: Bands of two thousand armed men, with women, + children, and other volunteer followers, travel from commune to commune to + live as they please at the expense of "fanatics." The well-bred people are + not the only ones they despoil. Plain cultivators, taxed at 10,000 livres, + have sixty men billeted on them; their cattle are slain and eaten before + their eyes, and everything in their houses is broken up; they are driven + out of their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed-swamps of the + Rhone, awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take refuge in + the neighboring department.<a href="#linknote-3376" name="linknoteref-3376" + id="linknoteref-3376"><small>3376</small></a> Thus, from the spring of + 1792, if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of + indifference towards the ruling faction, if, through but one opinion + conscientiously held, he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or of + suspicion, he undergoes popular hostility, pillage, exile, and worse + besides; no matter how loyal his conduct may be, nor how loyal he may be + at heart, no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive; it is all the + same whether it be a noble, bourgeois, peasant, aged priest, or woman; and + this while public peril is yet neither great, present, nor visible, since + France is at peace with Europe, and the government still subsists in its + entirety. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0072" id="link2H_4_0072"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX.—General state of opinion. + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The three convoys of non-juring priests on the Seine.— + Psychological aspects of the Revolution. +</pre> + <p> + What will it be, then, now when the peril, already become palpable and + serious, is daily increasing, now when war has begun, when Lafayette's + army is falling back in confusion, when the Assembly declares the country + in danger, when the King is overthrown, when Lafayette defects and goes + abroad, when the soil of France is invaded, when the frontier fortresses + surrender without resistance, when the Prussians are entering Champagne, + when the insurrection in La Vendée adds the lacerations of civil war to + the threats of a foreign war, and when the cry of treachery arises on all + sides?—Already, on the 14th of May, at Metz,<a href="#linknote-3377" + name="linknoteref-3377" id="linknoteref-3377"><small>3377</small></a> M. + de Fiquelmont, a former canon, seen chatting with a hussar on the Place + Saint-Jacques, was charged with tampering with people on behalf of the + princes, carried off in spite of a triple line of guards, and beaten, + pierced, and slashed with sticks, bayonets, and sabers, while the mad + crowd around the murderers uttered cries of rage: and from month to month, + in proportion as popular fears increase, popular imagination becomes more + heated and its delirium grows.—You can see this yourself by one + example. On the 31st of August, 1792,<a href="#linknote-3378" + name="linknoteref-3378" id="linknoteref-3378"><small>3378</small></a> + eight thousand non-juring priests, driven out of their parishes, are at + Rouen, a town less intolerant than the others, and, in conformity with the + decree which banishes them, are preparing to leave France. Two vessels + have just carried away about a hundred of them; one hundred and twenty + others are embarking for Ostend in a larger vessel. They take nothing with + them except a little money, some clothes, and one or at most two portions + of their breviary, because they intend to return soon. Each has a regular + passport, and, just at the moment of leaving, the National Guard have made + a thorough inspection so as not to let a suspected person escape. It makes + no difference. On reaching Quilleboeuf the first two convoys are stopped. + A report has spread, indeed, that the priests are going to join the enemy + and enlist, and the people living round about jump into their boats and + surround the vessels. The priests are obliged to disembark amidst a + tempests of "yells, blasphemies, insults, and abuse:" one of them, a + white-headed old man, having fallen into the mud, the cries and shouts + redouble; if he is drowned so much the better, there will be one less! On + landing all are put in prison, on bare stones, without straw or bread, and + word is sent to Paris to know what must be done with so many cassocks. In + the meantime the third vessel, short of provisions, has sent two priests + to Quilleboeuf and to Pont-Audemer to have twelve hundred pounds of bread + baked: pointed out by the village militia, they are chased out like wild + beasts, pass the night in a wood, and find their way back with difficulty + empty-handed. The vessel itself being signaled, is besieged. "In all the + municipalities on the banks of the river drums beat incessantly to warn + the population to be on their guard. The appearance of an Algerian or + Tripolitan corsair on the shores of the Adriatic would cause less + excitement. One of the seamen of the vessel published a statement that the + trunks of the priests transported were full of every kind of arms." and + the country people constantly imagine that they are going to fall upon + them sword and pistol in hand. For several long days the famished convoy + remains moored in the stream, are carefully watched. Boats filled with + volunteers and peasants row around it uttering insults and threats: in the + neighboring meadows the National Guards form themselves in line of battle. + Finally, a decision is arrived at. The bravest, well armed get into + skiffs, approach the vessel cautiously, choose the most favorable time and + spot, rush on board, and take possession; and are perfectly astonished to + find neither enemies nor arms.—Nevertheless, the priests are + confined on board, and their deputies, must make their appearance before + the mayor. The latter, a former usher and good Jacobin, being the most + frightened, is the most violent. He refuses to stamp the passports, and, + seeing two priests approach, one provided with a sword-cane and the other + with an iron-pointed stick, thinks that there is to be a sudden attack. + "Here are two more of them," he exclaims with terror; "they are all going + to land. My friends, the town is in danger!"—On hearing this the + crowd becomes alarmed, and threatens the deputies; the cry of "To the lamp + post!" is heard, and, to save them, National Guards are obliged to conduct + them to prison in the center of a circle of bayonets.—It must be + noted that these madmen are "at bottom the kindest people in the world." + After the boarding of the ship, one of the most ferocious, by profession a + barber, seeing the long beards of these poor priests, instantly cools + down, draws forth his tools, and good-naturedly sets to work, spending + several hours in shaving them. In ordinary times ecclesiastics received + nothing but salutations; three years previously they were "respected as + fathers and guides." But at the present moment the rustic, the man of the + lower class, is out of his bearings. Forcibly and against nature, he has + been made a theologian, a politician, a police captain, a local + independent sovereign; and in such a position his head is turned. Among + these people who seem to have lost their senses, only one, an officer of + the National Guard, remains cool; he is, besides, very polite, + well-behaved, and an agreeable talker; he comes in the evening to comfort + the prisoners and to take tea with them in prison; in fact, he is + accustomed to tragedies and, thanks to his profession, his nerves are in + repose—this person is the executioner. The others, "whom one would + take for tigers," are bewildered sheep; but they are not the less + dangerous; for, carried away by their delirium, they bear down with their + mass on whatever gives them umbrage.—On the road from Paris to Lyons<a + href="#linknote-3379" name="linknoteref-3379" id="linknoteref-3379"><small>3379</small></a> + Roland's commissioners witness this terrible fright. "The people are + constantly asking what our generals and armies are doing; they have + vengeful expressions frequently on their lips. Yes, they say, we will set + out, but we must (at first) purge the interior." + </p> + <p> + Something appalling is in preparation. The seventh jacquerie is drawing + near, this one universal and final—at first brutal, and then legal + and systematic, undertaken and carried out on the strength of abstract + principles by leaders worthy of the means they employ. Nothing like it + ever occurred in history; for the first time we see brutes gone mad, + operating on a grand scale and for a long time, under the leadership of + blockheads who have become insane. + </p> + <p> + There is a certain strange malady commonly encountered in the quarters of + the poor. A workman, over-taxed with work, in misery and badly fed, takes + to drink; he drinks more and more every day, and liquors of the strongest + kind. After a few years his nervous system, already weakened by spare + diet, becomes over-excited and out of balance. An hour comes when the + brain, under a sudden stroke, ceases to direct the machine; in vain does + it command, for it is no longer obeyed; each limb, each joint, each + muscle, acting separately and for itself starts convulsively through + discordant impulses. Meanwhile the man is gay; he thinks himself a + millionaire, a king, loved and admired by everybody; he is not aware of + the mischief he is doing to himself he does not comprehend the advice + given him, he refuses the remedies offered to him, he sings and shouts for + entire days, and, above all, drinks more than ever.—At last his face + grows dark and his eyes become blood-shot. Radiant visions give way to + black and monstrous phantoms; he sees nothing around him hut menacing + figures, traitors in ambush, ready to fall upon him unawares, murderers + with upraised arms ready to cut his throat, executioners preparing + torments for him; and he seems to be wading in a pool of blood. So he + precipitates, and, in order that he himself may not be killed, he kills. + No one is more to be dreaded, for his delirium sustains him; his strength + is prodigious, his movements unforeseen, and he endures, without heeding + them, suffering and wounds under which a healthy man would succumb.—France, + like such a madman, exhausted by fasting under the monarchy, drunk by the + unhealthy drug of the Social-Contract, and by countless other adulterated + or fiery beverages, is suddenly struck with paralysis of the brain; at + once she is convulsed in every limb through the incoherent play and + contradictory twitching of her discordant organs. At this time she has + traversed the period of joyous madness, and is about to enter upon the + period of somber delirium: behold her capable of daring, suffering, and + doing all, capable of incredible exploits and abominable barbarities, the + moment her guides, as erratic as herself, indicate an enemy or an obstacle + to her fury. + </p> + <p> + THE END. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3301" id="linknote-3301"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3301 (<a href="#linknoteref-3301">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XI. 763. + (Sitting of March 28, 1792.)—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. + (Deliberation of the Directory of the Department, November 29, 1791, and + January 27, 1792.—Petition of the Municipality of Mende and of + forty-three others, November 30, 1791.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3302" id="linknote-3302"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3302 (<a href="#linknoteref-3302">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3198. Minutes of the meeting of the municipal officers of + Arles, September 2, 1791.—Letters of the Royal Commissioners and of + the National Assembly, October 24, November 6, 14, 17, 21, and December + 21, 1791.—The Commissioners, to be impartial, attend in turn a mass + by a nonjuring priest and one by a priest of the opposite side. "The + church is full" with the former and always empty with the latter.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3303" id="linknote-3303"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3303 (<a href="#linknoteref-3303">return</a>)<br /> [ "Mémoire" of M. + Mérilhon, for Froment, passim.—Report of M. Alquier, p. 54.—De + Dampmartin, I. 208.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3304" id="linknote-3304"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3304 (<a href="#linknoteref-3304">return</a>)<br /> [—De Dampmartin, + I. 208.They would exclaim to the catholic peasants: "Allons, mes enfants, + Vive le Roi!" (shouts of enthusiasm): "those wretches of democrats, let us + make an example of them, and restore the sacred rights of the throne and + the altar!"—"As you please," replied the rustics in their patois, + "but we must hold fast to the Revolution, for there are some good things + about it."—They remain calm, refuse to march to the assistance of + Uzès, and withdraw into their mountains on the first sign of the approach + of the National Guard.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3305" id="linknote-3305"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3305 (<a href="#linknoteref-3305">return</a>)<br /> [ This is what the + author Soljenitsyne observed about his Russian countrymen in an interview + with M. Pivot in the French television in 1998. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3306" id="linknote-3306"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3306 (<a href="#linknoteref-3306">return</a>)<br /> [ Dauban, "La Demagogie + à Paris," p.598; Letter of M. de Brissac, August 25, 1789.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3307" id="linknote-3307"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3307 (<a href="#linknoteref-3307">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, X. 339. + (Journal de Troyes, and a letter from Perpignan, November, 1791.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3308" id="linknote-3308"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3308 (<a href="#linknoteref-3308">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + No. for September 3, 1791. "Let Liberty be presented to us, and all France + will kneel before her; but noble and proud hearts will eternally resist + the oppression which assumes her sacred mask. They will invoke liberty, + but liberty without crime, the liberty which is maintained without + dungeons, without inquisitors, without incendiaries, without brigands, + without forced oaths, without illegal coalitions, without mob outrages; + that liberty, finally, which allows no oppressor to go unpunished, and + which does not crush peaceable citizens beneath the weight of the chains + it has broken."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3309" id="linknote-3309"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3309 (<a href="#linknoteref-3309">return</a>)<br /> [ Rivarol, "Mémoires," + p.367. (Letter of M. Servan, published in the "Actes des Apôtres.")] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3310" id="linknote-3310"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3310 (<a href="#linknoteref-3310">return</a>)<br /> [ The King's brother, + later to become King of France under the name of Louis XVIII. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3311" id="linknote-3311"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3311 (<a href="#linknoteref-3311">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationa1es," F7. 3257. Official reports, investigations, and + correspondence in relation with the affair of M. Bussy (October, 1790).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3312" id="linknote-3312"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3312 (<a href="#linknoteref-3312">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + May 15, 1790. (Letter of Baron de Bois-d'Aisy, April 29, read in the + National Assembly.)—Moniteur, IV. 302. Sitting of May 6. (Official + statement of the Justice of the Peace of Vitteaux, April 28.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3313" id="linknote-3313"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3313 (<a href="#linknoteref-3313">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letter of M. Belin-Chatellenot (near Asnay-le-Duc) + to the President of the National Assembly, July 1, 1791. "In the realm of + liberty we live under the most cruel tyranny, and in a state of the most + complete anarchy, while the administrative bodies and the police, still in + their infancy, seem to act only in fear and trembling. . . . So far, in + all crimes, they are more concerned with extenuating the facts, than in + punishing the offense. The result is that the guilty have had no other + restraint on them than a few gentle phrases like this: Dear brothers and + friends, you are in the wrong, be careful," etc.—Ibid. , F7, 3229. + Letter of the Directory of the Department of Marne, July 13, 1791. + (Searches by the National Guard in chateaux and the disarming of formerly + privileged persons.) "None of our injunctions were obeyed." For example, + there is breakage and violence in the residence of M. Guinaumont at Merry, + the gun, shot and powder of the game-keeper even are carried off. "M. de + Guinaumont is without the means of defending himself against a mad dog or + any other savage brute that might come into his woods or into his + courtyard." The Mayor of Merry, with the National Guard, under compulsion, + tells them in vain that they are breaking the law.—Petition of + Madame d'Ambly, wife of the deputy, June 28, 1791. Not having the guns + which she had already given up, she is made to pay 150 francs.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3314" id="linknote-3314"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3314 (<a href="#linknoteref-3314">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letters of the Administrators of the Department of + Rhône-et-Loire, July 6, 1791. (M. Vilet is one of the signers.)—Mercure + de France, October 8, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3315" id="linknote-3315"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3315 (<a href="#linknoteref-3315">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + August 20, 1791, the article by Mallet du Pan. "The details of the picture + I have just sketched were all furnished me by Madame Dumoutet herself." I + am "authorized by her signature to guarantee the accuracy of this + narrative."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3316" id="linknote-3316"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3316 (<a href="#linknoteref-3316">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + August 20, 1791, the article by Mallet du Pan. "The proceedings instituted + at Lyons confirmed this banquet of cannibals."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3317" id="linknote-3317"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3317 (<a href="#linknoteref-3317">return</a>)<br /> [ The letter of the + Department ends with this either naïve or ironical expression: "You have + now only one conquest to make, that of making the people obey and submit + to the law."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3318" id="linknote-3318"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3318 (<a href="#linknoteref-3318">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," P7, 3,200. See documents relating to the affair of November + 5, 1792, and the events which preceded it or followed it, and among others + "Lettres du Directoire et du Procureur-syndic du Departement;" "Pétition + et Mémoire pour les Déténus;" "Lettres d'un Témoin," M. de Morant.—Moniteur, + X. 356. "Minutes of the meeting de la Municipalité de Caen" and of the + "Directoire du Departement," XI.1264, 206. "Rapport de Guadet," and + documents of the trial.—"Archives Nationales," ibid. .—"Lettres + de M. Cahier," Minister of the Interior, January 26, 1792, of M. C. D. de + Pontécoulant, President of the Department Directory, February 3, 1792.—Proclamation + by the Directory.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3319" id="linknote-3319"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3319 (<a href="#linknoteref-3319">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of September 26, 1791.—Letter found on + one of the arrested gentlemen. "A cowardly bourgeoisie, directors in + cellars, a clubbist (Jacobin) municipality, waging the most illegal war + against us."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3320" id="linknote-3320"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3320 (<a href="#linknoteref-3320">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the Attorney-General of Bayeux, May 14, + 1792, and of the Directory of Bayeux, May 21, 1792.—At Bayeux, + likewise; the refugees are denounced and in peril. According to their + verified statements they scarcely amounted to one hundred. "Several + nonjuring priests, indeed, are found among them. (But) the rest, for the + most part, consist of the heads of families who are known to reside + habitually in neighboring districts, and who have been forced to leave + their homes after having been, or fearing to become, victims of religious + intolerance or of the threats of factions and of brigands."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3321" id="linknote-3321"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3321 (<a href="#linknoteref-3321">return</a>)<br /> [ Lenin has probably + read this during his studies in Paris and maybe been confirmed in his plan + to create a new elite, an elite he eventually began to make use of from + 1917 and onwards, an elite which continues to rule Russia and a great part + of the world today. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3322" id="linknote-3322"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3322 (<a href="#linknoteref-3322">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + June 4, 1790 (letter from Cahors, May 17, and an Act of the Municipality, + May 10, 1790).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3323" id="linknote-3323"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3323 (<a href="#linknoteref-3323">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 1223. Letter of count Louis de Beaumont, November 9, + 1791. His letter, in a very moderate tone, thus end: "You must admit, sir, + that it is very disagreeable and even incredible, that the Municipal + Officers should be the originators of the disorders which occur in this + town."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3324" id="linknote-3324"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3324 (<a href="#linknoteref-3324">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + January 7, 1792. M. Granchier de Riom petitions the Directory of his + Department in relation to the purchase of the cemetery, where his father + had been interred four years before; his object is to prevent it from + being dug up, which was decreed, and to preserve the family vault. He at + the same time wishes to buy the church of Saint-Paul, in order to insure + the continuance of the masses in behalf of his father's soul. The + Directory replies (December 5, 1791): "considering that the motives which + have determined the petitioner in his declaration are a pretense of good + feeling under which there is hidden an illusion powerless to pervert a + sound mind, the Directory decides that the application of the sieur + Granchier cannot be granted."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3325" id="linknote-3325"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3325 (<a href="#linknoteref-3325">return</a>)<br /> [ De Ferrières, II. 268 + (April 19, 1791).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3326" id="linknote-3326"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3326 (<a href="#linknoteref-3326">return</a>)<br /> [ De Montlosier, II. + 307, 309, 312.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3327" id="linknote-3327"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3327 (<a href="#linknoteref-3327">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, VI. 556. + Letter of M d'Aymar, commodore, November 18, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3328" id="linknote-3328"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3328 (<a href="#linknoteref-3328">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + May 28, and June 16, 1791 (letters from Cahors and Castelnau, May 18).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3329" id="linknote-3329"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3329 (<a href="#linknoteref-3329">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + number of May 28, 1791. At the festival of the Federation, M. de Massy + would not order his cavalry to put their chapeaux on the points of their + swords, which was a difficult maneuver. He was accused of treason to the + nation on account of this, and obliged to leave Tulle for several months.—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3204. Extract from the minutes of the tribunal of Tulle, + May 10, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3330" id="linknote-3330"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3330 (<a href="#linknoteref-3330">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3215, "Minutes of the meeting des Officiers Municipaux de + Brest," June 23, 1791.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3331" id="linknote-3331"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3331 (<a href="#linknoteref-3331">return</a>)<br /> [ "Mémoires de Cuvier" + ("Eloges Historiques," by Flourens), I, 177. Cuvier, who was then in Havre + (1788), had pursued the higher studies in a German administrative school. + "M. de Surville," he says, an officer in the Artuis regiment, "has one of + the must refined minds and most amiable characters I ever encountered. + There were a good many of this sort among his comrades, and I am always + astonished how such men could vegetate in the obscure ranks of an infantry + regiment."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3332" id="linknote-3332"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3332 (<a href="#linknoteref-3332">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, I. + 133. At the beginning of the year 1790, "inferior officers said: 'We ought + to demand something, for we have at least as many grievances as our + troopers,' "—M. de la Rochejacquelein, after his great success in La + Vendée, said: "I hope that the King, when once he is restored, will give + me a regiment." He aspired to nothing more ("Mémoires de Madame de la + Rochejacquelein").—Cf. "Un Officier royaliste au Service de la + Republique," by M. de Bezancenet, in the letters and biography of General + de Dommartin killed in the expedition to Egypt.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3333" id="linknote-3333"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3333 (<a href="#linknoteref-3333">return</a>)<br /> [ Correspondence of MM. + de Thiard, de Caraman, de Miran, de Bercheny, etc., above cited, passim.—Correspondence + of M. de Thiard, May 5, 1780: "The town of Vannes has an authoritative + style which begins to displease me. It wants the King to furnish + drum-sticks. The first log of wood would provide these, with greater ease + and promptness."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3334" id="linknote-3334"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3334 (<a href="#linknoteref-3334">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3248, March 16, 1791. At Douai, Nicolon, a grain-dealer, + is hung because the municipal authorities did not care to proclaim martial + law. The commandant, M. de la Noue, had not the right of ordering his men + to move, and the murder took place before his eyes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3335" id="linknote-3335"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3335 (<a href="#linknoteref-3335">return</a>)<br /> [ The last named, + especially, died with heroic meekness (Mercure de France, June 18, 1791).—Sitting + of June 9, speeches by two officers of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, one + of them an eye-witness.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3336" id="linknote-3336"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3336 (<a href="#linknoteref-3336">return</a>)<br /> [ "De Dampmartin," II. + 214. Desertion is very great, even in ordinary times, supplying foreign + armies with "a fourth of their effective men."—Towards the end of + 1789, Dubois de Crancé, an old musketeer and one of the future "men of the + mountain," stated to the National Assembly that the old system of + recruiting supplied the army with "men without home or occupation, who + often became soldiers to avoid civil penalties" (Moniteur, II. 376, 381, + sitting of December 12, 1789).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3337" id="linknote-3337"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3337 (<a href="#linknoteref-3337">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de Thiard, September 4 and 7, + 1789, November 20, 1789, April 28, and May 29, 1790. "The spirit of + insubordination which begins to show itself in the Bassigny regiment is an + epidemic disease which is insensibly spreading among all the troops. . . . + The troops are all in a state of gangrene, while all the municipalities + oppose the orders they receive concerning the movements of troops."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3338" id="linknote-3338"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3338 (<a href="#linknoteref-3338">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," H,1453. Correspondence of M. de Bercheny, July 12, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3339" id="linknote-3339"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3339 (<a href="#linknoteref-3339">return</a>)<br /> [ "Mémoire + Justificatif" (by Grégoire), on behalf of two soldiers, Emery and Delisle.—De + Bouillé, "Mémoires."—De Dampmartin, I.128, 144.—"Archives + Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de Thiard, July 2 and 9, 1790.—Moniteur, + sittings of September 3 and June 4, 1790.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3340" id="linknote-3340"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3340 (<a href="#linknoteref-3340">return</a>)<br /> [ De Bouillé, p. 127.—Moniteur, + sitting of August 6, 1790, and that of May 27, 1790.—Full details in + authentic documents of the affair at Nancy, passim.—Report of M. + Emmery, August 16, 1790, and other documents in Buchez and Roux, VII. + 59-162.—De Bezancenet, p.35. Letters of M. de Dommartin (Metz, + August 4, 1790). "The Federation there passed off quietly, only, a short + time after, some soldiers of a regiment took it into their heads to divide + the (military) fund, and at once placed sentinels at the door of the + officer having charge of the chest, compelling him to open it (désacquer). + Another regiment has since put all its officers under arrest. A third has + mutinied, and wanted to take all its horses to the market-place and sell + them.. . . Everywhere the soldiers are heard to say that if they want + money they know where to find it."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3341" id="linknote-3341"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3341 (<a href="#linknoteref-3341">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3215, letters of the Royal Commissioners, September 27, + October 1, 4, 8, 11, 1790. the commencement of the Revolution, had most to + do with the insurrections in the interior. "What means can four + commissioners employ to convince 20,000 men, most of whom are seduced by + the real enemies of the public welfare? In consequence of the replacing of + the men the crews are, for the most part, composed of those who are almost + ignorant of the sea, who know nothing of the rules of subordination, and + who, at the commencement of the Revolution, had most to do with the + insurrections in the interior."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3342" id="linknote-3342"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3342 (<a href="#linknoteref-3342">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France. + October 2, 1790. Letter of the Admiral, M. d'Albert de Rioms, September + 16. The soldiers of the Majestueux have refused to drill, and the sailors + of the Patriote to obey.—"I wished to ascertain beforehand if they + had any complaint to make against their captain?—No.—If they + complained of myself?—No.—If they had any complaints to make + against their officers?—No.—It is the revolt of one class + against another class; their sole cry is 'Vive la Nation et les + Aristocrates à la lanterne!' The mob have set up a gibbet before the house + of M. de Marigny, major-general of marines; he has handed in his + resignation. M. d'Albert tenders his resignation."—Ibid, June 18, + 1791 (letter from Dunkirk, June 3).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3343" id="linknote-3343"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3343 (<a href="#linknoteref-3343">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, I. + 222, 219. Mercure de France, September 3, 1791. (Sitting of August 23.)—Cf. + Moniteur (same date). "The Ancient Régime," p.377.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3344" id="linknote-3344"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3344 (<a href="#linknoteref-3344">return</a>)<br /> [ Marshal Marmont, + "Mémoires," I. 24. "The sentiment I entertained for the person of the King + is difficult to define. . . (It was) a sentiment of devotion of an almost + religious character, a profound respect as if due to a being of a superior + order. At this time the word king possessed a magic power in all pure and + upright hearts which nothing had changed. This delicate sentiment. . . + still existed in the mass of the nation, especially among the well-born, + who, sufficiently remote from power, were rather impressed by its + brilliancy than by its imperfections." De Bezancenet, 27. Letter of M. de + Dommartin, August 24, 1790. "We have just renewed our oath. I hardly know + what it all means. I, a soldier, know only my King; in reality I obey two + masters, who, we are told, will secure my happiness and that of my + brethren, if they agree together."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3345" id="linknote-3345"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3345 (<a href="#linknoteref-3345">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, I. + 179. See the details of his resignation (III. 185) after June 20, 1792.—Mercure + de France, April 14, 1792. Letter from the officers of the battalion of + the Royal chasseurs of Provence (March 9). They are confined to their + barracks by their soldiers, who refuse to obey their orders, and they + declare that, on this account, they abandon the service and leave France.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3346" id="linknote-3346"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3346 (<a href="#linknoteref-3346">return</a>)<br /> [ Rousset, "Les + Volontaires de 1791 à 1794", p. 106. Letter of M. de Biron to the minister + (August, 1792); p.225, letter of Vezu, commander of the 3rd battalion of + Paris, to the army of the north (July 24, 1793).—"A Residence in + France from 1792 to 1795" (September, 1792. Arras). See notes at the end + of vol. II. for the details of these violent proceedings.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3347" id="linknote-3347"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3347 (<a href="#linknoteref-3347">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + March 5, June 4, September 3, October 22, 1791. (Articles by Mallet du + Pan.—Ibid., April 14, 1792). More than six hundred naval officers + resigned after the mutiny of the squadron at Brest. "Twenty-two grave + revolts in the ports on shipboard remained unpunished, and several of them + through the decisions of the naval jury." "There is no instance of any + insurrection, in the ports or on shipboard, or any outrage upon a naval + officer, having been punished. . . . It is not necessary to seek elsewhere + for the causes of the abandonment of the service by naval officers. + According to their letters all offer their lives to France, but refuse to + command those who will not obey."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3348" id="linknote-3348"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3348 (<a href="#linknoteref-3348">return</a>)<br /> [ This was done by + Hitler against the Jews and by the Communists against their "enemy" the + bourgeois. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3349" id="linknote-3349"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3349 (<a href="#linknoteref-3349">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, "Decrees + of August 1-6, 1791; February 9-11, 1792; March 30 to April 8, 1792; July + 24-28, 1792; March 28 to April 5, 1793."—Report by Roland, January + 6, 1793. He estimates this property at 4,800 millions, of which 1,800 + millions must be deducted for the creditors of the emigrants; 3,000 + millions remain. Now, at this date, the assignats are at a discount of 55 + per cent. from their nominal figure.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3350" id="linknote-3350"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3350 (<a href="#linknoteref-3350">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France,, + February 18, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3351" id="linknote-3351"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3351 (<a href="#linknoteref-3351">return</a>)<br /> [ Already Tacitus noted + some 2000 years ago that, "It is part of human nature to hate the man you + have hurt." (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3352" id="linknote-3352"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3352 (<a href="#linknoteref-3352">return</a>)<br /> [ Cf. on this general + attitude of the clergy, Sauzay, V. I. and the whole of V. II.—Mercure + de France, September 10, 1791: "No impartial man will fail to see that, in + the midst of this oppression, amidst so many fanatical charges of which + the reproach of fanaticism and revolt is the pretext, not one act of + resistance has yet been manifest. Informers and municipal bodies, governed + by clubs, have caused a large number of non-jurors to be cast into + dungeons. All have come out of them, or groan there untried, and no + tribunal has found any of them guilty."—Report of M. Cahier, + Minister of the Interior, February 18, 1792. He declares that "he had no + knowledge of any priest being convicted by the courts as a disturber of + the public peace, although several had been accused."—Moniteur May + 6, 1792. (Report of Français de Nantes) "Not one has been punished for + thirty months."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3353" id="linknote-3353"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3353 (<a href="#linknoteref-3353">return</a>)<br /> [ On these spontaneous + brutal acts of the Catholic peasants, cf. "Archives Nationales," F7, 3236 + (Lozère, July-November, 1791). Deliberation of the district of Florac, + July 6, 1791, and the official statement of the commissioner of the + department on the disturbances in Espagnac. On the 5th of July, Richard, a + constitutional curé, calls upon the municipality to proceed to his + installation. "The ceremony could not take place, owing to the hooting, of + the women and children, and the threats of various persons who exclaimed: + 'Kill him! strangle him, he is a Protestant, is married, and has + children;' and owing to the impossibility of entering the church, the + doors of which were obstructed by the large number of women standing in + front of them:"—On the 6th of July, he is installed, but with + difficulty. "Inside the church a crowd of women uttered loud cries and + bemoaned the removal of their old curé On returning, in the streets, a + large number of women, unsettled by the sight of the constitutional cure, + turned their faces aside. . . and contented themselves with uttering + disjointed words.—without doing anything more than cover their faces + with their bonnets, casting themselves on the ground."—July 15. The + clerk will no longer serve at the mass nor ring the bells; the curé, + Richard, attempting to ring them himself, the people threaten him with + ill-treatment if he runs the risk.—September 8, 1791. Letter from + the curé of Fau, district of Saint-Chély. "That night I was on the brink + of death through a troop of bandits who took my parsonage away from me, + after having broken in the doors and windows."—December 30, 1791. + Another curé who goes to take possession of his parsonage is assailed with + stones by sixty women, and thus pursued beyond the limits of the parish.—August + 5, 1791. Petition of the constitutional bishop of Mende and his four + vicars. "Not a day passes that we are not insulted in the performance of + our duties. We cannot take a step without encountering hooting. If we go + out we are threatened with cowardly assassination, and with being beaten + with clubs."—F7, 3235 (Bas-Rhin, letter from the Directory of the + Department, April 9, 1792): "Ten out of eleven, at least, of the Catholics + refuse to recognize sworn priests."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3354" id="linknote-3354"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3354 (<a href="#linknoteref-3354">return</a>)<br /> [ Duvergier, decrees + (not sanctioned) of November 29 and May 27, 1792.—Decree of August + 26, 1792, after the fall of the throne.—Moniteur, XII. 200 (sitting + of April 23, 1793). Report of the Minister of the Interior.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3355" id="linknote-3355"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3355 (<a href="#linknoteref-3355">return</a>)<br /> [ Lallier, "Le District + de Machecoul," p.261, 263.—"Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. Demand + of the prosecuting attorney of the commune of Tonneins (December 21, 1791) + for the arrest or expulsion of eight priests "at the slightest act of + internal or external hostility."—Ibid., F7, 3264. Act of the + Council-general of Corrèze (July 16, 17, 18, 1792) to place in arrest all + nonjuring priests.—Between these two dates, act, of various kinds + and of increasing severity are found in nearly all the departments against + the non-jurors.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3356" id="linknote-3356"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3356 (<a href="#linknoteref-3356">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3250. Official statement by the directory of the + department, March 18, 1791, with all the documents in relation thereto.—F7, + 3200. Letter of the Directory of Calvados, June 13, 1792, with the + interrogations. The damages are estimated at 15,000 livres.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3357" id="linknote-3357"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3357 (<a href="#linknoteref-3357">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3234. An Act of the Directory of Lot, February 24, 1792, + on the disturbances at Marmande.—F7, 3239, official statement of the + municipal body of Rheims, November 5, 6, 7, 1791. The two workmen are a + harness-maker and a wool-carder. The priest who administered the baptism + is put in prison as a disturber of the public peace.—F7, 3219. + Letter of the royal commissioner at the tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March + 5, 1792.—F7, 3203. Letter of the directory of the district of La + Rochelle, June 1, 1792. "The armed force, a witness of these crimes and + summoned to arrest these persons in the act, refused to obey."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3358" id="linknote-3358"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3358 (<a href="#linknoteref-3358">return</a>)<br /> [ Memorandum by Camille + Jourdan (Sainte-Beuve, "Causeries du Lundi," XII. 250). The guard refuses + to give any assistance, coming too late and merely "to witness the + disorder, never to repress it."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3359" id="linknote-3359"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3359 (<a href="#linknoteref-3359">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3217. Letters of the curé of Uzès, January 29, 1792; of + the curé of Alais, April 5, 1792; of the administrators of Gard, July 28, + 1792; of the prosecuting attorney, M. Griolet, July 2, 1792; of Castanet, + former gendarme, August 25, 1792; of M. Griolet, September 28, 1792.—Ibid. + , F7, 3223. Petition by M.M. Thueri and Devès in the name of the oppressed + of Montpellier, November 17, 1791; letter of the same to the minister, + October 28, 1791; letter of M. Dupin, prosecuting attorney, August 23, + 1791; Act of the Department, August 9, 1791; Petition of the inhabitants + of Courmonterral, August 25, 1791] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3360" id="linknote-3360"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3360 (<a href="#linknoteref-3360">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XII. 16, + sitting of April 1, 1792. Speech by M. Laureau. "Behold the provinces in + flames, insurrection in nineteen departments, and revolt everywhere + declaring itself. . . The only liberty is that of brigandage; we have no + taxation, no order, no government." Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. + "More than twenty departments are now participating in the horrors of + anarchy and in a more or less destructive insurrection."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3361" id="linknote-3361"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3361 (<a href="#linknoteref-3361">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XII. 30. + Speech by M. Caillasson. The total amount of property sold up to November + 1, 1791, is 1,526 millions; the remainder for sale amounts to 669 + millions.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3362" id="linknote-3362"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3362 (<a href="#linknoteref-3362">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory of Ille-et-Vilaine, March + 24, 1792. "The National Guards of the district purposely expel all + nonjuring priests, who have not been replaced, under the pretext of the + trouble they would not fail to cause at Easter."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3363" id="linknote-3363"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3363 (<a href="#linknoteref-3363">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XI. 420. + (Sitting of February 18, 1792.) Report by M. Cahier, Minister of the + Interior.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3364" id="linknote-3364"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3364 (<a href="#linknoteref-3364">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3250. Deposition of the municipal officers of Gosnay and + Hesdiguel (district of Béthune), May 18, 1792. Six parishes took part in + this expedition; the mayor's wife had a rope around her neck, and came + near being hung.—Moniteur, XII, 154, April 15, 1792.—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory of Ile-et-Vilaine, March + 24, 1792, and official statement of the commissioners for the district of + Vitré; letter of the same directory, April 21, 1792, and report of the + commissioners sent to Acigné, April 6.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3365" id="linknote-3365"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3365 (<a href="#linknoteref-3365">return</a>)<br /> [ Moniteur, XII. 200. + Report of M. Cahier, April 23, 1792. The directories of these four + departments refuse to cancel their illegal acts, alleging that "their + armed National Guards pursue refractory priests."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3366" id="linknote-3366"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3366 (<a href="#linknoteref-3366">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + April 7, 1792. Letters written from Aurillac.—"Archives Nationales," + F7, 3202.—Letter of the directory of the district of Aurillac, March + 27, 1792 (with seven official statements); of the directory of the + district of Saint-Flour, March 19 (with the report of its commissioners); + of M. Duranthon, minister of justice, April 22; petition of M. Lorus, + municipal officer of Aurillac.—Letter of M. Duranthon, June 9, 1792. + "I am just informed by the royal commissioner of the district of + Saint-Flour that, since the departure of the troops, the magistrates dare + no longer exercise their functions in the midst of the brigands who + surround them."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3367" id="linknote-3367"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3367 (<a href="#linknoteref-3367">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3219. Letters of M. Niel, administrator of the department + of Haute-Garonne, February 27, 1792; of M. Sainfal, March 4; of the + directory of the department, March 1; of the royal commissioner, tribunal + of Castelsarrasin, March 13.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3368" id="linknote-3368"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3368 (<a href="#linknoteref-3368">return</a>)<br /> [ The following are + some examples of these rustic desires: At Lunel, 4000 peasants and village + National Guards strive to enter, to hang the aristocrats. Their wives are + along with them, leading their donkeys with "baskets which they hope to + carry away full." ("Archives Nationales," F7, 3523. Letter of the + municipal body of Lunel, November 4, 1791.) At Uzès it is with great + difficulty that they can rid themselves of the peasants who came in to + drive out the Catholic royalists. In vain "were they given plenty to eat + and to drink;" they go away "in bad humor, especially the women who led + the mules and asses to carry away the booty, and who had not anticipated + returning home with empty hands." (De Dampmartin, I. 195.) In relation to + the siege of Nantes by the Vendéans: "An old woman said to me, 'Oh, yes, I + was there, at the siege. My sister and myself had brought along our sacks. + We counted on entering at least as far as the Rue de la Casserie'" (the + street of jeweler's shops). (Michelet, V 211.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3369" id="linknote-3369"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3369 (<a href="#linknoteref-3369">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3209. Letters of the royal commissioner at the tribunal + of Mucidan, March 7, 1792; of the public prosecutor of the district of + Sarlat, January. 1792.—Ibid. , F7, 3204. Letters of the + administrators of the district of Tulle, April 15, 1792; of the directory + of the department, April 18; petition of Jacques Labruc and his wife, with + official statement of the justice of the peace, April 24. "All these acts + of violence were committed under the eyes of the municipal authorities. + They took no steps to prevent them, although they had notice given them in + time."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3370" id="linknote-3370"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3370 (<a href="#linknoteref-3370">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3223. Letters of M. Brisson, commissioner of the naval + classes of Souillac, February 2, 1792; of the directory of the department, + March 14, 1792.—Petition of the brothers Barrié (with supporting + documents), October 11, 1791.—Letter of the prosecuting attorney of + the department, April 4, 1792. Report of the commissioners sent to the + district of Figeac, January 5, 1792. Letter of the administrators of the + department, May 27, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3371" id="linknote-3371"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3371 (<a href="#linknoteref-3371">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3217. Official reports of the commissioners of the + department of Gard, April 1, 2, 3, and 6, 1792, and letter of April 6. One + land-owner is taxed 100,000 francs.—Ibid., F7, 3223. Letter of M + Dupin, prosecuting attorney of l'Hérault, February 17 and 26, 1792. "At + the chateau of Pignan, Madame de Lostanges has not one complete piece of + furniture left. The cause of these disturbances is religious passion. Five + or six nonjuring priests had retreated to the chateau,"—Moniteur, + sitting of April 16, 1792. Letter from the directory of the department of + Gard.—De Dampmartin, II, 85. At Uzès, fifty or sixty men in masks + invade the ducal chateau at ten o'clock in the evening, set fire to the + archives, and the chateau is burnt.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3372" id="linknote-3372"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3372 (<a href="#linknoteref-3372">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3196. Official statements of Augier and Fabre, + administrators of the Bouches-de-Rhône, sent to Avignon, May 11, 1792. + (The reappearance of Jourdan, Mainvielle, and the assassins of La Glacière + took place April 29.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3373" id="linknote-3373"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3373 (<a href="#linknoteref-3373">return</a>)<br /> [ De Dampmartin, II. + 63. Portalis, "Il est temps de parler" (pamphlet), passim. "Archives + Nationales," F7, 7090. Memorandum of the commissioners of the municipal + administration of Arles, year IV., Nivôse 22.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3374" id="linknote-3374"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3374 (<a href="#linknoteref-3374">return</a>)<br /> [ Mercure de France, + May 19, 1792. (Sitting of May 4.). Petition of forty inhabitants of + Avignon at the bar of the Legislative Assembly.—"Archives + Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter of the royal commissioners at the tribunal + of Apt, March 15, 1792; official report of the municipality, March 22; + Letters of the Directory of Apt, March 23 and 28, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3375" id="linknote-3375"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3375 (<a href="#linknoteref-3375">return</a>)<br /> [ Large cellar where + the ice collected during the winter was kept for later use. (SR.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3376" id="linknote-3376"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3376 (<a href="#linknoteref-3376">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," ibid. Letter of Amiel, president of the bureau of + conciliation at Avignon, October 28, 1792, and other letters to the + minister Roland.—F7, 3217, Letter of the Justice of the Peace at + Roque-Maure, October 31, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3377" id="linknote-3377"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3377 (<a href="#linknoteref-3377">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives + Nationales," F7, 3246. Official report of the municipality of Metz (with + supporting documents), May 15, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3378" id="linknote-3378"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3378 (<a href="#linknoteref-3378">return</a>)<br /> [ "Mémoires de l'Abbé + Baton," one of the priests of the third convoy (a bishop is appointed from + Séez), p. 233.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3379" id="linknote-3379"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3379 (<a href="#linknoteref-3379">return</a>)<br /> [ "Archives Nationales" + F7, 3225. Letter of citizen Bonnemant, commissioner to minister Roland, + September 11, 1792.] + </p> + <p> + End of The French Revolution, Volume 1. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origins of Contemporary France, +Volume 2 (of 6), by Hippolyte A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6) + The French Revolution, Volume 1 (of 3) + +Author: Hippolyte A. Taine + +Annotator: Svend Rom + +Translator: John Durand, 1880 + +Posting Date: June 18, 2008 [EBook #2578] +Release Date: April, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRENCH REVOLUTION V1 *** + + + + +Produced by Svend Rom + + + + + +THE ORIGINS OF CONTEMPORARY FRANCE, VOLUME 2 + +THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, VOLUME 1. + + +by Hippolyte A. Taine + + + +CONTENTS: + +ANARCHY + +PREFACE + +BOOK FIRST. Spontaneous Anarchy. + +CHAPTER I. The Beginnings of Anarchy + +CHAPTER II. Paris up to the 14th of July + +CHAPTER III. Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS + +BOOK SECOND. The constituent Assembly, and the Result of its Labors + +CHAPTER I. The Constituent Assembly + +CHAPTER II. The Damage + +CHAPTER III. The Constructions--The Constitution of 1791. + +BOOK THIRD. The Application of the Constitution + +CHAPTER I. The Federations + +CHAPTER II. Sovereignty of Unrestrained Passions + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion + + + + +PREFACE + +This second part of "Les Origines de la France Contemporaine" will +consist of two volumes.--Popular insurrections and the laws of the +Constituent Assembly end in destroying all government in France; this +forms the subject of the present volume.--A party arises around +an extreme doctrine, grabs control of the government, and rules in +conformity with its doctrine. This will form the subject of the second +volume. + +A third volume would be required to criticize and evaluate the source +material. I lack the necessary space: I merely state the rule that I +have observed. The trustworthiest testimony will always be that of an +eyewitness, especially + +* When this witness is an honorable, attentive, and intelligent man, + +* When he is writing on the spot, at the moment, and under the dictate +of the facts themselves, + +* When it is obvious that his sole object is to preserve or furnish +information, + +* When his work instead of a piece of polemics planned for the needs +of a cause, or a passage of eloquence arranged for popular effect is a +legal deposition, a secret report, a confidential dispatch, a private +letter, or a personal memento. + +The nearer a document approaches this type, the more it merits +confidence, and supplies superior material.--I have found many of +this kind in the national archives, principally in the manuscript +correspondence of ministers, intendants, sub-delegates, magistrates, and +other functionaries; of military commanders, officers in the army, +and gendarmerie; of royal commissioners, and of the Assembly; of +administrators of departments, districts, and municipalities, besides +persons in private life who address the King, the National Assembly, or +the ministry. Among these are men of every rank, profession, education, +and party. They are distributed by hundreds and thousands over the +whole surface of the territory. They write apart, without being able to +consult each other, and without even knowing each other. No one is so +well placed for collecting and transmitting accurate information. None +of them seek literary effect, or even imagine that what they write will +ever be published. They draw up their statements at once, under the +direct impression of local events. Testimony of this character, of the +highest order, and at first hand, provides the means by which all other +testimony ought to be verified.--The footnotes at the bottom of the +pages indicate the condition, office, name, and address of those +decisive witnesses. For greater certainty I have transcribed as often as +possible their own words. In this way the reader, confronting the texts, +can interpret them for himself, and form his own opinions; he will have +the same documents as myself for arriving at his conclusions, and, if he +is pleased to do so, he may conclude otherwise. As for allusions, if he +finds any, he himself will have introduced them, and if he applies them +he is alone responsible for them. To my mind, the past has features of +its own, and the portrait here presented resembles only the France of +the past. I have drawn it without concerning myself with the discussions +of the day; I have written as if my subject were the revolutions of +Florence or Athens. This is history, and nothing more, and, if I may +fully express myself, I esteem my vocation of historian too highly to +make a cloak of it for the concealment of another. (December 1877). + + +***** + + + + +BOOK FIRST. SPONTANEOUS ANARCHY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF ANARCHY. + + + + +I.--Dearth the first cause. + + Bad crops. The winter of 1788 and 1789.--High price and poor + quality of bread.--In the provinces.--At Paris. + +During the night of July 14-15, 1789, the Duc de la +Rochefoucauld-Liancourt caused Louis XVI to be aroused to inform him of +the taking of the Bastille. "It is a revolt, then?" exclaimed the King. +"Sire!" replied the Duke; "it is a revolution!" The event was even more +serious. Not only had power slipped from the hands of the King, but also +it had not fallen into those of the Assembly. It now lay on the +ground, ready to the hands of the unchained populace, the violent and +over-excited crowd, the mobs, which picked it up like some weapon that +had been thrown away in the street. In fact, there was no longer any +government; the artificial structure of human society was giving way +entirely; things were returning to a state of nature. This was not a +revolution, but a dissolution. + +Two causes excite and maintain the universal upheaval. The first one is +food shortages and dearth, which being constant, lasting for ten years, +and aggravated by the very disturbances which it excites, bids fair to +inflame the popular passions to madness, and change the whole course of +the Revolution into a series of spasmodic stumbles. + +When a stream is brimful, a slight rise suffices to cause an overflow. +So was it with the extreme distress of the eighteenth century. A poor +man, who finds it difficult to live when bread is cheap, sees death +staring him in the face when it is dear. In this state of suffering the +animal instinct revolts, and the universal obedience which constitutes +public peace depends on a degree more or less of dryness or damp, heat +or cold. In 1788, a year of severe drought, the crops had been poor. In +addition to this, on the eve of the harvest,[1101] a terrible hail-storm +burst over the region around Paris, from Normandy to Champagne, +devastating sixty leagues of the most fertile territory, and causing +damage to the amount of one hundred millions of francs. Winter came on, +the severest that had been seen since 1709. At the close of December the +Seine was frozen over from Paris to Havre, while the thermometer stood +at 180 below zero. A third of the olive-trees died in Provence, and the +rest suffered to such an extent that they were considered incapable of +bearing fruit for two years to come. The same disaster befell Languedoc. +In Vivarais, and in the Cevennes, whole forests of chestnuts had +perished, along with all the grain and grass crops on the uplands. On +the plain the Rhone remained in a state of overflow for two months. +After the spring of 1789 the famine spread everywhere, and it increased +from month to month like a rising flood. In vain did the Government +order the farmers, proprietors, and corn-dealers to keep the markets +supplied. In vain did it double the bounty on imports, resort to all +sorts of expedients, involve itself in debt, and expend over forty +millions of francs to furnish France with wheat. In vain do individuals, +princes, noblemen, bishops, chapters, and communities multiply their +charities. The Archbishop of Paris incurring a debt of 400,000 livres, +one rich man distributing 40,000 francs the morning after the hailstorm, +and a convent of Bernardines feeding twelve hundred poor persons for six +weeks[1102]. But it had been too devastating. Neither public measures +nor private charity could meet the overwhelming need. In Normandy, where +the last commercial treaty had ruined the manufacture of linen and +of lace trimmings, forty thousand workmen were out of work. In many +parishes one-fourth of the population[1103] are beggars. Here, "nearly +all the inhabitants, not excepting the farmers and landowners, are +eating barley bread and drinking water;" there, "many poor creatures +have to eat oat bread, and others soaked bran, which has caused the +death of several children."--"Above all," writes the Rouen Parliament, +"let help be sent to a perishing people. . .. Sire, most of your +subjects are unable to pay the price of bread, and what bread is given +to those who do buy it "--Arthur Young,[1104] who was traveling through +France at this time, heard of nothing but the high cost of bread and the +distress of the people. At Troyes bread costs four sous a pound--that is +to say, eight sous of the present day; and unemployed artisans flock +to the relief works, where they can earn only twelve sous a day. In +Lorraine, according to the testimony of all observers, "the people are +half dead with hunger." In Paris the number of paupers has been trebled; +there are thirty thousand in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine alone. Around +Paris there is a short supply of grain, or it is spoilt[1105]. In the +beginning of July, at Montereau, the market is empty. "The bakers could +not have baked" if the police officers had not increased the price of +bread to five sous per pound; the rye and barley which the intendant +is able to send "are of the worst possible quality, rotten and in a +condition to produce dangerous diseases. Nevertheless, most of the small +consumers are reduced to the hard necessity of using this spoilt grain." +At Villeneuve-le-Roi, writes the mayor, "the rye of the two lots last +sent is so black and poor that it cannot be retailed without wheat." At +Sens the barley "tastes musty" to such an extent that buyers of it throw +the detestable bread, which it makes in the face of the sub-delegate. At +Chevreuse the barley has sprouted and smells bad; the "poor wretches," +says an employee, "must be hard pressed with hunger to put up with it." +At Fontainebleau "the barley, half eaten away, produces more bran than +flour, and to make bread of it, one is obliged to work it over several +times." This bread, such as it is, is an object of savage greed; "it +has come to this, that it is impossible to distribute it except through +wickets." And those who thus obtain their ration, "are often attacked on +the road and robbed of it by the more vigorous of the famished people." +At Nangis "the magistrates prohibit the same person from buying more +than two bushels in the same market." In short, provisions are so +scarce that there is a difficulty in feeding the soldiers; the minister +dispatches two letters one after another to order the cutting down +of 250,000 bushels of rye before the harvest[1106]. Paris thus, in +a perfect state of tranquility, appears like a famished city put on +rations at the end of a long siege, and the dearth will not be greater +nor the food worse in December 1870, than in July 1789. + +"The nearer the 14th of July approached," says an eyewitness,[1107] "the +more did the dearth increase. Every baker's shop was surrounded by a +crowd, to which bread was distributed with the most grudging economy. +This bread was generally blackish, earthy, and bitter, producing +inflammation of the throat and pain in the bowels. I have seen flour of +detestable quality at the military school and at other depots. I have +seen portions of it yellow in color, with an offensive smell; some +forming blocks so hard that they had to be broken into fragments +by repeated blows of a hatchet. For my own part, wearied with the +difficulty of procuring this poor bread, and disgusted with that offered +to me at the tables d'hote, I avoided this kind of food altogether. In +the evening I went to the Cafe du Caveau, where, fortunately, they +were kind enough to reserve for me two of those rolls which are called +flutes, and this is the only bread I have eaten for a week at a time." + +But this resource is only for the rich. As for the people, to get bread +fit for dogs, they must stand in a line for hours. And here they fight +for it; "they snatch food from one another." There is no more work to +be had; "the work-rooms are deserted;" often, after waiting a whole +day, the workman returns home empty-handed. When he does bring back a +four-pound loaf it costs him 3 francs 12 sous; that is, 12 sous for the +bread, and 3 francs for the lost day. In this long line of unemployed, +excited men, swaying to and fro before the shop-door, dark thoughts are +fermenting: "if the bakers find no flour to-night to bake with, we shall +have nothing to eat to-morrow." An appalling idea;--in presence of which +the whole power of the Government is not too strong; for to keep order +in the midst of famine nothing avails but the sight of an armed force, +palpable and threatening. Under Louis XIV and Louis XV there had been +even greater hunger and misery; but the outbreaks, which were roughly +and promptly put down, were only partial and passing disorders. Some +rioters were at once hung, and others were sent to the galleys. The +peasant or the workman, convinced of his impotence, at once returned to +his stall or his plow. When a wall is too high one does not even think +of scaling it.--But now the wall is cracking--all its custodians, the +clergy, the nobles, the Third-Estate, men of letters, the politicians, +and even the Government itself, making the breach wider. The wretched, +for the first time, discover an issue: they dash through it, at first +in driblets, then in a mass, and rebellion becomes as universal as +resignation was in the past. + + + + +II.--Expectations the second cause + + Separation and laxity of the administrative forces.-- + Investigations of local assemblies. --The people become + aware of their condition.--Convocation of the States- + General.--Hope is born. The coincidence of early Assemblies + with early difficulties. + +It is just through this breach that hope steals like a beam of light, +and gradually finds its way down to the depths below. For the last fifty +years it has been rising, and its rays, which first illuminated the +upper class in their splendid apartments in the first story, and next +the middle class in their entresol and on the ground floor. They have +now for two years penetrated to the cellars where the people toil, and +even to the deep sinks and obscure corners where rogues and vagabonds +and malefactors, a foul and swarming herd, crowd and hide themselves +from the persecution of the law.--To the first two provincial assemblies +instituted by Necker in 1778 and 1779, Lomenie de Brienne has in 1787 +just added nineteen others; under each of these are assemblies of the +arrondissement, under each assembly of the arrondissement are parish +assemblies[1108]. Thus the whole machinery of administration has been +changed. It is the new assemblies which assess the taxes and superintend +their collection; which determine upon and direct all public works; and +which form the court of final appeal in regard to matters in dispute. +The intendant, the sub-delegate, the elected representative[1109], thus +lose three-quarters of their authority. Conflicts arise, consequently, +between rival powers whose frontiers are not clearly defined; command +shifts about, and obedience is diminished. The subject no longer feels +on his shoulders the commanding weight of the one hand which, without +possibility of interference or resistance, held him in, urged him +forward, and made him move on. Meanwhile, in each assembly of the +parish arrondissement, and even of the province, plebeians, +"husband-men,"[1110] and often common farmers, sit by the side of lords +and prelates. They listen to and remember the vast figure of the taxes +which are paid exclusively, or almost exclusively, by them--the taille +and its accessories, the poll-tax and road dues, and assuredly on their +return home they talk all this over with their neighbor. These figures +are all printed; the village attorney discusses the matter with his +clients, the artisans and rustics, on Sunday as they leave the mass, +or in the evening in the large public room of the tavern. These little +gatherings, moreover, are sanctioned, encouraged by the powers above. +In the earliest days of 1788 the provincial assemblies order a board +of inquiry to be held by the syndics and inhabitants of each parish. +Knowledge is wanted in detail of their grievances. What part of the +revenue is chargeable to each impost? What must the cultivator pay and +how much does he suffer? How many privileged persons there are in the +parish, what is the amount of their fortune, are they residents, and +what their exemptions amount to? In replying, the attorney who holds the +pen, names and points out with his finger each privileged individual, +criticizes his way of living, and estimates his fortune, calculates the +injury done to the village by his immunities, inveighs against the taxes +and the tax-collectors. On leaving these assemblies the villager broods +over what he has just heard. He sees his grievances no longer singly as +before, but in mass, and coupled with the enormity of evils under which +his fellows suffer. Besides this, they begin to disentangle the causes +of their misery: the King is good--why then do his collectors take so +much of our money? This or that canon or nobleman is not unkind--why +then do they make us pay in their place?--Imagine that a sudden gleam of +reason should allow a beast of burden to comprehend the contrast between +the species of horse and mankind. Imagine, if you can, what its first +ideas would be in relation to the coachmen and drivers who bridle +and whip it and again in relation to the good-natured travelers and +sensitive ladies who pity it, but who to the weight of the vehicle add +their own and that of their luggage. + +Likewise, in the mind of the peasant, athwart his perplexed brooding, a +new idea, slowly, little by little, is unfolded:--that of an oppressed +multitude of which he makes one, a vast herd scattered far beyond the +visible horizon, everywhere ill used, starved, and fleeced. Towards the +end of 1788 we begin to detect in the correspondence of the intendants +and military commandants the dull universal muttering of coming +wrath. Men's characters seem to change; they become suspicious and +restive.--And just at this moment, the Government, dropping the reins, +calls upon them to direct themselves.[1111]. In the month of November +1787, the King declared that he would convoke the States-General. On the +5th of July 1788, he calls for memoranda (des memoires) on this subject +from every competent person and body. On the 8th of August he fixes the +date of the session. On the 5th of October he convokes the notables, +in order to consider the subject with them. On the 27th of December he +grants a double representation to the Third-Estate, because "its cause +is allied with generous sentiments, and it will always obtain the +support of public opinion." The same day he introduces into the +electoral assemblies of the clergy a majority of cures[1112], "because +good and useful pastors are daily and closely associated with the +indigence and relief of the people," from which it follows "that they +are much more familiar with their sufferings" and necessities. On +the 24th January 1789, he prescribes the procedure and method of the +meetings. After the 7th of February writs of summons are sent out one +after the other. Eight days after, each parish assembly begins to draw +up its memorial of grievances, and becomes excited over the detailed +enumeration of all the miseries which it sets down in writing.--All +these appeals and all these acts are so many strokes, which reverberate, +in the popular imagination. "It is the desire of His Majesty," says the +order issued, "that every one, from the extremities of his kingdom, and +from the most obscure of its hamlets, should be certain of his wishes +and protests reaching him." Thus, it is all quite true: there can be +no mistake about it, the thing is sure. The people are invited to speak +out, they are summoned, and they are consulted. There is a disposition +to relieve them; henceforth their misery shall be less; better times +are coming. This is all they know about it. A few month after, in +July,[1113] the only answer a peasant girl can make to Arthur Young is, +"something was to be done by some great folks for such poor ones, but +she did not know who nor how." The thing is too complicated, beyond the +reach of a stupefied and mechanical brain.--One idea alone emerges, the +hope of immediate relief. The persuasion that one is entitled to it, the +resolution to aid it with every possible means. Consequently, an anxious +waiting, a ready fervor, a tension of the will simply due to the waiting +for the opportunity to let go and take off like a irresistible arrow +towards the unknown end which will reveal itself all of a sudden. Hunger +is to mark this sudden target out for them. + +The market must be supplied with wheat; the farmers and land-owners must +bring it; wholesale buyers, whether the Government or individuals, must +not be allowed to send it elsewhere. The wheat must be sold at a low +price; the price must be cut down and fixed, so that the baker can sell +bread at two sous the pound. Grain, flour, wine, salt, and provisions +must pay no more duties. Seignorial dues and claims, ecclesiastical +tithes, and royal or municipal taxes must no longer exist. On the +strength of this idea disturbances broke out on all sides in March, +April, and May. Contemporaries "do not know what to think of such +a scourge;[1114] they cannot comprehend how such a vast number of +criminals, without visible leaders, agree amongst themselves everywhere +to commit the same excesses just at the time when the States-General are +going to begin their sittings." The reason is that, under the ancient +regime, the conflagration was smoldering in a closed chamber; the great +door is suddenly opened, the air enters, and immediately the flame +breaks out. + + + + +III.--The provinces during the first six months of 1789 + + Effects of the famine. + +At first there are only intermittent, isolated fires, which are +extinguished or go out of themselves; but, a moment after, in the same +place, or very near it, the sparks again appear. Their number, like +their recurrence, shows the vastness, depth, and heat of the combustible +matter, which is about to explode. In the four months, which precede the +taking of the Bastille, over three hundred outbreaks may be counted in +France. They take place from month to month and from week to week, in +Poitou, Brittany, Touraine, Orleanais, Normandy, Ile-de-France, Picardy, +Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Nivernais, Auvergne, Languedoc, and +Provence. On the 28th of May the parliament of Rouen announces robberies +of grain, "violent and bloody tumults, in which men on both sides have +fallen," throughout the province, at Caen, Saint-Lo, Mortain, Granville, +Evreux, Bernay, Pont-Andemer, Elboeuf; Louviers, and in other sections +besides. On the 20th of April Baron de Bezenval, military commander +in the Central Provinces, writes: "I once more lay before M. Necker a +picture of the frightful condition of Touraine and of Orleanais. Every +letter I receive from these two provinces is the narrative of three +or four riots, which are put down with difficulty by the troops and +constabulary,"[1115]--and throughout the whole extent of the kingdom a +similar state of things is seen. The women, as is natural, are generally +at the head of these outbreaks. It is they who, at Montlhery, rip open +the sacks of grain with their scissors. On learning each week, on market +day that the price of a loaf of bread advances three, four, or seven +sous, they break out into shrieks of rage: at this rate for bread, with +the small salaries of the men, and when work fails,[1116] how can a +family be fed? Crowds gather around the sacks of flour and the doors of +the bakers. Amidst outcries and reproaches some one in the crowd makes a +push; the proprietor or dealer is hustled and knocked down. The shop +is invaded, the commodity is in the hands of the buyers and of the +famished, each one grabbing for himself, pay or no pay, and running +away with the booty.--Sometimes a party is made up beforehand[1117] +At Bray-sur-Seine, on the 1st of May, the villagers for four leagues +around, armed with stones, knives, and cudgels, to the number of four +thousand, compel the metayers and farmers, who have brought grain with +them, to sell it at 3 livres, instead of 4 livres 10 sous the bushel. +They threaten to do the same thing on the following market-day: but the +farmers do not return, the storehouse remains empty. Now soldiers must +be at hand, or the inhabitants of Bray will be pillaged. At Bagnols, in +Languedoc, on the 1st and 2nd of April, the peasants, armed with cudgels +and assembled by tap of drum, "traverse the town, threatening to burn +and destroy everything if flour and money are not given to them." +They go to private houses for grain, divide it amongst themselves at a +reduced price, "promising to pay when the next crop comes round," and +force the Consuls to put bread at two sous the pound, and to increase +the day's wages four sous.--Indeed this is now the regular thing; it is +not the people who obey the authorities, but the authorities who obey +the people. Consuls, sheriffs, mayors, municipal officers, town-clerks, +become confused and hesitating in the face of this huge clamor; they +feel that they are likely to be trodden under foot or thrown out of the +windows. Others, with more firmness, being aware that a riotous crowd +is mad, and having scruples to spill blood; yield for the time being, +hoping that at the next market-day there will be more soldiers +and better precautions taken. At Amiens, "after a very violent +outbreak,"[1118] they decide to take the wheat belonging to the Jacobin +monks, and, protected by the troops, to sell it to the people at a third +below its value. At Nantes, where the town hall is attacked, they are +forced to lower the price of bread one sou per pound. At Angouleme, to +avoid a recourse to arms, they request the Comte d'Artois to renounce +his dues on flour for two months, reduce the price of bread, and +compensate the bakers. At Cette they are so maltreated they let +everything take its course; the people sack their dwellings and get the +upper hand; they announce by sound of trumpet that all their demands are +granted. On other occasions, the mob dispenses with their services and +acts for itself. If there happens to be no grain on the market-place, +the people go after it wherever they can find it--to proprietors and +farmers who are unable to bring it for fear of pillage; to convents, +which by royal edict are obliged always to have one year's crop in +store; to granaries where the Government keeps its supplies; and to +convoys which are dispatched by the intendants to the relief of famished +towns. Each for himself--so much the worse for his neighbor. The +inhabitants of Fougeres beat and drive out those who come from Ernee +to buy in their market; a similar violence is shown at Vitre to the +in-habitants of Maine.[1119] At Sainte-Leonard the people stop the grain +started for Limoges; at Bost that intended for Aurillac; at Saint-Didier +that ordered for Moulins; and at Tournus that dispatched to Macon. In +vain are escorts added to the convoys; troops of men and women, armed +with hatchets and guns, put themselves in ambush in the woods along the +road, and seize the horses by their bridles; the saber has to be used to +secure any advance. In vain are arguments and kind words offered, "and +in vain even is wheat offered for money; they refuse, shouting out that +the convoy shall not go on." They have taken a stubborn stand, their +resolution being that of a bull planted in the middle of the road and +lowering his horns. Since the wheat is in the district, it is theirs; +whoever carries it off or withholds it is a robber. This fixed idea +cannot be driven out of their minds. At Chant-nay, near Mans,[1120] +they prevent a miller from carrying that which he had just bought to +his mill. At Montdragon, in Languedoc, they stone a dealer in the act of +sending his last wagon load elsewhere. At Thiers, workmen go in force +to gather wheat in the fields; a proprietor with whom some is found +is nearly killed; they drink wine in the cellars, and leave the taps +running. At Nevers, the bakers not having put bread on their counters +for four days, the mob force the granaries of private persons, of +dealers and religious communities. "The frightened corn-dealers part +with their grain at any price; most of it is stolen in the face of the +guards," and, in the tumult of these searches of homes, a number of +houses are sacked.--In these days woe to all who are concerned in the +acquisition, commerce, and manipulation of grain! Popular imagination +requires living beings to who it may impute its misfortunes, and on whom +it may gratify its resentments. To it, all such persons are monopolists, +and, at any rate, public enemies. Near Angers the Benedictine +establishment is invaded, and its fields and woods are devastated.[1121] +At Amiens "the people are arranging to pillage and perhaps burn the +houses of two merchants, who have built labor-saving mills." Restrained +by the soldiers, they confine themselves to breaking windows; but other +"groups come to destroy or plunder the houses of two or three persons +whom they suspect of being monopolists." At Nantes, a sieur Geslin, +being deputized by the people to inspect a house, and finding no wheat, +a shout is set up that he is a receiver, an accomplice! The crowd rush +at him, and he is wounded and almost cut in pieces.--It is very evident +that there is no more security in France; property, even life, is in +danger. The primary possession, food, is violated in hundreds of places, +and is everywhere menaced and precarious. The local officials everywhere +call for aid, declare the constabulary incompetent, and demand +regular troops. And mark how public authority, everywhere inadequate, +disorganized, and tottering, finds stirred up against it not only the +blind madness of hunger, but, in addition, the evil instincts which +profit by every disorder and the inveterate lusts which every political +commotion frees from restraint. + + + + +IV.--Intervention of ruffians and vagabonds. + +We have seen how numerous the smugglers, dealers in contraband salt, +poachers, vagabonds, beggars, and escaped convicts[1122] have become, +and how a year of famine increases the number. All are so many recruits +for the mobs, and whether in a disturbance or by means of a disturbance +each one of them fills his pouch. Around Caux,[1123] even up to the +environs of Rouen, at Roncherolles, Quevrevilly, Preaux, Saint-Jacques, +and in the entire surrounding neighborhood bands of armed bandits force +their way into the houses, particularly the parsonages, and lay their +hands on whatever they please. To the south of Chartres "three or four +hundred woodcutters, from the forests of Belleme, chop away everything +that opposes them, and force grain to be given up to them at their own +price." In the vicinity of Etampes, fifteen bandits enter the +farmhouses at night and put the farmer to ransom, threatening him with +a conflagration. In Cambresis they pillage the abbeys of Vauchelles, of +Verger, and of Guillemans, the chateau of the Marquis de Besselard, the +estate of M. Doisy, two farms, the wagons of wheat passing along the +road to Saint-Quentin, and, besides this, seven farms in Picardy. +"The seat of this revolt is in some villages bordering on Picardy and +Cambresis, familiar with smuggling operations and to the license of +that pursuit." The peasants allow themselves to be enticed away by the +bandits. Man slips rapidly down the incline of dishonesty; one who +is half-honest, and takes part in a riot inadvertently or in spite of +himself; repeats the act, allured on by impunity or by gain. In fact, +"it is not dire necessity which impels them;" they make a speculation of +cupidity, a new sort of illicit trade. An old soldier, saber in hand, a +forest-keeper, and "about eight persons sufficiently lax, put themselves +at the head of four or five hundred men, go off each day to three or +four villages. Here they force everybody who has any wheat to give it +to them at 24 livres," and even at 18 livres, the sack. Those among the +band, who say that they have no money, carry away their portion without +payment. Others, after having paid what they please, re-sell at a +profit, which amounts to even 45 livres the sack. This is a good +business, and one in which greed takes poverty for its accomplice. At +the next harvest the temptation will be similar: "they have threatened +to come and do our harvesting for us, and also to take our cattle and +sell the meat in the villages at the rate of two sous the pound."--In +every important insurrection there are similar evil-does and vagabonds, +enemies to the law, savage, prowling desperadoes, who, like wolves, roam +about wherever they scent a prey. It is they who serve as the directors +and executioners of public or private malice. Near Uzes twenty-five +masked men, with guns and clubs, enter the house of a notary, fire a +pistol at him, beat him, wreck the premises, and burn his registers +along with the title-deeds and papers which he has in keeping for the +Count de Rouvres. Seven of them are arrested, but the people are on +their side, and fall on the constabulary and free them.[1124]--They +are known by their acts, by their love of destruction for the sake of +destruction, by their foreign accent, by their savage faces and their +rags. Some of them come from Paris to Rouen, and, for four days, the +town is at their mercy.[1125] The stores are forced open, train wagons +are discharged, wheat is wasted, and convents and seminaries are put to +ransom. They invade the dwelling of the attorney-general, who has begun +proceedings against them, and want to tear him to pieces. They break his +mirrors and his furniture, leave the premises laden with booty, and go +into the town and its outskirts to pillage the manufactories and break +up or burn all the machinery.--Henceforth these constitute the new +leaders: for in every mob it is the boldest and least scrupulous +who march ahead and set the example in destruction. The example is +contagious: the beginning was the craving for bread, the end is murder +and arson; the savagery which is unchained adding its unlimited violence +to the limited revolt of necessity. + + + + +V.--Effect on the Population of the New Ideas. + +Bad as it is, this savagery might, perhaps, have been overcome, in spite +of the dearth and of the brigands; but what renders it irresistible is +the belief of its being authorized, and that by those whose duty it is +to repress it. Here and there words and actions of a brutal frankness +break forth, and reveal beyond the somber present a more threatening +future--After the 9th of January, 1789, among the mob which attacks the +Hotel-de-Ville and besieges the bakers' shops of Nantes, "shouts of Vive +la Liberte![1126] mingled with those of Vive le Roi! are heard." A +few months later, around Ploermel, the peasants refuse to pay tithes, +alleging that the memorial of their seneschal's court demands their +abolition. In Alsace, after March, there is the same refusal "in many +places;" many of the communities even maintain that they will pay no +more taxes until their deputies to the States-General shall have fixed +the precise amount of the public contributions. In Isere it is decided, +by proceedings, printed and published, that "personal dues" shall no +longer be paid, while the landowners who are affected by this dare +not prosecute in the tribunals. At Lyons, the people have come to the +conclusion "that all levies of taxes are to cease," and, on the 29th of +June, on hearing of the meeting of the three orders, "astonished by the +illuminations and signs of public rejoicing," they believe that the good +time has come." They think of forcing the delivery of meat to them at +four sous the pound, and wine at the same rate. The publicans insinuate +to them the prospective abolition of octrois.[1127] and that, meanwhile, +the King, in favor of the re-assembling of the three orders, has granted +three days' freedom from all duties at Paris, and that Lyons ought +to enjoy the same privilege." Upon this the crowd, rushing off to +the barriers, to the gates of Sainte-Claire and Perrache, and to the +Guillotiere bridge, burn or demolish the bureaux, destroy the registers, +sack the lodgings of the clerks, carry off the money and pillage the +wine on hand in the depot. In the mean time a rumor has circulated all +round through the country that there is free entrance into the town for +all provisions. During the following days the peasantry stream in with +enormous files of wagons loaded with wine and drawn by several oxen, so +that, in spite of the re-established guard, it is necessary to let them +enter all day without paying the dues. It is only on the 7th of July +that these can again be collected.--The same thing occurs in the +southern provinces, where the principal imposts are levied on +provisions. There also the collections are suspended in the name of +public authority. At Agde,[1128] "the people, considering the so-called +will of the King as to equality of classes, are foolish enough to think +that they are everything and can do everything." Thus do they interpret +in their own way and in their own terms the double representation +accorded to the Third-Estate. They threaten the town, consequently, with +general pillage if the prices of all provisions are not reduced, and if +the duties of the province on wine, fish, and meat are not suppressed. +They also wish to nominate consuls who have sprung up out of their +body." The bishop, the lord of the manor, the mayor and the notables, +against whom they forcibly stir up the peasantry in the country, are +obliged to proclaim by sound of trumpet that their demands shall be +granted. Three days afterwards they exact a diminution of one-half of +the tax on grinding, and go in quest of the bishop who owns the mills. +The prelate, who is ill, sinks down in the street and seats himself on +a stone; they compel him forthwith to sign an act of renunciation, +and hence "his mill, valued at 15,000 livres, is reduced to 7,500 +livres."--At Limoux, under the pretext of searching for grain, they +enter the houses of the comptroller and tax contractors, carry off their +registers, and throw them into the water along with the furniture of +their clerks.--In Provence it is worse; for most unjustly, and through +inconceivable imprudence, the taxes of the towns are all levied on +flour. It is therefore to this impost that the dearness of bread is +directly attributed. Hence the fiscal agent becomes a manifest enemy, +and revolts on account of hunger are transformed into insurrections +against the State. + + + + +VI.--The first jacquerie in Province + + Feebleness or ineffectiveness of repressive measures. + +Here, again, political novelties are the spark that ignites the mass +of gunpowder. Everywhere, the uprising of the people takes place on +the very day on which the electoral assembly meets. From forty to +fifty riots occur in the provinces in less than a fortnight. Popular +imagination, like that of a child, goes straight to its mark. The +reforms having been announced, people think them accomplished and, to +make sure of them, steps are at once taken to carry them out. Now +that we are to have relief, let us relieve ourselves. "This is not an +isolated riot as usual," writes the commander of the troops;[1129] +"here the faction is united and governed by uniform principles; the same +errors are diffused through all minds. . . . . The principles impressed +on the people are that the King desires equality. No more bishops +or lords, no more distinctions of rank, no tithes, and no seignorial +privileges. Thus, these misguided people fancy that they are exercising +their rights, and obeying the will of the King."--The effect of sonorous +phrases is apparent. The people have been told that the States-General +were to bring about the "regeneration of the kingdom" The inference is +"that the date of their assembly was to be one of an entire and absolute +change of conditions and fortunes." Hence, "the insurrection against the +nobles and the clergy is as active as it is widespread." "In many +places it was distinctly announced that there was a sort of war declared +against landowners and property," and "in the towns as well as in the +rural districts the people persist in declaring that they will pay +nothing, neither taxes, duties, nor debts."--Naturally, the first +assault is against the piquet, or flour-tax. At Aix, Marseilles, Toulon, +and in more than forty towns and market-villages, this is summarily +abolished; at Aupt and at Luc nothing remains of the weighing-house but +the four walls. At Marseilles the home of the slaughter-house contractor +and at Brignolles that of the director of the leather excise, are +sacked. The determination is "to purge the land of excise-men. "--This +is only a beginning; bread and other provisions must become cheap, and +that without delay. At Arles, the Corporation of sailors, presided over +by M. de Barras, consul, had just elected its representatives. By way of +conclusion to the meeting, they pass a resolution insisting that M. de +Barras should reduce the price of all comestibles. On his refusal, they +"open the window, exclaiming, 'We hold him, and we have only to throw +him into the street for the rest to pick him up.'" Compliance is +inevitable. The resolution is proclaimed by the town-criers, and at each +article which is reduced in price the crowd shout, "Vive le Roi, vive M. +Barras!"--One must yield to brute force. But the inconvenience is great +for, through the suppression of the flour-tax, the towns have no longer +a revenue. On the other hand, as they are obliged to indemnify the +butchers and bakers, Toulon, for instance, incurs a debt of 2,500 livres +a day. + +In this state of disorder, woe to those who are under suspicion of +having contributed, directly or indirectly, to the evils, which the +people endure! At Toulon a demand is made for the head of the mayor, who +signs the tax-list, and of the keeper of the records. They are trodden +under foot, and their houses are ransacked. At Manosque, the Bishop +of Sisteron, who is visiting the seminary, is accused of favoring +a monopolist. On his way to his carriage, on foot, he is hooted and +menaced. He is first pelted with mud, and then with stones. The consuls +in attendance, and the sub-delegate, who come to his assistance, are +mauled and repulsed. Meanwhile, some of the most furious begin, before +his eyes, "to dig a ditch to bury him in." Protected by five or six +brave fellows, amidst a volley of stones, and wounded on the head and +on many parts of his body, he succeeds in reaching his carriage. He is +finally only saved because the horses, which are likewise stoned, run +away. Foreigners, Italians, bandits, are mingled with the peasants and +artisans, and expressions are heard and acts are seen which indicate a +jacquerie.[1130] "The most excited said to the bishop, 'we are poor and +you are rich, and we mean to have all your property.'"[1131] Elsewhere, +"the seditious mob exacts contributions from all people in good +circumstances. At Brignolles, thirteen houses are pillaged from top to +bottom, and thirty others partly half.--At Aupt, M. de Montferrat, in +defending himself, is killed and "hacked to pieces."--At La Seyne, the +mob, led by a peasant, assembles by beat of drum. Some women fetch a +bier, and set it down before the house of a leading bourgeois, telling +him to prepare for death, and that "they will have the honor of burying +him." He escapes; his house is pillaged, as well as the bureau of +the flour-tax. The following day, the chief of the band "obliges the +principal inhabitants to give him a sum of money to indemnify, as he +states it, the peasants who have abandoned their work," and devoted the +day to serving the public.--At Peinier, the President de Peinier, an +octogenarian, is "besieged in his chateau by a band of a hundred and +fifty artisans and peasants," who bring with them a consul and a notary. +Aided by these two functionaries, they force the president "to pass an +act by which he renounces his seignorial rights of every description +"--At Sollier they destroy the mills belonging to M. de Forbin-Janson. +They sack the house of his business agent, pillage the chateau, and +demolish the roof, chapel, altar, railings, and escutcheons. They enter +the cellars, stave in the casks, and carry away everything that can +be carried, "the transportation taking two days;" all of which cause +damages of a hundred thousand crowns to the marquis.--At Riez they +surround the episcopal palace with fagots, threatening to burn it, "and +compromise with the bishop on a promise of fifty thousand livres," and +want him to burn his archives.--In short, the sedition is social for it +singles out for attack all that profit by, or stand at the head of, the +established order of things. + +Seeing them act in this way, one would say that the theory of the +Contrat-Social had been instilled into them. They treat magistrates as +domestics, promulgate laws, and conduct themselves like sovereigns. +They exercise public power, and establish, summarily, arbitrarily, +and brutally, whatever they think to be in conformity with natural +right.--At Peinier they exact a second electoral assembly, and, for +themselves, the right of suffrage.--At Saint-Maximin they themselves +elect new consuls and officers of justice.--At Solliez they oblige the +judge's lieutenant to give in his resignation, and they break his +staff of office.--At Barjols "they use consuls and judges as their town +servants, announcing that they are masters and that they will themselves +administer justice."--In fact, they do administer it, as they understand +it--that is to say, through many exactions and robberies! One man has +wheat; he must share it with him who has none. Another has money; +he must give it to him who has not enough to buy bread with. On this +principle, at Barjols, they tax the Ursulin nuns 1,800 livres, carry off +fifty loads of wheat from the Chapter, eighteen from one poor artisan, +and forty from another, and constrain canons and beneficiaries to give +acquittances to their farmers. Then, from house to house, with club +in hand, they oblige some to hand over money, others to abandon their +claims on their debtors, "one to desist from criminal proceedings, +another to nullify a decree obtained, a third to reimburse the expenses +of a lawsuit gained years before, a father to give his consent to the +marriage of his son."--All their grievances are brought to mind, and we +all know the tenacity of a peasant's memory. Having become the master, +he redresses wrongs, and especially those of which he thinks himself the +object. There must be a general restitution; and first, of the feudal +dues which have been collected. They take of M. de Montmeyan's business +agent all the money he has as compensation for that received by him +during fifteen years as a notary. A former consul of Brignolles had, in +1775, inflicted penalties to the amount of 1,500 or 1,800 francs, which +had been given to the poor; this sum is taken from his strong box. +Moreover, if consuls and law officers are wrongdoers, the title deeds, +rent-rolls, and other documents by which they do their business +are still worse. To the fire with all old writings--not only office +registers, but also, at Hyeres, all the papers in the town hall and +those of the principal notary.--In the matter of papers none are +good but new ones--those which convey some discharge, quittance, or +obligation to the advantage of the people. At Brignolles the owners of +the gristmills are constrained to execute a contract of sale by which +they convey their mills to the commune in consideration of 5,000 francs +per annum, payable in ten years without interest--an arrangement which +ruins them. On seeing the contract signed the peasants shout and cheer, +and so great is their faith in this piece of stamped paper that they at +once cause a mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in the Cordeliers. +Formidable omens these! Which mark the inward purpose, the determined +will, and the coming deeds of this rising power. If it prevails, its +first work will be to destroy all ancient documents, all title deeds, +rent-rolls, contracts, and claims to which force compels it to submit. +By force likewise it will draw up others to its own advantage, and the +scribes who do it will be its own deputies and administrators whom it +holds in its rude grasp. + +Those who are in high places are not alarmed; they even find that there +is some good in the revolt, inasmuch as it compels the towns to suppress +unjust taxation.[1132] The new Marseilles guard, formed of young men, is +allowed to march to Aubagne, "to insist that M. le lieutenant criminel +and M. l'avocat du Roi release the prisoners." The disobedience of +Marseilles, which refuses to receive the magistrates sent under letters +patent to take testimony, is tolerated. And better still, in spite +of the remonstrances of the parliament of Aix, a general amnesty is +proclaimed; "no one is excepted but a few of the leaders, to whom is +allowed the liberty of leaving the kingdom." The mildness of the King +and of the military authorities is admirable. It is admitted that the +people are children, that they err only through ignorance, that faith +must be had in their repentance, and, as soon as they return to order, +they must be received with paternal effusions.--The truth is, that the +child is a blind Colossus, exasperated by sufferings. hence whatever it +takes hold of is shattered--not only the local wheels of the provinces, +which, if temporarily deranged, may be repaired, but even the incentive +at the center which puts the rest in motion, and the destruction of +which will throw the whole machinery into confusion. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1101: Marmontel, "Memoires," II. 221.--Albert Babeau, +"Histoire de la Revolution Francaise," I. 91, 187. (Letter by Huez Mayor +of Troyes, July 30, 1788.)--Archives Nationales, H. 1274. (Letter by M. +de Caraman, April 22, 1789.) H. 942 (Cahier des demandes des Etats de +Languedoc).--Buchez et Roux, "Histoire Parlementaire," I. 283.] + +[Footnote 1102: See "The Ancient Regime," p.34. Albert Babeau, I. 91. +(The Bishop of Troyes gives 12,000 francs, and the chapter 6,000, for +the relief workshops.)] + +[Footnote 1103: "The Ancient Regime," 350, 387.--Floquet, "Histoire du +Parlement de Normandie," VII. 505-518. (Reports of the Parliament of +Normandy, May 3,1788. Letter from the Parliament to the King, July 15, +1789.)] + +[Footnote 1104: Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," June 29th, July 2nd +and 18th--" Journal de Paris," January 2, 1789. Letter of the cure of +Sainte-Marguerite.] + +[Footnote 1105: Buchez and Roux, IV. 79-82. (Letter from the +intermediary bureau of Montereau, July 9, 1789; from the maire of +Villeneuve-le-Roi, July 10th; from M. Baudry, July 10th; from M. +Prioreau, July 11th, etc.)--Montjoie, "Histoire de la Revolution de +France," 2nd part, ch. XXI, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 1106: Roux et Buchez, ibid. "It is very unfortunate," writes +the Marquis d'Autichamp, "to be obliged to cut down the standing crops +ready to be gathered in; but it is dangerous to let the troops die of +hunger."] + +[Footnote 1107: Montjoie, "Histoire de la Revolution de France," +ch. XXXIX, V, 37.--De Goncourt, "La Societe Francaise pendant la +Revolution," p. 5l3.--Deposition of Maillard (Criminal Inquiry of the +Chatelet concerning the events of October 5th and 6th).] + +[Footnote 1108: De Tocqueville, "L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution," +272-290. De Lavergne, "Les Assemblees provinciales," 109. Proces-verbaux +des assemblees provinciales, passim.] + +[Footnote 1109: A magistrate who gives judgment in a lower court in +cases relative to taxation. These terms are retained because there are +no equivalents in English. (Tr.)] + +[Footnote 1110: "Laboureurs,"--this term, at this epoch, is applied to +those who till their own land. (Tr.)] + +[Footnote 1111: Duvergier. "Collection des lois et decrets," I. 1 to 23, +and particularly p. 15.] + +[Footnote 1112: Parish priests. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 1113: Arthur Young, July 12th, 1789 (in Champagne).] + +[Footnote 1114: Montjoie, 1st part, 102.] + +[Footnote 1115: Floquet, "Histoire du Parlement de Normandie," VII. +508.--" Archives Nationales," H. 1453.] + +[Footnote 1116: Arthur Young, June 29th (at Nangis).] + +[Footnote 1117: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the Duc +de Mortemart, Seigneur of Bray, May 4th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, +intendant of Languedoc, April 15th.] + +[Footnote 1118: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, +M. d'Agay, April 30th; of the municipal officers of Nantes, January +9th; of the intendant, M. Meulan d'Ablois, June 22nd; of M. de +Ballainvilliers, April 15th.] + +[Footnote 1119: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Langeron, July 4th; of M. de Meulan d'Ablois, June 5th; "Minutes of +the meeting of la Marechaussee de Bost," April 29th. Letters of M. de +Chazerat, May 29th; of M. de Bezenval, June 2nd; of the intendant, M. +Amelot, April 25th.] + +[Footnote 1120: '"Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of M. de +Bezenval, May 27th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, April 25th; of M. de +Foullonde, April 19th.] + +[Footnote 1121: "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, +M. d'Aine, March 12th; of M. d'Agay, April 30th; of M. Amelot, April +25th; of the municipal authorities of Nantes, January 9th, etc.] + +[Footnote 1122: "The Ancient Regime," pp. 380-389.] + +[Footnote 1123: Floquet, VII. 508, (Report of February 27th).--Hippeau, +"La Gouvernement de Normandie," IV. 377. (Letter of M. Perrot, June +23rd.)--" Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. de Sainte-Suzanne, +April 29th. Ibid. F7, 3250. Letter of M. de Rochambeau, May 16th Ibid. +F7, 3250. Letter of the Abbe Duplaquet, Deputy of the Third Estate of +Saint-Quentin, May 17th. Letter of three husbandmen in the environs of +Saint-Quentin, May 14th.] + +[Footnote 1124: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Perigord, military commandant of Languedoc, April 22nd.] + +[Footnote 1125: Floquet, VII. 511 (from the 11th to the 14th July).] + +[Footnote 1126: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the municipal +authorities of Nantes, January 9th; of the sub-delegate of Ploermel, +July 4th; ibid. F7, 2353. Letter of the intermediary commission of +Alsace, September 8th ibid. F7, 3227. Letter of the intendant, Caze de +la Bove, June 16th; ibid. H. 1453. Letter of Terray, intendant of Lyons, +July 4th; of the prevot des echevins, July 5th and 7th.] + +[Footnote 1127: (A tax on all goods entering a town. SR.)] + +[Footnote 1128: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the mayor and +councils of Agde, April 21st; of M. de Perigord, April 19th, May 5th.] + +[Footnote 1129: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. de +Caraman, March 23rd, 26th 27th 28th; of the seneschal Missiessy, March +24th; of the mayor of Hyeres, March 25th, etc.; ibid. H. 1274; of M. de +Montmayran, April 2nd; of M. de Caraman, March 18th, April 12th; of +the intendant, M. de la Tour, April 2nd; of the procureur-general, M. +d'Antheman, April 17th, and the report of June 15th; of the municipal +authorities of Toulon, April 11th; of the sub-delegate of Manosque, +March 14th; of M. de Saint-Tropez, March 21st.--Minutes of the meeting, +signed by 119 witnesses, of the insurrection at Aix, March 5th, etc.] + +[Footnote 1130: An uprising of the peasants. The term is used to +indicate a country mob in contradistinction to a city or town mob.-Tr.] + +[Footnote 1131: "Archives Nationales," H.1274. Letter of M. de la Tour, +April 2nd (with a detailed memorandum and depositions).] + +[Footnote 1132: "Archives Nationales," H. 1274. Letter of M. de Caraman, +April 22nd:--"One real benefit results from this misfortune. . . The +well-to-do class is brought to sustain that which exceeded the strength +of the poor daily laborers. We see the nobles and people in good +circumstances a little more attentive to the poor peasants: they are now +habituated to speaking to them with more gentleness." M. de Caraman +was wounded, as well as his Son, at Aix, and if the Soldiery, who were +stoned, at length fired on the crowd, he did not give the order.--Ibid, +letter of M. d'Antheman, April 17th; of M. de Barentin, June 11th.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY. + + + + +I.--Mob recruits in the vicinity + + Entry of vagabonds.--The number of paupers. + +INDEED it is in the center that the convulsive shocks are strongest. +Nothing is lacking to aggravate the insurrection--neither the liveliest +provocation to stimulate it, nor the most numerous bands to carry it +out. The environs of Paris all furnish recruits for it; nowhere are +there so many miserable wretches, so many of the famished, and so many +rebellious beings. Robberies of grain take place everywhere--at +Orleans, at Cosne, at Rambouillet, at Jouy, at Pont-Saint-Maxence, at +Bray-sur-Seine, at Sens, at Nangis.[1201] Wheat flour is so scarce at +Meudon, that every purchaser is ordered to buy at the same time an equal +quantity of barley. At Viroflay, thirty women, with a rear-guard of men, +stop on the main road vehicles, which they suppose to be loaded with +grain. At Montlhery stones and clubs disperse seven brigades of the +police. An immense throng of eight thousand persons, women and men, +provided with bags, fall upon the grain exposed for sale. They force the +delivery to them of wheat worth 40 francs at 24 francs, pillaging the +half of it and conveying it off without payment. "The constabulary is +disheartened," writes the sub-delegate; "the determination of the people +is wonderful; I am frightened at what I have seen and heard."--After +the 13th of July, 1788, the day of the hail-storm, despair seized +the peasantry; well disposed as the proprietors may have been, it was +impossible to assist them. "Not a workshop is open;[1202] the noblemen +and the bourgeois, obliged to grant delays in the payment of their +incomes, can give no work." Accordingly, "the famished people are on +the point of risking life for life," and, publicly and boldly, they +seek food wherever it can be found. At Conflans-Saint-Honorine, Eragny, +Neuville, Chenevieres, at Cergy, Pontoise, Ile-Adam, Presle, and +Beaumont, men, women, and children, the hole parish, range the country, +set snares, and destroy the burrows. "The rumor is current that the +Government, informed of the damage done by the game to cultivators, +allows its destruction. . . and really the hares ravaged about a fifth +of the crop. At first an arrest is made of nine of these poachers; but +they are released, "taking circumstances into account." Consequently, +for two months, there is a slaughter on the property of the Prince de +Conti and of the Ambassador Mercy d'Argenteau; in default of bread +they eat rabbits.--Along with the abuse of property they are led, by a +natural impulse, to attack property itself. Near Saint-Denis the woods +belonging to the abbey are devastated. "The farmers of the neighborhood +carry away loads of wood, drawn by four and five horses;" the +inhabitants of the villages of Ville-Parisis, Tremblay, Vert-Galant, +Villepinte, sell it publicly, and threaten the wood-rangers with a +beating. On the 15th of June the damage is already estimated at 60,000 +livres.--It makes little difference whether the proprietor has been +benevolent, like M. de Talaru,[1203] who had supported the poor on his +estate at Issy the preceding winter. The peasants destroy the dike which +conducts water to his communal mill; condemned by the parliament to +restore it, they declare that not only will they not obey. Should M. de +Talaru try to rebuild it they will return with three hundred armed men, +and tear it away the second time. + +For those who are most compromised Paris is the nearest refuge. For the +poorest and most exasperated, the door of nomadic life stands wide +open. Bands rise up around the capital, just as in countries where human +society has not yet been formed, or has ceased to exist. During the +first two weeks of May[1204] near Villejuif a band of five or six +hundred vagabonds strive to force Bicetre and approach Saint-Cloud. They +arrive from thirty, forty, and sixty leagues off, from Champagne, from +Lorraine, from the whole circuit of country devastated by the hailstorm. +All hover around Paris and are there engulfed as in a sewer, the +unfortunate along with criminals, some to find work, others to beg and +to rove about under the injurious prompting of hunger and the rumors +of the public thoroughfares. During the last days of April,[1205] the +clerks at the tollhouses note the entrance of "a frightful number of +poorly clad men of sinister aspect." During the first days of May a +change in the appearance of the crowd is remarked. There mingle in it +"a number of foreigners, from all countries, most of them in rags, armed +with big sticks, and whose very aspect announces what is to be feared +from them." Already, before this final influx, the public sink is +full to overflowing. Think of the extraordinary and rapid increase of +population in Paris, the multitude of artisans brought there by recent +demolition and constructions. Think of all the craftsmen whom the +stagnation of manufactures, the augmentation of octrois, the rigor of +winter, and the dearness of bread have reduced to extreme distress. +Remember that in 1786 "two hundred thousand persons are counted whose +property, all told, has not the intrinsic worth of fifty crowns." +Remember that, from time immemorial, these have been at war with the +city watchmen. Remember that in 1789 there are twenty thousand poachers +in the capital and that, to provide them with work, it is found +necessary to establish national workshops. Remember "that twelve +thousand are kept uselessly occupied digging on the hill of Montmartre, +and paid twenty sous per day. Remember that the wharves and quays are +covered with them, that the Hotel-de-Ville is invested by them, and +that, around the palace, they seem to be a reproach to the inactivity of +disarmed justice." Daily they grow bitter and excited around the doors +of the bakeries, where, kept waiting a long time, they are not sure of +obtaining bread. You can imagine the fury and the force with which they +will storm any obstacle to which their attention may be directed. + + + + +II. The Press. + + Excitement of the press and of opinion.--The people make + their choice. + +Such an obstacle has been pointed out to them during the last two years, +it is the Ministry, the Court, the Government, in short the entire +ancient regime. Whoever protests against it in favor of the people is +sure to be followed as far, and perhaps even farther, than he chooses +to lead.--The moment the Parliament of a large city refuses to register +fiscal edicts it finds a riot at its service. On the 7th of June 1788, +at Grenoble, tiles rain down on the heads of the soldiery, and the +military force is powerless. At Rennes, to put down the rebellious city, +an army and after this a permanent camp of four regiments of infantry +and two of cavalry, under the command of a Marshal of France, is +required.[1206]--The following year, when the Parliaments now side +with the privileged class, the disturbances again begin, but this time +against the Parliaments. In February 1789, at Besancon and at Aix, the +magistrates are hooted at, chased in the streets, besieged in the town +hall, and obliged to conceal themselves or take to flight.--If such +is the disposition in the provincial capitals, what must it be in the +capital of the kingdom? For a start, in the month of August, 1788, after +the dismissal of Brienne and Lamoignon, the mob, collected on the Place +Dauphine, constitutes itself judge, burns both ministers in effigy, +disperses the watch, and resists the troops: no sedition, as bloody as +this, had been seen for a century. Two days later, the riot bursts out +a second time; the people are seized with a resolve to go and burn the +residences of the two ministers and that of Dubois, the lieutenant of +police.--Clearly a new ferment has been infused among the ignorant and +brutal masses, and the new ideas are producing their effect. They have +for a long time imperceptibly been filtering downwards from layer +to layer After having gained over the aristocracy, the whole of the +lettered portion of the Third-Estate, the lawyers, the schools, all the +young, they have insinuated themselves drop by drop and by a thousand +fissures into the class which supports itself by the labor of its own +hands. Noblemen, at their toilettes, have scoffed at Christianity, and +affirmed the rights of man before their valets, hairdressers, purveyors, +and all those that are in attendance upon them. Men of letters, lawyers, +and attorneys have repeated, in the bitterest tone, the same diatribes +and the same theories in the coffee-houses and in the restaurants, on +the promenades and in all public places. They have spoken out before +the lower class as if it were not present, and, from all this eloquence +poured out without precaution, some bubbles besprinkle the brain of the +artisan, the publican, the messenger, the shopkeeper, and the soldier. + +Hence it is that a year suffices to convert mute discontent into +political passion. From the 5th of July 1787, on the invitation of the +King, who convokes the States-General and demands advice from everybody, +both speech and the press alter in tone.[1207] Instead of general +conversation of a speculative turn there is preaching, with a view +to practical effect, sudden, radical, and close at hand, preaching as +shrill and thrilling as the blast of a trumpet. Revolutionary pamphlets +appear in quick succession: "Qu'est-ce que le Tiers?" by Sieyes; +"Memoire pour le Peuple Francais," by Cerutti; "Considerations sur les +Interets des Tiers-Etat," by Rabtau Saint-Etienne; "Ma Petition," by +Target; "Les Droits des Etats-generaux," by M. d'Entraigues, and, a +little later, "La France libre," par Camille Desmoulins, and others by +hundreds and thousands.[1208] All of which are repeated and amplified +in the electoral assemblies, where new-made citizens come to declaim and +increase their own excitement.[1209] The unanimous, universal and daily +shout rolls along from echo to echo, into barracks and into faubourgs, +into markets, workshops, and garrets. In the month of February, 1789, +Necker avows "that obedience is not to be found anywhere, and that +even the troops are not to be relied on." In the month of May, the +fisherwomen, and next the greengrocers, of the town market halls come to +recommend the interests of the people to the bodies of electors, and to +sing rhymes in honor of the Third-Estate. In the month of June pamphlets +are in all hands; "even lackeys are poring over them at the gates +of hotels." In the month of July, as the King is signing an order, a +patriotic valet becomes alarmed and reads it over his shoulder.--There +is no illusion here; it is not merely the bourgeoisie which ranges +itself against the legal authorities and against the established regime. +It is the entire people as well. The craftsmen, the shopkeepers and +the domestics, workmen of every kind and degree, the mob underneath the +people, the vagabonds, street rovers, and beggars, the whole multitude, +which, bound down by anxiety for its daily bread, had never lifted +its eyes to look at the great social order of which it is the lowest +stratum, and the whole weight of which it bears. + + + + +III.--The Reveillon affair. + +Suddenly the people stirs, and the superposed scaffolding totters. It +is the movement of a brute nature exasperated by want and maddened +by suspicion.--Have paid hands, which are invisible goaded it on from +beneath? Contemporaries are convinced of this, and it is probably the +case.[1210] But the uproar made around the suffering brute would alone +suffice to make it shy, and explain its arousal.--On the 21st of April +the Electoral Assemblies have begun in Paris; there is one in each +quarter, one for the clergy, one for the nobles, and one for the +Third-Estate. Every day, for almost a month, files of electors are seen +passing along the streets. Those of the first degree continue to meet +after having nominated those of the second: the nation must needs +watch its mandatories and maintain its imprescriptible rights. If this +exercise of their rights has been delegated to them, they still belong +to the nation, and it reserves to itself the privilege of interposing +when it pleases. A pretension of this kind travels fast; immediately +after the Third-Estate of the Assemblies it reaches the Third-Estate +of the streets. Nothing is more natural than the desire to lead one's +leaders: the first time any dissatisfaction occurs, they lay hands on +those who halt and make them march on as directed. On a Saturday, +April 25th,[1211] a rumor is current that Reveillon, an elector +and manufacturer of wall-paper, Rue Saint-Antoine, and Lerat, a +commissioner, have "spoken badly" at the Electoral Assembly of +Sainte-Marguerite. To speak badly means to speak badly of the people. +What has Reveillon said? Nobody knows, but popular imagination with +its terrible powers of invention and precision, readily fabricates or +welcomes a murderous phrase. He said that "a working-man with a wife and +children could live on fifteen sous a day." Such a man is a traitor, and +must be disposed of at once; "all his belongings must be put to fire and +sword." The rumor, it must be noted, is false.[1212] Reveillon pays +his poorest workman twenty-five sous a day, he provides work for three +hundred and fifty, and, in spite of a dull season the previous winter, +he kept all on at the same rate of wages. He himself was once a workman, +and obtained a medal for his inventions, and is benevolent and respected +by all respectable persons.--All this avails nothing; bands of vagabonds +and foreigners, who have just passed through the barriers, do not +look so closely into matters, while the Journeymen, the carters, the +cobblers, the masons, the braziers, and the stone-cutters whom they +go to solicit in their lodgings are just as ignorant as they are. When +irritation has accumulated, it breaks out haphazardly. + +Just at this time the clergy of Paris renounce their privileges in way +of imposts,[1213] and the people, taking friends for adversaries, add in +their invectives the name of the clergy to that of Reveillon. During +the whole of the day, and also during the leisure of Sunday, the +fermentation increases; on Monday the 27th, another day of idleness and +drunkenness, the bands begin to move. Certain witnesses encounter one of +these in the Rue Saint-Severin, "armed with clubs," and so numerous as +to bar the passage. "Shops and doors are closed on all sides, and the +people cry out, 'There's the revolt!'" The seditious crowd belch out +curses and invectives against the clergy, "and, catching sight of an +abbe, shout 'Priest!'" Another band parades an effigy of Reveillon +decorated with the ribbon of the order of St. Michael, which undergoes +the parody of a sentence and is burnt on the Place de Greve, after which +they threaten his house. Driven back by the guard, they invade that of +a manufacturer of saltpeter, who is his friend, and burn and smash his +effects and furniture.[1214] It is only towards midnight that the crowd +is dispersed and the insurrection is supposed to have ended. On the +following day it begins again with greater violence; for, besides the +ordinary stimulants of misery[1215] and the craving for license, they +have a new stimulant in the idea of a cause to defend, the conviction +that they are fighting "for the Third-Estate." In a cause like this each +one should help himself; and all should help each other. "We should be +lost," one of them exclaimed, "if we did not sustain each other." Strong +in this belief, they sent deputations three times into the Faubourg +Saint-Marceau to obtain recruits, and on their way, with uplifted clubs +they enrol, willingly or unwillingly, all they encounter. Others, at the +gate of Saint-Antoine, arrest people who are returning from the races, +demanding of them if they are for the nobles or for the Third-Estate, +and force women to descend from their vehicles and to cry "Vive le +Tiers-Etat "[1216]. Meanwhile the crowd has increased before Reveillon's +dwelling; the thirty men on guard are unable to resist; the house +is invaded and sacked from top to bottom; the furniture, provisions, +clothing, registers, wagons, even the poultry in the back-yard, all +is cast into blazing bonfires lighted in three different places; five +hundred louis d'or, the ready money, and the silver plate are stolen. +Several roam through the cellars, drink liquor or varnish at haphazard +until they fall down dead drunk or expire in convulsions. Against +this howling horde, a corps of the watch, mounted and on foot, is seen +approaching;[1217] also a hundred cavalry of the "Royal Croats," the +French Guards, and later on the Swiss Guards. "Tiles and chimneys are +rained down on the soldiers," who fire back four files at a time. The +rioters, drunk with brandy and rage, defend themselves desperately +for several hours; more than two hundred are killed, and nearly three +hundred are wounded; they are only put down by cannon, while the mob +keeps active until far into the night.--Towards eight in the evening, in +the rue Vieille-du-Temple, the Paris Guard continue to make charges in +order to protect the doors which the miscreants try to force. Two doors +are forced at half-past eleven o'clock in the Rue Saintonge and in the +Rue de Bretagne, that of a pork-dealer and that of a baker. Even to +this last wave of the outbreak which is subsiding we can distinguish the +elements which have produced the insurrection, and which are about +to produce the Revolution.--Starvation is one of these: in the Rue de +Bretagne the band robbing the baker's shop carries bread off to the +women staying at the corner of the Rue Saintonge.--Brigandage is +another: in the middle of the night M. du Chatelet's spies, gliding +alongside of a ditch, "see a group of ruffians" assembled beyond the +Barriere du Trone, their leader, mounted on a little knoll, urging them +to begin again; and the following days, on the highways, vagabonds are +saying to each other, "We can do no more at Paris, because they are +too sharp on the look-out; let us go to Lyons!" There are, finally, the +patriots: on the evening of the insurrection, between the Pont-au-Change +and the Pont-Marie, the half-naked ragamuffins, besmeared with dirt, +bearing along their hand-barrows, are fully alive to their cause; they +beg alms in a loud tone of voice, and stretch out their hats to the +passers, saying, "Take pity on this poor Third-Estate!"--The starving, +the ruffians, and the patriots, all form one body, and henceforth +misery, crime, and public spirit unite to provide an ever-ready +insurrection for the agitators who desire to raise one. + + + + +IV.--The Palais-Royal. + +But the agitators are already in permanent session. The Palais-Royal is +an open-air club where, all day and even far into the night, one excites +the other and urges on the crowd to blows. In this enclosure, protected +by the privileges of the House of Orleans, the police dare not enter. +Speech is free, and the public who avail themselves of this freedom seem +purposely chosen to abuse it.--The public and the place are adapted to +each other.[1218] The Palais-Royal, the center of prostitution, of +play, of idleness, and of pamphlets, attracts the whole of that uprooted +population which floats about in a great city, and which, without +occupation or home, lives only for curiosity or for pleasure--the +frequenters of the coffee-houses, the runners for gambling halls, +adventurers, and social outcasts, the runaway children or forlorn +hopefuls of literature, arts, and the bar, attorneys' clerks, students +of the institutions of higher learning, the curious, loungers, +strangers, and the occupants of furnished lodgings, these amounting, +it is said, to forty thousand in Paris. They fill the garden and the +galleries; "one would hardly find here one of what were called the +"Six Bodies,"[1219] a bourgeois settled down and occupied with his +own affairs, a man whom business and family cares render serious and +influential. There is no place here for industrious and orderly bees; it +is the rendezvous of political and literary drones. They flock into it +from every quarter of Paris, and the tumultuous, buzzing swarm covers +the ground like an overturned hive. "Ten thousand people," writes Arthur +Young,[1220] "have been all this day in the Palais-Royal;" the press +is so great that an apple thrown from a balcony on the moving floor of +heads would not reach the ground. The condition of these heads may +be imagined; they are emptier of ballast than any in France, the +most inflated with speculative ideas, the most excitable and the most +excited. In this pell-mell of improvised politicians no one knows who +is speaking; nobody is responsible for what he says. Each is there as +in the theater, unknown among the unknown, requiring sensational +impressions and strong emotions, a prey to the contagion of the passions +around him, borne along in the whirl of sounding phrases, of ready-made +news, growing rumors, and other exaggerations by which fanatics keep +outdoing each other. There are shouting, tears, applause, stamping and +clapping, as at the performance of a tragedy; one or another individual +becomes so inflamed and hoarse that he dies on the spot with fever and +exhaustion. In vain has Arthur Young been accustomed to the tumult of +political liberty; he is dumb-founded at what he sees.[1221] According +to him, the excitement is "incredible. . . . We think sometimes that +Debrett's or Stockdale's shops at London are crowded; but they are mere +deserts compared to Desenne's and some others here, in which one can +scarcely squeeze from the door to the counter. . . . Every hour produces +its pamphlet; 13 came out to-day, 16 yesterday, and 92 last week. 95% of +these productions are in favor of liberty;" and by liberty is meant the +extinction of privileges, numerical sovereignty, the application of +the Contrat-Social, "The Republic", and even more besides, a universal +leveling, permanent anarchy, and even the jacquerie. Camille Desmoulins, +one of the orators, commonly there, announces it and urges it in precise +terms: + +"Now that the animal is in the trap, let him be battered to death... +Never will the victors have a richer prey. Forty thousand palaces, +mansions, and chateaux, two-fifth of the property of France, will be +the recompense of valor. Those who pretend to be the conquerors will be +conquered in turn. The nation shall be purged." + +Here, in advance, is the program of the Reign of Terror. + +Now all this is not only read, but declaimed, amplified, and turned +to practical account. In front of the coffee-houses "those who have +stentorian lungs relieve each other every evening."[1222] "They get +up on a chair or a table, they read the strongest articles on current +affairs, . . . the eagerness with which they are heard, and the thunder +of applause they receive for every sentiment of more than common +hardiness or violence against the present Government, cannot easily +be imagined." "Three days ago a child of four years, well taught and +intelligent, was promenaded around the garden, in broad daylight, at +least twenty times, borne on the shoulders of a street porter, crying +out, 'Verdict of the French people: Polignac exiled one hundred leagues +from Paris; Conde the same; Conti the same; Artois the same; the +Queen,--I dare not write it.'" A hall made of boards in the middle of +the Palais-Royal is always full, especially of young men, who carry +on their deliberations in parliamentary fashion: in the evening the +president invites the spectators to come forward and sign motions +passed during the day, and of which the originals are placed in the Cafe +Foy.[1223] They count on their fingers the enemies of the country; "and +first two Royal Highnesses (Monsieur and the Count d'Artois), three Most +Serene Highnesses (the Prince de Conde, Duc de Bourbon, and the Prince +de Conti), one favorite (Madame de Polignac), MM. de Vandreuil, de la +Tremoille, du Chatelet, de Villedeuil, de Barentin, de la Galaisiere, +Vidaud de la Tour, Berthier, Foulon, and also M. Linguet." Placards are +posted demanding the pillory on the Pont-Neuf for the Abbee Maury. +One speaker proposes "to burn the house of M. d'Espremenil, his wife, +children and furniture, and himself: this is passed unanimously."--No +opposition is tolerated. One of those present having manifested some +horror at such sanguinary motions, "is seized by the collar, obliged to +kneel down, to make an apology, and to kiss the ground. The punishment +inflicted on children is given to him; he is ducked repeatedly in one of +the fountain-basins, after which they him over to the mob, who roll him +in the mud." On the following day an ecclesiastic is trodden under foot, +and flung from hand to hand. A few days after, on the 22nd of June, +there are two similar events. The sovereign mob exercises all the +functions of sovereign authority, with those of the legislator those of +the judge, and those of the judge with those of the executioner.--Its +idols are sacred; if any one fails to show them respect he is guilty of +lese-majeste, and at once punished. In the first week of July, an abbe +who speaks ill of Necker is flogged; a woman who insults the bust of +Necker is stripped by the fishwomen, and beaten until she is covered +with blood. War is declared against suspicious uniforms. "On the +appearance of a hussar," writes Desmoulins, "they shout, 'There goes +Punch!' and the stone-cutters fling stones at him. Last night two +officers of the hussars, MM. de Sombreuil and de Polignac, came to the +Palais-Royal. . . chairs were flung at them, and they would have been +knocked down if they had not run away. The day before yesterday they +seized a spy of the police and gave him a ducking in the fountain. They +ran him down like a stag, hustled him, pelted him with stones, struck +him with canes, forced one of his eyes out of its socket, and finally, +in spite of his entreaties and cries for mercy, plunged him a second +time in the fountain. His torments lasted from noon until half-past +five o'clock, and he had about ten thousand executioners."--Consider +the effect of such a focal center at a time like this. A new power has +sprung up alongside the legal powers, a legislature of the highways +and public squares, anonymous, irresponsible, without restraint. It +is driven onward by coffeehouse theories, by strong emotions and +the vehemence of mountebanks, while the bare arms which have just +accomplished the work of destruction in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, form +its bodyguard and ministerial cabinet. + + + + +V.--Popular mobs become a political force. + + Pressure on the Assembly.--Defection of the soldiery. + +This is the dictatorship of a mob, and its proceedings, conforming to +its nature, consist in acts of violence, wherever it finds resistance, +it strikes.--The people of Versailles, in the streets and at the +doors of the Assembly, daily "come and insult those whom they call +aristocrats."[1224] On Monday, June 22nd, "d'Espremenil barely escapes +being knocked down; the Abbe Maury. . . owes his escape to the strength +of a cure, who takes him up in his arms and tosses him into the carriage +of the Archbishop of Arles." On the 23rd, "the Archbishop of Paris and +the Keeper of the Seals are hooted, railed at, scoffed at, and derided, +until they almost sink with shame and rage." So formidable is the +tempest of rage with which they are greeted, that Passeret, the King's +secretary, who accompanies the minister, dies of the excitement that +very day. On the 24th, the Bishop of Beauvais is almost knocked down by +a stone striking him on the head. On the 25th, the Archbishop of Paris +is saved only by the speed of his horses, the multitude pursuing him and +pelting him with stones. His mansion is besieged, the windows are all +shattered, and, notwithstanding the intervention of the French Guards, +the peril is so great that he is obliged to promise that he will join +the deputies of the Third-Estate. This is the way in which the rude hand +of the people effects a reunion of the Orders. It bears as heavily on +its own representatives as on its adversaries. "Although our hall was +closed to the public," says Bailly, "there were always more than six +hundred spectators."[1225] These were not respectful and silent, but +active and noisy, mingling with the deputies, raising their hands to +vote in all cases, taking part in the deliberations, by their applause +and hisses: a collateral Assembly which often imposes its own will on +the other. They take note of and put down the names of their opponents, +transmit them to the chair-bearers in attendance at the entrance of +the hall, and from them to the mob waiting for the departure of the +deputies, these names are from now considered as the names of public +enemies.[1226] Lists are made out and printed, and, at the Palais-Royal +in the evening, they become the lists of the proscribed.--It is under +this brutal pressure that many decrees are passed, and, amongst them, +that by which the commons declare themselves the National Assembly +and assume supreme power. The night before, Malouet had proposed to +ascertain, by a preliminary vote, on which side the majority was. In an +instant all those against had gathered around him to the number of three +hundred. "Upon which a mans springs out from the galleries, falls upon +him and takes him by the collar exclaiming, 'Hold your tongue, you false +citizen!'" Malouet is released and the guard comes forward, "but terror +has spread through the hall, threats are uttered against opponents, and +the next day we were only ninety." Moreover, the lists of their names +had been circulated; some of them, deputies from Paris, went to see +Bailly that very evening. One amongst them, "a very honest man and good +patriot," had been told that his house was to be set on fire. Now his +wife had just given birth to a child, and the slightest tumult +before the house would have been fatal. Such arguments are decisive. +Consequently, three days afterwards, at the Tennis-court, but one +deputy, Martin d'Auch, dares to write the word "opposing" after his +name. Insulted by many of colleagues, "at once denounced to the people +who had collected at the entrance of the building, he is obliged to +escape by a side door to avoid being cut to pieces," and, for several +days, to keep away from the meetings.[1227]--Owing to this intervention +of the galleries the radical minority, numbering about thirty,[1228] +lead the majority, and they do not allow them to free themselves.--On +the 28th of May, Malouet, having demanded a secret session to discuss +the conciliatory measures which the King had proposed, the galleries +hoot at him, and a deputy, M. Bourche, addresses him in very plain +terms. "You must know, sir, that we are deliberating here in the +presence of our masters, and that we must account to them for our +opinions." This is the doctrine of the Contrat-Social. Through timidity, +fear of the Court and of the privileged class, through optimism and +faith in human nature, through enthusiasm and the necessity of adhering +to previous actions, the deputies, who are novices, provincial, and +given up to theories, neither dare nor know how to escape from the +tyranny of the prevailing dogma.--Henceforth it becomes the law. All +the Assemblies, the Constituent, the Legislative, the Convention,[1229] +submit to it entirely. The public in the galleries is the admitted +representatives of the people, under the same title, and even under +a higher title, than the deputies. Now, this public is that of the +Palais-Royal, consisting of strangers, idlers, lovers of novelties, +Paris romancers, leaders of the coffee-houses, the future pillars of the +clubs, in short, the wild enthusiasts among the middle-class, just as +the crowd which threatens doors and throws stones is recruited from +among the wild enthusiasts of the lowest class. Thus by an involuntary +selection, the faction which constitutes itself a public power is +composed of nothing but violent minds and violent hands. Spontaneously +and without previous concert dangerous fanatics are joined with +dangerous brutes, and in the increasing discord between the legal +authorities this is the illegal league which is certain to overthrow +all. + +When a commanding general sits in council with his staff-officers and +his counselors, and discusses the plan of a campaign, the chief public +interest is that discipline should remain intact, and that intruders, +soldiers, or menials, should not throw the weight of their turbulence +and thoughtlessness into the scales which have to be cautiously +and firmly held by their chiefs. This was the express demand of the +Government;[1230] but the demand was not regarded; and against the +persistent usurpation of the multitude nothing is left to it but the +employment of force. But force itself is slipping from its hands, while +growing disobedience, like a contagion, after having gained the people +is spreading among the troops.--From the 23rd of June,[1231] two +companies of the French Guards refused to do duty. Confined to their +barracks, they on the 27th break out, and henceforth "they are seen +every evening entering the Palais-Royal, marching in double file." They +know the place well; it is the general rendezvous of the abandoned women +whose lovers and parasites they are.[1232] "The patriots all gather +around them, treat them to ice cream and wine, and debauch them in the +face of their officers."--To this, moreover, must be added the fact that +their colonel, M. du Chatelet, has long been odious to them, that he has +fatigued them with forced drills, worried them and diminished the number +of their sergeants; that he suppressed the school for the education of +the children of their musicians; that he uses the stick in punishing the +men, and picks quarrels with them about their appearance, their board, +and their clothing. This regiment is lost to discipline: a secret +society has been formed in it, and the soldiers have pledged themselves +to their ensigns not to act against the National Assembly. Thus the +confederation between them and the Palais-Royal is established.--On the +30th of June, eleven of their leaders, taken off to the Abbaye, write to +claim their assistance. A young man mounts a chair in front of the Cafe +Foy and reads their letter aloud; a band sets out on the instant, forces +the gate with a sledge-hammer and iron bars, brings back the prisoners +in triumph, gives them a feast in the garden and mounts guard around +them to prevent their being re-taken.--When disorders of this kind go +unpunished, order cannot be maintained; in fact, on the morning of the +14th of July, five out of six battalions had deserted.--As to the other +corps, they are no better and are also seduced. "Yesterday," Desmoulins +writes, "the artillery regiment followed the example of the French +Guards, overpowering the sentinels and coming over to mingle with +the patriots in the Palais-Royal. . .. We see nothing but the rabble +attaching themselves to soldiers whom they chance to encounter. 'Allons, +Vive le Tiers-Etat!' and they lead them off to a tavern to drink the +health of the Commons." Dragoons tell the officers who are marching +them to Versailles: "We obey you, but you may tell the ministers on our +arrival that if we are ordered to use the least violence against our +fellow-citizens, the first shot shall be for you." At the Invalides +twenty men, ordered to remove the cocks and ramrods from the guns stored +in a threatened arsenal, devote six hours to rendering twenty guns +useless; their object is to keep them intact for plunder and for the +arming of the people. + +In short, the largest portion of the army has deserted. However kind +a superior officer might be, the fact of his being a superior officer +secures for him the treatment of an enemy. The governor, "M. de +Sombreuil, against whom these people could utter no reproach," will soon +see his artillerists point their guns at his apartment, and will just +escape being hung on the iron-railings by their own hands. Thus the +force which is brought forward to suppress insurrection only serves to +furnish it with recruits. And even worse, for the display of arms +that was relied on to restrain the mob, furnished the instigation to +rebellion. + + + + +VI.--July 13th and 14th 1789. + +The fatal moment has arrived; it is no longer a government which falls +that it may give way to another; it is all government which ceases to +exist in order to make way for an intermittent despotism, for factions +blindly impelled on by enthusiasm, credulity, misery, and fear.[1233] +Like a tame elephant suddenly become wild again, the mob throws off it +ordinary driver, and the new guides who it tolerates perched on its neck +are there simply for show. In future it will move along as it pleases, +freed from control, and abandoned to its own feelings, instincts, and +appetites.--Apparently, there was no desire to do more than anticipate +its aberrations. The King has forbidden all violence; the commanders +order the troops not to fire;[1234] but the excited and wild animal +takes all precautions for insults; in future, it intends to be its own +conductor, and, to begin, it treads its guides under foot.--On the 12th +of July, near noon,[1235] on the news of the dismissal of Necker, a cry +of rage arises in the Palais-Royal; Camille Desmoulins, mounted on +a table, announces that the Court meditates "a St. Bartholomew of +patriots." The crowd embrace him, adopt the green cockade which he has +proposed, and oblige the dancing-saloons and theaters to close in sign +of mourning: they hurry off to the residence of Curtius, and take the +busts of the Duke of Orleans and of Necker and carry them about in +triumph.--Meanwhile, the dragoons of the Prince de Lambesc, drawn up on +the Place Louis-Quinze, find a barricade of chairs at the entrance +of the Tuileries, and are greeted with a shower of stones and +bottles.[1236] Elsewhere, on the Boulevard, before the Hotel +Montmorency, some of the French Guards, escaped from their barracks, +fired on a loyal detachment of the "Royal Allemand."--The alarm bell is +sounding on all sides, the shops where arms are sold are pillaged, +and the Hotel-de-Ville is invaded; fifteen or sixteen well-disposed +electors, who meet there, order the districts to be assembled and +armed.--The new sovereign, the people in arms and in the street, has +declared himself. + +The dregs of society at once come to the surface. During the night +between the 12th and 13th of July,[1237] "all the barriers, from the +Faubourg Saint-Antoine to the Faubourg Saint-Honore, besides those of +the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques, are forced and set on +fire." There is no longer an octroi; the city is without a revenue just +at the moment when it is obliged to make the heaviest expenditures; but +this is of no consequence to the mob, which, above all things, wants +to have cheap wine. "Ruffians, armed with pikes and sticks, proceed +in several parties to give up to pillage the houses of those who are +regarded as enemies to the public welfare." "They go from door to door +crying, 'Arms and bread!' During this fearful night, the bourgeoisie +kept themselves shut up, each trembling at home for himself and those +belonging to him." On the following day, the 13th, the capital appears +to be given up to bandits and the lowest of the low. One of the +bands hews down the gate of the Lazarists, destroys the library and +clothes-presses, the pictures, the windows and laboratory, and rushes +to the cellars; where it staves in the casks and gets drunk: twenty-four +hours after this, about thirty of them are found dead and dying, drowned +in wine, men and women, one of these being at the point of childbirth. +In front of the house[1238] the street is full of the wreckage, and of +ruffians who hold in their hands, "some, eatables, others a jug, forcing +the passers-by to drink, and pouring out wine to all comers. Wine +runs down into the gutter, and the scent of it fills the air;" it is a +drinking bout: meanwhile they carry away the grain and flour which the +monks kept on hand according to law, fifty-two loads of it being +taken to the market. Another troop comes to La Force, to deliver those +imprisoned for debt; a third breaks into the Garde Meuble, carrying away +valuable arms and armour. Mobs assemble before the hotel of Madame de +Breteuil and the Palais-Bourbon, which they intend to ransack, in order +to punish their proprietors. M. de Crosne, one of the most liberal and +most respected men of Paris, but, unfortunately for himself a lieutenant +of the police, is pursued, escaping with difficulty, and his hotel is +sacked.--During the night between the 13th and 14th of May, the baker's +shops and the wine shops are pillaged; "men of the vilest class, armed +with guns, pikes, and turnspits, make people open their doors and give +them something to eat and drink, as well as money and arms." Vagrants, +ragged men, several of them "almost naked," and "most of them armed +like savages, and of hideous appearance;" they are "such as one does not +remember to have seen in broad daylight;" many of them are strangers, +come from nobody knows where.[1239] It is stated that there were +50,000 of them, and that they had taken possession of the principal +guard-houses. + +During these two days and nights, says Bailly, "Paris ran the risk of +being pillaged, and was only saved from the marauders by the National +Guard." Already, in the open street,[1240] "these creatures tore off +women's shoes and earrings," and the robbers were beginning to have +full sway.--Fortunately the militia organized itself and the principal +inhabitants and gentlemen enrolled themselves; 48,000 men are formed +into battalions and companies; the bourgeoisie buy guns of the vagabonds +for three livres apiece, and sabers or pistols for twelve sous. At last, +some of the offenders are hung on the spot, and others disarmed, and +the insurrection again becomes political. But, whatever its object, it +remains always wild, because it is in the hands of the mob. Dusaulx, its +panegyrist, confesses[1241] that "he thought he was witnessing the total +dissolution of society." There is no leader, no management. The electors +who have converted themselves into the representatives of Paris seem to +command the crowd, but it is the crowd which commands them. One of them, +Legrand, to save the Hotel-de-Ville, has no other resource but to send +for six barrels of gun-powder, and to declare to the assailants that +he is about to blow everything into the air. The commandant whom they +themselves have chosen, M. de Salles, has twenty bayonets at his breast +during a quarter of an hour, and, more than once, the whole committee is +near being massacred. Let the reader imagine, on the premises where the +discussions are going on, and petitions are being made, "a concourse of +fifteen hundred men pressed by a hundred thousand others who are forcing +an entrance," the wainscoting cracking, the benches upset one over +another, the enclosure of the bureau pushed back against the president's +chair, a tumult such as to bring to mind 'the day of judgment," the +death-shrieks, songs, yells, and "people beside themselves, for the most +part not knowing where they are nor what they want."--Each district +is also a petty center, while the Palais-Royal is the main center. +Propositions, "accusations, and deputations travel to and fro from one +to the other, along with the human torrent which is obstructed or rushes +ahead with no other guide than its own inclination and the chances +of the way. One wave gathers here and another there, their strategy +consisting in pushing and in being pushed. Yet, their entrance is +effected only because they are let in. If they get into the Invalides it +is owing to the connivance of the soldiers.--At the Bastille, firearms +are discharged from ten in the morning to five in the evening against +walls forty feet high and thirty feet thick, and it is by chance that +one of their shots reaches an invalid on the towers. They are treated +the same as children whom one wishes to hurt as little as possible. The +governor, on the first summons to surrender, orders the cannon to be +withdrawn from the embrasures; he makes the garrison swear not to fire +if it is not attacked; he invites the first of the deputations to lunch; +he allows the messenger dispatched from the Hotel-de-Ville to inspect +the fortress; he receives several discharges without returning them, and +lets the first bridge be carried without firing a shot.[1242] When, at +length, he does fire, it is at the last extremity, to defend the second +bridge, and after having notified the assailants that he is going to do +so. In short, his forbearance and patience are excessive, in conformity +with the humanity of the times. The people, in turn, are infatuated +with the novel sensations of attack and resistance, with the smell of +gunpowder, with the excitement of the contest; all they can think of +doing is to rush against the mass of stone, their expedients being on a +level with their tactics. A brewer fancies that he can set fire to this +block of masonry by pumping over it spikenard and poppy-seed oil mixed +with phosphorus. A young carpenter, who has some archaeological notions, +proposes to construct a catapult. Some of them think that they have +seized the governor's daughter, and want to burn her in order to make +the father surrender. Others set fire to a projecting mass of buildings +filled with straw, and thus close up the passage. "The Bastille was not +taken by main force," says the brave Elie, one of the combatants; "it +surrendered before even it was attacked,"[1243] by capitulation, on +the promise that no harm should be done to anybody. The garrison, being +perfectly secure, had no longer the heart to fire on human beings while +themselves risking nothing,[1244] and, on the other hand, they were +unnerved by the sight of the immense crowd. Eight or nine hundred +men only[1245] were concerned in the attack, most of them workmen or +shopkeepers belonging to the faubourg, tailors, wheelwrights, mercers +and wine-dealers, mixed with the French Guards. The Place de la +Bastille, however, and all the streets in the vicinity, were crowded +with the curious who came to witness the sight; "among them," says +a witness,[1246] "were a number of fashionable women of very good +appearance, who had left their carriages at some distance." To the +hundred and twenty men of the garrison looking down from their parapets +it seemed as though all Paris had come out against them. It is they, +also, who lower the drawbridge an introduce the enemy: everybody has +lost his head, the besieged as well as the besiegers, the latter more +completely because they are intoxicated with the sense of victory. +Scarcely have they entered when they begin the work of destruction, and +the latest arrivals shoot at random those that come earlier; "each +one fires without heeding where or on whom his shot tells." Sudden +omnipotence and the liberty to kill are a wine too strong for human +nature; giddiness is the result; men see red, and their frenzy ends in +ferocity. + +For the peculiarity of a popular insurrection is that nobody obeys +anybody; the bad passions are free as well as the generous ones; heroes +are unable to restrain assassins. Elie, who is the first to enter the +fortress, Cholat, Hulin, the brave fellows who are in advance, the +French Guards who are cognizant of the laws of war, try to keep their +word of honor; but the crowd pressing on behind them know not whom to +strike, and they strike at random. They spare the Swiss soldiers who +have fired at them, and who, in their blue smocks, seem to them to +be prisoners; on the other hand, by way of compensation, they fall +furiously on the invalides who opened the gates to them; the man who +prevented the governor from blowing up the fortress has his wrist +severed by the blow of a saber, is twice pierced with a sword and is +hung, and the hand which had saved one of the districts of Paris is +promenaded through the streets in triumph. The officers are dragged +along and five of them are killed, with three soldiers, on the spot, or +on the way. During the long hours of firing, the murderous instinct has +become aroused, and the wish to kill, changed into a fixed idea, +spreads afar among the crowd which has hitherto remained inactive. It is +convinced by its own clamor; a hue and cry is all that it now needs; the +moment one strikes, all want to strike. "Those who had no arms," says +an officer, "threw stones at me;[1247] the women ground their teeth and +shook their fists at me. Two of my men had already been assassinated +behind me. I finally got to within some hundreds of paces of the +Hotel-de-Ville, amidst a general cry that I should be hung, when a head, +stuck on a pike, was presented to me to look at, while at. the same +moment I was told that it was that of M. de Launay," the governor.--The +latter, on going out, had received the cut of a sword on his right +shoulder; on reaching the Rue Saint-Antoine "everybody pulled his hair +out and struck him." Under the arcade of Saint-Jean he was already +"severely wounded." Around him, some said, "his head ought to be struck +off;" others, "let him be hung;" and others, "he ought to be tied to +a horse's tail." Then, in despair, and wishing to put an end to his +torments, he cried out, "Kill me," and, in struggling, kicked one of the +men who held him in the lower abdomen. On the instant he is pierced with +bayonets, dragged in the gutter, and, striking his corpse, they exclaim, +"He's a scurvy wretch (galeux) and a monster who has betrayed us; the +nation demands his head to exhibit to the public," and the man who +was kicked is asked to cut it off.--This man, an unemployed cook, a +simpleton who "went to the Bastille to see what was going on," thinks +that as it is the general opinion, the act is patriotic, and even +believes that he "deserves a medal for destroying a monster." Taking a +saber which is lent to him, he strikes the bare neck, but the dull +saber not doing its work, he takes a small black-handled knife from his +pocket, and, "as in his capacity of cook he knows how to cut meat," he +finishes the operation successfully. Then, placing the head on the end +of a three-pronged pitchfork, and accompanied by over two hundred +armed men, "not counting the mob," he marches along, and, in the Rue +Saint-Honore, he has two inscriptions attached to the head, to indicate +without mistake whose head it is.--They grow merry over it: after filing +alongside of the Palais-Royal, the procession arrives at the Pont-Neuf, +where, before the statue of Henry IV., they bow the head three times, +saying, "Salute thy master!"--This is the last joke: it is to be found +in every triumph, and inside the butcher, we find the rogue. + + + + +VII.--Murders of Foulon and Berthier. + +Meanwhile, at the Palais-Royal, other buffoons, who with the levity of +gossips sport with lives as freely as with words, have drawn u. During +the night between the 13th and 14th of July, a list of proscriptions, +copies of which are hawked about. Care is taken to address one of +them to each of the persons designated, the Comte d'Artois, Marshal +de Broglie, the Prince de Lambesc, Baron de Bezenval, MM. de Breteuil, +Foulon, Berthier, Maury, d'Espremenil, Lefevre d'Amecourt, and others +besides.[1248] A reward is promised to whoever will bring their heads to +the Cafe de Caveau. Here are names for the unchained multitude; all +that now is necessary is that some band should encounter a man who is +denounced; he will go as far as the lamppost at the street corner, but +not beyond it.--Throughout the day of the 14th, this improvised tribunal +holds a permanent session, and follows up its decisions with its +actions. M. de Flesselles, provost of the merchants and president of +the electors at the Hotel-de-Ville, having shown himself somewhat +lukewarm,[1249] the Palais-Royal declares him a traitor and sends him +off to be hung. On the way a young man fells him with a pistol-shot, +others fall upon his body, while his head, borne upon a pike, goes to +join that of M. de Launay.--Equally deadly accusations and of equally +speedy execution float in the air and from every direction. "On the +slightest pretext," says an elector, "they denounced to us those whom +they thought opposed to the Revolution, which already signified the same +as enemies of the State. Without any investigation, there was only talk +of the seizure of their persons, the ruin of their homes, and the razing +of their houses. One young man exclaimed: 'Follow me at once, let us +start off at once to Bezenval's!'"--Their brains are so frightened, and +their minds so distrustful, that at every step in the streets "one's +name has to be given, one's profession declared, one's residence, and +one's intentions. . .. One can neither enter nor leave Paris without +being suspected of treason." The Prince de Montbarrey, advocate of the +new ideas, and his wife, are stopped in their carriage at the barrier, +and are on the point of being cut to pieces. A deputy of the nobles, on +his way to the National Assembly, is seized in his cab and conducted to +the Place de Greve; the corpse of M. de Launay is shown to him, and he +is told that he is to be treated in the same fashion.--Every life hangs +by a thread, and, on the following days, when the King had sent away +his troops, dismissed his Ministers, recalled Necker, and granted +everything, the danger remains just as great. The multitude, abandoned +to the revolutionaries and to itself, continues the same bloody antics, +while the municipal chiefs[1250] whom it has elected, Bailly, Mayor of +Paris, and Lafayette, commandant of the National Guard, are obliged to +use cunning, to implore, to throw themselves between the multitude and +the unfortunates whom they wish to destroy. + +On the 15th of July, in the night, a woman disguised as a man is +arrested in the court of the Hotel-de-Ville, and so maltreated that she +faints away; Bailly, in order to save her, is obliged to feign anger +against her and have her sent immediately to prison. From the 14th to +the 22nd of July, Lafayette, at the risk of his life, saves with his +own hand seventeen persons in different quarters.[1251]--On the 22nd of +July, upon the denunciations which multiply around Paris like trains +of gunpowder, two administrators of high rank, M. Foulon, Councillor +of State, and M. Berthier, his son-in-law, are arrested, one near +Fontainebleau, and the other near Compiegne. M. Foulon, a strict +master,[1252] but intelligent and useful, expended sixty thousand francs +the previous winter on his estate in giving employment to the poor. M. +Berthier, an industrious and capable man, had officially surveyed +and valued Ile-de-France, to equalize the taxes, and had reduced the +overcharged quotas first one-eighth and then a quarter. But both of +these gentlemen have arranged the details of the camp against which +Paris has risen; both are publicly proscribed for eight days previously +by the Palais-Royal, and, with a people frightened by disorder, +exasperated by hunger, and stupefied by suspicion, an accused person is +a guilty one.--With regard to Foulon, as with Reveillon, a story is made +up, coined in the same mint, a sort of currency for popular circulation, +and which the people itself manufactures by casting into one tragic +expression the sum of its sufferings and rankling memories:[1253] "He +said that we were worth no more than his horses; and that if we had no +bread we had only to eat grass."--The old man of seventy-four is brought +to Paris, with a truss of hay on his head, a collar of thistles around +his neck, and his mouth stuffed with hay. In vain does the electoral +bureau order his imprisonment that he may be saved; the crowd yells out: +"Sentenced and hung!" and, authoritatively, appoints the judges. In +vain does Lafayette insist and entreat three times that the judgment be +regularly rendered, and that the accused be sent to the Abbaye. A new +wave of people comes up, and one man, "well dressed," cries out: "What +is the need of a sentence for a man who has been condemned for thirty +years?" Foulon is carried off; dragged across the square, and hung +to the lamp post. The cord breaks twice, and twice he falls upon the +pavement. Re-hung with a fresh cord and then cut down, his head is +severed from his body and placed on the end of a pike.[1254] Meanwhile, +Berthier, sent away from Compiegne by the municipality, afraid to +keep him in his prison where he was constantly menaced, arrives in a +cabriolet under escort. The people carry placards around him filled with +opprobrious epithets; in changing horses they threw hard black bread +into the carriage, exclaiming, "There, wretch, see the bread you made us +eat!" On reaching the church of Saint-Merry, a fearful storm of insults +burst forth against him. He is called a monopolist, "although he had +never bought or sold a grain of wheat." In the eyes of the multitude, +who has to explain the evil as caused by some evil-doer, he is the +author of the famine. Conducted to the Abbaye, his escort is dispersed +and he is pushed over to the lamp post. Then, seeing that all is lost, +he snatches a gun from one of his murderers and bravely defends himself. +A soldier of the "Royal Croats" gives him a cut with his saber across +the stomach, and another tears out his heart. As the cook, who had cut +off the head of M. de Launay, happens to be on the spot, they hand him +the heart to carry while the soldiers take the head, and both go to +the Hotel-de-Ville to show their trophies to M. de Lafayette. On their +return to the Palais-Royal, and while they are seated at table in a +tavern, the people demand these two remains. They throw them out of the +window and finish their supper, whilst the heart is marched about below +in a bouquet of white carnations.--Such are the spectacles which this +garden presents where, a year before, "good society in full dress" came +on leaving the Opera to chat, often until two o'clock in the morning, +under the mild light of the moon, listening now to the violin of +Saint-Georges, and now to the charming voice of Garat. + + + + +VIII.--Paris in the hands of the people. + +Henceforth it is clear that no one is safe: neither the new militia nor +the new authorities suffice to enforce respect for the law. "They did +not dare," says Bailly,[1255] "oppose the people who, eight days before +this, had taken the Bastille."--In vain, after the last two murders, do +Bailly and Lafayette indignantly threaten to withdraw; they are forced +to remain; their protection, such as it is, is all that is left, and, if +the National Guard is unable to prevent every murder, it prevents some +of them. People live as they can under the constant expectation of fresh +popular violence. "To every impartial man," says Malouet, "the Terror +dates from the 14th of July".--On the 17th, before setting out for +Paris, the King attends communion and makes his will in anticipation +of assassination. From the 16th to the 18th, twenty personages of high +rank, among others most of those on whose heads a price is set by the +Palais-Royal, leave France: The Count d'Artois, Marshal de Broglie, the +Princes de Conde, de Conti, de Lambesc, de Vaudemont, the Countess +de Polignac, and the Duchesses de Polignac and de Guiche.--The day +following the two murders, M. de Crosne, M. Doumer, M. Sureau, the most +zealous and most valuable members of the committee on subsistence, all +those appointed to make purchases and to take care of the storehouses, +conceal themselves or fly. On the eve of the two murders, the notaries +of Paris, being menaced with a riot, had to advance 45,000 francs which +were promised to the workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; while the +public treasury, almost empty, is drained of 30,000 livres per day to +diminish the cost of bread.--Persons and possessions, great and small, +private individuals and public functionaries, the Government itself, +all is in the hands of the mob. "From this moment," says a deputy,[1256] +"liberty did not exist even in the National Assembly. . . France stood +dumb before thirty factious persons. The Assembly became in their hands +a passive instrument, which they forced to serve them in the execution +of their projects."--They themselves do not lead, although they seem to +lead. The great brute, which has taken the bit in its mouth, holds on to +it, and it's plunging becomes more violent. Not only do both spurs which +maddened it, I mean the desire for innovation and the daily scarcity +of food, continue to prick it on. But also the political hornets which, +increasing by thousands, buzz around its ears. And the license in which +it revels for the first time, joined to the applause lavished upon it, +urges it forward more violently each day. The insurrection is glorified. +Not one of the assassins is sought out. It is against the conspiracy of +Ministers that the Assembly institutes an inquiry. Rewards are bestowed +upon the conquerors of the Bastille; it is declared that they have saved +France. All honors are awarded to the people-to their good sense, their +magnanimity, and their justice. Adoration is paid to this new sovereign: +he is publicly and officially told, in the Assembly and by the press, +that he possesses every virtue, all rights and all powers. If he spills +blood it is inadvertently, on provocation, and always with an infallible +instinct. Moreover, says a deputy, "this blood, was it so pure?" The +greater number of people prefers the theories of their books to the +experience of their eyes; they persist in the idyll, which they have +fashioned for themselves. At the worst their dream, driven out from the +present, takes refuge in the future. To-morrow, when the Constitution is +complete, the people, made happy, will again become wise: let us endure +the storm, which leads us on to so noble a harbor. + +Meanwhile, beyond the King, inert and disarmed, beyond the Assembly, +disobeyed or submissive, appears the real monarch, the people--that is +to say, a crowd of a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand individuals +gathered together at random, on an impulse, on an alarm, suddenly and +irresistibly made legislators, judges, and executioners. A formidable +power, undefined and destructive, on which no one has any hold, and +which, with its mother, howling and misshapen Liberty, sits at the +threshold of the Revolution like Milton's two specters at the gates of +Hell. + + . . . Before the gates there sat + On either side a formidable shape; + The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, + but ended foul in many a scaly fold + Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd + With mortal sting: about her middle round + A cry of hell hounds never ceasing bark'd + With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung + A hideous peal: yet, when they list, would creep, + If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb, + And kennel there; yet there still bark'd and howl'd + Within unseen. . . + ........the other shape, + If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none + Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, + Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd + For each seem'd either: black it stood as night, + Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, + And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head + The likeness of a kingly crown had on. + + The monster moving onward came as fast, + With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1201: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. +Miron, lieutenant de police, April 26th; of M. Joly de Fleury, +procureur-general, May 29th; of MM. Marchais and Berthier, April 18th +and 27th, March 23rd, April 5th, May 5th.--Arthur Young, June 10th +and 29th. "Archives Nationales," H. 1453 Letter of the sub-delegate of +Montlhery, April 14th.] + +[Footnote 1202: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the +sub-delegate Gobert, March 17th; of the officers of police, June +15th:--" On the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of March the inhabitants of +Conflans generally rebelled against the game law in relation to the +rabbit."] + +[Footnote 1203: Montjoie, 2nd part, ch. XXI. p.14 (the first week in +June). Montjoie is a party man; but he gives dates and details, and his +testimony, when it is confirmed elsewhere, deserves, to be admitted.] + +[Footnote 1204: Montjoie, 1st part, 92-101.--"Archives Nationales," +H. 1453. Letter of the officer of police of Saint-Denis: "A good many +workmen arrive daily from Lorraine as well as from Champagne," which +increases the prices.] + +[Footnote 1205: De Bezenval, "Memoires," I.353. Cf. "The Ancient +Regime," p.509.--Marmontel, II, 252 and following pages.--De Ferrieres, +I. 407.] + +[Footnote 1206: Arthur Young, September 1st, 1788] + +[Footnote 1207: Barrere, "Memoires," I. 234.] + +[Footnote 1208: See, in the National Library, the long catalogue of +those which have survived.] + +[Footnote 1209: Malouet, I. 255. Bailly, I. 43 (May 9th and +19th).--D'Hezecques, "Souvenirs d'un page de Louis XV." 293.--De +Bezenval, I. 368.] + +[Footnote 1210: Marmontel, II, 249.--Montjoie, 1st part, p. 92.--De +Bezenval, I. 387: "These spies added that persons were seen exciting the +tumult and were distributing money."] + +[Footnote 1211: "Archives Nationales," Y.11441. Interrogatory of the +Abbe Roy, May 5th.--Y.11033, Interrogatory (April 28th and May 4th) +of twenty-three wounded persons brought to the Hotel-Dieu--These two +documents are of prime importance in presenting the true aspect of the +insurrection; to these must be added the narrative of M. de Bezenval, +who was commandant at this time with M. de Chatelet. Almost all other +narratives are amplified or falsified through party bias.] + +[Footnote 1212: De Ferrieres, vol. III. note A. (justificatory +explanation by Reveillon).] + +[Footnote 1213: Bailly I. 25 (April 26th).] + +[Footnote 1214: Hippeau, IV. 377 (Letters of M. Perrot, April 29th).] + +[Footnote 1215: Letter to the King by an inhabitant of the Faubourg +Saint-Antoine--"Do not doubt, sire, that our recent misfortunes are due +to the dearness of bread"] + +[Footnote 1216: Dampmartin, "Evenements qui se sont passes sous mes +yeux," etc. I. 25: "We turned back and were held up by small bands of +scoundrels, who insolently proposed to us to shout 'Vive Necker! Vive +le Tiers-Etat!'" His two companions were knights of St. Louis, and +their badges seemed an object of "increasing hatred." "The badge excited +coarse mutterings, even on the part of persons who appeared superior to +the agitators."] + +[Footnote 1217: Dampmartin, ibid. i. 25: "I was dining this very day at +the Hotel d'Ecquevilly, in the Rue Saint-Louis." He leaves the house +on foot and witnesses the disturbance. "Fifteen to Sixteen hundred +wretches, the excrement of the nation, degraded by shameful vices, +covered with rags, and gorged with brandy, presented the most disgusting +and revolting spectacle. More than a hundred thousand persons of +both sexes and of all ages and conditions interfered greatly with the +operations of the troops. The firing soon commenced and blood flowed: +two innocent persons were wounded near me."] + +[Footnote 1218: De Goncourt, "La Societe Francaise pendant la +Revolution." Thirty-one gambling-houses are counted here, while a +pamphlet of the day is entitled "Petition des deux mill cent filles du +Palais-Royal."] + +[Footnote 1219: Montjoie, 2nd part, 144.--Bailly, II, 130.] + +[Footnote 1220: Arthur Young, June 24th, 1789.--Montjoie, 2nd part, 69.] + +[Footnote 1221: Arthur Young, June 9th, 24th, and 26th.--"La France +libre," passim, by C. Desmoulins.] + +[Footnote 1222: C. Desmoulins, letters to his father, and Arthur Young, +June 9th.] + +[Footnote 1223: Montjoie, 2nd part, 69, 77, 124, 144. C. Desmoulins, +letter, of June 24th and the following days.] + +[Footnote 1224: Etienne Dumont, "Souvenirs," p.72.--C. Desmoulins, +letter of; June 24th.--Arthur Young, June 25th.--Buchez and Roux, II. +28.] + +[Footnote 1225: Bailly, I. 227 and 179.--Monnier, "Recherches sur les +causes," etc. I. 289, 291; II.61;--Malouet, I. 299; II. 10.--"Actes +des Apotres," V.43. (Letter of M. de Guillermy, July 31st, +1790).--Marmontel, I. 28: "The people came even into the Assembly, to +encourage their partisans, to select and indicate their victims, and to +terrify the feeble with the dreadful trial of open balloting."] + +[Footnote 1226: Manuscript letters of M. Boulle, deputy, to the +municipal authorities of Pontivy, from May 1st, 1789, to September 4th, +1790 (communicated by M. Rosenzweig, archivist at Vannes). June 16th, +1789: "The crowd gathered around the hall. . . was, during these days, +from 3,000 to 4,000 persons."] + +[Footnote 1227: Letters of M. Boulle, June 23rd. "How sublime the +moment, that in which we enthusiastically bind ourselves to the country +by a new oath!. . . . Why should this moment be selected by one of our +number to dishonor himself? His name is now blasted throughout France. +And the unfortunate man has children! Suddenly overwhelmed by public +contempt he leaves, and falls fainting at the door, exclaiming, 'Ah! +this will be my death!' I do not know what has become of him since. What +is strange is, he had not behaved badly up to that time, and he voted +for the Constitution."] + +[Footnote 1228: De Ferrieres, I. 168.--Malouet, I. 298 (according to +him the faction did not number more than ten members),--idem II. +10.--Dumont, 250.] + +[Footnote 1229: "Convention nationale" governed France from 21st +September 1792 until Oct. 26th 1796. We distinguish between three +different assemblies, "la Convention Girondine" 1792-93, "the Mountain," +1793-94 and "la Thermidorienne," from 1794-1795. (SR).] + +[Footnote 1230: Declaration of June 23rd, article 15.] + +[Footnote 1231: Montjoie, 2nd part, 118.--C. Desmoulins, letters of June +24th and the following days. A faithful narrative by M. de Sainte-Fere, +formerly an officer in the French Guard, p.9.--De Bezenval, +III, 413.--Buchez and Roux, II. 35.--"Souvenirs", by PASQUIER +(Etienne-Dennis, duc), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, Librarie +Plon, Paris 1893..] + +[Footnote 1232: Peuchet ("Encyclopedie Methodique," 1789, quoted by +Parent Duchatelet): "Almost all of the soldiers of the Guard belong to +that class (the procurers of public women): many, indeed, only enlist in +the corps that they may live at the expense of these unfortunates."] + +[Footnote 1233: Gouverneur Morris, "Liberty is now the general cry; +authority is a name and no longer a reality." (Correspondence with +Washington, July 19th.)] + +[Footnote 1234: Bailly. I. 302. "The King was very well-disposed; his +measures were intended only to preserve order and the public peace. . +. Du Chatelet was forced by facts to acquit M. de Bezenval of attempts +against the people and the country."--Cf. Marmontel, IV. 183; Mounier, +II, 40.] + +[Footnote 1235: Desmoulins, letter of the 16th July. Buchez and Roux, +II. 83.] + +[Footnote 1236: Trial of the Prince de Lambesc (Paris, 1790), with the +eighty-three depositions and the discussion of the testimony.--It is the +crowd which began the attack. The troops fired in the air. But one +man, a sieur Chauvel, was wounded slightly by the Prince de Lambesc. +(Testimony of M. Carboire, p.84, and of Captain de Reinack, p. 101.) "M. +le Prince de Lambesc, mounted on a gray horse with a gray saddle without +holsters or pistols, had scarcely entered the garden when a dozen +persons jumped at the mane and bridle of his horse and made every effort +to drag him off. A small man in gray clothes fired at him with a pistol. +. . . The prince tried hard to free himself, and succeeded by making his +horse rear up and by flourishing his sword; without, however, up to this +time, wounding any one. . . . He deposes that he saw the prince strike +a man on the head with the flat of his saber who was trying to close the +turning-bridge, which would have cut off the retreat of his troops The +troops did no more than try to keep off the crowd which assailed them +with stones, and even with firearms, from the top of the terraces."--The +man who tried to close the bridge had seized the prince's horse with one +hand; the wound he received was a scratch about 23 lines long, which was +dressed and cured with a bandage soaked in brandy. All the details of +the affair prove that the patience and humanity of the officer, were +extreme. Nevertheless "on the following day, the 13th, some one posted a +written placard on the crossing Bussy recommending the citizens of Paris +to seize the prince and quarter him at once."--(Deposition of M. Cosson, +p.114.)] + +[Footnote 1237: Bailly, I. 3, 6.--Marmontel, IV. 310] + +[Footnote 1238: Montjoie, part 3, 86. "I talked with those who guarded +the chateau of the Tuileries. They did not belong to Paris. . . . A +frightful physiognomy and hideous apparel." Montjoie, not to be trusted +in many places, merits consultation for little facts of which he was an +eye-witness.--Morellet, "Memoires," I. 374.--Dusaulx, "L'oeuvre des sept +jours," 352.--Revue Historique," March, 1876. Interrogatory of Desnot. +His occupation during the 13th of July (published by Guiffrey).] + +[Footnote 1239: Mathieu Dumas, "Memoires," I. 531. "Peaceable people +fled at the sight of these groups of strange, frantic vagabonds. +Everybody closed their houses. . .. When I reached home, in the +Saint-Denis quarter, several of these brigands caused great alarm by +firing off guns in the air."] + +[Footnote 1240: Dusaulx, 379.] + +[Footnote 1241: Dusaulx, 359, 360, 361, 288, 336. "In effect their +entreaties resembled commands, and, more than once, it was impossible to +resist them."] + +[Footnote 1242: Dusaulx, 447 (Deposition of the invalides).--"Revue +Retrospective," IV. 282 (Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two +Swiss Guards).] + +[Footnote 1243: Marmontel, IV. 317.] + +[Footnote 1244: Dusaulx, 454. "The soldiers replied that they would +accept whatever happened rather than cause the destruction of so great a +number of their fellow-citizens."] + +[Footnote 1245: Dusaulx, 447. The number of combatants, maimed, wounded, +dead, and living, is 825.--Marmontel, IV. 320. "To the number of +victors, which has been carried up to 800, people have been added who +were never near the place."] + +[Footnote 1246: "Memoires", by PASQUIER (Etienne-Dennis, duc, +1767-1862), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, Librarie Plon, Paris +1893. Vol. I. p.52. Pasquier was eye-witness. He leaned against the +fence of the Beaumarchais garden and looked on, with mademoiselle +Contat, the actress, at his side, who had left her carriage in the +Place-Royale.--Marat, "L'ami du peuple," No. 530. "When an unheard-of +conjunction of circumstances had caused the fall of the badly defended +walls of the Bastille, under the efforts of a handful of soldiers and +a troop of unfortunate creatures, most of them Germans and almost all +provincials, the Parisians presented themselves the fortress, curiosity +alone having led them there."] + +[Footnote 1247: Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two +Swiss.--Narrative of Cholat, wine-dealer, one of the +victors.--Examination of Desnot (who cut off the head of M. de Launay).] + +[Footnote 1248: Montjoie, part 3, 85.--Dusaulx, 355, 287, 368.] + +[Footnote 1249: Nothing more. No Witness states that he had seen the +pretended note to M. do Launay. According to Dusaulx, he could not have +had either the time or the means to write it.] + +[Footnote 1250: Bailly, II. 32, 74, 88, 90, 95, 108, 117, 137, 158, 174. +"I gave orders which were neither obeyed nor listened to. . . . They +gave me to understand that I was not safe." (July 15th.) "In these +sad times one enemy and one calumnious report sufficed to excite the +multitude. All who had formerly held power, all who had annoyed or +restrained the insurrectionists, were sure of being arrested."] + +[Footnote 1251: M. de Lafayette, "Memoires," III. 264. Letter of July +16th, 1789. "I have already saved the lives of six persons whom they +were hanging in different quarters."] + +[Footnote 1252: Poujoulat. "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise," p.100 +(with supporting documents). Proces-verbaux of the Provincial Assembly, +lle-de-France (1787), p.127.] + +[Footnote 1253: For instance: "He is severe with his peasants."--"He +gives them no bread, and he wants them then to eat grass." "He wants +them to eat grass like horses."--"He has said that they could very well +eat hay, and that they are no better than horses."--The same story is +found in many of the contemporary jacqueries.] + +[Footnote 1254: Bailly, II. 108. "The people, less enlightened and as +imperious as despots, recognize no positive signs of good administration +but success."] + +[Footnote 1255: Bailly, II, 108, 95.--Malouet, II, 14.] + +[Footnote 1256: De Ferrieres, I. 168.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + + +I.--Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + + Destruction of the Government.--To whom does real power + belong? + +However bad a particular government may be, there is something still +worse, and that is the suppression of all government. For, it is owing +to government that human wills form a harmony instead of chaos. +It serves society as the brain serves a living being. Incapable, +inconsiderate, extravagant, engrossing, it often abuses its position, +overstraining or misleading the body for which it should care, and which +it should direct. But, taking all things into account, whatever it may +do, more good than harm is done, for through it the body stands erect, +marches on and guides its steps. Without it there is no organized +deliberate action, serviceable to the whole body. In it alone do we find +the comprehensive views, knowledge of the members of which it consists +and of their aims, an idea of outward relationships, full and accurate +information, in short, the superior intelligence which conceives what is +best for the common interests, and adapts means to ends. If it falters +and is no longer obeyed, if it is forced and pushed from without by a +violent pressure, it ceases to control public affairs, and the social +organization retrogrades by many steps. Through the dissolution of +society, and the isolation of individuals, each man returns to his +original feeble state, while power is vested in passing aggregates that +like whirlwinds spring up from the human dust.--One may divine how this +power, which the most competent find it difficult to apply properly, is +exercised by bands of men springing out of nowhere. It is a matter of +supplies, of their possessions, price and distribution. It is a matter +of taxes, its proportion, apportionment and collection; of private +property, its varieties, rights, and limitations It is a problem of +public authority, its allocation and its limits; of all those delicate +cogwheels which, working into each other, constitute the great economic, +social, and political machine. Each band in its own canton lays its +rude hands on the wheels within its reach. They wrench or break them +haphazardly, under the impulse of the moment, heedless and indifferent +to consequences, even when the reaction of to-morrow crushes them in the +ruin that they cause to day. Thus do unchained Negroes, each pulling and +hauling his own way, undertake to manage a ship of which they have just +obtained mastery.--In such a state of things white men are hardly worth +more than black ones. For, not only is the band, whose aim is violence, +composed of those who are most destitute, most wildly enthusiastic, and +most inclined to destructiveness and to license. But also, as this band +tumultuously carries out its violent action, each individual the most +brutal, the most irrational, and most corrupt, descends lower than +himself, even to the darkness, the madness, and the savagery of the +dregs of society. In fact, a man who in the interchange of blows, would +resist the excitement of murder, and not use his strength like a +savage, must be familiar with arms. He must be accustomed to danger, be +cool-blooded, alive to the sentiment of honor, and above all, sensitive +to that stern military code which, to the imagination of the soldier, +ever holds out to him the provost's gibbet to which he is sure to rise, +should he strike one blow too many. Should all these restraints, inward +as well as outward, be wanting, the man plunges into insurrection. He is +a novice in the acts of violence, which he carries out. He has no +fear of the law, because he abolishes it. The action begun carries him +further than he intended to go. Peril and resistance exasperate his +anger. He catches the fever from contact with those who are fevered, +and follows robbers who have become his comrades.[1301] Add to this +the clamors, the drunkenness, the spectacle of destruction, the nervous +tremor of the body strained beyond its powers of endurance, and we +can comprehend how, from the peasant, the laborer, and the bourgeois, +pacified and tamed by an old civilization, we see all of a sudden spring +forth the barbarian. Or still worse, the primitive animal, the grinning, +sanguinary, wanton baboon, who giggles while he slays, and gambols over +the ruin he has accomplished. Such is the actual government to which +France is given up, and after eighteen months' experience, the best +qualified, most judicious and profoundest observer of the Revolution +will find nothing to compare it to but the invasion of the Roman Empire +in the fourth century.[1302] "The Huns, the Heruli, the Vandals, and the +Goths will come neither from the north nor from the Black Sea; they are +in our very midst." + + + + +II.--The provinces + + Destruction of old Authorities.--Inadequacy of new + Authorities + +When in a building the principal beam gives way, cracks follow and +multiply, and the secondary joists fall in one by one for lack of the +prop, which supported them. In a similar manner the authority of the +King being broken, all the powers, which he delegated, fall to the +ground.[1303] Intendants, parliaments, military commands, grand +provosts, administrative, judicial, and police functionaries in every +province, and of every branch of the service, who maintain order and +protect property, taught by the murder of M. de Launey, the imprisonment +of M. de Besenval, the flight of Marshal de Broglie, the assassinations +of Foullon and Bertier, know what it costs should they try to perform +their duties. Should it be forgotten local insurrections intervene, and +keep them in mind of it. + +The officer in command in Burgundy is a prisoner at Dijon, with a +guard at his door; and he is not allowed to speak with any one without +permission, and without the presence of witnesses.[1304] The Commandant +of Caen is besieged in the old palace and capitulates. The Commandant of +Bordeaux surrenders Chateau-Trompette with its guns and equipment. The +Commandant at Metz, who remains firm, suffers the insults and the orders +of the populace. The Commandant of Brittany wanders about his province +"like a vagabond," while at Rennes his people, furniture, and plate are +kept as pledges. As soon as he sets foot in Normandy he is surrounded, +and a sentinel is placed at his door.--The Intendant of Besancon takes +to flight; that of Rouen sees his dwelling sacked from top to bottom, +and escapes amid the shouts of a mob demanding his head.--At Rennes, the +Dean of the Parliament is arrested, maltreated, kept in his room with +a guard over him, and then, although ill, sent out of the town under an +escort.--At Strasbourg "thirty-six houses of magistrates are marked +for pillage."[1305]--At Besancon, the President of the Parliament is +constrained to let out of prison the insurgents arrested in a late +out-break, and to publicly burn the whole of the papers belonging to +the prosecution.--In Alsace, since the beginning of the troubles, the +provosts were obliged to fly, the bailiffs and manorial judges hid +themselves, the forest-inspectors ran away, and the houses of the guards +were demolished. One man, sixty years of age, is outrageously beaten and +marched about the village, the people, meanwhile, pulling out his hair; +nothing remains of his dwelling but the walls and a portion of the roof. +All his furniture and effects are broken up, burnt or stolen. He is +forced to sign, along with his wife, an act by which he binds himself +to refund all penalties inflicted by him, and to abandon all claims +for damages for the injuries to which he has just been subjected.--In +Franche-Comte the authorities dare not condemn delinquents, and the +police do not arrest them; the military commandant writes that "crimes +of every kind are on the increase, and that he has no means of punishing +them." Insubordination is permanent in all the provinces; one of the +provincial commissions states with sadness: + +"When all powers are in confusion and annihilated, when public force +no longer exists, when all ties are sundered, when every individual +considers himself relieved from all kinds of obligation, when public +authority no longer dares make itself felt, and it is a crime to have +been clothed with it, what can be expected of our efforts to restore +order?"[1306] + +All that remains of this great demolished State is forty thousand +groups of people, each separated and isolated, in towns and small market +villages where municipal bodies, elected committees, and improvised +National Guards strive to prevent the worst excesses.--But these local +chiefs are novices; they are human, and they are timid. Chosen by +acclamation they believe in popular rights; in the midst of riots they +feel themselves in danger. Hence, they generally obey the crowd. + +"Rarely," says one of the provincial commissions reports, "do the +municipal authorities issue a summons; they allow the greatest excesses +rather than enter upon prosecutions for which, sooner or later, they +may be held responsible by their fellow-citizens. . . . Municipal bodies +have no longer the power to resist anything." + +Especially in the rural districts the mayor or syndic, who is a farmer, +makes it his first aim to make no enemies, and would resign his place +if it were to bring him any "unpleasantness" with it. His rule in +the towns, and especially in large cities, is almost as lax and more +precarious, because explosive material is accumulated here to a much +larger extent, and the municipal officers, in their arm-chairs at the +town-hall, sit over a mine which may explode at any time. To-morrow, +perhaps, some resolution passed at a tavern in the suburbs, or some +incendiary newspaper just received from Paris, will furnish the +spark.--No other defense against the populace is at hand than the +sentimental proclamations of the National Assembly, the useless presence +of troops who stand by and look on, and the uncertain help of a National +Guard which will arrive too late. Occasionally these townspeople, who +are now the rulers, utter a cry of distress from under the hands of +the sovereigns of the street who grasp them by the throat. At +Puy-en-Velay,[1307] a town of twenty thousand inhabitants, the +presidial,[1308] the committee of twenty-four commissioners, a body of +two hundred dragoons, and eight hundred men of the guard of burgesses, +are "paralyzed, and completely stupefied, by the vile populace. A +mild treatment only increases its insubordination and insolence." This +populace proscribes whomsoever it pleases, and six days ago a gibbet, +erected by its hands, has announced to the new magistrates the fate that +awaits them. + +" What will become of us this winter," they exclaim, "in our +impoverished country, where bread is not to be had! We shall be the prey +of wild beasts!" + + + + +III.--Public feeling.--Famine + +These people, in truth, are hungry, and, since the Revolution, their +misery has increased. Around Puy-en-Velay the country is laid waste, +and the soil broken up by a terrible tempest, a fierce hailstorm, and +a deluge of rain. In the south, the crop proved to be moderate and even +insufficient. + +"To trace a picture of the condition of Languedoc," writes the +intendant,[1309] "would be to give an account of calamities of every +description. The panic which prevails in all communities, and which is +stronger than all laws, stops traffic, and would cause famine even in +the midst of plenty. Commodities are enormously expensive, and there is +a lack of cash. Communities are ruined by the enormous outlays to which +they are exposed: The payment of the deputies to the seneschal's court, +the establishment of the burgess guards, guardhouses for this militia, +and the purchase of arms, uniforms, and outlays in forming communes and +permanent councils. To this must be add the cost of the printing of all +kinds, and the publication of trivial deliberations. Further the loss +of time due to disturbances occasioned by these circumstances, and +the utter stagnation of manufactures and of trade." All these causes +combined "have reduced Languedoc to the last extremity."--In the Center, +and in the North, where the crops are good, provisions are not less +scarce, because wheat is not put in circulation, and is kept concealed. + +"For five months," writes the municipal assembly of Louviers,[1310] "not +a farmer has made his appearance in the markets of this town. Such a +circumstance was never known before, although, from time to time, high +prices have prevailed to a considerable extent. On the contrary, the +markets were always well supplied in proportion to the high price of +grain." + +In vain the municipality orders the surrounding forty-seven parishes to +provide them with wheat. They pay no attention to the mandate; each for +himself and each for his own house; the intendant is no longer present +to compel local interests to give way to public interests. + +"In the wheat districts around us," says a letter from one of the +Burgundy towns, "we cannot rely on being able to make free purchases. +Special regulations, supported by the civic guard, prevent grain from +being sent out, and put a stop to its circulation. The adjacent markets +are of no use to us. Not a sack of grain has been brought into our +market for about eight months." + +At Troyes, bread costs four sous per pound, at Bar-sur-Aube, and in the +vicinity, four and a half sous per pound. The artisan who is out of work +now earns twelve sous a day at the relief works, and, on going into the +country, he sees that the grain crop is good. What conclusion can he +come to but that the dearth is due to the monopolists, and that, if he +should die of hunger, it would be because those scoundrels have +starved him?--By virtue of this reasoning whoever has to do with these +provisions, whether proprietor, farmer, merchant or administrator, all +are considered traitors. It is plain that there is a plot against +the people: the government, the Queen, the clergy, the nobles are all +parties to it; and likewise the magistrates and the wealthy amongst the +bourgeoisie and the rich. A rumor is current in the Ile-de-France that +sacks of flour are thrown into the Seine, and that the cavalry horses +are purposely made to eat unripe wheat in stalk. In Brittany, it is +maintained that grain is exported and stored up abroad. In Touraine, it +is certain that this or that wholesale dealer allows it to sprout in his +granaries rather than sell it. At Troyes, a story prevails that another +has poisoned his flour with alum and arsenic, commissioned to do so +by the bakers.--Conceive the effect of suspicions like these upon a +suffering multitude! A wave of hatred ascends from the empty stomach to +the morbid brain. The people are everywhere in quest of their imaginary +enemies, plunging forward with closed eyes no matter on whom or on what, +not merely with all the weight of their mass, but with all the energy of +their fury. + + + + + +IV.--Panic. + + General arming. + +From the earliest of these weeks they were already alarmed. Accustomed +to being led, the human herd is scared at being left to itself; it +misses its leaders who it has trodden under foot; in throwing off their +trammels it has deprived itself of their protection. It feels lonely, +in an unknown country, exposed to dangers of which it is ignorant, and +against which it is unable to guard itself. Now that the shepherds are +slain or disarmed, suppose the wolves should unexpectedly appear!--And +there are wolves--I mean vagabonds and criminals--who have but just +issued out of the darkness. They have robbed and burned, and are to be +found at every insurrection. Now that the police force no longer puts +them down, they show themselves instead of keeping themselves concealed. +They have only to lie in wait and come forth in a band, and both life +and property will be at their mercy.--Deep anxiety, a vague feeling of +dread, spreads through both town and country: towards the end of July +the panic, like a blinding, suffocating whirl of dusts, suddenly sweeps +over hundreds of leagues of territory. The brigands are coming! They are +burning the crops! They are only six leagues off, and then only two--the +refugees who have run away from the disorder prove it. + +On the 28th of July, at Angouleme,[1311] the alarm bell is heard about +three o'clock in the afternoon; the drums beat to arms, and cannon are +mounted on the ramparts. The town has to be put in a state of defense +against 15,000 bandits who are approaching, and from the walls a cloud +of dust on the road is discovered with terror. It proves to be the +post-wagon on its way to Bordeaux. After this the number of brigands +is reduced to 1,500, but there is no doubt that they are ravaging the +country. At nine o'clock in the evening 20,000 men are under arms, and +thus they pass the night, always listening without hearing anything. +Towards three o'clock in the morning there is another alarm, the church +bells ringing and the people forming a battle array. They are convinced +that the brigands have burned Ruffec, Vernenil, La Rochefoucauld, and +other places. The next day countrymen flock in to give their aid against +bandits who are still absent. "At nine o'clock," says a witness, "we had +40,000 men in the town, to whom we showed our gratitude." As the bandits +do not show themselves, it must be because they are concealed; a hundred +horsemen, a large number of men on foot, start out to search the forest +of Braconne, and to their great surprise they find nothing. But the +terror is not allayed; "during the following days a guard is kept +mounted, and companies are enrolled among the townsmen," while Bordeaux, +duly informed, dispatches a courier to offer the support of 20,000 men +and even 30,000. "What is surprising," adds the narrator, is that at ten +leagues off in the neighborhood, in each parish, a similar disturbance +took place, and at about the same hour."--All that is required is that a +girl, returning to the village at night, should meet two men who do +not belong to the neighborhood. The case is the same in Auvergne. Whole +parishes, on the strength of this, betake themselves at night to the +woods, abandoning their houses, and carrying away their furniture; "the +fugitives trod down and destroyed their own crops; pregnant women were +injured in the forests, and others lost their wits." Fear lends them +wings. Two years after this, Madame Campan was shown a rocky peak on +which a woman had taken refuge, and from which she was obliged to be let +down with ropes.--The people at last return to their homes, and resume +their usual routines. But such large masses are not unsettled with +impunity; a tumult like this is, in itself, a lively source of alarm. As +the country did rise, it must have been on account of threatened danger +and if the peril was not due to brigands, it must have come from some +other quarter. Arthur Young, at Dijon and in Alsace,[1312] hears at the +public dinner tables that the Queen had formed a plot to undermine the +National Assembly and to massacre all Paris. Later on he is arrested in +a village near Clermont, and examined because he is evidently conspiring +with the Queen and the Comte d'Entraigues to blow up the town and send +the survivors to the galleys. + +No argument, no experience has any effect against the multiplying +phantoms of an over-excited imagination. Henceforth every commune, and +every man, provide themselves with arms and keep them ready for use. The +peasant searches his hoard, and "finds from ten to twelve francs for +the purchase of a gun." "A national militia is found in the poorest +village." Burgess guards and companies of volunteers patrol all the +towns. Military commanders deliver arms, ammunition, and equipment, +on the requisition of municipal bodies, while, in case of refusal, +the arsenals are pillaged, and, voluntarily or by force, four +hundred thousand guns thus pass into the hands of the people in six +months.[1313] Not content with this they must have cannon. Brest +having demanded two, every town in Brittany does the same thing; +their self-esteem is at stake as well as a need of feeling themselves +strong.--They lack nothing now to render themselves masters. All +authority, all force, every means of constraint and of intimidation +is in their hands, and in theirs alone; and these sovereign hands have +nothing to guide them in this actual interregnum of all legal powers, +but the wild or murderous suggestions of hunger or distrust. + + + + +V.--Attacks on public individuals and public property. + + At Strasbourg.--At Cherbourg.--At Mauberge.--At Rouen.--At + Besancon.--At Troyes. + +It would take too much space to recount all the violent acts which were +committed,--convoys arrested, grain pillaged, millers and corn merchants +hung, decapitated, slaughtered, farmers called upon under the threats of +death to give up even the seed reserved for sowing, proprietors ransomed +and houses sacked.[1314] These outrages, unpunished, tolerated and even +excused or badly suppressed, are constantly repeated, and are, at first, +directed against public men and public property. As is commonly the +case, the rabble head the march and stamp the character of the whole +insurrection. + +On the 19th of July, at Strasbourg, on the news of Necker's return to +office, it interprets after its own fashion the public joy, which +it witnesses. Five or six hundred beggars,[1315] their numbers soon +increased by the petty tradesmen, rush to the town hall, the magistrates +only having time to fly through a back door. The soldiers, on their +part, with arms in their hands, allow all these things to go on, while +several of them spur the assailants on. The windows are dashed to pieces +under a hailstorm of stones, the doors are forced with iron crowbars, +and the populace enter amid a burst of acclamations from the spectators. +Immediately, through every opening in the building, which has a facade +frontage of eighty feet, "there is a shower of shutters, sashes, +chairs, tables, sofas, books and papers, and then another of tiles, +boards, balconies and fragments of wood-work." The public archives are +thrown to the wind, and the surrounding streets are strewed with them; +the letters of enfranchisement, the charters of privileges, all the +authentic acts which, since Louis XIV, have guaranteed the liberties of +the town, perish in the flames. Some of the rabble in the cellars stave +in casks of precious wine; fifteen thousand measures of it are lost, +making a pool five feet deep in which several are drowned. Others, +loaded with booty, go away under the eyes of the soldiers without +being arrested. The havoc continues for three days; a number of houses +belonging to some of the magistrates "are sacked from garret to cellar." +When the honest citizens at last obtain arms and restore order, they are +content with the hanging of one of the robbers; although, in order to +please the people, the magistrates are changed and the price of bread +and meat is reduced.--It is not surprising that after such tactics, and +with such rewards, the riot should spread through the neighborhood far +and near: in fact, starting from Strasbourg it overruns Alsace, while in +the country as in the city, there are always drunkards and rascals found +to head it. + +No matter where, be it in the East, in the West, or in the North, the +instigators are always of this stamp. At Cherbourg, on the 21st of +July,[1316] the two leaders of the riot are "highway robbers," who place +themselves at the head of women of the suburbs, foreign sailors, the +populace of the harbor, and it includes soldiers in workmen's smocks. +They force the delivery of the keys of the grain warehouses, and +wreck the dwellings of the three richest merchants, also that of M. de +Garantot, the sub-delegate: "All records and papers are burnt; at M. de +Garantot's alone the loss is estimated at more than 100,000 crowns at +least."--The same instinct of destruction prevails everywhere, a sort +of envious fury against all who possess, command, or enjoy anything. +At Maubeuge, on the 27th of July, at the very assembly of the +representatives of the commune,[1317] the rabble interferes directly in +its usual fashion. A band of nail and gun-makers takes possession of the +town-hall, and obliges the mayor to reduce the price of bread. Almost +immediately after this another band follows uttering cries of death, +and smashes the windows, while the garrison, which has been ordered out, +quietly contemplates the damage done. Death to the mayor, to all rulers, +and to all employees! The rioters force open the prisons, set the +prisoners free, and attack the tax-offices. The octroi offices are +demolished from top to bottom: they pull down the harbor offices and +throw the scales and weights into the river. All the custom and +excise stores are carried off; and the officials are compelled to give +acquaintances. The houses of the registrar and of the sheriff, that of +the revenue comptroller, two hundred yards outside the town, are sacked; +the doors and the windows are smashed, the furniture and linen is torn +to shreds, and the plate and jewelry is thrown into the wells. The same +havoc is committed in the mayor's town-house, also in his country-house +a league off. "Not a window, not a door, not one article or eatable," +is preserved; their work, moreover, is conscientiously done, without +stopping a moment, "from ten in the evening up to ten in the morning on +the following day." In addition to this the mayor, who has served +for thirty-four years, resigns his office at the solicitation of the +well-disposed but terrified people, and leaves the country.--At +Rouen, after the 24th of July,[1318] a written placard shows, by its +orthography and its style, what sort of intellects composed it and what +kind of actions are to follow it: + +"Nation, you have here four heads to strike off, those of Pontcarry +(the first president), Maussion (the intendant), Godard de Belboeuf (the +attorney-general), and Durand (the attorney of the King in the town). +Without this we are lost, and if you do not do it, people will take you +for a heartless nation." + +Nothing could be more explicit. The municipal body, however, to whom +the Parliament denounces this list of proscriptions, replies, with its +forced optimism, that + +"no citizen should consider himself or be considered as proscribed; he +may and must believe himself to be safe in his own dwelling, satisfied +that there is not a person in the city who would not fly to his rescue." + +This is equal to telling the populace that it is free to do as it +pleases. On the strength of this the leaders of the riot work on in +security for ten days. One of them is a man named Jourdain, a lawyer of +Lisieux, and, like most of his brethren, a demagogue in principles; the +other is a strolling actor from Paris named Bordier, famous in the part +of harlequin,[1319] a bully in a house of ill-fame, "a night-rover +and drunkard, and who, fearing neither God nor devil," has taken up +patriotism, and comes down into the provinces to play tragedy, and that, +tragedy in real life. The fifth act begins on the night of the 3rd of +August, with Bordier and Jourdain as the principal actors, and behind +them the rabble along with several companies of fresh volunteers. A +shout is heard, "Death to the monopolists! death to Maussion! we must +have his head!" They pillage his hotel: many of them become intoxicated +and fall asleep in his cellar. The revenue offices, the toll-gates of +the town, the excise office, all buildings in which the royal revenue is +collected, are wrecked. Immense bonfires are lighted in the streets and +on the old market square; furniture, clothes, papers, kitchen utensils, +are all thrown in pell-mell, while carriages are dragged out and tumbled +into the Seine. It is only when the town-hall is attacked that the +National Guard, beginning to be alarmed, makes up its mind to seize +Bordier and some others. The following morning, however, at the shout of +Carabo, and led by Jourdain, the prison is forced, Bordier set free, and +the intendant's residence, with its offices, is sacked a second time. +When, finally, the two rascals are taken and led to the scaffold, the +populace is so strongly in their favor as to require the pointing of +loaded cannon on them to keep them down.--At Besancon,[1320] on the 13th +of August, the leaders consist of the servant of an exhibitor of +wild animals, two goal-birds of whom one has already been branded in +consequence of a riot, and a number of "inhabitants of ill-repute," who, +towards evening, spread through the town along with the soldiers. The +gunners insult the officers they meet, seize them by the throat and want +to throw them into the Doubs. Others go to the house of the commandant, +M. de Langeron, and demand money of him; on his refusing to give it +they tear off their cockades and exclaim, "We too belong to the +Third-Estate!" in other words, that they are the masters: subsequently +they demand the head of the intendant, M. de Caumartin, forcibly enter +his dwelling and break up his furniture. On the following day the rabble +and the soldiers enter the coffee-houses, the convents, and the inns, +and demand to be served with wine and eatables as much as they want, and +then, heated by drink, they burn the excise offices, force open several +prisons, and set free all the smugglers and deserters. To put an end to +this saturnalia a grand banquet in the open air is suggested, in which +the National Guard is to fraternize with the whole garrison; but the +banquet turns into a drinking-bout, entire companies remaining under the +tables dead drunk; other companies carry away with them four hogsheads +of wine, and the rest, finding themselves left in the lurch, are +scattered abroad outside the walls in order to rob the cellars of the +neighboring villages. The next day, encouraged by the example set them, +a portion of the garrison, accompanied by a number of workmen, repeat +the expedition in the country. Finally, after four days of this orgy, to +prevent Besancon and its outskirts from being indefinitely treated as a +conquered country, the burgess guard, in alliance with the soldiers who +have remained loyal, rebel against the rebellion, go in quest of +the marauders and hang two of them that same evening.--Such is +rioting![1321] an irruption of brute force which, turned loose on the +habitations of men, can do nothing but gorge itself, waste, break, +destroy, and do damage to itself; and if we follow the details of local +history, we see how, in these days, similar outbreaks of violence might +be expected at any time. + +At Troyes,[1322] on the 18th of July, a market-day, the peasants refuse +to pay the entrance duties; the octroi having been suppressed at Paris, +it ought also to be suppressed at Troyes. The populace, excited by this +first disorderly act, gather into a mob for the purpose of dividing the +grain and arms amongst themselves, and the next day the town-hall is +invested by seven or eight thousand men, armed with clubs and stones. +The day after, a band, recruited in the surrounding villages, armed +with flails, shovels, and pitch-forks, enters under the leadership of +a joiner who marches at the head of it with a drawn saber; fortunately, +"all the honest folks among the burgesses "immediately form themselves +into a National Guard, and this first attempt at a Jacquerie is put +down. But the agitation continues, and false rumors constantly keep +it up.--On the 29th of July, on the report being circulated that five +hundred "brigands" had left Paris and were coming to ravage the country, +the alarm bell sounds in the villages, and the peasants go forth armed. +Henceforth, a vague idea of some impending danger fills all minds; the +necessity of defense and of guarding against enemies is maintained. +The new demagogues avail themselves of this to keep their hold on the +people, and when the time comes, to use it against their chiefs.--It is +of no use to assure the people that the latter are patriots; that the +recently welcomed Necker with enthusiastic shouts; that the priests, the +monks, and canons were the first to adopt the national cockade; that +the nobles of the city and its environs are the most liberal in France; +that, on the 20th of July, the burgess guard saved the town; that +all the wealthy give to the national workshops; that Mayor Huez, "a +venerable and honest magistrate," is a benefactor to the poor and to +the public. All the old leaders are objects of distrust.--On the 8th +of August, a mob demands the dismissal of the dragoons, arms for +all volunteers, bread at two sous the pound, and the freedom of all +prisoners. On the 19th of August the National Guard rejects its old +officers as aristocrats, and elects new ones. On the 27th of August, the +crowd invade the town-hall and distribute the arms amongst themselves. +On the 5th of September, two hundred men, led by Truelle, president of +the new committee, force the salt depot and have salt delivered to them +at six sous per pound.--Meanwhile, in the lowest quarters of the city, +a story is concocted to the effect that if wheat is scarce it is +because Huez, the mayor, and M. de St. Georges, the old commandant, are +monopolists, and now they say of Huez what they said five weeks before +of Foulon, that "he wants to make the people eat hay." The many-headed +brute growls fiercely and is about to spring. As usual, instead of +restraining him, they try to manage him. + +"You must put your authority aside for a moment," writes the deputy of +Troyes to the sheriffs," and act towards the people as to a friend; be +as gentle with them as you would be with your equals, and rest assured +that they are capable of responding to it." + +Thus does Huez act, and he even does more, paying no attention to their +menaces, refusing to provide for his own safety and almost offering +himself as a sacrifice. + +"I have wronged no one," he exclaimed; "why should any one bear me +ill-will?" + +His sole precaution is to provide something for the unfortunate poor +when he is gone: he bequeaths in his will 18,000 livres to the poor, +and, on the eve of his death, sends 100 crowns to the bureau of charity. +But what avail self-abnegation and beneficence against blind, insane +rage! On the 9th of September, three loads of flour proving to be +unsound, the people collect and shout out, + +"Down with the flour-dealers! Down with machinery! Down with the mayor! +Death to the mayor, and let Truelle be put in his place!" + +Huez, on leaving his court-room, is knocked down, murdered by kicks and +blows, throttled, dragged to the reception hall, struck on his head +with a wooden-shoe and pitched down the grand staircase. The municipal +officers strive in vain to protect him; a rope is put around his neck +and they begin to drag him along. A priest, who begs to be allowed at +least to save his soul, is repulsed and beaten. A woman jumps on +the prostrate old man, stamps on his face and repeatedly thrusts her +scissors in his eyes. He is dragged along with the rope around his neck +up to the Pont de la Selle, and thrown into the neighboring ford, and +then drawn out, again dragged through the streets and in the gutters, +with a bunch of hay crammed in his mouth.[1323] + +In the meantime, his house as well as that of the lieutenant of police, +that of the notary Guyot, and that of M. de Saint-Georges, are sacked; +the pillaging and destruction lasts four hours; at the notary's house, +six hundred bottles of wine are consumed or carried off; objects of +value are divided, and the rest, even down to the iron balcony, is +demolished or broken; the rioters cry out, on leaving, that they have +still to burn twenty-seven houses, and to take twenty-seven heads. "No +one at Troyes went to bed that fatal night."--During the succeeding +days, for nearly two weeks, society seems to be dissolved. Placards +posted about the streets proscribe municipal officers, canons, divines, +privileged persons, prominent merchants, and even ladies of charity; the +latter are so frightened that they throw up their office, while a number +of persons move off into the country; others barricade themselves in +their dwellings and only open their doors with saber in hand. Not +until the 26th does the orderly class rally sufficiently to resume the +ascendancy and arrest the miscreants.--Such is public life in France +after the 14th of July: the magistrates in each town feel that they are +at the mercy of a band of savages and sometimes of cannibals. Those of +Troyes had just tortured Huez after the fashion of Hurons, while those +of Caen did worse; Major de Belzance, not less innocent, and under sworn +protection,[1324] was cut to pieces like Laperouse in the Fiji Islands, +and a woman ate his heart. + + + + +VI.--Taxes are no longer paid. + + Devastation of the Forests.--The new game laws. + +It is, under such circumstances, possible to foretell whether taxes come +in, and whether municipalities that sway about in every popular breeze +will have the authority to collect the odious revenues.--Towards the end +of September,[1325] I find a list of thirty-six committees or municipal +bodies which, within a radius of fifty leagues around Paris, refuse +to ensure the collection of taxes. One of them tolerates the sale +of contraband salt, in order not to excite a riot. Another takes the +precaution to disarm the employees in the excise department. In a +third the municipal officers were the first to provide themselves with +contraband salt and contraband tobacco. + +At Peronne and at Ham, the order having come to restore the toll-houses, +the people destroy the soldiers' quarters, conduct all the employees +to their homes, and order them to leave within twenty-four hours, under +penalty of death. After twenty months' resistance Paris will end the +matter by forcing the National Assembly to give in and by obtaining the +final suppression of its octroi.[1326]--Of all the creditors whose hand +each one felt on his shoulders, that of the exchequer was the heaviest, +and now it is the weakest; hence this is the first whose grasp is to +be shaken off; there is none which is more heartily detested or which +receives harsher treatment. Especially against collectors of the +salt-tax, custom-house officers, and excisemen the fury is universal. +These, everywhere,[1327] are in danger of their lives and are obliged to +fly. At Falaise, in Normandy, the people threaten to "cut to pieces +the director of the excise." At Baignes, in Saintonge, his house is +devastated and his papers and effects are burned; they put a knife to +the throat of his son, a child six years of age, saying, "Thou must +perish that there may be no more of thy race." For four hours the clerks +are on the point of being torn to pieces; through the entreaties of the +lord of the manor, who sees scythes and sabers aimed at his own +head, they are released only on the condition that they "abjure +their employment."--Again, for two months following the taking of +the Bastille, insurrections break out by hundreds, like a volley +of musketry, against indirect taxation. From the 23rd of July the +Intendant of Champagne reports that "the uprising is general in almost +all the towns under his command." On the following day the Intendant of +Alencon writes that, in his province, "the royal dues will no longer be +paid anywhere." On the 7th of August, M. Necker states to the National +Assembly that in the two intendants' districts of Caen and Alencon it +has been necessary to reduce the price of salt one-half; that "in +an infinity of places" the collection of the excise is stopped or +suspended; that the smuggling of salt and tobacco is done by "convoys +and by open force" in Picardy, in Lorraine, and in the Trois-Eveches; +that the indirect tax does not come in, that the receivers-general and +the receivers of the taille are "at bay" and can no longer keep their +engagements. The public income diminishes from month to month; in the +social body, the heart, already so feeble, faints; deprived of the +blood which no longer reaches it, it ceases to propel to the muscles the +vivifying current which restores their waste and adds to their energy. + +"All controlling power is slackened," says Necker, "everything is a prey +to the passions of individuals." Where is the power to constrain them +and to secure to the State its dues?--The clergy, the nobles, wealthy +townsmen, and certain brave artisans and farmers, undoubtedly pay, and +even sometimes give spontaneously. But in society those who possess +intelligence, who are in easy circumstances and conscientious, form a +small select class; the great mass is egotistic, ignorant, and needy, +and lets its money go only under constraint; there is but one way to +collect the taxes, and that is to extort them. From time immemorial, +direct taxes in France have been collected only by bailiffs and +seizures; which is not surprising, as they take away a full half of the +net income. Now that the peasants of each village are armed and form +a band, let the collector come and make seizures if he dare!--" +Immediately after the decree on the equality of the taxes," writes the +provincial commission of Alsace,[1328] "the people generally refused +to make any payments, until those who were exempt and privileged should +have been inscribed on the local lists." In many places the peasants +threaten to obtain the reimbursement of their installments, while in +others they insist that the decree should be retrospective and that the +new rate-payers should pay for the past year. "No collector dare send an +official to distrain; none that are sent dare fulfill their mission."--" +It is not the good bourgeois" of whom there is any fear, "but the rabble +who make the latter and every one else afraid of them;" resistance and +disorder everywhere come from "people that have nothing to lose."--Not +only do they shake off taxation, but they usurp property, and declare +that, being the Nation, whatever belongs to the Nation belongs to +them. The forests of Alsace are laid waste, the seignorial as well as +communal, and wantonly destroyed with the wastefulness of children or +of maniacs. "In many places, to avoid the trouble of removing the woods, +they are burnt, and the people content themselves with carrying off the +ashes."--After the decrees of August 4th, and in spite of the law which +licenses the proprietor only to hunt on his own grounds, the impulse +to break the law becomes irresistible. Every man who can procure a gun +begins operations;[1329] the crops which are still standing are trodden +under foot, the lordly residences are invaded and the palings are +scaled; the King himself at Versailles is wakened by shots fired in his +park. Stags, fawns, deer, wild boars, hares, and rabbits, are slain by +thousands, cooked with stolen wood, and eaten up on the spot. There is +a constant discharge of musketry throughout France for more than two +months, and, as on an American prairie, every living animal belongs to +him who kills it. At Choiseul, in Champagne, not only are all the hares +and partridges of the barony exterminated, but the ponds are exhausted +of fish; the court of the chateau even is entered, to fire on the +pigeon-house and destroy the pigeons, and then the pigeons and fish, of +which they have too many, are offered to the proprietor for sale--It +is "the patriots" of the village with "smugglers and bad characters" +belonging to the neighborhood who make this expedition; they are seen +in the front ranks of every act of violence, and it is not difficult +to foresee that, under their leadership, attacks on public persons +and public property will be followed by attacks on private persons and +private property. + + + + +VII.--Attack upon private individuals and private property. + + Aristocrats denounced to the people as their enemies. + --Effect of news from Paris.--Influence of the village + attorneys.--Isolated acts of violence.--A general rising of + the peasantry in the east.--War against the castles, feudal + estates, and property.--Preparations for other Jacqueries. + +Indeed, an outlawed class already exists, they are called "aristocrats." +This deadly term, applied at first to the nobles and prelates in the +States-General who declined to take part in the reunion of the three +orders, is extended so as to embrace all whose titles, offices, +alliances, and manner of living distinguish them from the multitude. +That which entitled them to respect is that which marks them out as +objects of ill-will; while the people, who, though suffering from their +privileges, did not regard them personally with hatred, are now taught +to consider them as their enemies. Each, on his own estate, is +held accountable for the evil designs attributed to his brethren at +Versailles, and, on the false report of a plot at the center, the +peasants classify him as one of the conspirators.[1330] Thus does the +peasant jacquerie commence, and the fanatics who have fanned the flame +in Paris are to do the same in the provinces. "You wish to know the +authors of the agitation," writes a sensible man to the committee +of investigation; "you will find them amongst the deputies of the +Third-Estate," and especially among the attorneys and advocates. "These +dispatch incendiary letters to their constituents, which letters +are received by municipal bodies alike composed of attorneys and of +advocates.... they are read aloud in the public squares, while copies of +them are distributed among all the villages. In these villages, if any +one knows how to read besides the priest and the lord of the manor, it +is the legal practitioner," the born enemy of the lord of the manor, +whose place he covets, vain of his oratorical powers, embittered by +his power, and never failing to blacken everything.[1331] It is highly +probable that he is the one who composes and circulates the placards +calling on the people, in the King's name, to resort to violence.--At +Secondigny, in Poitou, on the 23rd of July,[1332] the laborers in the +forest receive a letter "which summons them to attack all the country +gentlemen round about, and to massacre without mercy all those who +refuse to renounce their privileges.... promising them that not only +will their crimes go unpunished, but that they will even be rewarded." +M. Despretz-Montpezat, correspondent of the deputies of the nobles, +is seized, and dragged with his son to the dwelling of the +procurator-fiscal, to force him to give his signature; the inhabitants +are forbidden to render him assistance "on pain of death and fire." +"Sign," they exclaim, "or we will tear out your heart, and set fire to +this house!" At this moment the neighboring notary, who is doubtless an +accomplice, appears with a stamped paper, and says to him, "Monsieur, +I have just come from Niort, where the Third-Estate has done the same +thing to all the gentlemen of the town; one, who refused, was cut to +pieces before our eyes."--"We are compelled to sign renunciations of our +privileges, and give our assent to one and the same taxation, as if +the nobles had not already done so." The band gives notice that it will +proceed in the same fashion with all the chateaux in the vicinity, and +terror precedes or follows them. "Nobody dares write," M. Despretz +sends word; "I attempt it at the risk of my life."--Nobles and prelates +become objects of suspicion everywhere; village committees open their +letters, and they have to suffer their houses to be searched.[1333] They +are forced to adopt the new cockade: to be a gentleman, and not wear it, +is to deserve hanging. At Mamers, in Maine, M. de Beauvoir refuses to +wear it, and is at the point of being put into the pillory and felled. +Near La F1eche, M. de Brissac is arrested, and a message is sent +to Paris to know if he shall be taken there, "or be beheaded in the +meantime." Two deputies of the nobles, MM. de Montesson and de Vasse who +had come to ask the consent of their constituents to their joining the +Third-Estate, are recognized near Mans; their honorable scruples and +their pledges to the constituents are considered of no importance, nor +even the step that they are now taking to fulfill them; it suffices that +they voted against the Third-Estate at Versailles; the populace pursues +them and breaks up their carriages, and pillages their trunks.--Woe to +the nobles, especially if they have taken any part in local rule, and +if they are opposed to popular panics! M. Cureau, deputy-mayor of +Mans,[1334] had issued orders during the famine, and, having retired to +his chateau of Nouay, had told the peasants that the announcement of +the coming of brigands was a false alarm; he thought that it was not +necessary to sound the alarm bell, and all that was necessary was that +they should remain quiet. Accordingly he is set down as being in league +with the brigands, and besides this he is a monopolist, and a buyer of +standing crops. The peasants lead him off; along with his son-in-law, M. +de Montesson, to the neighboring village, where there are judges. On the +way "they dragged their victims on the ground, pummeled them, trampled +on them, spit in their faces, and besmeared them with filth." M. de +Montesson is shot, while M. Cureau is killed by degrees; a carpenter +cuts off the two heads with a double-edged ax, and children bear them +along to the sound of drums and violins. Meanwhile, the judges of the +place, brought by force, draw up an official report stating the finding +of thirty louis and several bills of the Banque d'Escompte in the +pockets of M. de Cureau, on the discovery of which a shout of triumph is +set up: this evidence proves that they were going to buy up the standing +wheat!--Such is the course of popular justice. Now that the Third-Estate +has become the nation, every mob thinks that it has the right to +pronounce sentences, which it carries out, on lives and on possessions. + +These explosions are isolated in the western, central and southern +provinces; the conflagration, however, is universal in the east. On a +strip of ground from thirty to fifty leagues broad, extending from +the extreme north down to Provence. Alsace, Franche-Comte, Burgundy, +Maconnais, Beaujolais, Auvergne, Viennois, Dauphiny, the whole of this +territory resembles a continuous mine which explodes at the same time. +The first column of flame which shoots up is on the frontiers of Alsace +and Franche-Comte, in the vicinity of Belfort and Vesoul, a feudal +district, in which the peasant, over-burdened with taxes, bears the +heavier yoke with greater impatience. An instinctive argument is going +on in his mind without his knowing it. "The good Assembly and the good +King want us to be happy, suppose we help them! They say that the King +has already relieved us of the taxes, suppose we relieve ourselves +of paying rents! Down with the nobles! They are no better than the +tax-collectors!"--On the 16th of July, the chateau of Sancy, belonging +to the Princesses de Beaufremont, is sacked, and on the 18th those of +Lure, Bithaine, and Molans.[1335] On the 29th, an accident which occurs +with some fire-works at a popular festival at the house of M. de Mesmay, +leads the lower class to believe that the invitation extended to +them was a trap, and that there was a desire to get rid of them by +treachery.[1336] Seized with rage they set fire to the chateau, and +during the following week[1337] destroy three abbeys, ruin eleven +chateaux and pillage others. "All records are destroyed, the registers +and court-rolls are carried off; and the deposits violated."--Starting +from this spot, "the hurricane of insurrection" stretches over the +whole of Alsace from Huningue to Landau.[1338] The insurgents display +placards, signed Louis, stating that for a certain lapse of time they +shall be permitted to exercise justice themselves, and, in Sundgau, a +well-dressed weaver, decorated with a blue belt, passes for a prince, +the King's second son. They begin by falling on the Jews, their +hereditary leeches; they sack their dwellings, divide their money among +themselves, and hunt them down like so many fallow-deer. At Bale alone, +it is said that twelve hundred of these unfortunate fugitives arrived +with their families.--The distance between the Jew creditor and the +Christian proprietor is not great, and this is soon cleared. Remiremont +is only saved by a detachment of dragoons. Eight hundred men attack +the chateau of Uberbruenn. The abbey of Neubourg is taken by storm. At +Guebwiller, on the 31st of July, five hundred peasants, subjects of the +abbey of Murbach, make a descent on the abbot's palace and on the house +of the canons. Cupboards, chests, beds, windows, mirrors, frames, even +the tiles of the roof and the hinges of the casements are hacked +to pieces: "They kindle fires on the beautiful inlaid floors of the +apartments, and there burn up the library and the title-deeds." The +abbot's superb carriage is so broken up that not a wheel remains entire. +"Wine streams through the cellars. One cask of sixteen hundred measures +is half lost; the plate and the linen are carried off."--Society is +evidently being overthrown, while with the power, property is changing +hands. + +These are their very words. In Franche-Comte[1339] the inhabitants of +eight communes come and declare to the Bernardins of Grace-Dieu and of +Lieu-Croissant "that, being of the Third-Estate, it is time now for the +people to rule over abbots and monks, considering that the domination +of the latter has lasted too long," and thereupon they carry off all +the titles to property and to rentals belonging to the abbey in their +commune. In Upper Dauphiny, during the destruction of M. de Murat's +chateau, a man named Ferreol struck the furniture with a big stick, +exclaiming, "Hey, so much for you, Murat; you have been master a good +while, now it's our turn!"[1340] Those who rifle houses, and steal like +highway robbers, think that they are defending a cause, and reply to +the challenge, "Who goes there?" "We are for the brigand +Third-Estate!"--Everywhere the belief prevails that they are clothed +with authority, and they conduct themselves like a conquering horde +under the orders of an absent general. At Remiremont and at Luxeuil +they produce an edict, stating that "all this brigandage, pillage, and +destruction" is permitted. In Dauphiny, the leaders of the bands +say that they possess the King's orders. In Auvergne, "they follow +imperative orders, being advised that such is his Majesty's will." +Nowhere do we see that an insurgent village exercises personal vengeance +against its lord. If the people fire on the nobles they encounter, it is +not through personal hatred. They are destroying the class, and do not +pursue individuals. They detest feudal privileges, holders of charters, +the cursed parchments by virtue of which they are made to pay, but not +the nobleman who, when he resides at home, is of humane intentions, +compassionate, and even often beneficent. At Luxeuil, the abbot, who +is forced with uplifted ax to sign a relinquishment of his seignorial +rights over twenty-three estates, has dwelt among them for forty-six +years, and has been wholly devoted to them.[1341] In the canton of +Cremieu, "where the havoc is immense," all the nobles, write the +municipal officers, are "patriots and benevolent." In Dauphiny, the +engineers, magistrates, and prelates, whose chateaux are sacked, were +the first to espouse the cause of the people and of public liberties +against the ministers. In Auvergne, the peasants themselves "manifest a +good deal of repugnance to act in this way against such kind masters." +But it must be done; the only concession which can be made in +consideration of the kindness which had been extended to them is, not to +burn the chateau of the ladies of Vanes, who had been so charitable; but +they burn all their title-deeds, and torture the business agent at three +different times by fire, to force him to deliver a document which +he does not possess; they then only withdraw him from the fire +half-broiled, because the ladies, on their knees, implore mercy for +him. They are like the soldiers on a campaign who execute orders +with docility, for which necessity is the only plea, and who, without +regarding themselves as brigands, commit acts of brigandage. + +But here the situation is more tragic, for it is war in the midst of +peace, a war of the brutal and barbaric multitude against the highly +cultivated, well-disposed and confiding, who had not anticipated +anything of the kind, who had not even dreamt of defending themselves, +and who had no protection. The Comte de Courtivron, with his family, +was staying at the watering-place of Luxeuil with his uncle, the Abbe +of Clermont-Tonnerre, an old man of seventy years. On the 19th of July, +fifty peasants from Fougerolle break into and demolish everything in the +houses of an usher and a collector of the excise. Thereupon the mayor +of the place intimates to the nobles and magistrates who are taking the +waters, that they had better leave the house in twenty-four hours, as +"he had been advised of an intention to burn the houses in which they +were staying," and he did not wish to have Luxeuil exposed to this +danger on account of their presence there. The following day, the guard, +as obliging as the mayor, allows the band to enter the town and to force +the abbey: the usual events follow, renunciations are extorted, records +and cellars are ransacked, plate and other effects are stolen. M. de +Courtivron escaping with his uncle during the night, the alarm bell +is sounded and they are pursued, and with difficulty obtain refuge +in Plombieres. The bourgeoisie of Plombieres, however, for fear of +compromising themselves, oblige them to depart. On the road two hundred +insurgents threaten to kill their horses and to smash their carriage, +and they only find safety at last at Porentruy, outside of France. +On his return, M. de Courtivron is shot at by the band which has just +pillaged the abbey of Lure, and they shout out at him as he passes, +"Let's massacre the nobles!" Meanwhile, the chateau of Vauvilliers, to +which his sick wife had been carried, is devastated from top to bottom; +the mob search for her everywhere, and she only escapes by hiding +herself in a hay-loft. Both are anxious to fly into Burgundy, but word +is sent them that at Dijon "the nobles are blockaded by the people," and +that, in the country, they threaten to set their houses on fire.--There +is no asylum to be had, either in their own homes nor in the homes of +others, nor in places along the roads, fugitives being stopped in all +the small villages and market-towns. In Dauphiny[1342] "the Abbess of +St. Pierre de Lyon, one of the nuns, M. de Perrotin, M. de Bellegarde, +the Marquis de la Tour-du-Pin, and the Chevalier de Moidieu, are +arrested at Champier by the armed population, led to the Cote +Saint-Andre, confined in the town-hall, whence they send to Grenoble +for assistance," and, to have them released, the Grenoble Committee is +obliged to send commissioners. Their only refuge is in the large cities, +where some semblance of a precarious order exists, and in the ranks of +the City Guards, which march from Lyons, Dijon, and Grenoble, to keep +the inundation down. Throughout the country scattered chateaux are +swallowed up by the popular tide, and, as the feudal rights are often in +plebeian hands, it insensibly rises beyond its first overflow.--There +is no limit to an insurrection against property. This one extends from +abbeys and chateaux to the "houses of the bourgeoisie."[1343] The grudge +at first was confined to the holders of charters; now it is extended to +all who possess anything. Well-to-do farmers and priests abandon their +parishes and fly to the towns. Travelers are put to ransom. Thieves, +robbers, and returned convicts, at the head of armed bands, seize +whatever they can lay their hands on. Cupidity becomes inflamed by such +examples; on domains which are deserted and in a state of confusion, +where there is nothing to indicate a master's presence, all seems to +lapse to the first comer. A small farmer of the neighborhood has carried +away wine and returns the following day in search of hay. All the +furniture of a chateau in Dauphin is removed, even to the hinges of the +doors, by a large reinforcement of carts.--" It is the war of the +poor against the rich," says a deputy, "and, on the 3rd of August, the +Committee on Reports declares to the National Assembly "that no kind of +property has been spared." In Franche-Comte, "nearly forty chateaux and +seignorial mansions have been pillaged or burnt."[1344] From Lancers +to Gray about three out of five chateaux are sacked. In Dauphin +twenty-seven are burned or destroyed; five in the small district of +Viennese, and, besides these, all the monasteries--nine at least in +Auvergne, seventy-two, it is said, in Maconnais and Beaujolais, without +counting those of Alsace. On the 31st of July, Lally-Tollendal, on +entering the tribune, has his hands full of letters of distress, with +a list of thirty-six chateaux burnt, demolished, or pillaged, in one +province, and the details of still worse violence against persons:[1345] + +"in Languedoc, M. de Barras, cut to pieces in the presence of his +wife who is about to be confined, and who is dead in consequence; in +Normandy, a paralytic gentleman left on a burning pile and taken off +from it with his hands burnt; in Franche-Comte, Madame de Bathilly +compelled, with an ax over her head, to give up her title-deeds and even +her estate; Madame de Listenay forced to do the same, with a pitchfork +at her neck and her two daughters in a swoon at her feet; Comte de +Montjustin, with his wife, having a pistol at his throat for three +hours; and both dragged from their carriage to be thrown into a pond, +where they are saved by a passing regiment of soldiers; Baron de +Montjustin, one of the twenty-two popular noblemen, suspended for an +hour in a well, listening to a discussion whether he shall be dropped +down or whether he should die in some other way; the Chevalier d'Ambly, +torn from his chateau and dragged naked into the village, placed on a +dung-heap after having his eyebrows and all his hair pulled out, while +the crowd kept on dancing around him." + +In the midst of a disintegrated society, under the semblance only of a +government, it is manifest that an invasion is under way, an invasion +of barbarians which will complete by terror that which it has begun by +violence, and which, like the invasions of the Normans in the tenth and +eleventh centuries, ends in the conquest and dispossession of an entire +class. In vain the National Guard and the other troops that remain loyal +succeed in stemming the first torrent; in vain does the Assembly hollow +out a bed for it and strive to bank it in by fixed boundaries. The +decrees of the 4th of August and the regulations which follow are but so +many spiders' webs stretched across a torrent. The peasants, moreover, +putting their own interpretation on the decrees, convert the new laws +into authority for continuing in their course or beginning over again. +No more rents, however legitimate, however legal! + +"Yesterday,"[1346] writes a gentleman of Auvergne, we were notified +that the fruit-tithe (percieres) would no longer be paid, and that the +example of other provinces was only being followed which no longer, even +by royal order, pay tithes." In Franche-Comte "numerous communities +are satisfied that they no longer owe anything either to the King or to +their lords. . . . The villages divide amongst themselves the fields and +woods belonging to the nobles."-- + +It must be noted that charter-holding and feudal titles are still intact +in three-fourths of France, that it is the interest of the peasant to +ensure their disappearance, and that he is always armed. To secure a +new outbreak of jacqueries, it is only necessary that central control, +already thrown into disorder, should be withdrawn. This is the work of +Versailles and of Paris; and there, at Paris as well as at Versailles, +some, through lack of foresight and infatuation, and others, through +blindness and indecision--the latter through weakness and the former +through violence--all are laboring to accomplish it. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1301: Dusaulx, 374. "I remarked that if there were a few +among the people at that time who dared commit crime, there were several +who wished it, and that every one endured it."--" Archives Nationales," +DXXIX, 3. (Letter of the municipal authorities of Cremieu, Dauphiny, +November 3, 1789.) "The care taken to lead them first to the cellars +and to intoxicate them, can alone give a conception of the incredible +excesses of rage to which they gave themselves up in the sacking and +burning of the chateaux."] + +[Footnote 1302: Mercure de France, January 4, 1792. ("Revue politique de +l'annee 1791," by Mallet du Pan.)] + +[Footnote 1303: Albert Babeau, I. 206. (Letter of the deputy Camuzet +de Belombre, August 22, 1789.) The executive power is absolutely gone +to-day."--Gouverneur Morris, letter of July 31, 1789: "This country is +now as near in a state of anarchy as it is possible for a community to +be without breaking up."] + +[Footnote 1304: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Amelot, +July 24th; H. 784, of M. de Langeron, October 16th and 18th.--KK. +1105. correspondence of M. de Thiard, October 7th and 30th, September +4th.--Floquet, VII. 527, 555.--Guadet, "Histoire des Girondins" (July +29, 1789).] + +[Footnote 1305: M. de Rochambeau, "Memoires," I. 353 (July +18th).--Sauzay, "Histoire de la Persecution Revolutionnaire dans le +Departement de Doubs," I. 128 (July 19th.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, +3253. (Letter of the deputies of the provincial commission of Alsace, +September 8th.) D. XXIX. I. note of M. de Latour-du-Pin, October +28, 1789.--Letter of M. de Langeron, September 3rd; of Breitman, +garde-marteau, Val Saint-Amarin (Upper Alsace), July 26th.] + +[Footnote 1306: Leonce de Lavergne, 197. (Letter of the intermediate +commission of Poitou, the last month in 1789.)--Cf. Brissot (Le patriote +francais, August, 1789). "General insubordination prevails in the +provinces because the restraints of executive power are no longer felt. +What were but lately the guarantees of that power? The intendants, +tribunals, and the army. The intendants are gone, the tribunals are +silent, and the army is against the executive power and on the side of +the people. Liberty is not a nourishment for unprepared stomachs."] + +[Footnote 1307: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of the +clergy, consuls, presidial-councillors and principal merchants of +Puy-en-Velay, September 16, 1789.)--H. 1453. (letter of the Intendant +or Alencon, July 18th). "I must not leave you in ignorance of the +multiplied outbreaks we have in all parts of my jurisdiction. The +impunity with which they flatter themselves, because the judges are +afraid of irritating the people by examples of severity, only emboldens +them. Mischief-makers, confounded with honest folks, spread false +reports about particular persons whom they accuse of concealing grain, +or of not belonging to the Third-Estate, and, under this pretext, they +pillage their houses, taking whatever they can find, the owners only +avoiding death by flight."] + +[Footnote 1308: A body of magistrates forming one of the lower +tribunals.] + +[Footnote 1309: "Archives Nationales," H. 942. (Observations of M. de +Ballainvilliers, October 30, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 1310: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 1. Letter of the +municipal assembly of Louviers, the end of August, 1789.--Letter of +the communal assembly of Saint-Bris (bailiwick of Auxerre), +September 25th.--Letter of the municipal officers of Ricey-Haut, near +Bar-sur-Seine, August 25th; of the Chevalier d'Allouville, September +8th.] + +[Footnote 1311: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. I. Letter of +M. Briand-Delessart (Angouleme, August 1st).--Of M. Bret, +Lieutenant-General of the provostship of Mardogne, September 5th.--Of +the Chevalier de Castellas (Auvergue), September 15th (relating to the +night between the 2nd and 3rd of August).--Madame Campan, II. 65.] + +[Footnote 1312: Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," July 24th and 31st, +August 13th and 19th.] + +[Footnote 1313: De Bouille, 108.--"Archives Nationales," KK. 1105. +Correspondence of M. deThiard, September 20, 1789 (apropos of one +hundred guns given to the town of Saint-Brieuc). "They are not of the +slightest use, but this passion for arms is a temporary epidemic which +must be allowed to subside of itself. People are determined to believe +in brigands and in enemies, whereas neither exist."--September 25th, +"Vanity alone impels them, and the pride of having cannon is their sole +motive."] + +[Footnote 1314: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. Amelot, +July 17th and 24th. "Several wealthy private persons of the town +(Auxonne) have been put to ransom by this band, of which the largest +portion consists of ruffians."--Letter of nine cultivators of Breteuil +(Picardy) July 23rd (their granaries were pillaged up to the last grain +the previous evening). "They threaten to pillage our crops and set our +barns on fire as soon as they are full. M. Tassard, the notary, has been +visited in his house by the populace, and his life has been threatened." +Letter of Moreau, Procureur du Roi at the Senechal's Court at +Bar-le-Duc, September 15, 1789, D, XXIX, 1. "On the 27th of July the +people rose and most cruelly assassinated a merchant trading in wheat. +On the 27th and 28th his house and that of another were sacked," etc.] + +[Footnote 1315: Chronicle of Dominick Schmutz ("Revue d'Alsace," V. +III. 3rd series). These are his own expressions: Gesindel, +Lumpen-gesindel.--De Rochambeau, "Memoires," I. 353.--Arthur Young (an +eye-witness), July 21st.--Of Dampmartin (eye-witness), I. 105. M. de +Rochambeau shows the usual indecision and want of vigor: whilst the mob +are pillaging houses and throwing things out of the windows, he passes +in front of his regiments (8,000 men) drawn up for action, and says, "My +friends, my good friends, you see what is going on. How horrible! Alas! +these are your papers, your titles and those of your parents." The +soldiers smile at this sentimental prattle.] + +[Footnote 1316: Dumouriez (an eye-witness), book III. ch. 3.--The trial +was begun and judgment given by twelve lawyers and an assessor, whom the +people, in arms, had themselves appointed.--Hippeau, IV. 382.] + +[Footnote 1317: "Archives Nationales," F7 3248. (Letter of the mayor, M. +Poussiaude de Thierri, September 11th.)] + +[Footnote 1318: Floquet, VII. 551.] + +[Footnote 1319: De Goncourt, "La Societe francaise pendant la +Revolution," 37.] + +[Footnote 1320: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the +officers of the bailiwick of Dole, August 24th.--Sauzay I. 128.] + +[Footnote 1321: There is a similar occurrence at Strasbourg, a few days +after the sacking of the town-hall. The municipality having given each +man of the garrison twenty sous, the soldiers abandon their post, set +the prisoners free at the Pont-Couvert, feast publicly in the streets +with the women taken out of the penitentiary, and force innkeepers and +the keepers of drinking-places to give up their provisions. The shops +are all closed, and, for twenty-four hours, the officers are not obeyed. +(De Dampmartin, I. 105.)] + +[Footnote 1322: Albert Babeau, I. 187-273.--Moniteur, II. 379. (Extract +from the provost's verdict of November 27, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 1323: Moniteur, ibid. Picard, the principal murderer, +confessed "that he had made him suffer a great deal; that the said +sieur Huez did not die until they came near the Chaudron Inn; that he +nevertheless intended to make him suffer more by stabbing him in the +neck at the corner of each street, (and) by contriving it so that he +might do it often, as long as there was life in him; that the day on +which M. Huez died yielded him ten francs, together with the neck-buckle +of M. Hues, found on him when he was arrested in his flight."] + +[Footnote 1324: Mercure de France,, September 26, 1789. Letters of the +officers of the Bourbon regiment and of members of the general committee +of Caen.--Floquet, VII. 545.] + +[Footnote 1325: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453.--Ibid. D. XXIX. I. Note +of M. de la Tour-du-Pin, October 28th.] + +[Footnote 1326: Decree, February 5, 1789, enforced May 1st following.] + +[Footnote 1327: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the count +de Montausier, August 8th, with notes by M. Paulian, director of the +excise (an admirable letter, modest and liberal, and ending by demanding +a pardon for people led astray).--H. 1453. Letter of the attorney of the +election district of Falaise, July 17th, etc.--Moniteur, I. 303, 387, +505 (sessions of August 7th and 27th and of September 23rd). "The royal +revenues are diminishing steadily."--Buchez and Roux, III. 219 (session +of October 24, 1789). Discourse of a deputation from Anjou: "Sixty +thousand men are armed; the barriers have been destroyed, the clerks' +horses have been sold by auction; the employees have been told to +withdraw from the province within eight days. The inhabitants have +declared that they will not pay taxes so long as the salt-tax exists.] + +[Footnote 1328: "Archives Nationales," F7 3253 (Letter of September 8, +1789).] + +[Footnote 1329: Arthur Young, September 30th. "It is being said that +every rusty gun in Provence is at work, killing all sorts of birds; +the shot has fallen five or six times in my chaise and about my +ears."--Beugnot, I.142.--"Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of +the Chevalier d'Allonville, September 8, 1789 (Near Bar-sur-Aube). "The +peasants go in armed bands into the woods belonging to the Abbey of +Trois-Fontaines, which they cut down. They saw up the oaks and transport +them on wagons to Pont-Saint-Dizier, where they sell them. In other +places they fish in the ponds and break the embankments."] + +[Footnote 1330: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the +assessor of the police of Saint-Flour, October 3, 1789. On the 31st +of July, a rumor is spread that the brigands are coming. On the 1st of +August the peasants arm themselves. "They amuse themselves by drinking, +awaiting the arrival of the brigands; the excitement increases to such +an extent as to make them believe that M. le Comte d'Espinchal had +arrived in disguise the evening before at Massiac, that he was the +author of the troubles disturbing the province at this time, and that he +was concealed in his chateau." On the strength of this shots are fired +into the windows, and there are searches, etc.] + +[Footnote 1331: "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX, I, Letter of Etienne +Fermier, Naveinne, September 18th (it is possible that the author, +for the sake of caution, took a fictitious name).--The manuscript +correspondence of M. Boulle, deputy of Pontivy, to his constituents, +is a type of this declamatory and incendiary writing.--Letter of the +consuls, priests, and merchants of Puy-en-Velay, September 16th.--" The +Ancient Regime," p. 396.] + +[Footnote 1332: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of M. +Despretz-Montpezat, a former artillery officer, July 24th (with several +other signatures). On the same day the alarm bell is sounded In fifty +villages on the rumor spreading that 7,000 brigands, English and Breton, +were invading the country.] + +[Footnote 1333: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of +Briand-Delessart, August 1st (domiciliary visits to the Carmelites +of Angouleme where it is pretended that Mme. de Polignac has just +arrived.--Beugnot, I. 140.--Arthur Young, July 20th, etc.--Buchez and +Roux, IV. 166. Letter of Mamers, July 24th; of Mans, July 26th.] + +[Footnote 1334: Montjoie, ch. LXXII, p. 93 (according to acts of legal +procedure). There was a soldier in the band who had served under M. de +Montesson and who wanted to avenge himself for the punishments he had +undergone in the regiment.] + +[Footnote 1335: Mercure de France, August 20th (Letter from Vesoul, +August 13th).] + +[Footnote 1336: M. de Memmay proved his innocence later on, and was +rehabilitated by a public decision after two years' proceedings (session +of June 4, 1791; Mercure of June 11th).] + +[Footnote 1337: Journal des Debats et Decrets, I. 258. (Letter of the +municipality of Vesoul, July 22nd.--Discourse of M. de Toulougeon, July +29th.)] + +[Footnote 1338: De Rochambeau, "Memoires," I. 353.--"Archives +Nationales," F7, 3253. (Letter of M. de Rochamheau, August +4th.)--Chronicle of Schmutz (ibid. ), p. 284. "Archives Nationales," D. +XXIX. I. (Letter of Mme. Ferrette, of Remiremont, August 9th.)] + +[Footnote 1339: Sauzay, I. 180. (Letters of monks, July 22nd and 26th.)] + +[Footnote 1340: "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of M. de +Bergeron, attorney to the presidial of Valence, August 28th, with the +details of the verdict stated.) Official report of the militia of Lyons, +sent to the president of the National Assembly, August 10th. (Expedition +to Serriere, in Dauphiny, July 31st.)] + +[Footnote 1341: Letter of the Count of Courtivron, deputy substitute +(an eye-witness).--"Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the +municipal officers of Cremieu (Dauphiny), November 3rd. Letter of the +Vicomte de Carbonniere (Auvergne), August 3rd.--Arthur Young, July 30th +(Dijon) says, apropos of a noble family which escaped almost naked +from its burning chateau, "they were esteemed by the neighbors; +their virtues ought to have commanded the love of the poor, for whose +resentment there was no cause."] + +[Footnote 1342: "Archives Nationales," XXIX. I. (Letter of the +commission of the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.)] + +[Footnote 1343: "Desastres du Maconnais," by Puthod de la Maison-Rouge +(August, 1789). "Ravages du Maconnais."--Arthur Young, July +27th.--Buchez and Roux, IV. 215, 214.--Mercure de France, September +12, 1789. (Letter by a volunteer of Orleans.) "On the 15th of August, +eighty-eight ruffians, calling themselves reapers, present themselves at +Bascon, in Beauce, and, the next day, at a chateau in the neighborhood, +where they demand within an hour the head of the son of the lord of the +manor, M. Tassin, who can only redeem himself by a contribution of 1,600 +livres and the pillaging of his cellars.] + +[Footnote 1344: Letter of the Count de Courtivron.--Arthur Young, July +31st.--Buchez and Roux, II. 243.--Mercure de France, August 15, 1789 +(sitting of the 8th, discourse of a deputy from Dauphine.)--Mermet, +"Histoire de la Ville de Vienne," 445--" Archives Nationales," ibid. +(Letter of the commission of the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.)--"The +list of burnt or devastated chateaux is immense." The committee already +cites sixteen of them.--Puthod de la Maison-Rouge, ibid.: "Were all +devastated places to be mentioned, it would be necessary to cite the +whole province" (Letter from Macon). "They have not the less destroyed +most of the chateaux and bourgeois dwellings, either burning them and or +else tearing them down."] + +[Footnote 1345: Lally-Tollendal, "Second Letter to my Constituents," +104.] + +[Footnote 1346: Doniol, "La Revolution et la Feodalite," p.60 (a few +days after the 4th of August).--"Archives Nationales," H. 784. Letters +of M. de Langeron, military commander at Besancon, October 16th and +18th.--Ibid. , D. XXIX. I. Letter of the same, September 3rd.--Arthur +Young (in Provence, at the house of Baron de la Tour-d'Aignes). "The +baron is an enormous sufferer by the Revolution; a great extent of +country which belonged in absolute right to his ancestors, has been +granted for quit-rents, ceus, and other feudal payments, so that there +is no comparison between the lands retained and those thus granted by +his family. . . . The solid payments which the Assembly have declared +to be redeemable are every hour falling to nothing, without a shadow +of recompense. . . The situation of the nobility in this country is +pitiable; they are under apprehensions that nothing will be left them, +but simply such houses as the mob allows to stand unburned; that the +small farmers will retain their farms without paying the landlord his +half of the produce; and that, in case of such a refusal, there is +actually neither law nor authority in the country to prevent it. This +chateau, splendid even in ruins, with the fortune and lives of the +owners, is at the mercy of an armed rabble."] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS. + + + + +I.--Paris. + + Powerlessness and discords of the authorities.--The people, + king. + +The powerlessness, indeed, of the heads of the Government, and the +lack of discipline among all its subordinates, are much greater in the +capital than in the provinces.--Paris possesses a mayor, Bailly; but +"from the first day, and in the easiest manner possible,"[1401] his +municipal council, that is to say, "the assembly of the representatives +of the commune, has accustomed itself to carry on the government alone, +overlooking him entirely." There is a central administration, the +municipal council, presided over by the mayor; but, "at this time, +authority is everywhere except where the preponderating authority should +be; the districts have delegated it and at the same time retained it;" +each of them acts as if it were alone and supreme.--There are secondary +powers, the district-committees, each with its president, its clerk, its +offices, and commissioners; but the mobs of the street march on without +awaiting their orders; while the people, shouting under their" windows, +impose their will on them;--in short, says Bailly again, "everybody knew +how to command, but nobody knew how to obey." + +"Imagine," writes Loustalot[1402] himself; "a man whose feet, hands, and +limbs possessed each its own intelligence and will, whose one leg would +wish to walk when the other one wanted to rest, whose throat would close +when the stomach demanded food, whose mouth would sing when the eyelids +were weighed down with sleep; and you will have a striking picture of +the condition of things in the capital" + +There are "sixty Republics"[1403] in Paris; each district is an +independent, isolated power, which receives no order without criticizing +it, always in disagreement and often in conflict with the central +authority or with the other districts. It receives denunciations, orders +domiciliary visits, sends deputations to the National Assembly, passes +resolutions, posts its bills, not only in its own quarter but throughout +the city, and sometimes even extends its jurisdiction outside of Paris. +Everything comes within its province, and particularly that which +ought not to do so.--On the 18th of July, the district of +Petits-Augustins[1404] "decrees in its own name the establishment of +justices of the peace," under the title of tribunes, and proceeds at +once to elect its own, nominating the actor Mole. On the 30th, that of +the Oratoire annuls the amnesty which the representatives of the commune +in the Hotel-de-Ville had granted, and orders two of its members to go +to a distance of thirty leagues to arrest M. de Bezenval. On the 19th of +August, that of Nazareth issues commissions to seize and bring to Paris +the arms deposited in strong places. From the beginning each assembly +sent to the Arsenal in its own name, and "obtained as many cartridges +and as much powder as it desired." Others claim the right of keeping a +watchful eye over the Hotel-de-Ville and of reprimanding the National +Assembly. The Oratoire decides that the representatives of the commune +shall be invited to deliberate in public. Saint-Nicholas des Champs +deliberates on the veto and begs the Assembly to suspend its vote.--It +is a strange spectacle, that of these various authorities each +contradicting and destroying the other. To-day the Hotel-de-Ville +appropriates five loads of cloth which have been dispatched by the +Government, and the district of Saint-Gervais opposes the decision of +the Hotel-de-Ville. To-morrow Versailles intercepts grain destined +for Paris, while Paris threatens, if it is not restored, to march on +Versailles. I omit the incidents that are ridiculous:[1405] anarchy +in its essence is both tragic and grotesque, and, in this universal +breaking up of things, the capital, like the kingdom, resembles a +bear-garden when it does not resemble a Babel. + +But behind all these discordant authorities the real sovereign, who is +the mob, is very soon apparent.--On the 15th of July it undertakes the +demolition of the Bastille of its own accord, and this popular act is +sanctioned; for it is necessary that appearances should be kept up; +even to give orders after the blow is dealt, and to follow when it is +impossible to lead.[1406] A short time after this the collection of +the octroi at the barriers is ordered to be resumed; forty armed +individuals, however, present themselves in their district and say, that +if guards are placed at the octroi stations, "they will resist force +with force, and even make use of their cannon."--On the false rumor that +arms are concealed in the Abbey of Montmartre, the abbess, Madame de +Montmorency, is accused of treachery, and twenty thousand persons invade +the monastery.--The commander of the National Guard and the mayor are +constantly expecting a riot; they hardly dare absent themselves a day +to attend the King fete at Versailles. As soon as the multitude can +assemble in the streets, an explosion is imminent. "On rainy days," says +Bailly, "I was quite at my ease."--It is under this constant pressure +that the Government is carried on; and the elect of the people, the most +esteemed magistrates, those who are in best repute, are at the mercy of +the throng who clamor at their doors. In the district of St. Roch,[1407] +after many useless refusals, the General Assembly, notwithstanding all +the reproaches of its conscience and the resistance of its reason, is +obliged to open letters addressed to Monsieur, to the Duke of Orleans, +and to the Ministers of War, of Foreign Affairs, and of the Marine. In +the committee on subsistence, M. Serreau, who is indispensable and who +is confirmed by a public proclamation, is denounced, threatened, +and constrained to leave Paris. M. de la Salle, one of the strongest +patriots among the nobles, is on the point of being murdered for having +signed an order for the transport of gunpowder;[1408] the multitude, in +pursuit of him, attach a rope to the nearest street-lamp, ransack the +Hotel-de-Ville, force every door, mount into the belfry, and seek for +the traitor even under the carpet of the bureau and between the legs of +the electors, and are only stayed in their course by the arrival of the +National Guard. + +The people not only sentence but they execute, and, as is always the +case, blindly. At Saint-Denis, Chatel, the mayor's lieutenant, whose +duty it is to distribute flour, had reduced the price of bread at +his own expense: on the 3rd of August his house is forced open at two +o'clock in the morning, and he takes refuge in a steeple; the mob follow +him, cut his throat and drag his head along the streets.--Not only do +the people execute, but they pardon--and with equal discernment. On the +11th of August, at Versailles, as a parricide is about to be broken on +the wheel, the crowd demand his release, fly at the executioner, and set +the man free.[1409] Veritably this is sovereign power like that of the +oriental sovereign who arbitrarily awards life or death! A woman who +protests against this scandalous pardon is seized and comes near being +hung; for the new monarch considers as a crime whatever is offensive to +his new majesty. Again, he receives public and humble homage. The +Prime Minister, on imploring the pardon of M. de Bezenval at the +Hotel-de-Ville, in the presence of the electors and of the public, has +put it in appropriate words: + +"It is before the most unknown, the obscurest citizen of Paris that I +prostrate myself; at whose feet I kneel." + +A few days before this, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and at Poissy, the +deputies of the National Assembly not only kneel down in words, but +actually, and for a long time, on the pavement in the street, and +stretch forth their hands, weeping, to save two lives of which only +one is granted to them.--Behold the monarch by these brilliant signs! +Already do the young, who are eager imitators of all actions that are +in fashion, ape them in miniature; during the month which follows the +murder of Berthier and Foulon, Bailly is informed that the gamins in the +streets are parading about with the heads of two cats stuck on the ends +of two poles.[1410] + + + + +II.--The distress of the people. + + The dearth and the lack of work.--How men of executive + ability are recruited. + +A pitiable monarch, whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more +miserable than he was before! Bread is always scarce, and before the +baker's doors the row of waiting people does not diminish. In vain +Bailly passes his nights with the committee on supplies; they are always +in a state of terrible anxiety. Every morning for two months there is +only one or two days' supply of flour, and often, in the evening, there +is not enough for the following morning.[1411] The life of the capital +depends on a convoy which is ten, fifteen, twenty leagues off; and which +may never arrive: one convoy of twenty carts is pillaged on the 18th of +July, on the Rouen road; another, on the 4th of August, in the vicinity +of Louviers. Were it not for Salis' Swiss regiment, which, from the 14th +of July to the end of September, marches day and night as an escort, +not a boat-load of grain would reach Paris from Rouen.[1412]--The +commissaries charged with making purchases or with supervising the +expeditions are in danger of their lives. Those who are sent to +provinces are seized, and a column of four hundred men with cannon has +to be dispatched to deliver them. The one who is sent to Rouen learns +that he will be hung if he dares to enter the place. At Mantes a mob +surrounds his cabriolet, the people regarding whoever comes there for +the purpose of carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with +difficulty out of a back door and returns on foot to Paris.--From the +very beginning, according to a universal rule, the fear of a short +supply helps to augment the famine. Every one lays in a stock for +several days; on one occasion sixteen loaves of four pounds each are +found in an old woman's garret. The bakings, consequently, which are +estimated according to the quantity needed for a single day, become +inadequate, and the last of those who wait at the bakers' shops for +bread return home empty-handed.--On the other hand the appropriations +made by the city and the State to diminish the price of bread simply +serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for it; the countrymen +flock in thither, and return home loaded to their villages. At +Saint-Denis, bread having been reduced to two sous the pound, none +is left for the inhabitants. To this constant anxiety add that of +unemployment. Not only is there no certainty of there being bread at the +bakers' during the coming week, but many know that they will not have +money in the coming week with which to buy bread. Now that security has +disappeared and the rights of property are shaken, work is wanting. The +rich, deprived of their feudal dues, and, in addition thereto of their +rents, have reduced their expenditure; many of them, threatened by the +committee of investigation, exposed to domiciliary visits, and liable to +be informed against by their servants, have emigrated. In the month of +September M. Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports in +fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants. In the month of October +ladies of high rank, refugees in Rome, send word that their domestics +should be discharged and their daughters placed in convents. Before the +end of 1789 there are so many fugitives in Switzerland that a house, +it is said, brings in more rent than it is worth as capital. With this +first emigration, which is that of the chief spendthrifts, the Count +d'Artois, Prince de Conti, Duc de Bourbon, and so many others, the +opulent foreigners have left, and, at the head of them, the Duchesse +de l'Infantado, who spent 800,000 livres a year. There are only three +Englishmen in Paris. + +It used to be a city of luxury, it was the European hot-house of costly +and refined pleasures, but once the glass was broken then the delicate +plants perish, their lovers leave, and there is no employment now for +the innumerable hands which cultivated them. Fortunate are they who at +the relief works obtain a miserable sum by handling a pick-axe! "I saw," +says Bailly, "mercers, jewellers, and merchants implore the favor of +being employed at twenty sous the day." Enumerate, if you can, in one or +two recognized callings, the hands which are doing nothing:[1413] 1,200 +hair-dressers keep about 6,000 journeymen; 2,000 others follow the same +calling in private-houses; 6,000 lackeys do but little else than this +work. The body of tailors is composed of 2,800 masters, who have under +them 5,000 workmen. "Add to these the number privately employed--the +refugees in privileged places like the abbeys of Saint-Germain and +Saint-Marcel, the vast enclosure of the Temple, that of Saint-John the +Lateran, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and you will find at least +12,000 persons cutting, fitting, and sewing." How many in these two +groups are now idle! How many others are walking the streets, such +as upholsterers, lace-makers, embroiderers, fan-makers, gilders, +carnage-makers, binders, engravers, and all the other producers of +Parisian nick-nacks! For those who are still at work how many days are +lost at the doors of bakers' shops and in patrolling as National +Guards! Gatherings are formed in spite of the prohibitions of the +Hotel-de-Ville,[1414] and the crowd openly discuss their miserable +condition: 3,000 journeymen-tailors near the Colonnade, +as many journeymen-shoemakers in the Place Louis XV., the +journeymen-hairdressers in the Champs-Elysees, 4,000 domestics without +places on the approaches to the Louvre,--and their propositions are on a +level with their intelligence. Servants demand the expulsion from +Paris of the Savoyards who enter into competition with them. +Journeymen-tailors demand that a day's wages be fixed at forty sous, and +that the old-clothes dealers shall not be allowed to make new ones. The +journeymen-shoemakers declare that those who make shoes below the fixed +price shall be driven out of the kingdom. Each of these irritated and +agitated crowds contains the germ of an outbreak--and, in truth, these +germs are found on every pavement in Paris: at the relief works, which +at Montmartre collect 17,000 paupers; in the Market, where the bakers +want to hang the flour commissioners, and at the doors of the bakers, +of whom two, on the 14th of September and on the 5th of October, are +conducted to the lamp post and barely escape with their lives.--In this +suffering, mendicant crowd, enterprising men become more numerous every +day: they consist of deserters, and from every regiment; they reach +Paris in bands, often 250 in one day. There, "caressed and fed to the +top of their bent,"[1415] having received from the National Assembly +50 livres each, maintained by the King in the enjoyment of their +advance-money, entertained by the districts, of which one alone incurs +a debt of 14,000 livres for wine and sausages furnished to them, "they +accustom themselves to greater expense," to greater license, and are +followed by their companions. "During the night of the 31st of July the +French Guards on duty at Versailles abandon the custody of the King and +betake themselves to Paris, without their officers, but with their arms +and baggage," that "they may take part in the cheer which the city of +Paris extends to their regiment." At the beginning of September, 16,000 +deserters of this stamp are counted.[1416] Now, among those who commit +murder these are in the first rank; and this is not surprising when we +take the least account of their antecedents, education, and habits. It +was a soldier of the "Royal Croat" who tore out the heart of Berthier. +They were three soldiers of the regiment of Provence who forced the +house of Chatel at Saint-Denis, and dragged his head through +the streets. It is Swiss soldiers who, at Passy, knock down the +commissioners of police with their guns. Their headquarters are at the +Palais-Royal, amongst women whose instruments they are, and amongst +agitators from whom they receive the word of command. Henceforth, all +depends on this word, and we have only to contemplate the new popular +leaders to know what it will be. + + + + +III.--The new popular leaders. + + Their ascendancy.--Their education.--Their sentiments. + --Their situation.--Their councils.--Their denunciations. + +Administrators and members of district assemblies, agitators of +barracks, coffee-houses, clubs and public thoroughfares, writers of +pamphlets, penny-a-liners are multiplying as fast as buzzing insects are +hatched on a sultry night. After the 14th of July thousands of jobs have +become available for released ambitions; "attorneys, notaries' +clerks, artists, merchants, shopkeepers, comedians and especially +advocates;[1417] each wants to be either an officer, a director, a +councillor, or a minister of the new reign; while journals, which are +established by dozens,[1418] form a permanent tribune, where speakers +come to court the people to their personal advantage." Philosophy, +fallen into such hands, seems to parody itself; and nothing equals its +emptiness, unless it be its mischievousness and success. Lawyers, in +the sixty assembly districts, roll out the high-sounding dogmas of the +revolutionary catechism. This or that one, passing from the question +of a party wall to the constitution of empires, becomes the improvised +legislator, so much the more inexhaustible and the more applauded as +his flow of words, showered upon his hearers, proves to them that every +capacity and every right are naturally and legitimately theirs. + +"When that man opened his mouth," says a cold-blooded witness, "we were +sure of being inundated with quotations and maxims, often apropos of +street lamp posts, or of the stall of a herb-dealer. His stentorian +voice made the vaults ring; and after he had spoken for two hours, +and his breath was completely exhausted, the admiring and enthusiastic +shouts which greeted him amounted almost to frenzy. Thus the orator +fancied himself a Mirabeau, while the spectators imagined themselves the +Constituent Assembly, deciding the fate of France." + +The journals and pamphlets are written in the same style. Every brain +is filled with the fumes of conceit and of big words; the leader of the +crowd is he who raves the most, and he guides the wild enthusiasm which +he increases. + +Let us consider the most popular of these chiefs; they are the green or +the dry fruit of literature, and of the bar. The newspaper is the +stall which every morning offers them for sale, and if they suit the +overexcited public it is simply owing to their acid or bitter flavor. +Their empty, unpracticed minds are wholly void of political conceptions; +they have no capacity or practical experience. Desmoulins is twenty-nine +years of age, Loustalot twenty-seven, and their intellectual ballast +consists of college reminiscences, souvenirs of the law schools, and the +common-places picked up in the houses of Raynal and his associates. +As to Brissot and Marat, who are ostentatious humanitarians, their +knowledge of France and of foreign countries consists in what they have +seen through the dormer windows of their garrets, and through utopian +spectacles. In minds like these, empty or led astray, the Contrat-Social +could not fail to become a gospel; for it reduces political science to +a strict application of an elementary axiom which relieves them of all +study, and hands society over to the caprice of the people, or, in other +words, delivers it into their own hands.--Hence they demolish all +that remains of social institutions, and push on equalization until +everything is brought down to the same level. + +"With my principles," writes Desmoulins,[1419] "is associated the +satisfaction of putting myself where I belong, of showing my strength to +those who have despised me, of lowering to my level all whom fortune has +placed above me: my motto is that of all honest people: 'No superiors!'" + +Thus, under the great name of Liberty, each vain spirit seeks its +revenge and finds its nourishment. What is sweeter and more natural than +to justify passion by theory, to be factious in the belief that this is +patriotism, and to cloak the interests of ambition with the interests of +humanity? + +Let us picture to ourselves these directors of public opinion as they +were three months earlier: Desmoulins, a briefless barrister, living in +furnished lodgings with petty debts, and on a few louis extracted from +his relations. Loustalot, still more unknown, was admitted the previous +year to the Parliament of Bordeaux, and has landed at Paris in search of +a career. Danton, another second-rate lawyer, coming out of a hovel in +Champagne, borrowed the money to pay his expenses, while his stinted +household is kept up only by means of a louis which is given to him +weekly by his father-in-law, who is a coffee-house keeper. Brissot, a +strolling Bohemian, formerly employee of literary pirates, has roamed +over the world for fifteen years, without bringing back with him either +from England or America anything but a coat out at elbows and false +ideas; and, finally, Marat; a writer that has been hissed, an abortive +scholar and philosopher, a misrepresenter of his own experiences, caught +by the natural philosopher Charles in the act of committing a scientific +fraud, and fallen from the top of his inordinate ambition to the +subordinate post of doctor in the stables of the Comte d'Artois.--At the +present time, Danton, President of the Cordeliers, can arrest any one he +pleases in his district, and his violent gestures and thundering voice +secure to him, till something better turns up, the government of his +section of the city. A word of Marat's has just caused Major Belzunce at +Caen to be assassinated. Desmoulins announces, with a smile of triumph, +that "a large section of the capital regards him as one among the +principal instigators of the Revolution, and that many even go so far as +to say that he is the author of it." Is it to be supposed that, borne so +high by such a sudden jerk of fortune, they wish to put on the drag and +again descend? and is it not clear that they will aid with all +their might the revolt which hoists them towards the loftiest +summits?--Moreover, the brain reels at a height like this; suddenly +launched in the air and feeling as if everything was tottering around +them, they utter exclamations of indignation and terror, they see plots +on all sides, imagine invisible cords pulling in an opposite direction, +and they call upon the people to cut them. With the full weight of their +inexperience, incapacity, and improvidence, of their fears, credulity, +and dogmatic obstinacy, they urge on popular attacks, and their +newspaper articles or discourses are all summed up in the following +phrases: + +"Fellow-citizens, you, the people of the lower class, you who listen +to me, you have enemies in the Court and the aristocracy. The +Hotel-de-Ville and the National Assembly are your servants. Seize your +enemies with a strong hand, and hang them, and let your servants know +that they must quicken their steps!" + +Desmoulins styles himself "District-attorney of the gallows,"[1420] and +if he at all regrets the murders of Foulon and Berthier, it is because +this too expeditious judgment has allowed the proofs of conspiracy to +perish, thereby saving a number of traitors: he himself mentions twenty +of them haphazard, and little does he care whether he makes mistakes. + +"We are in the dark, and it is well that faithful dogs should bark, even +at all who pass by, so that there may be no fear of robbers." + +From this time forth Marat[1421] denounces the King, the ministers, +the administration, the bench, the bar, the financial system and the +academies, all as "suspicious;" at all events the people only suffer on +their account. + +"The Government is monopolizing grain, to make us to pay through the +nose for a poisonous bread." + +The Government, again, through a new conspiracy is about to blockade +Paris, so as to starve it with greater ease. Utterances of this kind, +at such a time, are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to kindle +the flames of rage and cruelty. To this frightened and fasting crowd the +agitators and newspaper writers continue to repeat that it must act, +and act alongside of the authorities, and, if need be, against them. +In other words, We will do as we please; we are the sole legitimate +masters; + +"in a well-constituted government, the people as a body are the real +sovereign: our delegates are appointed only to execute our orders; what +right has the clay to rebel against the potter?" + +On the strength of such principles, the tumultuous club which occupies +the Palais-Royal substitutes itself for the Assembly at Versailles. +Has it not all the titles for this office? The Palais-Royal "saved the +nation" on the 12th and 13th of July. The Palais-Royal, "through its +spokesmen and pamphlets," has made everybody and even the soldiers +"philosophers." It is the house of patriotism, "the rendezvous of the +select among the patriotic," whether provincials or Parisians, of all +who possess the right of suffrage, and who cannot or will not exercise +it in their own district. "It saves time to come to the Palais-Royal. +There is no need there of appealing to the President for the right to +speak, or to wait one's time for a couple of hours. The orator proposes +his motion, and, if it finds supporters, mounts a chair. If he is +applauded, it is put into proper shape. If he is hissed, he goes away. +This was the way of the Romans." Behold the veritable National Assembly! +It is superior to the other semi-feudal affair, encumbered with "six +hundred deputies of the clergy and nobility," who are so many intruders +and who "should be sent out into the galleries."--Hence the pure +Assembly rules the impure Assembly, and "the Cafe Foy lays claim to the +government of France." + + + + +IV.--Intervention by the popular leaders with the Government. + + Their pressure on the Assembly. + +On the 30th of July, the harlequin who led the insurrection at Rouen +having been arrested, "it is openly proposed at the Palais Royal[1422] +to go in a body and demand his release."--On the 1st of August, Thouret, +whom the moderate party of the Assembly have just made President, is +obliged to resign; the Palais-Royal threatens to send a band and murder +him along with those who voted for him, and lists of proscriptions, +in which several of the deputies are inscribed, begin to be +circulated.--From this time forth, on all great questions-the abolition +of the feudal system, the suppression of tithes, a declaration of the +rights of man, the dispute about the Chambers, the King's power of +veto,[1423] the pressure from without inclines the balance: in this +way the Declaration of Rights, which is rejected in secret session by +twenty-eight bureaus out of thirty, is forced through by the tribunes in +a public sitting and passed by a majority.--Just as before the 14th of +July, and to a still greater extent, two kinds of compulsion influence +the votes, and it is always the ruling faction which employs both its +hands to throttle its opponents. On the one hand this faction takes post +on the galleries in knots composed nearly always of the same persons, +"five or six hundred permanent actors," who yell according to understood +signals and at the word of command.[1424] Many of these are French +Guards, in civilian clothes, and who relieve each other: previously +they have asked of their favorite deputy "at what hour they must come, +whether all goes on well, and whether he is satisfied with those fools +of parsons (calotins) and the aristocrats." Others consist of low women +under the command of Theroigne de Mericourt, a virago courtesan, who +assigns them their positions and gives them the signal for hooting +or for applause. Publicly and in full session, on the occasion of the +debate on the veto, "the deputies are applauded or insulted by the +galleries according as they utter the word 'suspensive,' or the word +'indefinite.' "Threats," (says one of them) "circulated; I heard +them on all sides around me." These threats are repeated on going out: +"Valets dismissed by their masters, deserters, and women in rags," +threaten the refractory with the lamp post, "and thrust their fists in +their faces. In the hall itself, and much more accurately than before +the 14th of July, their names are taken down, and the lists, handed +over to the populace," travel to the Palais-Royal, from where they +are dispatched in correspondence and in newspapers to the +provinces.[1425]--Thus we see the second means of compulsion; each +deputy is answerable for his vote, at Paris, with his own life, and, +in the province, with those of his family. Members of the former +Third-Estate avow that they abandon the idea of two Chambers, because +"they are not disposed to get their wives' and children's throats cut." +On the 30th of August, Saint-Hurugue, the most noisy of the Palais-Royal +barkers, marches off to Versailles, at the head of 1,500 men, to +complete the conversion of the Assembly. This garden club indeed, from +the heights of its great learning, integrity, and immaculate reputation, +decides that the ignorant, corrupt, and doubtful deputies must be got +rid of." That they are such cannot be questioned, because they defend +the royal sanction; there are over 600 and more, 120 are deputies of the +communes, who must be expelled to begin with, and then must be brought +to judgment.[1426] In the meantime they are informed, as well as the +Bishop of Langres, President of the National Assembly, that "15,000 men +are ready to light up their chateaux and in particular yours, sir." +To avoid all mistake, the secretaries of the Assembly are informed +in writing that '2,000 letters" will be sent into the provinces to +denounce to the people the conduct of the malignant deputies: "Your +houses are held as a surety for your opinions: keep this in mind, and +save yourselves!" At last, on the morning of the 1st of August, five +deputations from the Palais-Royal, one of them led by Loustalot, march +in turn to the Hotel-de-Ville, insisting that the drums should be beaten +and the citizens be called together for the purpose of changing the +deputies, or their instructions, and of ordering the National Assembly +to suspend its discussion on the veto until the districts and provinces +could give expression to their will: the people, in effect, alone being +sovereign, and alone competent, always has the right to dismiss or +instruct anew its servants, the deputies. On the following day, August +2nd, to make matters plainer, new delegates from the same Palais-Royal +suit gestures to words; they place two fingers on their throats, on +being introduced before the representatives of the commune, as a hint +that, if the latter do not obey, they will be hung. + +After this it is vain for the National Assembly to make any show of +indignation, to declare that it despises threats, and to protest its +independence; the impression is already produced. "More than 300 members +of the communes," says Mounier, "had decided to support the absolute +veto." At the end of ten days most of these had gone over, several of +them through attachment to the King, because they were afraid of "a +general uprising," and "were not willing to jeopardize the lives of the +royal family." But concessions like these only provoke fresh extortions. +The politicians of the street now know by experience the effect of +brutal violence on legal authority. Emboldened by success and by +impunity, they reckon up their strength and the weakness of the latter. +One blow more, and they are undisputed masters. Besides, the issue is +already apparent to clear-sighted men. When the agitators of the public +thoroughfares, and the porters at the street-corners, convinced of their +superior wisdom, impose decrees by the strength of their lungs, of their +fists, and of their pikes, at that moment experience, knowledge, good +sense, cool-blood, genius, and judgment, disappear from human affairs, +and things revert back to chaos. Mirabeau, in favor of the veto for +life, saw the crowd imploring him with tears in their eyes to change his +opinion: + +"Monsieur le Comte, if the King obtains this veto, what will be the use +of a National Assembly? We shall all be slaves "[1427] + +Outbursts of this description are not to be resisted, and all is lost. +Already, near the end of September, the remark applies which Mirabeau +makes to the Comte de la Marck: + +"Yes, all is lost; the King and Queen will be swept away, and you will +see the populace trampling on their lifeless bodies." + +Eight days after this, on the 5th and 6th of October, it breaks out +against both King and Queen, against the National Assembly and the +Government, against all government present and to come; the violent +party which rules in Paris obtains possession of the chiefs of France +to hold them under strict surveillance, and to justify its intermittent +outrages by one permanent outrage. + + + + +V.--The 5th and 6th of October. + +Once more, two different currents combine into one torrent to hurry the +crowd onward to a common end.--On the one hand are the cravings of the +stomach, and women excited by the famine: + +"Now that bread cannot be had in Paris, let us go to Versailles and +demand it there; once we have the King, Queen, and Dauphin in the midst +of us, they will be obliged to feed us;" we will bring back "the Baker, +the Bakeress, and the Baker's boy." --On the other hand, there is +fanaticism, and men who are pushed on by the need to dominate. + +"Now that our chiefs yonder disobey us,--let us go and make them obey us +forthwith; the King is quibbling over the Constitution and the Rights of +Man--make him approve them; his guards refuse to wear our cockade--make +them accept it; they want to carry him off to Metz--make him come to +Paris, here, under our eyes and in our hands, he, and the lame Assembly +too, will march straight on, and quickly, whether they like it or not, +and always on the right road."--Under this confluence of ideas the +expedition is arranged.[1428] Ten days before this, it is publicly +alluded to at Versailles. On the 4th of October, at Paris, a woman +proposes it at the Palais-Royal; Danton roars at the Cordeliers; +Marat, "alone, makes as much noise as the four trumpets on the Day of +Judgment." Loustalot writes that a second revolutionary paroxysm is +necessary." "The day passes," says Desmoulins, "in holding councils at +the Palais-Royal, and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the ends of +the bridges, and on the quays... in pulling off the cockades of but one +color.... These are torn off and trampled under foot with threats of the +lamp post, in case of fresh offense; a soldier who is trying to +refasten his, changes his mind on seeing a hundred sticks raised against +him."[1429] These are the premonitory symptoms of a crisis; a huge ulcer +has formed in this feverish, suffering body, and it is about to break. + +But, as is usually the case, it is a purulent concentration of the most +poisonous passions and the foulest motives. The vilest of men and +women were engaged in it. Money was freely distributed. Was it done by +intriguing subalterns who, playing upon the aspirations of the Duke of +Orleans, extracted millions from him under the pretext of making him +lieutenant-general of the kingdom? Or is it due to the fanatics who, +from the end of April, clubbed together to debauch the soldiery, and +stir up a body of ruffians for the purpose of leveling and destroying +everything around them?[1430] There are always Machiavellis of the +highways and of houses of ill-fame ready to excite the foul and the +vile of both sexes. On the first day that the Flemish regiment goes into +garrison at Versailles an attempt is made to corrupt it with money and +women. Sixty abandoned women are sent from Paris for this purpose, while +the French Guards come and treat their new comrades. The latter have +been treated at the Palais-Royal, while three of them, at Versailles, +exclaim, showing some crown pieces of six livres, "What a pleasure it +is to go to Paris! one always comes back with money!" In this way, +resistance is overcome beforehand. As to the attack, women are to be the +advanced guard, because the soldiers will scruple to fire at them; +their ranks, however, will be reinforced by a number of men disguised +as women. On looking closely at them they are easily recognized, +notwithstanding their rouge, by their badly-shaven beards, and by their +voices and gait.[1431] No difficulty has been found in obtaining men +and women among the prostitutes of the Palais-Royal and the military +deserters who serve them as bullies. It is probable that the former lent +their lovers the cast-off dresses they had to spare. At night all will +meet again at the common rendezvous, on the benches of the National +Assembly, where they are quite as much at home as in their own +houses.[1432]--In any event, the first band which marches out is of this +stamp, displaying the finery and the gaiety of the profession; "most of +them young, dressed in white, with powdered hair and a sprightly air;" +many of them "laughing, singing, and drinking," as they would do at +setting out for a picnic in the country. Three or four of them are known +by name--one brandishing a sword, and another, the notorious Theroigne. +Madeleine Chabry Louison, who is selected to address the King, is a +pretty grisette who sells flowers, and, no doubt, something else, at the +Palais-Royal. Some appear to belong to the first rank in their calling, +and to have tact and the manners of society--suppose, for instance, +that Champfort and Laclos sent their mistresses. To these must be added +washerwomen, beggars, bare-footed women, and fishwomen, enlisted for +several days before and paid accordingly. This is the first nucleus, +and it keeps on growing; for, by compulsion or consent, the +troop incorporates into it, as it passes along, all the women it +encounters--seamstresses, portresses, housekeepers, and even respectable +females, whose dwellings are entered with threats of cutting off +their hair if they do not fall in. To these must be added vagrants, +street-rovers, ruffians and robbers--the lees of Paris, which accumulate +and come to the surface every time agitation occurs: they are to be +found already at the first hour, behind the troop of women at the +Hotel-de-Ville. Others are to follow during the evening and in the +night. Others are waiting at Versailles. Many, both at Paris and +Versailles, are under pay: one, in a dirty whitish vest, chinks gold and +silver coin in his hand.--Such is the foul scum which, both in front and +in the rear, rolls along with the popular tide; whatever is done to stem +the torrent, it widens out and will leave its mark at every stage of its +overflow. + +The first troop, consisting of four or five hundred women, begin +operations by forcing the guard of the Hotel-de-Ville, which is +unwilling to make use of its bayonets. They spread through the rooms +and try to burn all the written documents they can find, declaring that +there has been nothing but scribbling since the Revolution began.[1433] +A crowd of men follow after them, bursting open doors, and pillaging +the magazine of arms. Two hundred thousand francs in Treasury notes are +stolen or disappear; several of the ruffians set fire to the building, +while others hang an abbe. The abbe is cut down, and the fire +extinguished only just in time: such are the interludes of the popular +drama. In the meantime, the crowd of women increases on the Place de +Greve, always with the same unceasing cry, "Bread!" and "To Versailles!" +One of the conquerors of the Bastille; the usher Maillard, offers +himself as a leader. He is accepted, and taps his drum; on leaving +Paris, he has seven or eight thousand women with him, and, in addition, +some hundreds of men; by dint of remonstrances, he succeeds in +maintaining some kind of order amongst this rabble as far as +Versailles.--But it is a rabble notwithstanding, and consequently so +much brute force, at once anarchical and imperious. On the one hand, +each, and the worst among them, does what he pleases--which will be +quite evident this very evening. On the other hand, its ponderous mass +crushes all authority and overrides all rules and regulations--which is +at once apparent on reaching Versailles.--Admitted into the Assembly, at +first in small numbers, the women crowd against the door, push in with a +rush, fill the galleries, then the hall, the men along with them, armed +with clubs, halberds, and pikes, all pell-mell, side by side with the +deputies, taking possession of their benches, voting along with them, +and gathering about the President, who, surrounded, threatened, and +insulted, finally abandons the position, while his chair is taken by +a woman.[1434] A fishwoman commands in a gallery, and about a hundred +women around her shout or keep silence at her bidding, while she +interrupts and abuses the deputies: + +"Who is that speaker there? Silence that blabbermouth; he does not know +what he is talking about. The question is how to get bread. Let papa +Mirabeau speak--we want to hear him." + +A decree on subsistence having been passed, the leaders demand something +in addition; they must be allowed to enter all places where they suspect +any monopolizing to be going on, and the price of "bread must be fixed +at six sous the four pounds, and meat at six sous per pound." + +"You must not think that we are children to be played with. We are ready +to strike. Do as you are bidden." + +All their political injunctions emanate from this central idea. And +further: + +"Send back the Flemish regiment--it is a thousand men more to feed, and +they take bread out of our mouths."--"Punish the aristocrats, who hinder +the bakers from baking." "Down with the skull-cap; the priests are the +cause of our trouble!"--"Monsieur Mounier, why did you advocate that +villainous veto? Beware of the lamp post!" + +Under this pressure, a deputation of the Assembly, with the President at +its head, sets out on foot, in the mud, through the rain, and watched by +a howling escort of women and men armed with pikes: after five hours +of waiting and entreaty, it wrings from the King, besides the decree on +subsistence, about which there was no difficulty, the acceptance, +pure and simple, of the Declaration of Rights, and his sanction to the +constitutional articles.--Such is the independence of the King and the +Assembly.[1435] Thus are the new principles of justice established, the +grand outlines of the Constitution, the abstract axioms of political +truth under the dictatorship of a crowd which extorts not only blindly, +but which is half-conscious of its blindness. + +"Monsieur le President," some among the women say to Mounier, who +returns with the Royal sanction, "will it be of any real use to us? will +it give poor folks bread in Paris?" + +Meanwhile, the scum has been bubbling up around the chateau; and the +abandoned women subsidized in Paris are pursuing their calling.[1436] +They slip through into the lines of the regiment drawn on the square, in +spite of the sentinels. Theroigne, in an Amazonian red vest, distributes +money among them. + +"Side with us," some say to the men; "we shall soon beat the King's +Guards, strip off their fine coats and sell them." + +Others lie sprawling on the ground, alluring the soldiers, and make such +offers as to lead one of them to exclaim, "We are going to have a jolly +time of it!" Before the day is over, the regiment is seduced; the women +have, according to their own idea, acted for a good motive. When a +political idea finds its way into such heads, instead of ennobling them, +it becomes degraded there; its only effect is to let loose vices which a +remnant of modesty still keeps in subjection, and full play is given to +luxurious or ferocious instincts under cover of the public good.--The +passions, moreover, become intensified through their mutual interaction; +crowds, clamor, disorder, longings, and fasting, end in a state of +frenzy, from which nothing can issue but dizzy madness and rage.--This +frenzy began to show itself on the way. Already, on setting out, a woman +had exclaimed, + +"We shall bring back the Queen's head on the end of a pike!"[1437] + +On reaching the Sevres bridge others added, + +"Let us cut her throat, and make cockades of her entrails!" + +Rain is falling; they are cold, tired, and hungry, and get nothing to +eat but a bit of bread, distributed at a late hour, and with difficulty, +on the Place d'Armes. One of the bands cuts up a slaughtered horse, +roasts it, and consumes it half raw, after the manner of savages. It is +not surprising that, under the names of patriotism and "justice," savage +ideas spring up in their minds against "members of the National Assembly +who are not with the principles of the people," against "the Bishop +of Langres, Mounier, and the rest." One man in a ragged old red coat +declares that "he must have the head of the Abbe Maury to play nine-pins +with." But it is especially against the Queen, who is a woman, and in +sight, that the feminine imagination is the most aroused. + +"She alone is the cause of the evils we endure.... she must be killed, +and quartered." --Night advances; there are acts of violence, and +violence engenders violence. + +"How glad I should be," says one man, "if I could only lay my hand on +that she-devil, and strike off her head on the first curbstone!" + +Towards morning, some cry out, + +"Where is that cursed cat? We must eat her heart out... We'll take +off her head, cut her heart out, and fry her liver!" --With the first +murders the appetite for blood has been awakened; the women from Paris +say that "they have brought tubs to carry away the stumps of the +Royal Guards," and at these words others clap their hands. Some of the +riffraff of the crowd examine the rope of the lamp post in the court of +the National Assembly, and judging it not to be sufficiently strong, are +desirous of supplying its place with another "to hang the Archbishop +of Paris, Maury, and d'Espremenil."--This murderous, carnivorous rage +penetrates even among those whose duty it is to maintain order, one +of the National Guard being heard to say that "the body-guards must be +killed to the last man, and their hearts torn out for a breakfast." + +Finally, towards midnight, the National Guard of Paris arrives; but +it only adds one insurrection to another, for it has likewise mutinied +against its chiefs.[1438] + +"If M. de Lafayette is not disposed to accompany us," says one of the +grenadiers, "we will take an old grenadier for our commander." + +Having come to this decision, they sought the general at the +Hotel-de-Ville, and the delegates of six of the companies made their +instructions known to him. + +"General, we do not believe that you are a traitor, but we think that +the Government is betraying us.... The committee on subsistence is +deceiving us, and must be removed. We want to go to Versailles to +exterminate the body-guard and the Flemish regiment who have trampled +on the national cockade. If the King of France is too feeble to wear +his crown, let him take it off; we will crown his son and things will go +better." + +In vain Lafayette refuses, and harangues them on the Place de Greve; in +vain he resists for hours, now addressing them and now imposing silence. +Armed bands, coming from the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and Saint-Marceau, +swell the crowd; they take aim at him; others prepare the lamp-post. He +then dismounts and endeavors to return to the Hotel-de-Ville, but his +grenadiers bar the way: + +"Morbleu, General, you will stay with us; you will not abandon us!" + +Being their chief it is pretty plain that he must follow them; which +is also the sentiment of the representatives of the commune at the +Hotel-de-Ville, who send him their authorization, and even the order to +march, "seeing that it is impossible for him to refuse." + +Fifteen thousand men thus reach Versailles, and in front of and along +with them thousands of ruffians, protected by the darkness. On this side +the National Guard of Versailles, posted around the chateau, together +with the people of Versailles, who bar the way against vehicles, have +closed up every outlet.[1439] The King is prisoner in his own palace, +he and his, with his ministers and his court, and with no defense. For, +with his usual optimism, he has confided the outer posts of the chateau +to Lafayette's soldiers, and, through a humanitarian obstinacy which he +is to maintain up to the last,[1440] he has forbidden his own guards +to fire on the crowd, so that they are only there for show. With common +right in his favor, the law, and the oath which Lafayette had just +obliged his troops to renew, what could he have to fear? What could be +more effective with the people than trust in them and prudence? And by +playing the sheep one is sure of taming brutes! + +From five o'clock in the morning they prowl around the palace-railings. +Lafayette, exhausted with fatigue, has taken an hour's repose,[1441] +which hour suffices for them.[1442] A populace armed with pikes and +clubs, men and women, surrounds a squad of eighty-eight National Guards, +forces them to fire on the King's Guards, bursts open a door, seizes +two of the guards and chops their heads off. The executioner, who is a +studio model, with a heavy beard, stretches out his blood-stained hands +and glories in the act; and so great is the effect on the National Guard +that they move off; through sensibility, in order not to witness such +sights: such is the resistance! In the meantime the crowd invade the +staircases, beat down and trample on the guards they encounter, and +burst open the doors with imprecations against the Queen. The Queen runs +off; just in time, in her underclothes; she takes refuge with the King +and the rest of the royal family, who have in vain barricaded themselves +in the oeil-de-Boeuf, a door of which is broken in: here they stand, +awaiting death, when Lafayette arrives with his grenadiers and saves +all that can be saved--their lives, and nothing more. For, from the crowd +huddled in the marble court the shout rises, "To Paris with the King!" a +command to which the King submits. + +Now that the great hostage is in their hands, will they deign to accept +the second one? This is doubtful. On the Queen approaching the balcony +with her son and daughter, a howl arises of "No children!" They want to +have her alone in the sights of their guns, and she understands that. At +this moment M. de Lafayette, throwing the shield of his popularity over +her, appears on the balcony at her side and respectfully kisses her +hand. The reaction is instantaneous in this over-excited crowd. Both +the men and especially the women, in such a state of nervous tension, +readily jump from one extreme to another, rage bordering on tears. A +portress, who is a companion of Maillard's,[1443] imagines that she +hears Lafayette promise in the Queen's name "to love her people and be +as much attached to them as Jesus Christ to his Church." People sob and +embrace each other; the grenadiers shift their caps to the heads of the +body-guard. Everything will be fine: "the people have won their King +back."--Nothing is to be done now but to rejoice; and the cortege moves +on. The royal family and a hundred deputies, in carriages, form the +center, and then comes the artillery, with a number of women bestriding +the cannons; next, a convoy of flour. Round about are the King's Guards, +each with a National Guard mounted behind him; then comes the National +Guard of Paris, and after them men with pikes and women on foot, on +horseback, in cabs, and on carts; in front is a band bearing two severed +heads on the ends of two poles, which halts at a hairdresser's, in +Sevres, to have these heads powdered and curled;[1444] they are made to +bow by way of salutation, and are daubed all over with cream; there are +jokes and shouts of laughter; the people stop to eat and drink on the +road, and oblige the guards to clink glasses with them; they shout and +fire salvos of musketry; men and women hold each other's hands and +sing and dance about in the mud.--Such is the new fraternity: a funeral +procession of legal and legitimate authorities, a triumph of brutality +over intelligence, a murderous and political Mardi-gras, a formidable +masquerade which, preceded by the insignia of death, drags along with it +the heads of France, the King, the ministers, and the deputies, that it +may constrain them to rule to until according to its frenzy, that it may +hold them under its them pikes until it is pleased to slaughter them. + + + + +VI.--The Government and the nation in the hands of the revolutionary +party. + +This time there can be no mistake: the Reign of Terror is fully and +firmly established. On this very day the mob stops a vehicle, in which +it hopes to find M. de Virieu, and declares, on searching it, that "they +are looking for the deputy to massacre him, as well as others of whom +they have a list."[1445] Two days afterwards the Abbe Gregoire tells +the National Assembly that not a day passes without ecclesiastics being +insulted in Paris, and pursued with "horrible threats." Malouet is +advised that "as soon as guns are distributed among the militia, the +first use made of them will be to get rid of those deputies who are bad +citizens," and among others of the Abbe Maury. "The moment I stepped out +into the streets," writes Mounier, "I was publicly followed. It was a +crime to be seen in my company. Wherever I happened to go, along +with two or three of my companions, it was stated that an assembly of +aristocrats was forming. I had become such an object of terror that they +threatened to set fire to a country-house where I had passed twenty-four +hours; and, to relieve their minds, a promise had to be given that +neither myself nor my friends should be again received into it." In one +week five or six hundred deputies have their passports[1446] made out, +and hold themselves ready to depart. During the following month one +hundred and twenty give in their resignations, or no longer appear +in the Assembly. Mounier, Lally-Tollendal, the Bishop of Langres, and +others besides, quit Paris, and afterwards France. Mallet du Pan writes, +"Opinion now dictates its judgment with steel in hand. Believe or die is +the anathema which vehement spirits pronounce, and this in the name +of Liberty. Moderation has become a crime." After the 7th of October, +Mirabeau says to the Comte de la Marck: + +"If you have any influence with the King or the Queen, persuade them +that they and France are lost if the royal family does not leave Paris. +I am busy with a plan for getting them away." + +He prefers everything to the present situation, "even civil war;" +for "war, at least, invigorates the soul," while here, "under the +dictatorship of demagogues, we are being drowned in slime." Given up +to itself, Paris, in three months, "will certainly be a hospital, and, +perhaps, a theater of horrors." Against the rabble and its leaders, it +is essential that the King should at once coalesce "with his people," +that he should go to Rouen, appeal to the provinces, provide a Centre +for public opinion, and, if necessary, resort to armed resistance. +Malouet, on his side, declares that "the Revolution, since the 5th of +October, "horrifies all sensible men, and every party, but that it +is complete and irresistible." Thus the three best minds that are +associated with the Revolution--those whose verified prophecies attest +genius or good sense; the only ones who, for two or three years, and +from week to week, have always predicted wisely, and who have employed +reason in their demonstrations--these three, Mallet du Pan, Mirabeau, +Mabuet, agree in their estimate of the event, and in measuring its +consequences. The nation is gliding down a declivity, and no one +possesses the means or the force to arrest it. The King cannot do it: +"undecided and weak beyond all expression, his character resembles those +oiled ivory balls which one vainly strives to keep together."[1447] And +as for the Assembly, blinded, violated, and impelled on by the theory +it proclaims, and by the faction which supports it, each of its grand +decrees only renders its fall the more precipitate. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 1401: Bailly, "Memoires," II. 195, 242.] + +[Footnote 1402: Elysee Loustalot, journalist, editor of the paper +"Revolutions de Paris," was a young lawyer who had shown a natural +genius for innovative journalism. He was to die already in 1790. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 1403: Montjoie, ch. LXX, p. 65.] + +[Footnote 1404: Bailly, II. 74, 174, 242, 261, 282, 345, 392.] + +[Footnote 1405: Such as domiciliary visits and arrests apparently made +by lunatics. ("Archives de la Prefecture de Police de Paris.")--And +Montjoie, ch. LXX. p.67. Expedition of the National Guard against +imaginary brigands who are cutting down the crops at Montmorency and the +volley fired in the air.--Conquest of Ile-Adam and Chantilly.] + +[Footnote 1406: Bailly, II. 46, 95, 232, 287, 296.] + +[Footnote 1407: "Archives de la Prefecture de Police," minutes of the +meeting of the section of Butte des Moulins, October 5, 1789.] + +[Footnote 1408: Bailly, II. 224.--Dusaulx, 418, 202, 257, 174, 158. The +powder transported was called poudre de traite (transport); the people +understood it as poudre de traitre (traitor). M. de la Salle was near +being killed through the addition of an r. It is he who had taken +command of the National Guard on the 13th of July.] + +[Footnote 1409: Floquet, VII. 54. There is the same scene at Granville, +in Normandy, on the 16th of October. A woman had assassinated her +husband, while a soldier who was her lover is her accomplice; the woman +was about to be hung and the man broken on the wheel, when the populace +shout, "The nation has the right of pardon," upset the scaffold, and +save the two assassins.] + +[Footnote 1410: Bailly, II. 274 (August 17th).] + +[Footnote 1411: Bailly, II, 83, 202, 230, 235, 283, 299.] + +[Footnote 1412: Mercure de France, the number for September 26th.--De +Goncourt, p. 111.] + +[Footnote 1413: Mercier, "Tableau de Paris," I, 58; X. 151.] + +[Footnote 1414: De Ferrieres, I. 178.--Buchez and Roux, II. 311, +316.--Bai11y, II. 104, 174, 207, 246, 257, 282.] + +[Footnote 1415: Mercure de France, September 5th, 1789. Horace Walpole's +Letters, September 5, 1789.--M. de Lafayette, "Memoires," I. 272. During +the week following the 14th of July, 6,000 soldiers deserted and went +over to the people, besides 400 and 800 Swiss Guards and six battalions +of the French Guards, who remain without officers, and do as they +please. Vagabonds from the neighboring villages flock in, and there are +more than "30,000 strangers and vagrants" in Paris.] + +[Footnote 1416: Bailly, II. 282. The crowd of deserters was so great +that Lafayette was obliged to place a guard at the barriers to keep them +from entering the city. "Without this precaution the whole army would +have come in."] + +[Footnote 1417: De Ferrieres, I. 103.--De Lavalette, I. 39.--Bailly, I. +53 (on the lawyers). "It may be said that the success of the Revolution +is due to this class."--Marmontel, II. 243 "Since the first elections +of Paris, in 1789, I remarked," he says, "this species of restless +intriguing men, contending with each other to be heard, impatient to +make themselves prominent....It is well known what interest this body +(the lawyers) had to change Reform into Revolution, the Monarchy into +a Republic; the object was to organize for itself a perpetual +aristocracy."--Buchez and Roux, II. 358 (article by C. Desmoulins). "In +the districts everybody exhausts his lungs and his time in trying to be +president, vice-president, secretary or vice-secretary"] + +[Footnote 1418: Eugene Hatin, "Histoire de la Presse," vol. V. p. 113. +"Le Patriote francais" by Brissot, July 28, 1789.--"L'Ami du Peuple," +by Marat, September 12, 1789.--"Annales patriotiques et litteraires," by +Carra and Mercier, October 5, 1789,--"Les Revolutions de Paris," chief +editor Loustalot, July 17th, 1789.--"Le Tribun du peuple," letters +by (middle of 1789).--"Revolutions de France et de Brabant," by C. +Desmoulins, November 28, 1789; his "France libre" (I believe of the +month of August, and his "Discours de la Lanterne" of the month of +September).--"The Moniteur" does not make its appearance until November +24, 1789. In the seventy numbers which follow, up to February 3, 1790, +the debates of the Assembly were afterwards written out, amplified, and +put in a dramatic form. All numbers anterior to February 3, 1790, are +the result of a compilation executed in the year IV. The narrative part +during the first six months of the Revolution is of no value. The report +of the sittings of the Assembly is more exact, but should be revised +sitting by sitting and discourse by discourse for a detailed history +of the National Assembly. The principal authorities which are really +contemporary are, "Le Mercure de France," "Le Journal de Paris," "Le +point de Jour" by Barrere, the "Courrier de Versailles," by Gorsas, the +"Courrier de Provence" by Mirabeau, the "Journal des Debats et Decrets," +the official reports of the National assembly, the "Bulletin de +l'Asemblee Nationale," by Marat, besides the newspapers above cited +for the period following the 14th of July, and the speeches, which are +printed separately.] + +[Footnote 1419: C. Desmoulins, letters of September 20th and of +subsequent dates. (He quote, a passage from Lucan in the sense +indicated).--Brissot, "Memoires," passim.--Biography of Danton by +Robinet. (See the testimony of Madame Roland and of Rousselin de +Saint-Albin.)] + +[Footnote 1420: "Discours de la Lanterne." See the epigraph of the +engraving.] + +[Footnote 1421: Buchez and Roux; III. 55; article of Marat, October lst. +"Sweep all the suspected men out of the Hotel-de-Ville. . . . . Reduce +the deputies of the communes to fifty; do not let them remain in office +more than a month or six weeks, and compel them to transact business +only in public."--And II. 412, another article by Marat.--Ibid. III. +21. An article by Loustalot.--C. Desmoulins, "Discours de la Lanterne," +passim.--Bailly, II. 326.] + +[Footnote 1422: Mounier, "Des causes qui ont empeche les Francais d'etre +libre," I. 59.--Lally-Tollendal, second letter, 104.--Bailly, II. 203.] + +[Footnote 1423: De Bouille, 207.--Lally-Tollendal, ibid, 141, +146.--Mounier, ibid., 41, 60.] + +[Footnote 1424: Mercure de France, October 2, 1790 (article of Mallet du +Pan: "I saw it"). Criminal proceedings at the Chatelet on the events of +October 5th and 6th. Deposition of M. Feydel, a deputy, No. 178.----De +Montlosier, i. 259.--Desmoulins (La Lanterne). "Some members of the +communes are gradually won over by pensions, by plans for making a +fortune and by flattery. Happily, the incorruptible galleries are always +on the side of the patriots. They represent the tribunes of the people +seated on a bench in attendance on the deliberations of the Senate and +who had the veto. They represent the metropolis and, fortunately, it +is under the batteries of the metropolis that the constitution is being +framed." (C. Desmoulins, simple-minded politician, always let the cat +out of the bag.)] + +[Footnote 1425: "Procedure du Chatelet," Ibid. Deposition of M. Malouet +(No. 111). "I received every day, as well as MM. Lally and Mounier, +anonymous letters and lists of proscriptions on which we were inscribed. +These letters announced a prompt and violent death to every deputy that +advocated the authority of the King."] + +[Footnote 1426: Buchez and Roux, I. 368, 376.---Bailly, II. 326, +341.--Mounier, ibid., 62, 75.] + +[Footnote 1427: Etienne Dumont, 145.--Correspondence between Comte de +Mirabeau and Comte de la Marck.] + +[Footnote 1428: "Procedure criminelle du Chatelet," Deposition +148.--Buchez and Roux, III. 67, 65. (Narrative of Desmoulins, article +of Loustalot.) Mercure de France, number for September 5, 1789. "Sunday +evening, August 30, at the Palais-Royal, the expulsion of several +deputies of every class was demanded, and especially some of those from +Dauphiny... They spoke of bringing the King to Paris as well as the +Dauphin. All virtuous citizens, every incorruptible patriot, was +exhorted to set out immediately for Versailles."] + +[Footnote 1429: These acts of violence were not reprisals; nothing of +the kind took place at the banquet of the body-guards (October 1st). +"Amidst the general joy," says an eye-witness, "I heard no insults +against the National Assembly, nor against the popular party, nor +against anybody. The only cries were 'Vive le Roi! Vive la Reine! +We will defend them to the death!'" (Madame de Larochejacquelein, +p.40.--Ibid. Madame Campan, another eye-witness.)--It appears to be +certain, however, that the younger members of the National Guard at +Versailles turned their cockades so as to be like other people, and it +is also probable that some of the ladies distributed white cockades. +The rest is a story made up before and after the event to justify the +insurrection.--Cf. Lerol, "Histoire de Versailles," II. 20-107. Ibid. +p. 141. "As to that proscription of the national cockade, all witnesses +deny it." The originator of the calumny is Gorsas, editor of the +Courrier de Versailles.] + +[Footnote 1430: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 88, 110, +120, 126, 127, 140, 146, 148.--Marmontel, "Memoires," a conversation +with Champfort, in May, 1789.--Morellet, "Memoires," I. 398. (According +to the evidence of Garat, Champfort gave all his savings, 3,000 livres, +to defray the expenses of maneuvers of this description.)--Malouet +(II. 2). knew four of the deputies "who took direct part in this +conspiracy."] + +[Footnote 1431: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." 1st. On the Flemish +soldiers. Depositions 17, 20, 24, 35, 87, 89, 98.--2nd. On the men +disguised as women. Depositions 5, 10, 14, 44, 49, 59, 60, 110, +120, 139, 145, 146, 148. The prosecutor designates six of them to +be seized.--3rd. On the condition of the women of the expedition. +Depositions 35, 83, 91, 98, 146, and 24.--4th. On the money distributed. +Depositions 49, 56, 71, 82, 110, 126.] + +[Footnote 1432: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Deposition 61. +"During the night scenes, not very decent, occurred among these people, +which the witness thought it useless to relate."] + +[Footnote 1433: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 35, 44, +81.--Buchez and Roux, III. 120. (Minutes of the meeting of the Commune, +October 5th.) Journal de Paris, October 12th. A few days after, M. Pic, +clerk of the prosecutor, brought "a package of 100,000 francs which he +had saved from the enemies' hands," and another package of notes was +found thrown, in the hubbub, into a receipt-box.] + +[Footnote 1434: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 61, +77, 81, 148, 154.--Dumont, 181.--Mounier, "Expose justificatif," and +specially "Fait relatif a la derniere insurrection."] + +[Footnote 1435: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Deposition 168. The +witness sees on leaving the King's apartment "several women dressed as +fish-wives, one of whom, with a pretty face, has a paper in her hand, +and who exclaims as she holds it up, 'He! F..., we have forced the guy +to sign.' "] + +[Footnote 1436: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 89, 91, +98. "Promising all, even raising their petticoats before them."] + +[Footnote 1437: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet," Depositions 9, 20, +24, 30, 49, 61, 82, 115, 149, 155.] + +[Footnote 1438: Procedure criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 7, 30, +35, 40.--Cf. Lafayette, "Memoires," and Madame Campan, "Memoires."] + +[Footnote 1439: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Deposition 24. +A number of butcher-boys run after the carriages issuing from the +Petite-Ecurie shouting out, "Don't let the curs escape!"] + +[Footnote 1440: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 101, 91, +89, and 17. M. de Miomandre, a body-guard, mildly says to the ruffians +mounting the staircase: "My friends, you love your King, and yet you +come to annoy him even in his palace!"] + +[Footnote 1441: Malouet, II. 2. "I felt no distrust," says Lafayette in +1798; "the people promised to remain quiet."] + +[Footnote 1442: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 9, 16, +60, 128, 129, 130, 139, 158, 168, 170.--M. du Repaire, body-guard, being +sentry at the railing from two o'clock in the morning, a man passes his +pike through the bars saying, "You embroidered b. . . , your turn +will come before long." M. de Repaire, "retires within the sentry-box +without saying a word to this man, considering the orders that have been +issued not to act."] + +[Footnote 1443: "Procedure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 82, +170--Madame Campan. II. 87.--De Lavalette, I.33.--Cf. Bertrand de +Molleville, Memoires.] + +[Footnote 1444: Duval, "Souvenirs de la Terreur," I. 78. (Doubtful in +almost everything, but here he is an eye-witness. He dined opposite the +hair-dresser's, near the railing of the Park of Saint-Cloud.)--M. de +Lally-Tollendal's second letter to a friend. "At the moment the King +entered his capital with two bishops of his council with him in the +carriage, the cry was heard, 'Off to the lamp post with the bishops!'"] + +[Footnote 1445: De Montlosier, I. 303.--Moniteur, sessions of the 8th, +9th, and 10th of October.--Malouet, II. 9, 10, 20.--Mounier, Recherches +sur les Causes, etc., and "Addresse aux Dauphinois."] + +[Footnote 1446: De Ferrieres, I. 346. (On the 9th of October, 300 +members have already taken their passports.) Mercure de France, No. of +the 17th October. Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I. 116, +126, 364.] + +[Footnote 1447: Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I.175. +(The words of Monsieur to M. de la Marck.)] + + + + + +BOOK SECOND. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, AND THE RESULT OF ITS LABORS. + + + + +CHAPTER I.--CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THE FRAMING OF GOOD LAWS. + +Among the most difficult undertakings in this world is the formulation +of a national constitution, especially if this is to be a complete and +comprehensive work. To replace the old structures inside which a great +people has lived by a new, different, appropriate and durable set of +laws, to apply a mold of one hundred thousand compartments on to the +life of twenty-six million people, to construct it so harmoniously, +adapt it so well, so closely, with such an exact appreciation of their +needs and their faculties, that they enter it of themselves and move +about it without collisions, and that their spontaneous activity +should at once find the ease of familiar routine,--is an extraordinary +undertaking and probably beyond the powers of the human mind. In any +event, the mind requires all its powers to carry the undertaking out, +and it cannot protect itself carefully enough against all sources of +disturbance and error. An Assembly, especially a Constituent Assembly, +requires, outwardly, security and independence, inwardly, silence +and order, and generally, calmness, good sense, practical ability and +discipline under competent and recognized leaders. Do we find anything +of all this in the Constituent Assembly? + + + + +I.--These conditions absent in the Assembly + + Causes of disorder and irrationality--The place of meeting + --The large number of deputies--Interference of the galleries + --Rules of procedure wanting, defective, or disregarded.--The + parliamentary leaders--Susceptibility and over-excitement of + the Assembly--Its paroxysms of enthusiasm.--Its tendency to + emotion.--It encourages theatrical display--Changes which + these displays introduce in its good intentions. + +We have only to look at it outwardly to have some doubts about it. At +Versailles, and then at Paris, the sessions are held in an immense hall +capable of seating 2,000 persons, in which the most powerful voice must +be strained in order to be heard. It is not calculated for the moderate +tone suitable for the discussion of business; the speaker is obliged to +shout, and the strain on the voice communicates itself to the mind; the +place itself suggests declamation; and this all the more readily because +the assemblage consists of 1,200, that is to say, a crowd, and almost +a mob. 'At the present day (1877), in our assemblies of five or six +hundred deputies, there are constant interruptions and an incessant +buzz; there is nothing so rare as self-control, and the firm resolve to +give an hour's attention to a discourse opposed to the opinions of the +hearers.--What can be done here to compel silence and patience? Arthur +Young on different occasions sees "a hundred members on the floor at +once," shouting and gesticulating. "Gentlemen, you are killing me!" says +Bailly, one day, sinking with exhaustion. Another president exclaims in +despair, "Two hundred speaking at the same time cannot be heard; will +you make it impossible then to restore order in the Assembly?" The +rumbling, discordant din is further increased by the uproar of the +galleries.[2101] + +"In the British Parliament," writes Mallet du Pan, "I saw the +galleries cleared in a trice because the Duchess of Gordon happened +unintentionally to laugh too loud." + +Here, the thronging crowd of spectators, stringers, delegates from the +Palais-Royal, soldiers disguised as citizens, and prostitutes collected +and marshaled, applaud, clap their hands, stamp and hoot, at their +pleasure. This is carried to so great an extent that M. de +Montlosier ironically proposes "to give the galleries a voice in +the deliberations."[2102] Another member wishes to know whether the +representatives are so many actors, whom the nation sends there to +endure the hisses of the Paris public. Interruptions, in fact, take +place as in a theater, and, frequently, if the members do not give +satisfaction, they are forced to desist. On the other hand, the deputies +who are popular with this energetic audience, on which they keep and +eye, are actors before the footlights: they involuntarily yield to its +influence, and exaggerate their ideas as well as their words to be in +unison with it. Tumult and violence, under such circumstances, become +a matter of course, and the chances of an Assembly acting wisely are +diminished by one-half; on becoming a club of agitators, it ceases to be +a conclave of legislators. + +Let us enter and see how this one proceeds. Thus encumbered, thus +surrounded and agitated, does it take at least those precautions without +which no assembly of men can govern itself. When several hundred persons +assemble together for deliberation, it is evident that some sort of an +internal police is necessary; first of all, some code of accepted usage, +some written precedents, by which its acts may be prepared and defined, +considered in detail, and properly passed. The best of these codes it +ready to hand: at the request of Mirabeau, Romilly has sent over the +standing orders of the English House of Commons.[2103] But with the +presumption of novices, they pay no attention to this code; they imagine +it is needless for them; they will borrow nothing from foreigners; they +accord no authority to experience, and, not content with rejecting the +forms it prescribes, "it is with difficulty they can be made to follow +any rule whatever." They leave the field open to the impulsiveness of +individuals; any kind of influence, even that of a deputy, even of one +elected by themselves, is suspected by them; hence their choice of a +new president every fortnight.--They submit to no constraint or control, +neither to the legal authority of a parliamentary code, nor to the moral +authority of parliamentary chiefs. They are without any such; they are +not organized in parties; neither on one side nor on the other is a +recognized leader found who fixes the time, arranges the debate, draws +up the motion, assigns parts, and gives the rein to or restrains +his supporters. Mirabeau is the only one capable of obtaining this +ascendancy; but, on the opening of the Assembly, he is discredited by +the notoriety of his vices, and, towards the last, is compromised by his +connections with the Court. No other is of sufficient eminence to have +any influence; there is too much of average and too little of superior +talent.--Their self-esteem is, moreover, as yet too strong to allow any +concessions. Each of these improvised legislators has come satisfied +with his own system, and to submit to a leader to whom he would entrust +his political conscience, to make of him what three out of four of these +deputies should be, a voting machine, would require an apprehension of +danger, some painful experience, an enforced surrender which he is far +from realizing.[2104] For this reason, save in the violent party, each +acts as his own chief, according to the impulse of the moment, and the +confusion may be imagined. Strangers who witness it, lift their hands in +pity and astonishment. "They discuss nothing in their Assembly," +writes Gouverneur Morris,[2105] "One large half of the time is spent +in hallowing and bawling.... Each Man permitted to speak delivers the +Result of his Lubrications," amidst this noise, taking his turn as +inscribed, without replying to his predecessor, or being replied to by +his successor, without ever meeting argument by argument; so that while +the firing is interminable, "all their shots are fired in the air." +Before this "frightful clatter" can be reported, the papers of the day +are obliged to make all sorts of excisions, to prune away "nonsense," +and reduce the "inflated and bombastic style." Chatter and clamor, that +is the whole substance of most of these famous sittings. + +"You would hear," says a journalist, "more yells than speeches; the +sittings seemed more likely to end in fights than in decrees... . Twenty +times I said to myself, on leaving, that if anything could arrest and +turn the tide of the Revolution, it would be a picture of these meetings +traced without caution or adaptation... All my efforts were therefore +directed to represent the truth, without rendering it repulsive. Out +of what had been merely a row, I concocted a scene... I gave all the +sentiments, but not always in the same words. I translated their yells +into words, their furious gestures into attitudes, and when I could not +inspire esteem, I endeavored to rouse the emotions." + +There is no remedy for this evil; for, besides the absence of +discipline, there is an inward and fundamental cause for the disorder. +These people are too susceptible. They are Frenchmen, and Frenchmen +of the eighteenth century; brought up in the amenities of the utmost +refinement, accustomed to deferential manners, to constant kind +attentions and mutual obligations, so thoroughly imbued with the +instinct of good breeding that their conversation seems almost insipid +to strangers.[2106]--And suddenly they find themselves on the thorny +soil of politics, exposed to insulting debates, flat contradictions, +venomous denunciation, constant detraction and open invective; engaged +in a battle in which every species of weapon peculiar to a parliamentary +life is employed, and in which the hardiest veterans are scarcely able +to keep cool. Judge of the effect of all this on inexperienced, highly +strung nerves, on men of the world accustomed to the accommodations +and amiabilities of universal urbanity. They are at once beside +themselves.--And all the more so because they never anticipated a +battle; but, on the contrary, a festival, a grand and charming idyll, in +which everybody, hand in hand, would assemble in tears around the throne +and save the country amid mutual embraces. Necker himself arranges, like +a theater, the chamber in which the sessions of the Assembly are to +be held.[2107] "He was not disposed to regard the Assemblies of the +States-General as anything but a peaceful, imposing, solemn, august +spectacle, which the people would enjoy;" and when the idyll suddenly +changes into a drama, he is so frightened that it seems to him as if a +landslide had occurred that threatened, during the night, to break +down the framework of the building.--At the time of the meeting of the +States-General, everybody is delighted; all imagine that they are about +to enter the promised land. During the procession of the 4th of May, + +"tears of joy," says the Marquis de Ferrieres, "filled my eyes... . In a +state of sweet rapture I beheld France supported by Religion" exhorting +us all to concord. "The sacred ceremonies, the music, the incense, the +priests in their sacrificial robes, that dais, that orb radiant with +precious stones. .. I called to my mind the words of the prophet... . My +God, my country, and my countrymen, all were one with myself!" + +Such emotions repeatedly explode in the course of the session, and +resulted in the passage of laws which no one could have imagined. + +"Sometimes,"[2108] writes the American ambassador, "a speaker gets up +in the midst of a deliberation, makes a fine discourse on a different +subject, and closes with a nice little resolution which is carried with +a hurrah. Thus, in considering the plan of a national bank proposed by +M. Necker, one of them took it into his head to move that every member +should give his silver buckles, which was agreed to at once, and the +honorable mover laid his upon the table, after which the business went +on again." + +Thus, over-excited, they do not know in the morning what they will do +in the afternoon, and they are at the mercy of every surprise. When they +are seized with these fits of enthusiasm, infatuation spreads over all +the benches; prudence gives way, all foresight disappears and every +objection is stifled. During the night of the 4th of August,[2109] +"nobody is master of himself. The Assembly presents the spectacle of an +inebriated crowd in a shop of valuable furniture, breaking and smashing +at will whatever they can lay their hands on." + +"That which would have required a year of care and reflection," says +a competent foreigner, "was proposed, deliberated over, and passed by +general acclamation. The abolition of feudal rights, of titles, of the +privileges of the provinces, three articles which alone embraced a whole +system of jurisprudence and statesmanship, were decided with ten or +twelve other measures in less time than is required in the English +Parliament for the first reading of an important bill." + +"Such are our Frenchmen," says Mirabeau again, "they spend a month in +disputes about syllables, and overthrow, in a single night, the whole +established system of the Monarchy!"[2110] + +The truth is, they display the nervousness of women, and, from one end +of the Revolution to the other, this excitability keeps on increasing. + +Not only are they excited, but the pitch of excitement must be +maintained, and, like the drunkard who, once stimulated, has recourse +again to strong waters, one would say that they carefully try to expel +the last remnants of calmness and common sense from their brains. They +delight in pompous phrases, in high-sounding rhetoric, in declamatory +sentimental strokes of eloquence: this is the style of nearly all their +speeches, and so strong is their taste, they are not satisfied with +the orations made amongst themselves. Lally and Necker, having made +"affecting and sublime" speeches at the Hotel-de-Ville, the Assembly +wish them to be repeated before them:[2111] this being the heart of +France, it is proper for it to answer to the noble emotions of all +Frenchmen. Let this heart throb on, and as strongly as possible, for +that is its office, and day by day it receives fresh impulses. Almost +all sittings begin with the reading of flattering addresses or of +threatening denunciations. The petitioners frequently appear in person, +and read their enthusiastic effusions, their imperious advice, their +doctrines of dissolution. To-day it is Danton, in the name of Paris, +with his bull visage and his voice that seems a tocsin of insurrection; +to-morrow, the vanquishers of the Bastille, or some other troop, with a +band of music which continues playing even into the hall. The meeting is +not a conference for business, but a patriotic opera, where the eclogue, +the melodrama, and sometimes the masquerade, mingle with the cheers and +the clapping of hands.[2112]--A serf of the Jura is brought to the +bar of the Assembly aged one hundred and twenty years, and one of the +members of the cortege, "M. Bourbon de la Crosniere, director of a +patriotic school, asks permission to take charge of an honorable old +man, that he may be waited on by the young people of all ranks, and +especially by the children of those whose fathers were killed in the +attack on the Bastille." [2113] Great is the hubbub and excitement. The +scene seems to be in imitation of Berquin,[2114] with the additional +complication of a mercenary consideration. + +But small matters are not closely looked into, and the Assembly, under +the pressure of the galleries, stoops to shows, such as are held +at fairs. Sixty vagabonds who are paid twelve francs a head, in the +costumes of Spaniards, Dutchmen, Turks, Arabs, Tripolitans, Persians, +Hindus, Mongols, and Chinese, conducted by the Prussian Anacharsis +Clootz, enter, under the title of Ambassadors of the Human Race, to +declaim against tyrants, and they are admitted to the honors of the +sitting. On this occasion the masquerade is a stroke devised to hasten +and extort the abolition of nobility.[2115] At other times, there is +little or no object in it; its ridiculousness is inexpressible, for the +farce is played out as seriously and earnestly as in a village award +of prizes. For three days, the children who have taken their first +communion before the constitutional bishop have been promenaded through +the streets of Paris; at the Jacobin club they recite the nonsense they +have committed to memory; and, on the fourth day, admitted to the bar +of the Assembly, their spokesman, a poor little thing of twelve years, +repeats the parrot-like tirade. He winds up with the accustomed oath, +upon which all the others cry out in their piping, shrill voices, "We +swear!" As a climax, the President, Trejlhard, a sober lawyer, replies +to the little gamins with perfect gravity in a similar strain, employing +metaphors, personifications, and everything else belonging to the +stock-in-trade of a pedant on his platform: + +"You merit a share in the glory of the founders of liberty, prepared as +you are to shed your blood in her behalf." + +Immense applause from the "left" and the galleries, and a decree +ordering the speeches of both president and children to be printed. The +children, probably, would rather have gone out to play; but, willingly +or unwillingly, they receive or endure the honors of the sitting.[2116] + +Such are the tricks of the stage and of the platform by which the +managers here move their political puppets. Emotional susceptibility, +once recognized as a legitimate force, thus becomes an instrument +of intrigue and constraint. The Assembly, having accepted theatrical +exhibitions when these were sincere and earnest, is obliged to tolerate +them when they become mere sham and buffoonery. At this vast national +banquet, over which it meant to preside, and to which, throwing the +doors wide open, it invited all France, its first intoxication was +due to wine of a noble quality; but it has touched glasses with the +populace, and by degrees, under the pressure of its associates, it has +descended to adulterated and burning drinks, to a grotesque unwholesome +inebriety which is all the more grotesque and unwholesome, because it +persists in believing itself to be reason. + + + + +II.--Inadequacy of its information. + + Its composition--The social standing and culture of the + larger number--Their incapacity. Their presumption + --Fruitless advice of competent men.--Deductive politics + --Parties--The minority; its faults--The majority; its + dogmatism. + +If reason could only resume its empire during the lucid intervals! +But reason must exist before it can govern, and in no French Assembly, +except the two following this, have there ever been fewer political +intellects.--Strictly speaking, with careful search, there could +undoubtedly be found in France, in 1789, five or six hundred experienced +men, such as the intendants and military commanders of every province; +next to these the prelates, administrators of large dioceses the members +of the local "parlements," whose courts gave them influence, and who, +besides judicial functions, possessed a portion of administrative power; +and finally, the principal members of the Provincial Assemblies, all of +them influential and sensible people who had exercised control over +men and affairs, at once humane, liberal, moderate, and capable of +understanding the difficulty, as well as the necessity, of a great +reform; indeed, their correspondence, full of facts, stated with +precision and judgment, when compared with the doctrinaire rubbish of +the Assembly, presents the strongest possible contrast.--But most of +these lights remain under a bushel; only a few of them get into the +Assembly; these burn without illuminating, and are soon extinguished in +the tempest.' I. The venerable Machault is not there, nor Malesherbes; +there are none of the old ministers or the marshals of France. Not one +of the intendants is there, except Malouet, and by the superiority of +this man, the most judicious of the Assembly, one can judge the services +which his colleagues would have rendered. Out of two hundred and +ninety-one members of the clergy,[2117] there are indeed forty-eight +bishops or archbishops and thirty-five abbots or canons, but, being +prelates and with large endowments, they excite the envy of their order, +and are generals without any soldiers. We have the same spectacle among +the nobles. Most of them, the gentry of the provinces, have been elected +in opposition to the grandees of the Court. Moreover, neither the +grandees of the Court, devoted to worldly pursuits, nor the gentry of +the provinces, confined to private life, are practically familiar with +public affairs. A small group among them, twenty-eight magistrates +and about thirty superior officials who have held command or have been +connected with the administration, probably have some idea of the peril +of society; but it is precisely for this reason that they seem to be +behind the age and remain without influence.--In the Third-Estate, out +of five hundred and seventy-seven members, only ten have exercised +any important functions, those of intendant, councillor of state, +receiver-general, lieutenant of police, director of the mint, and others +of the same category. The great majority is composed of unknown lawyers +and people occupying inferior positions in the profession, notaries, +royal attorneys, register commissaries, judges and assessors of; +the presidial, bailiffs and lieutenants of the bailiwick, simple +practitioners confined from their youth to the narrow circle of an +inferior jurisdiction or to a routine of scribbling, with no escape +but philosophical excursions in imaginary space under the guidance of +Rousseau and Raynal. There are three hundred and seventy-three of this +class, to whom may be added thirty-eight farmers and husbandmen, fifteen +physicians, and, among the manufacturers, merchants, and capitalists, +some fifty or sixty who are their equals in education and in political +capacity. Scarcely one hundred and fifty proprietors are here from the +middle class.[2118] To these four hundred and fifty deputies, whose +condition, education, instruction, and mental range qualified them for +being good clerks, prominent men in a commune, honorable fathers of a +family, or, at best, provincial academicians, add two hundred and eight +cures, their equals; this makes six hundred and fifty out of eleven +hundred and eighteen deputies, forming a positive majority, which, +again, is augmented by about fifty philosophical nobles, leaving out the +weak who follow the current, and the ambitious who range themselves on +the strong side.--We may divine what a chamber thus made up can do, and +those who are familiar with such matters prophesy what it will do.[2119] + +"There are some able men in the National Assembly," writes the American +minister, "yet the best heads among them would not be injured by +experience, and, unfortunately, there are great numbers who, with much +imagination, have little knowledge, judgment, or reflection." + +It would be just as sensible to select eleven hundred notables from an +inland province and entrust them to the repair of an old frigate. They +would conscientiously break the vessel up, and the frigate they would +construct in its place would founder before it left port. + +If they would only consult the pilots and professional +shipbuilders!--There are several of such to be found around them, whom +they cannot suspect, for most of them are foreigners, born in free +countries, impartial, sympathetic, and, what is more, unanimous. The +Minister of the United States writes, two months before the convocation +of the States-General:[2120] + +"I, a republican, and just, as it were, emerged from that Assembly which +has formed one of the most republican of republican constitutions,--I +preach incessantly respect for the prince, attention to the rights of +the nobility, and moderation, not only in the object, but also in the +pursuit of it." + +Jefferson, a democrat and radical, expresses himself no differently. At +the time of the oath of the Tennis Court, he redoubles his efforts to +induce Lafayette and other patriots to make some arrangement with the +King to secure freedom of the press, religious, liberty, trial by jury, +the habeas corpus, and a national legislature,--things which he could +certainly be made to adopt,--and then to retire into private life, and +let these institutions act upon the condition of the people until they +had rendered it capable of further progress, with the assurance that +there would be no lack of opportunity for them to obtain still more. + +"This was all," he continues, "that I thought your countrymen able to +bear soberly and usefully." + +Arthur Young, who studies the moral life of France so conscientiously, +and who is so severe in depicting old abuses, cannot comprehend the +conduct of the Commons. + +"To set aside practice for theory... in establishing the interests of a +great kingdom, in securing freedom to 25,000,000 of people, seems to me +the very acme of imprudence, the very quintessence of insanity." + +Undoubtedly, now that the Assembly is all-powerful, it is to be hoped +that it will be reasonable: + +"I will not allow myself to believe for a moment that the +representatives of the people can ever so far forget their duty to +the French nation, to humanity, and their own fame, as to suffer +any inordinate and impracticable views--any visionary or theoretic +systems--... to turn aside their exertions from that security which is +in their hands, to place on the chance and hazard of public commotion +and civil war the invaluable blessings which are certainly in their +power. I will not conceive it possible that men who have eternal fame +within their grasp will place the rich inheritance on the cast of a die, +and, losing the venture, be damned among the worst and most profligate +adventurers that ever disgraced humanity." + +As their plan becomes more definite the remonstrances become more +decided, and all the expert judges point out to them the importance of +the wheels which they are willfully breaking. + +"As they have[2121] hitherto felt severely the authority exercised over +them in the name of their princes, every limitation of that authority +seems to them desirable. Never having felt the evils of too weak an +executive, the disorders to be apprehended from anarchy make as yet no +impression"--"They want an American Constitution,[2122] but with a +King instead of a President, without reflecting they have no American +citizens to support that Constitution... If they have the good sense +to give the nobles, as nobles, some portion of the national power, this +free constitution will probably last, But otherwise it will degenerate +either into a pure monarchy, or a vast republic, or a democracy. Will +the latter last? I doubt it. I am sure that it will not, unless the +whole nation is changed." + +A little later, when they renounce a parliamentary monarchy to put in +its place "a royal democracy," it is at once explained to them that such +an institution applied to France can produce nothing but anarchy, and +finally end in despotism. + +"Nowhere[2123] has liberty proved to be stable without a sacrifice of +its excesses, without some barrier to its own omnipotence... . Under +this miserable government... the people, soon weary of storms, and +abandoned without legal protection to their seducers or to their +oppressors, will shatter the helm, or hand it over to some audacious +hand that stands ready to seize it." + +Events occur from month to month in fulfillment of these predictions, +and the predictions grow gloomier and more gloomy. It is a flock of wild +birds:[2124] + +"It is very difficult to guess whereabouts the flock will settle when +it flies so wild... . This unhappy country, bewildered in the pursuit +of metaphysical whims, presents to our moral view a mighty ruin. The +Assembly, at once master and slave, new in power, wild in theory, raw in +practice, engrossing all functions without being able to exercise any, +has freed that fierce, ferocious people from every restraint of religion +and respect... . Such a state of things cannot last... The glorious +opportunity is lost and for this time, at least, the Revolution has +failed." + +We see, from the replies of Washington, that he is of the same opinion. +On the other side of the Channel, Pitt, the ablest practician, and +Burke, the ablest theorist, of political liberty, express the same +judgment. Pitt, after 1789, declares that the French have overleaped +freedom. After 1790, Burke, in a work which is a prophecy as well as a +masterpiece, points to military dictatorship as the termination of the +Revolution, "the most completely arbitrary power that has ever appeared +on earth." Nothing is of any effect. With the exception of the small +powerless group around Malouet and Mounier, the warnings of Morris, +Jefferson, Romilly, Dumont, Mallet du Pan, Arthur Young, Pitt and Burke, +all of them men who have experience of free institutions, are received +with indifference or repelled with disdain. Not only are our new +politicians incapable, but they think themselves the contrary, and their +incompetence is aggravated by their infatuation. + +"I often used to say, "writes Dumont,[2125] "that if a hundred persons +were stopped at haphazard in the streets of London, and a hundred in the +streets of Paris, and a proposal were made to them to take charge of the +Government, ninety-nine would accept it in Paris and ninety-nine would +refuse it in London... The Frenchman thinks that all difficulties can +be overcome by a little quickness of wit. Mirabeau accepted the post of +reporter to the Committee on Mines without having the slightest tincture +of knowledge on the subject." + +In short, most of them enter politics "like the gentleman who, on being +asked if he knew how to play on the harpsichord, replied, 'I cannot +tell, I never tried, but I will see.'" + +"The Assembly had so high an opinion of itself, especially the left side +of it, that it would willingly have undertaken the framing of the Code +of Laws for all nations... Never has so many men been seen together, +fancying that they were all legislators, and that they were there to +correct all the errors of the past, to remedy all mistakes of the human +mind, and ensure the happiness of all ages to come. Doubt had no +place in their minds, and infallibility always presided over their +contradictory decrees."-- + +This is because they have a theory and because, according to their +notion, this theory renders special knowledge unnecessary. Herein they +are thoroughly sincere, and it is of set purpose that they reverse all +ordinary modes of procedure. Up to this time a constitution used to be +organized or repaired like a ship. Experiments were made from time to +time, or a model was taken from vessels in the neighborhood; the first +aim was to make the ship sail; its construction was subordinated to its +work; it was fashioned in this or that way according to the materials on +hand; a beginning was made by examining these materials, and trying to +estimate their rigidity, weight, and strength.--All this is reactionary; +the age of Reason has come and the Assembly is too enlightened to drag +on in a rut. In conformity with the fashion of the time it works by +deduction, after the method of Rousseau, according to an abstract notion +of right, of the State and of the social compact.[2126] According to +this process, by virtue of political geometry alone, they shall have the +perfect vessel and since it perfect it follows that it will sail, and +that much better than any empirical craft.--They legislate according +to this principle, and one may imagine the nature of their discussions. +There are no convincing facts, no pointed arguments; nobody would +ever imagine that the speakers were gathered together to conduct real +business. Through speech after speech, strings of hollow abstractions +are endlessly renewed as in a meeting of students in rhetoric for the +purpose of practice, or in a society of old bookworms for their own +amusement. On the question of the veto "each orator in turn, armed with +his portfolio, reads a dissertation which has no bearing whatever" on +the preceding one, which makes a "sort of academical session,"[2127] +a succession of pamphlets fresh every morning for several days. On the +question of the Rights of Man fifty-four speakers are placed on the +list. + +"I remember," says Dumont, "that long discussion, which lasted for +weeks, as a period of deadly boredom,--vain disputes over words, a +metaphysical jumble, and most tedious babble; the Assembly was turned +into a Sorbonne lecture-room," and all this while chateaux were burning, +while town-halls were being sacked, and courts dared no longer hold +assize, while the distribution of wheat was stopped, and while society +was in course of dissolution. In the same manner the theologians of the +Easter Roman Empire kept up their wrangles about the uncreated light of +Mount Tabor while Mahomet II was battering the walls of Constantinople +with his cannon.--Ours, of course, are another sort of men, juvenile +in feeling, sincere, enthusiastic, even generous, and further, more +devoted, laborious, and in some cases endowed with rare talent. But +neither zeal, nor labor, nor talent are of any use when not employed in +the service of a sound idea; and if in the service of a false one, the +greater they are the more mischief they do. + +Towards the end of the year 1789, there can be not doubt of this; +and the parties now formed reveal their presumption, improvidence, +incapacity, and obstinacy. "This Assembly," writes the American +ambassador,[2128] "may be divided into three parties;-- + +one called the aristocrats, consists of the high clergy, the +parliamentary judges, and such of the nobility as think they ought to +form a separate order." This is the party which offers resistance to +follies and errors, but with follies and errors almost equally great. +In the beginning "the prelates,[2129] instead of conciliating the cures, +kept them at a humiliating distance, affecting distinctions, exacting +respect," and, in their own chamber, "ranging themselves apart on +separate benches." The nobles, on the other hand, the more to alienate +the commons, began by charging these with, "revolt, treachery, and +treason," and by demanding the use of military force against them. Now +that the victorious Third-Estate has again overcome them and overwhelms +them with numbers, they become still more maladroit, and conduct the +defense much less efficiently than the attack. "In the Assembly," says +one of them, "they do not listen, but laugh and talk aloud;" they +take pains to embitter their adversaries and the galleries by their +impertinence. "They leave the chamber when the President puts the +question and invite the deputies of their party to follow them, or +cry out to them not to take part in the deliberation: through this +desertion, the clubbists become the majority, and decree whatever they +please." It is in this way that the appointment of judges and bishops +is withdrawn from the King and assigned to the people. Again, after the +return from Varennes, when the Assembly finds out that the result of its +labors is impracticable and wants to make it less democratic, the whole +of the right side refuses to share in the debates, and, what is worse, +votes with the revolutionaries to exclude the members of the Constituent +from the Legislative Assembly. Thus, not only does it abandon its +own cause, but it commits self-destruction, and its desertion ends in +suicide.-- + +A second party remains, "the middle party,"[2130] which consists of +well-intentioned people from every class, sincere partisans of a good +government; but, unfortunately, they have acquired their ideas of +government from books, and are admirable on paper. But as it happens +that the men who live in the world are very different from imaginary men +who dwell in the heads of philosophers, it is not to be wondered at if +the systems taken out of books are fit for nothing but to be upset by +another book. Intellects of this stamp are the natural prey of utopians. +Lacking the ballast of experience they are carried away by pure logic +and serve to enlarge the flock of theorists.--The latter form the third +party, which is called the "enrages (the wild men), and who, at the +expiration of six months, find themselves "the most numerous of all." + +"It is composed," says Morris, "of that class which in America is known +by the name of pettifogging lawyers, together with a host of curates and +many of those persons who in all revolutions throng to the standard +of change because they are not well.[2131] This last party is in close +alliance with the populace and derives from this circumstance very great +authority." + +All powerful passions are on its side, not merely the irritation of the +people tormented by misery and suspicion, not merely the ambition and +self-esteem of the bourgeois, in revolt against the ancient regime, +but also the inveterate bitterness and fixed ideas of so many suffering +minds and so many factious intellects, Protestants, Jansenists, +economists, philosophers, men who, like Freteau, Rabout-Saint-Etienne, +Volney, Sieyes, are hatching out a long arrears of resentments or hopes, +and who only await the opportunity to impose their system with all the +intolerance of dogmatism and of faith. To minds of this stamp the past +is a dead letter; example is no authority; realities are of no account; +they live in their own Utopia. Sieyes, the most important of them all, +judges that "the whole English constitution is charlatanism, designed +for imposing on the people;"[2132] he regards the English "as children +in the matter of a constitution," and thinks that he is capable of +giving France a much better one. Dumont, who sees the first committees +at the houses of Brissot and Clavieres, goes away with as much anxiety +as "disgust." + +"It is impossible," he says, "to depict the confusion of ideas, the +license of the imagination, the burlesque of popular notions. One +would think that they saw before them the world on the day after the +Creation." + +They seem to think, indeed, that human society does not exist, and that +they are appointed to create it. Just as well might ambassadors "of +hostile tribes, and of diverse interests, set themselves to arrange +their common lot as if nothing had previously existed." There is no +hesitation. They are satisfied that the thing can be easily done, and +that, with two or three axioms of political philosophy, the first man +that comes may make himself master of it. Immoderate conceit of this +kind among men of experience would seem ridiculous; in this assembly of +novices it is a strength. A flock which has lost its way follows those +who appears to forge ahead; they are the most irrational but they +are the most confident, and in the Chamber as in the nation it is the +daredevils who become leaders. + + + + +III.--The Power Of Simple, General Ideas. + + Ascendancy of the revolutionary party--Theory in its favor-- + The constraint thus imposed on men's minds--Appeal to the + passions--Brute force on the side of the party--It profits + by this--Oppression of the minority. + +Two advantages give this party the ascendancy, and these advantages are +of such importance that henceforth whoever possesses them is sure of +being master.--In the first place the prevailing theory is on the +side of the revolutionaries, and they alone are, in the second place, +determined thoroughly to apply it. This party, therefore, is the only +one which is consistent and popular in the face of adversaries who are +unpopular and inconsequent. Nearly all of the latter, indeed, defenders +of the ancient regime, or partisans of a limited monarchy, are likewise +imbued with abstract principles and philosophical speculation. The most +refractory nobles have advocated the rights of man in their memorials. +Mounier, the principal opponent of the demagogues, was the +leader of the commons when they proclaimed themselves to be the +National--Assembly.[2133] This is enough: they have entered the narrow +defile which leads to the abyss. They had no idea of it at the first +start, but one step leads to another, and, willing or unwilling, they +march on, or are pushed on. When the abyss comes in sight it is too +late; they have been driven there by the logical results of their own +concessions; they can do nothing but wax eloquent and indignant; +having abandoned their vantage ground, they find no halting-place +remaining.--There is an enormous power in general ideas, especially +if they are simple, and appeal to the passions. None are simpler than +these, since they are reducible to the axiom which assumes the rights +of man, and subordinate to them every institution, old or new. None are +better calculated to inflame the sentiments, since the doctrine enlists +human arrogance and pride in its service, and, in the name of justice, +consecrates all the demands of independence and domination. Consider +three-fourths of the deputies, immature and prejudiced, possessing no +information but a few formulas of the current philosophy, with no thread +to guide them but pure logic, abandoned to the declamation of lawyers, +to the wild utterances of the newspapers, to the promptings of +self-esteem, to the hundred thousand tongues which, on all sides, at the +bar of the Assembly, at the tribune, in the clubs, in the streets, in +their own breasts, repeat unanimously to them, and every day, the same +flattery: + +"You are sovereign and omnipotent. Right is vested in you alone. The +King exists only to execute your will. Every order, every corporation, +every power, every civil or ecclesiastical association is illegitimate +and null the moment you declare it to be so. You may even transform +religion. You are the fathers of the country. You have saved France, you +will regenerate humanity. The whole world looks on you in admiration; +finish your glorious work--forward, always forward." + +Superior good sense and rooted convictions could alone stand firm +against this flood of seductions and solicitations; but vacillating and +ordinary men are carried away by it. In the harmony of applause which +rises, they do not hear the crash of the ruins they produce. In any +case, they stop their ears, and shun the cries of the oppressed; they +refuse to admit that their work could possibly bring about evil results; +they accept the sophisms and untruths which justify it; they allow the +assassinated to be calumniated in order to excuse the assassins; they +listen to Merlin de Douay, who, after three or four jacqueries, when +pillaging, arson, and murder are going on in all the provinces, has just +declared in the name of the Committee on Feudalism[2134] that "a law +must be presented to the people, the justice of which may enforce +silence on the feudatory egoists who, for the past six months, so +indecently protest against plunder; the wisdom of which may restore to +a sense of duty the peasant who has been led astray for a moment by +his resentment of a long oppression." And when Raynal, the surviving +patriarch of the philosophic party, one day, for a wonder, takes +the plain truth with him into their tribune, they resent his +straightforwardness as an outrage, and excuse it solely on the ground of +his imbecility. An omnipotent legislator cannot depreciate himself; like +a king he is condemned to self-admiration in his public capacity. "There +were not thirty deputies amongst us," says a witness, "who thought +differently from Raynal," but "in each other's presence the credit of +the Revolution, the perspective of its blessings, was an article of +faith which had to be believed in;" and, against their own reason, +against their conscience, the moderates, caught in the net of their own +acts, join the revolutionaries to complete the Revolution. + +Had they refused, they would have been compelled; for, to obtain the +power, the Assembly has, from the very first, either tolerated +or solicited the violence of the streets. But, in accepting +insurrectionists for its allies, it makes them masters, and henceforth, +in Paris as in the provinces, illegal and brutal force becomes the +principal power of the State. "The triumph was accomplished through the +people; it was impossible to be severe with them;"[2135] hence, when +insurrections were to be put down, the Assembly had neither the courage +nor the force necessary. "They blame for the sake of decency; they frame +their deeds by expediency." and in turn justly undergo the pressure +which they themselves have sanctioned against others. Only three or four +times do the majority, when the insurrection becomes too daring--after +the murder of the baker Francois, the insurrection of the Swiss Guard at +Nancy, and the outbreak of the Champ de Mars--feel that they themselves +are menaced, vote for and apply martial law, and repel force with force. +But, in general, when the despotism of the people is exercised only +against the royalist minority, they allow their adversaries to be +oppressed, and do not consider themselves affected by the violence which +assails the party of the "right:" they are enemies, and may be given +up to the wild beasts. In accordance with this, the "left" has made its +arrangements; its fanaticism has no scruples; it is principle, it is +absolute truth that is at stake; this must triumph at any cost. Besides, +can there be any hesitation in having recourse to the people in the +people's own cause? A little compulsion will help along the good cause, +and hence the siege of the Assembly is continually renewed. This was the +practice already at Versailles before the 6th of October, while now, at +Paris, it is kept up more actively and with less disguise. + +At the beginning of the year 1790,[2136] the band under pay comprises +seven hundred and fifty effective men, most of them deserters or +soldiers drummed out of their regiments, who are at first paid five +francs and then forty sous a day. It is their business to make or +support motions in the coffee-houses and in the streets, to mix with +the spectators at the sittings of the sections, with the groups at the +Palais-Royal, and especially in the galleries of the National-Assembly, +where they are to hoot or applaud at a given signal. Their leader is a +Chevalier de Saint-Louis, to whom they swear obedience, and who receives +his orders from the Committee of Jacobins. His first lieutenant at the +Assembly is a M. Saule, "a stout, small, stunted old fellow, formerly an +upholsterer, then a charlatan hawker of four penny boxes of grease (made +from the fat of those that had been hung--for the cure of diseases of +the kidneys) and all his life a sot.... who, by means of a tolerably +shrill voice, which was always well moistened, has acquired some +reputation in the galleries of the Assembly." In fact, he has forged +admission tickets he has been turned out; he has been obliged to resume +"the box of ointment, and travel for one or two months in the provinces +with a man of letters for his companion." But on his return, "through +the protection of a groom of the Court, he obtained a piece of ground +for a coffee-house against the wall of the Tuileries garden, almost +alongside of the National Assembly," and now it is at home in his +coffee-shop behind his counter that the hirelings of the galleries "come +to him to know what they must say, and to be told the order of the day +in regard to applause." Besides this, he is there himself; "it is he +who for three years is to regulate public sentiment in the galleries +confided to his care, and, for his useful and satisfactory services, +the Constituent Assembly will award him a recompense," to which the +Legislative Assembly will add "a pension of six hundred livres, besides +a lodging in an apartment of the Feuillants." + +We can divine how men of this stamp, thus compensated, do their work. +From the top of the galleries[2137] they drown the demands of the +"right" by the force of their lungs; this or that decree, as, for +instance, the abolition of titles of nobility, is carried, "not by +shouts, but by terrific howls."[2138] On the arrival of the news of the +sacking of the Hotel de Castries by the populace, they applaud. On the +question coming up as to the decision whether the Catholic faith shall +be dominant, "they shout out that the aristocrats must all be hung, and +then things will go on well." Their outrages not only remain unpunished, +but are encouraged: this or that noble who complains of their hooting +is called to order, while their interference and vociferations, their +insults and their menaces, are from this time introduced as one of the +regular wheels of legislative operations. Their pressure is still worse +outside the Chamber.[2139] The Assembly is obliged several times to +double its guard. On the 27th of September, 1790, there are 40,000 +men around the building to extort the dismissal of the Ministers, and +"motions for assassination" are made under the windows, On the 4th of +January, 1791, whilst on a call of the house the ecclesiastical deputies +pass in turn to the tribune, to take or refuse the oath to the civil +constitution of the clergy, a furious clamor ascends in the Tuileries, +and even penetrates into the Chamber. "To the lamp post with all those +who refuse!" On the 27th of September, 1790, M. Dupont, economist, +having spoken against the assignats, is surrounded on leaving the +Chamber and hooted at, hustled, pushed against the basin of the +Tuileries, into which he was being thrown when the guard rescued him. On +the 21st of June, 1790, M. de Cazales just misses "being torn to pieces +by the people."[2140] Deputies of the "right" are threatened over and +over again by gestures in the streets and in the coffee-houses; effigies +of them with ropes about the neck are publicly displayed. The Abbe Maury +is several times on the point of being hung: he saves himself once by +presenting a pistol. Another time the Vicomte de Mirabeau is obliged +to draw his sword. M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, having voted against the +annexation of the Comtat to France, is assailed with chairs and clubs +in the Palais-Royal, pursued into a porter's room and from thence to his +dwelling; the howling crowd break in the doors, and are only repelled +with great difficulty. It is impossible for the members of the "right" +to assemble together; they are "stoned" in the church of the Capuchins, +then in the Salon Francais in the Rue Royale, and then, to crown the +whole, an ordinance of the new judges shuts up their hall, and punishes +them for the violence which they have to suffer.[2141] In short they are +at the mercy of the mob. The most moderate, the most liberal, and the +most manly both in heart and head, Malouet, declares that "in going to +the Assembly he rarely forgot to carry his pistols with him."[2142] +"For two years," he says, "after the King's flight, we never enjoyed one +moment of freedom and security." + +" On going into a slaughter-house," writes another deputy, "you see some +animals at the entrance which still have a short time to live, until +the hour comes to dispatch them. Such was the impression which the +assemblage of nobles, bishops, and parliamentarians[2143] on the right +side made on my mind every time I entered the Assembly, the executioners +of the left side permitting them to breathe a little longer." + +They are insulted and outraged even upon their benches; "placed +between peril within and peril without, between the hostility of the +galleries,"[2144] and that of the howlers at the entrance, "between +personal insults and the abbey of Saint-Germain, between shouts of +laughter celebrating the burning of their chateaux and the clamors +which, thirty times in a quarter of an hour, cry down their opinions," +they are given over and denounced "to the ten thousand Cerberuses" of +the journals and of the streets, who pursue them with their yells and +"cover them with their slaver." Any expedient is good enough for putting +down their opposition, and, at the end of the session, in full Assembly, +they are threatened with "a recommendation to the departments," which +means the excitement of riots and of the permanent jacquerie of the +provinces against them in their own houses.--Parliamentary strategy +of this sort, employed uninterruptedly for twenty-nine months, finally +produces its effect. Many of the weak are gained over;[2145] even on +characters of firm temper fear has a hold; he who would march under fire +with head erect shuddered at the idea of being dragged in the gutter by +the rabble; the brutality of the populace always exercises a material +ascendancy over finely strung nerves. On the 12th of July, 1791,[2146] +the call of the house decreed against the absentees proves that one +hundred and thirty-two deputies no longer appear in their places. Eleven +days before, among those who take no further part in the proceedings. +Thus, before the completion of the Constitution, the whole of the +opposition, more than four hundred members, over one-third of the +Assembly, is reduced to flight or to silence. By dint of oppression, the +revolutionary party has got rid of all resistance, while the violence +which gave to it ascendancy in the streets, now gives to it equal +ascendance within the walls of Parliament. + + + + +IV.--Refusal to supply the ministry + + Effects of this mistake--Misconception of the situation--The + committee of investigation--Constant alarms--Effects of + ignorance and fear on the work of the Constituent Assembly. + +Generally in an omnipotent assembly, when a party takes the lead and +forms a majority, it furnishes the Ministry; and this fact suffices +to give, or to bring back to it, some glimpse of common sense. For its +leaders, with the Government in their own hands, become responsible for +it, and when they propose or pass a law, they are obliged to anticipate +its effect. Rarely will a Secretary of War or of the Navy adopt a +military code which goes to establish permanent disobedience in the +army or in the navy. Rarely will a Secretary of the Treasury propose an +expenditure for which there is not a sufficient revenue, or a system of +taxation that provides no returns. Placed where full information can +be procured, daily advised of every details, surrounded by skillful +counselors and expert clerks, the chiefs of the majority, who thus +become heads of the administration, immediately drop theory for +practice; and the fumes of political speculation must be pretty dense +in their minds if they exclude the multiplied rays of light which +experience constantly sheds upon them. Let the most stubborn of +theorists take his stand at the helm of a ship, and, whatever be the +obstinacy of his principles or his prejudices, he will never, unless he +is blind or led by the blind, persist in steering always to the right +or always to the left. Just so after the flight to Varennes, when the +Assembly, in full possession of the executive power, directly controls +the Ministry, it comes to recognize for itself that its constitutional +machine will not work, except in the way of destruction; and it is the +principal revolutionaries, Barnave, Duport, the Lameths, Chapelier, and +Thouret,[2147] who undertake to make alterations in the mechanisms so +as to lessen its friction. But this source of knowledge and reason, +however, to which they are momentarily induced to draw, in spite of +themselves and too late, has been turned off by themselves from the very +beginning. On the 6th of November, 1789, in deference to principle +and in dread of corruption, the Assembly had declared that none of +its members should hold ministerial office. We see it in consequence +deprived of all the instruction which comes from direct contact with +affairs, surrendered without any counterpoise to the seductions +of theory, reduced by its own decision to become a mere academy of +legislation only. + +Nay, still worse, through another effect of the same error, it condemns +itself by its own act to constant fits of panic. For, having allowed +the power which it was not willing to assume to slip into indifferent or +suspect hands, it is always uneasy, and all its decrees bear an uniform +stamp, not only of the willful ignorance within which it confines +itself, but also of the exaggerated or chimerical fears in which its +life is passed.--Imagine a ship conveying a company of lawyers, literary +men, and other passengers, who, supported by a mutinous and poorly fed +crew, take full command, but refuse to select one of their own number +for a pilot or for the officer of the watch. The former captain +continues to nominate them; through very shame, and because he is a +good sort of man, his title is left to him, and he is retained for the +transmission of orders. If these orders are absurd, so much the worse +for him; if he resists them, a fresh mutiny forces him to yield; and +even when they cannot be executed, he has to answer for their being +carried out. In the meantime, in a room between decks, far away from the +helm and the compass, our club of amateurs discuss the equilibrium of +floating bodies, decree a new system of navigation, have the ballast +thrown overboard, crowd on all sail, and are astonished to find that +the ship heels over on its side. The officer of the watch and the pilot +must, evidently, have managed the maneuver badly. They are accordingly +dismissed and others put in their place, while the ship heels over +farther yet and begins to leak in every joint. Enough: it is the +fault of the captain and the old staff of officers, They are not +well-disposed; for a beautiful system of navigation like this ought to +work well; and if it fails to do so, it is because some one interferes +with it. It is positively certain that some of those people belonging +to the former regime must be traitors, who would rather have the ship +go down than submit; they are public enemies and monsters. They must +be seized, disarmed, put under surveillance, and punished.--Such is the +reasoning of the Assembly. Evidently, to reassure it, a message from the +Minister of the Interior chosen by the Assembly, to the lieutenant of +police whom he had appointed, to come to his office every morning, would +be all that was necessary. But it is deprived of this simple resource by +its own act, and has no other expedient than to appoint a committee of +investigation to discover crimes of "treason against the nation."[2148] +What could be more vague than such a term? What could be more +mischievous than such an institution?--Renewed every month, deprived of +special agents, composed of credulous and inexperienced deputies, this +committee, set to perform the work of a Lenoir or a Fouche, makes up for +its incapacity by violence, and its proceedings anticipate those of +the Jacobine inquisition.[2149] Alarmist and suspicious, it encourages +accusations, and, for lack of plots to discover, it invents them. +Inclinations, in its eyes, stand for actions, and floating projects +become accomplished outrages. On the denunciation of a domestic who has +listened at a door, on the gossip of a washerwoman who has found a scrap +of paper in a dressing-gown, on the false interpretation of a letter, +on vague indications which it completes and patches together by +the strength of its imagination, it forges a coup d'etat, makes +examinations, domiciliary visits, nocturnal surprises and arrests;[2150] +it exaggerates, blackens, and comes in public session to denounce the +whole affair to the National Assembly. First comes the plot of the +Breton nobles to deliver Brest to the English;[2151] then the plot for +hiring brigands to destroy the crops; then the plot of 14th of July to +burn Paris; then the plot of Favras to murder Lafayette, Necker, and +Bailly; then the plot of Augeard to carry off the King, and many others, +week after week, not counting those which swarm in the brains of the +journalists, and which Desmoulins, Freron, and Marat reveal with a +flourish of trumpets in each of their publications. + +"All these alarms are cried daily in the streets like cabbages +and turnips, the good people of Paris inhaling them along with the +pestilential vapors of our mud."[2152] + +..............Now, in this aspect, as well as in a good many others, the +Assembly is the people; satisfied that it is in danger,[2153] it makes +laws as the former make their insurrections, and protects itself by +strokes of legislation as the former protects itself by blows with +pikes. Failing to take hold of the motor spring by which it might direct +the government machine, it distrusts all the old and all the new wheels. +The old ones seem to it an obstacle, and, instead of utilizing them, +it breaks them one by one--parliaments, provincial states, religious +orders, the church, the nobles, and royalty. The new ones are +suspicious, and instead of harmonizing them, it puts them out of gear +in advance--the executive power, administrative powers, judicial +powers, the police, the gendarmerie, and the army.[2154] Thanks to +these precautions it is impossible for any of them to be turned against +itself; but, also, thanks to these precautions, none of them can perform +their functions.[2155] + +In building, as well as in destroying, the Assembly had two bad +counselors, on the one hand fear, on the other hand theory; and on the +ruins of the old machine which it had demolished without discernment, +the new machine, which it has constructed without forecast, will work +only to its own ruin. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2101: Arthur Young, June 15, 1789.--Bailly, passim,--Moniteur, +IV. 522 (June 2, 1790).--Mercure de France (Feb. 11 1792).] + +[Footnote 2102: Moniteur, v. 631 (Sep. 12, 1790), and September 8th +(what is said by the Abbe Maury).--Marmontel, book XIII. 237.--Malouet, +I. 261.--Bailly, I. 227.] + +[Footnote 2103: Sir Samuel Romilly, "Memoires," I. 102, 354.--Dumont, +158. (The official rules bear are dated July 29, 1789.)] + +[Footnote 2104: Cf. Ferrieres, I. 3. His repentance is affecting.] + +[Footnote 2105: Letter from Morris to Washington, January 24, 1790 See +page 382, "A diary of the French revolution", Greenwood Press, Westport, +Conn. 1972.--Dumont 125--Garat, letter to Condorcet.] + +[Footnote 2106: Arthur Young, I. 46. "Tame and elegant, uninteresting +and polite, the mingled mass of communicated ideas has power neither +to offend nor instruct..... All vigor of thought seems excluded from +expression..... Where there is much polish of character there is little +argument."--Cabinet des Estampes. See engravings of the day by Moreau, +Prieur, Monet, representing the opening of the States-General. All the +figures have a graceful, elegant, and genteel air.] + +[Footnote 2107: Marmontel, book XIII. 237.--Malouet, I. 261.--Ferrieres, +I. 19.] + +[Footnote 2108: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790.--Likewise (De +Ferrieres, I.71) the decree on the abolition of nobility was not the +order of the day, and was carried by surprise.] + +[Footnote 2109: Ferrieres, I. 189.--Dumont, 146.] + +[Footnote 2110: Letter of Mirabeau to Sieyes, June 11, 1790. "Our nation +of monkeys with the throats of parrots."--Dumont, 146. "Sieyes and +Mirabeau always entertained a contemptible opinion of the Constituent +Assembly."] + +[Footnote 2111: Moniteur, I, 256, 431 (July 16 and 31, 1789).--Journal +des Debats et Decrets, 105, July 16th "A member demands that M. de Lally +should put his speech in writing. The whole Assembly has repeated this +request."] + +[Footnote 2112: Moniteur. (March 11, 1790). "A nun of St. Mande, brought +to the bar of the house, thanks the Assembly for the decree by which +the cloisters are opened, and denounces the tricks, intrigues, and +even violence exercised in the convents to prevent the execution of +the decree."--Ibid. March 29, 1790. See the various addresses which are +read. "At Lagnon, the mother of a family assembled her ten children, +and swore with them and for them to be loyal to the nation and to +the King."--Ibid. June 5, 1790. "M. Chambroud reads the letter of the +collector of customs of Lannion, in Brittany, to a priest, a member +of the National Assembly. He implores his influence to secure the +acceptance of his civic oath and that of all his family, ready to wield +either the censer, the cart, the scales, the sword, or the pen." On +reading a number of these addresses the Assembly appears to be a +supplement of the Petites Affiches (a small advertising journal in +Paris).] + +[Footnote 2113: Moniteur, October 23, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2114: A well-known writer of children's stories.-- +21Tr.] + +[Footnote 2115: Ferrieres, II. 65 (June 10,1790).--De Montlosier, I. +402. "One of these puppets came the following day to get his money +of the Comte de Billancourt, mistaking him for the Duc de Liancourt. +'Monsieur,' says he, 'I am the man who played the Chaldean yesterday.'"] + +[Footnote 2116: Buchez and Roux, X. 118 (June 16, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2117: See the printed list of deputies, with the indication of +their baillage or senechaussee, quality, condition, and profession.] + +[Footnote 2118: De Bouille, 75.--When the King first saw the list of the +deputies, he exclaimed," What would the nation have said if I had made +up my council or the Notables in this way?" (Buchez and Roux, IV. 39.)] + +[Footnote 2119: Gouverneur Morris, July 31, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2120: Gouverneur Morris, February 25, 1789.--Lafayette, +"Memoires," V. 492. Letter of Jefferson, February 14, 1815.--Arthur +Young, June 27 and 29, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2121: Morris, July 1, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2122: Morris, July 4, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2123: Mallet du Pan, Mercure, September 26, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2124: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790; November 22, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2125: Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + +[Footnote 2126: Sir Samuel. Romilly, "Memoirs," I. 102. "It was their +constant course first, decree the principle and leave the drawing up +of what they had so resolved (or, as they called it, la redaction) for +later. It is astonishing how great an influence it had on their debates +and measures".--Ibid. I. 354. Letter by Dumont, June 2, 1789. "They +prefer their own folly to all the results of British experience. They +revolt at the idea of borrowing anything from our government, which is +scoffed at here as one of the iniquities of human reason; although they +admit that you have two or three good laws; but that you should presume +to have a constitution is not to be sustained."] + +[Footnote 2127: Dumont, 138, 151.] + +[Footnote 2128: Morris, January 24, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2129: Marmontel, XII. 265.--Ferrieres,. I. 48¸ II. 50, 58, +126.--Dumont, 74.] + +[Footnote 2130: Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790.--According to +Ferrieres this party comprised about three hundred members.] + +[Footnote 2131: Here Ambassador Morris describes the kind of man who +should form the backbone of all later revolutions whether communist or +fascist ones. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2132: Dumont, 33, 58, 62.] + +[Footnote 2133: De Lavergne, "Les Assemblees Provinciales," 384. +Deliberations of the States of Dauphiny, drawn up by Mournier and signed +by two hundred gentlemen (July, 1788). "The rights of man are derived +from nature alone, and are independent of human conventions."] + +[Footnote 2134: Report by Merlin de Douai, February 8, 1790, +p.2.--Malouet, II, 51.] + +[Footnote 2135: Dumont, 133.--De Montlosier, I, 355, 361.] + +[Footnote 2136: Bertrand de Molleville, II. 221 (according to a police +report).--Schmidt, "Tableaux de la Revolution," I. 215. (Report of the +agent Dutard, May 13, 1793)--Lacretelle, "Dix Ans d'Epreuves," p.35. "It +was about midnight when we went out in the rain, sleet, and snow, in the +piercing cold, to the church of the Feuillants, to secure places for the +galleries of the Assembly, which we were not to occupy till noon on the +following day. We were obliged, moreover, to contend for them with a +crowd animated by passions, and even by interests, very different from +our own. We were not long in perceiving that a considerable part of the +galleries was under pay, and that the scenes of cruelty which gave pain +to us were joy to them. I cannot express the horror I felt on hearing +those women, since called tricoteuses, take a delight in the already +homicidal doctrines of Robespierre, enjoying his sharp voice and +feasting their eyes on his ugly face, the living type of envy." (The +first months of 1790.)] + +[Footnote 2137: Moniteur, V. 237 (July 26, 1790); V. 594. (September 8, +1790); V. 631 (September 12, 1790); VI. 310 (October 6, 1790). (Letter +of the Abbe Peretti.)] + +[Footnote 2138: De Ferrieres, II. 75.--Moniteur, VI. 373 (September 6, +1790).--M. de Virieu. "Those who insult certain members and hinder the +freedom of debate by hooting or applause must be silenced. Is it the +three hundred spectators who are to be our judges, or the nation?" M. +Chasset, President: "Monsieur opinionist, I call you to order. You speak +of hindrances to a free vote; there has never been anything of the kind +in this Assembly."] + +[Footnote 2139: Sauzay, I 140. Letter of M. Lompre, liberal deputy, to +M. Seguin, chanoine (towards the end of November, 1789). "The service +becomes more difficult every day; we have become objects of popular +fury, and, when no other resource was left to us to avoid the tempest +but to get rid of the endowments of the clergy, we yielded to force. It +had become a pressing necessity, and I should have been sorry to have +had you still here, exposed to the outrages and violence with which I +have been repeatedly threatened."] + +[Footnote 2140: Mercure de France, Nos. of January 15, 1791; October 2, +1790; May 14,1791.--Buchez and Roux, V. 343 (April 13, 1790); VII. +76 (September 2, 1790); X. 225 ( June 21, 1791).--De Montlosier, I. +357.--Moniteur, IV, 427.] + +[Footnote 2141: Archives of the Police, exposed by the Committee of the +district of Saint-Roch. Judgment of the Police Tribunal, May 15, 1790.] + +[Footnote 2142: Malouet, II. 68.--De Montlosier, II. 217, 257 (Speech of +M. Lavie, September 18, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2143: I.e. members of the old local parlements.] + +[Footnote 2144: Mercure, October 1, 1791. (Article by Mallet du Pan.)] + +[Footnote 2145: Malouet II. 66. "Those only who were not intimidated +by insults or threats, nor by actual blows, could come forward as +opponents."] + +[Footnote 2146: Buchez and Roux, X. 432, 465.] + +[Footnote 2147: Malouet, II, 153.] + +[Footnote 2148: Decrees of July 23rd and 28th, 1789.--"Archives +Nationales." Papers of Committee of Investigation, passim. Among other +affairs see that of Madame de Persan (Moniteur, V. 611, sitting of +September 9, 1790), and that of Malouet ("Memoires" II. 12).] + +[Footnote 2149: Buchez and Roux, IV. 56 (Report of Garan de Coulon); V. +49 (Decision of the Committee of Investigation, December 28, 1789).] + +[Footnote 2150: The arrests of M. de Riolles, M. de Bussy, etc., of +Madame de Jumilhac, of two other ladies, one at Bar-le-Duc and the other +of Nancy, etc.] + +[Footnote 2151: Sitting of July 28, 1789, the speeches of Duport and +Rewbell, etc.--Mercure, No. of January 1, 1791 (article by Mallet +du Pan).--Buchez and Roux, V. 146l "Behold five or six successive +conspiracies--that of the sacks of flour, that of the sacks of money, +etc." (Article by Camille Desmoulins.)] + +[Footnote 2152: "Archives de la Prefecture de Police." Extract from the +registers of the deliberations of the Conseil-General of the district +of Saint-Roch, October 10 1789: Arrete: to request all the men in the +commune to devote themselves, with all the prudence, activity, and force +of which they are capable, to the discovery, exposure, and publication +of the horrible plots and infernal treachery which are constantly +meditated against the inhabitants of the capital; to denounce to the +public the authors, abettors, and adherents of the said plots, whatever +their rank may be; to secure their persons and insure their punishment +with all the rigor which outrages of this kind call for. The commandant +of the battalion and the district captains come daily to consult with +the committee. "While the alarm lasts, the first story of each house is +to be lighted with lamps during the night: all citizens of the district +are requested to be at home by ten o'clock in the evening at the +latest, unless they should be on duty... . All citizens are invited +to communicate whatever they may learn or discover in relation to the +abominable plots which are secretly going on in the capital."] + +[Footnote 2153: Letter of M. de Guillermy, July 31, 1790 ("Actes des +Apotres," V. 56). "During these two nights (July 13th and 14th, 1789) +that we remained in session I heard one deputy try to get it believed +that an artillery corps had been ordered to point its guns against our +hall; another, that it was undermined, and that it was to be blown up; +another went so far as to declare that he smelt powder, upon which M. le +Comte de Virieu replied that power had no odor until it was burnt."] + +[Footnote 2154: Dumont, 351. "Each constitutional law was a party +triumph."] + +[Footnote 2155: Here Taine indicates how subversive parties may proceed +to weaken a nation prior to their take-over.(SR.)] + + + + +CHAPTER II. DESTRUCTION. + + + + +I.--Two principal vices of the ancient regime. + + Two principal reforms proposed by the King and the + privileged classes.--They suffice for actual needs.-- + Impracticable if carried further. + +In the structure of the old society there were two fundamental vices +which called for two reforms of corresponding importance.[2201] + +In the first place, those who were privileged having ceased to render +the services for which the advantages they enjoyed constituted their +compensation and their privileges were no longer anything but a +gratuitous charge imposed on one portion of the nation for the benefit +of the other. Hence the necessity for suppressing them. + +In the second place, the Government, being absolute, made use of public +resources as if they were its own private property, arbitrarily and +wastefully;[2202] it was therefore necessary to impose upon it some +effective and regular restraints. + +To render all citizens equal before taxation, to put the purse of the +tax-payers into the hands of their representatives, such was the twofold +operation to be carried out in 1789; and the privileged class as well +as the King willingly lent themselves to it. Not only, in this respect, +were the memorials of nobles and clergy in perfect harmony, but the +monarch himself; in his declaration of the 23rd of June, 1789, decreed +the two articles. Henceforth, every tax or loan was to obtain the +consent of the States-General; this consent was to be renewed at each +new meeting of the States; the public estimates were to be annually +published, discussed, specified, apportioned, voted on and verified by +the States; there were to be no arbitrary assessments or use of public +funds; allowances were to be specially assigned for all separate +services, the household of the King included. In each province or +district-general, there was to be an elected Provincial Assembly, +one-half composed of ecclesiastics and nobles, and the other half of +members of the Third-Estate, to apportion general taxes, to manage local +affairs, to decree and direct public works, to administer hospitals, +prisons, workhouses, and to continue its function, in the interval of +the sessions, through an intermediary commission chosen by itself; so +that, besides the principal control of the center, there were to be +thirty subordinate controlling powers at the extremities. There was +to be no more exemption or distinction in the matter of taxation; the +roadtax (covee) was to be abolished, also the right of franc-fief[2203] +imposed on plebeians; the rights of mortmain,[2204] subject to +indemnity, and internal customs duties. There was to be a reduction of +the captaincies, a modification of the salt-tax and of the excise, +the transformation of civil justice, too costly for the poor, and of +criminal justice, too severe for the humbler classes. Here we have, +besides the principal reform, equalization of taxes; the beginning and +inducement of the more complete operation which is to strike off the +last of the feudal manacles. Moreover; six weeks later, on the 4th of +August; the privileged, in an outburst of generosity, come forward +of their own accord to cut off or undo the whole of them. This double +reform thus encountered no obstacles, and, as Arthur Young reported to +his friends, it merely required one vote to have it adopted.[2205] + +This was enough; for all real necessities were now satisfied. On the one +hand, through the abolition of privileges in the matter of taxation, +the burden of the peasant and, in general, on the small tax-payer +was diminished one-half, and perhaps two thirds; instead of paying +fifty-three francs on one hundred francs of net income, he paid no more +than twenty-five or even sixteen;[2206] an enormous relief, and one +which, with the proposed revision of the excise and salt duties, made a +complete change in his condition. Add to this the gradual redemption +of ecclesiastical and feudal dues: and after twenty years the peasant, +already proprietor of a fifth of the soil, would, without the violent +events of the Revolution, in any case have attained the same degree of +independence and well-being which he was to achieve by passing through +it. On the other hand, through the annual vote on the taxes, not only +were waste and arbitrariness in the employment of the public funds put +a stop to, but also the foundations of the parliamentary system of +government were laid: whoever holds the purse-strings is, or becomes, +master of the rest; henceforth in the maintenance or establishment of +any service, the assent of the States was to be necessary. Now, in the +three Chambers which the three orders were thenceforward to form, there +were two in which the plebeians predominated. Public opinion, moreover, +was on their side, while the King, the true constitutional monarch, far +from possessing the imperious inflexibility of a despot, did not now +possess the initiative of an ordinary person. Thus the preponderance +fell to the communes, and they could legally, without any collision, +execute multiply, and complete, with the aid of the prince and through +him, all useful reforms.[2207]--This was enough; for human society, +like a living body, is seized with convulsions when it is subjected to +operations on too great a scale, and these, although restricted, were +probably all that France in 1789 could endure. To equitably reorganize +afresh the whole system of direct and indirect taxation; to revise, +recast, and transfer to the frontiers the customs-tariffs; to suppress, +through negotiations and with indemnity, feudal and ecclesiastical +claims, was an operation of the greatest magnitude, and as complex as +it was delicate. Things could be satisfactorily arranged only through +minute inquiries, verified calculations, prolonged essays, and mutual +concessions. In England, in our day, a quarter of a century has been +required to bring about a lesser reform, the transformation of tithes +and manorial-rights; and time likewise was necessary for our Assemblies +to perfect their political education,[2208] to get of their theories, to +learn, by contact with practical business, and in the study of details, +the distance which separates speculation from practice; to discover that +a new system of institutions works well only through a new system of +habits, and that to decree a new system of habits is tantamount to +attempting to build an old house.--Such, however, is the work they +undertake. They reject the King's proposals, the limited reforms, the +gradual transformations. According to them, it is their right and their +duty to re-make society from top to bottom. Such is the command of pure +reason, which has discovered the Rights of Man and the conditions of the +Social Contract. + + + + +II--Nature of societies, and the principle of enduring constitutions. + +Apply the Social Contract, if you like, but apply it only to those for +whom it was drawn up. These were abstract beings, belonging neither to +a period nor to a country, perfect creatures hatched out under the +magic wand of a metaphysician. They had as a matter of fact come into +existence by removing all the characteristics which distinguish one man +from another,[2209] a Frenchman from a Papuan, a modern Englishman from +a Briton in the time of Caesar, and by retaining only the part which is +common to all.[2210] The essence thus obtained is a prodigiously meager +one, an infinitely curtailed extract of human nature, that is, in the +phraseology of the day, + +"A BEING WITH A DESIRE TO BE HAPPY AND THE FACULTY OF REASONING," + +nothing more and nothing else. After this pattern several million +individuals, all precisely alike, have been prepared while, through a +second simplification, as extraordinary as the first one, they are all +supposed to be free and all equal, without a past, without kindred, +without responsibility, without traditions, without customs, like so +many mathematical units, all separable and all equivalent, and then it +is imagined that, assembled together for the first time, these proceed +to make their primitive bargain. From the nature they are supposed to +possess and the situation in which they are placed, no difficulty is +found in deducing their interests, their wills, and the contract between +them. But if this contract suits them, it does not follow that it suits +others. On the contrary, if follows that is does not suit others; the +inconvenience becomes extreme on its being imposed on a living society; +the measure of that inconvenience will be the immensity of the distance +which divides a hollow abstraction, a philosophical phantom, an empty +insubstantial image from the real and complete man. + +In any event we are not here considering a specimen, so reduced and +mutilated as to be only an outline of a human being; no, we are to the +contrary considering Frenchmen of the year 1789. It is for them alone +that the constitution is being made: it is therefore they alone who +should be considered; they are manifestly men of a particular species, +having their peculiar temperament, their special aptitudes, their own +inclinations, their religion, their history, all adding up into a mental +and moral structure, hereditary and deeply rooted, bequeathed to them by +the indigenous stock, and to which every great event, each political +or literary phase for twenty centuries, has added a growth, a +transformation or a custom. It is like some tree of a unique species +whose trunk, thickened by age, preserves in its annual rings and in its +knots, branches, and curvatures, the deposits which its sap has made +and the imprint of the innumerable seasons through which it has passed. +Using the philosophic definition, so vague and trite, to such an +organism, is only a puerile label teaching us nothing.--And all the more +because extreme diversities and inequalities show themselves on this +exceedingly elaborate and complicated background,--those of age, +education, faith, class and fortune; and these must be taken into +account, for these contribute to the formation of interests, passions, +and dispositions. To take only the most important of these, it is clear +that, according to the average of human life,[2211] one-half of the +population is composed of children, and, besides this, one-half of the +adults are women. In every twenty inhabitants eighteen are Catholic, +of whom sixteen are believers, at least through habit and tradition. +Twenty-five out of twenty-six millions of Frenchmen cannot read, one +million at the most being able to do so; and in political matters only +five or six hundred are competent. As to the condition of each class, +its ideas, its sentiments, its kind and degree of culture, we should +have to devote a large volume to a mere sketch of them. + +There is still another feature and the most important of all. These men +who are so different from each other are far from being independent, or +from contracting together for the first time. They and their ancestors +for eight hundred years form a national body, and it is because they +belong to this body that they live, multiply, labor, make acquisitions, +become enlightened and civilized, and accumulate the vast heritage of +comforts and intelligence which they now enjoy. Each in this community +is like the cell of an organized body; undoubtedly the body is only +an accumulation of cells, but the cell is born, subsists, develops and +attains its individual ends only be the healthy condition of the whole +body. Its chief interest, accordingly, is the prosperity of the whole +organism, and the fundamental requirement of all the little fragmentary +lives, whether they know it or not, is the conservation of the +great total life in which they are comprised as musical notes in a +concert.--Not only is this a necessity for them, but it is also a duty. +We are all born with a debt to our country, and this debt increases +while we grow up; it is with the assistance of our country, under the +protection of the law, upheld by the authorities, that our ancestors +and parents have given us life, property, and education. Each person's +faculties, ideas, attitudes, his or her entire moral and physical being +are the products to which the community has contributed, directly or +indirectly, at least as tutor and guardian. By virtue of this the state +is his creditor, just as a destitute father is of his able-bodied son; +it can lay claim to nourishment, services, and, in all the force or +resources of which he disposes, it deservedly demands a share.--This he +knows and feels, the notion of country is deeply implanted within him, +and when occasion calls for it, it will show itself in ardent emotions, +fueling steady sacrifice and heroic effort.--Such are veritable +Frenchmen, and we at once see how different they are from the simple, +indistinguishable, detached monads which the philosophers insist on +substituting for them. Their association need not be created, for it +already exists; for eight centuries they have a "common weal" (la chose +publique). The safety and prosperity of this common weal is at once +their interest, their need, their duty, and even their most secret wish. +If it is possible to speak here of a contract, their quasi-contract is +made and settled for them beforehand. The first article, at all events, +is stipulated for, and this overrides all the others. The nation must +not be dissolved. Public authorities must, accordingly, exist, and +these must be respected. If there are a number of these, they must be +so defined and so balanced as to be of mutual assistance, instead of +neutralizing each other by their opposition. Whatever government is +adopted, it must place matters in the hands best qualified to conduct +them. The law must not exist for the advantage of the minority, nor for +that of the majority, but for the entire community.--In regard to this +first article no one must derogate from it, neither the minority nor +the majority, neither the Assembly elected by the nation, nor the nation +itself, even if unanimous. It has no right arbitrarily to dispose of the +common weal, to put it in peril according to its caprice, to subordinate +it to the application of a theory or to the interest of a single class, +even if this class is the most numerous. For, that which is the common +weal does not belong to it, but to the whole community, past, present, +and to come. Each generation is simply the temporary manager and +responsible trustee of a precious and glorious patrimony which it has +received from the former generation, and which it has to transmit to +the one that comes after it. In this perpetual endowment, to which all +Frenchmen from the first days of France have brought their offerings, +there is no doubt about the intentions of countless benefactors; they +have made their gifts conditionally, that is, on the condition that the +endowment should remain intact, and that each successive beneficiary +should merely serve as the administrator of it. Should any of the +beneficiaries, through presumption or levity, through rashness or +one-sidedness, compromise the charge entrusted to them, they wrong +all their predecessors whose sacrifices they invalidate, and all their +successors whose hopes they frustrate. Accordingly, before undertaking +to frame a constitution, let the whole community be considered in its +entirety, not merely in the present but in the future, as far as the +eye can reach. The interest of the public, viewed in this far-sighted +manner, is the end to which all the rest must be subordinate, and for +which a constitution provides. A constitution, whether oligarchic, +monarchist, or aristocratic, is simply an instrument, good if it attains +this end, and bad if it does not attain it, and which, to attain it, +must, like every species of mechanism, vary according to the ground, +materials, and circumstances. The most ingenious is illegitimate if it +dissolves the State, while the clumsiest is legitimate if it keeps the +State intact. There is none that springs out of an anterior, universal, +and absolute right. According to the people, the epoch, and the degree +of civilization, according to the outer or inner condition of things, +all civil or political equality or inequality may, in turn, be or cease +to be beneficial or hurtful, and therefore justify the legislator in +removing or preserving it. It is according to this superior and salutary +law, and not according to an imaginary and impossible contract, that he +is to organize, limit, delegate and distribute from the center to +the extremities, through inheritance or through election, through +equalization or through privilege, the rights of the citizen and the +power of the community. + + + + +III.--The estates of a society. + + Political aptitude of the aristocracy.--Its disposition in + 1789.--Special services which it might have rendered.--The + principle of the Assembly as to original equality. + --Rejection of an Upper Chamber.--The feudal rights of the + aristocracy.--How far and why they were worthy of respect. + --How they should have been transformed.--Principle of the + Assembly as to original liberty.--Distinction established by + it in feudal dues; application of its principle.--The + lacunae of its law.--Difficulties of redemption.--Actual + abolition of all feudal liens.--Abolition of titles and + territorial names.--Growing prejudice against the + aristocracy.--Its persecutions.--The emigration. + +Was it necessary to begin by making a clean sweep, and was it advisable +to abolish or only to reform the various orders and corporations?--Two +prominent orders, the clergy and the nobles, enlarged by the ennobled +plebeians who had grown wealthy and acquired titled estates, formed a +privileged aristocracy side by side with the Government, whose favors it +might receive on the condition of seeking them assiduously and with +due acknowledgment, privileged on its own domains, and taking advantage +there of all rights belonging to the feudal chieftain without performing +his duties. This abuse was evidently an enormous one and had to +be ended. But, it did not follow that, because the position of the +privileged class on their domains and in connection with the Government +was open to abuse, they should be deprived of protection for person and +property on their domains, and of influence and occupation under the +Government.--A favored aristocracy, when it is unoccupied and renders +none of the services which its rank admits of, when it monopolizes all +honors, offices, promotions, preferences, and pensions,[2212] to the +detriment of others not less needy and deserving, is undoubtedly a +serious evil. But when an aristocracy is subject to the common law, when +it is occupied, especially when its occupation is in conformity with its +aptitudes, and more particularly when it is available for the formation +of an upper elective chamber or an hereditary peerage, it is a vast +service.--In any case it cannot be irreversibly suppressed; for, +although it may be abolished by law, it is reconstituted by facts. The +legislator must necessarily choose between two systems, that which lets +it lie fallow, or that which enables it to be productive, that which +drives it away from, or that which rallies it round, the public service. +In every society which has lived for any length of time, a nucleus of +families always exists whose fortunes and importance are of ancient +date. Even when, as in France in 1789, this class seems to be exclusive, +each half century introduces into it new families; judges, governors, +rich businessmen or bankers who have risen to the tope of the social +ladder through the wealth they have acquired or through the important +offices they have filled; and here, in the medium thus constituted, the +statesman and wise counselor of the people, the independent and able +politician is most naturally developed.--Because, on the one hand, +thanks to his fortune and his rank, a man of this class is above all +vulgar ambitions and temptations. He is able to serve gratis; he is not +obliged to concern himself about money or about providing for his family +and making his way in the world. A political mission is no interruption +to his career; he is not obliged, like the engineer, merchant, or +physician, to sacrifice either his business, his advancement, or his +clients. He can resign his post without injury to himself or to +those dependent on him, follow his own convictions, resist the noisy +deleterious opinions of the day, and be the loyal servant, not the +low flatterer of the public. Whilst, consequently, in the inferior or +average conditions of life, the incentive is self-interest, with him the +grand motive is pride. Now, amongst the deeper feelings of man there is +none which is more adapted for transformation into probity, patriotism, +and conscientiousness; for the first requisite of the high-spirited +man is self-respect, and, to obtain that, he is induced to deserve it. +Compare, from this point of view, the gentry and nobility of England +with the "politicians" of the United States.--On the other hand, +with equal talents, a man who belongs to this sphere of life enjoys +opportunities for acquiring a better comprehension of public affairs +than a poor man of the lower classes. The information he requires is +not the erudition obtained in libraries and in private study. He must +be familiar with living men, and, besides these, with agglomerations +of men, and even more with human organizations, with States, with +Governments, with parties, with administrative systems, at home and +abroad, in full operation and on the spot. There is but one way to reach +this end, and that is to see for himself, with his own eyes, at once +in general outline and in details, by intercourse with the heads of +departments, with eminent men and specialists, in whom are gathered up +the information and the ideas of a whole class. Now the young do not +frequent society of this description, either at home or abroad, except +on the condition of possessing a name, family, fortune, education and a +knowledge of social observances. All this is necessary to enable a +young man of twenty to find doors everywhere open to him to be received +everywhere on an equal footing, to be able to speak and to write three +or four living languages, to make long, expensive, and instructive +sojourns in foreign lands, to select and vary his position in the +different branches of the public service, without pay or nearly so, and +with no object in view but that of his political culture Thus brought up +a man, even of common capacity, is worthy of being consulted. If he is +of superior ability, and there is employment for him, he may become a +statesman before thirty; he may acquire ripe capacities, become prime +Minister, the sole pilot, alone able, like Pitt, Canning, or Peel, to +steer the ship of State between the reefs, or give in the nick of time +the touch to the helm which will save the ship.--Such is the service to +which an upper class is adapted. Only this kind of specialized stud farm +can furnish a regular supply of racers, and, now and then, the favorite +winner that distances all his competitors in the European field. + +But in order that they may prepare and educate themselves for this +career, the way must be clear, and they must not be compelled to travel +too repulsive a road. If rank, inherited fortune, personal dignity, and +refined manners are sources of disfavor with the people; if, to obtain +their votes, he is forced to treat as equals electoral brokers of low +character; if impudent charlatanism, vulgar declamation, and servile +flattery are the sole means by which votes can be secured, then, as +nowadays in the United States, and formerly in Athens, the aristocratic +body will retire into private life and soon settle down into a state +of idleness. A man of culture and refinement, born with an income of a +hundred thousand a year, is not tempted to become either manufacturer, +lawyer, or physician. For want of other occupation he loiters about, +entertains his friends, chats, indulges in the tastes and hobbies of an +amateur, is bored or enjoys himself. As a result one of society's great +forces is thus lost to the nation. In this way the best and largest +acquisition of the past, the heaviest accumulation of material and +of moral capital, remain unproductive. In a pure democracy the upper +branches of the social tree, not only the old ones but the young ones, +remain sterile. When a vigorous branch passes above the rest and +reaches the top it ceases to bear fruit. The elite of the nation is thus +condemned to constant and irremediable failures because it cannot find +a suitable outlet for its activity. It wants no other outlet, for in all +directions its rival, who are born below it, can serve as usefully and +as well as itself. But this one it must have, for on this its aptitudes +are superior, natural, unique, and the State which refuses to employ +it resembles the gardener who in his fondness for a plane surface would +repress his best shoots.[2213]--Hence, in the constructions which aim to +utilize the permanent forces of society and yet maintain civil equality, +the aristocracy is brought to take a part in public affairs by the +duration and gratuitous character of its mission, by the institution of +an hereditary character, by the application of various machinery, all +of which is combined so as to develop the ambition, the culture, and +the political capacity of the upper class, and to place power, or the +control of power, in its hands, on the condition that it shows itself +worthy of exercising it.--Now, in 1789, the upper class was not unworthy +of it. Members of the parliaments, the noblemen, bishops, capitalists, +were the men amongst whom, and through whom, the philosophy of the +eighteenth century was propagated. Never was an aristocracy more +liberal, more humane, and more thoroughly converted to useful +reforms;[2214] many of them remain so under the knife of the guillotine. +The magistrates of the superior tribunals, in particular, traditionally +and by virtue of their institution, were the enemies of excessive +expenditure and the critics of arbitrary acts. As to the gentry of the +provinces, "they were so weary," says one of them,[2215] "of the Court +and the Ministers that most of them were democrats." For many years, +in the Provincial Assemblies, the whole of the upper class, the clergy, +nobles, and Third-Estate, furnishes abundant evidence of its good +disposition, of its application to business, its capacity and even +generosity. Its mode of studying, discussing, and assigning the local +taxation indicates what it would have done with the general budget had +this been entrusted to it. It is evident that it would have protected +the general taxpayer as zealously as the taxpayer of the province, +and kept as close an eye upon the public purse at Paris as on that of +Bourges or of Montauban.--Thus were the materials of a good chamber +ready at hand, and the only thing that had to be done was to convene +them. On having the facts presented to them, its members would have +passed without difficulty from a hazardous theory to common-sense +practice, and the aristocracy which had enthusiastically given an +impetus to reform in its saloons would, in all probability, have carried +it out effectively and with moderation in the Parliament. + +Unhappily, the Assembly is not providing a Constitution for contemporary +Frenchmen, but for abstract beings. Instead of seeing classes in society +one placed above the other, it simply sees individuals in juxtaposition; +its attention is not fixed on the advantage of the nation, but on the +imaginary rights of man. As all men are equal, all must have an equal +share in the government. There must be no orders in a State, no avowed +or concealed political privileges, no constitutional complications or +electoral combinations by which an aristocracy, however liberal and +capable, may put its hands upon any portion of the public power.--On +the contrary, because it was once privileged to enjoy important and +rewarding public employment, the candidacy of the upper classes is now +suspect. All projects which, directly or indirectly, reserve or provide +a place for it, are refused: At first the Royal Declaration, which, in +conformity with historical precedents, maintained the three orders in +three distinct chambers, and only summoned them to deliberate together +"on matters of general utility." Then the plan of the Constitutional +Committee, which proposed a second Chamber, appointed for life by the +King on the nomination of the Provincial Assemblies. And finally the +project of Mounier who proposed to confide to these same Assemblies the +election of a Senate for six years, renewed by thirds every two years. +This Senate was to be composed of men of at least thirty-five years of +age, and with an income in real property of 30,000 livres per annum. The +instinct of equality is too powerful and a second Chamber is not wanted, +even if accessible to plebeians. Through it,[2216] + +"The smaller number would control the greater;"... "we should fall +back on the humiliating distinctions" of the ancient regime; "we should +revivify the germ of an aristocracy which must be exterminated.".... +"Moreover, whatever recalls or revives feudal Institutions is bad, and +an Upper Chamber is one of its remnants." ...."If the English have +one, it is because they have been forced to make a compromise with +prejudice." + +The National Assembly, sovereign and philosophic, soars above their +errors, their trammel; and their example. The depository of truth, it +has not to receive lessons from others, but to give them, and to offer +to the world's admiration the first type of a Constitution which is +perfect and in conformity with principle, the most effective of any in +preventing the formation of a governing class; in closing the way to +public business, not only to the old noblesse, but to the aristocracy +of the future; in continuing and exaggerating the work of absolute +monarchy; in preparing for a community of officials and administrators; +in lowering the level of humanity; in reducing to sloth and brutalizing +or blighting the elite of the families which maintain or raise +themselves; and in withering the most precious of nurseries, that in +which the State recruits its statesmen.[2217] + +Excluded from the Government, the aristocracy is about to retire +into private life. Let us follow them to their estates: Feudal rights +instituted for a barbarous State are certainly a great draw-back in a +modern State. If appropriate in an epoch when property and sovereignty +were fused together, when the Government was local, when life was +militant, they form an incongruity at a time when sovereignty and +property are separated, when the Government is centralized, when the +regime is a pacific one. The bondage which, in the tenth century, +was necessary to re-established security and agriculture, is, in the +eighteenth century, purposeless thralldom which impoverishes the soil +and fetters the peasant. But, because these ancient claims are liable +to abuse and injurious at the present day, it does not follow that they +never were useful and legitimate, nor that it is allowable to abolish +them without indemnity On the contrary, for many centuries, and, on +the whole, so long as the lord of the manor resided on his estates this +primitive contract was advantageous to both parties, and to such an +extent that it has led to the modern contract. Thanks to the pressure of +this tight bandage, the broken fragments of the community can be +again united, and society once more recover its solidity, force, +and activity.--In any event, that the institution, like all human +institutions, took its rise in violence and was corrupted by abuses is +of little consequence; the State, for eight hundred years, recognized +these feudal claims, and, with its own consent and the concurrence of +its Courts, they were transmitted, bequeathed, sold, mortgaged, and +exchanged, like any other species of property. Only two or three +hundred, at most, now remained in the families of the original +proprietors. "The largest portion of the titled estates," says a +contemporary,[2218] "have become the property of capitalists, merchants, +and their descendants; the fiefs, for the most part, being in the +hands of the bourgeois of the towns." All the fiefs which, during two +centuries past, have been bought by new men, now represent the economy +and labor of their purchasers.--Moreover; whoever the actual holders +may be, whether old or whether new men, the State is under obligation to +them, not only by general right--and because, from the beginning, it +is in its nature the guardian of all property,--but also by a special +right, because it has itself sanctioned this particular species of +property. The buyers of yesterday paid their money only under its +guarantee; its signature is affixed to the contract, and it has bound +itself to secure to them the enjoyment of it. If it prevents them +from doing so, let it make them compensation; in default of the thing +promised to them, it owes them the value of it. Such is the law in cases +of expropriation for public utility; in 1834, for instance, the English, +for the legal abolition of slavery, paid to their planters the sum of +L20,000,000. --But that is not sufficient: when, in the suppression +of feudal rights, the legislator's thoughts are taken up with the +creditors, he has only half performed his task; there are two sides to +the question, and he must likewise think of the debtors. If he is +not merely a lover of abstractions and of fine phrases, if that which +interests him is men and not words, if he is bent upon the effective +enfranchisement of the cultivator of the soil, he will not rest content +with proclaiming a principle, with permitting the redemption of rents, +with fixing the rate of redemption, and, in case of dispute, with +sending parties before the tribunals. He will reflect that the +peasantry, jointly responsible for the same debt will find difficulty +in agreeing among themselves; that they are afraid of litigation; that, +being ignorant, they will not know how to set about it; that, being +poor, they will be unable to pay; and that, under the weight of discord, +distrust, indigence, and inertia, the new law will remain a dead letter, +and only exasperate their cupidity or kindle their resentment. In +anticipation of this disorder the legislator will come to their +assistance; he will interpose commissions of arbitration between them +and the lord of the manor; he will substitute a scale of annuities for a +full and immediate redemption; he will lend them the capital which they +cannot borrow elsewhere; he will establish a bank, rights, and a mode of +procedure,--in short, as in Savoy in 1771, in England in 1845,[2219] and +in Russia in 1861, he will relieve the poor without despoiling the rich; +he will establish liberty without violating the rights of property; he +will conciliate interests and classes; he will not let loose a brutal +peasant revolt (Jacquerie) to enforce unjust confiscation; and he will +terminate the social conflict not with strife but with peace. + +It is just the reverse in 1789 In conformity with the doctrine of the +social contract, the principle is set up that every man is born free, +and that his freedom has always been inalienable. If he formerly +submitted to slavery or to serfdom, it was owing to his having had a +knife at his throat; a contract of this sort is essentially null and +void. So much the worse for those who have the benefit of it at the +present day; they are holders of stolen property, and must restore it to +the legitimate owners. Let no one object that this property was acquired +for cash down, and in good faith; they ought to have known beforehand +that man and his liberty are not commercial matters, and that unjust +acquisitions rightly perish in their hands.[2220] Nobody dreams that +the State which was a party to this transaction is the responsible +guarantor. Only one scruple affects the Assembly; its jurists and +Merlin, its reporter, are obliged to yield to proof; they know that +in current practice, and by innumerable ancient and modern titles, the +noble in many cases is nothing but an ordinary lessor, and that if, in +those cases, he collects his dues, it is simply in his capacity as a +private person, by virtue of a mutual contract, because he has given a +perpetual lease of a certain portion of his land; and he has given +it only in consideration of an annual payment in money or produce, or +services, together with another contingent claim which the farmer pays +in case of the transmission of the lease. These two obligations could +not be canceled without indemnity; if it were done, more than one-half +of the proprietors in France would be dispossessed in favor of the +farmers. Hence the distinction which the Assembly makes in the feudal +dues.--On the one hand it abolishes without indemnity all those dues +which the noble receives by virtue of being the local sovereign, the +ancient proprietor of persons and the usurper of public powers; all +those which the lessee paid as serf, subject to rights of inheritance, +and as former vassal or dependent. On the other hand, it maintains +and decrees as redeemable at a certain rate all those which the noble +receives through his title of landed proprietor and of simple lessor; +all those which the lessee pays by virtue of being a free contracting +party, former purchaser, tenant, farmer or grantee of landed estate.--By +this division it fancies that it has respected lawful ownership by +overthrowing illegitimate property, and that in the feudal scheme of +obligations, it has separated the wheat from the chaff.[2221] + +But, through the principle, the drawing up and the omissions of its +law, it condemns both to a common destruction; the fire on which it has +thrown the chaff necessarily burns up the wheat.--Both are in fact bound +up together in the same sheaf. If the noble formerly brought men under +subjection by the sword, it is also by the sword that he formerly +acquired possession of the soil. If the subjection of persons is invalid +on account of the original stain of violence, the usurpation of the soil +is invalid for the same reason. And if the sanction and guarantee of +the State could not justify the first act of brigandage, they could not +justify the second; and, since the rights which are derived from unjust +sovereignty are abolished without indemnity, the rights which are +derived from unjust proprietorship should be likewise abolished without +compensation.----The Assembly, with remarkable imprudence, had declared +in the preamble to its law that "it abolished the feudal system +entirely," and, whatever its ulterior reservations might be, the fiat +has gone forth. The forty thousand sovereign municipalities to which the +text of the decree is read pay attention only to the first article, and +the village attorney, imbued with the rights of man, easily proves to +these assemblies of debtors that they owe nothing to their creditors. +There must be no exceptions nor distinctions: no more annual rents, +field-rents, dues on produce, nor contingent rents, nor lord's dues and +fines, or fifths.[2222] If these have been maintained by the Assembly, +it is owing to misunderstanding, timidity, inconsistency, and on all +sides, in the rural districts, the grumbling of disappointed greed or of +unsatisfied necessities is heard:[2223] + +"You thought that you were destroying feudalism, while your redemption +laws have done just the contrary. . . . Are you not aware that what was +called a Seigneur was simply an unpunished usurper? . . . That detestable +decree of 1790 is the ruin of lease-holders. It has thrown the villages +into a state of consternation. The nobles reap all the advantage of +it. . . Never will redemption be possible. Redemption of unreal claims! +Redemption of dues that are detestable!" + +In vain the Assembly insists, specifies and explains by examples and +by detailed instructions the mode of procedure and the conditions of +redemption. Neither the procedure nor its conditions are practicable. It +has made no provisions for facilitating the agreement of parties and +the satisfaction of feudal liens, no special arbitrators, nor bank for +loans, nor system of annuities. And worse still, instead of clearing the +road it has barred it by legal arrangements. The lease-holder is not +to redeem his annual rent without at the same time compounding for the +contingent rent: he is not allowed on his own to redeem his quota since +he is tied up in solidarity with the other partners. Should his hoard +be a small one, so much the worse for him. Not being able to redeem the +whole, he is not allowed to redeem a part. Not having the money with +which to relieve himself from both ground-rents and lord's dues he +cannot relieve himself from ground-rents. Not having the money to +liquidate the debt in full of those who are bound along with him-self, +he remains a captive in his ancient chains by virtue of the new law +which announces to him his freedom. + +In the face of these unexpected trammels the peasant becomes furious: +His fixed idea, from the outbreak of the Revolution, is that he no +longer owes anything to anybody, and, among the speeches, decrees, +proclamations, and instructions which rumor brings to his ears, he +comprehends but one phrase, and is determined to comprehend no other, +and that is, that henceforth his obligations are removed. He does not +swerve from this, and since the law hinders, instead of aiding him, he +will break the law. In fact, after the 4th of August, 1789, feudal dues +cease to be collected. The claims which are maintained are not enforced +any more than those which are suppressed. Whole communities come and +give notice to the lord of the manor that they will not pay any more +rent. Others, with sword in hand, compel him to give them acquittances. +Others again, to be more secure, break open his safe, and throw his +title-deeds into the fire.[2224] Public force is nowhere strong enough +to protect him in his legal rights. Officers dare not serve writs, the +courts dare not give judgment, administrative bodies dare not decree in +his favor. He is despoiled through the connivance, the neglect, or +the impotence of all the authorities which ought to defend him. He is +abandoned to the peasants who fell his forests, under the pretext that +they formerly belonged to the commune; who take possession of his +mill, his wine-press, and his oven, under the pretext that territorial +privileges are suppressed.[2225] Most of the gentry of the provinces are +ruined, without any resource, and have not even their daily bread; for +their income consisted in seignorial rights, and in rents derived from +their real property, which they had let on perpetual leases, and now, +in accordance with the law, one-half of this income ceases to be paid, +while the other half ceases to be paid in spite of the law. One hundred +and twenty-three millions of revenue, representing two thousand millions +and a half of capital in the money of that time, double, at least, that +of the present day, thus passes as a gift, or through the toleration of +the National Assembly, from the hands of creditors into those of their +debtors. To this must be added an equal sum for revenue and capital +arising from the tithes which are suppressed without compensation, and +by the same stroke.--This is the commencement of the great revolutionary +operation, that is to say, of the universal bankruptcy which, directly +or indirectly, is to destroy all contracts, and abolish all debts in +France. Violations of property, especially of private property, cannot +be made with impunity. The Assembly desired to lop off only the +feudal branch; but, in admitting that the State can annul, without +compensation, the obligations which it has guaranteed, it put the ax to +the root of the tree, and other rougher hands are already driving it in +up to the haft. + +Nothing now remains to the noble but his title, his territorial name, +and his armorial bearings, which are innocent distinctions, since they +no longer confer any jurisdiction or pre-eminence upon him, and which, +as the law ceases to protect him, the first comer may borrow with +impunity. Not only, moreover, do they do no harm, but they are even +worthy of respect. With many of the nobles the title of the estate +covers the family name, the former alone being made use of. If one +were substituted for the other, the public would have difficulty in +discovering M. de Mirabeau, Lafayette, and M. de Moutmorency, under the +new names Riquetti, M. Mottie, and M. Bouchard. Besides, it would be +wrong to the bearer of it, to whom the abolished title is a legitimate +possession, often precious, it being a certificate of quality and +descent, an authentic personal distinction of which he cannot be +deprived without losing his position, rank, and worth, in the human +world around him.--The Assembly, however, with a popular principle +at stake, gives no heed to public utility, nor to the rights of +individuals. The feudal system being abolished, all that remains of +it must be got rid of. A decree is passed that "hereditary nobility is +offensive to reason and to true liberty;" that, where it exists, "there +is no political equality."[2226] Every French citizen is forbidden to +assume or retain the titles of prince, duke, count, marquis, chevalier, +and the like, and to bear any other than the "true name of his family;" +he is prohibited from making his servants wear liveries, and from having +coats-of-arms on his house or on his carriage. In case of any infraction +of this law a penalty is inflicted upon him equal to six times the sum +of his personal taxes; he is to be struck off the register of citizens, +and declared incapable of holding any civil or military office. There +is the same punishment if to any contract or acquittance he affixes his +accustomed signature; if; through habit or inadvertence, he adds the +title of his estate to his family name--if; with a view to recognition, +and to render his identity certain, he merely mentions that he once bore +the former name. Any notary or public officer who shall write, or allow +to be written, in any document the word ci-devant (formerly) is to be +suspended from his functions. Not only are old names thus abolished, but +an effort is made to efface all remembrance of them. In a little while, +the childish law will become a murderous one. It will be but a little +while and, according to the terms of this same decree, a military +veteran of seventy-seven years, a loyal servant of the Republic, and a +brigadier-general under the Convention, will be arrested on returning to +his native village, because he has mechanically signed the register of +the revolutionary committee as Montperreux instead of Vannod, and, for +this infraction, he will be guillotined along with his brother and his +sister-in-law.[2227] + +Once on this road, it is impossible to stop; for the principles which +are proclaimed go beyond the decrees which are passed, and a bad law +introduces a worse. The Constituent Assembly[2228] had supposed that +annual dues, like ground-rents, and contingent dues, like feudal duties +(lods et rentes), were the price of an ancient concession of land, and, +consequently, the proof to the contrary is to be thrown upon the tenant. +The Legislative Assembly is about to assume that these same rentals +are the result of an old feudal usurpation, and that, consequently, the +proof to the contrary must rest with the proprietor. His rights cannot +be established by possession from time immemorial, nor by innumerable +and regular acquittances; he must produce the act of enfeoffment which +is many centuries old, the lease which has never, perhaps, been written +out, the primitive title already rare in 1720,[2229] and since stolen +or burnt in the recent jacqueries: otherwise he is despoiled without +indemnity. All feudal claims are swept away by this act without +exception and without compensation. + +In a similar manner, the Constituent Assembly, setting common law aside +in relation to inheritances ab intestato, had deprived all eldest sons +and males of any advantages.[2230] The Convention, suppressing the +freedom of testamentary bequest, prohibits the father from disposing +of more than one-tenth of his possessions; and again, going back to the +past, it makes its decrees retrospective: every will opened after the +14th of July, 1789, is declared invalid if not in conformity with +this decree; every succession from the 14th of June, 1789, which is +administered after the same date, is re-divided if the division has not +been equal; every donation which has been made among the heirs after the +same date is void. Not only is the feudal family destroyed in this way, +but it must never be reformed. The aristocracy, being once declared a +venomous plant, it is not sufficient to prime it away, but it must be +extirpated, not only dug up by the root, but its seed must be crushed +out.--A malignant prejudice is aroused against it, and this grows from +day to day. The stings of self-conceit, the disappointments of ambition, +and envious sentiments have prepared the way. Its hard, dry kernel +consists of the abstract idea of equality. All around revolutionary +fervor has caused blood to flow, has embittered tempers, intensified +sensibilities, and created a painful abscess which daily irritation +renders still more painful. Through steadily brooding over a purely +speculative preference this has become a fixed idea, and is becoming +a murderous one. It is a strange passion, one wholly of the brains, +nourished by magniloquent phrases, but the more destructive, because +phantoms are created out of words, and against phantoms no reasoning nor +actual facts can prevail. This or that shopkeeper who, up to this time, +had always formed his idea of nobles from his impressions of the members +of the Parliament of his town or of the gentry of his canton, now +pictures them according to the declamations of the club and the +invectives of the newspapers. The imaginary figure, in his mind, has +gradually absorbed the living figure: he no longer sees the calm and +engaging countenance, but a grinning and distorted mask. Kindliness or +indifference is replaced by animosity and distrust; they are overthrown +tyrants, ancient evil-doers, And enemies of the public; he is satisfied +beforehand and without further investigation that they are hatching +plots. If they avoid being caught, it is owing to their address and +perfidy, and they are only the more dangerous the more inoffensive +they appear. Their sub-mission is merely a feint, their resignation +hypocrisy, their favorable disposition, treachery. Against these +conspirators who cannot be touched the law is inadequate; let us stretch +it in practice, and as they wince at equality let us try to make them +bow beneath the yoke. + +In fact, illegal persecution precedes legal prosecution; the privileged +person who, by the late decrees, seems merely to be brought within the +pale of the common law, is, in fact; driven outside of it. The King, +disarmed, is no longer able to protect him; the partial Assembly repels +his complaints; the committee of inquiry regards him as a culprit +when he is simply oppressed. His income, his property, his repose, his +freedom, his home, his life, that of his wife and of his children, are +in the hands of an administration elected by the crowd, directed by +clubs, and threatened or violated by the mob. He is debarred from the +elections. The newspapers denounce him. He undergoes domiciliary +visits. In hundreds of places his chateau is sacked; the assassins and +incendiaries who depart from it with their hands full and steeped in +blood are not prosecuted, or are shielded by an amnesty:[2231] it is +established by innumerable precedents that he may be run down with +impunity. To prevent him from defending himself, companies of the +National Guard come and seize his arms: he must become a prey, and +an easy prey, like game kept back in its enclosure for an approaching +hunt.--In vain he abstains from provocation and reduces himself to +the standing of a private individual. In vain does he patiently endure +numerous provocations and resist only extreme violence. I have read +many hundreds of investigations in the original manuscripts, and almost +always I have admired the humanity of the nobles, their forbearance, +their horror of bloodshed. Not only are a great many of them men of +courage and all men of honor, but also, educated in the philosophy of +the eighteenth century, they are mild, sensitive, and deeds of violence +are repugnant to them. Military officers especially are exemplary, their +great defect being their weakness: rather than fire on the crowd they +surrender the forts under their command, and allow themselves to be +insulted and stoned by the people. For two years,[2232] "exposed to a +thousand outrages, to defamation, to daily peril, persecuted by clubs +and misguided soldiers," disobeyed, menaced, put under arrest by their +own men, they remain at their post to prevent the ranks from being +broken up; "with stoic perseverance they put up with contempt of their +authority that they may preserve its semblance, their courage is of that +rarest kind which consists in remaining at the post of duty, impassive +beneath both affronts and blows.--Through a wrong of the greatest +magnitude, an entire class which have no share in the favors of +the Court, and which suffered as many injuries as any of the common +plebeians, is confounded with the titled parasites who besiege the +antechambers of Versailles. Twenty-five thousand families, "the nursery +of the army and the fleet," the elite of the agricultural proprietors, +also many gentlemen who look after and turn to account the little +estates on which they live, and "who have not left their homes a year in +their lives," become the pariahs of their canton.[2233] After 1789, they +begin to feel that their position is no longer tenable.[2234] + +" It is absolutely in opposition to the rights of man," says another +letter from Franche-Comte, "to find one's self in perpetual fear of +having one's throat cut by scoundrels who are daily confounding liberty +with license." + +"I never knew anything so wearying," says another letter from Champagne, +"as this anxiety about property and security. Never was there a better +reason for it. A moment suffices to let loose an intractable population +which thinks that it may do what it pleases, and which is carefully +sustained in that error." + +"After the sacrifices that we have made," says a letter from Burgundy, +"we could not expect such treatment. I thought that our property would +be the last violated because the people owed us some return for staying +at home in the country to expend among them the few resources that +remain to us. . . (Now), I beg the Assembly to repeal the decree on +emigration; otherwise it may be said that people are purposely kept here +to be assassinated. . . In case it should refuse to do us this justice, +I should be quite as willing to have it decree an act of proscription +against us, for we should not then be lulled to sleep by the protection +of laws which are doubtless very wise, but which are not respected +anywhere." + +" It is not our privileges," say several others, "it is not our nobility +that we regret; but how is the persecution to which we are abandoned to +be supported? There is no safety for us, for our property, or for our +families. Wretches who are our debtors, the small farmers who rob us of +our incomes, daily threaten us with the torch and the lamp post. We do +not enjoy one hour of repose; not a night that we are certain to +pass through without trouble. Our persons are given up to the vilest +outrages, our dwellings to an inquisition of armed tyrants; we are +robbed of our rentals with impunity, and our property is openly +attacked. We, being now the only people to pay imposts, are unfairly +taxed; in various places our entire incomes would not suffice to pay +the quota which crushes us. We can make no complaint without incurring +the risk of being massacred. The tribunals and the administrative +bodies, the tools of the multitude, daily sacrifice us to its attacks. +Even the Government seems afraid of compromising itself by claiming the +protection of the laws on our behalf. It is sufficient to be pointed +out as an aristocrat to be without any security. If our peasants, in +general, have shown more honesty, consideration, and attachment toward +us, every bourgeois of importance, the wild members of clubs, the vilest +of men who sully a uniform, consider themselves privileged to insult us, +and these wretches go unpunished and are protected! Even our religion +is not free. One of our number has had his house sacked for having shown +hospitality to an old cure of eighty belonging to his parish who refused +to take the oath. Such is our fate. We are not so base as to endure it. +Our right to resist oppression is not due to a decree of the National +Assembly, but to natural law. We are going to leave, and to die if +necessary. But to live under such a revolting anarchy! Should it not be +broken up we shall never set foot in France again!" + +The operation is successful. The Assembly, through its decrees and +institutions, through the laws it enacts and the violence which it +tolerates, has uprooted the aristocracy and cast it out of the country. +The nobles, now the reverse of privileged, cannot remain in a country +where, while respecting the law, they are really beyond its pale. Those +who first emigrated on the 15th of July, 1789, along with the Prince de +Conde, received at their houses the evening before they left a list of +the proscribed on which their names appeared, and a reward was +promised to whoever would bring their heads to the cellar of the +Palais-Royal--Others, in larger numbers, left after the occurrences +of the 6th of October.--During the last months of the Constituent +Assembly,[2235] + +"the emigration goes on in companies composed of men of every condition. +. . . Twelve hundred gentlemen have left Poitou alone; Auvergne, +Limousin, and ten other provinces have been equally depopulated of their +landowners. There are towns in which nobody remains but common workmen, +a club, and the crowd of devouring office-holders created by the +Constitution. All the nobles in Brittany have left, and the emigration +has begun in Normandy, and is going on in the frontier provinces. + +"More than two-thirds of the army will be without officers." On being +called upon to take the new oath in which the King's name is purposely +omitted, "six thousand officers send in their resignation." + +The example gradually becomes contagious; they are men of the sword, and +their honor is at stake. Many of them join the princes at Coblentz, +and subsequently do battle against France in the belief that they are +contending only against their executioners. + +The treatment of the nobles by the Assembly is the same as the treatment +of the Protestants by Louis XIV.[2236] In both cases the oppressed are a +superior class of men. In both cases France has been made uninhabitable +for them. In both cases they are reduced to exile, and they are +punished because they exiled them selves. In both cases it ended in a +confiscation of their property, and in the penalty of death to all who +should harbor them. In both cases, by dint of persecution, they are +driven to revolt. The insurrection of La Vendee corresponds with the +insurrection of the Cevennes; and the emigrants, like the refugees of +former times, will be found under the flags of Prussia and of England. +One hundred thousand Frenchmen driven out at the end of the seventeenth +century, and one hundred thousand driven out at the end of the +eighteenth century! Mark how an intolerant democracy completes the work +of an intolerant monarchy. The moral aristocracy was mowed down in the +name of uniformity; the social aristocracy is mowed down in the name of +equality. For the second time, an absolute principle, and with the same +effect, buries its blade in the heart of a living society. + +The success is complete. One of the deputies of the Legislative +Assembly, early in its session, on being informed of the great increase +in emigration, joyfully exclaims, + +"SO MUCH THE BETTER; FRANCE IS BEING PURGED!" + +She is, in truth, being depleted of one-half of her best blood. + + + + +IV.--Abuse and lukewarmness in 1789 in the ecclesiastical bodies. + + How the State used its right of overseeing and reforming + them.--Social usefulness of corporations.--The sound part in + the monastic institution.--Zeal and services of nuns.--How + ecclesiastical possessions should be employed.--Principle of + the Assembly as to private communities, feudal rights and + trust-funds.--Abolition and expropriation all corporations. + --Uncompensated suppression of tithes.--Confiscation of + ecclesiastical possessions.--Effect on the Treasury and on + expropriated services.--The civil constitution of the + clergy.--Rights of the Church in relation to the State. + --Certainty and effects of a conflict.--Priests considered as + State-functionaries.--Principal stipulations of the law. + --Obligations of the oath.--The majority of priests refuse to + take it.--The majority of believes on their side. + --Persecution of believers and of priests. + + +There remained the corporate, ecclesiastic, and lay bodies, and, +notably, the oldest, most opulent, and most considerable of all the +regular and secular clergy.--Grave abuses existed here also, for, the +institution being founded on ancient requirements, had not accommodated +itself to new necessities.[2237] There were too many episcopal sees, +and these were arranged according to the Christian distribution of +the population in the fourth century; a revenue still more badly +apportioned--bishops and abbes with one hundred thousand livres a year, +leading the lives of amiable idlers, while cures, overburdened with +work, have but seven hundred; in one monastery nineteen monks instead +of eighty, and in another four instead of fifty;[2238] a number of +monasteries reduced to three or to two inhabitants, and even to one; +almost all the congregations of men going to decay, and many of them +dying out for lack of novices;[2239] a general lukewarmness among the +members, great laxity in many establishments, and with scandals in some +of them; scarcely one-third taking an interest in their calling, while +the remaining two-thirds wish to go back to the world,[2240]--it is +evident from all this that the primitive inspiration has been diverted +or has cooled; that the endowment only partially fulfills its ends; +that one-half of its resources are employed in the wrong way or +remain sterile; in short, that there is a need of reformation in the +body.--That this ought to be effected with the co-operation of the State +and even under its direction is not less certain. For a corporation +is not an individual like other individuals, and, in order that it may +acquire or possess the privileges of an ordinary citizen, something +supplementary must be added, some fiction, some expedient of the law. +If the law is disposed to overlook the fact that a corporation is not a +natural personage, if it gives to it a civil personality, if it declares +it to be capable of inheriting, of acquiring and of selling, if it +becomes a protected and respected proprietor, this is due to the favors +of the State which places its tribunal and gendarmes at its service, and +which, in exchange for this service, justly imposes conditions on it, +and, among others, that of being useful and remaining useful, or at +least that of never becoming harmful. Such was the rule under the +Ancient Regime, and especially since the Government has for the last +quarter of a century gradually and efficaciously worked out a reform. +Not only, in 1749, had it prohibited the Church from accepting land, +either by donation, by testament, or in exchange, without royal +letters-patent registered in Parliament; not only in 1764 had it +abolished the order of Jesuits, closed their colleges and sold their +possessions, but also, since 1766, a permanent commission, formed by +the King's order and instructed by him, had lopped off all the dying and +dead branches of the ecclesiastical tree.[2241] There was a revision of +the primitive Constitutions; a prohibition to every institution to have +more than two monasteries at Paris and more than one in other towns; a +postponement of the age for taking vows--that of sixteen being no longer +permitted--to twenty-one for men and eighteen for women; an obligatory +minimum of monks and nuns for each establishment, which varies from +fifteen to nine according to circumstances; if this is not kept up there +follows a suppression or prohibition to receive novices: owing to +these measures, rigorously executed, at the end of twelve years +"the Grammontins, the Servites, the Celestins, the ancient order of +Saint-Benedict, that of the Holy Ghost of Montpellier, and those +of Sainte-Brigitte, Sainte-Croix-de-la-Bretonnerie, Saint-Ruff, and +Saint-Antoine,"--in short, nine complete congregations had disappeared. +At the end of twenty years three hundred and eighty-six establishments +had been suppressed, the number of monks and nuns had diminished +one-third, the larger portion of possessions which had escheated were +usefully applied, and the congregations of men lacked novices and +complained that they could not fill up their ranks. If the monks were +still found to be too numerous, too wealthy, and too indolent, it was +merely necessary to keep on in this way; before the end of the century, +merely by the application of the edict, the institution would be +brought back, without brutality or injustice, within the scope of the +development, the limitations of fortune, and the class of functions +acceptable to a modern State. + +But, because these ecclesiastical bodies stood in need of reform it does +not follow that it was necessary to destroy them, nor, in general, +that independent institutions are detrimental to a nation. Organized +purposely for a public service, and possessing, nearly or remotely under +the supervision of the State, the faculty of self-administration, these +bodies are valuable organs and not malign tumors. + +In the first place, through their institution, a great public benefit +is secured without any cost to the government--worship, scientific +research, primary or higher education, help for the poor, care of the +sick--all set apart and sheltered from the cuts which public financial +difficulties might make necessary, and supported by the private +generosity which, finding a ready receptacle at hand, gathers together, +century after century, its thousands of scattered springs: as an +example, note the wealth, stability, and usefulness of the English and +German universities. + +In the second place, their institution furnishes an obstacle to the +omnipotence of the State; their walls provide a protection against the +leveling standardization of absolute monarchy or of pure democracy. A +man can here freely develop himself without donning the livery of +either courtier or demagogue, he can acquire wealth, consideration and +authority, without being indebted to the caprices of either royal or +popular favor; he can stand firm against established or prevailing +opinions sheltered by associates bound by their esprit de corps. Such, +at the present day (1885), is the situation of a professor at Oxford, +Goettingen, and Harvard Such, under the Ancient Regime, were a bishop, a +member of the French Parliaments, and even a plain attorney. What can +be worse than universal bureaucracy, producing a mechanical and servile +uniformity! Those who serve the public need not all be Government +clerks; in countries where an aristocracy has perished, bodies of this +kind are their last place of refuge. + +In the third place, through such institutions, distinct original +societies may come to be inside the great commonplace world. Here +special personalities may find the only existence that suits them. If +devout or laborious, not only do these afford an outlet for the deeper +needs of conscience, of the imagination, of activity, and of discipline, +but also they serve as dikes which restrain and direct them in a channel +which will lead to the creation of a masterpiece of infinite value. In +this way thousands of men and women fulfill at small cost, voluntarily +and gratis, and with great effect, the least attractive and more +repulsive social needs, thus performing in human society the role which, +inside the ant-hill, we see assigned to the sexless worker-ant.[2242] + +Thus, at bottom, the institution was really good, and if it had to be +cauterized it was merely essential to remove the inert or corrupted +parts and preserve the healthy and sound parts.--Now, if we take only +the monastic bodies, there were more than one-half of these entitled +to respect. I omit those monks, one-third of whom remained zealous and +exemplary-the Benedictines, who continue the "Gallia Christiana," with +others who, at sixty years of age, labor in rooms without a fire; +the Trappists, who cultivate the ground with their own hands, and the +innumerable monasteries which serve as educational seminaries, bureaus +of charity, hospices for shelter, and of which all the villages in their +neighborhood demand the conservation by the National Assembly.[2243] +I have to mention the nuns, thirty-seven thousand in fifteen hundred +convents. Here, except in the twenty-five chapters of canonesses, which +are a semi-worldly rendezvous for poor young girls of noble birth, +fervor, frugality, and usefulness are almost everywhere incontestable. +One of the members of the Ecclesiastical Committee admits in the +Assembly tribunal that, in all their letters and addresses, the nuns ask +to be allowed to remain in their cloisters; their entreaties, in fact, +are as earnest as they are affecting.[2244] One Community writes, + +"We should prefer the sacrifice of our lives to that of our calling +. . . . This is not the voice of some among our sisters, but of all. The +National Assembly has established the claims of liberty-would it prevent +the exercise of these by the only disinterested beings who ardently +desire to be useful, and have renounced society solely to be of greater +service to it?" + +"The little contact we have with the world," writes another "is the +reason why our contentment is so little known. But it is not the less +real and substantial. We know of no distinctions, no privileges amongst +ourselves; our misfortunes and our property are in common. One in heart +and one in soul. . . we protest before the nation, in the face of heaven +and of earth, that it is not in the power of any being to shake our +fidelity to our vows, which vows we renew with still more ardor than +when we first pronounced them."[2245] + +Many of the communities have no means of subsistence other than the work +of their own hands and the small dowries the nuns have brought with +them on entering the convent. So great, however is their frugality and +economy, that the total expenditure of each nun does not surpass 250 +livres a year. The Annonciades of Saint-Amour say, + +"We, thirty-three nuns, both choristers and those of the white veil, +live on 4,400 livres net income, without being a charge to our families +or to the public. . . If we were living in society, our expenses would +be three times as much;" and, not content with providing for themselves, +they give in charity. + +Among these communities several hundreds are educational establishments; +a very great number give gratuitous primary instruction.--Now, in 1789, +there are no other schools for girls, and were these to be suppressed, +every avenue of instruction and culture would be closed to one of the +two sexes, forming one-half of the French population. Fourteen thousand +sisters of charity, distributed among four hundred and twenty convents, +look after the hospitals, attend upon the sick, serve the infirm, +bring up foundlings, provide for orphans, lying-in women, and repentant +prostitutes. The "Visitation" is an asylum for "those who are not +favored by nature,"--and, in those days, there were many more of the +disfigured than at present, since out of every eight deaths one was +caused by the smallpox. Widows are received here, as well as girls +without means and without protection, persons "worn out with the +agitation of the world," those who are too feeble to support the battle +of life, those who withdraw from it wounded or invalid, and "the rules +of the order, not very strict, are not beyond the health or strength +of the most frail and delicate." Some ingenious device of charity thus +applies to each moral or social sore, with skill and care, the proper +and proportionate dressing. And finally, far from falling off, nearly +all these communities are in a flourishing state, and whilst among the +establishments for men there are only nine, on the average, to each, +in those for women there is an average of twenty-four. Here, at +Saint-Flour, is one which is bringing up fifty boarders; another, at +Beaulieu, instructs one hundred; another, in Franche-Comte, has charge +of eight hundred abandoned children.[2246]--Evidently, in the presence +of such institutions one must pause, however little one may care for +justice and the public interest; and, moreover, because it is useless +to act rigorously against them the legislator crushes them in vain, for +they spring up again of their own accord; they are in the blood of every +Catholic nation. In France, instead of thirty-seven thousand nuns, at +the present day (1866) there are eighty-six thousand-that is to say, +forty-five in every ten thousand women instead of twenty-eight.[2247] + +In any case, if the State deprives them of their property, along with +that of other ecclesiastical bodies, it is not the State that ought +to claim the spoil.--The State is not their heir, and their land, +furniture, and rentals are in their very nature devoted to a special +purpose, although they have no designated proprietor. This treasure, +which consists of the accumulations of fourteen centuries, has been +formed, increased, and preserved, in view of a certain object. The +millions of generous, repentant, or devout souls who have made a gift +of it, or have managed it, did so with a certain intention. It was their +desire to ensure education, beneficence, and religion, and nothing else. +Their legitimate intentions should not be frustrated: the dead have +rights in society as well as the living, for it is the dead who have +made the society which the living enjoy, and we receive their heritage +only on the condition of executing their testamentary act.--Should +this be of ancient date, it is undoubtedly necessary to make a liberal +interpretation of it; to supplement its scanty provisions, and to take +new circumstances into consideration. The requirements for which it +provided have often disappeared; for instance, after the destruction of +the Barbary pirates, there were no more Christians to be ransomed; and +only by transferring an endowment can it be perpetuated.--But if, in the +original institution, several accessory and special clauses have become +antiquated, there remains the one important, general intention, which +manifestly continues imperative and permanent, that of providing for a +distinct service, either of charity, of worship, or of instruction. Let +the administrators be changed, if necessary, also the apportionment of +the legacy bequeathed, but do not divert any of it to services of an +alien character; it is inapplicable to any but that purpose or to others +strictly analogous. The four milliards of investment in real property, +the two hundred millions of ecclesiastical income, form for it an +express and special endowment. This is not a pile of gold abandoned on +the highway, which the exchequer can appropriate or assign to those who +live by the roadside. Authentic titles to it exist, which, declaring its +origin, fix its destination, and your business is simply to see that +it reaches its destination. Such was the principle under the ancient +regime, in spite of grave abuses, and under forced exactions. When the +ecclesiastical commission suppressed an ecclesiastical order, it was not +for the purpose of making its possessions over to the public treasury, +but to apply these to seminaries, schools, and hospitals. In 1789, the +revenues of Saint-Denis supported Saint-Cyr; those of Saint Germain went +to the Economats, and the Government, although absolute and needy, was +sufficiently honest to adjust that confiscation was robbery. The greater +our power, the greater the obligation to be just, and honesty always +proves in the end to be the best policy.--It is, therefore, both just +and useful that the Church, as in England and in America, that superior +education, as in England and in Germany, that special instruction, as in +America, and that diverse endowments for public assistance and utility, +should be unreservedly secured in the maintenance of their heritage. The +State, as testamentary executor of this inheritance, strangely abuses +its mandate when it pockets the bequest in order to choke the deficit of +its own treasury, risking it in bad speculations, and swallowing it +up in its own bankruptcy, until of this vast treasure, which has been +heaped up for generations for the benefit of children, the infirm, +the sick and the poor, not enough is left to pay the salary of a +school-mistress, the wages of a parish nurse, or for a bowl of broth in +a hospital.[2248] + +The Assembly remains deaf to all these arguments, and that which makes +its refuse to listen is not financial distress.--The Archbishop of Aix, +M. de Boisjelin, offered, in the name of the clergy, to liquidate +at once the debt of three hundred millions, which was urgent, by a +mortgage-loan of four hundred millions on the ecclesiastical property, +which was a very good expedient; for at this time the credit of the +clergy is the only substantial one. It generally borrows at less than +five per cent., and more money has always been offered to it than it +wanted, whilst the State borrows at ten per cent., and, at this moment, +there are no lenders.--But, to our new revolutionary statesmen, +the cost-benefit of a service is of much less consequence than the +application of a principle. In conformity with the Social Contract they +establish the maxim that in the State there is no need of corporate +bodies: they acknowledge nothing but, on the one hand, the State, the +depositary of all public powers, and, on the other hand, a myriad of +solitary individuals. Special associations, specific groups, collateral +corporations are not wanted, even to fulfill functions which the State +is incapable of fulfilling. "As soon as one enters a corporation," says +and orator, "one must love it as one loves a family;"[2249] whereas +the affections and obedience are all to be monopolized by the State. +Moreover, on entering into an order a man receives special aid and +comfort from it, and whatever distinguishes one man from another, is +opposed to civil equality. Hence, if men are to remain equal and become +citizens they must be deprived of every rallying point that might +compete with that of the State, and give to some an advantage over +others. All natural or acquired ties, consequently, which bound men +together through geographical position, through climate, history, +pursuits, and trade, are sundered. The old provinces, the old provincial +governments, the old municipal administrations, parliaments, guilds +and masterships, all are suppressed. The groups which spring up most +naturally, those which arise through a community of interests, are +all dispersed, and the broadest, most express, and most positive +interdictions are promulgated against their revival under any pretext +whatever.[2250] France is cut up into geometrical sections like a +chess-board, and, within these improvised limits, which are destined +for a long time to remain artificial, nothing is allowed to subsist +but isolated individuals in juxtaposition. There is no desire to spare +organized bodies where the cohesion is great, and least of all that +of the clergy. "Special associations," says Mirabeau,[2251] "in the +community at large, break up the unity of its principles and destroy +the equilibrium of its forces. Large political bodies in a State are +dangerous through the strength which results from their coalition and +the resistance which is born out of their interests." ii--That of the +clergy, besides, is inherently bad,[2252] because "its system is in +constant antagonism to the rights of man." An institution in which a +vow of obedience is necessary is "incompatible" with the constitution. +Congregations "subject to independent chiefs are out of the social pale +and incompatible with public spirit." As to the right of society over +these, and also over the Church, this is not doubtful. "Corporate bodies +exist only through society, and, in destroying them, society merely +takes back the life she has imparted to them." "They are simply +instruments fabricated by the law.[2253] What does the workman do +when the tool he works with no longer suits him? He breaks or alters +it."--This primary sophism being admitted the conclusion is plain. Since +corporate bodies are abolished they no longer exist, and since they no +longer exist, they cannot again become proprietors. + +"Your aim was to destroy ecclesiastical orders,[2254] because their +destruction was essential to the safety of the State. If the clergy +preserve their property, the clerical order is not destroyed: you +necessarily leave it the right of assembling; you sanction its +independence." In no case must ecclesiastics hold possessions. "If they +are proprietors they are independent, and if they are independent they +will associate this independence with the exercise of their functions." +The clergy, cost what it will, must be in the hands of the State, as +simple functionaries and supported by its subsidies. It would be too +dangerous for a nation, "to admit in its bosom as proprietors a large +body of men to whom so many sources of credit already give so great +power. As religion is the property of all, its ministers, through this +fact alone, should be in the pay of the nation;" they are essentially +"officers of morality and instruction," and "salaried" like judges and +professors. Let us fetch them back to this condition of things, which +is the only one compatible with the rights of man, and ordain that +"the clergy, as well as all corporations and bodies with power of +inheritance, are now, and shall be for ever incapable of holding any +personal or landed estate."[2255] + +Who, now, is the legitimate heir of all these vacated possessions? +Through another sophism, the State, at once judge and party in the +cause, assigns them to the State: + +"The founders presented them to the Church, that is to say, to the +nation."[2256] "Since the nation has permitted their possession by +the clergy, she may re-demand that which is possessed only through her +authorization." "The principle must be maintained that every nation is +solely and veritably proprietor of the possessions of its clergy." + +This principle, it must be noted, as it is laid down, involves the +destruction of ecclesiastical and lay corporations, along with the +confiscation of all their possessions, and soon we shall see appearing +on the horizon the final and complete decree[2257] by which the +Legislative Assembly, + +"considering that a State truly free should not suffer any corporation +within its bosom, not even those which, devoted to public instruction, +deserve well of the country," not even those "which are solely devoted +to the service of the hospitals-and the relief of the sick," suppresses +all congregations, all associations of men or of women, lay or +ecclesiastical, all endowments for pious, charitable, and missionary +purposes, all houses of education, all seminaries and colleges, and +those of the Sorbonne and Navarre. Add to these the last sweep of the +broom: under the Legislative Assembly the division of all communal +property, except woods: under the Convention, the abolition of all +literary societies, academies of science and of literature, the +confiscation of all their property, their libraries, museums, and +botanical gardens; the confiscation of all communal possessions +not previously divided; and the confiscation of all the property of +hospitals and other philanthropic establishments.[2258]--The abstract +principle, proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly, reveals, by degrees, +its exterminating virtues. France now, owing to it, contains nothing but +dispersed, powerless, ephemeral individuals, and confronting them, +the State, the sole, the only permanent body that has devoured all +the others, a veritable Colossus, alone erect in the midst of these +insignificant dwarfs. + +Substituted for the others, it is henceforth to perform their duties, +and spend the money well which they have expended badly.--In the first +place, it abolishes tithes, not gradually and by means of a process of +redemption, as in England, but at one stroke, and with no indemnity, +on the ground that the tax, being an abusive, illegitimate impost, a +private tax levied by individuals in cowl and cassock on others in +smock frocks, is a vexatious usurpation, and resembles the feudal +dues. It is a radical operation, and in conformity with principle. +Unfortunately, the puerility of the thing is so gross as to defeat its +own object. In effect, since the days of Charlemagne, all the estates +in the country which have been sold and resold over and over again +have always paid tithes, and have never been purchased except with this +charge upon them, which amounts to about one-seventh of the net revenue +of the country. Take off this tax and one-seventh is added to the +income of the proprietor, and, consequently, a seventh to his capital. A +present is made to him of one hundred francs if his land is worth seven +hundred-francs, and of one thousand if it is worth seven thousand, +of ten thousand if it is worth seventy thousand, and of one hundred +thousand if it is worth seven hundred thousand. Some people gain six +hundred thousand francs by this act, and thirty thousand francs in +Income.[2259] Through this gratuitous and unexpected gift, one hundred +and twenty-three millions of revenue, and two milliards and a half of +capital, is divided among the holders of real estate in France, and in +a manner so ingenious that the rich receive the most. Such is the effect +of abstract principles. To afford a relief of thirty millions a year +to the peasants in wooden shoes, an assembly of democrats adds thirty +millions a year to the revenue of wealthy bourgeois and thirty millions +a year to opulent nobles. The first part of this operation moreover, is +but another burden to the State; for, in taking off the load from +the holders of real property, it has encumbered itself, the State +henceforth, without pocketing a penny, being obliged to defray the +expenses of worship in their place.--As to the second part of the +operation, which consists in the confiscation of four milliards of real +estate, it proves, after all, to be ruinous, although promising to +be lucrative. It makes the same impression on our statesmen that the +inheritance of a great estate makes on a needy and fanciful upstart. +Regarding it as a bottomless well of gold, he draws upon it without +stint and strives to realize all his fancies; as he can afford to pay +for it all, he is free to smash it all. It is thus that the Assembly +suppresses and compensates magisterial offices to the amount of four +hundred and fifty millions; financial securities and obligations to the +amount of three hundred and twenty-one millions; the household charges +of the King, Queen, and princes, fifty-two millions; military services +and encumbrances, thirty-five millions; enfeoffed tithes, one hundred +millions, and so on.[2260] "In the month of May, 1789," says Necker, +"the re-establishment of order in the finances were mere child's-play." +At the end of a year, by dint of involving itself in debt, by increasing +its expenses, and by abolishing or abandoning its income, the State +lives now on the paper-currency it issues, eats up its capital, and +rapidly marches onward to bankruptcy. Never was such a vast inheritance +so quickly reduced to nothing, and to less than nothing. + +Meanwhile, we can demonstrate, from the first few months, what use the +administrators will be able to make of it, and the manner in which +they will endow the service to which it binds them.--No portion of this +confiscated property is reserved for the maintenance of public worship, +or to keep up the hospitals, asylums, and schools. Not only do all +obligations and all productive real property find their way into the +great national crucible to be converted into assignats[2261], but a +number of special buildings, all monastic real estate and a portion +of the ecclesiastical real estate, diverted from its natural course, +becomes swallowed up in the same gulf. At Besancon,[2262] three churches +out of eight, with their land and treasure, the funds of the chapter, +all the money of the monastic churches, the sacred vessels, shrines, +crosses, reliquaries, votive offerings, ivories, statues, pictures, +tapestry, sacerdotal dresses and ornaments, plate, jewels and precious +furniture, libraries, railings, bells, masterpieces of art and of piety, +all are broken up and melted in the Mint, or sold by auction for almost +nothing. This is the way in which the intentions of the founders and +donors are carried out.--How are so many communities, which are deprived +of their rentals, to support their schools, hospices, and asylums? Even +after the decree[2263] which, exceptionally and provisionally, orders +the whole of their revenue to be accounted for to them, will it be paid +over now that it is collected by a local administration whose coffers +are always empty, and whose intentions are almost always hostile? Every +establishment for benevolent and educational purposes is evidently +sinking, now that the special streams which nourished them run into and +are lost in the dry bed of the public treasury.[2264] Already, in 1790, +there are no funds with which to pay the monks and nuns their small +pensions for their maintenance. In Franche-Comte the Capuchins of Baume +have no bread, and, to live, they are obliged to re-sell, with the +consent of the district, a portion of the stores of their monastery +which had been confiscated. The Ursuline nuns of Ornans live on the +means furnished them by private individuals in order to keep up the only +school which the town possesses. The Bernardine nuns of Pontarlier are +reduced to the lowest stage of want: "We are satisfied," the district +reports, "that they have nothing to put into their mouths. We have +to contribute something every day amongst ourselves to keep them +from starving."[2265] Only too thankful are they when the local +administration gives them something to eat, or allows others to give +them something. In many places it strives to famish them, or takes +delight in annoying them. In March, 1791, the department of Doubs, in +spite of the entreaties of the district, reduces the pension of the +Visitant nuns to one hundred and one livres for the choristers, and +fifty for the lay-sisters. Two months before this, the municipality of +Besancon, putting its own interpretation on the decree which allowed +nuns to dress as they pleased, enjoins them all, including even the +sisters of charity, to abandon their old costume, which few among them +had the means of replacing.--Helplessness, indifference, or malevolence, +such are the various dispositions which are encountered among the new +authorities whose duty it is to support and protect them. To let loose +persecution there is now only needed a decree which puts the civil power +in conflict with religious convictions. That decree is promulgated, +and, on the 12th of July, 1790, the Assembly establishes the civil +constitution of the clergy. + +Notwithstanding the confiscation of ecclesiastical property, and +the dispersion of the monastic communities, the main body of the +ecclesiastical corps remains intact: seventy thousand priests +ranged under the bishops, with the Pope in the center as the +commander-in-chief. There is no corporation more solid, more +incompatible, or more attacked. For, against it are opposed implacable +hatreds and fixed opinions: the Gallicanism of the jurists who, from +St. Louis downwards, are the adversaries of ecclesiastical power; the +doctrine of the Jansenists who, since Louis XIII., desire to bring back +the Church to its primitive form; and the theory of the philosophers +who, for sixty years, have considered Christianity as a mistake and +Catholicism as a scourge. At the very least the institution of a clergy +in Catholicism is condemned, and they think that they are moderate if +they respect the rest. + +"WE MIGHT CHANGE THE RELIGION," + +say the deputies in the tribune.[2266] Now, the decree affects +neither dogma nor worship; it is confined to a revision of matters of +discipline, and on this particular domain which is claimed for the +civil power, it is pretended that demolition and re-construction may +be effected at discretion without the concurrence of the ecclesiastical +power. + +Here there is an abuse of power, for an ecclesiastical as well as civil +society has the right to choose its own form, its own hierarchy, its own +government.--On this point, every argument that can be advanced in favor +of the former can be repeated in favor of the latter, and the moment one +becomes legitimate the other becomes legitimate also. The justification +for a civil or of a religious community or society may be the +performance of a long series of services which, for centuries, it has +rendered to its members, the zeal and success with which it discharges +its functions, the feelings of gratitude they entertain for it, the +importance they attribute to its offices, the need they have of it, and +their attachment to it, the conviction imprinted in their minds that +without it they would be deprived of a benefit upon which they set more +store than upon any other. This benefit, in a civil society, is the +security of persons and property. In the religious society it is +the eternal salvation of the soul. iii In all other particulars the +resemblance is complete, and the titles of the Church are as good as +those of the State. Hence, if it be just for one to be sovereign and +free on its own domain, it is just for the other to be equally sovereign +and free, If the Church encroaches when it assumes to regulate the +constitution of the State, then the State also encroaches when it +pretends to regulate the constitution of the Church. If the former +claims the respect of the latter on its domain, the latter must show +equal respect for the former on its ground. The boundary-line between +the two territories is, undoubtedly, not clearly defined and frequent +contests arise between the two. Sometimes these may be forestalled or +terminated by each shutting itself up within a wall of separation, and +by their remaining as much as possible indifferent to each other, as +is the case in America. At another, they may, by a carefully considered +contract,[2267] each accord to the other specific rights on the +intermediate zone, and both exercise their divided authority on that +zone, which is the case in France. In both cases, however, the two +powers, like the two societies, must remain distinct. It is necessary +for each of them that the other should be an equal, and not a +subordinate to which it prescribes conditions. Whatever the civil system +may be, whether monarchical or republican, oligarchic or democratic, the +Church abuses its credit when it condemns or attacks it. Whatever may be +the ecclesiastical system, whether papal, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or +congregational, the State abuses its strength when, without the assent +of the faithful, it abolishes their systems or imposes a new one upon +them. Not only does it violate right, but its violence, most frequently, +is fruitless. It may strike as it will, the root of the tree is beyond +its reach, and, in the unjust war which it wages against an institution +as vital as itself, it often ends in getting the worst of it. + +Unfortunately, the Assembly, in this as in other matters, being +preoccupied with principles, fails to look at practical facts; and, +aiming to remove only the dead bark, it injures the living trunk.--For +many centuries, and especially since the Council of Trent, the vigorous +element of Catholicism is much less religion itself than the Church. +Theology has retired into the background, while discipline has come +to the front. Believers who, according to Church law, are required to +regard spiritual authority as dogma, in fact attach their faith to the +spiritual authority much more than to the dogma.-- + +Catholic Faith insists, in relation to discipline as well as to dogma, +that if one rejects the decision of the Roman Church one ceases to be a +Catholic; that the constitution of the Church is monarchical, that the +ordaining of priests and bishops is made from above so that without +communion with the Pope, its supreme head, one is schismatic and that no +schismatic priest legitimately can perform a holy service, and that no +true faithful may attend his service or receive his blessings without +committing a sin.--It is a fact that the faithful, apart from a few +Jansenists, are neither theologians nor canonists; that they read +neither prayers nor scriptures, and if they accept the creed, it is in +a lump, without investigation, confiding in the hand which presents it; +that their obedient conscience is in the keeping of this pastoral guide; +that the Church of the third century is of little consequence to them; +and that, as far as the true form of the actual Church goes, the doctor +whose advice they follow is not St. Cyprian, of whom they know nothing, +but their visible bishop and their living cure. Put these two premises +together and the conclusion is self-evident: it is clear that they will +not believe that they are baptized, absolved, or married except by this +cure authorized by this bishop. Let others be put in their places +whom they condemn, and you suppress worship, sacraments, and the most +precious functions of spiritual life to twenty-four millions of French +people, to all the peasantry, all the children, and to almost all the +women; you stir up in rebellion against you the two greatest forces +which move the mind, conscience and habit.--And observe the result of +this. You not only convert the State into a policeman in the service +of heresy, but also, through this fruitless and tyrannous attempt of +Gallican Jansenism, you bring into permanent discredit Gallican maxims +and Jansenist doctrines. You cut away the last two roots by which a +liberal sentiment still vegetated in orthodox Catholicism. You throw the +clergy back on Rome; you attach them to the Pope from whom you wish to +separate them, and deprive them of the national character which you +wish to impose on them. They were French, and you render them +Ultramontane.[2268] They excited ill-will and envy, and you render them +sympathetic and popular. They were a divided body, and you give them +unanimity. They were a straggling militia, scattered about under several +independent authorities, and rooted to the soil through the possession +of the ground; thanks to you, they are to become a regular, manageable +army, emancipated from every local attachment, organized under one head, +and always prepared to take the field at the word of command. Compare +the authority of a bishop in his diocese in 1789 with that of a bishop +sixty years later. In 1789, the Archbishop of Besancon, out of fifteen +hundred offices and benefices, had the patronage of one hundred, In +ninety-three incumbencies the selections were made by the metropolitan +chapter; in eighteen it was made by the chapter of the Madeleine; +in seventy parishes by the noble founder or benefactor. One abbe had +thirteen incumbencies at his disposal, another thirty-four, another +thirty-five, a prior nine, an abbess twenty; five communes directly +nominated their own pastor, while abbeys, priories and canonries were in +the hands of the King.[2269] At the present day (1880) in a diocese the +bishop appoints all the cures or officiating priests, and may deprive +nine out of ten of them; in the diocese above named, from 1850 to +1860, scarcely one lay functionary was nominated without the consent or +intervention of the cardinal-archbishop.[2270] To comprehend the spirit, +discipline, and influence of our contemporary clergy, go back to the +source of it, and you will find it in the decree of the Constituent +Assembly. A natural organization cannot be broken up with impunity; it +forms anew, adapting itself to circumstances, and closes up its ranks in +proportion to its danger. + +But even if, according to the maxims of the Assembly, faith and worship +are free, as far as the sovereign State is concerned, the churches are +subjects.--For these are societies, administrations, and hierarchies, +and no society, administration, or hierarchy may exist in the State +without entering into its--departments under the title of subordinate, +delegate, or employee. A priest is now essentially a salaried officer +like the rest, a functionary[2271] presiding over matters pertaining to +worship and morality. If the State is disposed to change the number, the +mode of nomination, the duties and the posts of its engineers, it is not +bound to assemble its engineers and ask their permission, least of all +that of a foreign engineer established at Rome. If it wishes to change +the condition of "its ecclesiastical officers," its right to do so +is the same, and therefore unquestioned. There is no need of asking +anybody's consent in the exercise of this right, and it allows no +interference between it and its clerks. The Assembly refuses to call a +Gallican council; it refuses to negotiate with the Pope, and, on its +own authority alone, it recasts the whole Constitution of the Church. +Henceforth this branch of the public administration is to be organized +on the model of the others.--In the first place[2272] the diocese is to +be in extent and limits the same as the French department; consequently, +all ecclesiastical districts are marked out anew, and forty-eight +episcopal sees disappear.--In the second place, the appointed bishop is +forbidden "to refer to the Pope to obtain any confirmation whatever." +All he can do is to write to him "in testimony of the unity of faith and +of the communion which he is to maintain with him." The bishop is thus +no longer installed by his canonical chief, and the Church of France +becomes schismatic.--In the third place, the metropolitan or bishop is +forbidden to exact from the new bishops or cures "any oath other than +that they profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion." Assisted +by his council he may examine them on their doctrine and morals, and +refuse them canonical installation, but in this case his reasons must +be given in writing, and he signed by himself and his council. His +authority, in other respects, does not extend beyond this for it is the +civil tribunal which decides between contending parties. Thus is the +catholic hierarchy broken up; the ecclesiastical superior has his hands +tied; if he still delegates sacerdotal functions it is only as a matter +of form. Between the cure and the bishop subordination ceases to exist +just as it has ceased to exist between the bishop and the Pope, and +the Church of France becomes Presbyterian.--The people now, in effect, +choose their own ministers, as they do in the Presbyterian church; the +bishop is appointed by the electors of the department, the cure by the +district electors, and, what is an extraordinary aggravation, these need +not be of his communion. It is of no consequence whether the electoral +Assembly contains, as at Nimes, Montauban, Strasbourg, and Metz, a +notable proportion of Calvinists, Lutherans, and Jews, or whether its +majority, furnished by the club, is notoriously hostile to Catholicism, +and even to Christianity itself. The bishop and the cure must be chosen +by the electoral body; the Holy Ghost dwells with it, and with the +civil tribunals, and these may install its elect in spite of any +resistance.--To complete the dependence of the clergy, every bishop is +forbidden to absent himself more than fifteen days without permission +from the department; every cure the same length of time without the +permission of the district, even to attend upon a dying father or to +undergo the operation of lithotomy. In default of this permission his +salary is suspended: as a functionary under salary, he owes all his time +to his bureau, and if he desires a leave of absence he must ask for +it from his chiefs in the Hotel-de-Ville.[2273]--He must assent to all +these innovations, not only with passive obedience, but by a solemn +oath. All old or new ecclesiastics, archbishops, bishops, cures, vicars, +preachers, hospital and prison chaplains, superiors and directors of +seminaries, professors of seminaries and colleges, are to state in +writing that they are ready to take this oath: moreover, they must take +it publicly, in church, "in the presence of the general council, the +commune, and the faithful," and promise "to maintain with all their +power" a schismatic and Presbyterian Church.--For there can be no doubt +about the sense and bearing of the prescribed oath. It was all very +well to incorporate it with a broader one, that of maintaining the +Constitution. But the Constitution of the clergy is too clearly +comprised in the general Constitution, like a chapter in a book, and to +sign the book is to sign the chapter. Besides, in the formula to which +the ecclesiastics in the Assembly are obliged to swear in the tribune, +the chapter is precisely indicated, and no exception or reservation is +allowed.[2274] The Bishop of Clermont, with all those who have accepted +the Constitution in full, save the decrees affecting spiritual matters, +are silenced. Where the spiritual begins and where it ends the Assembly +knows better than they, for it has defined this, and it imposes its +definition on canonist and theologian; it is, in its turn, the Pope, and +all consciences must bow to its decision. Let them take the "oath, pure +and simple," or if they do not they are 'refractory." The fiat goes +forth, and the effect of it is immense, for, along with the clergy, the +law reaches to laymen. On the one hand, all the ecclesiastics who refuse +the oath are dismissed. If they continue "to interfere with public +functions which they have personally or corporately exercised" they +"shall be prosecuted as disturbers of the peace, and condemned as +rebels against the law," deprived of all rights as active citizens, +and declared incompetent to hold any public office. This is the penalty +already inflicted on the nonjuring bishop who persists in considering +himself a bishop, who ordains priests and who issues a pastoral letter. +Such is soon to be the penalty inflicted on the nonjuring cure who +presumes to hear confession or officiate at a mass.[2275] On the other +hand, all citizens who refuse to take the prescribed oath, all electors, +municipal officers, judges and administrative agents, shall lose +their right of suffrage, have their functions revoked, and be declared +incompetent for all public duties.[2276] The result is that scrupulous +Catholics are excluded from every administrative post, from all +elections, and especially from ecclesiastical elections; from which +it follows that, the stronger one's faith the less one's share in the +choice of a priest.[2277]--What an admirable law, that which, under the +pretext of doing away with ecclesiastical abuses, places the faithful, +lay or clerical, outside the pale of the law! + +This soon becomes apparent. One hundred and thirty four archbishops, +bishops, and coadjutors refuse to take the oath; there are only four +of them who do so, three of whom, MM. de Talleyrand, de Jarente, and +de Brienne, are unbelievers and notorious for their licentiousness; the +others are influenced by their consciences, above all, by their esprit +de corps and a point of honor. Most of the cures rally around this staff +of officers. In the diocese of Besancon,[2278] out of fourteen hundred +priests, three hundred take the oath, a thousand refuse it, and eighty +retract. In the department of Doubs, only four consent to swear. In the +department of Lozere, there are only "ten out of two hundred and fifty." +It is stated positively," writes the best informed of all observers that +everywhere in France two-thirds of the ecclesiastics have refused the +oath, or have only taken it with the same reservations as the Bishop of +Clermont." + +Thus, out of seventy thousand priests, forty-six thousand are turned +out of office, and the majority of their parishioners are on their side. +This is apparent in the absence of electors convoked to replace them: +at Bordeaux only four hundred and fifty came to the poll out of nine +hundred, while elsewhere the summons brings together only "a third or +a quarter" In many places there are no candidates, or those elected +decline to accept. They are obliged, in order to supply their places, +to hunt up unfrocked monks of a questionable character. There are two +parties, after this, in each parish; two faiths, two systems of +worship, and permanent discord. Even when the new and the old cures are +accommodating, their situations bring them into conflict. To the former +the latter are "intruders." To the latter the former are "refractories." +By virtue of his being a guardian of souls, the former cannot dispense +with telling his parishioners that the intruder is excommunicated, that +his sacraments are null or sacrilegious, and that it is a sin to attend +his mass. By virtue of his being a public functionary, the latter does +not fail to write to the authorities that the "refractory" entraps the +faithful, excites their consciences, saps the Constitution, and that +he ought to be put down by force. In other words, the former draws +everybody away from the latter, while the latter sends the gendarmes +against the former, and persecution begins.--In a strange reversal, +it is the majority which undergoes persecution, and the minority which +carries it out. The mass of the constitutional cure is, everywhere, +deserted.[2279] In La Vendee there are ten or twelve present in the +church out of five or six hundred parishioners; on Sundays and holidays +whole villages and market-towns travel from one to two leagues off to +attend the orthodox mass, the villagers declaring that "if the old cure +can only be restored to them, they will gladly pay a double tax." In +Alsace, "nine tenths, at least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize +the legally sworn priests." The same spectacle presents itself in +Franche-Comte, Artois, and in ten of the other provinces.--Finally, as +in a chemical composition, the analysis is complete. Those who believe, +or who recover their belief, are ranged around the old cure; all who, +through conviction or tradition, hold to the sacraments, all who, +through faith or habit, wish or feel a need to attend the mass. The +auditors of the new cure consist of unbelievers, deists, the indifferent +members of the clubs and of the administration, who resort to the church +as to the Hotel-de-ville or to a popular meeting, not through religious +but through political zeal, and who support the "intruder" in order to +sustain the Constitution. All this does not secure to him very fervent +followers, but it provides him with very zealous defenders; and, in +default of the faith which they do not possess, they give the force +which is at their disposal. All means are proper against an intractable +bishop or cure; not only the law which they aggravate through their +forced interpretation of it and through their arbitrary verdicts, but +also the riots which they stir up by their instigation and which they +sanction by their toleration.[2280] He is driven out of his parish, +consigned to the county town, and kept in a safe place. The Directory of +Aisne denounces him as a disturber of the public peace, and forbids +him, under severe penalties, from administering the sacraments. The +municipality of Cahors shuts up particular churches and orders the +nonjuring ecclesiastics to leave the town in twenty-four hours. The +electoral corps of Lot denounces them publicly as "ferocious brutes," +incendiaries, and provokers of civil war. The Directory of the Bas-Rhin +banishes them to Strasbourg or to fifteen leagues from the frontier. +At Saint-Leon the bishop is forced to fly. At Auch the archbishop is +imprisoned; at Lyons M. de Boisboissel, grand vicar, is confined in +Pierre-Encize, for having preserved an archiepiscopal mandate in his +house; brutality is everywhere the minister of intolerance. A certain +cure of Aisne who, in 1789, had fed two thousand poor, having presumed +to read from his pulpit a pastoral charge concerning the observance of +Lent, the mayor seizes him by the collar and prevents him from going to +the altar; "two of the National Yeomanry" draw their sabers on him, and +forthwith lead him away bareheaded, not allowing him to return to his +house, and drive him to a distance of two leagues by beat of drum and +under escort. At Paris, in the church of Saint-Eustache, the cure is +greeted with outcries, a pistol is pointed at his head, he is seized by +the hair, struck with fists, and only reaches the sacristy through +the intervention of the National Guard. In the church of the Theatins, +rented by the orthodox with all legal formality, a furious band +disperses the priests and their assistants, upsets the altar and +profanes the sacred vessels. A placard, posted up by the department, +calls upon the people to respect the law, "I saw it," says an +eye-witness, "torn down amidst imprecations against the department, the +priests, and the devout. One of the chief haranguers, standing on the +steps terminated his speech by stating that schism ought to be stopped +at any cost, that no worship but his should be allowed, that women +should be whipped and priests knocked on the head." And, in fact, "a +young lady accompanied by her mother is whipped on the steps of +the church." Elsewhere nuns are the sufferers, even the sisters of +Saint-Vincent de Paul; and, from April, 1793, onward; the same outrages +on modesty and against life are propagated from town to town. At Dijon, +rods are nailed fast to the gates of all the convents; at Montpellier, +two or three hundred ruffians, armed with large iron--bound sticks, +murder the men and outrage the women.--Nothing remains but to put +the gangsters under the shelter of an amnesty, which is done by the +Constituent Assembly, and to legally sanction the animosity of local +administrations, which is done by the Legislative Assembly.[2281] +Henceforth the nonjuring ecclesiastics are deprived of their sustenance; +they are declared "suspected of revolt against the law and of evil +intentions against the country."--Thus, says a contemporary Protestant, +"on the strength of these suspicions and these intentions, a Directory, +to which the law interdicts judicial functions, may arbitrarily drive +out of his house the minister of a God of peace and charity, grown gray +in the shadow of the altar" Thus, "everywhere, where disturbances occur +on account of religious opinions, and whether these troubles are due +to the frantic scourgers of the virtuous sisters of charity or to the +ruffians armed with cow-hides who, at Nimes and Montpellier, outrage all +the laws of decorum and of liberty for six whole months, the non-juring +priests are to be punished with banishment. Torn from their families +whose means of living they share, they are sent away to wander on the +highways, abandoned to public pity or ferocity the moment any scoundrel +chooses to excite a disturbance that he can impute to them."--Thus we +see approaching the revolt of the peasantry, the insurrections of Nimes, +Franche-Comte, la Vendee and Brittany, emigration, transportation; +imprisonment, the guillotine or drowning for two thirds of the clergy of +France, and likewise for myriads of the loyal, for husbandmen, artisans, +day-laborers, seamstresses, and servants, and the humblest among the +lower class of the people. This is what the laws of the Constituent +Assembly are leading to.--In the institution of the clergy, as in that +of the nobles and the King, it demolished a solid wall in order to +dig through it an open door, and it is nothing strange if the whole +structure tumbles down on the heads of its inmates. The true course was +to respect, to reform, to utilize rank and corporations: all that the +Assembly thought of was the abolition of these in the name of abstract +equality and of national sovereignty. In order to abolish these it +executed, tolerated, or initiated all the attacks on persons and on +property. Those it is about to commit are the inevitable result of those +which it has already committed; for, through its Constitution, bad is +changed to worse, and the social edifice, already half in ruins through +the clumsy havoc that is effected in it, will fall in completely under +the weight of the incongruous or extravagant constructions which it +proceeds to extemporize. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2201: Cf. "The Ancient Regime," books I. and V.] + +[Footnote 2202: Perhaps we are here at the core of why all regimes end +up becoming corrupt, inefficient and sick; their leaders take their +privileges for granted and become more and more inattentive to the work +which must be done if the people are to be kept at work and possible +adversaries kept under control. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2203: A special tax paid the king by a plebeian owning a fief. +(TR)] + +[Footnote 2204: The right to an income from trust funds. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2205: Arthur Young, I. 209, 223. "If the communes steadily +refuse what is now offered to them, they put immense and certain +benefits to the chance of fortune, to that hazard which may make +posterity curse instead of bless their memories as real patriots who had +nothing in view but the happiness of their country."] + +[Footnote 2206: According to valuations by the Constituent Assembly, +the tax on real estate ought to bring 240,000,000 francs, and provide +one-fifth of the net revenue of France, estimated at 1,200,000,000. +Additionally, the personal tax on movable property, which replaced +the capitation, ought to bring 60,000,000. Total for direct taxation, +300,000,000, or one-fourth--that is to say, twenty-five per cent, of the +net revenue.--If the direct taxation had been maintained up to the rate +of the ancient regime (190,000,000, according to Necker's report in +May, 1689), this impost would only have provided one-sixth of the net +revenue, or sixteen percent.] + +[Footnote 2207: Dumont, 267. (The words of Mirabeau three months before +his death:) "Ah, my friend, how right we were at the start when we +wanted to prevent the commons from declaring themselves the National +Assembly! That was the source of the evil. They wanted to rule the King, +instead of ruling through him."] + +[Footnote 2208: Gouverneur Morris, April 29, 1789 (on the principles of +the future constitution), "One generation at least will be required to +render the public familiar with them."] + +[Footnote 2209: Cf. "The Ancient Regime," book II, ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2210: French women did not obtain the right to vote until +1946. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2211: According to Voltaire ("L'Homme aux Quarante Ecus"), the +average duration of human life was only twenty-three years.] + +[Footnote 2212: Mercure, July 6, 1790. According to the report of +Camus (sitting of July 2nd), the official total of pensions amounted to +thirty-two millions; but if we add the gratuities and allowances out of +the various treasuries, the actual total was fifty-six millions.] + +[Footnote 2213: I note that today in 1998, 100 years after Taine's +death, Denmark, my country, has had total democracy, that is universal +suffrage for women and men of 18 years of age for a considerable time, +and a witty author has noted that the first rule of our unwritten +constitution is that "thou shalt not think that thou art important". I +have noted, however, that when a Dane praises Denmark and the Danes even +in the most excessive manner, then he is not considered as a chauvinist +but admired as being a man of truth. In spite of the process of +'democratization' even socialist chieftains seem to favor and protect +their own children, send them to good private schools and later abroad +to study and help them to find favorable employment in the party or with +the public services. A new elite is thus continuously created by the +ruling political and administrative upper class. (SR.).] + +[Footnote 2214: "The Ancient Regime," p.388, and the following pages.-- +"Le Duc de Broglie," by M. Goizot, p. 11. (Last words of Prince Victor de +Broglie, and the opinions of M. d'Argenson.)] + +[Footnote 2215: De Ferrieres, I. p.2.] + +[Footnote 2216: Moniteur, sitting of September 7, 1790, I. 431-437. +Speeches, of MM. de Sillery, de Lanjuinais, Thouret, de Lameth, and +Rabaut-Saint-Etienne. Barnave wrote in 1791: "It was necessary to be +content with one single chamber; the instinct of equality required it. A +second Chamber would have been the refuge of the aristocrats."] + +[Footnote 2217: Lenin should later create an elite, an aristocracy +which, under his leadership was to become the Communist party. Lenin +could not have imagined or at least would not have been concerned that +the leadership of this party would fall into the hands of tyrants later, +under the pressure of age and corruption, to be replaced by the KGB and +later the FSB. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2218: "De Bouille," p. 50: "All the old noble families, save +two or three hundred, were ruined."] + +[Footnote 2219: Cf. Doniol, "La Revolution et la Feodalite."] + +[Footnote 2220: Moniteur, sitting of August 6, 1789. Speech of Duport: +"Whatever is unjust cannot last. Similarly, no compensation for these +unjust rights can be maintained." Sitting of February 27, 1790. M. +Populus: "As slavery could not spring from a legitimate contract, +because liberty cannot be alienated, you have abolished without +indemnity hereditary property in persons." Instructions and decree of +June 15-19, 1791: "The National Assembly has recognized in the most +emphatic manner that a man never could become the proprietor of another +man, and consequently, that the rights which one had assumed to have +over the person of the other, could not become the property of the +former." Cf. the diverse reports of Merlin to the Committee of Feudality +and the National Assembly.] + +[Footnote 2221: Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et Decrets." Laws of the +4-11 August, 1789; March 15-28, 1790; May 3-9, 1790; June 15-19, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2222: Agrier percieres--terms denoting taxes paid in the shape +of shares of produce. Those which follow: lods, rentes, quint, requint +belong to the taxes levied on real property. 22Tr.] + +[Footnote 2223: Doniol ("Noveaux cahiers de 1790"). Complaints of the +copy-holders of Rouergues and of Quercy, pp. 97-105.] + +[Footnote 2224: See further on, book III. ch. II. Sec. 4 and also ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2225: Moniteur, sitting of March 2, 1790. Speech by Merlin: +"The peasants have been made to believe that the annulation of the +banalities (the obligation to use the public mill, wine-press, and oven, +which belonged to the noble) carried along with it the loss to the +noble of all these; the peasants regarding themselves as proprietors of +them."] + +[Footnote 2226: Moniteur; sitting of June 9, 1790. Speech of M. Charles +de Lameth--Duvergier (laws of June 19-23 1790; September 27 and October +16, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2227: Sauzay, V. 400--410.] + +[Footnote 2228: Duvergier, laws of June 15-19, 1791; of June 18--July 6, +1792; of August 25-28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 2229: "Institution du Droit Francais," par Argou, I.103. +(He wrote under the Regency.) "The origin of most of the feoffs is so +ancient that, if the seigneurs were obliged to produce the titles of the +original concession to obtain their rents, there would scarcely be one +able to produce them. This deficiency is made up by common law."] + +[Footnote 2230: Duvergier (laws of April 8-15, 1791; March 7-11; October +26, 1791; January 6-10, 1794).--Mirabeau had already proposed to reduce +the disposable portion to one-tenth.] + +[Footnote 2231: See farther on, book III, ch. III.] + +[Footnote 2232: Mercure, September 10, 1791. Article by Mallet du +Pan.--Ibid. October 15, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2233: Should Hitler or Lenin have read and understood the +consequences of these events they would have deduced that given the +command from official sources or recognized leaders ordinary people all +over the world could easily be tempted to attack any group, being it +Jews, Protestants, Hindus or foreigners. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2234: "Archives Nationales," II. 784. Letters of M. de +Langeron, October 16 and 18, 1789.--Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," +letters addressed to the Chevalier de Poterats, July, 1790.--"Archives +Nationales," papers of the Committee on Reports, bundle 4, letter of M. +le Belin-Chatellenot to the to the President of the National Assembly, +July 1, 1791.--Mercure, October 15, 1791. Article by Mallet du Pan: +"Such is literally the language of these emigrants; I do not add a +word."--Ibid. May 15, 1790. Letter of the Baron de Bois d'Aizy, April +29,1790, demanding a decree of protection fur the nobles. "We shall know +(then) whether we are outlawed or are of any account in the rights of +man written out with so much blood, or whether, finally, no other option +is left to us but that of carrying to distant skies the remains of our +property and our wretched existence."] + +[Footnote 2235: Mercure, October 15, 1791, and September 10, 1791. Read +the admirable letter of the Chevalier de Mesgrigny, appointed colonel +during the suspension of the King, and refusing his new rank.] + +[Footnote 2236: Cf. the "Memoires" of M. de Boustaquet, a Norman +gentleman.] + +[Footnote 2237: Cf. "The Ancient Regime," books I. and II.] + +[Footnote 2238: Boivin--Champeaux, "Notice Historique sur la Revolution +dans le Departement de L'Eure," the register of grievances. In 1788, at +Rouen, there was not a single profession made by men. In the monastery +of the Deux-Amants the chapter convoked in 1789 consisted of two +monks.--"Archives Nationales," papers of the ecclesiastic committee, +passim.] + +[Footnote 2239: "Apologie de l'Etat Religieux" (1775), with statistics. +Since 1768 the decline is "frightful." "It is easy to foresee that +in ten or twelve years most of the regular bodies will be absolutely +extinct, or reduced to a state of feebleness akin to death."] + +[Footnote 2240: Sanzay, I. 224 (November, 1790). At Besancon, out of 266 +monks, "79 only showed any loyalty to their engagements or any affection +for their calling." Others preferred to abandon it, especially all the +Dominicans but five, all but one of the bare footed Carmelites, and all +the Grand Carmelites. The same disposition is apparent throughout the +department, as, for instance, with the Benedictines of Cluny except one, +all the Minimes but three, all the Capuchins but five, the Bernandins, +Dominicans, and Augustins, all preferring to leave.--Montalembert, "Les +Moines d'Occident," introduction, pp. 105-164. Letter of a Benedictine +of Saint-Germain-des-Pres to a Benedictine of Vannes. "Of all the +members of your congregation which come here to lodge, I have scarcely +found one capable of edifying us. You may probably say the same of those +who came to you from our place."--Cf. in the "Memoires" of Merlin de +Thionville the description of the Chartreuse of Val St. Pierre.] + +[Footnote 2241: Ch. Guerin, "Revue des Questions Historiques" (July 1, +1875; April 1, 1876).--Abbe Guettee, "Histoire de l'Eglise de France," +XII, 128. ("Minutes of the meeting of l'Assemblee du Clerge," in +1780.)--"Archives nationales," official reports and memorandums of the +States-General in 1789. The most obnoxious proceeding to the chiefs of +the order is the postponement of the age at which vows may be taken, +it being, in their view, the ruin of their institutions.--"The Ancient +Regime," p. 403.] + +[Footnote 2242: In order for a modern uninstructed non-believing reader +to understand the motivation which moved thousands of self-less sisters +and brothers to do their useful and kind work read St. Matthew chapter +25, verses 31 to 46 where Jesus predicts how he will sit in judgment on +mankind and separate the sheep from the goats. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2243: "The Ancient Regime," P.33--Cf. Guerin "The monastery +of the Trois-Rois, in the north of Franche-Comte, founded four villages +collected from foreign colonists. It is the only center of charity and +civilization in a radius of three leagues. It took care of two hundred +of the sick in a recent epidemic; it lodges the troops which pass from +Alsace into Franche-Comte, and in the late hailstorm it supplied the +whole neighborhood with food."] + +[Footnote 2244: Moniteur, sitting of February 13,1790. (Speech of +the Abbe de Montesquiou).--Archives Nationales," papers of the +Ecclesiastical Committee, DXIX. 6, Visitation de Limoges, DXIX. 25, +Annonciades de Saint-Denis; ibid. Annonciades de Saint Amour, Ursulines +d'Auch, de Beaulieu, d'Eymoutier, de la Ciotat, de Pont Saint-Esprit, +Hospitalieres d'Ernee, de Laval; Sainte Claire de Laval, de Marseilles, +etc. "] + +[Footnote 2245: Sauzay, I. 247. Out of three hundred and seventy-seven +nuns at Doubs, three hundred and fifty-eight preferred to remain as they +were, especially at Pontarlier, all the Bernardines, Annonciades, +and Ursulines; at Besancon, all the Carmelites, the Visitandines, the +Annonciades, the Clarisses, the Sisters of Refuge, the Nuns of the +Saint-Esprit and, save one, all the Benedictine Nuns.] + +[Footnote 2246: "Archives Nationales." Papers of the Ecclesiastical +Committee, passim.--Suzay, I. 51.--Statistics of France for 1866.] + +[Footnote 2247: In 1993 this number has once more fallen, and continues +to fall, to 55 900. "Quid", 1996 page 623. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2248: Felix Rocquain, "La France apres le 18 Brumaire." +(Reports of the Councillors of State dispatched on this service, +passim).] + +[Footnote 2249: Moniteur, October 24, 1789. (Speech of Dupont de +Nemours.) All these speeches, often more fully reported and with various +renderings, may be found in "Les Archives Parlementaires," 1st series, +vols. VIII. and IX.] + +[Footnote 2250: Duvergier, decree of June 14-17, 1791. "The annihilation +of every corporation of citizens of any one condition or profession +being on of the foundation-stones of the French constitution, it is +forbidden to re-establish these de-facto under any pretext or +form whatever. Citizens of a like condition or profession, such as +contractors, shopkeepers, workmen of all classes, and associates in +any art whatever shall not, on assembling together, appoint either +president, or secretaries, or syndics, discuss or pass resolutions, or +frame any regulations in relation to their assumed common interests."] + +[Footnote 2251: Moniteur, sitting of November 2nd, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2252: Moniteur, sitting of February 12, 1790. Speeches of +Dally d'Agier and Barnave.] + +[Footnote 2253: Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by Garat; +February 12, 1790, speech by Petion; October 30, 1789, speech by +Thouret.] + +[Footnote 2254: Moniteur, sitting of November 2, 1789. Speech by +Chapelier; October 24, 1789, speech by Garat; October 30, 1789, speech +by Mirabeau, and the sitting of August 10, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2255: Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by +Thouret.] + +[Footnote 2256: Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by +Treilhard; October 24th, speech by Garat; October 30, speech by +Mirabeau.--On the 8th of August, 1789, Al. de Lameth says in the +tribune: "When an foundation was set up, it is to the nation, which the +grant was given."] + +[Footnote 2257: Duvergier, laws of August 18, 1792; August 8-14, 1793; +July 11, 1794; July 14, 1792; August 24, 1793.] + +[Footnote 2258: Moniteur, sitting of July 31, 1792. Speech of M. +Boistard; the property of the hospitals, at this time was estimated at +eight hundred millions.--Already in 1791 (sitting of January 30th) M. +de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt said to the Assembly: "Nothing will more +readily restore confidence to the poor than to see the nation assuming +the right of rendering them assistance." He proposes to decree; +accordingly, that all hospitals and places of beneficence be placed +under the control of the nation. (Mercure, February 12, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 2259: Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by +Sieyes.--The figures given here are deduced from the statistics already +given in the "Ancient Regime."] + +[Footnote 2260: Moniteur, v. 571. sitting of September 4, 1790. Report of +the Committee on Finances--V. 675, sitting of September 17, 1790. Report +by Necker.] + +[Footnote 2261: A Revolutionary Government promissory bank note. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2262: Sauzay, I. 228 (from October 10, 1790, to February 20, +1791). "The total weight of the spoil of the monastic establishments in +gold, silver, and plated ware, sent to the Mint amounted to more than +525 kilograms (for the department)."] + +[Footnote 2263: Duvergier, law of October 8-14.] + +[Footnote 2264: Moniteur, sitting of June 3,1792. Speech of M. Bernard, +in the name of the committee of Public Assistance: "Not a day passes +in which we do not receive the saddest news from the departments on +the penury of their hospitals."--Mercure de France, December 17, 1791, +sitting of December 5. A number of deputies of the Department of the +North demand aid for their hospitals and municipalities. Out of 480,000 +livres revenue there remains 10,000 to them. "The property of the +Communes is mortgaged, and no longer affords them any resources. 280,000 +persons are without bread."] + +[Footnote 2265: Sauzay, I. 252 (December 3, 1790. April 13, 1791).] + +[Footnote 2266: Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speeches by Camus, +Treilhard, etc.] + +[Footnote 2267: But on the assumption that all religion has been +invented by human beings for their own comfort or use, then what would +be more natural than clever rulers using their power to influence the +religious authorities to their own advantage. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2268: Ultramontane: Extreme in favoring the Pope's supremacy. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2269: Sauzay, I. 168.] + +[Footnote 2270: Personal knowledge, as I visited Besancon four times +between 1863 and 1867.] + +[Footnote 2271: Moniteur, sitting of May 30, 1790, and others following. +(Report of Treilhard, speech by Robespierre.)] + +[Footnote 2272: Duvergier, laws of July 12th-August 14th; November +14-25, 1790; January 21-26, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2273: Moniteur, sitting of May 31, 1790. Robespierre, in +covert terms, demands the marriage of priests.--Mirabeau prepared a +speech in the same sense, concluding that every priest and monk should +be able to contract marriage; on the priest or monk presenting himself +with his bride before the cure, the latter should be obliged to +give them the nuptial benediction etc. Mirabeau wrote, June 2, 1790: +"Robespierre... has juggled me out of my motion on the marriage of +priests."--In general the germ of all the laws of the Convention is +found in the Constituent Assembly. (Ph. Plan, "Un Collaborateur de +Mirabeau," p.56, 144.)] + +[Footnote 2274: Duvergier, laws of November 27th--December 26, 1790; +February 5th, March 22nd, and April 5, 1791.--Moniteur, sitting of +November 6, 1790, and those that follow, especially that of December +27th. "I swear to maintain with all my power the French Constitution +and especially the decrees relating to the Civil Constitution of the +clergy."--Cf. sitting of January 2, 1791, speech by the Bishop of +Clermont.] + +[Footnote 2275: Duvergier, law of May 7, 1791, to maintain the right +of nonjuring priests to perform mass in national or private edifices. +(Demanded by Talleyrand and Sieyes.)] + +[Footnote 2276: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. Letter of M. de +Chateau-Randon, deputy of la Lozere, May 28, 1791. After the decree +of May 23rd, all the functionaries of the department handed in their +resignations.] + +[Footnote 2277: Duvergier, law of May 21-29, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2278: Sauzay, I. 366, 538 to 593, 750.--"Archives Nationales," +F7, 3235, Letter of M. de Chanteau-Randon, May 10, 1791.--Mercure, +April 23rd, and April 16, 1701. Articles of Mallet du Pan, letter from +Bordeaux, March 20, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2279: Buchez and Roux, XII, 77. Report of Gallois and Gensonne +sent to La Vendee and the Deux Sevres (July 25, 1791).--" Archives +Nationales," F7, 3253, letter of the Directory of the Bas-Rhin (letter +of January 7, 1792).--" Le District de Machecoul de 1788 a 1793," by +Lallier.--" Histoire de Joseph Lebon," by Paris.--Sauzay, vol. I. and +II. in full.] + +[Footnote 2280: Mercure, January 15th, April 23rd, May 16th and 30th, +June 1st, November 23rd, 1791.--"Le District de Machecoul," by Lallier, +173.--Sauzay, I. 295.--Lavirotte, "Annales d'Arnay-le-Duc" (February 5, +1792).--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Petition of a number of the +inhabitants of Montpellier, November 17, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2281: Duvergier, decree of November 29, 1791.--Mercure, +November 30, 1791 (article by Mallet du Pan).] + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE CONSTRUCTIONS--THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791. + +That which is called a Government is a concert of powers, each with a +distinct function, and all working towards a final and complete end. The +merit of a Government consists in the attainment of this end; the worth +of a machine depends upon the work it accomplishes. The important thing +is not to produce a good mechanical design on paper, but to see that the +machine works well when set up on the ground. In vain might its founders +allege the beauty of their plan and the logical connection of their +theorems; they are not required to furnish either plan or theorems, but +an instrument. + +Two conditions are requisite to render this instrument serviceable and +effective. In the first place, the public powers must harmonize with +each other, if not, one will neutralize the other; in the second place +they must be obeyed, or they are null. + +The Constituent Assembly made no provision for securing this harmony +or this obedience. In the machine which it constructed the motions all +counteract each other; the impulse is not transmitted; the gearing is +not complete between the center and the extremities; the large central +and upper wheels turn to no purpose; the innumerable small wheels near +the ground break or get out of order: the machine, by virtue of its own +mechanism, remains useless, over-heated, under clouds of waste steam, +creaking and thumping in such a matter as to show clearly that it must +explode. + + + + +I.--Powers of the Central Government. + + The Assembly on the partition of power.--Rupture of every + tie between the Legislature and the King.--The Assembly on + the subordination of the executive power.--How this is + nullified.--Certainty of a conflict.--The deposition of the + King is inevitable. + +Let us first consider the two central powers, the Assembly and +the King.--Ordinarily when distinct powers of different origin are +established by a Constitution, it makes, in the case of conflict between +them, a provision for an arbiter in the institution of an Upper Chamber. +Each of these powers, at least, has a hold on the other. The Assembly +must have one on the King: which is the right to refuse taxation. The +King must have one on the Assembly: which is the right of dissolving it. +Otherwise, one of the two being disarmed, the other becomes omnipotent, +and, consequently, insane. The peril here is as great for an omnipotent +Assembly as it is for an absolute King. If the former is desirous of +remaining in its right mind, it needs repression and control as much +as the latter. If it is proper for the Assembly to restrain the King +by refusing him subsidies, it is proper for him to be able to defend +himself by appealing to the electors.--But, besides these extreme +measures, which are dangerous and rarely resorted to, there is another +which is ordinarily employed and is safe, that is, the right for the +King to take his ministers from the Chamber. Generally, the leaders +of the majority form the ministry, their nomination being the means of +restoring harmony between the King and Assembly; they are at once men +belonging to the Assembly and men belonging to the King. Through this +expedient not only is the confidence of the Assembly assured, since the +Government remains in the hands of its leaders, but also it is under +restraint because these become simultaneously both powerful and +responsible. Placed at the head of all branches of the service, they +are, before proposing it or accepting it, in a position to judge whether +a law is useful and practicable. Nothing is so healthy for a majority +as a ministry composed of its own chiefs; nothing is so effective in +repressing rashness or intemperance. A railway conductor is not willing +that his locomotive should be deprived of coal, nor to have the rails he +is about to run on broken up.--This arrangement, with all its drawbacks +and inconveniences, is the best one yet arrived at by human experience +for the security of societies against despotism and anarchy. For the +absolute power which establishes or saves them may also oppress or +exhaust them, there is a gradual substitution of differentiated powers, +held together through the mediation of a third umpire, caused by +reciprocal dependence and an which is common to both. + +Experience, however, is unimportant to the members of the Constituent +Assembly; under the banner of principles they sunder one after another +all the ties which keep the two powers together harmoniously.--There +must not be an Upper Chamber, because this would be an asylum or a +nursery for aristocrats. Moreover, "the nation being of one mind," it +is averse to "the creation of different organs." So, applying ready-made +formulas and metaphors, they continue to produce ideological definitions +and distinctions. + +The King must not have a hold on the legislative body: the executive +is an arm, whose business it is to obey; it is absurd for the arm to +constrain or direct the head. Scarcely is the monarch allowed a delaying +veto. Sieyes here enters with his protest declaring that this is a +"lettre de cachet[2301] launched against the universal will," and +there is excluded from the action of the veto the articles of the +Constitution, all money-bills, and some other laws.--Neither the monarch +nor the electors of the Assembly are to convoke the Assembly; he has no +voice in or oversight of the details of its formation; the electors are +to meet together and vote without his summons or supervision. Once the +Assembly is elected he can neither adjourn nor dissolve it. He cannot +even propose a law;[2302] per-mission is only granted to him "to invite +it to take a subject into consideration." He is limited to his executive +duties; and still more, a sort of wall is built up between him and the +Assembly, and the opening in it, by which each could take the other's +hand, is carefully closed up. The deputies are forbidden to become +ministers throughout the term of their service and for two years +afterwards. This is because fears are entertained that they might +be corrupted through contact with the Court, and, again, whoever +the ministers might be, there is no disposition to accept their +ascendancy.[2303] If one of them is admitted into the Assembly it is not +for the purpose of giving advice, but to furnish information, reply to +interrogatories, and make protestations of his zeal in humble terms +and in a dubious position.[2304] By virtue of being a royal agent he +is under suspicion like the King himself, and he is sequestered in his +bureau as the King is sequestered in his palace.--Such is the spirit +of the Constitution: by force of the theory, and the better to secure a +separation of the powers,[2305] a common understanding between them +is for ever rendered impossible, and to make up for this impossibility +there remains nothing but to make one the master and the other the +clerk. + +This they did not fail to do, and for greater security, the latter +is made an honorary clerk, The executive power is conferred on him +nominally and in appearance; he does not possess it in fact, care having +been taken to place it in other hands.--In effect, all executive agents +and all secondary and local powers are elective. The King has no voice, +directly or indirectly, in the choice of judges, public prosecutors, +bishops, cures, collectors and assessors of the taxes, commissaries of +police, district and departmental administrators, mayors, and municipal +officers. At most, should an administrator violate a law, he may annul +his acts and suspend him; but the Assembly, the superior power, has the +right to cancel this suspension.--As to the armed force, of which he is +supposed to be the commander-in-chief, this escapes from him entirely: +the National Guard is not to receive orders from him; the gendarmerie +and the troops are bound to respond to the requisitions of the municipal +authorities, whom the King can neither select nor displace: in short, +local action of any kind--that is to say, all effective action--is +denied to him.--The executive instrument is purposely destroyed. The +connection which existed between the wheels of the extremities and the +central shaft is broken, and henceforth, incapable of distributing its +energy, this shaft, in the hands of the monarch, stands still or +else turns to no purpose. The King, "supreme head of the general +administration, of the army, and of the navy, guardian of public peace +and order, hereditary representative of the nation," is without the +means, in spite of his lofty titles, of directly applying his pretended +powers, of causing a schedule of assessments to be drawn up in a +refractory commune, of compelling payment by a delinquent tax-payer, of +enforcing the free circulation of a convoy of grain, of executing +the judgment of a court, of suppressing an outbreak, or of securing +protection to persons and property. For he can bring no constraint to +bear on the agents who are declared to be subordinate to him; he has +no resources but those of warning and persuasion. He sends to each +Departmental Assembly the decrees which he has sanctioned, requesting +it to transmit them and cause them to be carried out; he receives its +correspondence and bestows his censure or approval--and that is all. +He is merely a powerless medium of communication, a herald or public +advertiser, a sort of central echo, sonorous and empty, to which news +is brought, and from which laws depart, to spread abroad like a common +rumor. Such as he is, and thus diminished, he is still considered to +be too strong. He is deprived of the right of pardon, "which severs the +last artery of monarchical government."[2306] All sorts of precautions +are taken against him. He cannot declare war without a decree of the +Assembly; he is obliged to bring war to an end on the decree of the +Assembly; he cannot make a treaty of peace, an alliance, or a commercial +treaty, without the ratification of these by the Assembly. It is +expressly declared that he is to nominate but two-thirds of the +rear-admirals, one-half of the lieutenant-generals, field-marshals, +captains of Vessels and colonels of the gendarmerie, one-third of the +colonels and lieutenant-colonels of the line, and a sixth of the naval +lieutenants. He must not allow troops to stay or pass within 30,000 +yards of the Assembly. His guard must not consist of more than 1,800 +men, duly verified, and protected against his seductions by the civil +oath. The heir-presumptive must not leave the country without the +Assembly's assent. It is the Assembly which is to regulate by law +the education of his son during minority.--All these precautions are +accompanied with threats. There are against him five possible causes +of dethronement; against his responsible Ministers, eight causes for +condemnation to from twelve to twenty years of constraint, and eight +grounds for condemnations to death.[2307] Everywhere between the lines +of the Constitution, we read the constant disposition to assume an +attitude of defense, the secret dread of treachery, the conviction that +executive power, of whatever kind, is in its nature inimical to the +public welfare.--For withholding the nomination of judges, the reason +alleged is that "the Court and the Ministers are the most contemptible +portion of the nation."[2308] If the nomination of Ministers is +conceded, it is on the ground that" Ministers appointed by the people +would necessarily be too highly esteemed." The principle is that "the +legislative body alone must possess the confidence of the people," that +royal authority corrupts its depository, and that executive power is +always tempted to commit abuses and to engage in conspiracies. If it +is provided for in the Constitution it is with regret, through the +necessity of the case, and on the condition of its being trammeled by +impediments; it will prove so much the less baneful in proportion as it +is restrained, guarded, threatened, and denounced.--A position of this +kind is manifestly intolerable; and only a man as passive as Louis XVI. +could have put up with it. Do what he will, however, he cannot make it +a tenable one. In vain does he scrupulously adhere to the Constitution, +and fulfill it to the letter. Because he is powerless the Assembly +regards him as lukewarm, and imputes to him the friction of the machine +which is not under his control. If he presumes once to exercise his veto +it is rebellion, and the rebellion of an official against his superior, +which is the Assembly; the rebellion of a subject against his Sovereign, +which is the people. In this case dethronement is proper, and the +Assembly has only to pass the decree; the people have simply to +execute the act, and the Constitution ends in a Revolution.--A piece +of machinery of this stamp breaks down through its own movement. In +conformity with the philosophic theory the two wheels of government must +be separated, and to do this they have to be disconnected and +isolated one from the other. In conformity with the popular creed, the +driving-wheel must be subordinated and its influence neutralized: to +do this it is necessary to reduce its energy to a minimum, break up its +connections, and raise it up in the air to turn round like a top, or to +remain there as an obstacle to something else. It is certain that, +after much ill-usage as a plaything, it will finally be removed as a +hindrance. + + + + +II.--The Creation Of Popular Democracy. + + Administrative powers.--The Assembly on the hierarchy. + --Grades abolished.--Collective powers.--Election introduced, + and the influence of subordinates in all branches of the + service.--Certainty of disorganization.--Power in the hands + of municipal bodies. + +Let us leave the center of government and go to the extremities, and +observe the various administrations in working operation.[2309] + +For any service to work well and with precision, there must be a +single and unique chief who can appoint, pay, punish and dismiss his +subordinates.--For, on the one hand, he stands alone and feels his +responsibility; he brings to bear on the management of affairs a degree +of attention and consistency, a tact and a power of initiation of which +a committee is incapable; corporate follies or defects do not involve +any one in particular, and authority is effective only when it is in one +hand.--On the other hand, being master, he can rely on the subalterns +whom he has himself selected, whom he controls through their hopes +or fears, and whom he discharges if they do not perform their duties; +otherwise he has no hold on them and they are not instruments to be +depended on. Only on these conditions can a railway manager be sure that +his pointsmen are on the job. Only on these conditions can the foreman +of a foundry engage to execute work by a given day. In every public or +private enterprise, direct, immediate authority is the only known, the +only human and possible way to ensure the obedience and punctuality of +agents.--Administration is thus carried on in all countries, by one or +several series of functionaries, each under some central manager who +holds the reins in his single grasp.[2310] + +This is all reversed in the new Constitution. In the eyes of our +legislators obedience must be spontaneous and never compulsory, and, in +the suppression of despotism, they suppress government. The general rule +in the hierarchy which they establish is that the subordinates should be +independent of their superior, for he must neither appoint nor displace +them: the only right he has is to give them advice and remonstrate +with them.[2311] At best, in certain cases, he can annul their acts and +inflict on them a provisional suspension of their functions, which can +be contested and is revocable.[2312] We see, thus, that none of the +local powers are delegated by the central power; the latter is simply +like a man without either hands or arms, seated in a gilt chair. The +Minister of the Finances cannot appoint or dismiss either an assessor or +a collector; the Minister of the Interior, not one of the departmental, +district, or communal administrators; the Minister of Justice, not one +judge or public prosecutor. The King, in these three branches of the +service, has but one officer of his own, the commissioner whose duty +it is to advocate the observance of the laws in the courts, and, on +sentence being given, to enforce its execution.--All the muscles of +the central power are paralyzed by this stroke, and henceforth each +department is a State apart, living by itself. + +An similar amputation, however, in the department itself, has cut +away all the ties by which the superior could control and direct his +subordinate.--If the administrators of the department are suffered to +influence those of the district, and those of the district those of the +municipality, it is only, again, in the way of council and solicitation. +Nowhere is the superior a commander who orders and constrains, but +everywhere a censor who gives warnings and scolds. To render this +already feeble authority still more feeble at each step of the +hierarchy, it is divided among several bodies. These consist of +superposed councils, which administer the department, the district, +and the commune. There is no directing head in any of these councils. +Permanency and executive functions throughout are vested in the +directories of four or eight members, or in bureaus of two, three, +four, six, and even seven members whose elected chief, a president +or mayor,[2313] has simply an honorary primacy. Decision and action, +everywhere blunted, delayed, or curtailed by talk and the processes +of discussion, are brought forth only after the difficult, tumultuous +assent of several discordant wills.[2314] Elective and collective as +these powers are, measures are still taken to guard against them. Not +only are they subject to the control of an elected council, one-half +renewable every two years, but, again, the mayor and public prosecutor +of the commune after serving four years, and the procureur-syndic of +the department or district after eight years service, and the district +collector after six years' service, are not re-elected. Should these +officials have deserved and won the confidence of the electors, +should familiarity with affairs have made them specially competent and +valuable, so much the worse for affairs and the public; they are not +to be anchored to their post.[2315] Should their continuance in office +introduce into the service a spirit of order and economy, that is of no +consequence; there is danger of their acquiring to much influence, and +the law sends them off as soon as they become expert and entitled to +rule.--Never has jealousy and suspicion been more on the alert against +power, even legal and legitimate. Sapping and mining goes on even +in services which are recognized as essential, as the army and the +gendarmerie.[2316] In the army, on the appointment of a non-commissioned +officer, the other non-commissioned officers make up a list of +candidates, and the captain selects three, one of whom is chosen by +the colonel. In the choice of a sub-lieutenant, all the officers of +the regiment vote, and he who receives a majority is appointed. In the +gendarmerie, for the appointment of a gendarme, the directory of the +department forms a list; the colonel designates five names on it, +and the directory selects one of them. For the choice of a corporal, +quartermaster or lieutenant, there is, besides the directory and the +colonel, another intervention, that of the officers, both commissioned +and non-commissioned. It is a system of elective complications and +lot-drawings; one which, giving a voice in the choice of officers to the +civil authorities and to military subordinates, leaves the colonel with +only a third or one-quarter of his former ascendancy. In relation to the +National Guard, the new principle is applied without any reservation. +All the officers and non-commissioned officers up to the grade of +captain are elected by their own men. All the superior officers are +elected by the inferior officers. All under-officers and all inferior +and superior officers are elected for one year only, and are not +eligible for re-election until after an interval of a year, during which +they must serve in the ranks.[2317]--The result is manifest: command, in +every civil and in every military order, becomes upset; subalterns are +no longer precise and trustworthy instruments; the chief no longer has +any practical hold on them; his orders, consequently, encounter only +tame obedience, doubtful deference, sometimes even open resistance; +their execution remains dilatory, uncertain, incomplete, and at +length is utterly neglected; a latent and soon flagrant system of +disorganization is instituted by the law. Step by step, in the hierarchy +of Government, power has slipped downwards, and henceforth belongs by +virtue of the Constitution to the authorities who sit at the bottom of +the ladder. It is not the King, or the minister, or the directory of the +department or of the district who rules, but its municipal officers; +and their sway is as omnipotent as it can be in a small independent +republic. They alone have the "strong hand" with which to search the +pockets of refractory tax-payers, and ensure the collection of the +revenue; to seize the rioter by the throat, and protect life and +property; in short, to convert the promises and menaces of the law +into acts. Every armed force, the National Guard, the regulars, and the +gendarmerie, must march on their requisition. They alone, among the body +of administrators, are endowed with this sovereign right; all that the +department or the district can do is to invite them to exercise it. It +is they who proclaim martial law. Accordingly, the sword is in their +hands.[2318] Assisted by commissioners who are appointed by the +council-general of the commune, they prepare the schedule of taxation +of real and personal property, fix the quota of each tax-payer, adjust +assessments, verify the registers and the collector's receipts, audit +his accounts, discharge the insolvent, answer for returns and authorize +prosecutions.[2319] Private purses are, in this way, at their mercy, +and they take from them whatever they determine to belong to the +public.--With the purse and the sword in their hands they lack nothing +that is necessary to make them masters, and all the more because the +application of every law belongs to them; because no orders of the +Assembly to the King, of the King to the ministers, of ministers to the +departments, of departments to the districts, of the districts to +the communes, brings about any real local result except through them; +because each measure of general application undergoes their special +interpretation, and can always be optionally disfigured, softened, +or exaggerated according to their timidity, inertia, violence or +partiality. Moreover, they are not long in discovering their strength. +We see them on all sides arguing with their superiors against district, +departmental, and ministerial orders, and even against the Assembly +itself; alleging circumstances; lack of means, their own danger and the +public safety, failing to obey, acting for themselves, openly disobeying +and glorying in the act,[2320] and claiming, as a right, the omnipotence +which they exercise in point of fact. Those of Troyes, at the festival +of the Federation, refuse to submit to the precedence of the department +and claim it for themselves, as "immediate representatives of the +people." Those of Brest, notwithstanding the reiterated prohibitions of +their district, dispatch four hundred men and two cannon to force the +submission of a neighboring commune to a cure' who has taken the oath. +Those of Arnay-le-Duc arrest Mesdames (the King's aunts), in spite +of their passport signed by the ministers, hold them in spite of +departmental and district orders, persist in barring the way to them +in spite of a special decree of the National Assembly, and send two +deputies to Paris to obtain the sanction of their decision. What with +arsenals pillaged, citadels invaded, convoys arrested, couriers +stopped, letters intercepted, constant and increasing insubordination, +usurpations without truce or measure, the municipalities arrogate +to themselves every species of license on their own territory and +frequently outside of it. Henceforth, forty thousand sovereign bodies +exist in the kingdom. Force is placed in their hands, and they make good +use of it. They make such good use of it that one of them, the commune +of Paris, taking advantage of its proximity, lays siege to, mutilates, +and rules the National Convention, and through it France. + + + + +III.--Municipal Kingdoms. + + The Municipal bodies.--Their great task.--Their incapacity. + --Their feeble authority.--Insufficiency of their means of + action.--The role of the National Guard.-- + +Let us follow these municipal kings into their own domain: the burden +on their shoulders is immense, and much beyond what human strength can +support. All the details of executive duty are confided to them; they +have not to busy themselves with a petty routine, but with a complete +social system which is being taken to pieces, while another is +reconstructed in its place.--They are in possession of four milliards of +ecclesiastical property, real and personal, and soon there will be two +and a half milliards of property belonging to the emigrants, which must +be sequestered, valued, managed, inventoried, divided, sold, and the +proceeds received. They have seven or eight thousand monks and thirty +thousand nuns to displace, install, sanction, and provide for. They have +forty-six thousand ecclesiastics, bishops, canons, cures, and vicars, +to dispossess, replace, often by force, and later on to expel, intern, +imprison, and support. They are obliged to discuss, trace out, teach +and make public new territorial boundaries, those of the commune, of the +district and of the department. They have to convoke, lodge, and protect +the numerous primary and secondary Assemblies, to supervise their +operations, which sometimes last for weeks. They must install those +elected by them, justices of the peace, officers of the National Guard, +judges, public prosecutors, cures, bishops, district and departmental +administrators. They are to form new lists of tax-payers, apportion +amongst themselves, according to a new system of impost, entirely +new real and personal taxes, decide on claims, appoint an assessor, +regularly audit his accounts and verify his books, aid him with force, +use force in the collection of the excise and salt duties, which being +reduced, equalized, and transformed in vain by the National Assembly, +afford no returns in spite of its decrees. They are obliged to find the +funds for dressing, equipping, and arming the National Guard, to step in +between it and the military commanders, and to maintain concord between +its diverse battalions. They have to protect forests from pillage, +communal land from being invaded, to maintain the octroi, to protect +former functionaries, ecclesiastics, and nobles, suspected and +threatened, and, above all, to provide, no matter how, provisions for +the commune which lacks food, and consequently, to raise subscriptions, +negotiate purchases at a distance and even abroad, organize escorts, +indemnify bakers, supply the market every week notwithstanding +the dearth, the insecurity of roads, and the resistance of +cultivators.--Even an absolute chief; sent from a distance and from +high place, the most energetic and expert possible, supported by the +best-disciplined and most obedient troops, would scarcely succeed in +such an undertaking; and there is instead only a municipality which has +neither the authority, the means, the experience, the capacity, nor the +will. + +In the country, says an orator in the tribune,[2321] "the municipal +officers, in twenty thousand out of forty thousand municipalities, do +not know how to read or write." The cure, in effect, is excluded from +such offices by law, and, save in La Vendee and the noble is excluded by +public opinion. Besides, in many of the provinces, nothing but patois +is spoken.[2322] French, especially the philosophic and abstract +phraseology of the new laws and proclamations, remains gibberish +to their inhabitants. They cannot possibly understand and apply the +complicated decrees and fine-spun instructions which reach them from +Paris. They hurry off to the towns, get the duties of the office imposed +on them explained and commented on in detail, try to comprehend, imagine +they do, and then, the following week, come back again without having +understood anything, either the mode of keeping state registers, +the distinction between feudal rights which are abolished and those +retained, the regulations they should enforce in cases of election, +the limits which the law imposes as to their powers and subordination. +Nothing of all this finds its way into their rude, untrained brains; +instead of a peasant who has just left his oxen, there is needed here a +legal adept aided by a trained clerk.--Prudential considerations must +be added to their ignorance. They do not wish to make enemies for +themselves in their commune, and they abstain from any positive action, +especially in all tax matters. Nine months after the decree on the +patriotic contribution, "twenty-eight thousand municipalities are +overdue, not having (yet) returned either rolls or estimates."[2323] At +the end of January, 1792, "out of forty thousand nine hundred and eleven +municipalities, only five thousand four hundred and forty-eight have +deposited their registers; two thousand five hundred and eighty rolls +only are definitive and in process of collection. A large number have +not even begun their sectional statements."[2324]--It is much worse +when, thinking that they do understand it, they undertake to do their +work. In their minds, incapable of abstraction, the law is transformed +and deformed by extraordinary interpretations. We shall see what it +becomes when it is brought to bear on feudal dues, on the forests, on +communal rights, on the circulation of corn, on the taxes on provisions, +on the supervision of the aristocrats, and on the protection of persons +and property. According to them, it authorizes and invites them to do +by force, and at once, whatever they need or desire for the time +being.--The municipal officers of the large boroughs and towns, more +acute and often able to comprehend the decrees, are scarcely in a +better condition to carry them out effectively. They are undoubtedly +intelligent, inspired by the best disposition, and zealous for the +public welfare. During the first two years of the Revolution it is, on +the whole, the best informed and most liberal portion of the bourgeoisie +which, in the department as in the district, undertakes the management +of affairs. Almost all are men of the law, advocates, notaries, and +attorneys, with a small number of the old privileged class imbued +with the same spirit, a canon at Besancon, a gentleman at Nimes. Their +intentions are of the very best; they love order and liberty, they give +their time and their money, they hold permanent sessions and accomplish +an incredible amount of work, and they often voluntarily expose +themselves to great danger.--But they are bourgeois philosophers, and, +in this latter particular, similar to their deputies in the National +Assembly, and, with this twofold character, as incapable as their +deputies of governing a disintegrated nation. In this twofold character +they are ill-disposed towards the ancient regime, hostile to Catholicism +and feudal rights, unfavorable to the clergy and the nobility, inclined +to extend the bearing and exaggerate the rigor of recent decrees, +partisans of the Rights of Man, and, therefore, humanitarians and +optimists, disposed to excuse the misdeeds of the people, hesitating, +tardy and often timid in the face of an outbreak--in short, admirable +writers, exhorters, and reformers, but good for nothing when it comes to +breaking heads and risking their own bones. They have not been brought +up in such a way as to become men of action in a single day. Up to +this time they have always lived as passive administrators, as quiet +individuals, as studious men and clerks, domesticated, conversational, +and polished, to whom words concealed facts, and who, on their evening +promenade, warmly discussed important principles of government, without +any consciousness of the practical machinery which, with a police-system +for its ultimate wheel, rendered themselves, their promenade, and their +conversation perfectly secure. They are not imbued with that sentiment +of social danger which produces the veritable chief; the man who +subordinates the emotions of pity to the exigencies of the public +service. They are not aware that it is better to mow down a hundred +conscientious citizens rather than let them hang a culprit without +a trial. Repression, in their hands, is neither prompt, rigid, nor +constant. They continue to be in the Hotel-de-Ville what they were +when they went into it, so many jurists and scribes, fruitful in +proclamations, reports, and correspondence. Such is wholly their role, +and, if any amongst them, with more energy, desires to depart from it, +he has no hold on the commune which, according to the Constitution, he +has to direct, and on that armed force which is entrusted to him with a +view to insure the observance of the laws. + +To insure respect for authority, indeed, it must not spring up on the +spot and under the hands of its subordinates. It loses its prestige and +independence when those who create it are precisely those who have to +submit to it. For, in submitting to it, they remember that they have +created it. This or that candidate among them who has but lately +solicited their suffrages is now a magistrate who issues orders, and +this sudden transformation is their work. It is with difficulty that +they pass from the role of sovereign electors to that of docile subjects +of the administration, and recognize a commander in one of their own +creatures.[2325] On the contrary, they will submit to his control only +in their own fashion, reserving to themselves in practice the powers the +right to which they have conferred on him. + +"We gave him his place, and he must do as we want him to do." + +Such popular reasoning is the most natural in the world. It is as +applicable to the municipal officer wearing his scarf as to the officer +in the National Guard wearing his epaulettes; the former as well as +the latter being conferred by the arbitrary voice of the electors, and +always seeming to them a gift which is revocable at their pleasure. The +superior always, and more particularly in times of danger or of great +public excitement, seems, if directly appointed by those whom he +commands, to be their clerk.--Such is municipal authority at this epoch, +intermittent, uncertain, and weak; and all the weaker because the sword, +whose hilt the men of the Hotel-de-Ville seem to hold, does not always +leave its scabbard at their bidding. They alone are empowered to summon +the National Guard, but it does not depend on them, and it is not at +their disposal. To obtain its support it is needful that its independent +chiefs should be willing to respond to their requisition; that the men +should willingly obey their elected officers; that these improvised +soldiers should consent to quit their plow, their stores, their +workshops and offices, to lose their day, to patrol the streets at +night, to be pelted with stones, to fire on a riotous crowd whose +enmities and prejudices they often share. Undoubtedly, they will fire on +some occasions, but generally they will remain quiet, with their arms +at rest; and, at last, they will grow weary of a trying, dangerous, and +constant service, which is disagreeable to them, and for which they are +not fitted. They will not answer the summons, or, if they do, they will +come too late, and in too small a number. In this event, the regulars +who are sent for, will do as they do and remain quiet, following their +example, while the municipal magistrate, into whose hands the sword has +glided, will be able to do no more than make grievous reports, to his +superiors of the department or district, concerning the popular violence +of which he is a powerless witness.--In other cases, and especially in +the country, his condition is worse. The National Guard, preceded by its +drums, will come and take him off to the town hall to authorize by his +presence, and to legalize by his orders, the outrages that it is about +to commit. He marches along seized by the collar, and affixes his +signature at the point of the bayonet. In this case not only is his +instrument taken away from him, but it is turned against of holding it +by the hilt, he feels the point: the armed force which he ought to make +use of makes use of him. + + + + +IV.--On Universal Suffrage. + + The National Guard as electors.--Its great power.--Its + important task.--The work imposed on active citizens.--They + avoid it. + +Behold, then, the true sovereign, the elector, both National Guard and +voter. They are the kings designed by the Constitution; there he is, +in every hierarchical stage, with his suffrage, with which to delegate +authority, and his gun to assure its exercise.--Through his free +choice he creates all local powers, intermediary, central, legislative, +administrative, ecclesiastical, and judiciary. He appoints directly, and +in the primary assemblies, the mayor, the municipal board, the public +prosecutor and council of the commune, the justice of the peace and +his assessors, and the electors of the second degree. Indirectly, and +through these elected electors, he appoints the administrators and +procureurs-syndics of both district and department, the civil and +criminal judges, the public prosecutor, bishops, and priests, the +members of the National Assembly and jurors of the higher National +Court[2326]. All these commissions which he issues are of short date, +the principal ones, those of municipal officer, elector, and deputy, +having but two years to run; at the end of this brief term their +recipients are again subject to his vote, in order that, if he is +displeased with them, he may replace them by others. He must not be +fettered in his choice; in every well-conducted establishment the +legitimate proprietor must be free easily and frequently to renew his +staff of clerks. He is the only one in whom confidence can be placed, +and, for greater security, all arms are given up to him. When his +clerks wish to employ force he is the one to place it at their disposal. +Whatever he desired as elector he executes as National Guard. On two +occasions he interferes, both times in a decisive manner; and his +control over the legal powers is irresistible because these are born out +of his vote and are obeyed only through his support.--But these rights +are, at the same time, burdens. The Constitution describes him as an +"active citizen," and this he eminently is or should be, since public +action begins and ends with him, since everything depends on his +zeal and capacity, since the machine is good and only works well +in proportion to his discernment, punctuality, calmness, firmness, +discipline at the polls, and in the ranks. The law requires his +services incessantly day and night, in body and mind, as gendarme and as +elector.--How burdensome this service of gendarme must be, can be judged +by the number of riots. How burdensome that of elector must be, the list +of elections will show. + +In February, March, April, and May, 1789, there are prolonged parish +meetings, for the purpose of choosing electors and writing out +grievances, also bailiwick meetings of still longer duration to choose +deputies and draw up the memorial. During the months of July and August, +1789, there are spontaneous gatherings to elect or confirm the municipal +bodies; other spontaneous meetings by which the militia is formed and +officered; and then, following these, constant meetings of this same +militia to fuse themselves into a National Guard, to renew officers and +appoint deputies to the federative assemblies. In December, 1789, and +January, 1790, there are primary meetings, to elect municipal officers +and their councils. In May, 1790, there are primary and secondary +meetings, to appoint district and departmental administrators. In +October, 1790, there are primary meetings, to elect the justice of the +peace and his assessors, also secondary meetings, to elect the district +courts. In November, 1790, there are primary meetings, to renew +one-half of the municipal bodies. In February and March, 1791, there +are secondary meetings, to nominate the bishop and cures. In June, July, +August, September, 1791, there are primary and secondary meetings, +to renew one-half of the district and departmental administrators, to +nominate the president, the public prosecutor, and the clerk of the +criminal court, and to choose deputies. In November, 1791, there are +primary meetings to renew one-half of the municipal council. Observe +that many of these elections drag along because the voters lack +experience, because the formalities are complicated, and because +opinions are divided. In August and September, 1791, at Tours, they are +prolonged for thirteen days;[2327] at Troyes, in January, 1790, instead +of three days they last for three weeks; at Paris, in September and +October, 1791, only for the purpose of choosing deputies, they last +for thirty-seven days; in many places their proceedings are contested, +annulled, and begun over again. To these universal gatherings, which +put all France in motion, we must add the local gatherings by which a +commune approves or gainsays its municipal officers, makes claims on the +department, on the King, or on the Assembly, demands the maintenance +of its parish priest, the provisioning of its market, the arrival +or dispatch of a military detachment,--and think of all that these +meetings, petitions, and nominations presuppose in the way of +preparatory committees and preliminary meetings and debates! Every +public representation begins with rehearsals in secret session. In the +choice of a candidate, and, above all, of a list of candidates; in +the appointment in each commune of from three to twenty-one municipal +officers, and from six to forty-two notables; in the selection of twelve +district administrators and thirty-six departmental administrators, +especially as the list must be of a double length and contain twice +as many officers as there are places to fill, immediate agreement is +impossible. In every important election the electors are sure to be in +a state of agitation a month beforehand, while four weeks of discussion +and caucus is not too much to give to inquiries about candidates, and to +canvassing voters. Let us add, accordingly, this long preface to each +of the elections, so long and so often repeated, and now sum up the +troubles and disturbances, all this loss of time, all the labor which +the process demands. Each convocation of the primary assemblies, summons +to the town-hall or principal town of the canton, for one or for several +days, about three million five hundred thousand electors of the first +degree. Each convocation of the assemblies of the second class compels +the attendance and sojourn at the principal town of the department, and +again in the principal town of the district, of about three hundred and +fifty thousand elected electors. Each revision or re-election in the +National Guard gathers together on the public square, or subjects to +roll-call at the town-hall, three or four millions of National +Guards. Each federation, after exacting the same gathering or the same +roll-call, sends delegates by hundreds of thousands to the principal +towns of the districts and departments, and tens of thousands to +Paris.--The powers thus instituted at the cost of so great an effort, +require an equal effort to make them work; one branch alone of the +administration[2328] keeps 2,988 officials busy in the departments, +6,950 in the districts, 1,175,000 in the communes--in all, nearly one +million two hundred thousand administrators, whose places, as we have +seen above, are no sinecures. Never did a political machine require so +prodigious an expenditure of force to set it up and keep it in motion. +In the United States, where it is now (around 1875) deranged by its own +action, it has been estimated that, to meet the intentions of the law +and keep each wheel in its proper place, it would be necessary for each +citizen to give one whole day in each week, or on-sixth of his time, +to public business. In France, under the newly adopted system, where +disorder is universal, where the duty of National Guard is added to and +complicates that of elector and administrator, I estimate that two days +would be necessary. This is what the Constitution comes to, this is its +essential and supreme requirement: each active citizen has to give up +one-third of his time to public affairs. + +Now, these twelve hundred thousand administrators and three or four +million electors and National Guards, are just the men in France who +have the least leisure. The class of active citizens, indeed, comprises +about all the men who labor with their hands or with their heads. +The law exempts only domestics devoted to personal service or common +laborers who, possessing no property or income, earn less than +twenty-one sous a day. Every journeyman-miller, the smallest farmer, +every village proprietor of a cottage or of a vegetable-garden, any +ordinary workman, votes at the primary meetings, and may become a +municipal officer. Again, if he pays ten francs a year direct tax, if he +is a farmer or yeomen on any property which brings him in four hundred +francs, if his rent is one hundred and fifty francs, he may become an +elected elector and an administrator of the district or department. +According to this standard the eligible are innumerable; in Doubs, in +1790,[2329] they form two-thirds of the active citizens. Thus, the +way to office is open to all, or almost all, and the law has taken no +precaution whatever to reserve or provide places for the elite, who +could best fill them. On the contrary, the nobles, the ecclesiastical +dignitaries, the members of the parliaments, the grand functionaries of +the ancient regime, the upper class of the bourgeoisie, almost all the +rich who possess leisure, are practically excluded from the elections +by violence, and from the various offices by public opinion: they +soon retire into private life, and, through discouragement or disgust, +through monarchical or religious scruples, abandon entirely a public +career.--The burden of the new system falls, accordingly, on the most +occupied portion of the community: on merchants, manufacturers, agents +of the law, employees, shopkeepers, artisans, and cultivators. They +are the people who must give up one-third of their time already +appropriated, neglect private for public business, leave their harvests, +their bench, their shop, or their briefs to escort convoys and patrol +the highways, to run off to the principal town of the canton, district, +or department, and stay and sit there in the town-hall,[2330] subject +to a deluge of phrases and papers, conscious that they are forced to +gratuitous drudgery, and that this drudgery is of little advantage to +the public.--For the first six months they do it with good grace; their +zeal in penning memorials, in providing themselves with arms against +"brigands," and in suppressing taxes, rents, and tithes, is active +enough. But now that this much is obtained or extorted, decreed as a +right, or accomplished in fact, they must not be further disturbed. They +need the whole of their time: they have their crops to get in, their +customers to serve, their orders to give, their books to make up, their +credits to adjust, all which are urgent matters, and neither ought to be +neglected or interrupted. Under the lash of necessity and of the crisis +they have put their backs to it, and, if we take their word for it, they +hauled the public cart out of the mud; but they had no idea of putting +themselves permanently in harness to drag it along themselves. Confined +as this class has been for centuries to private life, each has his own +wheelbarrow to trundle along, and it is for this, before all and above +all, that he holds himself responsible. From the beginning of the year +1790 the returns of the votes taken show that as many are absent as +present; at Besancon there are only nine hundred and fifty-nine voters +out of thirty-two hundred inscribed; four months after this more than +one-half of the electors fail to come to the polls;[2331] and throughout +France, even at Paris, the indifference to voting keeps on increasing. +Puppets of such an administration as that of Louis XV. and Louis XVI. do +not become Florentine or Athenian citizens in a single night. The hearts +and heads of three or four millions of men are not suddenly endowed with +faculties and habits which render them capable of diverting one-third of +their energies to work which is new, disproportionate, gratuitous, and +supererogatory.--A fallacy of monstrous duplicity lies at the basis +of the political theories of the day and of those which were +invented during the following ten years. Arbitrarily, and without any +examination, a certain weight and resistance are attributed to the human +metal employed. It is found on trial to have ten times less resistance +and twenty times more weight than was supposed. + + + + +V.--The Ruling Minority. + + The restless minority.--Its elements.--The clubs.--Their + ascendancy.--How they interpret the Rights of Man.--Their + usurpations and violence. + +In default of the majority, who shirk their responsibilities, it is the +minority which does the work and assumes the power. The majority having +resigned, the minority becomes sovereign, and public business, abandoned +by the hesitating, weak, and absent multitude, falls into the hands of +the resolute, energetic, ever-present few who find the leisure and +the disposition to assume the responsibility. In a system in which all +offices are elective, and in which elections are frequent, politics +becomes a profession for those who subordinate their private interests +to it, and who find it of personal advantage; every village contains +five or six men of this class, every borough twenty or thirty, every +town its hundreds and Paris its many thousands.[2332] These are +veritable active citizens They alone give all their time and attention +to public matters, correspond with the newspapers and with the deputies +at Paris, receive and spread abroad the party watchword on every +important question, hold caucuses, get up meetings, make motions, draw +up addresses, overlook, rebuke, or denounce the local magistrates, form +themselves into committees, publish and push candidates, and go into +the suburbs and the country to canvass for votes. They hold the power +in recompense for their labor, for they manage the elections, and are +elected to office or provided with places by the successful candidates. +There is a prodigious number of these offices and places, not only those +of officers of the National Guard and the administrators of the commune, +the district, and the department, whose duties are gratuitous, +or little short of it, but a quantity of others which are +paid,[2333]--eighty-three bishops, seven hundred and fifty deputies, +four hundred criminal judges, three thousand and seven civil judges, +five thousand justices of the peace, twenty thousand assessors forty +thousand communal collectors, forty-six thousand cures, without counting +the accessory or insignificant places which exist by tens and hundreds +of thousands, from secretaries, clerks, bailiffs and notaries, to +gendarmes, constables, office-clerks, beadles, grave-diggers, and +keepers of sequestered goods. The pasture is vast for the ambitious; it +is not small for the needy, and they seize upon it. Such is the rule in +pure democracies: hence the swarm of politicians in the United States. +When the law incessantly calls all citizens to political action, there +are only a few who devote themselves to it; these become expert in this +particular work, and, consequently, preponderant. But they must be paid +for their trouble, and the election secures to them their places because +they manage the elections. + +Two sorts of men furnish the recruits for this dominant minority: on +the one hand the enthusiasts, and on the other those who have no social +position. Towards the end of 1789, moderate people, who are minding +their own business, retire into privacy, and are daily less disposed to +show themselves. The public square is occupied by others who, through +zeal and political passion, abandon their pursuits, and by those who, +finding themselves hampered in their social sphere, or repelled from +ordinary circles, were merely awaiting a new opening to take a fresh +start. In these utopian and revolutionary times, there is no lack of +either class. Flung out by handfuls, the dogma of popular sovereignty +falls like a seed scattered around, to end up vegetating in heated +brains, in the narrow and rash minds which, once possessed by an +idea, adhere to it and are mastered by it. It falls amongst a class of +reasoners who, starting from a principle, dash forward like a horse +who has had blinders put on. This is especially the case with the legal +class, whose profession accustoms them to deductions; nor less with the +village attorney, the unfrocked monk, the "intruding" and excommunicated +cure, and above all, the journalist and the local orator, who, for +the first time in his life, finds that he has an audience, applause, +influence and a future before him. These are the only people who can do +the complicated and constant work which the new Constitution calls for; +for they are the only men whose desires are unlimited, whose dreams are +coherent, whose doctrine is explicit, whose enthusiasm is contagious, +who cherish no scruples, and whose presumption is unbounded. Thus has +the rigid will been wrought and tempered within them, the inward spring +of energy which, being daily more tightly wound up, urges them on to +propaganda and to action.--During the second half of the year 1790 we +see them everywhere following the example of the Paris Jacobins, styling +themselves friends of the Constitution, and grouping themselves together +in popular associations. Each town and village gives birth to a club of +patriots who regularly every evening, or several times a week, meet "for +the purpose of co-operating for the safety of the commonwealth."[2334] +This is a new and spontaneous organ,[2335] an cancer and a parasite, +which develops itself in the social body alongside of its legal +organizations. Its growth insensibly increases, attracting to itself the +substance of the others, employing them for its own ends, substituting +itself for them, acting by and for itself alone, a sort of omnivorous +outgrowth the encroachment of which is irresistible, not only because +circumstances and the working of the Constitution nourish it, but also +because its germ, deposited at a great depth, is a living portion of the +Constitution itself. + +For, placed at the head of the Constitution, as well as of the decrees +which are attached to it, stands the Declaration of the Rights of Man. +According to this, and by the avowal of the legislators themselves, +there are two parts to be distinguished in the law, the one superior, +eternal, inviolable, which is the self-evident principle, and the other +inferior, temporary, and open to discussion, which comprehends more or +less exact or erroneous applications of this principle. No application +of the law is valid if it derogates from the principle. No institution +or authority is entitled to obedience if it is opposed to the rights +which it aims to guarantee. These sacred rights, anterior to all +society, take precedence of every social convention, and whenever we +would know if a legal order is legitimate, we have merely to ascertain +if it is in conformity with natural right. Let us, accordingly, in every +doubtful or difficult case, refer to this philosophic gospel, to +this incontestable catechism, this primordial creed proclaimed by the +National Assembly.--The National Assembly itself invites us to do so. +For it announces that + +"ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole +causes of public misfortune, and of the corruption of governments." + +It declares that + +"the object of every political association is the preservation of +natural and imprescriptible rights." + +It enumerates them, "in order that the acts of legislative power and +the acts of executive power may at once be compared with the purpose +of every political institution." It desires "that every member of the +social body should have its declaration constantly in mind."--Thus we +are told to control all acts of application by the principle, and +also we are provided with the rule by which we may and should accord, +measure, or even refuse our submission to, deference for, and toleration +of established institutions and legal authority. + +What are these superior rights, and, in case of dispute, who will decide +as arbitrator?--There is nothing here like the precise declarations +of the American Constitution,[2336] those positive prescriptions which +serve to sustain a judicial appeal, those express prohibitions which +prevent beforehand certain species of laws from being passed, which +prescribe limits to public powers, which mark out the province not to be +invaded by the State because it is reserved to the individual. + +On the contrary, in the declaration of the national Assembly, most of +the articles are abstract dogmas,[2337] metaphysical definitions, more +or less literary axioms, that is to say, more or less false, now vague +and now contradictory, open to various interpretations and to opposite +constructions, These are good for platform display but bad in practice, +mere stage effect, a sort of pompous standard, useless and heavy, which, +hoisted in front of the Constitutional house and shaken every day +by violent hands, cannot fail soon to tumble on the heads of passers +by.[2338]--Nothing is done to ward off this visible danger. There is +nothing here like that Supreme Court which, in the United States, guards +the Constitution even against its Congress, and which, in the name of +the Constitution, actually invalidates a law, even when it has passed +through all formalities and been voted on by all the powers; +which listens to the complaints of the individual affected by an +unconstitutional law; which stays the sheriff's or collector's hand +raised against him, and which above their heads gives judgment on his +interests and wrongs. Ill-defined and discordant laws are proclaimed +without any provision being made for their interpretation, application +or sanction. No means are taken to have them specially expounded. No +district tribunal is assigned to consider the claims which grow out of +them, to put an end to litigation legally, peacefully, on a last appeal, +and through a final decision which becomes a precedent and fixes the +loose sense of the text. All this is made the duty of everybody, that is +to say of those who are disposed to charge themselves with it,--in other +words, the active minority in council assembled.--Thus, in each town +or village it is the local club which, by the authorization of the +legislator himself, becomes the champion, judge, interpreter and +administrator of the rights of man, and which, in the name of these +superior rights, may protest or rebel, as it seems best, not only +against the legitimate acts of legal powers, but also against the +authentic text of the Constitution and the Laws.[2339] + +Consider, indeed, these rights as they are proclaimed, along with +the commentary of the speaker who expounds them at the club before an +audience of heated and daring spirits, or in the street to the rude +and fanatical multitude. Every article in the Declaration is a dagger +pointed at human society, and the handle has only to be pressed to +make the blade enter the flesh.[2340] Among "these natural and +imprescriptible rights" the legislator has placed "resistance to +oppression." We are oppressed: let us resist and take up arms. According +to this legislator, "society has the right to bring every public agent +of the Administration to account." Let us away to the Hotel-de-Ville, +and interrogate our lukewarm or suspected magistrates, and watch their +sessions to see if they prosecute priests and disarm the aristocrats; +let us stop their intrigues against the people; let us force these +slow clerks to hasten their steps.--According to this legislator +"all citizens have the right to take part in person, or through their +representatives, in the formation of the law." There must thus be no +more electors privileged by their payment of a three-franc tax. Down +with the new aristocracy of active citizens! Let us restore to the +two millions of proletarians the right of suffrage, of which the +Constitution has unjustly defrauded them!--According to this legislator, +"men are born and remain free, and equal in their rights." Consequently, +let no one be excluded from the National Guard; let everybody, even +the pauper, have some kind of weapon, a pike or gun, to defend his +freedom!--In the very terms of the Declaration, "the law is the +expression of the universal will." Listen to these clamors in the open +streets, to these petitions flowing in from the towns on all sides; +behold the universal will, the living law which abolishes the written +law! On the strength of this the leader of a few clubs in Paris are to +depose the King, to violate the Legislative Assembly and decimate the +National Convention.--In other terms, the turbulent, factious minority +is to supplant the sovereign nation, and henceforth there is nothing to +hinder it from doing what it pleases just when it pleases. The operation +of the Constitution has given to it the reality of power, while the +preamble of the Constitution clothes it with the semblance of right. + + + + +VI.--Summary of the work of the Constituent Assembly. + +Such is the work of the Constituent Assembly. In several of its laws, +especially those which relate to private interests, in the institution +of civil regulations, in the penal and rural codes,[2341] in the +first attempts at, and the promise of, a uniform civil code, in the +enunciation of a few simple regulations regarding taxation, procedure, +and administration, it planted good seed. But in all that relates to +political institutions and social organization its proceedings are those +of an academy of Utopians, and not those of practical legislators.--On +the sick body entrusted to it, it performed amputations which were as +useless as they were excessive, and applied bandages as inadequate as +they were injurious. With the exception of two or three restrictions +admitted inadvertently, and the maintenance of the show of royalty, also +the obligation of a small electoral qualification, it carried out its +principle to the end, the principle of Rousseau. It deliberately refused +to consider man as he really was under its own eyes, and persisted +in seeing nothing in him but the abstract being created in books. +Consequently, with the blindness and obstinacy characteristic of a +speculative surgeon, it destroyed, in the society submitted to its +scalpel and its theories, not only the tumors, the enlargements, and the +inflamed parts of the organs, but also the organs themselves, and even +the vital governing centers around which cells arrange themselves to +recompose an injured organ. That is, the Assembly destroyed on the one +hand the time-honored, spontaneous, and lasting societies formed by +geographical position, history, common occupations and interests, and +on the other, those natural chiefs whose name, repute, education, +independence, and earnestness designated them as the best qualified to +occupy high positions. In one direction it despoils and permits the +ruin and proscription of the superior class, the nobles, the members of +Parliament, and the upper middle class. In another it dispossesses and +breaks up all historic or natural corporations, religious congregations, +clerical bodies, provinces, parliaments, societies of art and of all +other professions and pursuits. This done, every tie or bond which +holds men together is found to be severed; all subordination and every +graduated scale of rank have disappeared. There is no longer rank and +file, or commander-in-chief. Nothing remains but individual particles, +26 millions of equal and disconnected atoms. Never was so much +disintegrated matter, less capable of resistance, offered to hands +undertaking to mold it. Harshness and violence will be sufficient to +ensure success. These brutal hands are ready for the work, and the +Assembly which has reduced the material to powder has likewise +provided the mortar and pestle. As awkward in destruction as it is in +construction, it invents for the restoration of order in a society which +is turned upside down a machine which would, of itself, create +disorder in a tranquil society. The most absolute and most concentrated +government would not be strong enough to effect without disturbance a +similar equalization of ranks, the same dismemberment of associations, +and the same displacement of property. No social transformation can +be peacefully accomplished without a well-commanded army, obedient and +everywhere present, as was the case in the emancipation of the Russian +serfs by Emperor Alexander. The new Constitution,[2342] on the contrary, +reduces the King to the position of an honorary president, suspected +and called in question by a disorganized State. Between him and the +legislative body it interposes nothing but sources of conflict, and +suppresses all means of concord. The monarch has no hold whatever on the +administrative departments which he must direct; the mutual independence +of the powers, from the center to the extremities of the State, +everywhere produces indifference, negligence, and disobedience between +the injunctions issued and their execution. France is a federation of +forty thousand municipal sovereignties, in which the authority of legal +magistrates varies according to the caprice of active citizens. These +active citizens, too heavily loaded, shy away from the performance +of public duty; in which a minority of fanatics and ambitious men +monopolize the right to speak, to vote, all influence, the power and +all action. They justify their multiple ursurpations, their unbridled +despotism, and their increasing encroachments by the Declaration of +the Rights of Man. The masterpiece[2343] of ideal abstractions and +of practical absurdities is accomplished. In accordance with the +Constitution spontaneous anarchy becomes legalized anarchy. The latter +is perfect; nothing finer of the kind has been seen since the ninth +century. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 2301: The name for the dreaded secret Royal warrant of arrest. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2302: The initiative rests with the King on one point: war +cannot be decreed by the Assembly except on his formal and preliminary +proposition. This exception was secured only after a violent struggle +and a supreme effort by Mirabeau.] + +[Footnote 2303: Speech by Lanjuinais, November 7, 1789. "We determined +on the separation of the powers. Why, then, should the proposal he made +to us to unite the legislative power with the executive power in the +persons of the ministers?"] + +[Footnote 2304: See the attendance of the Ministers before the +Legislative Assembly.] + +[Footnote 2305: "Any society in which the separation of the powers +is not clearly defined has no constitution." (Declaration of Rights, +article XVI.)--This principle is borrowed from a text by Montesquieu, +also from the American Constitution. In the rest the theory of Rousseau +is followed.] + +[Footnote 2306: Mercure de France, an expression by Mallet du Pan.] + +[Footnote 2307: Constitution of 1791, ch. II. articles 5, 6, 7.--Decree +of September 25--October 6, 1791, section III. articles, 8 to 25.] + +[Footnote 2308: Speeches by Barnave and Roederer in the constituent +Assembly.--Speeches by Barnave and Duport in the Jacobin Club.] + +[Footnote 2309: Principal texts. (Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et +Decrets.")--Laws on municipal and administrative organization, December +14 and 22, 1789; August 12-20, 1790; March 12, 1791. On the municipal +organization of Paris, May 21st, June 27, 1790.--Laws on the +organization of the Judiciary, August 16-24, 1790; September 16-29, +1791; September 29, October 21, 1791.--Laws on military organization, +September 23, October 29, 1790; January 16, 1791; July 27, 28, +1791--Laws on the financial organization, November 14-24,.1790; November +23, 1790; March 17, 1791; September 26, October 2, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2310: The removal of such managerial authority has since the +second World war taken place inside the United Nations and other Western +public administrations and seems to be the aim of much communist trade +union effort. The result has everywhere been added cost and decreased +efficiency. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2311: This principle has been introduced in Western +educational systems when clever self-appointed psychologists told +parents and teacher alike that they could and should not punish their +children but only talk and explain to them. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2312: This description fits the staff regulations of the +United Nations secretariat in which I served for 32 years. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2313: Decrees of December 14 and December 22, 1789: "In +municipalities reduced to three members (communes below five hundred +inhabitants), all executive functions shall belong to the mayor alone."] + +[Footnote 2314: Could it be that Lenin took note of this and had it +this translated in Russian and made use of it in his and later in +Stalin's schools for international revolutionaries. It would in any +case have weakened the Bourgeois Capitalist countries. In any case such +measures have been introduced both in the international organizations +and in most Western Democratic Governments after World War II. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2315: This was in the United Nations called 'Rotation' and +made the administration of missions and forces difficult, expensive and +inefficient. This rotation was also used in the Indian and other armies +in order to prevent the officers to reach an understanding or achieve +any power over the troops under their command. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2316: Laws of September 23--October 29, 1790; January 16, +1791. (Titles II. And VII.)--Cf. the legal prescriptions in relation +to the military tribunals. In every prosecuting or judicial jury +one-seventh of the sworn members are taken from the non-commissioned +officers, and one-seventh from the soldiers, and again, according to the +rank of the accused, the number of those of the same rank is doubled.] + +[Footnote 2317: Law of July 28th, August 12, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2318: Laws of November 24, 1789 (article 52), August 10-14, +1789.--Instruction of August 10-20, 1790; Sec. 8--Law of October 21, +November 21, 1789.] + +[Footnote 2319: Laws of November 14 and 23, 1790; January 13th, +September 26th, October 9, 1792.] + +[Footnote 2320: Albert Babeau, I. 327 (Fete of the Federation, July 14, +1790).--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3215 (May 17,1791, Deliberation of +the council-general of the commune of Brest. May 17 and 19, Letters of +the directory of the district).--Mercure, March 5, 1791. "Mesdames +are stopped until the return of the two deputies, whom the Republic +of Arnay-le-Duc has sent to the representatives of the nation to +demonstrate to them the necessity of keeping the king's aunts in the +kingdom."] + +[Footnote 2321: Moniteur, X. 132. Speech by M. Labergerie, November 8, +1791.] + +[Footnote 2322: At Montauban, in the intendant's salon, the ladies of +the place spoke patois only, the grandmother of the gentleman who has +informed me of this fact did not understand any other language.] + +[Footnote 2323: Moniteur, V.163, sitting of July 18, 1791. Speech by M. +Lecoulteux, reporter.] + +[Footnote 2324: Moniteur, XI. 283, sitting of February 2, 1792. Speech +by Cambon: "They go away thinking that they understand what is explained +to them, but return the following day to obtain fresh explanations. The +attorneys refuse to give the municipalities any assistance, stating that +they know nothing about these matters."] + +[Footnote 2325: The same may happen when a subordinate is promoted to be +placed in charge of his or her former equals and colleagues. This is why +it is often preferably to transfer someone who is recognized as being of +superior talent whenever a promotions is to take place. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2326: Law of May 11-15, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2327: Minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Assembly of the +Department of Indre-et-Loire (1791, printed).] + +[Footnote 2328: De Ferrieres, I. 367.] + +[Footnote 2329: Suzay, I, 191 (21,711 are eligible out of 32,288 +inscribed citizens).] + +[Footnote 2330: Official report of the Electoral Assembly of the +Department of Indre-et-Loire, Aug. 27, 1791. "A member of the Assembly +made a motion that all the members composing it should be indemnified +for the expenses which would be incurred by their absence from home and +the long sojourn they had to make in the town where the Assembly was +held. He remarked that the inhabitants of the country were those who +suffered the most, their labor being their sole riches; that if no +attention was paid to this demand, they would be obliged, in spite of +their patriotism, to withdraw and abandon their important mission; that +the electoral assemblies would then be deserted, or would be composed of +those whose resources permitted them to make this sacrifice."] + +[Footnote 2331: Sauzay, I. 147, 192.] + +[Footnote 2332: For the detail of these figures, see vol. II. Book IV.] + +[Footnote 2333: De Ferrieres, I. 367. Cf. The various laws above +mentioned.] + +[Footnote 2334: Constant, "Histoire d'un Club Jacobin en Province" +(Fontainebleau) p.15. (Proces-verbaux of the founding of the clubs of +Moret, Thomery, Nemours, and Montereau.)] + +[Footnote 2335: Later to change and become socialist and communist +parties everywhere. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2336: Cf. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 +(except the first phrase, which is a catchword thrown out for the +European philosophers).--Jefferson proposed a Declaration of Rights for +the Constitution of March 4, 1789, but it was refused. They were content +to add to it the eleven amendments which set forth the fundamental +rights of the citizen.] + +[Footnote 2337: Article I. "Men are born and remain free and equal in +rights common to all. Social distinctions are founded solely on public +utility." The first phrase condemns the hereditary royalty which is +sanctioned by the Constitution. The second phrase can be used to +legitimate hereditary monarchy and an aristocracy.--Articles 10 and 11 +bear upon the manifestations of religious convictions and on freedom of +speech and of the press. By virtue of these two articles worship, +speech, and the press may be made subject to the most repressive +restrictions, etc.] + +[Footnote 2338: The International Bill of Human Rights of 1948 is quite +different from the one approved in 1789. In 1948 there is no more any +mention of any "right to resistance to oppression", there is a softening +of the position on the right of property and new rights, to free +education, to a country, to rest and leisure, to a high standard of +health and to an adequate standard of living have been introduced. +(SR.)] + +[Footnote 2339: Stalin and his successors organized such a system of +"clubs" world-wide which even today remain active as "protectors" of the +environment, refugees, prisoners, animals and the environment. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 2340: Buchez and Roux, XI. 237. (Speech by Malouet in relation +to the revision, August 5, 1791.) "You constantly tempt the people with +sovereignty without giving them the immediate use of it."] + +[Footnote 2341: Decrees of September 25--October 6, 1791; September +28--October 6, 1791.] + +[Footnote 2342: Impartial contemporaries, those well qualified to judge, +agree as to the absurdity of the Constitution. "The Constitution was a +veritable monster. There was too much of monarchy in it for a republic, +and too much of a republic for a monarchy. The King was a side-dish, un +hors d'oeuvre, everywhere present in appearance but without any actual +power." (Dumont, 339.) "It is a general and almost universal conviction +that this Constitution is inexecutable. The makers of it to a man +condemn it." (G. Morris, September 30, 1791.) "Every day proves more +clearly that their new Constitution is good for nothing." (ibid. +December 27, 1791.) Cf. The sensible and prophetic speech made by +Malouet (August 5, 1791, Buchez and Roux, XI. 237).] + +[Footnote 2343: Taine's vivid description is likely to have encouraged +any radical revolutionary having the luck to read his explicit +description of how to proceed with the destruction of a naive corrupt +capitalist, bourgeois society. (SR.)] + + + + + +BOOK THIRD. THE APPLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION. [3101] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + + +I.--The Federations. + + Popular application of philosophic theory.--Idyllic + celebration of the Contrat-Social.--The two strata of the + human mind.--Permanent disorder. + +If there ever was an Utopia which seemed capable of realization, or, +what is still more to the purpose, was really applied, converted into a +fact, fully established, it is that of Rousseau, in 1789 and during the +three following years. For, not only are his principles embodied in the +laws, and the Constitution throughout animated with his spirit, but it +seems as if the nation looked upon his ideological gambols, his abstract +fiction, as serious. This fiction it carried out in every particular. A +social contract, at one spontaneous and practical, an immense +gathering of men associating together freely for the first time for the +recognition of their respective rights, forming a specific compact, +and binding themselves by a solemn oath: such is the social recipe +prescribed by the philosophers, and which is carried out to the letter. +Moreover, as this recipe is esteemed infallible, the imagination is +worked upon and the sensibilities of the day are brought into play. +It is admitted that men, on again becoming equals, have again become +brothers.[3102] A sudden and amazing harmony of all volitions and +all intelligences will restore the golden age on earth. It is proper, +accordingly, to regard the social contract as a festival, an affecting, +sublime idyll, in which, from one end of France to the other, all, hand +in hand, should assemble and swear to the new compact, with song, with +dance, with tears of joy, with shouts of gladness, the worthy beginning +of public felicity. With unanimous assent, indeed, the idyll is +performed as if according to a written program. + +On the 29th of November, 1789, at Etoile, near Valence, the federations +began.[3103] Twelve thousand National Guards, from the two banks of the +Rhone, promise "to remain for ever united, to insure the circulation of +grain, and to maintain the laws passed by the National Assembly." On the +13th of December, at Montelimart, six thousand men, the representatives +of 27 000 other men, take a similar oath and confederate themselves with +the foregoing.--Upon this the excitement spreads from month to month +and from province to province. Fourteen towns of the bailiwicks of +Franche-Comte form a patriotic league. At Pontivy, Brittany enters into +federal relations with Anjou. One thousand National Guards of Vivarais +and Languedoc send their delegates to Voute. 48 000 in the Vosges send +their deputies to Epinal. During February, March, April, and May, 1790, +in Alsace, Champagne, Dauphiny, Orleanais, Touraine, Lyonnais, and +Provence, there is the same spectacle. At Draguignan eight thousand +National Guards take the oath in the presence of 20 000 spectators. At +Lyons 50 000 men, delegates of more than 500 000 others take the civic +oath.--But local unions are not sufficient to complete the organization +of France; a general union of all Frenchmen must take place. Many of the +various National Guards have already written to Paris for the purpose of +affiliating themselves with the National Guard there; and, one the 5th +of June, the Parisian municipal body having proposed it, the Assembly +decrees the universal federation. It is to take place on the 14th +of July, everywhere on the same day, both at the center and at the +extremities of the kingdom. There is to be one in the principal town +of each district and of each department, and one in the capital. To +the latter each body of the National Guards is to send deputies in +the proportion of one man to every two hundred; and each regiment one +officer, one non-commissioned officer, and four privates. Fourteen +thousand representatives of the National Guard of the provinces appear +on the Champ de Mars, the theater of the festival; also eleven to twelve +thousand representatives of the land and marine forces, besides +the National Guard of Paris, and sixty thousand spectators on the +surrounding slopes, with a still greater crowd on the heights of +Chaillot and of Passy. All rise to their feet and swear fidelity to the +nation, to the law, to the King and to the new Constitution. When the +report of the cannon is heard which announces the taking of the oath, +those of the Parisians who have remained at home, men, women, and +children, raise their hands in the direction of the Champ de Mars +and likewise make their affirmation. In every principal town of every +district, department, and commune in France there is the same oath on +the same day. Never was there a more perfect social compact heard of. +Here, for the first time in the world, everybody beholds a veritable +legitimate society, for it is founded on free pledges, on solemn +stipulations, and on actual consent. They possess the authentic act and +the dated official report of it.[3104] + +There is still something more--the time and the occasion betoken a union +of all hearts. The barriers which have hitherto separated men from each +other are all removed and without effort. Provincial antagonisms are +now to cease: the confederates of Brittany and Anjou write that they +no longer desire to be Angevins and Bretons, but simply Frenchmen. All +religious discords are to come to an end: at Saint-Jean-du-Gard, near +Alais, the Catholic cure and the Protestant pastor embrace each other at +the altar; the pastor occupies the best seat in the church, and at the +Protestant meeting-house the cure has the place of honor, and listens to +the sermon of the pastor.[3105] Distinctions of rank and condition will +no longer exist; at Saint-Andeol "the honor of taking the oath in the +name of the people is conferred on two old men, one ninety-three and +the other ninety-four years of age, one a noble and a colonel of the +National Guard, and the other a simple peasant." At Paris, two hundred +thousand persons of all conditions, ages, and sexes, officers and +soldiers, monks and actors, school-boys and masters, dandies and +ragamuffins, elegant ladies and fishwives, workmen of every class and +the peasants from the vicinity, all flocked to the Champ de Mars to dig +the earth which was not ready, and in a week, trundling wheelbarrows and +handling the pick-ax as equals and comrades, all voluntarily yoked in +the same service, converted a flat surface into a valley between two +hills.--At Strasbourg, General Luckner, commander-in-chief, worked a +whole afternoon in his shirt-sleeves just like the commonest laborer. +The confederates are fed, housed, and have their expenses paid +everywhere on all the roads. At Paris the publicans and keepers of +furnished houses lower their prices of their own accord, and do not +think of robbing their new guests. "The districts," moreover, "feast the +provincials to their heart's content.[3106] There are meals every day +for from twelve to fifteen hundred people." Provincials and Parisians, +soldiers and bourgeois, seated and mingled together, drink each other's +health and embrace. The soldiers, especially, and the inferior officers +are surrounded, welcomed, and entertained to such an extent that they +lose their heads, their health, and more besides. One "old trooper, who +had been over fifty years in the service, died on the way home, used up +with cordials and excess of pleasure." In short, the joy is excessive, +as it should be on the great day when the wish of an entire century +is accomplished.--Behold ideal felicity, as displayed in the books +and illustrations of the time! The natural man buried underneath an +artificial civilization is disinterred, and again appears as in early +days, as in Tahiti, as in philosophic and literary pastorals, as in +bucolic and mythological operas, confiding, affectionate, and happy. +"The sight of all these beings again restored to the sweet sentiments of +primitive brotherhood is an exquisite delight almost too great for the +soul to support," and the Frenchman, more light-hearted and far more +childlike than he is to-day, gives himself up unrestrainedly to his +social, sympathetic, and generous instincts. Whatever the imagination +of the day offers him to increase his emotions, all the classical, +rhetorical, and dramatic material at his command, are employed for +the embellishment of his festival. Already wildly enthusiastic, he +is anxious to increase his enthusiasm.--At Lyons, the fifty thousand +confederates from the south range themselves in line of battle around an +artificial rock, fifty feet high, covered with shrubs, and surmounted by +a Temple of Concord in which stands a huge statue of Liberty; the +steps of the rock are decked with flags, and a solemn mass precedes the +administration of the oath.--At Paris, an alter dedicated to the nation +is erected in the middle of the Champ de Mars, which is transformed +into a colossal circus. The regular troops and the federations of the +departments stand in position around it, the King being in front +with the Queen and the dauphin, while near them are the princes and +princesses in a gallery, and the members of the National Assembly in +an amphitheater; two hundred priests, draped in their albs and with +tricolored belts, officiate around Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun; three +hundred drums and twelve hundred musicians all play at once; forty piece +of cannon are discharged at one volley, and four hundred thousand cheers +go up as if from one threat. Never was such an effort made to intoxicate +the senses and strain the nerves beyond their powers of endurance!--The +moral machine is made to vibrate to the same and even to a greater +extent. For more than a year past, harangues, proclamations, addresses, +newspapers and events have daily added one degree more to the pressure. +On this occasion, thousands of speeches, multiplied by myriads of +newspapers, carry the enthusiasm to the highest pitch. Declamation foams +and rolls along in a steady stream of rhetoric everywhere throughout +France.[3107] In this state of excitement the difference between +magniloquence and sincerity, between the false and the true, between +show and substance, is no longer distinguishable. The Federation becomes +an opera which is seriously played in the open street--children have +parts assigned them in it; it occurs to no one that they are puppets, +and that the words taken for an expression of the heart are simply +memorized speeches that have been put into their mouths. At Besancon, +on the return of the confederates, hundreds of "youthful citizens" from +twelve to fourteen years of age,[3108] in the national uniform, "with +sword in hand," march up to the standard of Liberty. Three little girls +from eleven to thirteen years old and two little boy of nine years +each pronounce "a discourse full of fire and breathing nothing but +patriotism;" after which, a young lady of fourteen, raising her voice +and pointing to the flag, harangues in turn the crowd, the deputies, the +National Guard, the mayor, and the commander of the troops, the scene +ending with a ball. This is the universal finale--men and women, +children and adults, common people and men of the world, chiefs and +subordinates, all, everywhere, frisk about as in the last act of a +pastoral drama. At Paris,--writes an eye-witness, "I saw chevaliers of +Saint-Louis and chaplains dancing in the street with people belonging +to their department."[3109] At the Champ de Mars, on the day of the +Federation, notwithstanding that rain was falling in torrents, "the +first arrivals began to dance, and those who came after them, joining +in, formed a circle which soon spread over a portion of the Champ +de Mars. . . .Three hundred thousand spectators kept time with their +hands." On the following days dancing is kept up on the Champ de Mars +and in the streets, and there is drinking and carousing; "there was +a ball with refreshments at the Corn-Exchange, and on the site of the +Bastille."--At Tours, where fifty-two detachments from the neighboring +provinces are collected, about four o'clock in the afternoon,[3110] +through an irresistible outburst of insane gaiety, "the officers, +inferior officers, and soldiers, pell-mell, race through the streets, +some with saber in hand and others dancing and shouting 'Vive le Roi!' +'Vive la Nation!' flinging up their hats and compelling every one +they met to join in the dance. One of the canons of the cathedral, who +happens to be passing quietly along, has a grenadier's cap put on his +head," and is dragged into the circle, and after him two monks; "they +are often embraced," and then allowed to depart. The carriages of the +mayor and the Marquise de Montausier arrive; people mount up behind, +get inside, and seat themselves in front, as many as can find room, +and force the coachmen to parade through the principal streets in this +fashion. There is no malice in it, nothing but sport and the overflow of +spirits. "Nobody was maltreated or insulted, although almost every one +was drunk."--Nevertheless, there is one bad symptom: the soldiers of +the Anjou regiment leave their barracks the following day and "pass +the whole night abroad, no one being able to hinder them." And there is +another of still graver aspect; at Orleans, after the companies of +the National Militia had danced on the square in the evening, "a large +number of volunteers marched in procession through the town with +drums, shouting out with all their might that the aristocracy must be +destroyed, and that priests and aristocrats should be strung up to the +lamp post. They enter a suspected coffee-house, drive out the inmates +with insults, lay hands on a gentleman who is supposed not to have cried +out as correctly and as lustily as themselves, and come near to hanging +him.[3111]--Such is the fruit of the philosophy and the attitudes of the +eighteenth century. Men believed that, for the organization of a +perfect society and the permanent establishment of freedom, justice, and +happiness on earth, an inspiration of sentiments and an act of the will +would suffice. The inspiration came and the act was fulfilled; they have +been carried away, delighted, affected and out of their minds. Now comes +the reaction, when they have to fall back upon themselves. The effort +has succeeded in accomplishing all that it could accomplish, namely, a +deluge of emotional demonstrations and slogans, a verbal and not a real +contract ostentatious fraternity skin-deep, a well-meaning masquerade, +an outpouring of feeling evaporating through its own pageantry--in +short, an agreeable carnival of a day's duration. + +The reason is that in the human mind there are two strata. One +superficial, of which men are conscious, the other deep down, of which +they are unconscious.[3112] The former unstable and vacillating like +shifting sand, the latter stable and fixed like a solid rock, to which +their caprices and agitation never descend. The latter alone determines +the general inclination of the soil, the main current of human activity +necessarily following the bent thus prepared for it.--Certainly embraces +have been interchanged and oaths have been taken; but after, as before +the ceremony, men are just what many centuries of administrative +thralldom and one century of political literature have made them. Their +ignorance and presumption, their prejudices, hatreds, and distrusts, +their inveterate intellectual and emotional habits are still preserved. +They are human, and their stomachs need to be filled daily. They have +imagination, and, if bread be scarce, they fear that they may not get +enough of it. They prefer to keep their money rather than to give +it away. For this reason they spurn the claims which the State and +individuals have upon them as much as possible. They avoid paying their +debts. They willingly lay their hands on public property which is badly +protected; finally they are disposed to regard gendarmes and proprietors +as detrimental, and all the more so because this has been repeated to +them over and over again, day after day, for a whole year.--On the other +hand there is no change in the situation of things. They are ever living +in a disorganized community, under an impracticable constitution, the +passions which sap public order being only the more stimulated by the +semblance of fraternity under which they seemed to be allayed. Men +cannot be persuaded with impunity that the millennium has come, for +they will want to enjoy it immediately, and will tolerate no deception +practiced on their expectations. In this violent state, fired by +boundless expectations, all their whims appear reasonable and all +their opinions rational. They are no longer able to find faults with +or control themselves. In their brain, overflowing with emotions and +enthusiasm, there is no room but for one intense, absorbing, fixed idea. +Each is confident and over-confident in his own opinion; all become +impassioned, imperious, and intractable. Having assumed that all +obstacles are taken out of the way, they grow indignant at each obstacle +they actually encounter. Whatever it may be, they shatter it on the +instant, and their over-excited imagination covers with the fine name of +patriotism their natural appetite for despotism and domination. + +France, accordingly, in the three years which follow the taking of the +Bastille, presents a strange spectacle. In the words we find charity +and in the laws symmetry; while the actual events present a spectacle of +disorder and violence. Afar, is the reign of philosophy; close up is the +chaos of the Carlovingian era. + +"Foreigners," remarks an observer,[3113] "are not aware that, with a +great extension of political rights, the liberty of the individual is in +law reduced to nothing, while in practice it is subject to the caprice +of sixty thousand constitutional assemblies; that no citizen enjoys any +protection against the annoyances of these popular assemblies; that, +according to the opinions which they entertain of persons and things, +they act in one place in one way and in another place in another way. +Here, a department, acting for itself and without referring elsewhere, +puts an embargo on vessels, while another orders the expulsion of a +military detachment essential for the security of places devastated +by ruffians; and the minister, who responds to the demands of those +interested, replies: 'Such are the orders of the department.' Elsewhere +are administrative bodies which, the moment the Assembly decrees relief +of consciences and the freedom of nonjuring priests, order the latter +out of their homes within 24 hours. Always in advance of or lagging +behind the laws; alternately bold and cowardly; daring all things when +seconded by public license, and daring nothing to repress it; eager to +abuse their momentary authority against the weak in order to acquire +titles to popularity in the future; incapable of maintaining order +except at the expense of public safety and tranquility; entangled in +the reins of their new and complex administration, adding the fury of +passion to incapacity and inexperience; such are, for the most part, +the men sprung from nothing, void of ideas and drunk with pretension, +on whom now rests responsibility for public powers and resources, the +interest of security, and the foundations of the power of government. +In all sections of the nation, in every branch of the administration, in +every report, we detect the confusion of authorities, the uncertainty +of obedience, the dissolution of all restraints, the absence of all +resources, the deplorable complication of enervated springs, without any +of the means of real power, and, for their sole support, laws which, +in supposing France to be peopled with men without vices or passions, +abandon humanity to its primitive state of independence." + +A few months after this, in the beginning of 1792, Malouet sums up all +in one phrase: + +"It is the Government of Algiers without the Dey." + + + + +II.--Independence of the municipalities. + + The causes of their initiative.--Sentiment of danger. + --Issy-l'Eveque in 1789.--Exalted pride.--Brittany in 1790. + --Usurpations of the municipalities.--Capture of the + citadels.--Violence increased against their commanders. + --Stoppage of convoys.--Powerlessness of the Directories and + the ministers.--Marseilles in 1790. + +Things could not work otherwise. For, before the 6th of October, and the +King's captivity in Paris, the Government had already been destroyed. +Now, through the successive decrees of the Assembly, it is legally done +away with, and each local group is left to itself.--The intendants have +fled, military commanders are not obeyed, the bailiwicks dare hold no +courts, the parliaments are suspended, and seven months elapse before +the district and department administrations are elected, a year before +the new judgeships are instituted, while afterwards, as well as before, +the real power is in the hands of the communes.--The commune must arm +itself, appoint its own chiefs, provide its own supplies, protect itself +against brigands, and feed its own poor. It has to sell its national +property, install the constitutional priest, and, amidst so many eager +passions and injured interest, accomplish the transformation by which +a new society replaces the ancient one. It alone has to ward off the +perpetual and constantly reviving dangers which assail it or which it +imagines. These are great, and it exaggerates them. It is inexperienced +and alarmed. It is not surprising that, in the exercise of its +extemporized power, it should pass beyond its natural or legal limit, +and without being aware of it, overstep the metaphysical line which the +Constitution defines between its rights and the rights of the State. +Neither hunger, fear, rage, nor any of the popular passions can wait; +there is no time to refer to Paris. Action is necessary, immediate +action, and, with the means at hand, they must save themselves as well +as they can. This or that mayor of a village is soon to find himself a +general and a legislator. This or that petty town is to give itself +a charter like Laon or Vezelay in the twelfth century. "On the 6th +of October, 1789,[3114] near Autun, the market-town of Issy-l'Eveque +declares itself an independent State. The parish assembly is convoked +by the priest, M. Carion, who is appointed member of the administrative +committee and of the new military staff. In full session he secures the +adoption of a complete code, political, judiciary, penal and military, +consisting of sixty articles. Nothing is overlooked; we find ordinances +concerning + +"the town police, the laying out of streets and public squares, +the repairs of prisons, the road taxes and price of grain, the +administration of justice, fines, confiscations, and the diet of the +National Guards." + +He is a provincial Solon,[3115] zealous for the public welfare, and a +man of executive power, he expounds his ordinances from the pulpit, and +threatens the refractory. He passes decrees and renders judgments in the +town-hall: outside the town limits, at the head of the National Guard, +saber in hand, he will enforce his own decisions. He causes it to be +decided that, on the written order of the committee, every citizen may +be imprisoned. He imposes and collects taxes; he has boundary walls +torn down; he goes in person to the houses of cultivators and makes +requisitions for grain; he seizes the convoys which have not deposited +their quote in his own richly stored granaries. One day, preceded by +a drummer, he marches outside the walls, makes proclamation of "his +agrarian laws," and proceeds at once to the partition of the territory, +and, by virtue of the ancient communal or church property rights, +to assign to himself a portion of it. All this is done in public and +consciously, the notary and the scrivener being called in to draw up the +official record of his acts; he is satisfied that human society has come +to an end, and that each local group has the right to begin over again +and apply in its own way the Constitution which it has accorded to +itself without reference to anybody else.--This man, undoubtedly, talks +too loudly, an proceeds too quickly; and first the bailiwick, next the +Chatelet, and afterwards the National Assembly temporarily put a stop +to his proceedings; but his principle is a popular one, and the forty +thousand communes of France are about to act like so many distinct +republics, under the sentimental and constantly more powerless +reprimands of the central authority. + +Excited and invigorated by a new sentiment, men now abandon themselves +to the proud consciousness of their own power and independence. Nowhere +is greater satisfaction found than among the new local chiefs, the +municipal officers and commanders of the National Guard, for never +before has such supreme authority and such great dignity fallen upon +men previously so submissive and so insignificant.--Formerly the +subordinates of an intendant or sub-delegate, appointed, maintained, and +ill-used by him, kept aloof from transactions of any importance, +unable to defend themselves except by humble protestations against the +aggravation of taxation, concerned with precedence and the conflicts +of etiquette,[3116] plain townspeople or peasants who never dreamt of +interfering in military matters, henceforth become sovereigns in all +military and civil affairs. This or that mayor or syndic of a little +town or parish, a petty bourgeois or villager in a blouse, whom the +intendant or military commander could imprison at will, now orders +a gentleman, a captain of dragoons, to march or stand still, and the +captain stands still or marches at his command. On the same bourgeois +or villager depends the safety of the neighboring chateau, of the large +land-owner and his family, of the prelate, and of all the prominent +personages of the district in order that they may be out of harm's way +he must protect them; they will be pillaged if, in case of insurrection, +he does not send troops and the National Guard to their assistance. It +is he who, lending or refusing public force to the collection of +their rents, gives them or deprives them of the means of living. He +accordingly rules, and on the sole condition of ruling according to the +wishes of his equals, the vociferous multitude, the restless, dominant +mob which has elected him.--In the towns, especially, and notably in the +large towns, the contrast between what he was and what he is immense, +since to the plenitude of his power is added the extent of his +jurisdiction. Judge of the effect on his brain in cities like those of +Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes, Rouen and Lyons, where he holds in his +hand the lives and property of eighty or a hundred thousand men. And +the more as, amid the municipal officers of the towns, three-quarters +of them, prosecutors or lawyers, are imbued with the new dogmas, and are +persuaded that in themselves alone, the directly elected of the +people, is vested all legitimate authority. Bewildered by their recent +elevation, distrustful as upstarts, in revolt against all ancient or +rival powers, they are additionally alarmed by their imagination and +ignorance, their minds being vaguely disturbed by the contrast between +their role in the past and their present role: anxious on their own +account, they find no security but in abuse and use of power. The +municipalities, on the strength of the reports emanating from the +coffee-houses, decide that the ministry are traitors. With an obstinacy +of conviction and a boldness of presumption alike extraordinary, they +believe that they have the right to act without and against their +orders, and against the orders of the National Assembly itself, as +if, in the now disintegrated France, each municipality constituted the +nation. + +Thus, if the armed force of the country is now obedient to any body, it +is to them and to them alone, and not only the National Guard, but also +the regular troops which, placed under the orders of municipalities by +a decree of the National Assembly,[3117] will comply with no other. +Military commanders in the provinces, after September, 1787, declare +themselves powerless; when they and the municipality give orders, it +is only those of the municipality which the troops recognize. "However +pressing may be the necessity for moving the troops where their +presence is required, they are stopped by the resistance of the village +committee."[3118] "Without any reasonable motive," writes the commander +of the forces in Brittany, "Vannes and Auray made opposition to the +detachment which I thought it prudent to send to Belle-Ile, to replace +another one. . . The Government cannot move without encountering +obstacles. . . . The Minister of War no longer has the direction of the +army. . . . No orders are executed. . . Every one wants to command, and +no one to obey. . . How could the King, the Government, or the Minister +of War send troops where they are wanted if the towns believe that they +have the right to countermand the orders given to the regiments and +change their destination?"-And it is still worse, for, "on the false +supposition of brigands and conspiracies which do not exist,[3119] the +towns and villages make demands on me for arms and even cannon. . . The +whole of Brittany will soon be in a frightful belligerent state on this +account, for, having no real enemies, they will turn their arms against +each other."--This is of no consequence. The panic is an "epidemic." +People are determined to believe in "brigands and enemies." At Nantes, +the assertion is constantly repeated that the Spaniards are going to +land, that the French regiments are going to make an attack, that an +army of brigands is approaching, that the castle is threatened, that +it is threatening, and that it contains too many engines of war. The +commandant of the province writes in vain to the mayor to reassure +him, and to explain to him that "the municipality, being master of +the chateau, is likewise master of its magazine. Why then should it +entertain fear about that which is in its own possession? Why should +any surprise be manifested at an arsenal containing arms and +gunpowder?"--Nothing is of any effect. The chateau is invaded; two +hundred workmen set to work to demolish the fortifications; they listen +only to their fears, and cannot exercise too great precaution. However +inoffensive the citadels may be, they are held to be dangerous; however +accommodating the commanders may be, they are regarded with suspicion. +The people chafe against the bridle, relaxed and slack as it is. It +is broken and cast aside, that it may not be used again when occasion +requires. Each municipal body, each company of the National Guard, +wants to reign on its own plot of ground out of the way of any foreign +control; and this is what is called liberty. Its adversary, therefore, +is the central power. This must be disarmed for fear that it may +interpose. On all sides, with a sure and persistent instinct, through +the capture of fortresses, the pillage of arsenals, the seduction of the +soldiery, and the expulsion of generals, the municipality ensures its +omnipotence by guaranteeing itself beforehand against all repression. + +At Brest the municipal authorities insist that a naval officer shall be +surrendered to the people, and on the refusal of the King's lieutenant +to give him up, the permanent committee orders the National Guard to +load its guns.[3120] At Nantes the municipal body refuses to recognize +M. d'Hervilly, sent to take command of a camp, and the towns of the +province write to declare that they will suffer no other than the +federated troops on their territory. At Lille the permanent committee +insists that the military authorities shall place the keys of the town +in its keeping every evening, and, a few months after this, the National +Guard, joined by mutinous soldiers, seize the citadel and the person of +Livarot, its commander. At Toulon the commander of the arsenal, M. +de Rioms, and several naval officers, are put in the dungeon. At +Montpellier the citadel is surprised, and the club writes to the +National Assembly to demand its demolition. At Valence, the commandant, +M. de Voisin, on taking measures of defense, is massacred, and +henceforth the municipality issues all orders to the garrison. At +Bastia, Colonel de Rully falls under a shower of bullets, and the +National Guard takes possession of the citadel and the powder magazine. +These are not passing outbursts: at the end of two years the same +insubordinate spirit is apparent everywhere.[3121] In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly seek to transfer the Nassau +regiment from Metz. Sedan refuses to receive it; while Thionville +declares that, if it comes, she will blow up the bridges, and Sarrebuis +threatens, if it approaches, that it will open fire on it. At Caen +neither the municipality nor the directory dares enforce the law which +assigns the castle to the troops of the line; the National Guard refuses +to leave it, and forbids the director of the artillery to inspect the +munitions.--In this state of things a Government subsists in name +but not in fact, for it no longer possesses the means of enforcing +obedience. Each commune arrogates to itself the right of suspending +or preventing the execution of the simplest and most urgent orders. +Arnay-le-Duc, in spite of passports and legal injunctions, persists in +retaining Mesdames; Arcis-sur-Aube retains Necker, and Montigny is about +to retain M. Caillard, Ambassador of France.[3122]--In the month of +June, 1791, a convoy of eighty thousand crowns of six livres sets out +from Paris for Switzerland; this is a repayment by the French Government +to that of Soleure; the date of payment is fixed, the itinerary marked +out; all the necessary documents are provided; it is important that it +should arrive on the day when the bill falls due. But they have +counted without the municipalities and the National Guards. Arrested at +Bar-sur-Aube, it is only at the end of a month, and on a decree of the +National Assembly, that the convoy can resume its march. At Belfort it +is seized again, and it still remains there in the month of November. In +vain has the directory of the Bas-Rhin ordered its release; the Belfort +municipality paid no attention to the order. In vain the same directory +dispatches a commissioner, who is near being cut to pieces. The personal +interference of General Luckner, with the strong arm, is necessary, +before the convoy can pass the frontier, after five months of +delay.[3123] In the month of July 1791, a French vessel on the way from +Rouen to Caudebec, said to be loaded with kegs of gold and silver, is +stopped. On the examination being made, it has a right to leave; its +papers are all correct, and the department enjoins the district to +respect the law. The district, however, replies that it is impossible, +since "all the municipalities on the banks of the Seine have armed +and are awaiting the passing of the vessel," and the National Assembly +itself is obliged to pass a decree that the vessel shall be discharged. + +If the rebellion of the small communes is of this stamp, what must be +that of the larger ones?[3124] The departments and districts summon the +municipality in vain; it disobeys or pays no attention to the summons. + +"Since the session began," writes the directory of Saone-et-Loire; "the +municipality of Macon has taken no step in relation to us which has not +been an encroachment. It has not uttered a word, which has not been an +insult. It has not entered upon a deliberation which has not been an +outrage." + +"If the regiment of Aunis is not ordered here immediately," writes the +directory of Calvados, "if prompt and efficient measures are not taken +to provide us with an armed force, we shall abandon a post which we can +not longer hold due to insubordination, license, contempt for all the +authorities. We shall in this case be unable to perform the duties which +were imposed upon us." + +The directory of the Bouches-du-Rhone, on being attacked, flies before +the bayonets of Marseilles. The members of the directory of Gers, in +conflict with the municipality of Auch, are almost beaten to death. As +to the ministers, who are distrusted by virtue of their office, they are +still less respected than the directories, They are constantly denounced +to the Assembly, while the municipalities send back their dispatches +without deigning to open them,[3125] and, towards the end of 1791, their +increasing powerlessness ends in complete annihilation. We can judge +of this by one example. In the month of December 1791, Limoges is not +allowed to carry away the grain, which it had just purchased in Indre, +a force of sixty horsemen being necessary to protect its transportation. +The directory of Indre at once calls upon the ministers to furnish them +with this small troop.[3126] After trying for three weeks, the minister +replies that it is out of his power; he has knocked at all doors in +vain. "I have pointed out one way," he says, "to the deputies of your +department in the National Assembly, namely, to withdraw the 20th +regiment of cavalry from Orleans, and I have recommended them to broach +the matter to the deputies of Loiret." The answer is still delayed: +the deputies of the two departments have to come to an agreement, for, +otherwise, the minister dares not displace sixty men to protect a convoy +of grain. It is plain enough that there is no longer any executive +power. There is no longer a central authority. There is no longer a +France, but merely so many disintegrated and independent communes, like +Orleans and Limoges, which, through their representatives, carry on +negotiations with each other, one to secure itself from a deficiency of +troops, and the other to secure itself from a want of bread. + +Let us consider this general dissolution on the spot, and take up a case +in detail. On the 18th of January 1790, the new municipal authorities +of Marseilles enter upon their duties. As is generally the case, the +majority of the electors have had nothing to do with the balloting. +The mayor, Martin, having been elected by only an eighth of the active +citizens.[3127] If, however, the dominant minority is a small one, it +is resolute and not inclined to stop at trifles. "Scarcely is it +organized,"[3128] when it sends deputies to the King to have him +withdraw his troops from Marseilles. The King, always weak and +accommodating, finally consents; and, the orders to march being +prepared, the municipality is duly advised of them. But the municipality +will tolerate no delay, and immediately "draws up, prints, and issues +a denunciation to the National Assembly" against the commandant and +the two ministers who, according to it, are guilty of having forged or +suppressed the King's orders. In the meantime it equips and fortifies +itself as for a combat. At its first establishment the municipality +broke up the bourgeois guard, which was too great a lover of order, and +organized a National Guard, in which those who have no property are +soon to be admitted. "Daily additions are made to its military +apparatus;[3129] entrenchments and barricades at the Hotel-de-Ville, +are increasing, the artillery is increased; the town is filled with the +excitement of a military camp in the immediate presence of an enemy." +Thus, in possession of force, it makes use of it, and in the first place +against justice.--A popular insurrection had been suppressed in the +month of August 1789, and the three principal leaders, Rebecqui, Pascal, +and Granet, had been imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. They are the +friends of the municipal authorities, and they must be set free. At +the demand of this body the affair is taken out of the hands of the +grand-prevot and put into those of the senechaussee, the former, +meanwhile, together with his councilors, undergoing punishment for +having performed their duty. The municipality, on its own authority, +forbids them from further exercise of their functions. They are publicly +denounced, "threatened with poniards, the scaffold, and every species of +assassination." [3130] No printer dares publish their defense, for fear +of "municipal annoyances." It is not long before the royal procureur and +a councillor are reduced to seeking refuge in Fort Saint-Jean, while the +grand-prevot after having resisted a little longer, leaves Marseilles +in order to save his life. As to the three imprisoned men, the municipal +authorities visit them in a body and demand their provisional release. +One of them having made his escape, they refuse to give the commandant +the order for his re-arrest. The other two triumphantly leave the +chateau on the 11th of April, escorted by eight hundred National Guards. +They go, for form's sake, to the prisons of the senechaussee but the +next day are set at liberty, and further prosecution ceases. As an +offset to this, M. d'Ambert, colonel in the Royal Marine, guilty of +expressing himself too warmly against the National Guard, although +acquitted by the tribunal before which he was brought, can be set +at liberty only in secret and under the protection of two thousand +soldiers. The populace want to burn the house of the criminal lieutenant +that dared absolve him. The magistrate himself is in danger, and is +forced to take refuge in the house of the military commander.[3131] +Meanwhile, printed and written papers, insulting libels by the municipal +body and the club, the seditious or violent discussions of the district +assemblies, and a lot of pamphlets, are freely distributed among the +people and the soldiers: the latter are purposely stirred up in advance +against their chiefs.--In vain are the officers mild, conciliatory, and +cautious. In vain does the commander-in-chief depart with a portion of +the troops. The object now is to dislodge the regiment occupying +the three forts. The club sets the ball in motion, and, forcibly or +otherwise, the will of the people must be carried out. On the 29th of +April, two actors, supported by fifty volunteers, surprise a sentinel +and get possession of Notre-Dame de la Garde. On the same day, +six thousand National Guards invest the forts of Saint-Jean and +Saint-Nicolas. The municipal authorities, summoned to respect the +fortresses, reply by demanding the opening of the gates to the National +Guard, that it may do duty jointly with the soldiers. The commandants +hesitate, refer to the law, and demand time to consult their superiors. +A second requisition, more urgent, is made; the commandants are held +responsible for the disturbances they provoke by their refusal. If they +resist they are declared promoters of civil war.[3132] They accordingly +yield and sign a capitulation. One among them, the Chevalier de +Beausset, major in Fort Saint-Jean, is opposed to this, and refuses his +signature. On the following day he is seized as he is about to enter the +Hotel-de-Ville, and massacred, his head being borne about on the end of +a pike, while the band of assassins, the soldiers, and the rabble dance +about and shout over his remains.--" It is a sad accident," writes the +municipality.[3133] How does it happen that, "after having thus far +merited and obtained all praise, a Beausset, whom we were unable to +protect against the decrees of Providence, should sully our laurels? +Having had nothing to do with this tragic affair, it is not for us +to prosecute the authors of it." Moreover, he was "culpable. . .. +rebellious, condemned by public opinion, and Providence itself seems to +have abandoned him to the irrevocable decrees of its vengeance."--As to +the taking of the forts, nothing is more legitimate. "These places were +in the hands of the enemies of the State, while now they are in the +hands of the defenders of the Constitution of the empire. Woe to +whoever would take them from us again, to convert them into a focus of +counter-revolution "--M. de Miran, commandant of the province, has, it +is true, made a demand for them. But, "is it not somewhat pitiable to +see the requisition of a Sieur de Miran, made in the name of the King he +betrays, to surrender to his Majesty's troops places which, henceforth +in our hands, guarantee public security to the nation, to the law, and +to the King?" In vain does the King, at the request of the National +Assembly,[3134] order the municipality to restore the forts to the +commandants, and to make the National Guards leave them. The municipal +authorities become indignant, and resist. According to them the wrong +is all on the side of the commandant and the ministers. It is the +commandants who, "with the threatening equipment of their citadels, +their stores of provisions and of artillery, are disturbers of the +public peace. What does the minister mean by driving the national troops +out of the forts, in order to entrust their guardianship to foreign +troops? His object is apparent in this plan. . . . he wants to kindle +civil war."--"All the misfortunes of Marseilles originate in the secret +under-standing existing between the ministers and the enemies of the +State." The municipal corps is at last obliged to evacuate the forts, +but it is determined not to give them up. The day following that on +which it receives the decree of the National Assembly, it conceives the +design of demolishing them. On the 17th of May, two hundred laborers, +paid in advance, begin the work of destruction. To save appearances the +municipal body betakes itself at eleven o'clock in the morning to the +different localities, and orders them to stop. But, on its departure, +the laborers keep on; and, at six o'clock in the evening, a resolution +is passed that, "to prevent the entire demolition of the citadel, it +is deemed advisable to authorize only that of the part overlooking the +town." On the 18th of May the Jacobin club, at once agent, accomplice, +and councilor of the municipal body, compels private individuals to +contribute something towards defraying the expenses of the demolition. +It "sends round to every house, and to the syndics of all corporations, +exacting their quotas, and making all citizens subscribe a document by +which they appear to sanction the action of the municipal body, and to +express their thanks to it. People had to sign it, pay, and keep silent. +Woe to any one that refused!" On the 20th of May the municipal body +presumes to write to the Assembly, that "this threatening citadel, this +odious monument of a stupendous despotism, is about to disappear." To +justify its disobedience, it takes occasion to remark, "that the love of +country is the most powerful and most enduring of an empire's ramparts." +On the 28th of May it secures the performance in two theaters of a piece +representing the capture of the forts of Marseilles, for the benefit +of the men engaged in their demolition. Meanwhile, it has summoned +the Paris Jacobins to its support; it has proposed to invite the Lyons +federation and all the municipalities of the kingdom to denounce the +minister. It has forced M. de Miran, threatened with death and watched +by a party in ambush on the road, to quit Aix, and then demands his +recall.[3135] Only on the 6th of June does it decide, at the express +command of the National Assembly, to suspend the almost completed +demolition.--Authorities to which obedience is due could not be treated +more insolently. The end, however, is attained; there is no longer a +citadel, and the troops have departed; the regiment commanded by Ernest +alone remains, to be tampered with, insulted, and then sent off. It is +ordered to Aix, and the National Guard of Marseilles will go there to +disarm and disband it. Henceforth the municipal body has full sway. It +"observes only those laws which suit it, makes others to its own liking, +and, in short, governs in the most despotic and arbitrary manner."[3136] +And not only at Marseilles, but throughout the department where, under +no authority but its own, it undertakes armed expeditions and makes +raids and sudden attacks. + + + + +III.--Independent Assemblies. + + Why they took the initiative.--The people in council. + --Powerlessness of the municipalities.--the violence to which + they are subject.--Aix in 1790.--Government disobeyed and + perverted everywhere. + +Were it but possible for the dissolution to stop here! But each commune +is far from being a tranquil little state under the rule of a body +of respected magistrates. The same causes which render municipalities +rebellious against the central authority render individuals rebellious +against local authority. They also feel that they are in danger and +want to provide for their own safety. They also, in virtue of the +Constitution and of circumstances, believe themselves appointed to +save the country. They also consider themselves qualified to judge for +themselves on all points and entitled to carry out their judgments with +their own hands. The shopkeeper, workman or peasant, at once elector and +National Guard, furnished with his vote and a musket, suddenly becomes +the equal and master of his superiors; instead of obeying, he commands, +while all who see him again after some years' absence, find that "in +his demeanor and manner all is changed." "There was great agitation +everywhere,"[3137] says M. de Segur; "I noticed groups of men talking +earnestly in the streets and on the squares. The sound of the drum +struck my ear in the villages, while I was astonished at the great +number of armed men I encountered in the little towns. On interrogating +various persons among the lower classes they would reply with a proud +look and in a bold and confident tone. I observed everywhere the effect +of those sentiments of equality and liberty which had then become +such violent passions."--Thus exalted in their own eyes they believed +themselves qualified to take the lead in everything, not only in local +affairs, but also in general matters. France is to be governed by them; +by virtue of the Constitution they arrogate to themselves the right, +and, by dint of ignorance, attribute to themselves the capacity, to +govern it. A torrent of new, shapeless, and disproportionate ideas have +taken possession of their brains in the space of a few months. Vast +interests about which they have never thought, have to be considered. +Government, royalty, the church, creeds, foreign powers, internal +and external dangers, what is occurring at Paris and at Coblentz, the +insurrection in the Low Countries, the acts of the cabinets of London, +Vienna, Madrid, Berlin; and, of all this, they inform themselves as they +best can. An officer,[3138] who traverses France at this time, narrates +that at the post-stations they made him wait for horses until he had +"given them details. The peasants stopped my carriage in the middle of +the road and overwhelmed me with questions. At Autun, I was obliged, in +spite of the cold, to talk out of a window opening upon the square and +tell what I knew about the Assembly."--These on-dits are all changed +and amplified in passing from mouth to mouth. They finally become +circumstantial stories adapted to the caliber of the minds they pass +into and to the dominant passion that propagates them. Trace the effect +of these fables in the house of a peasant or fish-woman in an outlying +village or a populous suburb, on brutish or almost brutal minds, +especially when they are lively, heated, and over-excited--the effect +is tremendous. For, in minds of this stamp, belief is at once converted +into action, and into rude and destructive action. It is an acquired +self-control, reflection, and culture which interposes between belief +and action the solicitude for social interests, the observance of forms +and respect for the law. These restraints are all wanting in the new +sovereign. He does not know how to stop and will not suffer himself to +be stopped. Why so many delays when the peril is urgent? What is the use +of observing formalities when the safety of the people is at stake? What +is there sacred in the law when it protects public enemies? What is more +pernicious than passive deference and patient waiting under timid or +blind officials? What can be more just than to do one's self justice +at once and on the spot?--Precipitation and passion, in their eyes, +are both duties and merits. One day "the militia of Lorient decide upon +marching to Versailles and to Paris without considering how they are to +get over the ground or what they will do on their arrival."[3139] Were +the central government within reach they would lay their hands on it. +In default of this they substitute themselves for it on their own +territory, and exercise its functions with a full conviction of right, +principally those of gendarme, judge, and executioner. + +During the month of October, 1789, at Paris, after the assassination of +the baker Francois, the leading murderer, who is a porter at the grain +depot, declares "that he wanted to avenge the nation." It is quite +probable that this declaration is sincere. In his mind, assassination is +one of the forms of patriotism, and it does not take long for his way +of thinking to become prevalent. In ordinary times, social and political +ideas slumber in uncultured minds in the shape of vague antipathies, +restrained aspirations, and fleeting desires. Behold them +aroused--energetic, imperious, stubborn, and unbridled. Objection or +opposition is not to be tolerated; dissent, with them, is a sure sign +of treachery.--Apropos of the nonjuring priests,[3140] five hundred and +twenty-seven of the National Guards of Arras write, "that no one could +doubt their iniquity without being suspected of being their accomplices. +. . . Should the whole town combine and express a contrary opinion, it +would simply show that it is filled with enemies of the Constitution;" +and forthwith, in spite of the law and the remonstrances of +the authorities, they insist on the closing of the churches. At +Boulogne-sur-Mer, an English vessel having shipped a quantity of +poultry, game, and eggs, "the National Guards, of their own authority," +go on board and remove the cargo. On the strength of this, the +accommodating municipal body approves of the act, declares the cargo +confiscated, orders it to be sold, and awards one-half of the proceeds +to the National Guards and the other half to charitable purposes. The +concession is a vain one, for the National Guards consider that one-half +is too little, "insult and threaten the municipal officers," and +immediately proceed to divide the booty in kind, each one going home +with a share of stolen hams and chickens.[3141] The magistrates must +necessarily keep quiet with the guns of those they govern pointed at +them.--Sometimes, and it is generally the case, they are timid, and +do not try to resist. At Douai,[3142] the municipal officers, on being +summoned three times to proclaim martial law, refuse, and end by avowing +that they dare not unfold the red flag: "Were we to take this course +we should all be sacrificed on the spot." Neither the troops nor the +National Guards, in fact, are to be relied on. In this universal +state of apathy the field is open to savages, and a dealer in wheat is +hung.--Sometimes the administrative corps tries to resist, but in the +end it has to succumb to violence. "For more than six hours," writes one +of the members of the district of Etampes,[3143] "we were closed in by +bayonets leveled at us and with pistols at our breasts; and they were +obliged to sign a dismissal of the troops which had arrived to protect +the market. At present "we are all away from Etampes; there is no +longer a district or a municipality;" almost all have handed in their +resignations, or are to return for that purpose.--Sometimes, and this +is the rarest case,[3144] the officials do their duty to the end, and +perish. In this same town, six months later, Simoneau, the mayor, +having refused to cut down the price of wheat, is beaten with +iron-pointed sticks, and his corpse is riddled with balls by the +murderers.--Municipal bodies must take heed how they undertake to stem +the torrent; the slightest opposition will soon be at the expense of +their lives. In Touraine,[3145] "as the publication of the tax-rolls +takes place, riots break out against the municipal authorities; they are +forced to surrender the rolls they have drawn up, and their papers are +torn up." And still more, "they kill, they assassinate the municipal +authorities." In that large commune men and women "beat and kick them +with their fists and sabots. . . . The mayor is laid up after it, and +the procureur of the commune died between nine and ten o'clock in the +morning. Veteau, a municipal officer, received the last sacrament this +morning;" the rest have fled, being constantly threatened with death and +incendiarism. They do not, consequently, return, and "no one now will +take the office of either mayor or administrator."--The outrages which +the municipalities thus commit against their superiors are committed +against themselves. The National Guards, the mob, the controlling +faction, arrogating to themselves in the commune the same violent +sovereignty which the commune pretends to exercise against the State. + +I should never finish if I undertook to enumerate the outbreaks in +which the magistrates are constrained to tolerate or to sanction popular +usurpations, to shut up churches, to drive off or imprison priests, to +suppress octrois, tax grain, and allow clerks; bakers, corn-dealers, +ecclesiastics, nobles, and officers to be hung, beaten to death, or +to have their throats cut. Ninety-four thick files of records in the +national archives are filled with these acts of violence, and do not +contain two-thirds of them. It is worth while to take in detail one +case more, a special one, and one that is authentic, which serves as a +specimen, and which presents a foreshortened image of France during +one tranquil year. At Aix, in the month of December, 1790,[3146] in +Opposition to the two Jacobin clubs, a club had been organized, had +complied with all the formalities, and, like the "Club des Monarchiens" +at Paris, claimed the same right of meeting as the others. But here, as +at Paris, the Jacobins recognize no rights but for themselves alone, +and refuse to admit their adversaries to the privileges of the law. +Moreover, alarming rumors are circulated. A person who has arrived +from Nice states that he had "heard that there were twenty thousand men +between Turin and Nice, under the pay of the emigrants, and that at +Nice a neuvaine[3147] was held in Saint Francois-de-Paule to pray God to +enlighten the French." A counter-revolution is certainly under way. +Some of the aristocrats have stated "with an air of triumph, that the +National Guard and municipalities are a mere toy, and that this sort of +thing will not last long." One of the leading members of the new club, +M. de Guiraitiand, an old officer of seventy-eight years, makes speeches +in public against the National Assembly, tries to enlist artisans in his +party, "affects to wear a white button on his hat fastened by pins with +their points jutting out," and, as it is stated, he has given to several +mercers a large order for white cockades. In reality, on examination, +not one is found in any shop, and all the dealers in ribbons, on +being interrogated, reply that they know of no transaction of that +description. But this simply proves that the culprit is a clever +dissimulator, and the more dangerous because he is eager to save the +country.--On the 12th of December, at four o'clock in the afternoon, +the two Jacobin clubs fraternise, and pass in long procession before +the place of meeting, "where some of the members, a few officers of the +Lyons regiment and other individuals, are quietly engaged at play +or seeing others play." The crowd hoot, but they remain quiet. The +procession passes by again, and they hoot and shout, "Down with the +aristocrats to the lamp post with them!" Two or three of the officers +standing on the threshold of the door become irritated, and one of them, +drawing his sword, threatens to strike a young man if he keeps on. Upon +this the crowd cries out, "Guard! Help! An assassin!" and rushes at +the officer, who withdraws into the house, exclaiming, "To arms!" His +comrades, sword in hand, descend in order to defend the door; M. de +Guiramand fires two pistol shots and receives a stab in the thigh. A +shower of stones smashes in the windows, and the door is on the point of +being burst open when several of the members of the club save themselves +by taking to the roof. About a dozen others, most of them officers, +form in line, penetrate the crowd with uplifted swords, strike and get +struck, and escape, five of them being wounded. The municipality orders +the doors and windows of the club-house to be walled up, sends the +Lyons regiment away, decrees the arrest of seven officers and of M. de +Guiramand, and all this in a few hours, with no other testimony than +that of the conquerors. + +But these prompt, vigorous and partial measures are not sufficient for +the Jacobin club; other conspirators must be seized, and it is the club +which designates them and goes to take them.--Three months before +this, M. Pascalis, an advocate, on addressing along with some of his +professional brethren the dissolved parliament, deplored the blindness +of the people, "exalted by prerogatives of which they knew not the +danger." A man who dared talk in this way is evidently a traitor.--There +is another, M. Morellet de la Roquette, who refused to join the +proscribed club. His former vassals, however, had been obliged to bring +an action against him to make him accept the redemption of his feudal +dues; also, six years before this, his carriage, passing along the +public promenade, had run over a child; he likewise is an enemy of the +people. While the municipal officers are deliberating, "a few members of +the club" get together and decide that M. Pascalis and M. de la Roquette +must be arrested. At eleven o'clock at night eighty trustworthy National +Guards, led by the president of the club, travel a league off to seize +them in their beds and lodge them in the town prison.--Zeal of this kind +excites some uneasiness, and if the municipality tolerates the arrests, +it is because it is desirous of preventing murder. Consequently, on the +following day, December 13th, it sends to Marseilles for four hundred +men of the Swiss Guard commanded by Ernest, and four hundred National +Guards, adding to these the National Guard of Aix, and orders this +company to protect the prison against any violence. But, along with the +Marseilles National Guards, there came a lot of armed people who are +volunteers of disorder. On the afternoon of the 13th the first mob +strives to force the prison, and the next day, fresh squads congregate +around it demanding the head of M. Pascalis. The members of the club +head the riot with "a crowd of unknown men from outside the town, who +give orders and carry them out." During the night the populace of Aix +are tampered with, and the dikes all give way at the same moment. At the +first clamors the National Guard on duty on the public promenade disband +and disperse, while, as there is no signal for the assemblage of the +others, notwithstanding the regulations, the general alarm is not +sounded. "The largest portion of the National Guard draws off so as not +to appear to authorize by its presence outrages which it has not been +ordered to prevent. Peaceable Citizens are in great consternation;" each +one takes to flight or shuts himself up in his house, the streets being +deserted and silent. Meanwhile the prison gates are shattered with axes. +The procureur-syndic of the department, who requests the commandant of +the Swiss regiment to protect the prisoners, is seized, borne off, and +runs the risk of losing his life. Three municipal officers in their +scarves, who arrive on the ground, dare not give the order required by +the commandant. At this decisive moment, when it is necessary to +shed blood and kill a number of men, they obviously fear to take +the responsibility; their reply is, "We have no orders to give."--An +extraordinary spectacle now presents itself in this barrack courtyard +surrounding the prison. On the side of the law stand eight hundred armed +men, four hundred of the "Swiss" and four hundred of the National Guard +of Marseilles. They are drawn up in battle array, with guns to their +shoulders, with special orders repeated the evening before at three +different times by the municipal district and departmental authorities +and they have the sympathies of all honest people and of most of the +National Guard. But the legal indispensable phrase does not pass the +lips of those who by virtue of the Constitution should utter it, and a +small group of convicts are found to be sovereign.--The three municipal +officers are seized in their turn under the eyes of their own soldiers +who remain motionless, and "with bayonets at their breasts they sign, +under constraint, the order to give up M. Pascalis to the people." M. de +la Roquette is likewise surrendered. "The only portion of the National +Guard of Aix which was visible," that is to say, the Jacobin minority, +form a circle around the gate of the prison and organize themselves into +a council of war. And there they stand; at once "accusers, witnesses, +judges, and executioners." A captain conducts the two victims to the +public promenade where they are hung. Very soon after this old M. +de Guiramand, whom the National Guard of his village have brought a +prisoner to Aix, is hung in the same manner. + +There is no prosecution of the assassins. The new tribunal, frightened +or forestalled, has for some time back ranged itself on the popular +side; its writs, consequently, are served on the oppressed, against +the members of the assaulted dub. Writs of arrest, summonses to attend +court, searches, seizures of correspondence, and other proceedings, +rain down upon them. Three hundred witnesses are examined. Some of the +arrested officers are "loaded with chains and thrust into dungeons." +Henceforth the club rules, and "makes everybody tremble."[3148] "From +the 23rd to the 27th of December, more than ten thousand passports +are delivered at Aix." "If the emigrations continue," write the +commissioners, "there will be no one left at Aix but workmen without +work and with no resources. Whole streets are uninhabited. . . . . As +long as such crimes can be permitted with impunity fear will drive out +of this town every one who has the means of living elsewhere."--Many +come back after the arrival of the commissioners, hoping to obtain +justice and security through them. But, "if a prosecution is not +ordered, we shall scarcely have departed from Aix when three or four +hundred families will abandon it. . . . And what man in his senses would +dare guarantee that each village will not soon have some one hung in +it?. . . Country valets arrest their masters. . . . The expectation +of impunity leads the inhabitants of villages to commit all sorts of +depredations in the forests, which is very harmful in a region where +woods are very scarce. They set up the most absurd and most unjust +pretensions against rich proprietors, and the fatal rope is ever the +interpreter and the signal of their will." There is no refuge against +these outrages. "The department, the districts, the municipalities, +administer only in conformity with the multiplied petitions of the +club." In the sight of all, and on one solemn day, a crushing defeat +has demonstrated the weakness of the government officials; and, bowed +beneath the yoke of their new masters, they preserve their legal +authority only on the condition that it remains at the service of the +victorious party. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3101: Festivals approving the federation of all the National +Guards in France. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3102: See the address of the commune of Paris, June 5, 1790. +"Let the most touching of all utterances be heard on this day (the +anniversary of the taking of the Bastille), Frenchmen, we are brothers! +Yes, brothers, freemen and with a country!" Roux et Buchez, VI. 275.] + +[Footnote 3103: Buchez and Roux, IV. 3, 309; V. 123; VI. 274, +399.--Duvergier, Collection of Laws and Decrees. Decree of June 8 and 9, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3104: For one who, like myself, has lived for years among the +Moslems, the 5 daily ritual prayers all performed while turned towards +Mecca, this description of the French taking of the oath, has something +familiar in it. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3105: Michelet, "Histoire de la Revolution Francaise," II, +470, 474.] + +[Footnote 3106: De Ferrieres, II. 91.--Albert Babeau, I. 340. (Letter +addressed to the Chevalier de Poterat, July 18, 1790.)--De Dampmartin, +"Evenements qui se sont passes sous mes yeux," etc., 155.] + +[Footnote 3107: One may imagine the impression Taine's description made +upon the thousands of political science students and others in the years +after this book was printed and widely sold all over Europe. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3108: Sauzay, I. 202.] + +[Footnote 3109: Albert Babeau, ib. I, 339--De Ferrieres, II, 92.] + +[Footnote 3110: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453, Correspondence of M. de +Bercheney, May 23, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3111: "Archives Nationales," ibid, May 13, 1790. "M. de la +Rifaudiere was dragged from his carriage and brought to the guard-house, +which was immediately filled with people, shouting, 'To the lamp post, +the aristocrat!'--The fact is this: after his having repeatedly shouted +Vive le Roi et la Nation! They wanted him to shout Vive la Nation! +alone, upon which he gave Vive la Nation tant qu'elle pourra."--At +Blois, on the day of the Federation, a mob promenades the streets with +a wooden head covered with a wig, and a placard stating that the +aristocrats must be decapitated.] + +[Footnote 3112: Might Freud ( 1856--1939) have been inspired, directly +or indirectly, by Taine's observation? 'La Revolution' vol. I, was +published in 1877 when Freud was 21 years old!! (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3113: Mercure de France, the articles by Mallet du Pan (June +18th and August 16, 1791; April 14, 1792).] + +[Footnote 3114: Moniteur, IV. 560. (sitting of June 5, 1790) report +of M. Freteau. "These facts are attested by fifty witnesses."--Cf. The +number of April 19, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3115: Solon was a famous legislator who reformed Athens some +2500 years ago. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3116: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, military commandant in Brittany (September, 1789), "There are +in every petty village three conflicting powers, the presidial, the +bourgeois militia, and the permanent committee. Each is anxious to +outrank the other, and, on this occasion, a scene happened to come under +my eyes at Landivisiau which might have had a bloody termination, but +which turned out to be simply ridiculous. A lively dispute arose between +three speakers to determine which should make the first address. They +appealed to me to decide. Not to offend either of the parties, I +decided that all three should speak at the same time; which decision was +immediately carried out."] + +[Footnote 3117: Decree of August 10-14, 1789.] + +[Footnote 3118: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. +de Thiard, September 21, 1789. "The troops now obey the municipalities +only."--Also July 30th, August 11, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3119: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of 31. +M. de Thiard, September 11 and 25, November 20, December 25 and 30, +1789.] + +[Footnote 3120: Buchez and Roux, V.304 (April, 1790).--"Archives +Nationales," Papers of the committee of Investigation, DXXIX. I (note of +M. Latour-du-Pin, October 28, 1789)--? Buchez and Roux, IV. 3 (December +1, 1789); IV. 390 (February, 1790); VI. 179 (April and May, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3121: Mercure de France, Report of M. Emery, sitting of July +21, 1790, Number for July 32.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter +of the directory of Calvados, September 26 and October 20, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3122: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3207. Letter of the minister +Dumouriez, June 15, 1792. Report of M. Caillard, May 29, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3123: Mercure de France, No. for July, 1791 (sitting of the +6th); Nos. for November 5 and 26, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3124: Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," vol. I. +passim.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Address of the Directory of +Saone-et-Loire to the National Assembly, November 1, 1790.--F7, 3200. +Letter of the Directory of Calvados, November 9, 1791.--F 7, 3195. +Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of Aix, March 1, 1792 (on +the events of February 26th); letter of M. Villard, President of the +Directory, March 20, 1792.--F7, 3220. Extracts from the deliberations +of the Directory of Gers, and a letter to the King, January 28, 1792. +Letter of M. Lafitau, President of the Directory, January 30. (He was +dragged along by his hair and obliged to leave the town.)] + +[Footnote 3125: Mercure de France, No. for October 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3126: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter of the directory +of Indre to M. Cahier, minister, December 6, 1791.--Letter of M. +Delessart, minister, to the directory of Indre, December 31, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3127: Fabre, "Histoire de Marseille," II. 442. Martin had but +3,555 votes, when shortly after the National Guard numbered 24,000 men.] + +[Footnote 3128: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of the minister, +M. de Saint-Priest, to the President of the National Assembly, May 11, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3129: "Archives Nationales," F7 3196. Letters of the military +commandant, M. de Miran, March 6, 14, 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3130: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of M. de +Bournissac, grand-privot, March 6,1790.] + +[Footnote 3131: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of M. du Miran, +April 11th and 16th, and May 1, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3132: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Proces-verbal of events +on the 30th of April.] + +[Footnote 3133: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of the +Municipality of Marseilles to the National Assembly, May 5 and 20, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3134: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Order of the king, +May10. Letter of M. de Saint-Priest to the National Assembly, May 11. +Decree of the National Assembly, May 12. Letter of the Municipality +to the King. May 20. Letter of M. de Rubum, May 20. Note sent from +Marseilles, May 31. Address of the Municipality to the President of the +Friends of the Constitution, at Paris, May 5. In his narration of the +taking of the forts we read the following sentence: "We arrived without +hindrance in the presence of the commandant, whom we brought to an +agreement by means of the influence which force, fear and reason give to +persuasion."] + +[Footnote 3135: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196, Letter of M. de Miran, +May 5.--The spirit of the ruling party at Marseilles is indicated by +several printed documents joined to the dossier, and, among others, by a +"Requete a Desmoulins, procureur-general de la Lanterne." It relates +to a "patriotic inkstand," recently made out of the stones of the +demolished citadel, representing a hydra with four heads, symbolizing +the nobility, the clergy, the ministry and the judges. "It is from the +four patriotic skulls of the hydra that the ink of proscription will be +taken for the enemies of the Constitution. This inkstand, cut out of +the first stone that fell in the demolition of Fort Saint-Nicolas, is +dedicated to the patriotic Assembly of Marseilles. The magic art of the +hero of the liberty of Marseilles, that Renaud who, under the mask of +devotion, surprised the watchful sentinel of Notre-Dame de la Garde, and +whose manly courage and cunning ensured the conquest of that key of the +great focus of counter-revolution, has just given birth to a new trait +of genius a new Deucalion, he personifies this stone which Liberty has +flung from the summit of our menacing Bastilles, etc."] + +[Footnote 3136: "Archives Nationales," F7. 3198. Letters of the royal +commissioners, April 13 and 5, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3137: De Segur, "Memoires," III, 482 (early in 1790).] + +[Footnote 3138: De Dampmartin, I. 184 (January, 1791).] + +[Footnote 3139: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de +Thiard (October 12, 1789).] + +[Footnote 3140: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Minutes from the +meeting of the directory of the department. March 28, 1792. "As the +ferment was at the highest point and fears were entertained that greater +evils would follow, M. le President, with painful emotion declared that +he yielded and passed the unconstitutional act." Reply of the minister, +June 23: "If the constituted authorities are thus forced to yield to the +arbitrary will of a wild multitude, government no longer exists and we +are in the saddest stage of anarchy. If you think it best I will propose +to the King to reverse your last decision."] + +[Footnote 3141: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Letter of M. Duport, +minister of justice, December 24, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3142: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, Report of the members +of the department, finished March 18, 1792.--Buchez and Roux, IX. 240 +(Report of M. Alquier).] + +[Footnote 3143: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Seine-et-Oise, with the documents +relating to the insurrection at Etampes, September 16, 1791. Letter of +M. Venard, administrator of the district, September 20--" I shall not +set foot in Etampes until the re-establishment of order and tranquility, +and the first thing I shall do will be to record my resignation in the +register. I am tired of making sacrifices, for ungrateful wretches."] + +[Footnote 3144: Moniteur, March 16, 1792.--Mortimer-Ternaux, "Histoire +de la Terreur" (Proceedings against the assassins of Simoneau), I. 381.] + +[Footnote 3145: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter and memorandum +of Chenantin, cultivator, November 7, 1792. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Langeais, November 5, 1792 (sedition +at Chapelle-Blanche, near Langeais, October 5, 1792).] + +[Footnote 3146: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3105. Report of the +commissioners sent by the National Assembly and the King, February 23, +1791. (On the events of December 12 and 14, 1790)--Mercure de France, +February 29, 5791. (Letters from Aix, and notably a letter from seven +officers shut up in prison at Aix, January 30, 1791.) The oldest Jacobin +Club formed in February, 1790, was entitled "(Club des vrais amis de +la Constitution.)" The second Jacobin club, formed in October, 1790, was +"composed from the beginning of artisans and laborers from the faubourgs +and suburbs." Its title was" Societe des freres anti-politiques," or +"freres vrais, justes et utiles a la patrie." The opposition club, +formed in December, 1790, bore the title, according to some, of "Les +Amis du Roi, de la paix et de la religion;" according to others, +"Les amis de la paix;" and finally, according to another report, "Les +Defenseurs de la religion, des personnes et des proprietes."] + +[Footnote 3147: A special series of religious services. (TR)] + +[Footnote 3148: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letters of the +commissioners, March 20, February 11, May 10, 1791.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. SOVEREIGNTY OF UNRESTRAINED PASSIONS. + +Under these conditions when passions are freed; any determined and +competent man who can gather a couple of hundred men may form a band +and slip through the enlarged or weakened meshes of the net held by the +passive or ineffective government. An experiment on a grand scale +is about to be made on human society; owing to the slackening of the +regular restraints which have maintained it, it is now possible to +measure the force of the permanent instincts which attack it. They are +always there even in ordinary times; we do not notice them because they +are kept in check; but they are not the less energetic and effective, +and, moreover, indestructible. The moment their repression ceases, +their power of mischief becomes evident; just as that of the water which +floats a ship, but which, at the first leak enters into it and sinks it. + + + + +I.--Old Religious Grudges + + Montauban and Nimes in 1790. + +Religious passions, to begin with, are not to be kept down by +federations, embraces, and effusions of fraternity. In the south, where +the Protestants have been persecuted for more than a century, hatreds +exist more than a century old.[3201] In vain have the odious edicts +which oppressed them fallen into desuetude for the past twenty years; in +vain have civil rights been restored to them since 1787: The past still +lives in transmitted recollections; and two groups are confronting each +other, one Protestant and the other Catholic, each defiant, hostile, +ready to act on the defensive, and interpreting the preparations of its +adversary as a plan of attack. Under such circumstances the guns go off +of their own accord.--On a sudden alarm at Uzes[3202] the Catholics, +two thousand in number, take possession of the bishop's palace and the +Hotel-de-Ville; while the Protestants, numbering four hundred, assemble +outside the walls on the esplanade, and pass the night under arms, +each troop persuaded that the other is going to massacre it, one +party summoning the Catholics of Jales to its aid, and the other the +Protestants of Gardonnenque.--There is but one way of avoiding civil war +between parties in such an attitude, and that is the ascendancy of an +energetic third party, impartial and on the spot. A plan to this +effect, which promises well, is proposed by the military commandant of +Languedoc.[3203] According to him the two firebrands are, on the +one hand, the bishops of Lower Languedoc, and on the other, MM. +Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, father and two sons, all three being pastors. Let +them be responsible "with their heads" for any mob, insurrection, or +attempt to debauch the army; let a tribunal of twelve judges be selected +from the municipal bodies of twelve towns, and all delinquents be +brought before it; let this be the court of final appeal, and its +sentence immediately executed. The system in vogue, however, is just the +reverse. Both parties being organized into a body of militia, each takes +care of itself, and is sure to fire on the other; and the more readily, +inasmuch as the new ecclesiastical regulations, which are issued from +month to month, strike like so many hammers on Catholic sensibility, and +scatter showers of sparks on the primings of the already loaded guns. + +At Montauban, on the 10th of May, 1790, the day of the inventory and +expropriation of the religious communities,[3204] the commissioners +are not allowed to enter. Women in a state of frenzy lie across the +thresholds of the doors, and it would be necessary to pass over their +bodies; a large mob gathers around the "Cordeliers," and a petition is +signed to have the convents maintained.--The Protestants who witness +this commotion become alarmed, and eighty of their National Guards march +to the Hotel-de-Ville, and take forcible possession of the guard-house +which protects it. The municipal authorities order them to withdraw, +which they refuse to do. Thereupon the Catholics assembled at the +"Cordeliers" begin a riot, throw stones, and drive in the doors with +pieces of timber, while a cry is heard that the Protestants, who have +taken refuge in the guard-house, are firing from the windows. The +enraged multitude immediately invade the arsenal, seize all the guns +they can lay their hands on, and fire volleys on the guard-house, the +effect of which is to kill five of the Protestants and wound twenty-four +others. The rest are saved by a municipal officer and the police; but +they are obliged to appear, two and two, before the cathedral in their +shirts, and do public penance, after which they are put in prison. +During the tumult political shouts have been heard: "Hurrah for the +nobles! Hurrah for the aristocracy! Down with the nation! Down with the +tricolor flag!" Bordeaux, regarding Montauban as in rebellion against +France, dispatches fifteen hundred of its National Guard to set the +prisoners free. Toulouse gives its aid to Bordeaux. The fermentation is +frightful. Four thousand of the Protestants of Montauban take flight; +armed cities are about to contend with each other, as formerly in Italy. +It is necessary that a commissioner of the National Assembly and of +the King, Mathieu Dumas, should be dispatched to harangue the people of +Montauban, obtain the release of the prisoners, and re-establish order. + +One month after this a more bloody affray takes place at Nimes[3205] +against the Catholics. The Protestants, in fact, are but twelve thousand +out of fifty-four thousand inhabitants, but the principal trade of the +place is in their hands; they hold the manufactories and support thirty +thousand workmen; in the elections of 1789 they furnished five out of +the eight deputies. The sympathies of that time were in their favor; +nobody then imagined that the dominant Church was exposed to any +risk. It is to be attacked in its turn, and the two parties are seen +confronting each other.--The Catholics sign a petition,[3206] hunt up +recruits among the market-gardeners of the suburbs, retain the white +cockade, and, when this is prohibited, replace it with a red rosette, +another sign of recognition. At their head is an energetic man named +Froment, who has vast projects in view; but as the soil on which he +treads is undermined, he cannot prevent the explosion. It takes place +naturally, by chance, through the simple collision of two equally +distrustful bodies; and before the final day it has commenced and +recommenced twenty times, through mutual provocations and denunciations, +through insults, libels, scuffles, stone-throwing, and gun-shots.--On +the 13th of June, 1790, the question is which party shall furnish +administrators for the district and department, and the conflict begins +in relation to the elections. The Electoral Assembly is held at the +guard-house of the bishop's palace, where the Protestant dragoons and +patriots have come "three times as many as usual, with loaded muskets +and pistols, and with full cartridge-boxes," and they patrol the +surrounding neighborhood. On their side, the red rosettes, royalists +and Catholics, complain of being threatened and "treated contemptuously" +(nargues). They give notice to the gate-keeper "not to let any dragoon +enter the town either on foot or mounted, at the peril of his life," and +declare that "the bishop's quarters were not made for a guard-house."--A +mob forms, and shouting takes place under the windows; stones are +thrown; the bugle of a dragoon, who sounds the roll-call, is broken and +two shots are fired.[3207] The dragoons immediately fire a volley, which +wounds a good many people and kills seven. From this moment, firing goes +on during the evening and all night, in every quarter of the town, each +party believing that the other wants to exterminate it, the Protestants +satisfied that it is another St. Bartholomew, and the Catholics that +it is "a Michelade."[3208] There is no one to act between them. The +municipality authorities, far from issuing orders, receive them: they +are roughly handled, hustled and jostled about, and made to march about +like servants. The patriots seize the Abbe de Belmont, a municipal +officer, at the Hotel-de-Ville, order him, on pain of death, to proclaim +martial--law, and place the red flag in his hand. "March, rascal, you +bastard! Hold up your flag--higher up still--you are big enough to do +that!" Blows follow with the but-ends of their muskets. The poor man +spits blood, but this is of no consequence; he must be in full sight at +the head of the crowd, like a target, whilst his conductors prudently +remain behind. Thus does he advance, exposed to bullets, holding the +flag, and finally becomes the prisoner of the red rosettes, who release +him, but keep his flag. There is a second march with a red flag held +by a town valet, and fresh gunshots; the red rosettes capture this flag +also, as well as another municipal officer. The rest of the municipal +body, with a royal commissioner, take refuge in the barracks and order +out the troops. Meanwhile Froment, with his three companies, posted +in their towers and in the houses on the ramparts, resist to the last +extremity. Daylight comes, the tocsin is sounded, the drums beat to +arms, and the patriot militia of the neighborhood, the Protestants from +the mountains, the rude Cevenols, arrive in crowds. The red rosettes are +besieged; a Capuchin convent, from which it is pretended that they have +fired, is sacked, and five of the monks are killed. Froment's tower is +demolished with cannon and taken by assault. His brother is massacred +and thrown from the walls, while a Jacobin convent next to the ramparts +is sacked. Towards night, all the red rosettes who have fought are slain +or have fled, and there is no longer any resistance.--But the fury still +lasts; the fifteen thousand rustics who have flooded the town think +that they have not yet done enough. In vain are they told that the other +fifteen companies of red rosettes have not moved; that the pretended +aggressors "did not even put themselves in a state of defense;" that +during the battle they remained at home, and that afterwards, through +extra precaution, the municipal authorities had made them give up their +arms. In vain does the Electoral Assembly, preceded by a white flag, +march to the public square and exhort the people to keep the peace. +"Under the pretext of searching suspicious houses, they pillage or +destroy, and what-ever cannot be carried away is broken." One hundred +and twenty houses are sacked in Nimes alone, while the same ravages +are committed in the environs, the damage, at the end of three days, +amounting to seven or eight hundred thousand livres. A number of poor +creatures, workmen, merchants, old and infirm men, are massacred in +their houses; some, "who have been bedridden for many years, are +dragged to the sills of their doors to be shot." Others are hung on the +esplanade and at the Cours Neuf, while others have their noses, ears, +feet, and hands cut off; and are hacked to pieces with sabers and +scythes. Horrible stories, as is commonly the case, provoke the most +atrocious acts. + +A publican, who refuses to distribute anti-Catholic lists, is supposed +to have a mine in his cellar filled with kegs of gunpowder and with +sulfur matches all ready; he is hacked to pieces with a saber, and +twenty guns are discharged into his corpse: they expose the body before +his house with a long loaf of bread on his breast, and they again stab +him with bayonets, saying to him: "Eat, you bastard, eat"--More than +five hundred Catholics were assassinated, and many others, covered with +blood, "are crowded together in the prisons, while the search for the +proscribed is continued; whenever they are seen, they are fired upon +like so many wolves." Thousands of the inhabitants, accordingly, demand +their passports and leave the town. The rural Catholics, meanwhile, +on their side, massacre six Protestants in the environs--an old man +of eighty-two years, a youth of fifteen, and a husband and his wife +in their farm-house. In order to put a stop to the murderous acts, the +National Guard of Montpellier have to be summoned. But the restoration +of order is for the benefit of the victorious party. Three-fifths of +the electors have fled; one-third of the district and departmental +administrators have been appointed in their absence, and the majority of +the new directories is taken from the club of patriots. It is for this +reason that the prisoners are prejudged as guilty. "No bailiff of the +court dares give them the benefit of his services; they are not allowed +to bring forward justifying facts in evidence, while everybody knows +that the judges are not impartial."[3209] + +Thus do the violent measures of political and religious discord come to +an end. The victor stops the mouth of the law when it is about to +speak in his adversary's behalf; and, under the legal iniquity of an +administration which he has himself established, he crushes those whom +the illegal force of his own strong hand has stricken down. + + + + +II.--Passion Supreme. + + Dread of hunger its most acute form.--The non-circulation of + grain.--Intervention and usurpations of the electoral + assemblies.--The rural code in Nivernais.--The four central + provinces in 1790.--Why high prices are kept up.--Anxiety + and insecurity.--Stagnation of the grain market.--The + departments near Paris in 1791.--The supply and price of + grain regulated by force.--The mobs in 1792.--Village armies + of Eure and of the lower Seine and of Aisne.--Aggravation of + the disorder after August 10th.--The dictatorship of + unbridled instinct.--Its practical and political expedients. + + +Passions of this stamp are the product of human cultivation, and break +loose only within narrow bounds. Another passion exists which is neither +historic nor local, but natural and universal, the most indomitable, +most imperious, and most formidable of all, namely, the fear of hunger. +There is no such thing with this passion as delay, or reflection, or +looking beyond itself. Each commune or canton wants its bread, and a +sure and unlimited supply of it. Our neighbor may provide for himself as +best he can, but let us look out for ourselves first and then for other +people. Each group of people, accordingly, through its own decrees, or +by main force, keeps for itself whatever subsistence it possesses, or +takes from others the subsistence which it does not possess. ii + +At the end of 1789,[3210] "Roussillon refuses aid to Languedoc; Upper +Languedoc to the rest of the province, and Burgundy to Lyonnais; +Dauphiny shuts herself up, and Normandy retains the wheat purchased for +the relief of Paris." At Paris, sentinels are posted at the doors of all +the bakers; on the 21st of October one of the latter is hung, and his +head is borne about on a pike. On the 27th of October, at Vernon, a +corn-merchant named Planter, who the preceding winter had supported the +poor for six leagues around, has to take his turn. At the present moment +the people do not forgive him for having sent flour to Paris, and he is +hung twice, but is saved through the breaking of the rope each time.--It +is only by force and under an escort that it is possible to insure the +arrival of grain in a town; the excited people or the National Guards +constantly seize it on its passage. In Normandy the militia of +Caen stops wheat on the highways which is destined for Harcourt and +elsewhere.[3211] In Brittany, Auray and Vannes retain the convoys +for Nantes, and Lannion those for Brest. Brest having attempted to +negotiate, its commissioners are seized, and, with knives at their +throats, are forced to sign a renunciation, pure and simple, of the +grain which they have paid for, and they are led out of Lannion and +stoned on the way. Eighteen hundred men, consequently, leave Brest with +four cannon, and go to recover their property with their guns loaded. +These are the customs prevalent during the great famines of feudal +times; and, from one end of France to the other, to say nothing of +the out-breaks of the famished in the large towns, similar outrages or +attempts at recovery are constantly occurring.--" The armed population +of Nantua, Saint-Claude, and Septmoncel," says a dispatch,[3212] "have +again cut off provisions from the Gex region; there is no wheat coming +there from any direction, all the roads being guarded. Without the aid +of the government of Geneva, which is willing to lend to this region +eight hundred Cuttings of wheat, we should either die of starvation or +be compelled to take grain by force from the municipalities which +keep it to themselves." Narbonne starves Toulon; the navigation of the +Languedoc canal is intercepted; the people on its banks repulse two +companies of soldiers, burn a large building, and want to destroy the +canal itself." Boats are stopped, wagons are pillaged, bread is forcibly +lowered in price, stones are thrown and guns discharged; the populace +contend with the National Guard, peasants with townsmen, purchasers +with dealers, artisans and laborers with farmers and land-owners, at +Castelnaudary, Niort, Saint-Etienne, in Aisne, in Pas-de-Calais, and +especially along the line stretching from Montbrison to Angers--that +is to say, for almost the whole of the extent of the vast basin of the +Loire,--such is the spectacle presented by the year 1790.--And yet the +crop has not been a bad one. But there is no circulation of grain. Each +petty center has formed a league for the monopoly of food; and hence the +fasting of others and the convulsions of the entire body are the +first effects of the unbridled freedom which the Constitution and +circumstances have conferred on each local group. + +"We are told to assemble, vote, and elect men that will attend to our +business; let us attend to it ourselves. We have had enough of talk and +hypocrisy. Bread at two sous, and let us go after wheat where it can +be found!" Such is the reasoning of the peasantry, and, in Nivernais, +Bourbonnais, Berri, and Touraine, electoral gatherings are the +firebrands of the insurrections.[3213] At Saint-Sauge, "the first work +of the primary meeting is to oblige the municipal officers to fix the +price of wheat under the penalty of being decapitated." At Saint-Geran +the same course is taken with regard to bread, wheat, and meat; at +Chatillon-en-Bayait it is done with all supplies, and always a third or +a half under the market price, without mentioning other exactions.--They +come by degrees to the drafting of a tariff for all the valuables they +know, proclaiming the maximum price which an article may reach, and so +establishing a complete code of rural and social economy. We see in the +turbulent and spasmodic wording of this instrument their dispositions +and sentiments, as in a mirror.[3214] It is the program of villagers. +Its diverse articles, save local variations, must be executed, now one +and now the other, according to the occasion, the need, and the time, +and, above all, whatever concerns provisions.--The wish, as usual, is +the father of the thought; the peasantry thinks that it is acting by +authority: here, through a decree of the King and the National Assembly, +there, by a commission directly entrusted to the Comte d'Estrees. Even +before this, in the market-place of Saint-Amand, "a man jumped on a heap +of wheat and cried out, 'In the name of the King and the nation, wheat +at one-half the market-price!"' An old officer of the Royal Grenadiers, +a chevalier of the order of Saint-Louis, is reported to be marching at +the head of several parishes, and promulgating ordinances in his own +name and that of the King, imposing a fine of eight livres on whoever +may refuse to join him.--On all sides there is a swarm of working +people, and resistance is fruitless. There are too many of them, the +constabulary being drowned in the flood. For, these rustic legislators +are the National Guard itself, and when they vote reductions upon, or +requisitions for, supplies, they enforce their demands with their guns. +The municipal officials, willingly or unwillingly, must needs serve the +insurgents. At Donjon the Electoral Assembly has seized the mayor of the +place and threatened to kill him, or to burn his house, if he did not +put the cutting of wheat at forty sous; whereupon he signs, and all the +mayors with him, "under the penalty of death." As soon as this is done +the peasants, "to the sound of fifes and drums," spread through the +neighboring parishes and force the delivery of wheat at forty sous, and +show such a determined spirit that the four brigades of gendarmes sent +out against them think it best to retire.--Not content with taking what +they want, they provide for reserve supplies; wheat is a prisoner. In +Nivernais and Bourbonnais, the peasants trace a boundary line over which +no sack of grain of that region must pass; in case of any infraction +of this law the rope and the torch are close at hand for the +delinquent.--It remains to make sure that this rule is enforced. In +Berri bands of peasants visit the markets to see that their tariff is +everywhere maintained. In vain are they told that they are emptying the +markets; "they reply that they know how to make grain come, that they +will take it from private hands, and money besides, if necessary." In +fact, the granaries and cellars belonging to a large number of persons +are pillaged. Farmers are constrained to put their crops into a common +granary, and the rich are put to ransom; "the nobles are compelled to +contribute, and obliged to give entire domains as donations; cattle are +carried off; and they want to take the lives of the proprietors," +while the towns, which defend their storehouses and markets, are +openly attacked.[3215] Bourbon-Lancy, Bourbon-l'Archambault, +Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Montlucon, Saint-Amand, Chateau-Gontier, +Decises, each petty community is an islet assailed by the mounting +tide of rustic insurrection. The militia pass the night under arms; +detachments of the National Guards of the large towns with regular +troops come and garrison them. The red flag is continuously raised for +eight days at Bourbon-Lancy, and cannon stand loaded and pointed in +the public square. On the 24th of May an attack is made on +Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, and fusillades take place all night on +both sides. On the 2nd of June, Saint-Amand, menaced by twenty-seven +parishes, is saved only by the preparations it makes and by the +garrison. About the same time Bourbon-Lancy is attacked by twelve +parishes combined, and Chateau-Gontier by the sabotiers of the forests +in the vicinity. A band of from four to five hundred villagers arrests +the convoys of Saint-Amand, and forces their escorts to capitulate; +another band entrenches itself in the Chateau de la Fin, and fires +throughout the day on the regulars and the National Guard.--The large +towns themselves are not safe. Three or four hundred rustics, led +by their municipal officers, forcibly enter Tours, to compel the +municipality to lower the price of corn and diminish the rate of leases. +Two thousand slate-quarry-men, armed with guns, spits, and forks, force +their way into Angers to obtain a reduction on bread, fire upon the +guard, and are charged by the troops and the National Guard; a number +remain dead in the streets, two are hung that very evening, and the red +flag is displayed for eight days. "The town," say the dispatches, "would +have been pillaged and burnt had it not been for the Picardy regiment." +Fortunately, as the crop promises to be a good one, prices fall. As the +Electoral Assemblies are closed, the fermentation subsides; and towards +the end of the year, like a clear spell in a steady storm, the gleam of +a truce appears in the civil war excited by hunger. + +But the truce does not last long, as it is broken in twenty places +by isolated explosions; and towards the month of July, 1791, the +disturbances arising from the uncertainty of basic food supplies +begin again, to cease no more. We will consider but one group in this +universal state of disorder--that of the eight or ten departments which +surround Paris and furnish it with supplies. These districts, Brie and +Beauce, are rich wheat regions, and not only was the crop of 1790 good, +but that of 1791 is ample. Information is sent to the minister from +Laon[3216] that, in the department of Aisne, "there is a supply of +wheat for two years. . . that the barns, generally empty by the month +of April, will not be so this season before July," and, consequently, +"subsistence is assured." But this does not suffice, for the source of +the evil is not in a scarcity of wheat. In order that everybody, in a +vast and populous country, where the soil, cultivation, and occupations +differ, may eat, it is essential that food should be attainable by the +non-producers; and for it to reach them freely, without delay, solely by +the natural operation of supply and demand, it is essential that +there should be a police able to protect property, transactions, and +transport. Just in proportion as the authority of a State becomes +weakened, and in proportion as security diminishes, the distribution of +subsistence becomes more and more difficult: a gendarmerie, therefore, +is an indispensable wheel in the machine by which we are able to secure +our daily bread. Hence it is that, in 1791, daily bread is wanting to a +large number of men. Simply through the working of the Constitution, all +restraints, already slackened both at the extremities and at the center, +are becoming looser and more loose each day. The municipalities, which +are really sovereign, repress the people more feebly, some because the +latter are the bolder and themselves more timid, and others because they +are more radical and always consider them in the right. The National +Guard is wearied, never comes forward, or refuses to use its arms. The +active citizens are disgusted, and remain at home. At Etampes,[3217] +where they are convoked by the commissioners of the department to take +steps to re-establish some kind of order, only twenty assemble; the +others excuse themselves by saying that, if the populace knew that they +opposed its will, "their houses would be burnt," and they accordingly +stay away. "Thus," write the commissioners, "the common-weal is given +up to artisans and laborers whose views are limited to their own +existence."--It is, accordingly, the lower class which rules, and the +information upon which it bases its decrees consists of rumors which it +accepts or manufactures, to hide by an appearance of right the outrages +which are due to its cupidity or to the brutalities of its hunger. At +Etampes, "they have been made to believe that the grain which had +been sold for supplying the departments below the Loire, is shipped at +Paimboeuf and taken out of the kingdom from there to be sold abroad." In +the suburbs of Rouen they imagine that grain is purposely "engulfed +in the swamps, ponds, and clay-pits." At Laon, imbecile and Jacobin +committees attribute the dearness of provisions to the avidity of the +rich and the malevolence of the aristocrats according to them, "jealous +millionaires grow rich at the expense of the people. They know the +popular strength," and, not daring to measure their forces with it, "in +an honorable fight," have recourse "to treachery." To conquer the +people easily they have determined to reduce them in advance by extreme +suffering and by the length of their fast, and hence they monopolize +"wheat, rye, and meal, soap, sugar, and brandy."[3218]--Similar reports +suffice to excite a suffering crowd to acts of violence, and it must +inevitably accept for its leaders and advisers those who urge it forward +on the side to which it is inclined. The people always require leaders, +and they are chosen wherever they can be found, at one time amongst the +elite, and at another amongst the dregs. Now that the nobles are +driven out, the bourgeoisie in retirement, the large cultivators +under suspicion, while animal necessities exercise their blind and +intermittent despotism, the appropriate popular ministers consist of +adventurers and of bandits. They need not be very numerous, for in a +place full of combustible matter a few firebrands suffice to start the +conflagration. "About twenty, at most, can be counted in the towns of +Etampes and Dourdan, men with nothing to lose and everything to gain by +disturbances; they are those who always produce excitement and disorder, +while other citizens afford them the means through their indifference." +Those whose names are known among the new guides of the crowd are almost +all escaped convicts whose previous habits have accustomed them to +blows, violence, frequently to murder, and always to contempt for the +law. At Brunoy,[3219] the leaders of the outbreak are "two deserters of +the 18th regiment, sentenced and unpunished, who, in company with the +vilest and most desperate of the parish, always go about armed and +threatening." At Etampes, "the two principal assassins of the mayor +are a poacher repeatedly condemned for poaching, and an old carabiniere +dismissed from his regiment with a bad record against him."[3220] Around +these are artisans "without a known residence," wandering workmen, +journeymen and apprentices, vagrants and highway rovers, who flock into +the towns on market-days and are always--ready for mischief when an +opportunity occurs. Vagabonds, indeed, now roam about the country +everywhere, all restrictions against them having ceased. + +"For a year past," write several parishes in the neighborhood of +Versailles, "we have seen no gendarmes except those who come with +decrees," and hence the multiplication of "murders and brigandage" +between Etampes and Versailles, on the highways and in the country. +Bands of thirteen, fifteen, twenty and twenty-two beggars rob the +vineyards, enter farm-houses at night, and compel their inmates to lodge +and feed them, returning in the same way every fortnight, all farms or +isolated dwellings being their prey. An ecclesiastic is killed in his +own house in the suburbs of Versailles, on the 26th of September, 1791, +and, on the same day, a bourgeois and his wife are garroted and robbed. +On the 22nd of September, near Saint-Remi-Honore, eight bandits ransack +the dwelling of a farmer. On the 25th of September, at Villers-le-Sec, +thirteen others strip another farmer, and then add with much politeness, +"It is lucky for your masters that they are not here, for we would have +roasted them at yonder fire." Six similar outrages are committed by +armed ruffians in dwelling-places, within a radius of from three to four +leagues, accompanied with the threats of the chauffeurs.[3221] "After +enterprises of such force and boldness," write the people of this +region, "there is not a well-to-do man in the country who can rely upon +an hour's security in his house. Already many of our best cultivators +are giving up their business, while others threaten to do the same in +case these disorders continue."--What is worse still is the fact that in +these outrages most of the bandits were "in the national uniform." The +most ignorant, the poorest, and most fanatical of the National Guard +thus enlist for the sake of plunder. It is so natural for men to believe +in their right to that of which they feel the need, that the possessors +of wheat thus become its monopolists, and the superfluity of the rich +the property of the poor! This is what the peasants say who devastate +the forest of Bruyeres-le-Chatel: "We have neither wood, bread, nor +work--necessity knows no law." + +The necessaries of life are not to be had cheap under such a system. +There is too much anxiety, and property is too precarious; there are too +many obstacles to commerce; purchases, sales, shipments, arrivals and +payments are too uncertain. How are goods to be stored and transported +in a country where neither the central government, the local +authorities, the National Guard, nor the regular troops perform their +duties, and where every transaction in produce, even the most legal and +the most serviceable, is subject to the caprice of a dozen villains whom +the populace obey.--Wheat remains in the barn, or is secreted, or is +kept waiting, and only reaches by stealth the hands of those who are +rich enough to pay, not only its price, but the extra cost of the +risk. Thus forced into a narrow channel, it rises to a rate which the +depreciation of the assignats augments, its dearness being not only +maintained, but ever on the increase.--Thereupon popular instinct +invents for the cure of the evil a remedy which serves to aggravate +it: henceforth, wheat must not travel; it is impounded in the canton in +which it is gathered. At Laon, "the people have sworn to die rather than +let their food be carried off." At Etampes, to which the municipality +of Angers dispatches an administrator of its hospital to buy two +hundred and fifty sacks of flour, the commission cannot be executed, +the delegate not even daring to avow for several days the object of +his coming; all he can do is "to visit incognito, and at night, the +different flour-dealers in the valley, who would offer to furnish +the supply, but fear for their lives and dare not even leave their +houses."--The same violence is shown in the more distant circle of +departments which surround the first circle. At Aubigny, in Cher,[3222] +grain-wagons are stopped, the district administrators are menaced; two +have a price set on their heads; a portion of the National Guard sides +with the mutineers. At Chaumont, in Haute-Marne, the whole of the +National Guard is in a state of mutiny; a convoy of over three hundred +sacks is stopped, the Hotel-de-Ville forced, and the insurrection lasts +four days; the directory of the department takes flight; and the people +seize on the powder and cannons. At Douai, in the "Nord," to save +a grain-dealer, he is put in prison; the mob forces the gates, the +soldiers refuse to fire, and the man is hung, while the directory of +the department takes refuge in Lille. At Montreuil-sur-Mer, in +Pas-de-Calais, the two leaders of the insurrection, a brazier and a +horse-shoer, "Bequelin, called Petit-Gueux," the latter with his saber +in hand, reply to the summons of the municipal authorities, that "not a +grain shall go now that they are masters," and that if they dare to make +such proclamations "they will cut off their heads." There are no +means of resistance. The National Guard, when it is convoked, does not +respond; the volunteers when called upon turn their muskets down, and +the crowd, assembled beneath the windows, shouts out its huzzahs. So +much the worse for the law when it opposes popular passion: "We will not +obey it," they say; "people make laws to please themselves."--By way +of practical illustration, at Tortes, in Seine-Inferieure, six thousand +armed men belonging to the surrounding parishes form a deliberative +armed body; the better to establish their rights, they bring two cannon +with them fastened by ropes on a couple of carts; twenty-two companies +of the National Guard, each under its own banner, march beside them, +while all peaceable inhabitants are compelled to fall in "under penalty +of death," the municipal officers being at their head. This improvised +parliament promulgates a complete law in relation to grain, which, as +a matter of form, is sent for acceptance to the department, and to the +National Assembly; and one of its articles declares that all husbandmen +shall be forbidden "to sell their wheat elsewhere than on the +market-places." With no other outlet for it, wheat must be brought +to the corn markets (halles), and when these are full the price must +necessarily fall. + +What a profound deception! Even in the granary of France wheat remains +dear, and costs about one-third more than would be necessary to secure +the sale of bread at two sous the pound, in conformity with the will of +the people. For instance,[3223] at Gonesse, Dourdan, Corbeil, Mennecy, +Brunoy, Limours, Brie-Comte-Robert, and especially at Etampes and +Montlhery, the holders of grain are compelled almost weekly, through the +clamors and violence of the people, to reduce prices one-third and +more. It is impossible for the authorities to maintain, on their +corn-exchange, the freedom of buying and selling. The regular troops +have been sent off by the people beforehand. Whatever the tolerance or +connivance of the soldiers may be, the people have a vague sentiment +that they are not there to permit the ripping open of sacks of flour, or +the seizing of farmers by the throat. To get rid of all obstacles and of +being watched, they make use of the municipality itself, and force it +to effect its own disarmament. The municipal officers, besieged in the +town-hall, at times threatened with pistols and bayonets,[3224] dispatch +to the detachments they are expecting an order to turn back, and entreat +the Directory not to send any more troops, for, if any come, they have +been told that "they will be sorry for it." Nowhere are there regular +troops. At Etampes, the people repeat that "they are sent for and paid +by the flour-dealers;" at Montlhery, that "they merely serve to arm +citizens against each other;" at Limours, that "they make grain dearer." +All pretexts seem good in this direction; the popular will is absolute, +and the authorities complacently meet its decrees half-way. At +Montlhery, the municipal body orders the gendarmerie to remain at the +gates of the town, which gives full play to the insurrection.--The +administrators, however, are not relieved by leaving the people free to +act; they are obliged to sanction their exactions by ordinances. They +are taken out of the Hotel-de-Ville, led to the marketplace, and there +forthwith, under the dictation of the uproar which establishes prices, +they, like simple clerks, proclaim the reduction. When, moreover, the +armed rabble of a village marches forth to tyrannize over a neighboring +market, it carries its mayor along with it in spite of himself, as an +official instrument which belongs to it.[3225] "There is no resistance +against force," writes the mayor of Vert-le-Petit; "we had to set forth +immediately."--" They assured me," says the Mayor of Fontenay, "that, +if I did not obey them, they would hang me."--On any municipal officer +hazarding a remonstrance, they tell him that "he is getting to be an +aristocrat." Aristocrat and hung, the argument is irresistible, and +all the more so because it is actually applied. At Corbeil, the +procureur-syndic who tries to enforce the law is almost beaten to +death, and three houses in which they try to find him are demolished. At +Montlhery, a seed merchant, accused of mixing the flour of beans (twice +as dear) with wheaten flour, is massacred in his own house. At Etampes, +the mayor who promulgates the law is cudgeled to death. Mobs talk of +nothing but "burning and destroying," while the farmers, abused, +hooted at, forced to sell, threatened with death and robbed, run away, +declaring they will never return to the market again. + +Such is the first effect of popular dictatorship. Like all unintelligent +forces, it operates in a direction the reverse of its intention: to +dearness it adds dearth, and empties, instead of replenishing, the +markets. That of Etampes often contained fifteen or sixteen hundred +sacks of flour; the week following this insurrection there were, at +most, sixty brought to it. At Montlhery, where six thousand men had +collected together, each one obtains for his share only a small measure, +while the bakers of the town have none at all. This being the case, the +enraged National Guards tell the farmers that they are coming to see +them on their farms. And they really go.[3226] Drums roll constantly +on the roads around Montlhery, Limours, and other large market-towns. +Columns of two, three, and four hundred men are seen passing under the +lead of their commandant and of the mayor whom they take along with +them. They enter each farm, mount into the granaries, estimate the +quantity of grain thrashed out, and force the proprietor to sign an +agreement to bring it to market the following week. Sometimes, as they +are hungry, they compel people to give them something to eat and drink +on the spot, and it will not do to enrage them,--a farmer and his wife +come near being hung in their own barn. + +Their effort is useless: Wheat is impounded and hunted up in vain; it +takes to the earth or slips off like a frightened animal. In vain do +insurrections continue. In vain do armed mobs, in all the market-towns +of the department,[3227] subject grain to a forced reduction of price. +Wheat becomes scarcer and dearer from month to month, rising in price +from twenty-six francs to thirty-three. And because the outraged farmer +"brings now a very little," just "what is necessary to sacrifice +in order to avoid threats, he sells at home, or in the inns, to the +flour-dealers from Paris."--The people, in running after abundance, have +thus fallen deeper down into want: their brutality has aggravated their +misery, and it is to themselves that their starvation is owing. But +they are far from attributing all this to their own insubordination; +the magistrates are accused; these, in the eyes of the populace, are "in +league with the monopolists." On this incline no stoppage is possible. +Distress increases rage, and rage increases distress; and on this fatal +declivity men are precipitated from one outrage to another. + +After the month of February, 1792, such outrages are innumerable; the +mobs which go in quest of grain or which cut down its price consist +of armies. One of six thousand men comes to control the market of +Montlhery.[3228] There are seven to eight--thousand men who invade the +market-place of Verneuil, and there is an army of ten and another of +twenty-five thousand men, who remain organized for ten days near +Laon. One hundred and fifty parishes have sounded the tocsin, and the +insurrection spreads for ten leagues around. Five boats loaded with +grain are stopped, and, in spite of the orders of district, department, +minister, King, and National Assembly, they refuse to surrender them. +Their contents, in the meantime, are made the most of: "The municipal +officers of the different parishes, assembled together, pay themselves +their fees, to wit: one hundred sous per diem for the mayor, three +livres for the municipal officers, two livres ten sous for the guards, +two livres for the porters. They have ordered that these sums should +be paid in grain, and they reduce grain, it is said, fifteen livres the +sack. It is certain that they have divided it amongst themselves, and +that fourteen hundred sacks have been distributed." In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly make speeches to them three hours +in length. The discourse being finished, they deliberate, in presence of +the commissioners, whether the latter shall be hung, drowned, or cut +up, and their heads put on the five points of the middle of the abbey +railing. On being threatened with military force, they make their +dispositions accordingly. Nine hundred men who relieve each other watch +day and night on the ground, in a well chosen and permanent encampment, +while lookouts stationed in the belfries of the surrounding villages +have only to sound the alarm to bring together twenty-five thousand +men in a few hours.--So long as the Government remains on its feet it +carries on the combat as well as it can; but it grows weaker from month +to month, and, after the 10th of August, when it lies on the ground, the +mob takes its place and becomes the universal sovereign. From this time +forth not only is the law which protects provisioning powerless against +the disturbers of sale and circulation, but the Assembly actually +sanctions their acts, since it decrees[3229] the stoppage of all +proceedings commenced against them, remits sentences already passed, +and sets free all who are imprisoned or in irons. Behold every +administration, with merchants, proprietors, and farmers abandoned to +the famished, the furious, and to robbers; henceforth food supplies are +for those who are disposed and able to take them. + +"You will be told," says a petition,[3230] "that we violate the law. We +reply to these perfidious insinuations that the salvation of the people +is the supreme law. We come in order to keep the markets supplied, and +to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout the Republic. For, there +is no doubt about it, the purest patriotism dies out (sic) when there is +no bread to be had. . . . Resistance to oppression--yes, resistance to +oppression is the most sacred of duties; is there any oppression more +terrible than that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly, no. . . . Join us +and 'Ca ira, ca ira!' We cannot end our petition better than with this +patriotic air." + +This supplication was written on a drum, amidst a circle of firearms; +and with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a command.--They are +well aware of it, and of their own authority they often confer +upon themselves not only the right but also the title. In +Loire-et-Cher,[3231] a band of from four to five thousand men assume the +name of "Sovereign Power." They go from one market-town to another, +to Saint-Calais, Montdoubleau, Blois, Vendome, reducing the cost of +provisions, their troop increasing like a snowball--for they threaten +"to burn the effects and set fire to the houses of all who are not as +courageous as themselves." + +In this state of social disintegration, insurrection is a gangrene in +which the healthy are infected by the morbid parts. Mobs are everywhere +produced and re-produced, incessantly, large and small, like abscesses +which break out side by side, and painfully irritate each other and +finally combine. There are the towns against the rural districts and +rural districts against the towns. On the one hand "every farmer +who transports anything to the market passes (at home) for an +aristocrat,[3232] and becomes the horror of his fellow-citizens in the +village." On the other hand the National Guards of the towns spread +themselves through the rural districts and make raids to save themselves +from death by hunger.[3233] It is admitted in the rural districts that +each municipality has the right to isolate itself from the rest. It +is admitted in the towns that each town has the right to derive its +provisions from the country. It is admitted by the indigent of each +commune that the commune must provide bread gratis or at a cheap rate. +On the strength of this there is a shower of stones and a fusillade; +department against department, district against district, canton against +canton, all fight for food, and the strongest get it and keep it for +themselves.--I have simply described the North, where, for the past +three years, the crops are good. I have omitted the South, where trade +is interrupted on the canal of the Deux Mers, where the procureur-syndic +of Aude has lately been massacred for trying to secure the passage of +a convoy; where the harvest has been poor; where, in many places, bread +costs eight sous the pound; where, in almost every department, a bushel +of wheat is sold twice as dear as in the North! + +Strange phenomenon! and the most instructive of all, for in it we see +down into the depths of humanity; for, as on a raft of shipwrecked +beings without food, there is a reversion to a state of nature. The +light tissue of habit and of rational ideas in which civilization has +enveloped man, is torn asunder and is floating in rags around him; the +bare arms of the savage show themselves, and they are striking out. +The only guide he has for his conduct is that of primitive days, the +startled instinct of a craving stomach. Henceforth that which rules in +him and through him is animal necessity with its train of violent +and narrow suggestions, sometimes sanguinary and sometimes grotesque. +Incompetent or savage, in all respects like a Negro monarch, his sole +political expedients are either the methods of a slaughter house or the +dreams of a carnival. Two commissioners whom Roland, Minister of the +Interior, sends to Lyons, are able to see within a few days the carnival +and the slaughter-house.[3234]--On the one hand the peasants, all along +the road, arrest everybody; the people regard every traveler as an +aristocrat who is running away--which is so much the worse for those who +fall into their hands. Near Autun, four priests who, to obey the law, +are betaking themselves to the frontier, are put in prison "for their +own protection;" they are taken out a quarter of an hour later, and, +in spite of thirty-two of the mounted police, are massacred. "Their +carriage was still burning as I passed, and the corpses were stretched +out not far off. Their driver was still in durance, and it was it vain +that I solicited his release."--On the other hand, at Lyons, the power +has fallen into the hands of the degraded women of the streets. "They +seized the central club, constituted themselves commissaries of police, +signed notices as such, and paid visits of inspection to store-houses;" +they drew up a tariff of provisions, "from bread and meat up to common +peaches, and peaches of fine quality." They announced that "whoever +dared to dispute it would be considered a traitor to the country, +an adherent of the civil list, and prosecuted as such." All this is +published, proclaimed and applied by "female commissaries of police," +themselves the dregs of the lowest sinks of corruption. Respectable +housewives and workwomen had nothing to do with it, nor "working-people +of any class." The sole actors of this administrative parody are +"scamps, a few bullies of houses of ill-fame, and a portion of the dregs +of the female sex."--To this end comes the dictatorship of instinct, +yonder let loose on the highway in a massacre of priests, and here, in +the second city of France, in the government of strumpets. + + + + +III.--Egotism of the tax-payer. + + Issoudun in 1790.--Rebellion against taxation.--Indirect + taxes in 1789 and 1790.--Abolition of the salt tax, excise, + and octrois.--Direct taxation in 1789 and 1790.--Delay and + insufficiency of the returns.--New levies in 1791 and 1792. + --Delays, partiality, and concealment in preparing the + rolls.--Insufficiency of, and the delay in, the returns. + --Payment in assignats.--The tax-payer relieves himself of + one-half.--Devastation of the forests.--Division of the + communal property. + +The fear of starvation is only the sharper form of a more general +passion, which is the desire of possession and the determination not +to give anything up. No popular instinct, had been longer, more rudely, +more universally offended under the ancient regime; and there is none +which gushes out more readily under constraint, none which requires a +higher or broader public barrier, or one more entirely constructed of +solid blocks, to keep it in check. Hence it is that this passion from +the commencement breaks down or engulfs the slight and low boundaries, +the tottering embankments of crumbling earth between which the +Constitution pretends to confine it.--The first flood sweeps away the +pecuniary claims of the State, of the clergy, and of the noblesse. The +people regard them as abolished, or, at least, they consider their debts +discharged. Their idea, in relation to this, is formed and fixed; for +them it is that which constitutes the Revolution. The people have no +longer a creditor; they are determined to have none, they will pay +nobody, and first of all, they will make no further payment to the +State. + +On the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation, the population of +Issoudun, in Touraine, solemnly convoked for the purpose, had just taken +the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace, social harmony, and +respect for the law for evermore.[3235] Here, probably, as elsewhere, +arrangements had been made for an stirring ceremonial; there were young +girls dressed in white, and learned and impressionable magistrates were +to pronounce philosophical harangues. All at once they discover that the +people gathered on the public square are provided with clubs, scythes, +and axes, and that the National Guard will not prevent their use; on the +contrary, the Guard itself is composed almost wholly of wine growers and +others interested in the suppression of the duties on wine, of coopers, +innkeepers, workmen, carters of casks, and others of the same stamp, +all rough fellows who have their own way of interpreting the Social +Contract. The whole mass of decrees, acts, and rhetorical flourishes +which are dispatched to them from Paris, or which emanate from the new +authorities, are not worth a halfpenny tax maintained on each bottle +of wine. There are to be no more excise duties; they will only take the +civic oath on this express condition, and that very evening they hang, +in effigy, their two deputies, who "had not supported their interests" +in the National Assembly. A few months later, of all the National Guard +called upon to protect the clerks, only the commandant and two officers +respond to the summons. If a docile taxpayer happens to be found, he +is not allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and almost +treachery. An entry of three puncheons of wine having been made, they +are stove in with stones, a portion is drunk, and the rest taken to the +barracks to debauch the soldiers; M. de Sauzay, commandant of the "Royal +Roussillon," who was bold enough to save the clerks, is menaced, and for +this misdeed he barely escapes being hung himself. When the municipal +body is called upon to interpose and employ force, it replies that "for +so small a matter, it is not worth while to compromise the lives of the +citizens," and the regular troops sent to the Hotel-de-Ville are ordered +by the people not to go except with the but-ends of their muskets in the +air. Five days after this the windows of the excise office are smashed, +and the public notices are torn down; the fermentation does not subside, +and M. de Sauzay writes that a regiment would be necessary to restrain +the town. At Saint-Amand the insurrection breaks out violently, and is +only put down by violence. At Saint-Etienne-en-Forez, Bertheas, a clerk +in the excise office, falsely accused of monopolizing grain,[3236] +is fruitlessly defended by the National Guard; he is put in prison, +according to the usual custom, to save his life, and, for greater +security, the crowd insist on his being fastened by an iron collar. +But, suddenly changing its mind, it breaks upon the door and drags him +outside, beating him till he is unconscious. Stretched on the ground, +his head still moves and he raises his hand to it, when a woman, +picking up a large stone, smashes his skull.--These are not isolated +occurrences. During the months of July and August, 1789, the tax offices +are burnt in almost every town in the kingdom. In vain does the National +Assembly order their reconstruction, insist on the maintenance of duties +and octrois, and explain to the people the public needs, pathetically +reminding them, moreover, that the Assembly has already given them +relief;--the people prefer to relieve themselves instantly and entirely. +Whatever is consumed must no longer be taxed, either for the benefit of +the State or for that of the towns. "Entrance dues on wine and cattle," +writes the municipality of Saint-Etienne, "scarcely amount to anything, +and our powers are inadequate for their enforcement." At Cambrai, two +successive outbreaks compel the excise office and the magistracy of +the town[3237] to reduce the duties on beer one-half. But "the evil, at +first confined to one corner of the province, soon spreads;" the grands +baillis of Lille, Douai, and Orchies write that "we have hardly a bureau +which has not been molested, and in which the taxes are not wholly +subject to popular discretion." Those only pay who are disposed to do +so, and, consequently, "greater fraud could not exist." The taxpayers, +indeed, cunningly defend themselves, and find plenty of arguments or +quibbles to avoid paying their dues. At Cambrai they allege that, as +the privileged now pay as well as the rest, the Treasury must be +rich enough.[3238] At Noyon, Ham, and Chauny, and in the surrounding +parishes, the butchers, innkeepers, and publicans combined, who have +refused to pay excise duties, pick flaws in the special decree by which +the Assembly subjects them to the law, and a second special decree is +necessary to circumvent these new legal experts. The process at Lyons +is simpler. Here the thirty-two sections appoint commissioners; these +decide against the octroi, and request the municipal authorities to +abolish it. They must necessarily comply, for the people are at hand and +are furious. Without waiting, however, for any legal measures, they take +the authority on themselves, rush to the toll-houses and drive out the +clerks, while large quantities of provisions, which "through a singular +predestination" were waiting at the gates, come in free of duty.--The +Treasury defends itself as it best can against this universally bad +disposition of the tax-payer, against these irruptions and infiltrations +of fraud; it repairs the dike where it has been carried away, stops up +the fissures and again resumes collections. But how can these be regular +and complete in a State where the courts dare not condemn delinquents, +where public force dares not support the courts,[3239] where popular +favor protects the most notorious bandits and the worst vagabonds +against the tribunals and against the public powers? At Paris, where, +After eight months of impunity, proceedings are begun against the +pillagers who, on the 13th of August, 1789, set fire to the tax offices, +the officers of the election, "considering that their audiences +have become too tumultuous, that the thronging of the people excites +uneasiness, that threats have been uttered of a kind calculated to +create reasonable alarm," are constrained to suspend their sittings and +refer matters to the National Assembly, while the latter, considering +that "if prosecutions are authorized in Paris it will be necessary to +authorize them throughout the kingdom," decides that it is best "to veil +the statue of the Law."[3240] + +Not only does the Assembly veil the statue of the Law, but it takes to +pieces, remakes, and mutilates it, according to the requirements of the +popular will; and, in the matter of indirect imposts all its decrees are +forced upon it. The outbreak against the salt impost was terrible from +the beginning; sixty thousand men in Anjou alone combined to destroy it, +and the price of salt had to be reduced from sixteen to six sous.[3241] +The people, however, are not satisfied with this. This monopoly has been +the cause of so much suffering that they are not disposed to put up with +any remains of it, and are always on the side of the smugglers against +the excise officers. In the month of January, 1790, at Beziers, +thirty-two employees, who had seized a quantity of contraband salt on +the persons of armed smugglers,[3242] are pursued by the crowd to the +Hotel-de-Ville; the consuls decline to defend them and run away; the +troops defend them, but in vain. Five are tortured, horribly mutilated, +and then hung. In the month of March, 1790, Necker states that, +according to the returns of the past three months, the deficit in +the salt-tax amounts to more than four millions a month, which is +four-fifths of the ordinary revenue, while the tobacco monopoly is no +more respected than that of salt. At Tours,[3243] the bourgeois +militia refuse to give assistance to the employees, and "openly protect +smuggling," "and contraband tobacco is publicly sold at the fair, under +the eyes of the municipal authorities, who dare make no Opposition to +it." All receipts, consequently, diminish at the same time.[3244] From +the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790, the general collections +amount to 127 millions instead of 150 millions; the dues and excise +combined return only 31, instead of 50 millions. The streams which +filled the public exchequer are more and more obstructed by popular +resistance, and under the popular pressure, the Assembly ends by closing +them entirely. In the month of March, 1790,[3245] it abolishes salt +duties, internal customs-duties, taxes on leather, on oil, on starch, +and the stamp of iron. In February and March, 1791, it abolishes octrois +and entrance-dues in all the cities and boroughs of the kingdom, all the +excise duties and those connected with the excise, especially all taxes +which affect the manufacture, sale, or circulation of beverages. The +people have in the end prevailed, and on the 1st of May, 1791, the day +of the application of the decree, the National Guard of Paris parades +around the walls playing patriotic airs. The cannon of the Invalides and +those on the Pont-Neuf thunder out as if for an important victory. +There is an illumination in the evening, there is drinking all night, a +universal revel. Beer, indeed, is to be had at three sous the pot, and +wine at six sous a pint, which is a reduction of one-half; no conquest +could be more popular, since it brings intoxication within easy reach of +the thirsty.[3246] + +The object, now, is to provide for the expenses which have been defrayed +by the suppressed octrois. In 1790, the octroi of Paris had produced +35,910,859 francs, of which 25,059,446 went to the State, and 10,851,413 +went to the city. How is the city going to pay for its watch, the +lighting and cleaning of its streets, and the support of its hospitals? +What are the twelve hundred other cities and boroughs going to do which +are brought by the same stroke to the same situation? What will +the State do, which, in abolishing the general revenue from all +entrance-dues and excise, is suddenly deprived of two-fifths of its +revenue?--In the month of March, 1790, when the Assembly suppressed the +salt and other duties, it established in the place of these a tax of +fifty millions, to be divided between the direct imposts and dues on +entrance to the towns. Now, consequently, that the entrance-dues are +abolished, the new charge falls entirely upon the direct imposts. +Do returns come in, and will they come in?--In the face of so many +outbreaks, any indirect taxation (VAT) is, certainly, difficult to +collect. Nevertheless it is not so repulsive as the other because the +levies of the State disappear in the price of the article, the hand of +the Exchequer being hidden by the hand of the dealer. The Government +clerk formerly presented himself with his stamped paper and the seller +handed him the money without much grumbling, knowing that he would +soon be more than reimbursed by his customer: the indirect tax is thus +collected. Should any difficulty arise, it is between the dealer and the +taxpayer who comes to his shop to lay in his little store; the latter +grumbles, but it is at the high price which he feels, and possibly at +the seller who pockets his silver; he does not find fault with the clerk +of the Exchequer, whom he does not see and who is not then present +In the collection of the direct tax, on the contrary, it is the clerk +himself whom he sees before him, who abstracts the precious piece of +silver. This authorized robber, moreover, gives him nothing in exchange; +it is an entire loss. On leaving the dealer's shop he goes away with a +jug of wine, a pot of salt, or similar commodities; on leaving the tax +office he has nothing in hand but an acquittance, a miserable bit of +scribbled paper.--But now he is master in his own commune, an elector, a +National Guard, mayor, the sole authority in the use of armed force, and +charged with his own taxation. Come and ask him to unearth the buried +mite on which he has set all his heart and all his soul, the earthen pot +wherein he has deposited his cherished pieces of silver one by one, and +which he has laid by for so many years at the cost of so much misery and +fasting, in the very face of the bailiff in spite of the prosecutions of +the sub-delegate, commissioner, collector, and clerk! + +From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790,[3247] the general +returns, the taille and its accessories, the poll-tax and "twentieths," +instead of yielding 161.000,000 francs, yield but 28,000,000 francs in +the provinces which impose their own taxes (pays d'Etats); instead of +28,000,000 francs, the Treasury obtains but 6,000,000. On the patriotic +contribution which was to deduct one quarter of all incomes over four +hundred livres, and to levy two and a half per cent. on plate, jewels, +and whatever gold and silver each person has in reserve, the State +received 9.700,000 francs. As to patriotic gifts, their total, +comprising the silver buckles of the deputies, reaches only 361,587 +francs; and the closer our examination into the particulars of these +figures, the more do we see the contributions of the villager, artisan, +and former subjects of the taille diminish.--Since the month of October, +1789, the privileged classes, in fact, appear in the tax-rolls, and they +certainly form the class which is best off, the most alive to general +ideas and the most truly patriotic. It is therefore probable that, of +the forty-three millions of returns from the direct imposts and from the +patriotic contribution, they have furnished the larger portion, perhaps +two thirds of it, or even three-quarters. If this be the case, the +peasant, the former tax-payer, gave nothing or almost nothing from his +pocket during the first year of the Revolution. For instance, in regard +to the patriotic contribution, the Assembly left it to the conscience of +each person to fix his own quota; at the end of six months, consciences +are found too elastic, and the Assembly is obliged to confer this right +on the municipalities. The result is[3248] that this or that individual +who taxed himself at forty-eight livres, is taxed at a hundred and +fifty; another, a cultivator, who had offered six livres, is judged to +be able to pay over one hundred. Every regiment contains a small number +of select brave men, and it is always these who are ready to advance +under fire. Every State contains a select few of honest men who advance +to meet the tax-collector. Some effective constraint is essential in the +regiment to supply those with courage who have but little, and in the +State to supply those with probity who do not possess it. Hence, during +the eight months which follow, from May 1st, 1790, to January 1st, 1791, +the patriotic contribution furnishes but 11,000,000 livres. Two years +later, on the 1st of February, 1793, out of the forty thousand communal +tax-rolls which should provide for it, there are seven thousand which +are not yet drawn up; out of 180,000,000 livres which it ought +to produce, there are 70,000,000 livres which are still due.--The +resistance of the tax-payer produces a similar deficit, and similar +delays in all branches of the national income.[3249] In the month of +June, 1790, a deputy declares in the tribune that "out of thirty-six +millions of imposts which ought to be returned each month only nine have +been received."[3250] In the month of November, 1791, a reporter on +the budget states that the receipts, which should amount to forty or +forty-eight millions a month, do not reach eleven millions and a half. +On February 1, 1793, there remains still due on the direct taxes of 1789 +and 1790 one hundred and seventy-six millions. It is evident that +the people struggle with all their might against the old taxes, even +authorized and prolonged by the Constituent Assembly, and all that is +obtained from them is wrested from them. + +Will the people be more docile under the new taxation? The Assembly +exhorts them to be so and shows them how, with the relief they have +gained and with the patriotism they ought to possess, they can and +should discharge their dues. The people are able to do it because, +having got rid of tithes, feudal dues, the salt-tax, octrois and excise +duties, they are in a comfortable position. They should do so, because +the taxation adopted is indispensable to the State, equitable, assessed +on all in proportion to their fortune, collected and expended under +rigid scrutiny, without perversion or waste, according to precise, +clear, periodical and audited accounts. No doubt exists that, after the +1st of January, 1791, the date when the new financial scheme comes into +operation, each tax-payer will gladly pay as a good citizen, and the +two hundred and forty millions of the new tax on real property, and +the sixty millions of that on personal property, leaving out the +rest--registries, license, and customs duties--will flow in regularly +and easily of their own accord. + +Unfortunately, before the tax-gatherer can collect the first two levies +these have to be assessed, and as there are complicated writings +and formalities, claims to settle amidst great resistance and local +ignorance, the operation is indefinitely prolonged. The personal and +land-tax schedule of 1791 is not transmitted to the departments by the +Assembly until June, 1791. The departments do not distribute it among +the districts until the months of July, August, and September, 1791. It +is not distributed by the districts among the communes before October, +November, and December, 1791. Thus in the last month of 1791 it is not +yet distributed to the tax-payers by the communes; from which it follows +that on the budget of 1791 and throughout that year, the tax-payer +has paid nothing.--At last, in 1792, everybody begins to receive this +assessment. It would require a volume to set forth the partiality and +dissimulation of these assessments. In the first place the office of +assessor is one of danger; the municipal authorities, whose duty it +is to assign the quotas, are not comfortable in their town quarters. +Already, in 1790,[3251] the municipal officers of Monbazon have been +threatened with death if they dared to tax industrial pursuits on the +tax-roll, and they escaped to Tours in the middle of the night. Even at +Tours, three or four hundred insurgents of the vicinity, dragging along +with them the municipal officers of three market-towns, come and declare +to the town authorities "that for all taxes they will not pay more than +forty-five sous per household." I have already narrated how, in 1792, +in the same department, "they kill, they assassinate the municipal +officers" who presume to publish the tax-rolls of personal property. In +Creuse, at Clugnac, the moment the clerk begins to read the document, +the women spring upon him, seize the tax-roll, and "tear it up with +countless imprecations;" the municipal council is assailed, and two +hundred persons stone its members, one of whom is thrown down, has his +head shaved, and is promenaded through the village in derision.--When +the small tax-payer defends himself in this manner, it is a warning that +he must be humored. The assessment, accordingly, in the village councils +is made amongst a knot of cronies. Each relieves himself of the burden +by shoving it off on somebody else. "They tax the large proprietors, +whom they want to make pay the whole tax." The noble, the old seigneur, +is the most taxed, and to such an extent that in many places his +income does not suffice to pay his quota.--In the next place they make +themselves out poor, and falsify or elude the prescriptions of the law. +"In most of the municipalities, houses, tenements, and factories[3252] +are estimated according to the value of the area they cover, and +considered as land of the first class, which reduces the quota to +almost nothing." And this fraud is not practiced in the villages alone. +"Communes of eight or ten thousand souls might be cited which have +arranged matters so well amongst themselves in this respect that not +a house is to be found worth more than fifty sous."--Last expedient +of all, the commune defers as long as it can the preparation of its +tax-rolls. On the 30th of January, 1792, out of 40,211, there are only +2,560 which are complete; on the 5th of October, 1792, the schedules are +not made out in 4,800 municipalities, and it must be noted that all this +relates to a term of administration which has been finished for more +than nine months. At the same date, there are more than six thousand +communes which have not yet begun to collect the land-tax of 1791, and +more than fifteen thousand communes which have not yet begun to collect +the personal tax; the Treasury and the departments have not yet received +152,000,000 francs, there being still 222,000,000 to collect. On the 1st +February, 1793, there still remains due on the same period 161,000,000 +francs, while of the 50,000,000 assessed in 1790, to replace the +salt-tax and other suppressed duties, only 2,000,000 have been +collected. Finally, at the same date, out of the two direct taxes of +1792, which should produce 300,000,000, less than 4,000,000 have been +received.--It is a maxim of the debtor that he must put off payment as +long as possible. Whoever the creditor may be, the State or a private +individual, a leg or a wing may be saved by dint of procrastination. The +maxim is true, and, on this occasion, success once more demonstrates +its soundness. During the year 1792, the peasant begins to discharge a +portion of his arrears, but it is with assignats. In January, February, +and March, 1792, the assignats diminish thirty-four, forty-four, and +forty-five per cent. in value; in January, February, and March, +1793, forty-seven and fifty percent.; in May, June, and July, 1793, +fifty-four, sixty, and sixty-seven per cent. Thus has the old credit +of the State melted away in its hands; those who have held on to their +crowns gain fifty per cent. and more. Again, the greater their delay the +more their debts diminish, and already, on the strength of this, the way +to release themselves at half-price is found. + +Meanwhile, hands are laid on the badly defended landed property of this +feeble creditor.--It is always difficult for rude brains to form any +conception of the vague, invisible, abstract entity called the State, +to regard it as a veritable personage and a legitimate proprietor, +especially when they are persistently told that the State is everybody. +The property of all is the property of each, and as the forests belong +to the public, the first-comer has a right to profit by them. In the +month of December, 1789,[3253] bands of sixty men or more chop down the +trees in the Bois de Boulogne and at Vincennes. In April, 1790, in the +forest of Saint-Germain, "the patrols arrest all kinds of delinquents +day and night:" handed over to the National Guards and municipalities in +the vicinity, these are "almost immediately released, even with the +wood which they have cut down against the law." iii There is no means +of repressing "the reiterated threats and insults of the low class of +people." A mob of women, urged on by an old French guardsman, come and +pillage under the nose of the escort a load of faggots confiscated for +the benefit of a hospital; and in the forest itself, bands of marauders +fire upon the patrols.--At Chantilly, three game-keepers are mortally +wounded;[3254] both parks are devastated for eighteen consecutive days; +the game is all killed, transported to Paris and sold.--At Chambord the +lieutenant of the constabulary writes to announce his powerlessness; the +woods are ravaged and even burnt; the poachers are now masters of the +situation; breaches in the wall are made by them, and the water from +the pond is drawn off to enable them to catch the fish.--At Claix, in +Dauphiny, an officer of the jurisdiction of woods and forests, who has +secured an injunction against the inhabitants for cutting down trees on +leased ground, is seized, tortured during five hours, and then stoned +to death.--In vain does the National Assembly issue three decrees and +regulations, placing the forests under the supervision and protection of +administrative bodies,--he latter are too much afraid of their charge. +Between the central power, which is weak and remote, and the people, +present and strong, they always decide in favor of the latter. Not one +of the five municipalities surrounding Chantilly is disposed to assist +in the execution of the laws, while the directories of the district +and department respectively, sanction their inertia.--Similarly, near +Toulouse,[3255] where the magnificent forest of Larramet is devastated +in open day and by an armed force, where the wanton destruction by +the populace leaves nothing of the underwood and shrubbery but "a few +scattered trees and the remains of trunks cut at different heights," +the municipalities of Toulouse and of Tournefeuille refuse all aid. +And worse still, in other provinces, as for instance in Alsace, "whole +municipalities, with their mayors at the head, cut down woods which +are confided to them, and carry them off."[3256] If some tribunal is +disposed to enforce the law, it is to no purpose; it takes the risk, +either of not being allowed to give judgment, or of being constrained +to reverse its decision. At Paris the judgment prepared against the +incendiaries of the tax-offices could not be given. At Montargis, the +sentence pronounced against the marauders who had stolen cartloads +of wood in the national forests had to be revised, and by the judges +themselves. The moment the tribunal announced the confiscation of the +carts and horses which had been seized, there arose a furious outcry +against it; the court was insulted by those present; the condemned +parties openly declared that they would have their carts and horses back +by force. Upon this "the judges withdrew into the council-chamber, and +when soon after they resumed their seats, that part of their decision +which related to the confiscation was canceled." + +And yet this administration of justice, ludicrous and flouted as it +may be, is still a sort of barrier. When it falls, along with the +Government, everything is exposed to plunder, and there is no such thing +as public property.--After August 10, 1792, each commune or individual +appropriates whatever comes in its way, either products or the soil +itself. Some of the plunderers go so far as to say that, since the +Government no longer represses them, they act under its authority.[3257] +"They have destroyed even the recent plantation of young trees." "One of +the villages near Fontainebleau cleared off and divided an entire grove. +At Rambouillet, from August 10th to the end of October," the loss is +more than 100,000 crowns; the rural agitators demand with threats the +partition of the forest among the inhabitants. "The destruction is +enormous" everywhere, prolonged for entire months, and of such a kind, +says the minister, as to dry up this source of public revenue for a +long time to come.--Communal property is no more respected than +national property. In each commune, these bold and needy folk, the rural +populace, are privileged to enjoy and make the most of it. Not content +with enjoying it, they desire to acquire ownership of it, and, for days +after the King's fall, the Legislative Assembly, losing its footing in +the universal breaking up, empowers the indigent to put in force the +agrarian law. Henceforth it suffices in any commune for one-third of +its inhabitants of both sexes, servants, common laborers, shepherds, +farm-hands or cowherds, and even paupers, to demand a partition of the +communal possessions. All that the commune owns, save public edifices +and woods, is to be cut up into as many equal lots as there are heads, +the lots to be drawn for, and each individual to take possession of his +or her portion.[3258] The Operation is carried out, for "those who +are least well off are infinitely flattered by it." In the district of +Arcis-sur-Aube, there are not a dozen communes out of ninety in which +more than two-thirds of the voters had the good sense to pronounce +against it. From this time forth the commune ceases to be an +independent proprietor; it has nothing to fall back upon. In case of +distress it is obliged to lay on extra taxes and obtain, if it can, a +few additional sous. Its future revenue is at present in the +tightly buttoned pockets of the new proprietors.--The prevalence of +short-sighted views is once more due to the covetousness of individuals. +Whether national or communal, it is always public interest which +succumbs, and it succumbs always under the usurpations of indigent +minorities, at one time through the feebleness of public authority, +which dares not oppose their violence, and at another through the +complicity of public authority, which has conferred upon them the rights +of the majority. + + + + +IV.--Cupidity of tenants. + + The third and fourth jacquerie.--Brittany and other + provinces in 1790 and 1791.--The burning of chateaux. + --Title-deeds destroyed.--Refusal of claims.--Destruction of + reservoirs.--Principal characteristics, prime motive and + ruling passion of the revolution + +When there is a lack of public force for the protection of public +property, there is also a lack of it for the protection of private +property, for the same greed and the same needs attack both. Let a man +owe anything either to the State or to an individual, and the temptation +not to pay is equally the same. In both cases it suffices to find a +pretext for denying the debt; in finding this pretext the cupidity of +the tenant is as good as the selfishness of the tax-payer. Now that the +feudal system is abolished let nothing remain of it: let there be no +more seignorial claims. "If the Assembly has maintained some of them, +yonder in Paris, it did so inadvertently or through corruption: we +shall soon hear of all being suppressed. In the meantime we will relieve +ourselves, and burn the agreements in the places where they are kept." + +Such being the argument, the jacquerie breaks out afresh: in truth, +it is permanent and universal. Just as in a body in which some of the +elements of its vital substance are affected by an organic disease, the +evil is apparent in the parts which seem to be sound: even where as yet +no outbreak has occurred, one is imminent; constant anxiety, a profound +restlessness, a low fever, denote its presence. Here, the debtor does +not pay, and the creditor is afraid to prosecute him. In other places +isolated eruptions occur. At Auxon,[3259] on an estate spared by the +great jacquerie of July, 1789, the woods are ravaged, and the peasants, +enraged at being denounced by the keepers, march to the chateau, which +is occupied by an old man and a child; everybody belonging to the +village is there, men and women; they hew down the barricaded door with +their axes, and fire on the neighbors who come to the assistance of +its inmates.--In other places, in the districts of Saint-Etienne and +Montbrison, "the trees belonging to the proprietors are carried +away with impunity, and the walls of their grounds and terraces are +demolished, the complainants being threatened with death or with +the sight of the destruction of their dwellings." Near Paris, around +Montargis, Nemours, and Fontainebleau, a number of parishes refuse +to pay the tithes and ground-rent (champart) which the Assembly has +a second time sanctioned; gibbets are erected and the collectors are +threatened with hanging, while, in the neighborhood of Tonnerre, a +mob of debtors fire upon the body of police which comes to enforce the +claims.--Near Amiens, the Comtesse de la Mire,[3260] on her estate of +Davencourt, is visited by the municipal authorities of the village, who +request her to renounce her right to ground-rent (champart) and thirds +(tiers). She refuses and they insist, and she refuses again, when they +inform her that "some misfortune will happen to her." In effect, two +of the municipal officers cause the tocsin to be rung, and the whole +village rushes to arms. One of the domestics has an arm broken by a +ball, and for three hours the countess and her two children are subject +to the grossest insults and to blows: she is forced to sign a paper +which she is not allowed to read, and, in warding off the stroke of +a saber, her arm is cleft from the elbow to the wrist; the chateau +is pillaged, and she owes her escape to the zeal of some of her +servants.--Large eruptions take place at the same time over entire +provinces; one succeeds the other almost without interruption, the fever +encroaching on parts which were supposed to be cured, and to such an +extent that the virulent ulcers finally combine and form one over the +whole surface of the social body. + +By the end of December, 1789, the chronic fermentation comes to a head +in Brittany. Imagination, as usual, has forged a plot, and, as the +people say, if they make an attack it is in their own defense.--A report +spreads[3261] that M. de Goyon, near Lamballe, has assembled in his +chateau a number of gentlemen and six hundred soldiers. The mayor +and National Guard of Lamballe immediately depart in force; they find +everything tranquil there, and no company but two or three friends, +and no other arms than a few fowling-pieces.--The impulse, however, is +given, and, on the 15th of January, the great federation of Pontivy has +excited the wildest enthusiasm. The people drink, sing, and shout in +honor of the new decrees before armed peasants who do not comprehend the +French tongue, still less legal terms, and who, on their return home, +arguing with each other in bas-breton, interpret the law in a peculiar +way. "A decree of the Assembly, in their eyes, is a decree of arrest" +and as the principal decrees of the Assembly are issued against the +nobles, they are so many decrees of arrest against them.--Some days +after this, about the end of January, during the whole of February, and +down to the month of April, the execution of this theory is tumultuously +carried out by mobs of villagers and vagabonds around Nantes, +Auray, Redon, Dinan, Ploermel, Rennes, Guingamp, and other villages. +Everywhere, writes the Mayor of Nantes,[3262] "the country-people +believe that in burning deeds and contracts they get rid of their debts; +the very best of them concur in this belief," or let things take +their course; the excesses are enormous, because many gratify "special +animosities, and all are heated with wine.--At Beuvres, "the peasants +and vassals of the manor, after burning title-deeds, establish +themselves in the chateau, and threaten to fire it if other papers, +which they allege are concealed there, are not surrendered." Near Redon +the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur is reduced to ashes. Redon is menaced, and +Ploermel almost besieged. At the end of a month thirty-seven chateaux +are enumerated as attacked: twenty-five in which the title-deeds are +burnt, and twelve in which the proprietors are obliged to sign an +abandonment of their rights. Two chateaux which began to burn are saved +by the National Guard. That of Bois-au-Voyer is entirely consumed, +and several have been sacked. By way of addition, "more than fifteen +procureurs-fiscaux, clerks, notaries, and officers of seignorial courts +have been plundered or burnt," while proprietors take refuge in the +towns because the country is now uninhabitable for them. + +A second tumor makes its appearance at the same time at another +point.[3263] It showed itself in Lower Limousin in the beginning of +January. From thence the purulent inflammation spreads to Quercy, +Upper Languedoc, Perigord, and Rouergue, and in February from Tulle to +Montauban, and from Agen to Perigueux and Cahors, extending over three +departments.--Then, also, expectancy is the creator, according to rule, +of its own object. By dint of longing for a law for the suppression +of all claims, it is imagined that it is passed, and the statement +is current that "the King and the National Assembly have ordered +deputations to set up the maypole[3264] and to 'light up' the +chateaux."--Moreover, and always in accordance with current practice, +bandits, people without occupation, take the lead of the furious crowd +and manage things their own way. As soon as a band is formed it arrests +all the peaceable people it can find on the roads, in the fields, and in +isolated farmhouses, and takes good care to put them in front in case +of blows.--These miscreants add terror to compulsion. They erect gibbets +for any one that pays casual duties or annual dues, while the parishes +of Quercy threaten their neighbors of Perigord with fire and sword in +a week's time if they do not do in Perigord as they have done in +Quercy.--The tocsin rings, the drums beat, and "the ceremony" is +performed from commune to commune. The keys of the church are forcibly +taken from the cure the seats are burned, and, frequently, the woodwork +marked with the seigneur's arms. They march to the seigneur's mansion, +tear down his weathercocks, and compel him to furnish his finest tree, +together with feathers and ribbons with which to deck it, without +omitting the three measures which he uses in the collection of his dues +in grain or flour. The maypole is planted in the village square, and the +weathercocks, ribbons, and feathers are attached to its top, together +with the three measures and this inscription, "By order of the King and +National Assembly, the final quittance for all rentals." When this +is done it is evident that the seigneur, who no longer possesses +weathercocks, or a seat in the church, or measures to rate his dues by, +is no longer a seigneur, and can no longer put forth claims of any kind. +Huzzahs and acclamations accordingly burst forth, and there is a revel +and an orgy on the public square. All who can pay--the seigneur, the +cure, and the rich--are put under contribution for the festival, while +the people eat and drink "without any interval of sobriety."--In this +condition, being armed, they strike, and when resistance is offered, +they burn. In Agenois, a chateau belonging to M. de Lameth, and another +of M. d'Aiguillon; in Upper Languedoc, that of M. de Bournazel, and in +Perigord that of M. de Bar, are burnt down: + +M. de Bar is almost beaten to death, while six others are killed +in Quercy. A number of chateaux in the environs of Montauban and in +Limousin are assaulted with firearms, and several are pillaged.--Bands +of twelve hundred men swarm the country; "they have a spite against +every estate;" they redress wrongs; "they try over again cases +disposed of thirty years ago, and give judgments which they put into +execution."--If anybody fails to conform to the new code he is punished, +and to the advantage of the new sovereigns. In Agenois, a gentleman +having paid the rent which was associated with his fief the people take +his receipt from him, mulct him in a sum equal to that which he paid, +and come under his windows to spend the money on good cheer, in triumph +and with derision. + +Many of the National Guards who still possess some degree of energy, +several of the municipalities which still preserve some love of order, +and a number of the resident gentry, employ their arms against these +excited swarms of brutal usurpers. Some of the ruffians, taken in the +act, are judged somewhat after the fashion of a drum-head court-martial, +and immediately executed as examples. Everybody in the country sees +that the peril to society is great and urgent, and that if such acts go +unpunished, there will be no such thing as law and property in +France. The Bordeaux parliament, moreover, insists upon prosecutions. +Eighty-three boroughs and cities sign addresses, and send a special +deputation to the National Assembly to urge on prosecutions already +commenced, the punishment of criminals under arrest, and, above all, +the maintenance of the prevotes.[3265] In reply to this, the Assembly +inflicts upon the parliament of Bordeaux its disapprobation in the +rudest manner, and enters upon the demolition of every judicial +corporation.[3266] After this, the execution of all prevotal decisions +is adjourned. A few months later the Assembly will oblige the King to +declare that the proceedings begun against the jacquerie of Brittany +shall be regarded as null and void, and that the arrested insurgents +shall be set free. For repressive purposes, it dispatches a sentimental +exhortation to the French people, consisting of twelve pages of literary +insipidity, which Florian might have composed for his Estilles and +his Nemorins.[3267]--New conflagrations, as an inevitable consequence, +kindle around live coals which have been imperfectly extinguished. In +the district of Saintes,[3268] M. Dupaty, counselor of the parliament of +Bordeaux, after having exhausted mild resources, and having concluded +by issuing writs against those of his tenantry who would not pay their +rents, the parish of Saint-Thomas de Cosnac, combined with five or six +others, puts itself in motion and assails his two chateaux of Bois-Roche +and Saint-George-des-Agouts; these are plundered and then set on fire, +his son escaping through a volley of musket-balls. They visit Martin, +the notary and steward, in the same fashion; his furniture is pillaged +and his money is taken, and "his daughter undergoes the most frightful +outrages." Another detachment pushes on to the house of-the Marquis +de Cumont, and forces him, under the penalty of having his house burnt +down, to give a discharge for all the claims he has upon them. At the +head of these incendiaries are the municipal officers of Saint-Thomas, +except the mayor, who has taken to flight. + +The electoral system organized by the Constituent Assembly is beginning +to take effect. "Almost everywhere," writes the royal commissioner, "the +large proprietors have been eliminated, and the offices have been filled +by men who strictly fulfill the conditions of eligibility. The result +is a sort of rage of the petty rich to annoy those who enjoy large +heritages."--Six months later, the National Guards and village +authorities in this same department at Aujean, Migron, and Varaise, +decide that no more tithes, agriers or champarts, nor any of the dues +which are retained, shall be paid. In vain does the department annul the +decision, and send its commissioners, gendarmes, and law-officers. The +commissioners are driven away, and the officers and gendarmes are fired +upon; the vice-president of the district, who was on his way to make his +report to the department, is seized on the road and forced to give in +his resignation. Seven parishes have coalesced with Aujean and ten +with Migron; Varaise has sounded the tocsin, and the villages for four +leagues round have risen; fifteen hundred men, armed with guns, scythes, +hatchets and pitchforks, lend their aid. The object is to set free +the principal leader at Varaise, one Planche, who was arrested, and +to punish the mayor of Varaise, Latierce, who is suspected of having +denounced Planche. Latierce is unmercifully beaten, and "forced to +undergo a thousand torments during thirty hours;" then they set out +with him to Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and demand the release of Planche. The +municipality at first refuses, but finally consents on the condition +that Latierce be given up in exchange for him. Planche, consequently, is +set at liberty and welcomed with shouts of triumph. Latierce, however, +is not given up; on the contrary, he is tormented for an hour and then +massacred, while the directory of the district, which is less submissive +than the municipal body, is forced to fly.--Symptoms of this kind are +not to be mistaken, and similar ones exist in Brittany. It is evident +that the minds of the people are permanently in revolt. Instead of the +social abscess being relieved by the discharge, it is always filling +up and getting more inflamed. It will burst a second time in the same +places; in 1791 as in 1790, the jacquerie spreads throughout Brittany as +it has spread over Limousin. + +This is because the determination of the peasant is of another nature +than ours, his will being more firm and tenacious. When an idea obtains +a hold on him it takes root in an obscure and profound conviction upon +which neither discussion nor argument have any effect; once planted, +it vegetates according to his notions, not according to ours, and no +legislative text, no judicial verdict, no administrative remonstrance +can change in any respect the fruit it produces. This fruit, developed +during centuries, is the feeling of an excessive plunder, and, +consequently, the need of an absolute release. Too much having been +paid to everybody, the peasant now is not disposed to pay anything to +anybody, and this idea, vainly repressed, always rises up in the manner +of an instinct.--In the month of January, 1791,[3269] bands again +form in Brittany, owing to the proprietors of the ancient fiefs having +insisted on the payment of their rents. At first the coalesced parishes +refuse to pay the stewards, and after this the rustic National Guards +enter the chateaux to constrain the proprietors. Generally, it is the +commander of the National Guard, and sometimes the communal attorney, +who dictates to the lord of the manor the renunciation of his claims; +they oblige him, moreover, to sign notes for the benefit of the parish, +or for that of various private individuals. This is considered by them +to be compensation for damages; all feudal dues being abolished, he must +return what he received from them during the past year, and as they have +been put to inconvenience he must indemnify them by "paying them for +their time and journey." Such are the operations of two of the principal +bands, one of them numbering fifteen hundred men, around Dinan and St. +Malo; for greater security they burn title-deeds in the chateaux of +Saint-Tual, Besso, Beaumanoir, La Riviere, La Belliere, Chateauneuf, +Chenay, Chausavoir, Tourdelon, and Chalonge; and as a climax they set +fire to Chateauneuf just before the arrival of the regular troops.--In +the beginning, a dim conception of legal and social order seems to be +floating in their brains; at Saint-Tual, before taking 2,000 livres from +the steward, they oblige the mayor to give them his consent in writing; +at Yvignac, their chief, called upon to show the authority under which +he acted, declares that "he is authorized by the general will of the +populace of the nation."[3270]--But when, at the end of a month, they +are beaten by the regular troops, made furious by the blows given and +taken, and excited by the weakness of the municipal authorities who +release their prisoners, they then become bandits of the worst species. +During the night of the 22nd of February, the chateau of Villefranche, +three leagues from Malestroit, is attacked. Thirty-two rascals with +their faces masked, and led by a chief in the national uniform, break +open the door. The domestics are strangled. The proprietor, M. de la +Bourdonnaie, an old man, with his wife aged sixty, are half killed by +blows and tied fast to their bed, and after this a fire is applied to +their feet and they are warmed (chauffe). In the meantime the plate, +linen, stuffs, jewelry, two thousand francs in silver, and even watches, +buckles, and rings,--everything is pillaged, piled on the backs of +the eleven horses in the stables, and carried off.--When property is +concerned, one sort of outrage provokes another, the narrow cupidity +of the lease-holder being completed by the unlimited rapacity of the +brigand. + +Meanwhile, in the south-western provinces, the same causes have produced +the same results; and towards the end of autumn, when the crops are +gathered in and the proprietors demand their dues in money or in +produce, the peasant, immovably fixed in his idea, again refuses.[3271] +In his eyes, any law that may be against him is not that of the +National Assembly, but of the so-called seigneurs, who have extorted or +manufactured it; and therefore it is null. The department and district +administrators may promulgate it as much as they please: it does not +concern him, and if the opportunity occurs, he knows how to make them +smart for it. The village National Guards, who are lease-holders like +himself, side with him, and instead of repressing him give him their +support. As a commencement, he replants the maypoles, as a sign of +emancipation, and erects the gibbet by way of a threat.--In the district +of Gourdon, the regulars and the police having been sent to put them +down, the tocsin is at once sounded: a crowd of peasants, amounting to +four or five thousand, arrives from every surrounding parish, armed with +scythes and guns; the soldiers, forming a body of one hundred, retire +into a church, where they capitulate after a siege of twenty-four hours, +being obliged to give the names of the proprietors who demanded their +intervention of the district, and who are Messrs. Hebray, de Fontange, +and many others. All their houses are destroyed from top to bottom, +and they effect their escape in order not to be hung. The chateaux of +Repaire and Salviat are burned. At the expiration of eight days Quercy +is in flames and thirty chateaux are destroyed.--The leader of a band +of rustic National Guards, Joseph Linard, at the head of a village +army, penetrates into Gourdon, installs himself in the Hotel-de-Ville, +declares himself the people's protector against the directory of the +district, writes to the department in the name of his "companions in +arms," and vaunts his patriotism. Meanwhile he commands as a conqueror, +throws open the prisons, and promises that, if the regular troops +and police be sent off; he and his companions will withdraw in good +order.--This species of tumultuous authority, however, instituted by +acclamation for attack, is powerless for resistance. Scarcely has Linard +retired when savagery is let loose. "A price is set upon the heads +of the administrators; their houses are the first devastated; all the +houses of wealthy citizens are pillaged; and the same is the case +with all chateaux and country habitations which display any signs of +luxury."--Fifteen gentlemen, assembled together at the house of M. +d'Escayrac, in Castel, appeal to all good citizens to march to the +assistance of the proprietors who may be attacked in this jacquerie, +which is spreading everywhere;[3272] but there are too few proprietors +in the country, and none of the towns have too many of them for their +own protection. M. d'Escayrac, after a few skirmishes, abandoned by the +municipal officers of his village, and wounded, withdraws to the house +of the Comte de Clarac, a major-general, in Languedoc. Here, too, the +chateau, is surrounded,[3273] blockaded, and besieged by the local +National Guard. M. de Clarac descends and tries to hold a parley with +the attacking party, and is fired upon. He goes back inside and throws +money out of the window; the money is gathered up, and he is again fired +upon. The chateau is set on fire, and M. d'Escayrac receives five shots, +and is killed. M. de Clarac, with another person, having taken refuge in +a subterranean vault, are taken out almost stifled the next morning but +one by the National Guard of the vicinity, who conduct them to Toulouse, +where they are kept in prison and where the public prosecutor takes +proceedings against them. The chateau of Bagat, near Montouq, is +demolished at the same time. The abbey of Espagnac, near Figeac, is +assaulted with fire-arms; the abbess is forced to refund all rents she +has collected, and to restore four thousand livres for the expenses of a +trial which the convent had gained twenty years before. + +After such successes, the extension of the revolt is inevitable; and +at the end of some weeks and months it becomes permanent in the three +neighboring departments.--In Creuse,[3274] the judges are threatened +with death if they order the payment of seignorial dues, and the same +fate awaits all proprietors who claim their rents. In many places, and +especially in the mountains, the peasants, "considering that they form +the nation, and that clerical possessions are national," want to have +these divided amongst themselves, instead of their being sold. Fifty +parishes around La Souterraine receive incendiary letters inviting them +to come in arms to the town, in order to secure by force, and by staking +their lives, the production of all titles to rentals. The peasants, in a +circle of eight leagues, are all stirred up by the sound of the tocsin, +and preceded by the municipal officers in their scarves; there are four +thousand of them, and they drag with them a wagon full of arms: this is +for the revision and re-constitution of the ownership of the soil.--In +Dordogne,[3275] self-appointed arbitrators interpose imperiously between +the proprietor and the small farmer, at the time of harvest, to prevent +the proprietor from claiming, and the farmer from paying, the tithes or +the reve;[3276] any agreement to this end is forbidden; whoever shall +transgress the new order of things, proprietor or farmer, shall be hung. +Accordingly, the rural militia in the districts of Bergerac, Excideuil, +Riberac, Mucidan, Montignac, and Perigueux, led by the municipal +officers, go from commune to commune in order to force the proprietors +to sign an act of withdrawal; and these visits "are always accompanied +with robberies, outrages, and ill-treatment from which there is no +escape but in absolute submission." Moreover, "they demand the abolition +of every species of tax and the partition of the soil. "--It is +impossible for "proprietors moderately rich" to remain in the country; +on all sides they take refuge in Perigueux, and there, organizing in +companies, along with the gendarmerie and the National Guard of the +town, overrun the cantons to restore order. But there is no way of +persuading the peasantry that it is order which they wish to restore. +With that stubbornness of the imagination which no obstacle arrests, +and which, like a vigorous spring, always finds some outlet, the people +declare that "the gendarmes and National Guard" who come to restrain +them "are priests and gentlemen in disguise."--The new theories, +moreover, have struck down to the lowest depths; and nothing is easier +than to draw from them the abolition of debts, and even the agrarian +law. At Riberac, which is invaded by the people of the neighboring +parishes, a village tailor, taking the catechism of the Constitution +from his pocket, argues with the procureur-syndic, and proves to him +that the insurgents are only exercising the rights of man. The book +states, in the first place, "that Frenchmen are equals and brethren, +and that they should give each other aid;" and that "the masters +should share with their fellows, especially this year, which is one of +scarcity." In the next place, it is written that "all property belongs +to the nation," and that is the reason why "it has taken the possessions +of the Church." Now, all Frenchmen compose the nation, and the +conclusion is clearly apparent. Since, in the eyes of the tailor, the +property of individual Frenchmen belongs to all the French, he, the +tailor, has a right to at least the quota which belongs to him.--One +travels fast and far on this downhill road, for every mob considers +that this means immediate enjoyment, and enjoyment according to its own +ideas. There is no care for neighbors or for consequences, even when +imminent and physical, and in twenty places the confiscated property +perishes in the hands of the usurpers. + +This voluntary destruction of property can be best observed in the +third department, that of Correze.[3277] Not only have the peasants here +refused to pay rents from the beginning of the Revolution; not only have +they "planted maypoles, supplied with iron hooks, to hang the first +one that dared to claim or to pay them;" not only are violent acts of +every description committed "by entire communes," "the National Guards +of the small communes participating in them;" not only do the culprits, +whose arrest is ordered, remain at liberty, while "nothing is spoken +of but the hanging of the constables who serve writs," but farther, +together with the ownership of the water-sources, the power of +collecting, directing, and distributing the water is overthrown, and, in +a country of in a country of steep slopes, the consequences of such +an operation may be imagined. Three leagues from Tulle, in a forming a +semi-circle, a pond twenty feet in depth, and covering an area of three +hundred acres, was enclosed by a broad embankment on the side of a +very deep gorge, which was completely covered with houses, mills, and +cultivation. On the 17th of April, 1791, a troop of five hundred armed +men assembled by the beat of a drum, and collected from three villages +in the vicinity, set themselves to demolish the dike. The proprietor, +M. de Sedieres, a substitute-deputy in the National Assembly, is not +advised of it until eleven o'clock in the evening. Mounting his horse, +along with his guests and domestics, he makes a charge on the insane +wretches, and, with the aid of pistol and gun shots, disperses them. It +was time, for the trench they had dug was already eight feet deep, +and the water was nearly on a level with it: a half-hour later and the +terrible rolling mass of waters would have poured out on the inhabitants +of the gorge.--But such vigorous strokes, which are rare and hardly ever +successful, are no defense against universal and continuous attacks. +The regular troops and the gendarmerie, both of which are in the way of +reorganization or of dissolution, are not trustworthy, or are too weak. +There are no more than thirty of the cavalry in Creuse, and as many in +Correze. The National Guards of the towns are knocked up by expeditions +into the country, and there is no money with which to provide for their +change of quarters. And finally, as the elections are in the hands of +the people, this brings into power men disposed to tolerate popular +excesses. At Tulle, the electors of the second class, almost all chosen +from among the cultivators, and, moreover, catechized by the club, +nominate for deputies and public prosecutor only the candidates who are +pledged against rentals and against water privileges.--Accordingly, the +general demolition of the dikes begins as the month of May approaches. +This operation continues unopposed on a vast pond, a league and a half +from the town, and lasts for a whole week; elsewhere, on the arrival of +the guards or of the gendarmerie, they are fired upon. Towards the end +of September, all the embankments in the department are broken down: +nothing is left in the place of the ponds but fetid marshes; the +mill-wheels no longer turn, and the fields are no longer watered. But +those who demolish them carry away baskets full of fish, and the soil of +the ponds again becomes communal.--Hatred is not the motive which impels +them, but the instinct of acquisition: all these violent outstretched +hands, which rigidly resist the law, are directed against property, but +not against the proprietor; they are more greedy than hostile. One of +the noblemen of Correze,[3278] M. de Saint-Victour, has been absent for +five years. From the beginning of the Revolution, although his feudal +dues constitute one-half of the income of his estate, he has given +orders that no rigorous measures shall be employed in their collection, +and the result is that, since 1789, none of them were collected. +Moreover, having a reserve stock of wheat on hand, he lent grain, to the +amount of four thousand francs, to those of his tenants who had none. +In short, he is liberal, and, in the neighboring town, at Ussel, he even +passes for a Jacobin. In spite of all this, he is treated just like the +rest. It is because the parishes in his domain are "clubbist," governed +by associations of moral and practical levelers; in one of them "the +brigands have organized themselves into a municipal body," and have +chosen their leader as procureur-syndic. Consequently, on the 22nd of +August, eighty armed peasants opened the dam of his large pond, at the +risk of submerging a village in the neighborhood, the inhabitants of +which came and closed it up. Five other ponds belonging to him are +demolished in the course of the two following weeks; fish to the value +of from four to five thousand francs are stolen, and the rest perish in +the weeds. In order to make this expropriation sure, an effort is made +to burn his title-deeds; his chateau, twice attacked in the night, is +saved only by the National Guard of Ussel. His farmers and domestics +hesitate, for the time being, whether or not to cultivate the ground, +and come and ask the steward if they could sow the seeds. There is no +recourse to the proper authorities: the administrators and judges, even +when their own property is concerned, "dare not openly show themselves," +because "they do not find themselves protected by the shield of the law. +"--Popular will, traversing both the old and the new law, obstinately +persists in its work, and forcibly attains its ends. Thus, whatever the +grand terms of liberty, equality, and fraternity may be, with which the +Revolution graces itself, it is, in its essence, a transfer of property; +in this alone consists its chief support, its enduring energy, +its primary impulse and its historical significance.--Formerly, in +antiquity, similar movements were accomplished, debts were abolished or +lessened, the possessions of the rich were confiscated, and the public +lands were divided; but this operation was confined to a city and +limited to a small territory. For the first time it takes place on a +large scale and in a modern State.--Thus far, in these vast States, when +the deeper foundations have been disturbed, it has ever been on account +of foreign domination or on account of an oppression of conscience. +In France in the fifteenth century, in Holland in the sixteenth and in +England in the seventeenth century, the peasant, the mechanic, and the +laborer had taken up arms against an enemy or in behalf of their faith. +On religious or patriotic zeal has followed the craving for prosperity +and comfort, and the new motive is as powerful as the others; for in +our industrial, democratic, and utilitarian societies it is this which +governs almost all lives, and excites almost all efforts. Kept down for +centuries, the passion recovers itself by throwing off government +and privilege, the two great weights which have borne it down. At the +present time this passion launches itself impetuously with its whole +force, with brutal insensibility, athwart every kind of proprietorship +that is legal and legitimate, whether it be public or private. The +obstacles it encounters only render it the more destructive, +beyond property it attacks proprietors, and completes plunder with +proscriptions. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3201: The expression is that of Jean Bon Saint-Andre to +Mathieu Dumas, sent to re-establish tranquillity in Montauban (1790): +"The day of vengeance, which we have been awaiting for a hundred years, +has come!"] + +[Footnote 3202: De Dampmartin, I. 187 (an eye-witness).] + +[Footnote 3203: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223 and 3216. Letters of +M. de Bouzols, major general, residing at Montpellier, May 21, 25, 28, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3204: Mary Lafon, "Histoire d'une Ville Protestante ".(with +original documents derived from the archives of Montauban).] + +[Footnote 3205: Archives Nationales," F7, 2216. Proces-verbal of the +Municipality of Nimes and report of the Abbe de Belmont.--Report of the +Administrative commissioners, June 28, 1790.--Petition of the Catholics, +April 20.--Letters of the Municipality, the commissioners, and M. +de Nausel, on the events of May 2 and 3.--Letter of M. Rabaut +Saint-Etienne, May 12--Petition of the widow Gas, July 30.--Report +(printed) of M. Alquier, February 19, 1791.--Memoir (printed) of the +massacre of the Catholics at Nimes, by Froment (1790).--New address +of the Municipality of Nimes, presented by M. de Marguerite, mayor and +deputy (1790), printed. Mercure de France, February 23, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3206: The petition is signed by 3,127 persons, besides +1560 who put a cross declaring that they could not write. The +counter-petition of the club is signed by 262 persons.] + +[Footnote 3207: This last item, stated in M. Alquier's report, is denied +by the municipality. According to it, the red rosettes gathered around +the bishop's quarters had no guns.] + +[Footnote 3208: An insurrection in the sixteenth century, when the +Protestants fired on the Catholics on St. Michael's Day.--320TR.] + +[Footnote 3209: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3216. Letter of M. de Lespin, +Major at Nimes, to the commandant of Provence, M de Perigord, July +27, 1790: "The plots and conspiracies which were attributed to the +vanquished party, and which, it was believed, would be discovered in the +depositions of the four hundred men in prison, vanish as the proceedings +advance. The veritable culprits are to be found among the informers."] + +[Footnote 3210: Buchez and Roux, III. 240 (Memorandum of the Ministers, +October 28, 1789).--"Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 3. Deliberation of +the Municipal council of Vernon (November 4, 1789)] + +[Footnote 3211: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. correspondence of M. de +Thiard, November 4, 1789.--See similar occurrences, September 4, October +23, November 4 and 19, 1789, January 27 and March 27, 1790] + +[Footnote 3212: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Letter from Gex, May +29, 1790.--Buchez and Roux, VII. 198, 369 (September, October, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3213: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, Commandant of the four central provinces. Letters of May +25, June 11, 19, and 27, 1790.--" Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 4. +Deliberations of the district administrators of Bourbon-Lancy, May 26.] + +[Footnote 3214: "Archives Nationales," H. 2453. Minutes of the meeting +of a dozen parishes in Nivernais, June 4. "White bread is to be 2 sous, +and brown bread 11/2 sous. Husbandmen are to have 30 sous, reapers 10 +sous, wheelwrights 10 sous, bailiffs 6 sous per league. Butter is to +be at 8 sous, meat at 5 sous, pork at 8 sous, oil at 8 sous the pint, a +square foot of masonry-work 40 sous, a pair of large sabots 3 sous. All +rights of pasturage and of forests are to be surrendered. The roads +are to be free everywhere, as formerly. All seignorial rents are to be +suppressed. Millers are to take only one thirty-second of a bushel. +The seigneurs of our department are to give up all servile holidays and +ill-acquired property. The cure of Bieze is simply to say mass at nine +o'clock in the morning and vespers at two o'clock in the afternoon, in +summer and winter; he must marry and bury gratis, it being reserved to +us to pay him a salary. He is to be paid 6 sous for masses, and not to +leave his cure except to repeat his breviary and make proper calls on +the men and women of his parish. Hats must be had from 3 livres to 30 +sous. Nails 3 livres the gross. Cures are to have none but circumspect +females of fifty for domestics. Cures are not to go to either fairs or +markets. All cures are to be on the same footing as the one at Bieze. +There must be no more wholesale dealers in wheat. Law officers who make +unjust seizures must return the money. Farm leases must expire on St. +Martin's Day. M. le Comte, although not there, M. de Tontenelle, and M. +de Commandant must sign this document without difficulty. M. de Mingot +is formally to resign his place in writing: he went away with his +servant-woman--he even missed his mass on the first Friday of the +Fete-Dieu, and it is supposed that he slept in the woods. Joiners' wages +shall be fixed at the same rate as wheelwrights'. Ox-straps are not +to cost over 40 sous, yokes 10 sous. Masters must pay one-half of the +tailles. Notaries are to take only the half of what they had formerly, +as well as comptrollers. The Commune claims the right of protest against +whatever it may have forgotten in the present article, in fact or in +law." (It is signed by about twenty persons, several of them being +mayors and municipal clerks.)] + +[Footnote 3215: "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. The same correspondence, +May 29, June 11 and 17, September 15, 1790.--ibid, F7, 3257. Letter of +the municipal authorities of Marsigny, May 3; of the municipal officers +of Bourbon-Lancy, June 5. Extract from letters written to M. Amelot, +June 1st.] + +[Footnote 3216: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3185, 3186. Letter of the +President of the Tribunal of the district of Laon, February 8, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3217: "Archives Nationales F7, 3268. Proces-verbal and +observations of the two commissioners sent to Etampes September 22-25, +1791.] + +[Footnote 3218: "Archives Nationales F7, 3265. The following document, +among many others, shows the expedients and conceptions of the popular +imagination. Petition of several inhabitants of the commune of Forges +(Seine Inferieure) "to the good and incorruptible Minister of the +Interior" (October 16, 1792). After three good crops in succession, +the famine still continues. Under the ancient regime wheat was +superabundant; hogs were fed with it, and calves were fattened with +bread. It is certain, therefore, that wheat is diverted by monopolists +and the enemies of the new regime. The farms are too large; let them +he divided. There is too much pasture-ground: sow it with wheat. Compel +each farmer and land-owner to give a statement of his crop: let the +quantity be published at the church service, and in case of falsehood +let the man be put to death or imprisoned, and his grain he confiscated. +Oblige all the cultivators of the neighborhood to sell their wheat at +Forges only, etc."] + +[Footnote 3219: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Report of the +commissioners sent by the department, March 11, 1792 (apropos of the +insurrection of March 4).--Mortimer-Ternaux, I. 381.] + +[Footnote 3220: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letters of several +mayors, district administrators, cultivators of Velizy, Villacoublay, +La celle-Saint-Cloud, Montigny, etc. November 12, 1791.--Letter of M. +de Narbonne, January 13, 1792; of M. Sureau, justice of the peace in the +canton of Etampes, September 17, 1791.--Letter of Bruyeres-le-Chatel, +January 28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3221: A term applied to brigands at this epoch who demand +money and objects of value, and force their delivery by exposing the +soles of the feet of their victims to a fire.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3222: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory +of Cher, August 25, 1791.--F7, 3240. Letter of the Directory of Haute +Marne, November 6, 1791.--F7, 3248. Minutes of the meeting of the +members of the department of the Nord, March 18, 1791.--F7, 3250. +Minutes of the meeting of the municipal officers of Montreuil-sur-Mer, +October 16, 1791.--F7, 3265. Letter of the Directory of Seine Infereure, +July 22, 1791.--D, XXIX. 4. Remonstrances of the municipalities +assembled at Tostes, July 21, 1791.--Petition, of the municipal officers +of the districts of Dieppe, Cany, and Caudebec, July 22, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3223: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim.] + +[Footnote 3224: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. +Deliberations of the Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September 20, 1791 +(apropos of the insurrection. September 16, at Etampes).--Letter of +Charpentier, president of the district, September 19.--Report of the +Department Commissioners, March 11, 1792 (on the insurrection at Brunoy, +March 4.)--Report of the Department Commissioners, March 4, 1792 (on +the insurrection at Montlhery, February 13 to 20).--Deliberation of the +Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September 16, 1791 (on the insurrection at +Corbeil).--Letters of the mayors of Limours, Lonjumeau, etc.] + +[Footnote 3225: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, +passim.--Minutes of the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhery, +February 28, 1792: "We cannot enter into fuller details without exposing +ourselves to extremities which would be only disastrous to us."--Letter +of the justice of the peace of the canton, February 25: "Public outcry +teaches me that if I issue writs of arrest against those who massacred +Thibault, the people would rise."] + +[Footnote 3226: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. +Reports of the gendarmerie, February 24, 1792, and the following +days.--Letter of the sergeant of Limours, March 2; of the manager of the +farm of Plessis-le-Comte, February 23.] + +[Footnote 3227: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, +passim.--Memorandum to the National Assembly by the citizens of +Rambouillet, September 17, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3228: "Archives Nationales," F7 3268 and 3269, Passim. +Minutes of the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhery, February +27, 1792.--Buchez and Roux, XIII. 421, (March, 1792); and XIII., +317.--Mercure de France, February 25, 1792. (Letters of M. Dauchy, +President of the Directory of the Department; of M. de Gouy, messenger +sent by the minister, etc.)--Moniteur, sitting of February 15, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3229: Decree of September 3, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3230: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269. Petition of +the citizens of Montfort-l'Amaury, Saint-Leger, Gros-Rouvre, Gelin, +Laqueue, and Mere, to the citizens of Rambouillet.] + +[Footnote 3231: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3230. Letter of an +administrator of the district of Vendome, with the deliberation of the +commune of Vendome, November 24, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3232: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the +administrators of the Department of Seine-Inferieure, Octobers 23, +1792.--Letters of the Special Committee of Rouen, October 22 and +23, 1792: "The more the zeal and patriotism of the cultivators is +stimulated, the more do they seem determined to avoid the market-places, +which are always in a State of absolute destitution."] + +[Footnote 3233: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3265. Letter of David, a +cultivator, October 20, 1792.--Letter of the Department Administrators, +October 13, 1792, etc.--Letter (printed) of the minister to the +convention, November 4.--Proclamation of the Provisional Executive +council, October 31, 1792. (The setier of grain of two hundred and forty +pounds is sold at 60 francs in the south, and at half that sum in the +north.)] + +[Footnote 3234: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letters of Bonnemant, +September 11, 1792; of Laussel, September 22, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3235: "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. +de Bercheny, July 28, October 24 and 26, 1790.--The same disposition +lasted. An insurrection occurred in Issoudun after the three days of +July, 1830, against the combined imposts. Seven or eight thousand wine +growers burnt the archives and tax-offices and dragged an employee +through the streets, shouting out at each street-lamp, "Let him be +hung!" The general sent to repress the outbreak entered the town only +through a capitulation; the moment he reached the Hotel-de-Ville a +man of the Faubourg de Rome put his pruning-book around his neck, +exclaiming, "No more clerks where there is nothing to do!"] + +[Footnote 3236: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory +of Cher, April 9, 1790.--Ibid, F7, 3255. Letter of August 4, 1790. +Verdict of the presidial, November 4, 1790.--Letter of the Municipality +of Saint-Etienne, August 5, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3237: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248. Letter of M. Senac de +Mejlhan, April 10, 1790.--Letter of the grands baillis, June 30, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3238: Buchez and Roux, VI. 403. Report of Chabroud on the +insurrection at Lyons, July 9 and 10, 1790.--Duvergier, "Collection des +Decrets." Decrees of August 4 and 15, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3239: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the Minister, +July 2, 1790, to the Directory of Rhone-et-Loire. "The King is informed +that, throughout your department, and especially in the districts of +Saint-Etienne and Montbrison, license is carried to the extreme; +that the judges dare not prosecute; that in many places the municipal +officers are at the head of the disturbances; and that, in others, the +National Guard do not obey requisitions."--Letter of September 5, 1790. +"In the bourg of Thisy, brigands have invaded divers cotton-spinning +establishments and partially destroyed them and after having plundered +them, they have sold the goods by public auction."] + +[Footnote 3240: Buchez and Roux, VI. 345. Report of M. Muguet, July 1, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3241: Minutes of the meeting of the National Assembly. +(Sitting of October 24, 1789.)--Decree of September 27, 1789, applicable +the 1st of October. There are other alleviations applicable on the 1st +of January, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3242: Mercure de France, February 27, 1790. (Memorandum of the +garde des sceaux, January 16.)--Observations of M. Necker on the report +made by the Financial committee, at the sitting of March 12, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3243: "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, April 24, May 4 and 6, 1790: "It is much to be feared that the +tobacco-tax will share the fate of the salt-tax."] + +[Footnote 3244: Mercure de France, July 31, 1790 (sitting of July 10.) +M. Lambert, Comptroller General of the Finances, informs the Assembly of +"the obstacles which continual outbreaks, brigandage, and the maxims of +anarchical freedom impose, from one end of France to the other, on the +collection of the taxes. On one side, the people are led to believe +that, if they stubbornly refuse a tax contrary to their rights, it +abolition will be secured. Elsewhere, smuggling is openly carried on +by force; the people favor it, while the National Guards refuse to act +against the nation. In other places hatred is excited, and divisions +between the troops and the overseers at the toll-houses: the latter +are massacred, the bureaus are pillaged, and the prisons are forced +open."--Memorandum from M. Necker to the National Assembly, July 21, +1790.] + +[Footnote 3245: Decrees of March 21 and 22, 1790, applicable April 21 +following.--Decrees of February 19 and March 2, 1791, applicable May 1 +following.] + +[Footnote 3246: De Goncourt, "La Societe Francaise pendant la +Revolution," 204.--Maxime Du Camp, "Paris, sa vie et ses organes," VI. +11.] + +[Footnote 3247: "Compte des Revenus et Depenses au 1er Mai, +1789."--Memorandum of M. Necker, July 21, 1790.--Memoranda presented by +M. de Montesquiou, September 9, 1791.--Comptes-rendus by the minister, +Clavieres, October 5, 1792, February 1, 1792.--Report of Cambon, +February, 1793.] + +[Footnote 3248: Boivin-Champeaux, 231.] + +[Footnote 3249: Mercure de France, May 28, 1791. (Sitting of May +22.)--Speech of M. d'Allarde: "Burgundy has paid nothing belonging to +1790."] + +[Footnote 3250: Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speech by +M. Freteau.--Mercure de France. November 26, 1791. Report by +Lafont-Ladebat.] + +[Footnote 3251: "Archives Nationales," H, 2453. correspondence of M. +de Bercheny, June 5, 1790, etc.--F7, 3226. Letters of Chenantin, +cultivator, November 7, 1792, also of the prosecuting attorney, November +6.--F7, 3269. Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of Clugnac, +August 5th, 1792.--F7, 3202. Letter of the Minister of Justice, Duport, +January 3, 1792. "The utter absence of public force in the district of +Montargis renders every operation of the Government and all execution of +the laws impossible. The arrears of taxes to be collected is here very +considerable, while all proceedings of constraint are dangerous and +impossible to execute, owing to the fears of the bailiffs, who dare not +perform their duties, and the violence of the tax-payers, on whom there +is no check."] + +[Footnote 3252: Report of the Committee on Finances, by Ramel, 19th +Floreal, year II (The Constituent Assembly had fixed the real tax of a +house at one-sixth of its letting value.)] + +[Footnote 3253: Mercure de France, December 12, 1789.--"Archives +Nationales," F7, 3268. Memorandum from the officers in command of +the detachment of the Paris National Guard stationed at +Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (April, 1790). Certificate of the Municipal +Officers of Poissy, March 31.] + +[Footnote 3254: Mercure de France, March 12 and 26, 1791.--"Archives +Nationales," H, 1453. Letter of the police-lieutenant of Blois, April +22, 1790.--Mercure de France, July 24, 1790. Two of the murderers +exclaimed to those who tried to save one of the keepers, "Hanging is +well done at Paris! Bah, you are aristocrats! We shall be talked about +in the gazettes of Paris." (Deposition of witnesses.)--Decrees and +proclamations regarding the protection of the forests, November 3 and +December 11, 1789.--Another in October, 1790.--Another June 29, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3255: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of the bailli de +Virieu, January 26, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3256: Mercure de France, December 3, 1791. (Letter from +Sarreluis, November 15, 1791.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter +of the Municipal Officers of Montargis. January 8, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3257: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letter of the overseer +of the national domains at Rambouillet, October 31, 1792.--Report of the +minister Clavieres, February 1. 1793.] + +[Footnote 3258: Decrees of August 14, 1792, June 10, 1793.--"Archives +Nationales," Missions des Representants, D, Sec. 7. (Deliberation of the +district of Troyes, 2 Ventose, an. III.)--At Thunelieres, the drawing +took place on the 10th Fructidor, year II, and was done over again in +behalf of a servant of Billy, an influential municipal officer who +"was the soul of his colleagues."--Ibid. Abstract of operations in the +district of Arcis-sur-Aube, 30 Pluviose, year III. "Two-thirds of the +communes hold this kind of property. Most of them have voted on and +effected the partition, or are actually engaged on it."] + +[Footnote 3259: Mercure de France, January 7, 1790. (Chateau of Auxon in +Haute-Saone.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. (Letter of the minister +to the Directory of Rhone-et-Loire, July 2, 1790.)--Mercure de France, +July 17, 1790. (Report of M. de Broglie, July 13, and decree of July +13-18.)--"Archives Nationales," H, 1453. (Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 21, 1790.)] + +[Footnote 3260: Mercure de France, March 19, 1790. Letter from Amien, +February 28. (Mallet du Pan publishes in the Mercure only letters which +are signed and authentic.)] + +[Footnote 3261: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (Correspondence of M. +de Thiard; letters of Chevalier de Bevy, December 26, 1789, and others +up to April 5, 1790.)--Moniteur, sitting of February 9, 1790.--Mercure +de France, February 6 and March 6, 1790 (list of chateaux).] + +[Footnote 3262: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (correspondence of M. +de Thiard.) Letters of the Mayor of Nantes, February 16,!790, of the +Municipality of Redon, February 19, etc.] + +[Footnote 3263: Mercure de France, February 6 and 27, 1790. (Speech of +M. de Foucault, sittings of February 2 and 5)--Moniteur (same dates). +(Report of Gregoire, February 9; speeches by MM. Salle de Chaux and de +Noailles, February 9.)--Memorandum of the deputies of the town of Tulle, +drawn up by the Abbe Morellet (from the deliberations and addresses of +eighty-three boroughs and cities in the province).] + +[Footnote 3264: In allusion to the feudal custom of paying seignorial +dues on the first of May around a maypole. See further on. 32TR] + +[Footnote 3265: Criminal Courts without appeal.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3266: Moniteur, sitting of March 4, 1790.--Duvergier, decrees +of March 6, 1790, and August 6-10 1790] + +[Footnote 3267: The address is dated February 11, 1793. This singularly +comic document would alone suffice to make the history of the Revolution +perfectly comprehensible.] + +[Footnote 3268: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. (Letters of the royal +commissioner, April 30 and May 9, 1790.)--Letter of the Duc de Maille, +May 6.--Report from the administrators of the department, November 12, +1790.--Moniteur VI. 515.] + +[Footnote 3269: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory +from Ille-et-Vilaine, January 30, 1791, and letter from Dinan, January +29--Mercure de France, April 2 and 16, 1791. Letters from Rennes, March +20th; from Redon, March 12.] + +[Footnote 3270: So expressed in the minutes of the meeting.] + +[Footnote 3271: Moniteur, sitting of December 15, 1790. (Address of the +department of Lot, December 7.)--Sitting of December 20 (Speech by M. de +Foucault.)--Mercure de France, December 18, 1790. (Letter from Belves, +in Perigord, December 7.)--Ibid., January 22, 29, 1791. (Letter from M. +de Clarac, January 18.)] + +[Footnote 3272: December 17, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3273: January 7, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3274: Revolutionary archives of the department of Creuse, +by Duval. (Letter of the administrators of the department, March 31, +1791.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. (Deliberation of the +Directory of the Department, May 12, 1791--Minutes of the meeting of the +municipality of La Souterraine, August 23, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3275: "Archives Nationales", F7, 3269.--Order of the directory +of the district of Riberac, August 5, 1791, and requisitions of the +prosecuting attorney of the department, August 24, and September +11.--Letter of the king's commissioner, August 22.] + +[Footnote 3276: A sort of export duty.--32TR.] + +[Footnote 3277: "Archives Nationales," P7, 3204.--Letter, from the +Directory of the Department, June 2, 1791; September 8 and 22.--Letter +from the Minister of Justice, May 15, 1791.--Letter from M. de +Lentilhac, September 2.--Letter from M. Melon-Padon, Royal Commissioner, +September.--Mercure de France, May 14, 1791. (Letter of an eye-witness, +M.de Loyac, April 25, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3278: "Archives Nationales," F7. 3204. Letters from M. de +Saint-Victour, September 25, October 2 and 10, 1791.--Letter from the +steward of his estate, September 18.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion. + + + + +I.--Attitude of the nobles. Their moderate resistance. + +If popular passion ended in murder it was not because resistance was +great or violent. On the contrary, never did an aristocracy undergo +dispossession with so much patience, or employ less force in the defense +of its prerogatives, or even of its property. To speak with exactness, +the class in question receives blows without returning them, and when +it does take up arms, it is always with the bourgeois and the National +Guard, at the request of the magistrates, in conformity with the law, +and for the protection of persons and property. The nobles try to avoid +being either killed or robbed, nothing more: for nearly three years +they raise no political banner. In the towns where they exert the most +influence and which are denounced as rebellious, for ex-ample in Mende +and Arles, their opposition is limited to the suppression of riots, the +restraining of the common people, and ensuring respect for the law, It +is not the new order of things against which they conspire, but against +brutal disorder.--At Mende," says the municipal body,[3301] "we had +the honor of being the first to furnish the contributions of 1790. We +supplied the place of our bishop and installed his successor without +disturbance, and without the assistance of any foreign force . . . . We +dispersed the members of a cathedral body to which we were attached by +the ties of blood and friendship; we dismissed all, from the bishop down +to the children of the choir. We had but three communities of mendicant +monks, and all three have been suppressed. We have sold all national +possessions without exception."--The commander of their gendarmerie is, +in fact, an old member of the body-guard, while the superior officers of +the National Guard are gentlemen, or belong to the order of Saint-Louis. +It is very evident that, if they defend themselves against Jacobins, +they are not insurgent against the National Assembly.--In Arles,[3302] +which has put down its populace, which has armed itself, which has shut +its gates, and which passes for a focus of royalist conspiracy, the +commissioners sent by the King and by the National Assembly, men +of discretion and of consideration, find nothing, after a month's +investigation, but submission to the decrees and zeal for the public +welfare. + +"Such," they say, "are the men who have been calumniated because, +cherishing the Constitution, they hold fanaticism, demagogues and +anarchy, in horror. If the citizens had not roused themselves when the +moment of danger arrived, they would have been slaughtered like their +neighbors (of Avignon). It is this insurrection against crime which the +brigands have slandered." If their gates were shut it was because "the +National Guard of Marseilles, the same which behaved so badly in the +Comtat, flocked there under the pretext of maintaining liberty and of +forestalling the counter-revolution, but, in reality, to village the +town." + +Vive la Nation! Vive la Loi! Vive le Roi were the only cries heard at +the very quiet and orderly elections that had just taken place. + +"The attachment of the citizens to the Constitution has been spoken +of. . . . Obedience to the laws, the readiest disposition to discharge +public contributions, were remarked by us among these pretended +counter-revolutionaries. Those who are subject to the license-tax came +in crowds to the Hotel-de-Ville." Scarcely "was the bureau of receipts +opened when it was filled with respectable people; those on the contrary +who style themselves good patriots, republicans or anarchists, were not +conspicuous on this occasion; but a very small number among them have +made their submission. The rest are surprised at being called upon for +money; they had been given a quite different hope." + +In short, during more than thirty months, and under a steady fire of +threats, outrages, and plunder, the nobles who remain in France neither +commit nor undertake any hostile act against the Government that +persecutes them. None of them, not even M. de Bouille, attempts to carry +out any real plan of civil war; I find but one resolute man in their +ranks at this date, ready for action, and who labors to form one +militant party against another militant party: he is really a politician +and conspirator; he has an understanding with the Comte d'Artois; he +gets petitions signed for the freedom of the King and of the Church; +he organizes armed companies; he recruits the peasants; he prepares +a Vendee for Languedoc and Provence; and this person is a bourgeois, +Froment of Nimes.[3303] But, at the moment of action, he finds only +three out of eighteen companies, supposed by him to be enlisted in +his cause, that are willing to march with him. Others remain in their +quarters until, Froment being overcome, they are found there and +slaughtered; the survivors, who escape to Jales, find, not a stronghold, +but a temporary asylum, where they never succeed in transforming their +inclinations into determinations.[3304]--The nobles too, like other +Frenchmen, have been subject to the lasting pressure of monarchical +centralization. They no longer form one body; they have lost the +instinct of association. They no longer know how to act for themselves; +they are the puppets of administration awaiting an impulse from the +center, while at the center the King, their hereditary general, a +captive in the hands of the people, commands them to be resigned and to +do nothing.[3305] Moreover, like other Frenchmen, they have been +brought up in the philosophy of the eighteenth century. "Liberty is +so precious," wrote the Duc de Brissac,[3306] "that it may well be +purchased with some suffering; a destroyed feudalism will not prevent +the good and the true from being respected and loved."--They persist in +this illusion for a long time and remain optimists. As they feel kindly +towards the people, they cannot comprehend that the people should +entertain other sentiments toward them; they firmly believe that +the troubles are transient. Immediately on the proclamation of the +Constitution they return in crowds from Spain, Belgium, and Germany; +at Troyes there are not enough post-horses for many days to supply +the emigrants who are coming back.[3307] Thus they accept not only the +abolition of feudalism with civil equality, but also political equality +and numerical sovereignty. + +Some consideration for them, some outward signs of respect, a few bows, +would, in all probability, have rallied them sincerely to democratic +institutions. They would soon consent to be confounded with the crowd, +to submit to the common level, and to live as private individuals. Had +they been treated like the bourgeois or the peasant, their neighbors, +had their property and persons been respected, they might have accepted +the new regime without any bitterness of feeling. That the leading +emigrant nobles and those forming a part of the old court carry on +intrigues at Coblentz or at Turin is natural, since they have lost +everything: authority, places, pensions, sinecures, pleasures, and +the rest. But, to the gentry and inferior nobles of the provinces, +chevaliers of Saint-Louis, subaltern officers and resident proprietors, +the loss is insignificant. The law has suppressed one-half of their +seignorial dues; but by virtue of the same law their lands are no longer +burdened with tithes. Popular elections will not provide them with +places, but they did not enjoy them under the arbitrary ministerial +rule. Little does it matter to them that power, whether ministerial or +popular, has changed hands: they are not accustomed to its favors, and +will pursue their ordinary avocations--the chase, promenading, reading, +visiting, and conversing--provided they, like the first-comer, the +grocer at the corner, or their farm-servant, find protection, safety, +and security on the public road and in their dwellings.[3308] + + + + +II.--Workings of the popular imagination with respect to them. + + The monomania of suspicion.--The nobles distrusted and + treated as enemies.--Situation of a gentleman on his + domain.--M. de. Bussy + +Popular passion, unfortunately, is a blind power, and, for lack of +enlightenment, suffers itself to be guided by spectral illusions. +Imaginary conceptions work, and work in conformity with the structure of +the excited brain which has given birth to them: + +What if the Ancient Regime should return! + +What if we were obliged to restore the property of the clergy! + +What if we should be again forced to pay the salt tax, the excise, +the taille, and other dues which, thanks to the law, we no longer pay, +besides other taxes and dues that we do not pay in spite of the law! + +What if all the nobles whose chateaux are burnt, and who have given rent +acquittances at the point of the sword, should find some way to avenge +themselves and recover their former privileges! + +Undoubtedly they brood over these things, make agreements amongst each +other, and plot with the strangers; at the first opportunity they +will fall upon us: we must watch them, repress them, and, if needs be, +destroy them.--This instinctive process of reasoning prevailed from +the outset, and, in proportion as excesses increase, prevails to a +much greater extent. The noble is ever the past, present, and future +creditor, or, at the very least, a possible one, which means that he is +the worst and most odious of enemies. All his ways are suspicious, even +when he is doing nothing; whatever he may do it is with a view of arming +himself. + +M. de Gilliers, who lives with his wife and sister one league out of +Romans in Dauphiny,[3309] amuses himself by planting trees and flowers; +a few steps from his house, on another domain, M. de Montchorel, an old +soldier, and M. Osmond, an old lawyer from Paris, with their wives and +children, occupy their leisure hours in somewhat the same manner. M. +de Gilliers having ordered and received wooden water-pipes, the report +spreads that they are cannon. His guest, M. Servan, receives an English +traveling-trunk, which is said to be full of pistols. When M. Osmond and +M. Servan stroll about the country with pencils and drawing-paper, it +is averred that they are preparing topographical plans for the Spaniards +and Savoyards. The four carriages belonging to the two families go to +Romans to fetch some guests: instead of four there are nineteen, and +they are sent for aristocrats who are coming to hide away in underground +passages. M. de Senneville, decorated with a cordon rouge (red ribbon), +pays a visit on his return from Algiers: the decoration becomes a blue +one, and the wearer is the Comte d'Artois[3310] in person. There is +certainly a plot brewing, and at five o'clock in the morning eighteen +communes (two thousand armed men) arrive before the doors of the two +houses; shouts and threats of death last for eight hours; a gun fired a +few paces off at the suspects misfires; a peasant who is aiming at them +says to his neighbor, "Give me a decent gun and I will plant both +my balls in their bodies!" Finally, M. de Gilliers, who was absent, +attending a baptism, returns with the Royal Chasseurs of Dauphiny and +the National Guard of Romans, and with their assistance delivers his +family.--It is only in the towns, that is, in a few towns, and for a +very short time, that an inoffensive noble who is attacked obtains any +aid; the phantoms which people create for themselves there are less +gross; a certain degree of enlightenment, and a remnant of common sense, +prevent the hatching of too absurd stories.--But in the dark recesses +of rustic brains nothing can arrest the monomania of suspicion. Fancies +multiply there like weeds in a dark hole: they take root and vegetate +until they become belief, conviction, and certainty; they produce the +fruit of hostility and hatred, homicidal and incendiary ideas. With eyes +constantly fixed on the chateau, the village regards it as a Bastille +which must be captured, and, instead of saluting the lord of the manor, +it thinks only of firing at him. + +Let us take up one of these local histories in detail.[3311] In the +month of July, 1789, during the jacquerie in Maconnais, the parish of +Villiers appealed for assistance to its lord, M. de Bussy, a former +colonel of dragoons. He had returned home, treated the people of his +village to a dinner, and attempted to form them into a body of guards +to protect themselves against incendiaries and brigands; along with the +well-disposed men of the place "he patrolled every evening to restore +tranquillity to the parish." On a rumor spreading that "the wells were +poisoned," he placed sentinels alongside of all the wells except his +own, "to prove that he was acting for the parish and not for himself." +In short, he did all he could to conciliate the villagers, and to +interest them in the common safety.--But, by virtue of being a noble +and an officer he is distrusted, and it is Perron, the syndic of the +commune, to whom the commune now listens. Perron announces that the King +"having abjured his sworn word," no more confidence is to be placed in +him, and, consequently, neither in his officers nor in the gentry. On +M. de Bussy proposing to the National Guards that they should go to the +assistance of the chateau of Thil, which is in flames, Perron prevents +them, declaring that "these fires are kindled by the nobles and the +clergy." M. de Bussy insists, and entreats them to go, offering to +abandon "his terrier," that is to say all his seignorial dues, if they +will only accompany him and arrest this destruction. They refuse to do +so. He perseveres, and, on being informed that the chateau of Juillenas +is in peril, he collects, after great efforts, a body of one hundred +and fifty men of his parish, and, marching with them, arrives in time to +save the chateau, which a mob was about to set on fire. But the popular +excitement, which he had just succeeded in calming at Juillenas, has +gained the upper hand amongst his own troop: the brigands have seduced +his men, "which obliges him to lead them back, while, along the road, +they seem inclined to fire at him."--Having returned, he is followed +with threats even to his own house: a band comes to attack his chateau; +finding it on the defensive, they insist on being led to that of +Courcelles.--In the midst of all this violence M. de Bussy, with about +fifteen friends and tenants, succeeds in protecting himself and, by +dint of patience, energy, and cool blood, without killing or wounding a +single man, ends in bringing back security throughout the whole canton. +The jacquerie subsides, and it seems as if the newly restored order +would be maintained. He sends for Madame de Bussy to return, and some +months pass away.--The popular imagination, however, is poisoned, and +whatever a gentleman may do, he is no longer tolerated on his estate. A +few leagues from there, on April 29, 1790, M. de Bois-d'Aisy, deputy +to the National Assembly, had returned to his parish to vote at the +new elections.[3312] "Scarcely has he arrived," when the commune of +Bois-d'Aisy gives him notice through its mayor "that it will not regard +him as eligible." He attends the electoral meeting which is held in the +church there, a municipal officer in the pulpit inveighs against nobles +and priests, and declares that they must not take part in the elections. +All eyes turn upon M. de Boisd'Aisy, who is the only noble present. +Nevertheless, he takes the civic oath, which nearly costs him dear, for +murmurs arise around him, and the peasants say that he ought to have +been hanged like the lord of Sainte-Colombe, to prevent his taking the +oath. In fact, the evening before, the latter, M. de Vitteaux, an +old man of seventy-four years of age, was expelled from the primary +assembly, then torn out of the house in which he had sought refuge, half +killed with blows, and dragged through the streets to the open square; +his mouth was stuffed with manure, a stick was thrust into his ears, +and "he expired after a martyrdom of three hours." The same day, in the +church of the Capuchins, at Semur, the rural parishes which met together +excluded their priests and gentry in the same fashion. M. de Damas +and M. de Sainte-Maure were beaten with clubs and stones; the cure +of Massigny died after six stabs with a knife, and M. de Virieu saved +himself as he best could.--With such examples before them it is probable +that many of the nobles will no longer exercise their right of suffrage. +M. de Bussy does not pretend to do it. He merely tries to prove that he +is loyal to the nation, and that he meditates no wrong to the National +Guard or to the people. He proposed, at the out-set, to the volunteers +of Macon to join them, along with his little troop; they refused to have +him and thus the fault is not on his side. On the 14th of July, 1790, +the day of the Federation on his domain, he sends all his people off to +Villiers, furnished with the tricolour cockade. He himself, with three +of his friends, attends the ceremony to take the oath, all four in +uniform, with the cockade on their hats, without any weapons but their +swords and a light cane in their hands. They salute the assembled +National Guards of the three neighboring parishes, and keep outside +the enclosure so as not to give offense. But they have not taken into +account the prejudices and animosities of the new municipal bodies. +Perron, the former syndic, is now mayor. A man named Bailly, who is the +village shoemaker, is another of the municipal officers; their councilor +is an old dragoon, one of those soldiers probably who have deserted or +been discharged, and who are the firebrands of almost every riot that +takes place. A squad of a dozen or fifteen men leave the ranks and +march up to the four gentlemen, who advance, hat in hand, to meet them. +Suddenly the men aim at them, and Bailly, with a furious air, demands: +"What the devil do you come here for?" M. de Bussy replies that, having +been informed of the Federation, he had come to take the oath like +the rest of the people. Bailly asks why he had come armed. M. de Bussy +remarks that "having been in the service, the sword was inseparable from +the uniform," and had they come there without that badge they would have +been at fault; besides, they must have observed that they had no other +arms. Bailly, still in a rage, and, moreover, exasperated by such good +reasons, turns round with his gun in his hand towards the leader of the +squad and asks him three times in succession, "Commander, must I fire?" +The commander not daring to take the responsibility of so gratuitous a +murder, remains silent, and finally orders M. de Bussy to "clear out;" +"which I did," says M. de Bussy.--Nevertheless, on reaching home, he +writes to the municipal authorities clearly setting forth the motive of +his coming, and demands an explanation of the treatment he had received. +Mayor Perron throws aside his letter without reading it, and, on the +following day, on leaving the mass, the National Guards come, by way of +menace, to load their guns in sight of M. de Bussy, round his garden.--A +few days after this, at the instigation of Bailly, two other proprietors +in the neighborhood are assassinated in their houses. Finally, on a +journey to Lyons, M. de Bussy learns "that the chateaux in Poitou +are again in flames, and that the work is to begin again +everywhere."--Alarmed at all these indications, "he resolves to form a +company of volunteers, which, taking up their quarters in his chateau, +can serve the whole canton on a legal requisition." He thinks that about +fifteen brave men will be sufficient. He has already six men with him +in the month of October, 1790; green coats are ordered for them, and +buttons are bought for the uniform. Seven or eight domestics may be +added to the number. In the way of arms and munitions the chateau +contains two kegs of gunpowder which were on hand before 1789, seven +blunderbusses, and five cavalry sabers, left there in passing by M. +de Bussy's old dragoons: to these must be added two double-barreled +fowling-pieces, three soldiers' muskets, five brace of pistols, two poor +common guns, two old swords, and a hunting-knife. Such is the garrison, +such the arsenal, and these are the preparations, so well justified and +so slight, which prejudice conjointly with gossip is about to transform +into a great conspiracy. + +The chateau, in effect, was an object of suspicion in the village from +the very first day. All its visitors, whenever they went out or came +in, with all the details of their actions, were watched, denounced, +exaggerated, and misinterpreted. If through the awkwardness or +carelessness of so many inexperienced National Guards, a stray ball +reaches a farm-house one day in broad daylight, it comes from the +chateau; it is the aristocrats who have fired upon the peasants.--There +is the same state of suspicion in the neighboring towns. The municipal +body of Valence, hearing that two youths had ordered coats made "of a +color which seemed suspicious," send for the tailor; he confesses the +fact, and adds that "they intended to put the buttons on themselves." +Such a detail is alarming. An inquiry is set on foot and the alarm +increases; people in a strange uniform have been seen passing on their +way to the chateau of Villiers; from thence, on reaching the number of +two hundred, they will go and join the garrison of Besancon; they will +travel four at a time in order to avoid detection. At Besancon they are +to meet a corps of forty thousand men, commanded by M. Autichamp, which +corps is to march on to Paris to carry off the King, and break up the +National Assembly. The National Guards along the whole route are to +be forced into the lines. At a certain distance each man is to receive +1,200 francs, and, at the end of the expedition, is to be enrolled +in the Artois Guard, or sent home with a recompense of 12,000 +francs.--Meanwhile, the Prince de Conde; with forty thousand men, will +come by the way of Pont Saint-Esprit in Languedoc, rally the disaffected +of Carpentras and of the Jales camp to his standard, and occupy Cette +and the other seaports; and finally, the Comte d'Artois, on his side, +will enter by Pont-Beauvoisin with thirty thousand men.--A horrible +discovery! The municipal authorities of Valence immediately inform those +of Lyons, Besancon, Chalons, Macon, and others beside. On the strength +of this the municipal body of Macon, "considering that the enemies of +the Revolution are ever making the most strenuous efforts to annihilate +the Constitution which secures the happiness of this empire," and "that +it is highly important to frustrate their designs," sends two hundred +men of its National Guard to the chateau of Villiers," empowered to +employ armed force in case of resistance." For greater security, +this troop is joined by the National Guards of the three neighboring +parishes. M. de Bussy, on being told that they were climbing over the +wall into his garden, seizes a gun and takes aim, but does not fire, and +then, the requisition being legal, throws all open to them. There are +found in the house six green coats, seven dozens of large buttons, and +fifteen dozens of small ones. The proof is manifest. He explains what +his project was and states his motive--it is a mere pretext. He makes a +sign, as an order, to his valet--there is a positive complicity. M. de +Bussy, his six guests, and the valet, are arrested and transported to +Macon. A trial takes place, with depositions and interrogatories, in +which the truth is elicited in spite of the most adverse testimony; +it is clear that M. de Bussy never intended to do more than defend +himself.--But prejudice is a blindfold to hostile eyes. It cannot be +admitted that, under a constitution which is perfect, an innocent man +could incur danger; the objection is made to him that "it is not natural +for an armed company to be formed to resist a massacre by which it is +not menaced;" they are convinced beforehand that he is guilty. On a +decree of the National Assembly the minister had ordered all accused +persons to be brought to Paris by the constabulary and hussars; the +National Guard of Macon, "in the greatest state of agitation," declares +that, "as it had arrested M. de Bussy, it would not consent to his +transport by any other body. . . Undoubtedly, the object is to allow him +to escape on the way," but it will know how to keep its captive secure. +The guard, in fine, of its own authority, escorts M. de Bussy to Paris, +into the Abbaye prison, where he is kept confined for several months--so +long, indeed, that, after a new trial and investigation, the absurdity +of the accusation being too palpable, they are obliged to set him at +liberty.--Such is the situation of most of the gentry on their own +estates, and M. de Bussy, even acquitted and vindicated, will act wisely +in not returning home. + + + + +III.--Domiciliary visits. + + The fifth jacquerie.--Burgundy and Lyonnais in 1791.--M. de + Chaponay and M. Guillin-Dumoutet + +He would be nothing but a hostage there. Alone against thousands, sole +survivor and representative of an abolished regime which all detest, +it is the noble against whom everybody turns whenever a political shock +seems to shake the new regime. He is at least disarmed, as he might +be dangerous, and, in these popular executions, brutal instincts and +appetites break loose like a bull that dashes through a door and rages +through a dwelling-house. In the same department, some months later, +on the news arriving of the arrest of the King at Varennes, "all +nonjuring[3313] priests and ci-devant nobles are exposed to the horrors +of persecution." Bands forcibly enter houses to seize arms: Commarin, +Grosbois, Montculot, Chaudenay, Creance, Toisy, Chatellenot, and other +houses are thus visited, and several are sacked. During the night +of June 26-27, 1791, at the chateau of Creance "there is pillaging +throughout; the mirrors are broken, the pictures are torn up, and the +doors are broken down." The master of the house, "M. de Comeau-Crence, +Knight of St. Louis, horribly maltreated, is dragged to the foot of the +stairs, where he lies as if dead:" previous to this, "he was forced to +give a considerable contribution, and to refund all penalties collected +by him before the Revolution as the local lord of the manor. "--Two +other proprietors in the neighborhood, both Knights of St. Louis, are +treated in the same way. "That is the way in which three old and brave +soldiers are rewarded for their services!" A fourth, a peaceable man, +escapes beforehand, leaving his keys in the locks and his gardener in +the house. Notwithstanding this, the doors and the clothes-presses were +broken open, the pillaging lasting five hours and a half; with +threats of setting the house on fire if the seigneur did not make his +appearance. Questions were asked "as to whether he attended the mass of +the new cure whether he had formerly exacted fines, and finally, whether +any of the inhabitants had any complaint to make against him." No +complaint is made; on the contrary, he is rather beloved.--But, in +tumults of this sort, a hundred madmen and fifty rogues prescribe the +law to the timid and the indifferent. These outlaws declared that "they +were acting under orders; they compelled the mayor and prosecuting +attorney to take part in their robberies; they likewise took the +precaution to force a few honest citizens, by using the severest +threats, to march along with them." These people come the next day to +apologize to the pillaged proprietor, while the municipal officers draw +up a statement of the violence practiced against them. The violence +nevertheless, is accomplished, and, as it will go unpunished, it is soon +to be repeated. + +A beginning and an end are already made in the two neighboring +departments. There, especially in the south, nothing is more instructive +than to see how an outbreak stimulated by enthusiasm for the public good +immediately degenerates under the impulse of private interest, and ends +in crime.--Around Lyons,[3314] under the same pretext and at the same +date, similar mobs perform similar visitations, and, on all these +occasions, "the rent-rolls are burnt, and houses are pillaged and set on +fire. Municipal authority, organized for the security of property, is in +many hands but one facility more for its violation. The National +Guard seems to be armed merely for the protection of robbery and +disorder."--For more than thirty years, M. de Chaponay, the father of +six children of whom three are in the service, expended his vast income +on his estate of Beaulieu, giving occupation to a number of persons, +men, women, and children. After the hailstorm of 1761, which nearly +destroyed the village of Moranee, he rebuilt thirty-three houses, +furnished others with timber for the framework, supplied the commune +with wheat, and, for several years, obtained for the inhabitants a +diminution of their taxation. In 1790, he celebrated the Federation +Festival on a magnificent scale, giving two banquets, one of a hundred +and thirty seats, for the municipal bodies and officers of the National +Guards in the vicinity, and the other of a thousand seats for the +privates. If any of the gentry had reason to believe himself popular +and safe it was certainly this man.--On the 24th of June, 1791, the +municipal authorities of Moranee, Lucenay, and Chazelai, with their +mayors and National Guards, in all nearly two thousand men, arrive at +the chateau with drums beating and flags flying. M. de Chaponay goes out +to meet them, and begs to know to what he owes "the pleasure" of their +visit. They reply that they do not come to offend him, but to carry out +the orders of the district, which oblige them to take possession of the +chateau and to place in it a guard of sixty men: on the following day +the "district" and the National Guard of Villefranche are to come and +inspect it.--Be it noted that these orders are imaginary, for M. de +Chaponay asks in vain to see them; they cannot be produced. The cause of +their setting out, probably, is the false rumor that the National Guard +of Villefranche is coming to deprive them of a booty on which they had +calculated.--Nevertheless M. de Chaponay submits; he merely requests +the municipal officers to make the search themselves and in an orderly +manner. Upon this the commandant of the National Guard of Lucenay +exclaims, with some irritation, that "all are equal and all must go +in," and at the same moment all rush forward. "M. de Chaponay orders the +apartments to be opened; they immediately shut them up, purposely to +let the sappers break through the doors with their axes."--Everything is +pillaged, "plate, assignats, stocks of linen, laces and other articles; +the trees of the avenues are hacked and mutilated; the cellars are +emptied, the casks are rolled out on the terrace, the wine is suffered +to run out, and the chateau keep is demolished. . . . The officers urge +on those that are laggard." Towards nine o'clock in the evening M. de +Chaponay is informed by his servants that the municipal authorities have +determined upon forcing him to sign an abandonment of his feudal dues +and afterwards beheading him. He escapes with his wife through the only +door which is left unguarded, wanders about all night, exposed to the +gun-shots of the squads which are on his track, and reaches Lyons only +on the following day.--Meanwhile the pillagers send him notice that if +he does not abandon his rentals, they will cut down his forests and +burn up everything on his estate. The chateau, indeed, is fired three +distinct times, while, in the interval, the band sack another chateau at +Bayere, and, on again passing by that of M. de Chaponay, demolish a +dam which had cost 10,000 livres.--The public prosecutor, for his part, +remains quiet, notwithstanding the appeals to him: he doubtless says to +himself that a gentleman whose house has been searched is lucky to have +saved his life, and that others, like M. Guillin-Dumoutet, for example, +have not been as fortunate. + +The latter gentleman, formerly captain of a vessel belonging to the +India Company, afterwards Commandant at Senegal, now retired from active +life, occupied his chateau of Poleymieux with his young wife and two +infant children, his sisters, nieces, and sister-in-law--in all, ten +women belonging to his family and domestic service--one Negro servant +and himself; an old man of sixty years of age; here is a haunt of +militant conspirators which must be disarmed as soon as possible.[3315] +Unfortunately, a brother of M. Guillin, accused of treason to the +nation, had been arrested ten months previously, which was quite +sufficient for the clubs in the neighborhood. In the month of December, +1790, the chateau had already been ransacked by the people of the +parishes in the vicinity: nothing was found, and the Department first +censured and afterwards interdicted these arbitrary searches. On this +occasion they will manage things better.--On the 26th of June, 1791, at +ten o'clock in the morning, the municipal body of Poleymicux, along with +two other bodies in their scarves, and three hundred National Guards, +are seen approaching, under the usual pretext of searching for arms. +Madame Guillin presents herself; reminds them of the interdict of the +Department, and demands the legal order under which they act. They +refuse to give it. M. Guillin descends in his turn and offers to open +his doors to them if they will produce the order. They have no order +to show him. During the colloquy a certain man named Rosier, a former +soldier who had deserted twice, and who is now in command of the +National Guard, seizes M. Guillin by the throat; the old captain defends +himself; presents a pistol at the man, which misses fire, and then, +throwing the fellow off, withdraws into the house, closing the door +behind him.--Soon after this, the tocsin sounds in the neighborhood, +thirty parishes start up, and two thousand men arrive. Madame Guillin, +by entreaties, succeeds in having delegates appointed, chosen by the +crowd, to inspect the chateau. These delegates examine the apartments, +and declare that they can find nothing but the arms ordinarily kept on +hand. This declaration is of no effect: the multitude, whose excitement +is increased by waiting, feel their strength, and have no idea of +returning empty-handed. A volley is fired, and the chateau windows +are riddled with balls. As a last effort Madame Guillin, with her two +children in her arms, comes out, and going to the municipal officers, +calls upon them to do their duty. Far from doing this they retain her +as a hostage, and place her in such a position that, if there is firing +from the chateau, she may receive the bullets. Meanwhile, the doors are +forced, the house is pillaged from top to bottom, and then set on fire; +M. Guillin, who seeks refuge in the keep, is almost reached by the +flames. At this moment, some of the assailants, less ferocious than +the rest, prevail upon him to descend, and they answer for his life. +Scarcely has he shown himself when others fall on him; they cry that he +must be killed, that he has a life-rent of 36,000 francs from the State, +and "this will be so much saved for the nation." "He is hacked to pieces +alive;" his head is cut off and borne upon a pike; his body is cut up, +and sent piece by piece to each parish; several wash their hands in his +blood, and besmear their faces with it. It seems as if tumult, clamor, +incendiarism, robbery, and murder had aroused in them not only the cruel +instincts of the savage, but the carnivorous appetites of the brute; +some of them, seized by the gendarmerie at Chasselay, had roasted the +dead man's arm and dined upon it.[3316]--Madame Guillin, who is saved +through the compassion of two of the inhabitants of the place, succeeds, +after encountering many dangers, in reaching Lyons; she and her children +lost everything, "the chateau, its dependencies, the crop of the +preceding year, wine, grain, furniture, plate, ready money, assignats, +notes, and contracts." Ten days later, the department gives notice to +the National Assembly that "similar projects are still being plotted and +arranged, and that there are (always) threats of burning chateaux and +rent-rolls;" that no doubt of this can possibly exist: "the inhabitants +of the country only await the opportunity, to renew these scenes of +horror."[3317] + + + + +IV.--The nobles obliged to leave the rural districts. + + They take refuge in towns.--The dangers they incur.--The + eighty-two gentlemen of Caen + +Amidst these multiplied and reviving Jacqueries there is nothing left +but flight, and the nobles, driven out of the rural districts, seek +refuge in the towns. But here also a jacquerie awaits them. As the +effects of the Constitution are developed, successive administrations +become feebler and more partial; the unbridled populace has become +more excitable and more violent; the enthroned club has become more +suspicious and more despotic. Henceforth the club, through or in +opposition to the administrative bodies, leads the populace, and the +nobles will find it as hostile as the peasants. All their reunions, +even when liberal, are closed like that in Paris, through the illegal +interference of mobs, or through the iniquitous action of the popular +magistrates. All their associations, even when legal and salutary, are +broken up by brute force or by municipal intolerance, They are punished +for having thought of defending themselves, and slaughtered because they +try to avoid assassination.--Three or four hundred gentlemen, who +were threatened on their estates, sought refuge with their families in +Caen;[3318] and they trusted to find one there, for, by three different +resolutions, the municipal body promised them aid and protection. +Unfortunately, the club thinks otherwise, and, on August 23, 1791, +prints and posts up a list of their names and residences, declaring that +since "their suspected opinions have compelled them to abandon the rural +districts," they are emigrants in the interior;" from which it follows +that "their conduct must be scrupulously watched," because "it may be +the effect of some dangerous plot against the country." Fifteen are +especially designated; among others "the former cure of Saint-Loup, the +great bloodhound of the aristocrats, and all of them very suspicious +persons, harboring the worst intentions."--Thus denounced and singled +out, it is evident that they can no longer sleep peacefully: moreover, +now that their addresses are published, they are openly threatened with +domiciliary visits and violence. As to the administrative authorities, +their intervention cannot be expected on; the department itself gives +notice to the minister that, as the law stands, it cannot put the +chateau in the hands of the regulars,[3319] as this would, it is said, +excite the National Guard. Besides, how without an army is this post to +be wrested from the hands which hold it? It is impossible with only the +resources which the Constitution affords us." Thus, in the defense of +the oppressed, the Constitution is a dead letter.--Hence it is that the +refugees, finding protection only in themselves, undertake to help +each other. No association can be more justifiable, more pacific, more +innocent. Its object is "to demand the execution of the laws constantly +violated, and to protect persons and property." In each quarter they +will try to bring together "all good citizens;" they will form a +committee of eight members, and, in each committee, there will always +be "an officer of justice or a member of the administrative body with +an officer or subaltern of the National Guard." Should any citizen be +attacked in person or property the association will draw up a petition +in his favor. Should any particular act of violence require the +employment of public force, the members of the district will assemble +under the orders of the officer of justice and of the National Guard +to enforce obedience. "In all possible cases" they "will avoid with the +greatest care any insult of individuals; they will consider that +the object of the meeting is solely to ensure public peace, and that +protection from the law to which every citizen is entitled."--In short, +they are volunteer constables. Turn the inquiry which way they will, +a hostile municipality and a prejudiced tribunal can put no other +construction upon it; they find nothing else. The only evidence against +one of the leaders is a letter in which he tries to prevent a gentleman +from going to Coblentz, striving to prove to him that he will be more +useful at Caen. The principal evidence against the association is that +of a townsman whom they wished to enroll, and of whom they demanded his +opinions. He had stated that he was in favor of the execution of the +laws; upon which they told him: "In this case you belong to us, and +are more of an aristocrat than you think you are. Their aristocracy, in +effect, consists wholly in the suppression of brigandage. No claim is +more unpalatable, because it interposes an obstacle to the arbitrary +acts of a party which thinks it has a right to do as it pleases. On +the 4th of October the regiment of Aunis left the town, and all good +citizens were handed over to the militia, "in uniform or not," they +alone being armed. That day, for the first time in a long period, M. +Bunel, the former cure of Saint-Jean, with the consent and assistance of +his sworn successor, officiates at the mass. There is a large gathering +of the orthodox, which causes uneasiness among the patriots. The +following day M. Bunel is to say mass again; whereupon, through the +municipal authorities, the patriots forbid him to officiate, to which he +submits. Nevertheless, for lack of due notice, a crowd of the faithful +have arrived and the church is filled. A dangerous mob! The patriots +and National Guards arrive "to preserve order," which has not been +disturbed, and which they alone disturb. Threatening words are exchanged +between the servants of the nobles and the National Guard. The latter +draw their swords, and a young man is hewn down and trampled on; M. de +Saffrey, who comes to his assistance unarmed, is himself cut down and +pierced with bayonets, and two others are wounded.--Meanwhile, in a +neighboring street, M. Achard de Vagogne, seeing a man maltreated by +armed men, approaches, in order to make peace. The man is shot down +and M. Achard is covered with saber and bayonet gashes: "there is not a +thread on him which is not dyed with the blood that ran down even into +his shoes." In this condition he is led to the chateau along with M. de +Saifrey. Others break down the door of the house of M. du Rosel, an old +officer of seventy-five years, of which fifty-nine have been passed in +the service, and pursue him even over the wall of his garden. A fourth +squad seizes M. d'Hericy, another venerable officer, who, like M. du +Rosel, was ignorant of all that was going on, and was quietly leaving +for his country seat.--The town is full of tumult, and, through the +orders of the municipal authorities, the general alarm is sounded. + +The time for the special constables to act has come; about sixty +gentlemen, with a number of merchants and artisans, set out. According +to the rules of their association, and with significant scruple, they +beg an Officer of the National Guard, who happens to be passing, to put +himself at their head; they reach the Place Saint-Sauveur, encounter the +superior officer sent after them by the municipal authorities, and, at +his first command, follow him to the Hotel-de-Ville. On reaching this, +without any resistance on their part, they are arrested, disarmed, and +searched. The rules and regulations of their league are found on their +persons; they are evidently hatching a counter-revolution. The uproar +against them is terrible. "To keep them safe," they are conducted to the +chateau, while many of them are cruelly treated on the way by the +crowd. Others, seized in their houses--M. Levaillant and a servant of M. +d'Hericy--are carried off bleeding and pierced with bayonets. Eighty-two +prisoners are thus collected, while fears are constantly entertained +that they may escape. "Their bread and meat are cut up into little +pieces, to see that nothing is concealed therein; the surgeons, who are +likewise treated as aristocrats, are denied access to them." Nocturnal +visits are, at the same time, paid to their houses; every stranger is +ordered to present himself at the Hotel-de-Ville, to state why he comes +to the town to reside, and to give up his arms; every nonjuring priest +is forbidden to say mass. The Department, which is disposed to resist, +has its hands tied and confesses its powerlessness. "The people," it +writes, "know their strength: they know that we have no power; excited +by disreputable citizens, they permit whatever serves their passions or +their interests; they influence our deliberations, and force us to those +which, under other circumstances, we should carefully avoid."--Three +days after this the victors celebrate their triumph "with drums, music, +and lighted torches; the people are using hammers to destroy on the +mansions the coats-of-arms which had previously been covered over with +plaster;" the defeat of the aristocrats is accomplished.--And yet their +innocence is so clearly manifest that the Legislative Assembly itself +cannot help recognizing it. After eleven weeks of durance the order is +given to set them free, with the exception of two, a youth of less +than eighteen years and an old man, almost an octogenarian, on whom two +letters, misunderstood, still leave a shadow of suspicion.--But it is +not certain that the people are disposed to give them up. The National +Guard refuses to discharge them in open daylight and serve as their +escort. Even the evening before numerous groups of women, a few men +mingled with them, talk of murdering all those fellows the moment they +set foot outside the chateau." They have to be let out at two o'clock +in the morning, secretly, under a strong guard, and to leave the town +at once as six months before they left the rural districts.--Neither in +country nor in the town[3320] are they under the protection of civil +or religious law; a gentleman, who is not compromised in the affair, +remarks that their situation is worse than that of Protestants and +vagabonds during the worst years of the Ancient Regime of them and who +abuse the use of them? Why should one be on an equality for purposes of +payment, and distinguished? + +"Does not the law allow (nonjuring) priests the liberty of saying mass? +Why then can we not listen to their mass except at the risk of our +lives? Does not the law command all citizens to preserve the public +peace? Why then are those whom the cry to arms has summoned forth to +maintain public order assailed as aristocrats? Why is the refuge of +citizens which the laws have declared sacred, violated without orders, +without accusation, without any appearance of wrong-doing? Why are all +prominent citizens and those who are well off disarmed in preference to +others? Are weapons exclusively made for those but lately deprived only +for purposes of annoyance and insult?" + +He has spoken right. Those who now rule form an aristocracy in +an inverse sense, contrary to the law, and yet more contrary to +nature.[3321] For, by a violent inversion, the lower grades in the +graduated scale of civilization and culture now are found uppermost, +while the superior grades are found at the uniform. The Constitution +having suppressed inequality, this has again arisen in an inverse sense. +The populace, both of town and country, taxes, imprisons, pillages, and +slays more arbitrarily, more brutally, more unjustly than feudal barons, +and for its serfs or villains it has its ancient chieftains. + + + + +V.--Persecutions in private life. + +Let us suppose that, in order not to excite suspicion, they are +content to be without arms, to form no more associations, not to attend +elections, to shut themselves up at home, to strictly confine themselves +within the harmless precincts of domestic life. The same distrust, the +same animosity, still pursues them there.--At Cahors,[3322] where +the municipal authorities, in spite of the law, had just expelled the +Carthusians who, under legal sanction, chose to remain and live +in common, two of the monks, before their departure, give to M. de +Beaumont, their friend and neighbor, four dwarf pear-trees and some +onions in blossom in their garden. On the strength of this, the +municipal body decree that + +"the sieur Louis de Beaumont, formerly count, is guilty of having +audaciously and maliciously damaged national property," condemns him +to pay a fine of three hundred livres, and orders "that the four +pear-trees, pulled up in the so-called Carthusian garden, be brought on +the following day, Wednesday, to the door of the said sieur de Beaumont, +and there remain for four consecutive days, guarded, day and night, by +two fusiliers, at the expense of the said sieur de Beaumont; and upon +the said trees shall be placed the following inscription, to wit: +Louis de Beaumont, destroyer of the national property. And the judgment +herewith rendered shall be printed to the number of one thousand +copies, read, published, and posted at the expense of the said sieur +de Beaumont, and duly addressed throughout the department of Lot to the +districts and municipalities thereof, as well as to all societies of the +Friends of the Constitution and of Liberty." + +Every line of this legal invective discloses the malignant envy of +the local recorder, who revenges himself for having formerly bowed too +low.--The following year, M. de Beaumont, having formally and under +notarial sanction bought a church which was sold by the district, along +with the ornaments and objects of worship it contained, the mayor and +municipal officers, followed by a lot of workmen, come and carry away +and destroy everything--confessionals, altars, and even the saint's +canonised body, which had been interred for one hundred and fifty years: +so that, after their departure, "the edifice resembled a vast barn +filled with ruins and rubbish."[3323] It must be noted that, at this +very time, M. de Beaumont is military commandant at Perigord. The +treatment he undergoes shows what is in reserve for ordinary nobles. I +do not recommend them to attend official sales of property.[3324]--Will +they even be free in their domestic enjoyments, and on entering a +drawing-room are they sure of quietly passing an evening there?--At +Paris, even, a number of persons of rank, among them the ambassadors +of Denmark and Venice, are listening to a concert in a mansion in the +Faubourg Saint-Honore given by a foreign virtuoso, when a cart enters +the court loaded with fifty bundles of hay, the monthly supply for the +horses. A patriot, who sees the cart driven in, imagines that the King +is concealed underneath the hay, and that he has come there for the +purpose of plotting with the aristocrats about his flight. A mob +gathers, and the National Guard arrives, along with a commissioner, +while four grenadiers stand guard around the cart. The commissioner, +in the meantime, inspects the hotel; he sees music-stands, and the +arrangements for a supper; comes back, has the cart unloaded, and states +to the people that he has found nothing suspicious. The people do not +believe him, and demand a second inspection. This is made by twenty-four +delegates; the bundles of hay, moreover, are counted, and several of +them are unbound, but all in vain. Disappointed and irritated, having +anticipated a spectacle, the crowd insists that all the invited guests, +men and women, should leave the house on foot, and only get into +their carriages at the end of the street. "First comes a file of empty +carriages;" next, "all the guests in their evening attire, and the +ladies in full dress, trembling with fear, with downcast eyes, between +two rows of men, women, and children, who stare them in the face, and +overwhelm them with insults."[3325] + +Suspected of holding secret meetings, and called to account in his own +house, has the noble at least the right to frequent a public saloon, +to eat in a restaurant, and to take the fresh air in a balcony?--The +Vicomte de Mirabeau, who has just dined in the Palais-Royal, stands at +the window to take the air, and is recognized; there is a +gathering, and the cry is soon heard, "Down with Mirabeau-Tonneau +(barrel-Mirabeau)!"[3326] "Gravel is flung at him from all sides, and +occasionally stones. One of the window-panes is broken by a stone. +Immediately picking up the stone, he shows it to the crowd, and, at +the same time, quietly places it on the sill of the window, in token of +moderation." There is a loud outcry; his friends force him to withdraw +inside, and Bailly, the mayor, comes in person to quiet the aggressors. +In this case there are good reasons for their hatred. The gentleman +whom they stone is a bon-vivant, large and fat, fond of rich epicurean +Suppers; and on this account the populace imagine him to be a monster, +and even worse, an ogre. With regard to these nobles, whose greatest +misfortune is to be over-polished and too worldly, the over-excited +imagination revives its old nursery tales.--M. de Montlosier, living in +the Rue Richelieu, finds that he is watched on his way to the National +Assembly. One woman especially, from thirty to thirty-two years of age, +who sold meat at a stall in the Passage Saint-Guillaume, "regarded him +with special attention. As soon as she saw him coming she took up a +long, broad knife which she sharpened before him, casting furious looks +at him." He asks his housekeeper what this means. Two children of that +quarter have disappeared, carried off by gipsies, and the report is +current that M. de Montlosier, the Marquis de Mirabeau, and other +deputies of the "right," meet together "to hold orgies in which they eat +little children." + +In this state of public opinion there is no crime which is not imputed +to them, no insult which is not freely bestowed on them. "Traitors, +tyrants, conspirators, assassins," such is the current vocabulary of +the clubs and newspapers in relation to them. "Aristocrat" signifies +all this, and whoever dares to refute the calumny is himself an +aristocrat.--At the Palais-Royal, it is constantly repeated that M. de +Castries, in his last duel, made use of a poisoned sword, and an officer +of the navy who protests against this false report is himself accused, +tried on the spot, and condemned "to be shut up in the guard-house or +thrown into the fountain."[3327]--The nobles must beware of defending +their honor in the usual way and of meeting an insult with a challenge! +At Castelnau, near Cahors,[3328] one of those who, the preceding year, +marched against the incendiaries, M. de Bellud, Knight of Saint-Louis, +on coming down the public square with his brother, a guardsman, is +greeted with cries of "The aristocrat! to the lamp post!" His brother is +in a morning coat and slippers, and not wishing to get into trouble they +do not reply. A squad of the National Guard, passing by, repeats the +cry, but they still remain silent. The shout continues, and M. de +Bellud, after some time has elapsed, begs the captain to order his men +to be quiet. He refuses, and M. de Bellud demands satisfaction outside +the town. At these words the National Guards rush at M. de Bellud with +fixed bayonets. His brother receives a saber-cut on the neck, while he, +defending himself with his sword, slightly wounds the captain and one +of the men. The two brothers, alone against the whole body, fight on, +retreating to their house, in which they are blockaded. Towards seven +o'clock in the evening, two or three hundred National Guards from +Cahors arrive to reinforce the besiegers. The house is taken, and +the guardsman, escaping across the fields, sprains his ankle and is +captured. M. de Bellud, who has found his way into another house, +continues to defend himself there: the house is set on fire and burnt, +together with two others alongside of it. Taking refuge in a cellar he +still keeps on firing. Bundles of lighted straw are thrown in at the +air-holes. Almost suffocated, he springs out, kills his first assailant +with a shot from one pistol, and himself with another. His head is cut +off with that of his servant. The guardsman is made to kiss the two +heads, and, on his demanding a glass of water, they fill his mouth +with the blood which drops from the severed head of his brother. The +victorious gang then set out for Cahors, with the two heads stuck on +bayonets, and the guardsman in a cart. It comes to a halt before a house +in which a literary circle meets, suspected by the Jacobin club. The +wounded man is made to descend from the cart and is hung: his body is +riddled with balls, and everything the house contains is broken up, +"the furniture is thrown out of the windows, and the house pulled +down."--Every popular execution is of this character, at once prompt and +complete, similar to those of an Oriental monarch who, on the instant, +without inquiry or trial, avenges his offended majesty, and for +every offense, knows no other punishment than death. At Tulle, M. de +Massy,[3329] lieutenant of the "Royal Navarre," having struck a man that +insulted him, is seized in the house in which he took refuge, and, in +spite of the three administrative bodies, is at once massacred.--At +Brest, two anti-revolutionary caricatures having been drawn with +charcoal on the walls of the military coffee-house, the excited crowd +lay the blame of it on the officers; one of these, M. Patry, takes it +upon himself, and, on the point of being torn to pieces, attempts to +kill himself. He is disarmed, but, when the municipal authorities come +to his assistance, they find him "already dead through an infinite +number of wounds," and his head is borne about on the end of a +pike.[3330]-- + + + + +VI.--Conduct of officers. + + Their self-sacrifice.--Disposition of the soldiery. + --Military outbreaks.--Spread and increase of + insubordination.--Resignation of the officers. + +Much better would it be to live under an Eastern king, for he is not +found everywhere, nor always furious and mad, like the populace. Nowhere +are the nobles safe, neither in public nor in private life, neither in +the country nor in the towns, neither associated together nor separate. +Popular hostility hangs over them like a dark and threatening cloud from +one end of the territory to the other, and the tempest bursts upon them +in a continuous storm of vexations, outrages, calumnies, robberies, and +acts of violence; here, there, and almost daily, bloody thunderbolts +fall haphazard on the most inoffensive heads, on an old man asleep, on a +Knight of Saint-Louis taking a walk, on a family at prayers in a church. +But, in this aristocracy, crushed down in some places and attacked +everywhere, the thunderbolt finds one predestined group which attracts +it and on which it constantly falls, and that is the corps of officers. + + + + +VI.--Conduct of the officers. + + Their self-sacrifice.--Disposition of the soldiery. + --Military outbreaks.--Spread and increase of + insubordination.--Resignation of the officers. + +With the exception of a few fops, frequenters of drawing-rooms, and the +court favorites who have reached a high rank through the intrigues of +the antechamber, it was in this group, especially in the medium ranks, +that true moral nobility was then found. Nowhere in France was there so +much tried, substantial merit. A man of genius, who associated with +them in his youth, rendered them this homage: many among them are +men possessing "the most amiable characters and minds of the highest +order."[3331] Indeed, for most of them, military service was not a +career of ambition, but an obligation of birth. It was the rule in each +noble family for the eldest son to enter the army, and advancement was +of but little consequence. He discharged the debt of his rank; this +sufficed for him, and, after twenty or thirty years of service, the +order of Saint-Louis, and sometimes a meager pension, were all he had +a right to expect. Amongst nine or ten thousand officers, the great +majority coming from the lower and poorer class of provincial nobles, +body-guards, lieutenants, captains, majors, lieutenant-colonels, and +even colonels, have no other pretension. Satisfied with favors[3332] +restricted to their subordinate rank, they leave the highest grades of +the service to the heirs of the great families, to the courtiers or to +the parvenus at Versailles, and content themselves with remaining the +guardians of public order, and the brave defenders of the State. Under +this system, when the heart is not depraved it becomes exalted; it is +made a point of honor to serve without compensation; there is nothing +but the public welfare in view, and all the more because, at this +moment, it is the absorbing topic of all minds and of all literature. +Nowhere has practical philosophy, that which consists in a spirit +of abnegation, more deeply penetrated than among this unrecognized +nobility. Under a polished, brilliant, and sometimes frivolous exterior, +they have a serious soul; the old sentiment of honor is converted +into one of patriotism. Set to execute the laws, with force in hand to +maintain peace through fear, they feel the importance of their mission, +and, for two years, fulfill its duties with extraordinary moderation, +gentleness, and patience, not only at the risk of their lives, but +amidst great and multiplied humiliations, through the sacrifice of their +authority and self-esteem, through the subjection of their intelligent +will to the dictation and incapacity of the masters imposed upon them. +For a noble officer to respond to the requisitions of an extemporized +bourgeois municipal body,[3333] to subordinate his competence, courage, +and prudence to the blunders and alarms of five or six inexperienced, +frightened, and timid attorneys, to place his energy and daring at the +service of their presumption, feebleness, and lack of decision, +even when their orders or refusal of orders are manifestly absurd or +injurious, even when they are opposed to the previous instructions of +his general or of his minister, even when they end in the plundering +of a market, the burning of a chateau, the assassination of an innocent +person, even when they impose upon him the obligation of witnessing +crime with his sword sheathed and arms folded,[3334]--this is a hard +task. It is hard for the noble officer to see independent, popular, and +bourgeois troops organized in the face of his own troops, rivals and +even hostile, in any case ten times as numerous and no less exacting +than sensitive--hard to be expected to show them deference and extend +civilities to them, to surrender to them posts, arsenals, and citadels, +to treat their chiefs as equals, however ignorant or unworthy, and +whatever they may be--here a lawyer, there a Capuchin, elsewhere a +brewer or a shoemaker, most generally some demagogue, and, in many a +town or village, some deserter or soldier drummed out of his regiment +for bad conduct, perhaps one of the noble's own men, a scamp whom he has +formerly discharged with the yellow cartridge, telling him to go and +be hung elsewhere. It is hard for the noble officer to be publicly and +daily calumniated on account of his rank and title, to be characterized +as a traitor at the club and in the newspapers, to be designated by +name as an object of popular suspicion and fury, to be hooted at in the +streets and in the theater, to submit to the disobedience of his men, to +be denounced, insulted, arrested, fleeced, hunted down and slaughtered +by them and by the populace, to see before him a cruel, ignoble, and +unavenged death--that of M. de Launay, murdered at Paris--that of M. +de Belzunce, murdered at Caen--that of M. de Beausset, murdered at +Marseilles--that of M. de Voisins, murdered at Valence--that of M. de +Rully, murdered at Bastia, or that of M. de Rochetailler, murdered at +Port-au-Prince.[3335] All this is endured by the officers among the +nobles. Not one of the municipalities, even Jacobin, can find any +pretext which will warrant the charge of disobeying orders. Through tact +and deference they avoid all conflict with the National Guards. Never +do they give provocation, and, even when insulted, rarely defend +themselves. Their gravest faults consist of imprudent conversations, +vivacious expressions and witticisms. Like good watch-dogs amongst a +frightened herd which trample them under foot, or pierce them with +their horns, they allow themselves to be pierced and trampled on without +biting, and would remain at their post to the end were they not driven +away from it. + +All to no purpose: doubly suspicious as members of a proscribed class, +and as heads of the army, it is against them that public distrust +excites the most frequent explosions, and so much the more as the +instrument they handle is singularly explosive. Recruited by volunteer +enlistment "amongst a passionate, turbulent, and somewhat debauched +people," the army is composed of "all that are most fiery, most +turbulent, and most debauched in the nation."[3336] Add to these the +sweepings of the alms-houses, and you find a good many blackguards +in uniform! When we consider that the pay is small, the food bad, +discipline severe, no promotion, and desertion endemic, we are no longer +surprised at the general disorder: license, to such men, is too powerful +a temptation. With wine, women, and money they have from the first +been made turncoats, and from Paris the contagion has spread to +the provinces. In Brittany,[3337] the grenadiers and chasseurs of +Ile-de-France "sell their coats, their guns, and their shoes, exacting +advances in order to consume it in the tavern;" fifty-six soldiers of +Penthievre "wanted to murder their officers," and it is foreseen that, +left to themselves, they will soon, for lack of pay, "betake themselves +to the highways, to rob and assassinate." In Euree-et-Loir, the +dragoons,[3338] with saber and pistols in hand, visit the farmers' +houses and take bread and money, while the foot soldiers of the +"Royal-Comtois" and the dragoons of the "Colonel-General" desert in +bands in order to go to Paris, where amusement is to be had. The main +thing with them is "to have a jolly time." In fact, the extensive +military insurrections of the earliest date, those of Paris, Versailles, +Besancon, and Strasbourg, began or ended with a revel.--Out of these +depths of gross desires there has sprung up natural or legitimate +ambitions. A number of soldiers, for twenty years past, have learned how +to read, and think themselves qualified to be officers. One quarter of +those enlisted, moreover, are young men born in good circumstances, and +whom a caprice has thrown into the army. They choke in this narrow, low, +dark, confined passage where the privileged by birth close up the issue, +and they will march over their chiefs to secure advancement. These are +the discontented, the disputants, the orators of the mess-room, and +between these barrack politicians and the politicians of the street an +alliance is at once formed.--Starting from the same point they march on +to the same end, and the imagination which has labored to blacken the +Government in the minds of the people, blackens the officers in the +minds of the soldiers. + +The Treasury is empty and there are arrears of pay. The towns, burdened +with debt, no longer furnish their quotas of supplies; and at Orleans, +with the distress of the municipality before them, the Swiss of +Chateauvieux were obliged to impose on themselves a stoppage of one sou +per day and per man to have wood in winter.[3339] Grain is scarce, the +flour is spoilt, and the army bread, which was bad, has become worse. +The administration, worm-eaten by old abuses, is deranged through the +new disorder, the soldiers suffering as well through its dissolution +as through their extravagance.--They think themselves robbed and +they complain, at first with moderation; and justice is done to their +well-founded claims. Soon they exact accounts, and these are made out +for them. At Strasbourg, on these being verified before Kellermann and +a commissioner of the National Assembly, it is proved that they have not +been wronged out of a sou; nevertheless a gratification of six francs a +head is given to them, and they cry out that they are content and have +nothing more to ask for. A few months after this fresh complaints arise, +and there is a new verification: an ensign, accused of embezzlement and +whom they wished to hang, is tried in their presence; his accounting is +tidy; none of them can cite against him a proven charge, and, once more, +they remain silent. On other occasions, after hearing the reading of +registers for several hours, they yawn, cease to listen, and go outside +to get something to drink.--But the figures of their demands, as these +have been summed up by their mess-room calculators, remain implanted in +their brains; they have taken root there, and are constantly springing +up without any account or refutation being able to extirpate them. No +more writings nor speeches--what they want is money: 11,000 livres for +the Beaune regiment, 39,500 livres for that of Forez, 44,000 livres for +that of Salm, 200,000 livres for that of Chateauvieux, and similarly for +the rest. So much the worse for the officers if the money-chest does not +suffice for them; let them assess each other, or borrow on their note +of hand from the municipality, or from the rich men of the town.--For +greater security, in divers places, the soldiers take possession of the +military chest and mount guard around it: it belongs to them, since they +form the regiment, and, in any case, it is better that it should be in +their hands than in suspected hands.--Already, on the 4th of June, 1790, +the Minister of War announces to the Assembly that "the military body +threatens to fall into a perfect state of anarchy." His report shows +"the most incredible pretensions put forth in the most plain-spoken +way--orders without force, chiefs without authority, the military chest +and flags carried away, the orders of the King himself openly defied, +the officers condemned, insulted, threatened, driven off; some of them +even captive amidst their own troops, leading a precarious life in +the midst of disgust and humiliations, and, as the climax of horror, +commanders having their throat cut under the eyes and almost in the arms +of their own soldiers." + +It is much worse after the July Federation. Entertained, flattered, +and indoctrinated at the clubs, their delegates, inferior officers and +privates, return to the regiment Jacobins; and henceforth correspond +with the Jacobins of Paris, "receiving their instructions and reporting +to them,"[3340]--Three weeks later, the Minister of War gives notice to +the National Assembly that there is no limit to the license in the army. +"Couriers, the bearers of fresh complaints, are arriving constantly." +In one place "a statement of the fund is demanded, and it is proposed to +divide it." Elsewhere, a garrison, with drums beating, leaves the town, +deposes its officers, and comes back sword in hand. Each regiment is +governed by a committee of soldiers. "It is in this committee that the +detention of the lieutenant-colonel of Poitou has been twice arranged; +here it is that 'Royal-Champagne' conceived the insurrection" by which +it refused to recognize a sub-lieutenant sent to it. "Every day +the minister's cabinet is filled with soldiers who are sent as +representatives to him, and who proudly come and intimate to him the +will of their constituents." Finally, at Strasbourg, seven regiments, +each represented by three delegates, formed a military congress. +The same month, the terrible insurrection of Nancy breaks out--three +regiments in revolt, the populace with them, the arsenal pillaged, three +hours of furious fighting in the streets, the insurgents firing from the +windows of the houses and from the cellar openings, five hundred +dead among the victors, and three thousand among the vanquished.--The +following month, and for six weeks,[3341] there is another insurrection, +less bloody, but more extensive, better arranged and more obstinate, +that of the whole squadron at Brest, a mutiny of twenty thousand men, +at first against their admiral and their officers, then against the new +penal code and against the National Assembly itself. The latter, +after remonstrating in vain, is obliged not only not to take rigorous +measures, but again to revise its laws.[3342] + +From this time forth, I cannot enumerate the constant outbreaks in the +fleet and in the army.--Authorized by the minister, the soldier goes +to the club, where he is repeatedly told that his officers, being +aristocrats, are traitors. At Dunkirk, he is additionally taught how to +get rid of them. Clamors, denunciations, insults, musket-shots--these +are the natural means, and they are put in practice: but there is +another, recently discovered, by which an energetic officer of whom they +are afraid may be driven away. Some patriotic bully is found who comes +and insults him. If the officer fights and is not killed, the municipal +authorities have him arraigned, and his chiefs send him off along with +his seconds "in order not to disturb the harmony between the soldier and +the citizen." If he declines the proposed duel, the contempt of his men +obliges him to quit the regiment. In either case he is got out of the +way.[3343]--They have no scruples in relation to him. Present or absent, +a noble officer must certainly be plotting with his emigrant companions; +and on this a story is concocted. Formerly, to prove that sacks of flour +were being thrown into the river, the soldiers alleged that these sacks +were tied with blue cords (cordons bleus). Now, to confirm the belief +that an officer is conspiring with Coblentz, it suffices to state that +he rides a white horse; a certain captain, at Strasbourg, barely escapes +being cut to pieces for this crime; "the devil could not get it out of +their heads that he was acting as a spy, and that the little grey-hound" +which accompanies him on his rides "is used to make signals. "--One year +after, at the time when the National Assembly completes its work, M. +de Lameth, M. Freteau, and M. Alquier state before it that Luckner, +Rochambeau, and the most popular generals, "no longer are responsible +for anything." The Auvergne regiment has driven away its officers and +forms a separate society, which obeys no one. The second battalion of +Beaune is on the point of setting fire to Arras. It is almost necessary +to lay siege to Phalsbourg, whose garrison has mutinied. Here, +"disobedience to the general's orders is formal." There "are soldiers +who have to be urged to stand sentinel; whom they dare not put in +confinement for discipline; who threaten to fire on their officers; who +stray off the road, pillage everything, and take aim at the corporal who +tries to bring them back." At Blois, a part of the regiment "has just +arrived without either clothes or arms, the soldiers having sold all on +the road to provide for their debauchery." One among them, delegated by +his companions, proposes to the Jacobins at Paris to "de-aristocratise" +the army by cashiering all the nobles. Another declares, with the +applause of the club, that "seeing how the palisades of Givet are +constructed, he is going to denounce the Minister of War at the tribunal +of the sixth arrondissement of Paris." + +It is manifest that, for noble officers, the situation is no longer +tenable. After waiting patiently for twenty-three months, many of them +left through conscientiousness, when the National Assembly, forcing a +third oath upon them, struck out of the formula the name of the King, +their born general.[3344]--Others depart at the end of the Constituent +Assembly, "because they risk being hung." A large number resign at the +end of 1791 and during the first months of 1792, in proportion as +the new code and the new recruiting system for the army develop their +results.[3345] In fact, on the one hand, through the soldiers and +inferior officers having a voice in the election of their chiefs and +a seat in the military courts, "there is no longer the shadow of +discipline; verdicts are given from pure caprice; the soldier contracts +the habit of despising his superiors, of whose punishments he has no +fear, and from whom he expects no reward; the officers are paralyzed +to such a degree as to become entirely superfluous personages." On the +other hand, the majority of the National Volunteers are composed of "men +bought by the communes" and administrative bodies, worthless characters +of the street-corners, rustic vagabonds forced to march by lot or +bribery,"[3346] and along with them, enthusiasts and fanatics to such an +extent that, from March, 1792, from the spot of their enlistment to +the frontier, their track is everywhere marked by pillage, robbery, +devastation, and assassinations. Naturally, on the road and at the +frontier, they denounce, drive away, imprison, or murder their officers, +and especially the nobles. 3/4 And yet, in this extremity, numbers of +noble officers, especially in the artillery and engineer corps, persist +in remaining at their posts, some through liberal ideas, and others out +of respect for their instructions; even after the 10th of August, even +after the 2nd of September, even after the 21st of January, like their +generals Biron, Custine, de Flers, de Broglie, and de Montesquiou, with +the constant perspective of the guillotine that awaits them on leaving +the battlefield and even in the ministerial offices of Carnot. + + + + +VII.--Emigration and its causes. + + The first laws against the emigrants. + +It is, accordingly, necessary that the officers and nobles should go +away, should go abroad; and not only they, but also their families. +"Gentlemen who have scarcely six hundred livres income set out on +foot,"[3347] and there is no doubt as to the motive of their departure. +"Whoever will impartially consider the sole and veritable causes of +the emigration," says an honest man, "will find them in anarchy. If the +liberty of the individual had not been daily threatened, if;" in the +civil as in the military order of things, "the senseless dogma, preached +by the factions, that crimes committed by the mob are the judgments of +heaven, had not been put in practice, France would have preserved three +fourths of her fugitives. Exposed for two years to ignominious dangers, +to every species of outrage, to innumerable persecutions, to the steel +of the assassin, to the firebrands of incendiaries, to the most +infamous charges, 'to the denouncement of' their corrupted domestics, +to domiciliary visits" prompted by the commonest street rumor, "to +arbitrary imprisonment by the Committee of Inquiry," deprived of their +civil rights, driven out of primary meetings, "they are held accountable +for their murmurs, and punished for a sensibility which would touch the +heart in a suffering criminal."--" Resistance is nowhere seen; from +the prince's throne to the parsonage of the priest, the tempest has +prostrated all malcontents in resignation." Abandoned "to the restless +fury of the clubs, to informers, to intimidated officials, they find +executioners on all sides where prudence and the safety of the State +have enjoined them not even to see enemies. . . . Whoever has detested +the enormities of fanaticism and of public ferocity, whoever has +awarded pity to the victims heaped together under the ruins of so many +legitimate rights and odious abuses, whoever, finally, has dared to +raise a doubt or a complaint, has been proclaimed an enemy of +the nation. After this representation of malcontents as so many +conspirators, every crime committed against them has been legitimated in +public opinion.[3348] The public conscience, formed by the factions +and by that band of political corsairs who would be the disgrace of a +barbarous nation, have considered attacks against property and towns +simply as national justice, while, more than once, the news of the +murder of an innocent person, or of a sentence which threatened him +with death, has been welcomed with shouts of joy Two systems of natural +right, two orders of justice, two standards of morality were accordingly +established; by one of these it was allowable to do against one's +fellow-creature, a reputed aristocrat, that which would be criminal if +he were a patriot. . . . Was it foreseen that, at the end of two +years, France, teeming with laws, with magistrates, with courts, with +citizen-guards, bound by solemn oaths in the defense of order and the +public safety, would still and continually be an arena in which wild +beasts would devour unarmed men "--With all, even with old men, widows +and children, it is a crime to escape from their clutches. Without +distinguishing between those who fly to avoid becoming a prey, and +those who arm to attack the frontier, the Constituent and Legislative +Assemblies alike condemn all absentees. The Constituent Assembly[3349] +trebled their real and personal taxes, and prescribed that there should +be a triple lien on their rents and dues. The Legislative Assembly +sequestrates, confiscates, and puts into the market their possessions, +real and personal, amounting to nearly fifteen hundred millions of cash +value. Let them return and place themselves under the knives of the +populace; otherwise they and their posterity shall all be beggars.--At +this stroke indignation overflows, and a bourgeois who is liberal and +a foreigner, Mallet du Pan, exclaims,[3350] "What! twenty thousand +families absolutely ignorant of the Coblentz plans and of its +assemblies, twenty thousand families dispersed over the soil of Europe +by the fury of clubs, by the crimes of brigands, by constant lack of +security, by the stupid and cowardly inertia of petrified authorities, +by the pillage of estates, by the insolence of it cohort of tyrants +without bread or clothes, by assassinations and incendiarism, by the +base servility of silent ministers, by the whole series of revolutionary +scourges,--what' these twenty thousand desolate families, women and old +men, must see their inheritances become the prey of national robbery! +What! Madame Guillin, who was obliged to fly with horror from the +land where monsters have burnt her dwelling, slaughtered and eaten +her husband, and who live with impunity by the side of her home--shall +Madame Guillin see her fortune confiscated for the benefit of the +communities to which she owes her dreadful misfortunes! Shall M. de +Clarac, under penalty of the same punishment, go and restore the ruins +of his chateau, where an army of scoundrels failed to smother him!"--So +much the worse for them if they dare not come back! They are to undergo +civil death, perpetual banishment, and, in case the ban be violated, +they will be given up to the guillotine. In the same case with them +are others who, with still greater innocence, have left the territory, +magistrates, ordinary rich people, burgesses, or peasants, Catholics, +and particularly one entire class, the nonjuring clergy, from the +cardinal archbishop down to the simple village vicar, all prosecuted, +then despoiled, then crushed by the same popular oppression and by the +same legislative oppression, each of these two persecutions exciting and +aggravating the other to such an extent that, at last, the populace and +the law, one the accomplice of the other, no longer leave a roof nor +a piece of bread, nor an hour's safety to a gentleman or to a +priest.[3351] + + + + +VIII.--Attitude of the non-juring priests. + + How they become distrusted.--Illegal arrests by local + administrations.--Violence or complicity of the National + Guards.--Outrages by the populace.--Executive power in the + south.--The sixth jacquerie.--Its two causes.--Isolated + outbreaks in the north, east, and west,--General eruption in + the south and in the center. + +The ruling passion flings itself on all obstacles, even those placed by +itself across its own track. Through a vast usurpation the minority +of non-believers, indifferent or lukewarm, has striven to impose its +ecclesiastical forms on the Catholic majority, and the situation +thereby created for the Catholic priest is such that unless he becomes +schismatic, he cannot fail to appear as an enemy. In vain has he obeyed! +He has allowed his property to be taken, he has left his parsonage, he +has given the keys of the church to his successor, he has kept aloof; +he does not transgress, either by omission or commission, any article of +any decree. In vain does he avail himself of his legal right to abstain +from taking an oath repugnant to his conscience. This alone makes him +appear to refuse the civic oath in which the ecclesiastical oath is +included, to reject the constitution which he accepts in full minus a +parasite chapter, to conspire against the new social and political order +of things which he often approves of; and to which he almost always +submits.[3352] In vain does he confine himself to his special and +recognized domain, the spiritual direction of things. Through this +alone he resists the new legislators who pretend to furnish a spiritual +guidance, for, by virtue of being orthodox, he must believe that the +priest whom they elect is excommunicated, that his sacraments are vain; +and, in his office as pastor, he must prevent his sheep from going to +drink at an impure source. In vain might he preach to them moderation +and respect. Through the mere fact that the schism is effected, its +consequences unfold them selves, and the peasants will not always remain +as patient as their pastor. They have known him for twenty years; he has +baptized them and married them; they believe that his is the only true +mass; they are not satisfied to be obliged to attend another two or +three leagues away, and to leave the church, their church which their +ancestors built, and where from father to son they have prayed for +centuries, in the hands of a stranger, an intruder and heretic, who +officiates before almost empty benches, and whom gendarmes, with guns in +their hands, have installed. Assuredly, as he passes through the street, +they will look upon him askance: it is not surprising that the women and +children soon hoot at him, that stones are thrown at night through his +windows, that in the strongly Catholic departments, Upper and Lower +Rhine, Doubs and Jura, Lozere, Deux-Sevres and Vendee, Finistere, +Morbihan, and Cotes-du-Nord, he is greeted with universal desertion, +and then expelled through public ill-will. It is not surprising that +his mass is interrupted and that his person is threatened;[3353] that +disaffection which thus far had only reached the upper class, descends +to the popular strata; that, from one end of France to the other, a +sullen hostility prevails against the new institutions; for now the +political and social constitution is joined to the ecclesiastical +constitution like an edifice to its spire, and, through this sharp +pinnacle, seeks the storm even within the darkening clouds of heaven. +The evil all springs out of this unskillful, gratuitous, compulsory +fusion, and, consequently, from those who effected it. + +But never will a victorious party admit that it has made a mistake. +In its eyes the nonjuring priests are alone culpable; it is irritated +against their factious conscience; and, to crush the rebellion even in +the inaccessible sanctuary of personal conviction, there is no legal or +brutal act of violence which it will not allow itself to commit. + +Behold, accordingly, a new sport thrown open; and the game is immensely +plentiful. For it comprises not only the black or gray robes, more than +forty thousand priests, over thirty thousand nuns, and several thousand +monks, but also the devoted orthodox, that is to say the women of the +low or middle class, and, without counting provincial nobles, a majority +of the serious, steady bourgeoisie, a majority of the peasantry-almost +the whole population of several provinces, east, west, and in the south. +A name is bestowed on them, as lately on the nobles; it is that of +fanatic, which is equivalent to aristocrat, for it also designates +public enemies likewise placed by it beyond the pale of the law. + +Little does it matter whether the law favors them, for it is interpreted +against them, arbitrarily construed and openly violated by the partial +or intimidated administrative bodies which the Constitution has +withdrawn from the control of the central authority and subjected to +the authority of popular gatherings. From the first months of 1791, +the hounding begins; the municipalities, districts, and departments +themselves often take the lead in beating up the game. Six months later, +the Legislative Assembly, by its decree of November 29,[3354] sounds the +tally-ho, and, in spite of the King's veto, the hounds on all sides dash +forward. During the month of April, 1792, forty-two departments pass +against nonjuring priests "acts which are neither prescribed nor +authorized by the Constitution," and, before the end of the Legislative +Assembly, forty-three others will have followed in their train.--Through +this series of illegal acts, without offense, without trial, non-jurors +are everywhere in France expelled from their parishes, relegated to the +principal town of the department or district, in some places imprisoned, +put on the same footing with the emigrants, and despoiled of their +property, real and personal.[3355] Nothing more is wanting against them +but the general decree of deportation which is to come as soon as the +Assembly can get rid of the King. + +In the meantime, the National Guards, who have extorted the laws, +endeavor to aggravate them in their application; and there is nothing +strange in their animosity. Commerce is at a standstill, industry +languishes, the artisan and shopkeeper suffer, and, in order to account +for the universal discontent, it is attributed to the insubordination +of the priest. Were it not for his stubbornness all would go well, since +the Constitution is perfect, and he is the only one who does not accept +it. But, in not accepting it, he attacks it. He, therefore, is the last +obstacle in the way of public happiness; he is the scapegoat, let us +drive the obnoxious creature away! And the urban militia, sometimes +on its own authority, sometimes instigated by the municipal body its +accomplice; is seen disturbing public worship, dispersing congregations, +seizing priests by the collar, pushing them by the shoulders out of +the town, and threatening them with hanging if they dare to return. +At Douay,[3356] with guns in hand, they force the directory of the +department to order the closing of all the oratories and chapels in +hospitals and convents. At Caen, with loaded guns and with a cannon, +they march forth against the neighboring parish of Verson, break into +houses, gather up fifteen persons suspected of orthodoxy--canons, +merchants, artisans, workmen, women, girls, old men, and the infirm--cut +off their hair, strike them with the but-ends of their muskets, and lead +them back to Caen fastened to the breach of the cannon; and all this +because a nonjuring priest still officiated at Verson, and many pious +persons from Caen attended his mass: Verson, consequently, is a focal +center of counter-revolutionary gatherings. Moreover, in the houses +which were broken into, the furniture was smashed, casks stove in, and +the linen, money, and plate stolen, the rabble of Caen having joined +the expedition.--Here, and everywhere, there is nothing to do but to +let this rabble have its own way; and as it operates against the +possessions, the liberty; the life, and the sense of propriety of +dangerous persons, the National Militia is careful not to interfere +with it. Consequently, the orthodox, both priests and believers, men and +women, are now at its mercy, and, thanks to the connivance of the armed +force, which refuses to interpose, the rabble satisfy on the proscribed +class its customary instincts of cruelty, pillage, wantonness, and +destructiveness. + +Whether public or private, the order of the day is always to hinder +worship, while the means employed are worthy of those who carry them +out.--Here, a nonjuring priest having had the boldness to minister to +a sick person, the house which he has just entered is taken by assault, +and the door and windows of a house occupied by another priest are +smashed.[3357] There, the lodgings of two workmen, who are accused of +having had their infants baptized by a refractory priest, are sacked and +nearly demolished. Elsewhere, a mob refuses to allow the body of an +old cure, who had died without taking the oath, to enter the cemetery. +Farther on, a church is assaulted during vespers, and everything is +broken to pieces: on the following day it is the turn of a neighboring +church, and, in addition, a convent of Ursuline nuns is devastated.--At +Lyons, on Easter-day, 1791, as the people are leaving the six o'clock +mass, a troop, armed with whips, falls upon the women.[3358] Stripped, +bruised, prostrated, with their heads in the dirt, they are not left +until they are bleeding and half-dead; one young girl is actually at the +point of death; and this sort of outrage occurs so frequently that even +ladies attending the orthodox mass in Paris dare not go out +without sewing up their garments around them in the shape of +drawers.--Naturally, to make the most of the prey offered to them, +hunting associations are formed. These exist in Montpellier, Arles, +Uzes, Alais, Nimes, Carpentras, and in most of the towns or burgs of +Gard, Vaucluse, and l'Herault, in greater or less number according to +the population of the city: some counting from ten to twelve, and others +from two to three hundred determined men, of every description: among +them are found "strike-hards" (tape-dur), former brigands, and escaped +convicts with the brand still on their backs. Some of them oblige their +members to wear a medal as a visible mark of recognition; all assume +the title of executive power, and declare that they act of their own +authority, and that it is necessary to "quicken the law."[3359] Their +pretext is the protection of sworn priests; and for twenty months, +beginning with April, 1791, they operate to this effect with heavy +knotted dubs garnished with iron points," without counting sabers and +bayonets. Generally, their expeditions are nocturnal. Suddenly, the +houses of "citizens suspected of a want of patriotism," of nonjuring +ecclesiastics, of the monks of the Christian school, are invaded; +everything is broken or stolen, and the owner is ordered to leave the +place in twenty-four hours: sometimes, doubtless through an excess of +precaution, he is beaten to death on the spot. Besides this, the band +also works by day in the streets, lashes the women, enters the churches +saber in hand, and drives the nonjuring priest from the altar. All of +this is done with the connivance and in the sight of the paralyzed +or complaisant authorities, by a sort of occult and complementary +government, which not only supplies what is missing in the +ecclesiastical law, but also searches the pockets of private +individuals.--At Nimes, under the leadership of a patriotic +dancing-master, not content with "decreeing proscriptions, killing, +scourging, and often murdering," these new champions of the Gallican +Church undertake to reanimate the zeal of those liable to contribution. +A subscription having been proposed for the support of the families of +the volunteers about to depart, the executive power takes upon itself +to revise the list of offerings: it arbitrarily taxes those who have not +given, or who, in its opinion, have given too little some "poor workmen +fifty livres, others two hundred, three hundred, nine hundred, and +a thousand, under penalty of wrecked houses and severe treatment." +Elsewhere, the volunteers of Baux and other communes near Tarascon help +themselves freely, and, "under the pretext that they are to march for +the defense of the country, levy enormous contributions on proprietors," +on one four thousand, and on another five thousand livres. In default of +payment, they carry away all the grain on one farm, even to the reserve +seed, threatening to make havoc with everything, and even to burn, in +case of complaint, so that the owners dare not say a word, while the +attorney-general of the neighboring department, afraid on his own +account, begs that his denunciation may be kept secret.--From the slums +of the towns the jacquerie has spread into the rural districts. This is +the sixth and the most extensive seen for three years.[3360] + +Two spurs impel the peasant on.--On the one hand he is frightened by +the clash of arms, and the repeated announcements of an approaching +invasion. The clubs and the newspapers since the declaration of Pilnitz, +and the Orators in the Legislative Assembly for four months past, have +kept him alarmed with their trumpet-blasts, and he urges on his oxen in +the furrow with cries of "Woa, Prussia!" to one, and to the other, "Gee +up, Austria!" Austria and Prussia, foreign kings and nobles in league +with the emigrant nobles, are going to return in force to re-establish +the salt-tax, the excise, feudal-dues, tithes, and to retake national +property already sold and re-sold, with the aid of the gentry who have +not left, or who have returned, and the connivance of non-juring +priests who declare the sale sacrilegious and refuse to absolve the +purchasers.--On the other hand, Holy Week is drawing near, and for the +past year qualms of conscience have disturbed the purchasers. Up to +March 24, 1791, the sales of national property had amounted to only 180 +millions; but, the Assembly having prolonged the date of payment and +facilitated further sales in detail, the temptation proves too strong +for the peasant; stockings and buried pots are all emptied of their +savings. In seven months the peasant has bought to the amount of 1,346 +millions,[3361] and finally possesses in full and complete ownership the +morsel of land which he has coveted for so many years, and sometimes an +unexpected plot, a wood, a mill, or a meadow. At the present time he has +to settle accounts with the church, and, if the pecuniary settlement is +postponed, the Catholic settlement comes on the appointed day. +According to immemorial tradition he is obliged to take the communion +at Easter,[3362] his wife also, and likewise his mother; and if he, +exceptionally, does not think this of consequence, they do. Moreover, he +requires the sacraments for his old sick father, his new-born child, and +for his other child of an age to be confirmed. Now, communion, baptism, +confession, all the sacraments, to be of good quality, must proceed from +a safe source, just as is the case with flour and coin; there is only +too much counterfeit money now in the world, and the sworn priests are +daily losing credit, like the assignats. There is no other course to +pursue, consequently, but to resort to the non-juror, who is the only +one able to give valid absolutions. And it so happens that he not only +refuses this, but he is said to be inimical to the whole new order of +things.--In this dilemma the peasant falls back upon his usual resource, +the strength of his arms; he seizes the priest by the throat, as +formerly his lord, and extorts an acquittance for his sins as formerly +for his feudal dues. At the very least he strives to constrain the +non-jurors to swear, to close their separatist churches, and bring the +entire canton to the same uniform faith.--Occasionally also he avenges +himself against the partisans of the non-jurors, against chateaux +and houses of the opulent, against the nobles and the rich, against +proprietors of every class. Occasionally, likewise, as, since the +amnesty of September, 1791, the prisons have been emptied, as one-half +of the courts are not yet installed,[3363] as there has been no police +for thirty months, the common robbers, bandits, and vagrants, who swarm +about without repression or surveillance, join the mob and fill their +pockets. + +Here, in Pas-de-Calais,[3364] three hundred villagers, headed by a +drummer, burst open the doors of a Carthusian convent, steal everything, +eatables, beverages, linen, furniture, and effects, whilst, in the +neighboring parish, another band operates in the same fashion in the +houses of the mayor and of the old cure, threatening "to kill and +burn all," and promising to return on the following Sunday.--There, +in Bas-Rhin, near Fort Louis, twenty houses of the aristocrats are +pillaged.--Elsewhere in Ile-et-Vilaine, bodies of rural militia, +combined, go from parish to parish, and, increasing in numbers in +consequence of their very violence until they form bands of two thousand +men. They close churches, drive away nonjuring priests, remove clappers +from the bells, eat and drink what they please at the expense of the +inhabitants, and often, in the houses of the mayor or tax-registrar, +indulge in the pleasure of breaking everything to pieces. Should any +public officer remonstrate with them they shout, "At the aristocrat!" +One of these unlucky counselors is struck on the back with the but-end +of a musket, and two others have guns aimed at them; the chiefs of the +expedition are in no better predicament, and, according to their own +admission, if they are at the head of the mob it is to make sure they +themselves will not be pillaged or hung. The same spectacle presents +itself in Mayenne, in Orne, in Moselle, and in the Landes.[3365]--These, +however, are but isolated irruptions, and very mild; in the south and +in the center, the plague is apparent in an immense leprous spot, which +extending from Avignon to Perigueux, and from Aurillac to Toulouse, +suddenly covers, nearly without with any discontinuity, ten departments, +Vaucluse, Ardeche, Gard, Cantal, Correze, Lot, Dordogne, Gers, +Haute-Garonne, and Herault. Vast rural masses are set in motion at the +same time, on all sides and owing to the same causes: the approach of +war and the coming of Easter.--In Cantal, at the assembly of the canton +held at Aurillac for the recruitment of the army,[3366] the commander +of a village National Guard demands vengeance "against those who are not +patriots," and the report is spread that an order has come from Paris to +destroy the chateaux. Moreover, the insurgents allege that the priests, +through their refusal to take the oath, are bringing the nation into +civil war: "we are tired of not having peace on their account; let them +become good citizens, so that everybody may go to mass." On the strength +of this, the insurgents enter houses, put the inhabitants to ransom, +not only priests and former nobles, "but also those who are suspected +of being their partisans, those who do not attend the mass of the +constitutional priest," and even poor people, artisans and tillers of +the ground, whom they tax five, ten, twenty, and forty francs, and +whose cellars and bread-bins they empty. Eighteen chateaux are pillaged, +burnt, or demolished, and among others, those of several gentlemen and +ladies who have not left the country. One of these, M. d'Humieres, is an +old officer of eighty years; Madame de Peyronenc saves her son only by +disguising him as a peasant; Madame de Beauclerc, who flies across the +mountain, sees her sick child die in her arms. At Aurillac, gibbets are +set up before the principal houses; M. de Niossel, a former lieutenant +of a criminal court, put in prison for his safety, is dragged out, and +his severed head is thrown on a dunghill; M. Collinet, just arrived +from Malta, and suspected of being an aristocrat, is ripped open, cut +to pieces, and his head is carried about on the end of a pike. Finally, +when the municipal officers, judges, and royal commissioner commence +proceedings against the assassins, they find themselves in such great +danger that they are obliged to resign or to run away. In like manner, +in Haute-Garonne,[3367] it is also "against non-jurors and their +followers" that the insurrection has begun. This is promoted by the fact +that in various parishes the constitutional cure belongs to the +club, and demands the riddance of his adversaries. One of them at +Saint-Jean-Lorne, "mounted on a cart, preaches pillage to a mob of +eight hundred persons." Each band, consequently, begins by expelling +refractory priests, and by forcing their supporters to attend the mass +of the sworn priest.--But such success, wholly abstract and barren, is +of little advantage, and peasants in a state of revolt are not satisfied +so easily. When parishes march forth by the dozen and devote their day +to the service of the public, they must have some compensation in wood, +wheat, wine, or money,[3368] and the expense of the expedition may be +defrayed by the aristocrats. Not merely the upholders of non-jurors +are aristocrats, as, for example, an old lady here and there, "very +fanatical, and who for forty years has devoted all her income to acts of +philanthropy," "but well-to-do persons, peasants or gentlemen;" for, "by +keeping their wine and grain unsold in their cellars and barns, and by +not undertaking more work than they need, so as to deprive workmen in +the country of their means of subsistence," they design "to starve out" +the poor folk. Thus, the greater the pillage, the greater the service +to the public. According to the insurgents, it is important "to diminish +revenues enjoyed by the enemies of the nation, in order that they +may not send their revenues to Coblentz and other places out of the +kingdom." Consequently, bands of six or eight hundred or a thousand men +overrun the districts of Toulouse and Castelsarrasin. All proprietors, +aristocrats, and patriots are put under contribution. Here, in the +house of "the philanthropic but fanatical old maid, they break open +everything, destroy the furniture, taking away eighty-two bushels of +wheat and sixteen hogsheads of wine." Elsewhere, at Roqueferriere, +feudal title-deeds are burnt, and a chateau is pillaged. Farther on, at +Lasserre, thirty thousand francs are exacted and the ready money is +all carried off. Almost everywhere the municipal officers, willingly or +unwillingly, authorize pillaging. Moreover, "they cut down provisions to +a price in assignats very much less than their current rate in silver," +and they double the price of a day's work. In the meantime, other bands +devastate the national forests, and the gendarmes, in order not to be +called aristocrats, have no idea but of paying court to the pillagers. + +After all this, it is manifest that property no longer exists for +anybody except for paupers and robbers.--In effect, in Dordogne,[3369] +under the pretext of driving away nonjuring priests, frequently mobs +gather to pillage and rob whatever comes in their way. . . . All the +grain that is found in houses with weathercocks is sequestrated." +The rustics exploit, as communal property, all the forests, all the +possessions of the emigrants; and this operation is radical; for +example, a band, on finding a new barn of which the materials strike +them as good, demolish it so as to share with each other the tiles and +timber.--In Correze, fifteen thousand armed peasants, who have come to +Tulle to disarm and drive off the supporters of the non-jurors, break +everything in suspected houses, and a good deal of difficulty is found +in sending them off empty-handed. As soon as they get back home, they +sack the chateaux of Saint-Gal, Seilhac, Gourdon, Saint-Basile, and La +Rochette, besides a number of country-houses, even of absent plebeians. +They have found a quarry, and never was the removal of property more +complete. They carefully carry off, says an official statement, all that +can be carried--furniture, curtains, mirrors, clothes-presses, pictures, +wines, provisions, even floors and wooden panels, "down to the smallest +fragments of iron and wood-work," smashing the rest, so that nothing +"remains of the house but its four walls, the roof and the staircase." +In Lot, where for two years the insurrection is permanent, the damage +is much greater. During the night between the 30th and 31st of January, +"all the best houses in Souillac" are broken open, "sacked and pillaged +from top to bottom,"[3370] their owners being obliged to fly, and so +many outbreaks occur in the department, that the directory has no time +to render an account of them to the minister. Entire districts are +in revolt; as, "in each commune all the inhabitants are accomplices, +witnesses cannot be had to support a criminal prosecution, and crime +remains unpunished." In the canton of Cabrerets, the restitution of +rents formerly collected is exacted, and the reimbursement of charges +paid during twenty years past. The small town of Lauzerte is invaded by +surrounding bodies of militia, and its disarmed inhabitants are at +the mercy of the Jacobin suburbs. For three months, in the district of +Figeac, "all the mansions of former nobles are sacked and burnt;" next +the pigeon-cots are attacked, "and all country-houses which have a good +appearance." Barefooted gangs "enter the houses of well-to-do people, +physicians, lawyers, merchants, burst open the doors of cellars, drink +the wine," and riot like drunken victors. In several communes these +expeditions have become a custom; "a large number of individuals are +found in them who live on rapine alone," and the club sets them the +example. For six months, in the principal town, a coterie of the +National Guard, called the Black Band, expel all persons who are +displeasing to them, "pillaging houses at will, beating to death, +wounding or mutilating by saber-strokes, all who have been proscribed in +their assemblies," and no official or advocate dares lodge a complaint. +Brigandage, borrowing the mask of patriotism, and patriotism borrowing +the methods of brigandage, have combined against property at the same +time as against the ancient regime, and, to free themselves from all +that inspires them with fear, they seize all which can provide them with +booty. + +And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm; the center is +elsewhere, around Nimes, Avignon, Arles, and Marseilles, in a country +where, for a long time, the conflict between cities and the conflict +between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant passions.[3371] +Looking at the three departments of Gard, Bouches-de-Rhone and Vaucluse, +one would imagine one's self in the midst of a war with savages. +In fact, it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion, and, consequently, +conquest, dispossession, and extermination,--in Gard, a swarm of +National Guards copy the jacquerie: the dregs of the Comtat come to the +surface and cover Vaucluse with its scum; an army of six thousand from +Marseilles sweeps down on Arles.--In the districts of Nimes, Sommieres, +Uzes, Alais, Jalais, and Saint-Hippolyte, title-deeds are burnt, +proprietors put to ransom, and municipal officers threatened with death +if they try to interpose; twenty chateaux and forty country-houses are +sacked, burnt, and demolished.--The same month, Arles and Avignon,[3372] +given up to the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat, see confiscation +and massacres approaching.--Around the commandant, who has received the +order to evacuate Aries,[3373] "the inhabitants of all parties" gather +as suppliants, "clasping his hands, entreating him with tears in their +eyes not to abandon them; women and children cling to his boots," so +that he does not know how to free himself without hurting them; on his +departure twelve hundred families emigrate. After the entrance of the +Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors proscribed, their +country-houses on the two banks of the Rhone pillaged, "as in the times +of Saracen pirates," a tax of 1,400,000 livres levied on all people in +good circumstances, absent or present, women and girls promenaded +about half-naked on donkeys and publicly whipped." "A saber committee" +disposes of lives, proscribes and executes: it is the reign of sailors, +porters, and the dregs of the populace.--At Avignon,[3374] it is that of +simple brigands, incendiaries and assassins, who, six months previously, +converted the Glaciere[3375] into a charnel-house. They return in +triumph and state that "this time the Glaciere will be full." Five +hundred families had already sought asylum in France before the first +massacre; now, the entire remainder of the honest bourgeoisie, twelve +hundred persons, take to flight, and the terror is so great that the +small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants. In fact, from this +time forth, both departments throughout Vaucluse and Bouches-de-Rhone +are a prey: Bands of two thousand armed men, with women, children, and +other volunteer followers, travel from commune to commune to live as +they please at the expense of "fanatics." The well-bred people are not +the only ones they despoil. Plain cultivators, taxed at 10,000 livres, +have sixty men billeted on them; their cattle are slain and eaten before +their eyes, and everything in their houses is broken up; they are driven +out of their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed-swamps of the +Rhone, awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take refuge +in the neighboring department.[3376] Thus, from the spring of 1792, +if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of indifference +towards the ruling faction, if, through but one opinion conscientiously +held, he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or of suspicion, he +undergoes popular hostility, pillage, exile, and worse besides; no +matter how loyal his conduct may be, nor how loyal he may be at heart, +no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive; it is all the same +whether it be a noble, bourgeois, peasant, aged priest, or woman; and +this while public peril is yet neither great, present, nor visible, +since France is at peace with Europe, and the government still subsists +in its entirety. + + + + +IX.--General state of opinion. + + The three convoys of non-juring priests on the Seine.-- + Psychological aspects of the Revolution. + +What will it be, then, now when the peril, already become palpable and +serious, is daily increasing, now when war has begun, when Lafayette's +army is falling back in confusion, when the Assembly declares the +country in danger, when the King is overthrown, when Lafayette defects +and goes abroad, when the soil of France is invaded, when the frontier +fortresses surrender without resistance, when the Prussians are entering +Champagne, when the insurrection in La Vendee adds the lacerations of +civil war to the threats of a foreign war, and when the cry of treachery +arises on all sides?--Already, on the 14th of May, at Metz,[3377] M. +de Fiquelmont, a former canon, seen chatting with a hussar on the Place +Saint-Jacques, was charged with tampering with people on behalf of the +princes, carried off in spite of a triple line of guards, and beaten, +pierced, and slashed with sticks, bayonets, and sabers, while the mad +crowd around the murderers uttered cries of rage: and from month to +month, in proportion as popular fears increase, popular imagination +becomes more heated and its delirium grows.--You can see this yourself +by one example. On the 31st of August, 1792,[3378] eight thousand +non-juring priests, driven out of their parishes, are at Rouen, a town +less intolerant than the others, and, in conformity with the decree +which banishes them, are preparing to leave France. Two vessels have +just carried away about a hundred of them; one hundred and twenty others +are embarking for Ostend in a larger vessel. They take nothing with them +except a little money, some clothes, and one or at most two portions of +their breviary, because they intend to return soon. Each has a regular +passport, and, just at the moment of leaving, the National Guard have +made a thorough inspection so as not to let a suspected person escape. +It makes no difference. On reaching Quilleboeuf the first two convoys +are stopped. A report has spread, indeed, that the priests are going to +join the enemy and enlist, and the people living round about jump +into their boats and surround the vessels. The priests are obliged to +disembark amidst a tempests of "yells, blasphemies, insults, and abuse:" +one of them, a white-headed old man, having fallen into the mud, the +cries and shouts redouble; if he is drowned so much the better, there +will be one less! On landing all are put in prison, on bare stones, +without straw or bread, and word is sent to Paris to know what must be +done with so many cassocks. In the meantime the third vessel, short of +provisions, has sent two priests to Quilleboeuf and to Pont-Audemer to +have twelve hundred pounds of bread baked: pointed out by the village +militia, they are chased out like wild beasts, pass the night in a wood, +and find their way back with difficulty empty-handed. The vessel itself +being signaled, is besieged. "In all the municipalities on the banks of +the river drums beat incessantly to warn the population to be on their +guard. The appearance of an Algerian or Tripolitan corsair on the shores +of the Adriatic would cause less excitement. One of the seamen of the +vessel published a statement that the trunks of the priests transported +were full of every kind of arms." and the country people constantly +imagine that they are going to fall upon them sword and pistol in hand. +For several long days the famished convoy remains moored in the stream, +are carefully watched. Boats filled with volunteers and peasants row +around it uttering insults and threats: in the neighboring meadows the +National Guards form themselves in line of battle. Finally, a decision +is arrived at. The bravest, well armed get into skiffs, approach the +vessel cautiously, choose the most favorable time and spot, rush on +board, and take possession; and are perfectly astonished to find neither +enemies nor arms.--Nevertheless, the priests are confined on board, and +their deputies, must make their appearance before the mayor. The latter, +a former usher and good Jacobin, being the most frightened, is the most +violent. He refuses to stamp the passports, and, seeing two priests +approach, one provided with a sword-cane and the other with an +iron-pointed stick, thinks that there is to be a sudden attack. "Here +are two more of them," he exclaims with terror; "they are all going to +land. My friends, the town is in danger!"--On hearing this the crowd +becomes alarmed, and threatens the deputies; the cry of "To the lamp +post!" is heard, and, to save them, National Guards are obliged to +conduct them to prison in the center of a circle of bayonets.--It must +be noted that these madmen are "at bottom the kindest people in the +world." After the boarding of the ship, one of the most ferocious, +by profession a barber, seeing the long beards of these poor priests, +instantly cools down, draws forth his tools, and good-naturedly sets +to work, spending several hours in shaving them. In ordinary times +ecclesiastics received nothing but salutations; three years previously +they were "respected as fathers and guides." But at the present moment +the rustic, the man of the lower class, is out of his bearings. Forcibly +and against nature, he has been made a theologian, a politician, a +police captain, a local independent sovereign; and in such a position +his head is turned. Among these people who seem to have lost their +senses, only one, an officer of the National Guard, remains cool; he is, +besides, very polite, well-behaved, and an agreeable talker; he comes +in the evening to comfort the prisoners and to take tea with them +in prison; in fact, he is accustomed to tragedies and, thanks to his +profession, his nerves are in repose--this person is the executioner. +The others, "whom one would take for tigers," are bewildered sheep; but +they are not the less dangerous; for, carried away by their delirium, +they bear down with their mass on whatever gives them umbrage.--On +the road from Paris to Lyons[3379] Roland's commissioners witness this +terrible fright. "The people are constantly asking what our generals +and armies are doing; they have vengeful expressions frequently on their +lips. Yes, they say, we will set out, but we must (at first) purge the +interior." + +Something appalling is in preparation. The seventh jacquerie is drawing +near, this one universal and final--at first brutal, and then legal +and systematic, undertaken and carried out on the strength of abstract +principles by leaders worthy of the means they employ. Nothing like it +ever occurred in history; for the first time we see brutes gone mad, +operating on a grand scale and for a long time, under the leadership of +blockheads who have become insane. + +There is a certain strange malady commonly encountered in the quarters +of the poor. A workman, over-taxed with work, in misery and badly fed, +takes to drink; he drinks more and more every day, and liquors of the +strongest kind. After a few years his nervous system, already weakened +by spare diet, becomes over-excited and out of balance. An hour comes +when the brain, under a sudden stroke, ceases to direct the machine; in +vain does it command, for it is no longer obeyed; each limb, each +joint, each muscle, acting separately and for itself starts convulsively +through discordant impulses. Meanwhile the man is gay; he thinks himself +a millionaire, a king, loved and admired by everybody; he is not aware +of the mischief he is doing to himself he does not comprehend the advice +given him, he refuses the remedies offered to him, he sings and shouts +for entire days, and, above all, drinks more than ever.--At last his +face grows dark and his eyes become blood-shot. Radiant visions give way +to black and monstrous phantoms; he sees nothing around him hut menacing +figures, traitors in ambush, ready to fall upon him unawares, murderers +with upraised arms ready to cut his throat, executioners preparing +torments for him; and he seems to be wading in a pool of blood. So he +precipitates, and, in order that he himself may not be killed, he +kills. No one is more to be dreaded, for his delirium sustains him; +his strength is prodigious, his movements unforeseen, and he endures, +without heeding them, suffering and wounds under which a healthy man +would succumb.--France, like such a madman, exhausted by fasting under +the monarchy, drunk by the unhealthy drug of the Social-Contract, and by +countless other adulterated or fiery beverages, is suddenly struck with +paralysis of the brain; at once she is convulsed in every limb through +the incoherent play and contradictory twitching of her discordant +organs. At this time she has traversed the period of joyous madness, and +is about to enter upon the period of somber delirium: behold her capable +of daring, suffering, and doing all, capable of incredible exploits and +abominable barbarities, the moment her guides, as erratic as herself, +indicate an enemy or an obstacle to her fury. + + +THE END. + + +***** + + +[Footnote 3301: Moniteur, XI. 763. (Sitting of March 28, +1792.)--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. (Deliberation of the Directory +of the Department, November 29, 1791, and January 27, 1792.--Petition +of the Municipality of Mende and of forty-three others, November 30, +1791.)] + +[Footnote 3302: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3198. Minutes of the meeting +of the municipal officers of Arles, September 2, 1791.--Letters of the +Royal Commissioners and of the National Assembly, October 24, November +6, 14, 17, 21, and December 21, 1791.--The Commissioners, to be +impartial, attend in turn a mass by a nonjuring priest and one by a +priest of the opposite side. "The church is full" with the former and +always empty with the latter.] + +[Footnote 3303: "Memoire" of M. Merilhon, for Froment, passim.--Report +of M. Alquier, p. 54.--De Dampmartin, I. 208.] + +[Footnote 3304:--De Dampmartin, I. 208.They would exclaim to the +catholic peasants: "Allons, mes enfants, Vive le Roi!" (shouts of +enthusiasm): "those wretches of democrats, let us make an example of +them, and restore the sacred rights of the throne and the altar!"--"As +you please," replied the rustics in their patois, "but we must hold +fast to the Revolution, for there are some good things about it."--They +remain calm, refuse to march to the assistance of Uzes, and withdraw +into their mountains on the first sign of the approach of the National +Guard.] + +[Footnote 3305: This is what the author Soljenitsyne observed about +his Russian countrymen in an interview with M. Pivot in the French +television in 1998. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3306: Dauban, "La Demagogie a Paris," p.598; Letter of M. de +Brissac, August 25, 1789.] + +[Footnote 3307: Moniteur, X. 339. (Journal de Troyes, and a letter from +Perpignan, November, 1791.)] + +[Footnote 3308: Mercure de France, No. for September 3, 1791. "Let +Liberty be presented to us, and all France will kneel before her; +but noble and proud hearts will eternally resist the oppression which +assumes her sacred mask. They will invoke liberty, but liberty without +crime, the liberty which is maintained without dungeons, without +inquisitors, without incendiaries, without brigands, without forced +oaths, without illegal coalitions, without mob outrages; that liberty, +finally, which allows no oppressor to go unpunished, and which does +not crush peaceable citizens beneath the weight of the chains it has +broken."] + +[Footnote 3309: Rivarol, "Memoires," p.367. (Letter of M. Servan, +published in the "Actes des Apotres.")] + +[Footnote 3310: The King's brother, later to become King of France under +the name of Louis XVIII. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3311: "Archives Nationa1es," F7. 3257. Official reports, +investigations, and correspondence in relation with the affair of M. +Bussy (October, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3312: Mercure de France, May 15, 1790. (Letter of Baron de +Bois-d'Aisy, April 29, read in the National Assembly.)--Moniteur, IV. +302. Sitting of May 6. (Official statement of the Justice of the Peace +of Vitteaux, April 28.)] + +[Footnote 3313: "Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letter of M. +Belin-Chatellenot (near Asnay-le-Duc) to the President of the National +Assembly, July 1, 1791. "In the realm of liberty we live under the most +cruel tyranny, and in a state of the most complete anarchy, while the +administrative bodies and the police, still in their infancy, seem to +act only in fear and trembling. . . . So far, in all crimes, they +are more concerned with extenuating the facts, than in punishing the +offense. The result is that the guilty have had no other restraint on +them than a few gentle phrases like this: Dear brothers and friends, +you are in the wrong, be careful," etc.--Ibid. , F7, 3229. Letter of the +Directory of the Department of Marne, July 13, 1791. (Searches by the +National Guard in chateaux and the disarming of formerly privileged +persons.) "None of our injunctions were obeyed." For example, there is +breakage and violence in the residence of M. Guinaumont at Merry, the +gun, shot and powder of the game-keeper even are carried off. "M. de +Guinaumont is without the means of defending himself against a mad dog +or any other savage brute that might come into his woods or into +his courtyard." The Mayor of Merry, with the National Guard, under +compulsion, tells them in vain that they are breaking the law.--Petition +of Madame d'Ambly, wife of the deputy, June 28, 1791. Not having the +guns which she had already given up, she is made to pay 150 francs.] + +[Footnote 3314: "Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letters of the +Administrators of the Department of Rhone-et-Loire, July 6, 1791. (M. +Vilet is one of the signers.)--Mercure de France, October 8, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3315: Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by +Mallet du Pan. "The details of the picture I have just sketched were +all furnished me by Madame Dumoutet herself." I am "authorized by her +signature to guarantee the accuracy of this narrative."] + +[Footnote 3316: Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by +Mallet du Pan. "The proceedings instituted at Lyons confirmed this +banquet of cannibals."] + +[Footnote 3317: The letter of the Department ends with this either naive +or ironical expression: "You have now only one conquest to make, that of +making the people obey and submit to the law."] + +[Footnote 3318: "Archives Nationales," P7, 3,200. See documents relating +to the affair of November 5, 1792, and the events which preceded it +or followed it, and among others "Lettres du Directoire et du +Procureur-syndic du Departement;" "Petition et Memoire pour les +Detenus;" "Lettres d'un Temoin," M. de Morant.--Moniteur, X. 356. +"Minutes of the meeting de la Municipalite de Caen" and of the +"Directoire du Departement," XI.1264, 206. "Rapport de Guadet," and +documents of the trial.--"Archives Nationales," ibid. .--"Lettres de +M. Cahier," Minister of the Interior, January 26, 1792, of M. C. D. +de Pontecoulant, President of the Department Directory, February 3, +1792.--Proclamation by the Directory.] + +[Footnote 3319: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of September +26, 1791.--Letter found on one of the arrested gentlemen. "A cowardly +bourgeoisie, directors in cellars, a clubbist (Jacobin) municipality, +waging the most illegal war against us."] + +[Footnote 3320: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the +Attorney-General of Bayeux, May 14, 1792, and of the Directory of +Bayeux, May 21, 1792.--At Bayeux, likewise; the refugees are denounced +and in peril. According to their verified statements they scarcely +amounted to one hundred. "Several nonjuring priests, indeed, are found +among them. (But) the rest, for the most part, consist of the heads of +families who are known to reside habitually in neighboring districts, +and who have been forced to leave their homes after having been, or +fearing to become, victims of religious intolerance or of the threats of +factions and of brigands."] + +[Footnote 3321: Lenin has probably read this during his studies in Paris +and maybe been confirmed in his plan to create a new elite, an elite he +eventually began to make use of from 1917 and onwards, an elite which +continues to rule Russia and a great part of the world today. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3322: Mercure de France, June 4, 1790 (letter from Cahors, May +17, and an Act of the Municipality, May 10, 1790).] + +[Footnote 3323: "Archives Nationales," F7, 1223. Letter of count Louis +de Beaumont, November 9, 1791. His letter, in a very moderate tone, +thus end: "You must admit, sir, that it is very disagreeable and even +incredible, that the Municipal Officers should be the originators of the +disorders which occur in this town."] + +[Footnote 3324: Mercure de France, January 7, 1792. M. Granchier de Riom +petitions the Directory of his Department in relation to the purchase of +the cemetery, where his father had been interred four years before; his +object is to prevent it from being dug up, which was decreed, and to +preserve the family vault. He at the same time wishes to buy the church +of Saint-Paul, in order to insure the continuance of the masses in +behalf of his father's soul. The Directory replies (December 5, 1791): +"considering that the motives which have determined the petitioner in +his declaration are a pretense of good feeling under which there is +hidden an illusion powerless to pervert a sound mind, the Directory +decides that the application of the sieur Granchier cannot be granted."] + +[Footnote 3325: De Ferrieres, II. 268 (April 19, 1791).] + +[Footnote 3326: De Montlosier, II. 307, 309, 312.] + +[Footnote 3327: Moniteur, VI. 556. Letter of M d'Aymar, commodore, +November 18, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3328: Mercure de France, May 28, and June 16, 1791 (letters +from Cahors and Castelnau, May 18).] + +[Footnote 3329: Mercure de France, number of May 28, 1791. At the +festival of the Federation, M. de Massy would not order his cavalry to +put their chapeaux on the points of their swords, which was a difficult +maneuver. He was accused of treason to the nation on account of this, +and obliged to leave Tulle for several months.--"Archives Nationales," +F7, 3204. Extract from the minutes of the tribunal of Tulle, May 10, +1791.] + +[Footnote 3330: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, "Minutes of the meeting +des Officiers Municipaux de Brest," June 23, 1791.] + +[Footnote 3331: "Memoires de Cuvier" ("Eloges Historiques," by +Flourens), I, 177. Cuvier, who was then in Havre (1788), had pursued the +higher studies in a German administrative school. "M. de Surville," he +says, an officer in the Artuis regiment, "has one of the must refined +minds and most amiable characters I ever encountered. There were a good +many of this sort among his comrades, and I am always astonished how +such men could vegetate in the obscure ranks of an infantry regiment."] + +[Footnote 3332: De Dampmartin, I. 133. At the beginning of the year +1790, "inferior officers said: 'We ought to demand something, for +we have at least as many grievances as our troopers,' "--M. de la +Rochejacquelein, after his great success in La Vendee, said: "I hope +that the King, when once he is restored, will give me a +regiment." He aspired to nothing more ("Memoires de Madame de la +Rochejacquelein").--Cf. "Un Officier royaliste au Service de la +Republique," by M. de Bezancenet, in the letters and biography of +General de Dommartin killed in the expedition to Egypt.] + +[Footnote 3333: Correspondence of MM. de Thiard, de Caraman, de Miran, +de Bercheny, etc., above cited, passim.--Correspondence of M. de Thiard, +May 5, 1780: "The town of Vannes has an authoritative style which begins +to displease me. It wants the King to furnish drum-sticks. The first log +of wood would provide these, with greater ease and promptness."] + +[Footnote 3334: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, March 16, 1791. +At Douai, Nicolon, a grain-dealer, is hung because the municipal +authorities did not care to proclaim martial law. The commandant, M. de +la Noue, had not the right of ordering his men to move, and the murder +took place before his eyes.] + +[Footnote 3335: The last named, especially, died with heroic meekness +(Mercure de France, June 18, 1791).--Sitting of June 9, speeches by two +officers of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, one of them an eye-witness.] + +[Footnote 3336: "De Dampmartin," II. 214. Desertion is very great, even +in ordinary times, supplying foreign armies with "a fourth of their +effective men."--Towards the end of 1789, Dubois de Crance, an old +musketeer and one of the future "men of the mountain," stated to the +National Assembly that the old system of recruiting supplied the army +with "men without home or occupation, who often became soldiers to +avoid civil penalties" (Moniteur, II. 376, 381, sitting of December 12, +1789).] + +[Footnote 3337: "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. +de Thiard, September 4 and 7, 1789, November 20, 1789, April 28, and May +29, 1790. "The spirit of insubordination which begins to show itself +in the Bassigny regiment is an epidemic disease which is insensibly +spreading among all the troops. . . . The troops are all in a state of +gangrene, while all the municipalities oppose the orders they receive +concerning the movements of troops."] + +[Footnote 3338: "Archives Nationales," H,1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 12, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3339: "Memoire Justificatif" (by Gregoire), on behalf of two +soldiers, Emery and Delisle.--De Bouille, "Memoires."--De Dampmartin, +I.128, 144.--"Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, July 2 and 9, 1790.--Moniteur, sittings of September 3 and June +4, 1790.] + +[Footnote 3340: De Bouille, p. 127.--Moniteur, sitting of August 6, +1790, and that of May 27, 1790.--Full details in authentic documents of +the affair at Nancy, passim.--Report of M. Emmery, August 16, 1790, and +other documents in Buchez and Roux, VII. 59-162.--De Bezancenet, p.35. +Letters of M. de Dommartin (Metz, August 4, 1790). "The Federation +there passed off quietly, only, a short time after, some soldiers of a +regiment took it into their heads to divide the (military) fund, and at +once placed sentinels at the door of the officer having charge of the +chest, compelling him to open it (desacquer). Another regiment has since +put all its officers under arrest. A third has mutinied, and wanted to +take all its horses to the market-place and sell them.. . . Everywhere +the soldiers are heard to say that if they want money they know where to +find it."] + +[Footnote 3341: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, letters of the Royal +Commissioners, September 27, October 1, 4, 8, 11, 1790. the commencement +of the Revolution, had most to do with the insurrections in the +interior. "What means can four commissioners employ to convince 20,000 +men, most of whom are seduced by the real enemies of the public welfare? +In consequence of the replacing of the men the crews are, for the most +part, composed of those who are almost ignorant of the sea, who know +nothing of the rules of subordination, and who, at the commencement of +the Revolution, had most to do with the insurrections in the interior."] + +[Footnote 3342: Mercure de France. October 2, 1790. Letter of the +Admiral, M. d'Albert de Rioms, September 16. The soldiers of the +Majestueux have refused to drill, and the sailors of the Patriote to +obey.--"I wished to ascertain beforehand if they had any complaint to +make against their captain?--No.--If they complained of myself?--No.--If +they had any complaints to make against their officers?--No.--It is the +revolt of one class against another class; their sole cry is 'Vive la +Nation et les Aristocrates a la lanterne!' The mob have set up a gibbet +before the house of M. de Marigny, major-general of marines; he has +handed in his resignation. M. d'Albert tenders his resignation."--Ibid, +June 18, 1791 (letter from Dunkirk, June 3).] + +[Footnote 3343: De Dampmartin, I. 222, 219. Mercure de France, September +3, 1791. (Sitting of August 23.)--Cf. Moniteur (same date). "The Ancient +Regime," p.377.] + +[Footnote 3344: Marshal Marmont, "Memoires," I. 24. "The sentiment I +entertained for the person of the King is difficult to define. . . +(It was) a sentiment of devotion of an almost religious character, a +profound respect as if due to a being of a superior order. At this time +the word king possessed a magic power in all pure and upright hearts +which nothing had changed. This delicate sentiment. . . still existed +in the mass of the nation, especially among the well-born, who, +sufficiently remote from power, were rather impressed by its brilliancy +than by its imperfections." De Bezancenet, 27. Letter of M. de +Dommartin, August 24, 1790. "We have just renewed our oath. I hardly +know what it all means. I, a soldier, know only my King; in reality I +obey two masters, who, we are told, will secure my happiness and that of +my brethren, if they agree together."] + +[Footnote 3345: De Dampmartin, I. 179. See the details of his +resignation (III. 185) after June 20, 1792.--Mercure de France, April +14, 1792. Letter from the officers of the battalion of the Royal +chasseurs of Provence (March 9). They are confined to their barracks by +their soldiers, who refuse to obey their orders, and they declare that, +on this account, they abandon the service and leave France.] + +[Footnote 3346: Rousset, "Les Volontaires de 1791 a 1794", p. 106. Letter +of M. de Biron to the minister (August, 1792); p.225, letter of Vezu, +commander of the 3rd battalion of Paris, to the army of the north (July +24, 1793).--"A Residence in France from 1792 to 1795" (September, +1792. Arras). See notes at the end of vol. II. for the details of these +violent proceedings.] + +[Footnote 3347: Mercure de France, March 5, June 4, September 3, October +22, 1791. (Articles by Mallet du Pan.--Ibid., April 14, 1792). More than +six hundred naval officers resigned after the mutiny of the squadron +at Brest. "Twenty-two grave revolts in the ports on shipboard remained +unpunished, and several of them through the decisions of the naval +jury." "There is no instance of any insurrection, in the ports or on +shipboard, or any outrage upon a naval officer, having been punished. +. . . It is not necessary to seek elsewhere for the causes of the +abandonment of the service by naval officers. According to their letters +all offer their lives to France, but refuse to command those who will +not obey."] + +[Footnote 3348: This was done by Hitler against the Jews and by the +Communists against their "enemy" the bourgeois. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3349: Duvergier, "Decrees of August 1-6, 1791; February 9-11, +1792; March 30 to April 8, 1792; July 24-28, 1792; March 28 to April 5, +1793."--Report by Roland, January 6, 1793. He estimates this property +at 4,800 millions, of which 1,800 millions must be deducted for the +creditors of the emigrants; 3,000 millions remain. Now, at this date, +the assignats are at a discount of 55 per cent. from their nominal +figure.] + +[Footnote 3350: Mercure de France,, February 18, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3351: Already Tacitus noted some 2000 years ago that, "It is +part of human nature to hate the man you have hurt." (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3352: Cf. on this general attitude of the clergy, Sauzay, V. +I. and the whole of V. II.--Mercure de France, September 10, 1791: "No +impartial man will fail to see that, in the midst of this oppression, +amidst so many fanatical charges of which the reproach of fanaticism and +revolt is the pretext, not one act of resistance has yet been manifest. +Informers and municipal bodies, governed by clubs, have caused a large +number of non-jurors to be cast into dungeons. All have come out of +them, or groan there untried, and no tribunal has found any of them +guilty."--Report of M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior, February +18, 1792. He declares that "he had no knowledge of any priest being +convicted by the courts as a disturber of the public peace, although +several had been accused."--Moniteur May 6, 1792. (Report of Francais de +Nantes) "Not one has been punished for thirty months."] + +[Footnote 3353: On these spontaneous brutal acts of the Catholic +peasants, cf. "Archives Nationales," F7, 3236 (Lozere, July-November, +1791). Deliberation of the district of Florac, July 6, 1791, and +the official statement of the commissioner of the department on the +disturbances in Espagnac. On the 5th of July, Richard, a constitutional +cure, calls upon the municipality to proceed to his installation. "The +ceremony could not take place, owing to the hooting, of the women and +children, and the threats of various persons who exclaimed: 'Kill him! +strangle him, he is a Protestant, is married, and has children;' and +owing to the impossibility of entering the church, the doors of which +were obstructed by the large number of women standing in front of +them:"--On the 6th of July, he is installed, but with difficulty. +"Inside the church a crowd of women uttered loud cries and bemoaned the +removal of their old cure On returning, in the streets, a large number +of women, unsettled by the sight of the constitutional cure, turned +their faces aside. . . and contented themselves with uttering disjointed +words.--without doing anything more than cover their faces with their +bonnets, casting themselves on the ground."--July 15. The clerk will +no longer serve at the mass nor ring the bells; the cure, Richard, +attempting to ring them himself, the people threaten him with +ill-treatment if he runs the risk.--September 8, 1791. Letter from the +cure of Fau, district of Saint-Chely. "That night I was on the brink +of death through a troop of bandits who took my parsonage away from +me, after having broken in the doors and windows."--December 30, 1791. +Another cure who goes to take possession of his parsonage is assailed +with stones by sixty women, and thus pursued beyond the limits of the +parish.--August 5, 1791. Petition of the constitutional bishop of Mende +and his four vicars. "Not a day passes that we are not insulted in the +performance of our duties. We cannot take a step without encountering +hooting. If we go out we are threatened with cowardly assassination, +and with being beaten with clubs."--F7, 3235 (Bas-Rhin, letter from +the Directory of the Department, April 9, 1792): "Ten out of eleven, at +least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize sworn priests."] + +[Footnote 3354: Duvergier, decrees (not sanctioned) of November 29 +and May 27, 1792.--Decree of August 26, 1792, after the fall of the +throne.--Moniteur, XII. 200 (sitting of April 23, 1793). Report of the +Minister of the Interior.] + +[Footnote 3355: Lallier, "Le District de Machecoul," p.261, +263.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. Demand of the prosecuting +attorney of the commune of Tonneins (December 21, 1791) for the arrest +or expulsion of eight priests "at the slightest act of internal or +external hostility."--Ibid., F7, 3264. Act of the Council-general +of Correze (July 16, 17, 18, 1792) to place in arrest all nonjuring +priests.--Between these two dates, act, of various kinds and of +increasing severity are found in nearly all the departments against the +non-jurors.] + +[Footnote 3356: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Official statement by +the directory of the department, March 18, 1791, with all the documents +in relation thereto.--F7, 3200. Letter of the Directory of Calvados, +June 13, 1792, with the interrogations. The damages are estimated at +15,000 livres.] + +[Footnote 3357: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. An Act of the Directory +of Lot, February 24, 1792, on the disturbances at Marmande.--F7, 3239, +official statement of the municipal body of Rheims, November 5, 6, 7, +1791. The two workmen are a harness-maker and a wool-carder. The priest +who administered the baptism is put in prison as a disturber of the +public peace.--F7, 3219. Letter of the royal commissioner at the +tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 5, 1792.--F7, 3203. Letter of the +directory of the district of La Rochelle, June 1, 1792. "The armed +force, a witness of these crimes and summoned to arrest these persons in +the act, refused to obey."] + +[Footnote 3358: Memorandum by Camille Jourdan (Sainte-Beuve, "Causeries +du Lundi," XII. 250). The guard refuses to give any assistance, coming +too late and merely "to witness the disorder, never to repress it."] + +[Footnote 3359: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Letters of the cure +of Uzes, January 29, 1792; of the cure of Alais, April 5, 1792; of the +administrators of Gard, July 28, 1792; of the prosecuting attorney, M. +Griolet, July 2, 1792; of Castanet, former gendarme, August 25, 1792; +of M. Griolet, September 28, 1792.--Ibid. , F7, 3223. Petition by M.M. +Thueri and Deves in the name of the oppressed of Montpellier, November +17, 1791; letter of the same to the minister, October 28, 1791; letter of +M. Dupin, prosecuting attorney, August 23, 1791; Act of the Department, +August 9, 1791; Petition of the inhabitants of Courmonterral, August 25, +1791] + +[Footnote 3360: Moniteur, XII. 16, sitting of April 1, 1792. Speech by +M. Laureau. "Behold the provinces in flames, insurrection in nineteen +departments, and revolt everywhere declaring itself. . . The only +liberty is that of brigandage; we have no taxation, no order, no +government." Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. "More than twenty +departments are now participating in the horrors of anarchy and in a +more or less destructive insurrection."] + +[Footnote 3361: Moniteur, XII. 30. Speech by M. Caillasson. The total +amount of property sold up to November 1, 1791, is 1,526 millions; the +remainder for sale amounts to 669 millions.] + +[Footnote 3362: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory +of Ille-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792. "The National Guards of the district +purposely expel all nonjuring priests, who have not been replaced, under +the pretext of the trouble they would not fail to cause at Easter."] + +[Footnote 3363: Moniteur, XI. 420. (Sitting of February 18, 1792.) +Report by M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior.] + +[Footnote 3364: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Deposition of the +municipal officers of Gosnay and Hesdiguel (district of Bethune), May +18, 1792. Six parishes took part in this expedition; the mayor's wife +had a rope around her neck, and came near being hung.--Moniteur, XII, +154, April 15, 1792.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the +Directory of Ile-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792, and official statement +of the commissioners for the district of Vitre; letter of the same +directory, April 21, 1792, and report of the commissioners sent to +Acigne, April 6.] + +[Footnote 3365: Moniteur, XII. 200. Report of M. Cahier, April 23, 1792. +The directories of these four departments refuse to cancel their illegal +acts, alleging that "their armed National Guards pursue refractory +priests."] + +[Footnote 3366: Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. Letters written from +Aurillac.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3202.--Letter of the directory +of the district of Aurillac, March 27, 1792 (with seven official +statements); of the directory of the district of Saint-Flour, March 19 +(with the report of its commissioners); of M. Duranthon, minister +of justice, April 22; petition of M. Lorus, municipal officer of +Aurillac.--Letter of M. Duranthon, June 9, 1792. "I am just informed by +the royal commissioner of the district of Saint-Flour that, since the +departure of the troops, the magistrates dare no longer exercise their +functions in the midst of the brigands who surround them."] + +[Footnote 3367: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letters of M. Niel, +administrator of the department of Haute-Garonne, February 27, 1792; of +M. Sainfal, March 4; of the directory of the department, March 1; of the +royal commissioner, tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 13.] + +[Footnote 3368: The following are some examples of these rustic desires: +At Lunel, 4000 peasants and village National Guards strive to enter, +to hang the aristocrats. Their wives are along with them, leading their +donkeys with "baskets which they hope to carry away full." ("Archives +Nationales," F7, 3523. Letter of the municipal body of Lunel, November +4, 1791.) At Uzes it is with great difficulty that they can rid +themselves of the peasants who came in to drive out the Catholic +royalists. In vain "were they given plenty to eat and to drink;" they go +away "in bad humor, especially the women who led the mules and asses to +carry away the booty, and who had not anticipated returning home with +empty hands." (De Dampmartin, I. 195.) In relation to the siege of +Nantes by the Vendeans: "An old woman said to me, 'Oh, yes, I was there, +at the siege. My sister and myself had brought along our sacks. We +counted on entering at least as far as the Rue de la Casserie'" (the +street of jeweler's shops). (Michelet, V 211.)] + +[Footnote 3369: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. Letters of the royal +commissioner at the tribunal of Mucidan, March 7, 1792; of the public +prosecutor of the district of Sarlat, January. 1792.--Ibid. , F7, 3204. +Letters of the administrators of the district of Tulle, April 15, 1792; +of the directory of the department, April 18; petition of Jacques Labruc +and his wife, with official statement of the justice of the peace, April +24. "All these acts of violence were committed under the eyes of the +municipal authorities. They took no steps to prevent them, although they +had notice given them in time."] + +[Footnote 3370: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letters of M. Brisson, +commissioner of the naval classes of Souillac, February 2, 1792; of the +directory of the department, March 14, 1792.--Petition of the brothers +Barrie (with supporting documents), October 11, 1791.--Letter of the +prosecuting attorney of the department, April 4, 1792. Report of the +commissioners sent to the district of Figeac, January 5, 1792. Letter of +the administrators of the department, May 27, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3371: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Official reports of the +commissioners of the department of Gard, April 1, 2, 3, and 6, 1792, and +letter of April 6. One land-owner is taxed 100,000 francs.--Ibid., F7, +3223. Letter of M Dupin, prosecuting attorney of l'Herault, February 17 +and 26, 1792. "At the chateau of Pignan, Madame de Lostanges has not +one complete piece of furniture left. The cause of these disturbances +is religious passion. Five or six nonjuring priests had retreated to +the chateau,"--Moniteur, sitting of April 16, 1792. Letter from the +directory of the department of Gard.--De Dampmartin, II, 85. At Uzes, +fifty or sixty men in masks invade the ducal chateau at ten o'clock in +the evening, set fire to the archives, and the chateau is burnt.] + +[Footnote 3372: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Official statements +of Augier and Fabre, administrators of the Bouches-de-Rhone, sent to +Avignon, May 11, 1792. (The reappearance of Jourdan, Mainvielle, and the +assassins of La Glaciere took place April 29.)] + +[Footnote 3373: De Dampmartin, II. 63. Portalis, "Il est temps de +parler" (pamphlet), passim. "Archives Nationales," F7, 7090. Memorandum +of the commissioners of the municipal administration of Arles, year IV., +Nivose 22.] + +[Footnote 3374: Mercure de France, May 19, 1792. (Sitting of May 4.). +Petition of forty inhabitants of Avignon at the bar of the Legislative +Assembly.--"Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter of the royal +commissioners at the tribunal of Apt, March 15, 1792; official report +of the municipality, March 22; Letters of the Directory of Apt, March 23 +and 28, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3375: Large cellar where the ice collected during the winter +was kept for later use. (SR.)] + +[Footnote 3376: "Archives Nationales," ibid. Letter of Amiel, president +of the bureau of conciliation at Avignon, October 28, 1792, and other +letters to the minister Roland.--F7, 3217, Letter of the Justice of the +Peace at Roque-Maure, October 31, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3377: "Archives Nationales," F7, 3246. Official report of the +municipality of Metz (with supporting documents), May 15, 1792.] + +[Footnote 3378: "Memoires de l'Abbe Baton," one of the priests of the +third convoy (a bishop is appointed from Seez), p. 233.] + +[Footnote 3379: "Archives Nationales" F7, 3225. Letter of citizen +Bonnemant, commissioner to minister Roland, September 11, 1792.] + + +End of The French Revolution, Volume 1. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Origins of Contemporary France, +Volume 2 (of 6), by Hippolyte A. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This Etext prepared by Svend Rom <svendrom@aol.com> + + + + + +The French Revolution, Volume 1. +^M +The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2^M +^M +by Hippolyte A. Taine^M + + + + +CONTENTS: + +ANARCHY + +PREFACE + +BOOK FIRST. Spontaneous Anarchy. + +CHAPTER I. The Beginnings of Anarchy + +CHAPTER II. Paris up to the 14th of July + +CHAPTER III. Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789 + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS + +BOOK SECOND. The constituent Assembly, and the Result of its Labors + +CHAPTER I. The Constituent Assembly + +CHAPTER II. The Damage + +CHAPTER III. The Constructions - The Constitution of 1791. + +BOOK THIRD. The Application of the Constitution + +CHAPTER I. The Federations + +CHAPTER II. Sovereignty of Unrestrained Passions + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion + + + + +PREFACE + +This second part of "Les Origines de la France Contemporaine" will +consist of two volumes. - Popular insurrections and the laws of the +Constituent Assembly end in destroying all government in France; +this forms the subject of the present volume. - A party arises +around an extreme doctrine, grabs control of the government, and +rules in conformity with its doctrine. This will form the subject +of the second volume. + +A third volume would be required to criticize and evaluate the +source material. I lack the necessary space: I merely state the +rule that I have observed. The trustworthiest testimony will always +be that of an eyewitness, especially + +* When this witness is an honorable, attentive, and intelligent man, + +* When he is writing on the spot, at the moment, and under the +dictate of the facts themselves, + +* When it is obvious that his sole object is to preserve or furnish +information, + +* When his work instead of a piece of polemics planned for the needs +of a cause, or a passage of eloquence arranged for popular effect is +a legal deposition, a secret report, a confidential dispatch, a +private letter, or a personal memento. + +The nearer a document approaches this type, the more it merits +confidence, and supplies superior material. - I have found many of +this kind in the national archives, principally in the manuscript +correspondence of ministers, intendants, sub-delegates, magistrates, +and other functionaries; of military commanders, officers in the +army, and gendarmerie; of royal commissioners, and of the Assembly; +of administrators of departments, districts, and municipalities, +besides persons in private life who address the King, the National +Assembly, or the ministry. Among these are men of every rank, +profession, education, and party. They are distributed by hundreds +and thousands over the whole surface of the territory. They write +apart, without being able to consult each other, and without even +knowing each other. No one is so well placed for collecting and +transmitting accurate information. None of them seek literary +effect, or even imagine that what they write will ever be published. +They draw up their statements at once, under the direct impression +of local events. Testimony of this character, of the highest order, +and at first hand, provides the means by which all other testimony +ought to be verified. - The footnotes at the bottom of the pages +indicate the condition, office, name, and address of those decisive +witnesses. For greater certainty I have transcribed as often as +possible their own words. In this way the reader, confronting the +texts, can interpret them for himself, and form his own opinions; he +will have the same documents as myself for arriving at his +conclusions, and, if he is pleased to do so, he may conclude +otherwise. As for allusions, if he finds any, he himself will have +introduced them, and if he applies them he is alone responsible for +them. To my mind, the past has features of its own, and the +portrait here presented resembles only the France of the past. I +have drawn it without concerning myself with the discussions of the +day; I have written as if my subject were the revolutions of +Florence or Athens. This is history, and nothing more, and, if I +may fully express myself, I esteem my vocation of historian too +highly to make a cloak of it for the concealment of another. +(December 1877). + +_________________________________________________________________ + + BOOK FIRST. SPONTANEOUS ANARCHY. + +CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNINGS OF ANARCHY. + +I. + +Dearth the first cause. - Bad crops. The winter of 1788 and 1789. +- High price and poor quality of bread. - In the provinces. - At +Paris. + + During the night of July 14-15, 1789, the Duc de la Rochefoucauld- +Liancourt caused Louis XVI to be aroused to inform him of the taking +of the Bastille. "It is a revolt, then?" exclaimed the King. +"Sire!" replied the Duke; "it is a revolution!" The event was even +more serious. Not only had power slipped from the hands of the +King, but also it had not fallen into those of the Assembly. It now +lay on the ground, ready to the hands of the unchained populace, the +violent and over-excited crowd, the mobs, which picked it up like +some weapon that had been thrown away in the street. In fact, there +was no longer any government; the artificial structure of human +society was giving way entirely; things were returning to a state of +nature. This was not a revolution, but a dissolution. + +Two causes excite and maintain the universal upheaval. The first +one is food shortages and dearth, which being constant, lasting for +ten years, and aggravated by the very disturbances which it excites, +bids fair to inflame the popular passions to madness, and change the +whole course of the Revolution into a series of spasmodic stumbles. + +When a stream is brimful, a slight rise suffices to cause an +overflow. So was it with the extreme distress of the eighteenth +century. A poor man, who finds it difficult to live when bread is +cheap, sees death staring him in the face when it is dear. In this +state of suffering the animal instinct revolts, and the universal +obedience which constitutes public peace depends on a degree more or +less of dryness or damp, heat or cold. In 1788, a year of severe +drought, the crops had been poor. In addition to this, on the eve +of the harvest,[1] a terrible hail-storm burst over the region +around Paris, from Normandy to Champagne, devastating sixty leagues +of the most fertile territory, and causing damage to the amount of +one hundred millions of francs. Winter came on, the severest that +had been seen since 1709. At the close of December the Seine was +frozen over from Paris to Havre, while the thermometer stood at 180 +below zero. A third of the olive-trees died in Provence, and the +rest suffered to such an extent that they were considered incapable +of bearing fruit for two years to come. The same disaster befell +Languedoc. In Vivarais, and in the Cevennes, whole forests of +chestnuts had perished, along with all the grain and grass crops on +the uplands. On the plain the Rhone remained in a state of overflow +for two months. After the spring of 1789 the famine spread +everywhere, and it increased from month to month like a rising +flood. In vain did the Government order the farmers, proprietors, +and corn-dealers to keep the markets supplied. In vain did it +double the bounty on imports, resort to all sorts of expedients, +involve itself in debt, and expend over forty millions of francs to +furnish France with wheat. In vain do individuals, princes, +noblemen, bishops, chapters, and communities multiply their +charities. The Archbishop of Paris incurring a debt of 400,000 +livres, one rich man distributing 40,000 francs the morning after +the hailstorm, and a convent of Bernardines feeding twelve hundred +poor persons for six weeks[2]. But it had been too devastating. +Neither public measures nor private charity could meet the +overwhelming need. In Normandy, where the last commercial treaty +had ruined the manufacture of linen and of lace trimmings, forty +thousand workmen were out of work. In many parishes one-fourth of +the population[3] are beggars. Here, "nearly all the inhabitants, +not excepting the farmers and landowners, are eating barley bread +and drinking water;" there, "many poor creatures have to eat oat +bread, and others soaked bran, which has caused the death of several +children." -- "Above all," writes the Rouen Parliament, "let help be +sent to a perishing people . . .. Sire, most of your subjects +are unable to pay the price of bread, and what bread is given to +those who do buy it " -- Arthur Young,[4] who was traveling through +France at this time, heard of nothing but the high cost of bread and +the distress of the people. At Troyes bread costs four sous a pound +-- that is to say, eight sous of the present day; and unemployed +artisans flock to the relief works, where they can earn only twelve +sous a day. In Lorraine, according to the testimony of all +observers, "the people are half dead with hunger." In Paris the +number of paupers has been trebled; there are thirty thousand in the +Faubourg Saint-Antoine alone. Around Paris there is a short supply +of grain, or it is spoilt[5]. In the beginning of July, at +Montereau, the market is empty. "The bakers could not have baked" +if the police officers had not increased the price of bread to five +sous per pound; the rye and barley which the intendant is able to +send "are of the worst possible quality, rotten and in a condition +to produce dangerous diseases. Nevertheless, most of the small +consumers are reduced to the hard necessity of using this spoilt +grain." At Villeneuve- le-Roi, writes the mayor, "the rye of the two +lots last sent is so black and poor that it cannot be retailed +without wheat." At Sens the barley "tastes musty" to such an extent +that buyers of it throw the detestable bread, which it makes in the +face of the sub-delegate. At Chevreuse the barley has sprouted and +smells bad; the " poor wretches," says an employee, "must be hard +pressed with hunger to put up with it." At Fontainebleau "the +barley, half eaten away, produces more bran than flour, and to make +bread of it, one is obliged to work it over several times." This +bread, such as it is, is an object of savage greed; "it has come to +this, that it is impossible to distribute it except through +wickets." And those who thus obtain their ration, "are often +attacked on the road and robbed of it by the more vigorous of the +famished people." At Nangis "the magistrates prohibit the same +person from buying more than two bushels in the same market." In +short, provisions are so scarce that there is a difficulty in +feeding the soldiers; the minister dispatches two letters one after +another to order the cutting down of 250,000 bushels of rye before +the harvest[6]. Paris thus, in a perfect state of tranquility, +appears like a famished city put on rations at the end of a long +siege, and the dearth will not be greater nor the food worse in +December 1870, than in July 1789. + +"The nearer the 14th of July approached," says an eyewitness,[7] +"the more did the dearth increase." Every baker's shop was +surrounded by a crowd, to which bread was distributed with the most +grudging economy. This bread was generally blackish, earthy, and +bitter, producing inflammation of the throat and pain in the bowels. +I have seen flour of detestable quality at the military school and +at other depots. I have seen portions of it yellow in color, with +an offensive smell; some forming blocks so hard that they had to be +broken into fragments by repeated blows of a hatchet. For my own +part, wearied with the difficulty of procuring this poor bread, and +disgusted with that offered to me at the tables d'hôte, I avoided +this kind of food altogether. In the evening I went to the Café du +Caveau, where, fortunately, they were kind enough to reserve for me +two of those rolls which are called flutes, and this is the only +bread I have eaten for a week at a time." + + But this resource is only for the rich. As for the people, to get +bread fit for dogs, they must stand in a line for hours. And here +they fight for it; "they snatch food from one another." There is no +more work to be had; "the work-rooms are deserted;" often, after +waiting a whole day, the workman returns home empty-handed. When he +does bring back a four-pound loaf it costs him 3 francs 12 sous; +that is, 12 sous for the bread, and 3 francs for the lost day. In +this long line of unemployed, excited men, swaying to and fro before +the shop-door, dark thoughts are fermenting: "if the bakers find no +flour to-night to bake with, we shall have nothing to eat to- +morrow." An appalling idea; -- in presence of which the whole power +of the Government is not too strong; for to keep order in the midst +of famine nothing avails but the sight of an armed force, palpable +and threatening. Under Louis XIV and Louis XV there had been even +greater hunger and misery; but the outbreaks, which were roughly and +promptly put down, were only partial and passing disorders. Some +rioters were at once hung, and others were sent to the galleys. The +peasant or the workman, convinced of his impotence, at once returned +to his stall or his plow. When a wall is too high one does not even +think of scaling it. -- But now the wall is cracking -- all its +custodians, the clergy, the nobles, the Third-Estate, men of +letters, the politicians, and even the Government itself, making the +breach wider. The wretched, for the first time, discover an issue: +they dash through it, at first in driblets, then in a mass, and +rebellion becomes as universal as resignation was in the past. + + +II. + +Expectations the second cause. - Separation and laxity of the +administrative forces. - Investigations of local assemblies. - The +people become aware of their condition. - Convocation of the +States-General. - Hope is born. The coincidence of early +Assemblies with early difficulties. + +It is just through this breach that hope steals like a beam of +light, and gradually finds its way down to the depths below. For +the last fifty years it has been rising, and its rays, which first +illuminated the upper class in their splendid apartments in the +first story, and next the middle class in their entresol and on the +ground floor. They have now for two years penetrated to the cellars +where the people toil, and even to the deep sinks and obscure +corners where rogues and vagabonds and malefactors, a foul and +swarming herd, crowd and hide themselves from the persecution of the +law. -- To the first two provincial assemblies instituted by Necker +in 1778 and 1779, Loménie de Brienne has in 1787 just added nineteen +others; under each of these are assemblies of the arrondissement, +under each assembly of the arrondissement are parish assemblies[8]. +Thus the whole machinery of administration has been changed. It is +the new assemblies which assess the taxes and superintend their +collection; which determine upon and direct all public works; and +which form the court of final appeal in regard to matters in +dispute. The intendant, the sub-delegate, the elected +representative[9], thus lose three-quarters of their authority. +Conflicts arise, consequently, between rival powers whose frontiers +are not clearly defined; command shifts about, and obedience is +diminished. The subject no longer feels on his shoulders the +commanding weight of the one hand which, without possibility of +interference or resistance, held him in, urged him forward, and made +him move on. Meanwhile, in each assembly of the parish +arrondissement, and even of the province, plebeians, "husband- +men,"[10] and often common farmers, sit by the side of lords and +prelates. They listen to and remember the vast figure of the taxes +which are paid exclusively, or almost exclusively, by them -- the +taille and its accessories, the poll-tax and road dues, and +assuredly on their return home they talk all this over with their +neighbor. These figures are all printed; the village attorney +discusses the matter with his clients, the artisans and rustics, on +Sunday as they leave the mass, or in the evening in the large public +room of the tavern. These little gatherings, moreover, are +sanctioned, encouraged by the powers above. In the earliest days of +1788 the provincial assemblies order a board of inquiry to be held +by the syndics and inhabitants of each parish. Knowledge is wanted +in detail of their grievances. What part of the revenue is +chargeable to each impost? What must the cultivator pay and how much +does he suffer? How many privileged persons there are in the parish, +what is the amount of their fortune, are they residents, and what +their exemptions amount to? In replying, the attorney who holds the +pen, names and points out with his finger each privileged +individual, criticizes his way of living, and estimates his fortune, +calculates the injury done to the village by his immunities, +inveighs against the taxes and the tax-collectors. On leaving these +assemblies the villager broods over what he has just heard. He sees +his grievances no longer singly as before, but in mass, and coupled +with the enormity of evils under which his fellows suffer. Besides +this, they begin to disentangle the causes of their misery: the King +is good -- why then do his collectors take so much of our money? +This or that canon or nobleman is not unkind -- why then do they +make us pay in their place? -- Imagine that a sudden gleam of reason +should allow a beast of burden to comprehend the contrast between +the species of horse and mankind. Imagine, if you can, what its +first ideas would be in relation to the coachmen and drivers who +bridle and whip it and again in relation to the good-natured +travelers and sensitive ladies who pity it, but who to the weight of +the vehicle add their own and that of their luggage. + +Likewise, in the mind of the peasant, athwart his perplexed +brooding, a new idea, slowly, little by little, is unfolded: -- that +of an oppressed multitude of which he makes one, a vast herd +scattered far beyond the visible horizon, everywhere ill used, +starved, and fleeced. Towards the end of 1788 we begin to detect in +the correspondence of the intendants and military commandants the +dull universal muttering of coming wrath. Men's characters seem to +change; they become suspicious and restive. -- And just at this +moment, the Government, dropping the reins, calls upon them to +direct themselves.[11]. In the month of November 1787, the King +declared that he would convoke the States-General. On the 5th of +July 1788, he calls for memoranda (des mémoires) on this subject +from every competent person and body. On the 8th of August he fixes +the date of the session. On the 5th of October he convokes the +notables, in order to consider the subject with them. On the 27th +of December he grants a double representation to the Third-Estate, +because "its cause is allied with generous sentiments, and it will +always obtain the support of public opinion." The same day he +introduces into the electoral assemblies of the clergy a majority of +curés[12], "because good and useful pastors are daily and closely +associated with the indigence and relief of the people," from which +it follows "that they are much more familiar with their sufferings" +and necessities. On the 24th January 1789, he prescribes the +procedure and method of the meetings. After the 7th of February +writs of summons are sent out one after the other. Eight days +after, each parish assembly begins to draw up its memorial of +grievances, and becomes excited over the detailed enumeration of all +the miseries which it sets down in writing. -- All these appeals +and all these acts are so many strokes, which reverberate, in the +popular imagination. "It is the desire of His Majesty," says the +order issued, "that every one, from the extremities of his kingdom, +and from the most obscure of its hamlets, should be certain of his +wishes and protests reaching him." Thus, it is all quite true: there +can be no mistake about it, the thing is sure. The people are +invited to speak out, they are summoned, and they are consulted. +There is a disposition to relieve them; henceforth their misery +shall be less; better times are coming. This is all they know about +it. A few month after, in July,[13] the only answer a peasant girl +can make to Arthur Young is, "something was to be done by some great +folks for such poor ones, but she did not know who nor how." The +thing is too complicated, beyond the reach of a stupefied and +mechanical brain. - One idea alone emerges, the hope of immediate +relief. The persuasion that one is entitled to it, the resolution +to aid it with every possible means. Consequently, an anxious +waiting, a ready fervor, a tension of the will simply due to the +waiting for the opportunity to let go and take off like a +irresistible arrow towards the unknown end which will reveal itself +all of a sudden. Hunger is to mark this sudden target out for them. + +The market must be supplied with wheat; the farmers and land-owners +must bring it; wholesale buyers, whether the Government or +individuals, must not be allowed to send it elsewhere. The wheat +must be sold at a low price; the price must be cut down and fixed, +so that the baker can sell bread at two sous the pound. Grain, +flour, wine, salt, and provisions must pay no more duties. +Seignorial dues and claims, ecclesiastical tithes, and royal or +municipal taxes must no longer exist. On the strength of this idea +disturbances broke out on all sides in March, April, and May. +Contemporaries " do not know what to think of such a scourge;[14] +they cannot comprehend how such a vast number of criminals, without +visible leaders, agree amongst themselves everywhere to commit the +same excesses just at the time when the States-General are going to +begin their sittings." The reason is that, under the ancient régime, +the conflagration was smoldering in a closed chamber; the great door +is suddenly opened, the air enters, and immediately the flame breaks +out. + + III. +The provinces during the first six months of 1789. - Effects of the +famine. + +At first there are only intermittent, isolated fires, which are +extinguished or go out of themselves; but, a moment after, in the +same place, or very near it, the sparks again appear. Their number, +like their recurrence, shows the vastness, depth, and heat of the +combustible matter, which is about to explode. In the four months, +which precede the taking of the Bastille, over three hundred +outbreaks may be counted in France. They take place from month to +month and from week to week, in Poitou, Brittany, Touraine, +Orléanais, Normandy, Ile-de-France, Picardy, Champagne, Alsace, +Burgundy, Nivernais, Auvergne, Languedoc, and Provence. On the 28th +of May the parliament of Rouen announces robberies of grain, +"violent and bloody tumults, in which men on both sides have +fallen," throughout the province, at Caen, Saint-Lô, Mortain, +Granville, Evreux, Bernay, Pont-Andemer, Elboeuf; Louviers, and in +other sections besides. On the 20th of April Baron de Bezenval, +military commander in the Central Provinces, writes: "I once more +lay before M. Necker a picture of the frightful condition of +Touraine and of Orléanais. Every letter I receive from these two +provinces is the narrative of three or four riots, which are put +down with difficulty by the troops and constabulary,"[15] -- and +throughout the whole extent of the kingdom a similar state of things +is seen. The women, as is natural, are generally at the head of +these outbreaks. It is they who, at Montlhéry, rip open the sacks +of grain with their scissors. On learning each week, on market day +that the price of a loaf of bread advances three, four, or seven +sous, they break out into shrieks of rage: at this rate for bread, +with the small salaries of the men, and when work fails,[16] how can +a family be fed? Crowds gather around the sacks of flour and the +doors of the bakers. Amidst outcries and reproaches some one in the +crowd makes a push; the proprietor or dealer is hustled and knocked +down. The shop is invaded, the commodity is in the hands of the +buyers and of the famished, each one grabbing for himself, pay or no +pay, and running away with the booty. -- Sometimes a party is made +up beforehand[17] At Bray-sur-Seine, on the 1st of May, the +villagers for four leagues around, armed with stones, knives, and +cudgels, to the number of four thousand, compel the metayers and +farmers, who have brought grain with them, to sell it at 3 livres, +instead of 4 livres 10 sous the bushel. They threaten to do the +same thing on the following market-day: but the farmers do not +return, the storehouse remains empty. Now soldiers must be at hand, +or the inhabitants of Bray will be pillaged. At Bagnols, in +Languedoc, on the 1st and 2nd of April, the peasants, armed with +cudgels and assembled by tap of drum, "traverse the town, +threatening to burn and destroy everything if flour and money are +not given to them." They go to private houses for grain, divide it +amongst themselves at a reduced price, "promising to pay when the +next crop comes round," and force the Consuls to put bread at two +sous the pound, and to increase the day's wages four sous. -- +Indeed this is now the regular thing; it is not the people who obey +the authorities, but the authorities who obey the people. Consuls, +sheriffs, mayors, municipal officers, town-clerks, become confused +and hesitating in the face of this huge clamor; they feel that they +are likely to be trodden under foot or thrown out of the windows. +Others, with more firmness, being aware that a riotous crowd is mad, +and having scruples to spill blood; yield for the time being, hoping +that at the next market-day there will be more soldiers and better +precautions taken. At Amiens, "after a very violent outbreak,"[18] +they decide to take the wheat belonging to the Jacobin monks, and, +protected by the troops, to sell it to the people at a third below +its value. At Nantes, where the town hall is attacked, they are +forced to lower the price of bread one sou per pound. At Angoulême, +to avoid a recourse to arms, they request the Comte d'Artois to +renounce his dues on flour for two months, reduce the price of +bread, and compensate the bakers. At Cette they are so maltreated +they let everything take its course; the people sack their dwellings +and get the upper hand; they announce by sound of trumpet that all +their demands are granted. On other occasions, the mob dispenses +with their services and acts for itself. If there happens to be no +grain on the market-place, the people go after it wherever they can +find it -- to proprietors and farmers who are unable to bring it for +fear of pillage; to convents, which by royal edict are obliged +always to have one year's crop in store; to granaries where the +Government keeps its supplies; and to convoys which are dispatched +by the intendants to the relief of famished towns. Each for himself +-- so much the worse for his neighbor. The inhabitants of Fougères +beat and drive out those who come from Ernée to buy in their market; +a similar violence is shown at Vitré to the in-habitants of +Maine.[19] At Sainte-Léonard the people stop the grain started for +Limoges; at Bost that intended for Aurillac; at Saint-Didier that +ordered for Moulins; and at Tournus that dispatched to Macon. In +vain are escorts added to the convoys; troops of men and women, +armed with hatchets and guns, put themselves in ambush in the woods +along the road, and seize the horses by their bridles; the saber has +to be used to secure any advance. In vain are arguments and kind +words offered, "and in vain even is wheat offered for money; they +refuse, shouting out that the convoy shall not go on." They have +taken a stubborn stand, their resolution being that of a bull +planted in the middle of the road and lowering his horns. Since the +wheat is in the district, it is theirs; whoever carries it off or +withholds it is a robber. This fixed idea cannot be driven out of +their minds. At Chant-nay, near Mans,[20] they prevent a miller +from carrying that which he had just bought to his mill. At +Montdragon, in Languedoc, they stone a dealer in the act of sending +his last wagon load elsewhere. At Thiers, workmen go in force to +gather wheat in the fields; a proprietor with whom some is found is +nearly killed; they drink wine in the cellars, and leave the taps +running. At Nevers, the bakers not having put bread on their +counters for four days, the mob force the granaries of private +persons, of dealers and religious communities. "The frightened +corn-dealers part with their grain at any price; most of it is +stolen in the face of the guards," and, in the tumult of these +searches of homes, a number of houses are sacked. -- In these days +woe to all who are concerned in the acquisition, commerce, and +manipulation of grain! Popular imagination requires living beings to +who it may impute its misfortunes, and on whom it may gratify its +resentments. To it, all such persons are monopolists, and, at any +rate, public enemies. Near Angers the Benedictine establishment is +invaded, and its fields and woods are devastated.[21] At Amiens "the +people are arranging to pillage and perhaps burn the houses of two +merchants, who have built labor-saving mills." Restrained by the +soldiers, they confine themselves to breaking windows; but other +"groups come to destroy or plunder the houses of two or three +persons whom they suspect of being monopolists." At Nantes, a sieur +Geslin, being deputized by the people to inspect a house, and +finding no wheat, a shout is set up that he is a receiver, an +accomplice! The crowd rush at him, and he is wounded and almost cut +in pieces. -- It is very evident that there is no more security in +France; property, even life, is in danger. The primary possession, +food, is violated in hundreds of places, and is everywhere menaced +and precarious. The local officials everywhere call for aid, +declare the constabulary incompetent, and demand regular troops. +And mark how public authority, everywhere inadequate, disorganized, +and tottering, finds stirred up against it not only the blind +madness of hunger, but, in addition, the evil instincts which profit +by every disorder and the inveterate lusts which every political +commotion frees from restraint. + + +IV. + +Intervention of ruffians and vagabonds. + +We have seen how numerous the smugglers, dealers in contraband salt, +poachers, vagabonds, beggars, and escaped convicts[22] have become, +and how a year of famine increases the number. All are so many +recruits for the mobs, and whether in a disturbance or by means of a +disturbance each one of them fills his pouch. Around Caux,[23] even +up to the environs of Rouen, at Roncherolles, Quévrevilly, Préaux, +Saint-Jacques, and in the entire surrounding neighborhood bands of +armed bandits force their way into the houses, particularly the +parsonages, and lay their hands on whatever they please. To the +south of Chartres "three or four hundred woodcutters, from the +forests of Bellème, chop away everything that opposes them, and +force grain to be given up to them at their own price." In the +vicinity of Étampes, fifteen bandits enter the farmhouses at night +and put the farmer to ransom, threatening him with a conflagration. +In Cambrésis they pillage the abbeys of Vauchelles, of Verger, and +of Guillemans, the château of the Marquis de Besselard, the estate +of M. Doisy, two farms, the wagons of wheat passing along the road +to Saint-Quentin, and, besides this, seven farms in Picardy. "The +seat of this revolt is in some villages bordering on Picardy and +Cambrésis, familiar with smuggling operations and to the license of +that pursuit." The peasants allow themselves to be enticed away by +the bandits. Man slips rapidly down the incline of dishonesty; one +who is half-honest, and takes part in a riot inadvertently or in +spite of himself; repeats the act, allured on by impunity or by +gain. In fact, "it is not dire necessity which impels them;" they +make a speculation of cupidity, a new sort of illicit trade. An old +soldier, saber in hand, a forest-keeper, and "about eight persons +sufficiently lax, put themselves at the head of four or five hundred +men, go off each day to three or four villages. Here they force +everybody who has any wheat to give it to them at 24 livres," and +even at 18 livres, the sack. Those among the band, who say that +they have no money, carry away their portion without payment. +Others, after having paid what they please, re-sell at a profit, +which amounts to even 45 livres the sack. This is a good business, +and one in which greed takes poverty for its accomplice. At the +next harvest the temptation will be similar: "they have threatened +to come and do our harvesting for us, and also to take our cattle +and sell the meat in the villages at the rate of two sous the +pound." -- In every important insurrection there are similar evil- +does and vagabonds, enemies to the law, savage, prowling +desperadoes, who, like wolves, roam about wherever they scent a +prey. It is they who serve as the directors and executioners of +public or private malice. Near Uzès twenty-five masked men, with +guns and clubs, enter the house of a notary, fire a pistol at him, +beat him, wreck the premises, and burn his registers along with the +title-deeds and papers which be has in keeping for the Count de +Rouvres. Seven of them are arrested, but the people are on their +side, and fall on the constabulary and free them.[24] -- They are +known by their acts, by their love of destruction for the sake of +destruction, by their foreign accent, by their savage faces and +their rags. Some of them come from Paris to Rouen, and, for four +days, the town is at their mercy.[25] The stores are forced open, +train wagons are discharged, wheat is wasted, and convents and +seminaries are put to ransom. They invade the dwelling of the +attorney-general, who has begun proceedings against them, and want +to tear him to pieces. They break his mirrors and his furniture, +leave the premises laden with booty, and go into the town and its +outskirts to pillage the manufactories and break up or burn all the +machinery. -- Henceforth these constitute the new leaders: for in +every mob it is the boldest and least scrupulous who march ahead and +set the example in destruction. The example is contagious: the +beginning was the craving for bread, the end is murder and arson; +the savagery which is unchained adding its unlimited violence to the +limited revolt of necessity. + + +V. + +Effect on the Population of the New Ideas. + +Bad as it is, this savagery might, perhaps, have been overcome, in +spite of the dearth and of the brigands; but what renders it +irresistible is the belief of its being authorized, and that by +those whose duty it is to repress it. Here and there words and +actions of a brutal frankness break forth, and reveal beyond the +somber present a more threatening future -- After the 9th of +January, 1789, among the mob which attacks the Hôtel-de-Ville and +besieges the bakers' shops of Nantes, "shouts of Vive la +Liberté![26] .mingled with those of Vive le Roi! are heard." A few +months later, around Ploërmel, the peasants refuse to pay tithes, +alleging that the memorial of their seneschal's court demands their +abolition. In Alsace, after March, there is the same refusal "in +many places;" many of the communities even maintain that they will +pay no more taxes until their deputies to the States-General shall +have fixed the precise amount of the public contributions. In Isère +it is decided, by proceedings, printed and published, that "personal +dues" shall no longer be paid, while the landowners who are affected +by this dare not prosecute in the tribunals. At Lyons, the people +have come to the conclusion "that all levies of taxes are to cease," +and, on the 29th of June, on hearing of the meeting of the three +orders, "astonished by the illuminations and signs of public +rejoicing," they believe that the good time has come." They think of +forcing the delivery of meat to them at four sous the pound, and +wine at the same rate. The publicans insinuate to them the +prospective abolition of octrois.[27] and that, meanwhile, the +King, in favor of the re-assembling of the three orders, has granted +three days' freedom from all duties at Paris, and that Lyons ought +to enjoy the same privilege." Upon this the crowd, rushing off to +the barriers, to the gates of Sainte-Claire and Perrache, and to the +Guillotière bridge, burn or demolish the bureaux, destroy the +registers, sack the lodgings of the clerks, carry off the money and +pillage the wine on hand in the depot. In the mean time a rumor +has circulated all round through the country that there is free +entrance into the town for all provisions. During the following +days the peasantry stream in with enormous files of wagons loaded +with wine and drawn by several oxen, so that, in spite of the re- +established guard, it is necessary to let them enter all day without +paying the dues. It is only on the 7th of July that these can again +be collected. -- The same thing occurs in the southern provinces, +where the principal imposts are levied on provisions. There also +the collections are suspended in the name of public authority. At +Agde,[28] "the people, considering the so-called will of the King as +to equality of classes, are foolish enough to think that they are +everything and can do everything." Thus do they interpret in their +own way and in their own terms the double representation accorded to +the Third-Estate. They threaten the town, consequently, with +general pillage if the prices of all provisions are not reduced, and +if the duties of the province on wine, fish, and meat are not +suppressed. They also wish to nominate consuls who have sprung up +out of their body." The bishop, the lord of the manor, the mayor and +the notables, against whom they forcibly stir up the peasantry in +the country, are obliged to proclaim by sound of trumpet that their +demands shall be granted. Three days afterwards they exact a +diminution of one-half of the tax on grinding, and go in quest of +the bishop who owns the mills. The prelate, who is ill, sinks down +in the street and seats himself on a stone; they compel him +forthwith to sign an act of renunciation, and hence "his mill, +valued at 15,000 livres, is reduced to 7,500 livres." -- At Limoux, +under the pretext of searching for grain, they enter the houses of +the comptroller and tax contractors, carry off their registers, and +throw them into the water along with the furniture of their clerks. +-- In Provence it is worse; for most unjustly, and through +inconceivable imprudence, the taxes of the towns are all levied on +flour. It is therefore to this impost that the dearness of bread is +directly attributed. Hence the fiscal agent becomes a manifest +enemy, and revolts on account of hunger are transformed into +insurrections against the State. + + VI. + +The first jacquerie in Province. - Feebleness or ineffectiveness of +repressive measures. + +Here, again, political novelties are the spark that ignites the mass +of gunpowder. Everywhere, the uprising of the people takes place on +the very day on which the electoral assembly meets. From forty to +fifty riots occur in the provinces in less than a fortnight. +Popular imagination, like that of a child, goes straight to its +mark. The reforms having been announced, people think them +accomplished and, to make sure of them, steps are at once taken to +carry them out. Now that we are to have relief, let us relieve +ourselves. "This is not an isolated riot as usual," writes the +commander of the troops;[29] "here the faction is united and +governed by uniform principles; the same errors are diffused through +all minds. . . . . The principles impressed on the people are +that the King desires equality. No more bishops or lords, no more +distinctions of rank, no tithes, and no seignorial privileges. +Thus, these misguided people fancy that they are exercising their +rights, and obeying the will of the King." -- The effect of +sonorous phrases is apparent. The people have been told that the +States-General were to bring about the "regeneration of the kingdom" +The inference is "that the date of their assembly was to be one of +an entire and absolute change of conditions and fortunes." Hence, +"the insurrection against the nobles and the clergy is as active as +it is widespread." "In many places it was distinctly announced that +there was a sort of war declared against landowners and property," +and "in the towns as well as in the rural districts the people +persist in declaring that they will pay nothing, neither taxes, +duties, nor debts." -- Naturally, the first assault is against the +piquèt, or flour-tax. At Aix, Marseilles, Toulon, and in more than +forty towns and market-villages, this is summarily abolished; at +Aupt and at Luc nothing remains of the weighing-house but the four +walls. At Marseilles the home of the slaughter-house contractor and +at Brignolles that of the director of the leather excise, are +sacked. The determination is "to purge the land of excise-men. " - +- This is only a beginning; bread and other provisions must become +cheap, and that without delay. At Arles, the Corporation of +sailors, presided over by M. de Barras, consul, had just elected its +representatives. By way of conclusion to the meeting, they pass a +resolution insisting that M. de Barras should reduce the price of +all comestibles. On his refusal, they "open the window, exclaiming, +'We hold him, and we have only to throw him into the street for the +rest to pick him up.'" Compliance is inevitable. The resolution is +proclaimed by the town-criers, and at each article which is reduced +in price the crowd shout, "Vive le Roi, vive M. Barras !" -- One +must yield to brute force. But the inconvenience is great for, +through the suppression of the flour-tax, the towns have no longer a +revenue. On the other hand, as they are obliged to indemnify the +butchers and bakers, Toulon, for instance, incurs a debt of 2,500 +livres a day. + +In this state of disorder, woe to those who are under suspicion of +having contributed, directly or indirectly, to the evils, which the +people endure! At Toulon a demand is made for the head of the mayor, +who signs the tax-list, and of the keeper of the records. They are +trodden under foot, and their houses are ransacked. At Manosque, +the Bishop of Sisteron, who is visiting the seminary, is accused of +favoring a monopolist. On his way to his carriage, on foot, he is +hooted and menaced. He is first pelted with mud, and then with +stones. The consuls in attendance, and the sub-delegate, who come +to his assistance, are mauled and repulsed. Meanwhile, some of the +most furious begin, before his eyes, "to dig a ditch to bury him +in." Protected by five or six brave fellows, amidst a volley of +stones, and wounded on the head and on many parts of his body, he +succeeds in reaching his carriage. He is finally only saved because +the horses, which are likewise stoned, run away. Foreigners, +Italians, bandits, are mingled with the peasants and artisans, and +expressions are heard and acts are seen which indicate a +jacquerie.[30] "The most excited said to the bishop, 'we are poor +and you are rich, and we mean to have all your property.'"[31] +Elsewhere, "the seditious mob exacts contributions from all people +in good circumstances. At Brignolles, thirteen houses are pillaged +from top to bottom, and thirty others partly half. -- At Aupt, M. +de Montferrat, in defending himself, is killed and "hacked to +pieces." -- At La Seyne, the mob, led by a peasant, assembles by +beat of drum. Some women fetch a bier, and set it down before the +house of a leading bourgeois, telling him to prepare for death, and +that "they will have the honor of burying him." He escapes; his +house is pillaged, as well as the bureau of the flour-tax. The +following day, the chief of the band "obliges the principal +inhabitants to give him a sum of money to indemnify, as he states +it, the peasants who have abandoned their work," and devoted the day +to serving the public. -- At Peinier, the Président de Peinier, an +octogenarian, is "besieged in his chateau by a band of a hundred and +fifty artisans and peasants," who bring with them a consul and a +notary. Aided by these two functionaries, they force the president +"to pass an act by which he renounces his seignorial rights of every +description " -- At Sollier they destroy the mills belonging to M. +de Forbin-Janson. They sack the house of his business agent, +pillage the château, and demolish the roof, chapel, altar, railings, +and escutcheons. They enter the cellars, stave in the casks, and +carry away everything that can be carried, "the transportation +taking two days;" all of which cause damages of a hundred thousand +crowns to the marquis. -- At Riez they surround the episcopal +palace with fagots, threatening to burn it, "and compromise with the +bishop on a promise of fifty thousand livres," and want him to burn +his archives. -- In short, the sedition is social for it singles +out for attack all that profit by, or stand at the head of, the +established order of things. + +Seeing them act in this way, one would say that the theory of the +Contrat-Social had been instilled into them. They treat magistrates +as domestics, promulgate laws, and conduct themselves like +sovereigns. They exercise public power, and establish, summarily, +arbitrarily, and brutally, whatever they think to be in conformity +with natural right. -- At Peinier they exact a second electoral +assembly, and, for themselves, the right of suffrage. -- At Saint- +Maximin they themselves elect new consuls and officers of justice. +-- At Solliez they oblige the judge's lieutenant to give in his +resignation, and they break his staff of office. -- At Barjols +"they use consuls and judges as their town servants, announcing that +they are masters and that they will themselves administer justice." +-- In fact, they do administer it, as they understand it -- that is +to say, through many exactions and robberies! One man has wheat; he +must share it with him who has none. Another has money; he must +give it to him who has not enough to buy bread with. On this +principle, at Barjols, they tax the Ursulin nuns 1,800 livres, carry +off fifty loads of wheat from the Chapter, eighteen from one poor +artisan, and forty from another, and constrain canons and +beneficiaries to give acquittances to their farmers. Then, from +house to house, with club in hand, they oblige some to hand over +money, others to abandon their claims on their debtors, "one to +desist from criminal proceedings, another to nullify a decree +obtained, a third to reimburse the expenses of a lawsuit gained +years before, a father to give his consent to the marriage of his +son." -- All their grievances are brought to mind, and we all know +the tenacity of a peasant's memory. Having become the master, he +redresses wrongs, and especially those of which he thinks himself +the object. There must be a general restitution; and first, of the +feudal dues which have been collected. They take of M. de +Montmeyan's business agent all the money he has as compensation for +that received by him during fifteen years as a notary. A former +consul of Brignolles had, in 1775, inflicted penalties to the amount +of 1,500 or 1,800 francs, which had been given to the poor; this sum +is taken from his strong box. Moreover, if consuls and law officers +are wrongdoers, the title deeds, rent-rolls, and other documents by +which they do their business are still worse. To the fire with all +old writings -- not only office registers, but also, at Hyères, all +the papers in the town hall and those of the principal notary. -- +In the matter of papers none are good but new ones -- those which +convey some discharge, quittance, or obligation to the advantage of +the people. At Brignolles the owners of the gristmills are +constrained to execute a contract of sale by which they convey their +mills to the commune in consideration of 5,000 francs per annum, +payable in ten years without interest -- an arrangement which ruins +them. On seeing the contract signed the peasants shout and cheer, +and so great is their faith in this piece of stamped paper that they +at once cause a mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in the +Cordeliers. Formidable omens these! Which mark the inward purpose, +the determined will, and the coming deeds of this rising power. If +it prevails, its first work will be to destroy all ancient +documents, all title deeds, rent-rolls, contracts, and claims to +which force compels it to submit. By force likewise it will draw up +others to its own advantage, and the scribes who do it will be its +own deputies and administrators whom it holds in its rude grasp. + +Those who are in high places are not alarmed; they even find that +there is some good in the revolt, inasmuch as it compels the towns +to suppress unjust taxation.[32] The new Marseilles guard, formed +of young men, is allowed to march to Aubagne, "to insist that M. le +lieutenant criminel and M. l'avocat du Roi release the prisoners." +The disobedience of Marseilles, which refuses to receive the +magistrates sent under letters patent to take testimony, is +tolerated. And better still, in spite of the remonstrances of the +parliament of Aix, a general amnesty is proclaimed; "no one is +excepted but a few of the leaders, to whom is allowed the liberty of +leaving the kingdom." The mildness of the King and of the military +authorities is admirable. It is admitted that the people are +children, that they err only through ignorance, that faith must be +had in their repentance, and, as soon as they return to order, they +must be received with paternal effusions. -- The truth is, that +the child is a blind Colossus, exasperated by sufferings. hence +whatever it takes hold of is shattered -- not only the local wheels +of the provinces, which, if temporarily deranged, may be repaired, +but even the incentive at the center which puts the rest in motion, +and the destruction of which will throw the whole machinery into +confusion. + +__________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + + [1] Marmontel, "Mémoires," II. 221. -- Albert Babeau, "Histoire +de la Révolution Française," I. 91, 187. (Letter by Huez Mayor of +Troyes, July 30, 1788.)- -- Archives Nationales, H. 1274. (Letter +by M. de Caraman, April 22, 1789.) H. 942 (Cahier des demandes des +Etats de Languedoc). - Buchez et Roux, "Histoire Parlementaire," +I. 283. + +[2] See " The Ancient Régime," p.34. Albert Babeau, I. 91. (The +Bishop of Troyes gives 12,000 francs, and the chapter 6,000, for the +relief workshops.) + +[3] "The Ancient Regime," 350, 387.--Floquet, "Histoire du Parlement +de Normandie," VII. 505-518. (Reports of the Parliament of +Normandy, May 3,1788. Letter from the Parliament to the King, July +15, 1789.) + +[4] Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," June 29th, July 2nd and 18th +-- " Journal de Paris," January 2, 1789. Letter of the curé of +Sainte-Marguerite. + +[5] Buchez and Roux, IV. 79-82. (Letter from the intermediary +bureau of Montereau, July 9, 1789; from the maire of Villeneuve-le- +Roi, July 10th; from M. Baudry, July 10th; from M. Prioreau, July +11th, etc.) -- Montjoie, "Histoire de la Révolution de France," 2nd +part, ch. XXI, p. 5. + +[6] Roux et Buchez, ibid. "It is very unfortunate," writes the +Marquis d'Autichamp, "to be obliged to cut down the standing crops +ready to be gathered in; but it is dangerous to let the troops die +of hunger." + +[7] Montjoie, "Histoire de la Révolution de France," ch. XXXIX, V, +37. -- De Goncourt, "La Société Française pendant la Révolution," +p. 5l3. -- Deposition of Maillard (Criminal Inquiry of the +Châtelet concerning the events of October 5th and 6th). + +[8] De Tocqueville, "L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution," 272-290. De +Lavergne, "Les Assemblées provinciales," 109. Procès-verbaux des +assemblées provinciales, passim. + +[9] A magistrate who gives judgment in a lower court in cases +relative to taxation. These terms are retained because there are no +equivalents in English. (Tr.) + +[10] "Laboureurs," -- this term, at this epoch, is applied to those +who till their own land. (Tr.) + +[11] Duvergier. "Collection des lois et décrets," I. 1 to 23, and +particularly p. 15. + +[12] Parish priests. (SR.) + +[13] Arthur Young, July 12th , 1789 (in Champagne). + +[14] Montjoie, 1st part, 102. + +[15] Floquet, "Histoire du Parlement de Normandie," VII. 508. -- " +Archives Nationales," H. 1453. + +[16] Arthur Young, June 29th (at Nangis). + +[17] "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the Duc de Mortemart, +Seigneur of Bray, May 4th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, intendant of +Languedoc, April 15th. + +[18] "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, M. +d'Agay, April 30th; of the municipal officers of Nantes, January +9th; of the intendant, M. Meulan d'Ablois, June 22nd; of M. de +Ballainvilliers, April 15th. + +[19] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Langeron, July 4th; of M. de Meulan d'Ablois, June 5th; "Minutes of +the meeting of la Maréchaussée de Bost," April 29th. Letters of M. +de Chazerat, May 29th; of M. de Bezenval, June 2nd; of the +intendant, M. Amelot, April 25th. + +[20] '"Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of M. de Bezenval, May +27th; of M. de Ballainvilliers, April 25th; of M. de Foullonde, +April 19th. + +[21] "Archives Nationales," H.1453. Letter of the intendant, M. +d'Aine, March 12th; of M. d'Agay, April 30th; of M. Amelot, April +25th; of the municipal authorities of Nantes, January 9th, etc. + +[22] "The Ancient Régime," pp. 380-389. + +[23] Floquet, VII. 508, (Report of February 27th). - Hippeau, "La +Gouvernement de Normandie," IV. 377. (Letter of M. Perrot, June +23rd.) -- " Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. de +Sainte-Suzanne, April 29th. Ibid. F7, 3250. Letter of M. de +Rochambeau, May 16th Ibid. F7, 3250. Letter of the Abbé Duplaquet, +Deputy of the Third Estate of Saint-Quentin, May 17th. Letter of +three husbandmen in the environs of Saint-Quentin, May 14th. + +[24] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the Count de +Perigord, military commandant of Languedoc, April 22nd. + +[25] Floquet, VII. 511 (from the 11th to the 14th July). + +[26] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the municipal +authorities of Nantes, January 9th; of the sub-delegate of Ploërmel, +July 4th; ibid. F7, 2353. Letter of the intermediary commission of +Alsace, September 8th ibid. F7, 3227. Letter of the intendant, +Caze de la Bove, June 16th ; ibid. H. 1453. Letter of Terray, +intendant of Lyons, July 4th; of the prévot des échevins, July 5th +and 7th. + +[27] (A tax on all goods entering a town. SR.) + +[28] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the mayor and +councils of Agde, April 21st; of M. de Perigord, April 19th, May +5th. + +[29] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. de Caraman, +March 23rd, 26th 27th 28th; of the seneschal Missiessy, March 24th; +of the mayor of Hyères, March 25th, etc.; ibid. H. 1274; of M. de +Montmayran, April 2nd; of M. de Caraman, March 18th , April 12th; of +the intendant, M. de la Tour, April 2nd; of the procureur-géneral, +M. d'Antheman, April 17th, and the report of June 15th; of the +municipal authorities of Toulon, April 11th; of the sub-delegate of +Manosque, March 14th; of M. de Saint-Tropez, March 21st. - Minutes +of the meeting, signed by 119 witnesses, of the insurrection at Aix, +March 5th, etc. + +[30] An uprising of the peasants. The term is used to indicate a +country mob in contradistinction to a city or town mob.-Tr. + +[31] "Archives Nationales," H.1274. Letter of M. de la Tour, April +2nd (with a detailed memorandum and depositions). + +[32] "Archives Nationales," H. 1274. Letter of M. de Caraman, +April 22nd: ---"One real benefit results from this misfortune. . . +The well-to-do class is brought to sustain that which exceeded the +strength of the poor daily laborers. We see the nobles and people +in good circumstances a little more attentive to the poor peasants: +they are now habituated to speaking to them with more gentleness." +M. de Caraman was wounded, as well as his Son, at Aix, and if the +Soldiery, who were stoned, at length fired on the crowd, he did not +give the order. -- Ibid, letter of M. d'Anthéman, April 17th; of M. +de Barentin, June 11th. + + + +CHAPTER II. PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY. + +I. + +Mob recruits in the vicinity.- Entry of vagabonds. - The number of +paupers. + +INDEED it is in the center that the convulsive shocks are strongest. +Nothing is lacking to aggravate the insurrection -- neither the +liveliest provocation to stimulate it, nor the most numerous bands +to carry it out. The environs of Paris all furnish recruits for it; +nowhere are there so many miserable wretches, so many of the +famished, and so many rebellious beings. Robberies of grain take +place everywhere -- at Orleans, at Cosne, at Rambouillet, at Jouy, +at Pont-Saint-Maxence, at Bray-sur-Seine, at Sens, at Nangis.[1] +Wheat flour is so scarce at Meudon, that every purchaser is ordered +to buy at the same time an equal quantity of barley. At Viroflay, +thirty women, with a rear-guard of men, stop on the main road +vehicles, which they suppose to be loaded with grain. At Montlhéry +stones and clubs disperse seven brigades of the police. An immense +throng of eight thousand persons, women and men, provided with bags, +fall upon the grain exposed for sale. They force the delivery to +them of wheat worth 40 francs at 24 francs, pillaging the half of it +and conveying it off without payment. "The constabulary is +disheartened," writes the sub-delegate; "the determination of the +people is wonderful; I am frightened at what I have seen and heard." +-- After the 13th of July, 1788, the day of the hail-storm, despair +seized the peasantry; well disposed as the proprietors may have +been, it was impossible to assist them. "Not a workshop is +open;[2] the noblemen and the bourgeois, obliged to grant delays in +the payment of their incomes, can give no work." Accordingly, "the +famished people are on the point of risking life for life," and, +publicly and boldly, they seek food wherever it can be found. At +Conflans-Saint-Honorine, Eragny, Neuville, Chenevières, at Cergy, +Pontoise, Ile-Adam, Presle, and Beaumont, men, women, and children, +the hole parish, range the country, set snares, and destroy the +burrows. "The rumor is current that the Government, informed of the +damage done by the game to cultivators, allows its destruction . . +. and really the hares ravaged about a fifth of the crop. At first +an arrest is made of nine of these poachers; but they are released, +"taking circumstances into account." Consequently, for two months, +there is a slaughter on the property of the Prince de Conti and of +the Ambassador Mercy d'Argenteau; in default of bread they eat +rabbits. -- Along with the abuse of property they are led, by a +natural impulse, to attack property itself. Near Saint-Denis the +woods belonging to the abbey are devastated. "The farmers of the +neighborhood carry away loads of wood, drawn by four and five +horses;" the inhabitants of the villages of Ville-Parisis, Tremblay, +Vert-Galant, Villepinte, sell it publicly, and threaten the wood- +rangers with a beating. On the 15th of June the damage is already +estimated at 60,000 livres. -- It makes little difference whether +the proprietor has been benevolent, like M. de Talaru,[3] who had +supported the poor on his estate at Issy the preceding winter. The +peasants destroy the dike which conducts water to his communal mill; +condemned by the parliament to restore it, they declare that not +only will they not obey. Should M. de Talaru try to rebuild it they +will return with three hundred armed men, and tear it away the +second time. + +For those who are most compromised Paris is the nearest refuge. For +the poorest and most exasperated, the door of nomadic life stands +wide open. Bands rise up around the capital, just as in countries +where human society has not yet been formed, or has ceased to exist. +During the first two weeks of May[4] near Villejuif a band of five +or six hundred vagabonds strive to force Bicêtre and approach Saint- +Cloud. They arrive from thirty, forty, and sixty leagues off, from +Champagne, from Lorraine, from the whole circuit of country +devastated by the hailstorm. All hover around Paris and are there +engulfed as in a sewer, the unfortunate along with criminals, some +to find work, others to beg and to rove about under the injurious +prompting of hunger and the rumors of the public thoroughfares. +During the last days of April,[5] the clerks at the tollhouses note +the entrance of "a frightful number of poorly clad men of sinister +aspect." During the first days of May a change in the appearance of +the crowd is remarked. There mingle in it "a number of foreigners, +from all countries, most of them in rags, armed with big sticks, and +whose very aspect announces what is to be feared from them." +Already, before this final influx, the public sink is full to +overflowing. Think of the extraordinary and rapid increase of +population in Paris, the multitude of artisans brought there by +recent demolition and constructions. Think of all the craftsmen +whom the stagnation of manufactures, the augmentation of octrois, +the rigor of winter, and the dearness of bread have reduced to +extreme distress. Remember that in 1786 "two hundred thousand +persons are counted whose property, all told, has not the intrinsic +worth of fifty crowns." Remember that, from time immemorial, these +have been at war with the city watchmen. Remember that in 1789 +there are twenty thousand poachers in the capital and that, to +provide them with work, it is found necessary to establish national +workshops. Remember "that twelve thousand are kept uselessly +occupied digging on the hill of Montmartre, and paid twenty sous per +day. Remember that the wharves and quays are covered with them, +that the Hôtel-de-Ville is invested by them, and that, around the +palace, they seem to be a reproach to the inactivity of disarmed +justice." Daily they grow bitter and excited around the doors of the +bakeries, where, kept waiting a long time, they are not sure of +obtaining bread. You can imagine the fury and the force with which +they will storm any obstacle to which their attention may be +directed. + + +II. The Press. + +Excitement of the press and of opinion. - The people make their +choice. + +Such an obstacle has been pointed out to them during the last two +years, it is the Ministry, the Court, the Government, in short the +entire ancient régime. Whoever protests against it in favor of the +people is sure to be followed as far, and perhaps even farther, than +he chooses to lead. -- The moment the Parliament of a large city +refuses to register fiscal edicts it finds a riot at its service. +On the 7th of June 1788, at Grenoble, tiles rain down on the heads +of the soldiery, and the military force is powerless. At Rennes, to +put down the rebellious city, an army and after this a permanent +camp of four regiments of infantry and two of cavalry, under the +command of a Marshal of France, is required.[6] - The following +year, when the Parliaments now side with the privileged class, the +disturbances again begin, but this time against the Parliaments. In +February 1789, at Besançon and at Aix, the magistrates are hooted +at, chased in the streets, besieged in the town hall, and obliged to +conceal themselves or take to flight. -- If such is the disposition +in the provincial capitals, what must it be in the capital of the +kingdom? For a start, in the month of August, 1788, after the +dismissal of Brienne and Lamoignon, the mob, collected on the Place +Dauphine, constitutes itself judge, burns both ministers in effigy, +disperses the watch, and resists the troops: no sedition, as bloody +as this, had been seen for a century. Two days later, the riot +bursts out a second time; the people are seized with a resolve to go +and burn the residences of the two ministers and that of Dubois, the +lieutenant of police. -- Clearly a new ferment has been infused +among the ignorant and brutal masses, and the new ideas are +producing their effect. They have for a long time imperceptibly +been filtering downwards from layer to layer After having gained +over the aristocracy, the whole of the lettered portion of the +Third-Estate, the lawyers, the schools, all the young, they have +insinuated themselves drop by drop and by a thousand fissures into +the class which supports itself by the labor of its own hands. +Noblemen, at their toilettes, have scoffed at Christianity, and +affirmed the rights of man before their valets, hairdressers, +purveyors, and all those that are in attendance upon them. Men of +letters, lawyers, and attorneys have repeated, in the bitterest +tone, the same diatribes and the same theories in the coffee-houses +and in the restaurants, on the promenades and in all public places. +They have spoken out before the lower class as if it were not +present, and, from all this eloquence poured out without precaution, +some bubbles besprinkle the brain of the artisan, the publican, the +messenger, the shopkeeper, and the soldier. + +Hence it is that a year suffices to convert mute discontent into +political passion. From the 5th of July 1787, on the invitation of +the King, who convokes the States-General and demands advice from +everybody, both speech and the press alter in tone.[7] Instead of +general conversation of a speculative turn there is preaching, with +a view to practical effect, sudden, radical, and close at hand, +preaching as shrill and thrilling as the blast of a trumpet. +Revolutionary pamphlets appear in quick succession: "Qu'est-ce que +le Tiers?" by Sieyès; "Mémoire pour le Peuple Français," by Cerutti; +"Considerations sur les Intérêts des Tiers-Etat," by Rabtau Saint- +Etienne; "Ma Pétition," by Target; "Les Droits des Etats-généraux," +by M. d'Entraigues, and, a little later, "La France libre," par +Camille Desmoulins, and others by hundreds and thousands.[8] All of +which are repeated and amplified in the electoral assemblies, where +new-made citizens come to declaim and increase their own +excitement.[9] The unanimous, universal and daily shout rolls along +from echo to echo, into barracks and into faubourgs, into markets, +workshops, and garrets. In the month of February, 1789, Necker +avows "that obedience is not to be found anywhere, and that even the +troops are not to be relied on." In the month of May, the +fisherwomen, and next the greengrocers, of the town market halls +come to recommend the interests of the people to the bodies of +electors, and to sing rhymes in honor of the Third-Estate. In the +month of June pamphlets are in all hands; "even lackeys are poring +over them at the gates of hotels." In the month of July, as the King +is signing an order, a patriotic valet becomes alarmed and reads it +over his shoulder. -- There is no illusion here; it is not merely +the bourgeoisie which ranges itself against the legal authorities +and against the established regime. It is the entire people as +well. The craftsmen, the shopkeepers and the domestics, workmen of +every kind and degree, the mob underneath the people, the vagabonds, +street rovers, and beggars, the whole multitude, which, bound down +by anxiety for its daily bread, had never lifted its eyes to look at +the great social order of which it is the lowest stratum, and the +whole weight of which it bears. + + III. + +The Réveillon affair. + +Suddenly the people stirs, and the superposed scaffolding totters. +It is the movement of a brute nature exasperated by want and +maddened by suspicion. -- Have paid hands, which are invisible +goaded it on from beneath? Contemporaries are convinced of this, and +it is probably the case.[10] But the uproar made around the +suffering brute would alone suffice to make it shy, and explain its +arousal. - On the 21st of April the Electoral Assemblies have +begun in Paris; there is one in each quarter, one for the clergy, +one for the nobles, and one for the Third-Estate. Every day, for +almost a month, files of electors are seen passing along the +streets. Those of the first degree continue to meet after having +nominated those of the second: the nation must needs watch its +mandatories and maintain its imprescriptible rights. If this +exercise of their rights has been delegated to them, they still +belong to the nation, and it reserves to itself the privilege of +interposing when it pleases. A pretension of this kind travels +fast; immediately after the Third-Estate of the Assemblies it +reaches the Third-Estate of the streets. Nothing is more natural +than the desire to lead one's leaders: the first time any +dissatisfaction occurs, they lay hands on those who halt and make +them march on as directed. On a Saturday, April 25th,[11] a rumor +is current that Réveillon, an elector and manufacturer of wall- +paper, Rue Saint-Antoine, and Lerat, a commissioner, have "spoken +badly" at the Electoral Assembly of Sainte-Marguerite. To speak +badly means to speak badly of the people. What has Réveillon said? +Nobody knows, but popular imagination with its terrible powers of +invention and precision, readily fabricates or welcomes a murderous +phrase. He said that "a working-man with a wife and children could +live on fifteen sous a day." Such a man is a traitor, and must be +disposed of at once; "all his belongings must be put to fire and +sword." The rumor, it must be noted, is false.[12] Réveillon pays +his poorest workman twenty-five sous a day, he provides work for +three hundred and fifty, and, in spite of a dull season the previous +winter, he kept all on at the same rate of wages. He himself was +once a workman, and obtained a medal for his inventions, and is +benevolent and respected by all respectable persons. -- All this +avails nothing; bands of vagabonds and foreigners, who have just +passed through the barriers, do not look so closely into matters, +while the Journeymen, the carters, the cobblers, the masons, the +braziers, and the stone-cutters whom they go to solicit in their +lodgings are just as ignorant as they are. When irritation has +accumulated, it breaks out haphazardly. + +Just at this time the clergy of Paris renounce their privileges in +way of imposts,[13] and the people, taking friends for adversaries, +add in their invectives the name of the clergy to that of Réveillon. +During the whole of the day, and also during the leisure of Sunday, +the fermentation increases; on Monday the 27th, another day of +idleness and drunkenness, the bands begin to move. Certain +witnesses encounter one of these in the Rue Saint-Sévérin, "armed +with clubs," and so numerous as to bar the passage. "Shops and +doors are closed on all sides, and the people cry out, 'There's the +revolt!'" The seditious crowd belch out curses and invectives +against the clergy, "and, catching sight of an abbé, shout +'Priest!'" Another band parades an effigy of Réveillon decorated +with the ribbon of the order of St. Michael, which undergoes the +parody of a sentence and is burnt on the Place de Grève, after which +they threaten his house. Driven back by the guard, they invade that +of a manufacturer of saltpeter, who is his friend, and burn and +smash his effects and furniture.[14] It is only towards midnight +that the crowd is dispersed and the insurrection is supposed to have +ended. On the following day it begins again with greater violence; +for, besides the ordinary stimulants of misery[15] and the craving +for license, they have a new stimulant in the idea of a cause to +defend, the conviction that they are fighting "for the Third- +Estate." In a cause like this each one should help himself; and all +should help each other. "We should be lost," one of them exclaimed, +"if we did not sustain each other." Strong in this belief, they sent +deputations three times into the Faubourg Saint-Marceau to obtain +recruits, and on their way, with uplifted clubs they enrol, +willingly or unwillingly, all they encounter. Others, at the gate +of Saint-Antoine, arrest people who are returning from the races, +demanding of them if they are for the nobles or for the Third- +Estate, and force women to descend from their vehicles and to cry +"Vive le Tiers-Etat "[16]. Meanwhile the crowd has increased +before Réveillon's dwelling; the thirty men on guard are unable to +resist; the house is invaded and sacked from top to bottom; the +furniture, provisions, clothing, registers, wagons, even the poultry +in the back-yard, all is cast into blazing bonfires lighted in three +different places; five hundred louis d'or, the ready money, and the +silver plate are stolen. Several roam through the cellars, drink +liquor or varnish at haphazard until they fall down dead drunk or +expire in convulsions. Against this howling horde, a corps of the +watch, mounted and on foot, is seen approaching;[17] also a hundred +cavalry of the "Royal Croats," the French Guards, and later on the +Swiss Guards. "Tiles and chimneys are rained down on the soldiers," +who fire back four files at a time. The rioters, drunk with brandy +and rage, defend themselves desperately for several hours; more than +two hundred are killed, and nearly three hundred are wounded; they +are only put down by cannon, while the mob keeps active until far +into the night. - Towards eight in the evening, in the rue +Vieille-du-Temple, the Paris Guard continue to make charges in order +to protect the doors which the miscreants try to force. Two doors +are forced at half-past eleven o'clock in the Rue Saintonge and in +the Rue de Bretagne, that of a pork-dealer and that of a baker. +Even to this last wave of the outbreak which is subsiding we can +distinguish the elements which have produced the insurrection, and +which are about to produce the Revolution. -- Starvation is one of +these: in the Rue de Bretagne the band robbing the baker's shop +carries bread off to the women staying at the corner of the Rue +Saintonge. -- Brigandage is another: in the middle of the night M. +du Châtelet's spies, gliding alongside of a ditch, "see a group of +ruffians" assembled beyond the Barrière du Trône, their leader, +mounted on a little knoll, urging them to begin again; and the +following days, on the highways, vagabonds are saying to each other, +"We can do no more at Paris, because they are too sharp on the look- +out; let us go to Lyons!" There are, finally, the patriots: on the +evening of the insurrection, between the Pont-au-Change and the +Pont-Marie, the half-naked ragamuffins, besmeared with dirt, bearing +along their hand-barrows, are fully alive to their cause; they beg +alms in a loud tone of voice, and stretch out their hats to the +passers, saying, "Take pity on this poor Third-Estate!" -- The +starving, the ruffians, and the patriots, all form one body, and +henceforth misery, crime, and public spirit unite to provide an +ever-ready insurrection for the agitators who desire to raise one. + + +IV. The Palais-Royal. + +But the agitators are already in permanent session. The Palais- +Royal is an open-air club where, all day and even far into the +night, one excites the other and urges on the crowd to blows. In +this enclosure, protected by the privileges of the House of Orleans, +the police dare not enter. Speech is free, and the public who avail +themselves of this freedom seem purposely chosen to abuse it. -- +The public and the place are adapted to each other.[18] The Palais- +Royal, the center of prostitution, of play, of idleness, and of +pamphlets, attracts the whole of that uprooted population which +floats about in a great city, and which, without occupation or home, +lives only for curiosity or for pleasure -- the frequenters of the +coffee-houses, the runners for gambling halls, adventurers, and +social outcasts, the runaway children or forlorn hopefuls of +literature, arts, and the bar, attorneys' clerks, students of the +institutions of higher learning, the curious, loungers, strangers, +and the occupants of furnished lodgings, these amounting, it is +said, to forty thousand in Paris. They fill the garden and the +galleries; "one would hardly find here one of what were called the +"Six Bodies,"[19] a bourgeois settled down and occupied with his own +affairs, a man whom business and family cares render serious and +influential. There is no place here for industrious and orderly +bees; it is the rendezvous of political and literary drones. They +flock into it from every quarter of Paris, and the tumultuous, +buzzing swarm covers the ground like an overturned hive. "Ten +thousand people," writes Arthur Young,[20] "have been all this day +in the Palais-Royal;" the press is so great that an apple thrown +from a balcony on the moving floor of heads would not reach the +ground. The condition of these heads may be imagined; they are +emptier of ballast than any in France, the most inflated with +speculative ideas, the most excitable and the most excited. In this +pell-mell of improvised politicians no one knows who is speaking; +nobody is responsible for what he says. Each is there as in the +theater, unknown among the unknown, requiring sensational +impressions and strong emotions, a prey to the contagion of the +passions around him, borne along in the whirl of sounding phrases, +of ready-made news, growing rumors, and other exaggerations by which +fanatics keep outdoing each other. There are shouting, tears, +applause, stamping and clapping, as at the performance of a tragedy; +one or another individual becomes so inflamed and hoarse that he +dies on the spot with fever and exhaustion. In vain has Arthur +Young been accustomed to the tumult of political liberty; he is +dumb-founded at what he sees.[21] According to him, the excitement +is "incredible. . . . We think sometimes that Debrett's or +Stockdale's shops at London are crowded; but they are mere deserts +compared to Desenne's and some others here, in which one can +scarcely squeeze from the door to the counter . . . .Every hour +produces its pamphlet; 13 came out to-day, 16 yesterday, and 92 last +week. 95% of these productions are in favor of liberty;" and by +liberty is meant the extinction of privileges, numerical +sovereignty, the application of the Contrat-Social, "The Republic", +and even more besides, a universal leveling, permanent anarchy, and +even the jacquerie. Camille Desmoulins, one of the orators, +commonly there, announces it and urges it in precise terms: + + "Now that the animal is in the trap, let him be battered to +death... Never will the victors have a richer prey. Forty thousand +palaces, mansions, and châteaux, two-fifth of the property of +France, will be the recompense of valor. Those who pretend to be +the conquerors will be conquered in turn. The nation shall be +purged." + + +Here, in advance, is the program of the Reign of Terror. + +Now all this is not only read, but declaimed, amplified, and turned +to practical account. In front of the coffee-houses "those who have +stentorian lungs relieve each other every evening."[22] "They get +up on a chair or a table, they read the strongest articles on +current affairs, . .. . the eagerness with which they are heard, +and the thunder of applause they receive for every sentiment of more +than common hardiness or violence against the present Government, +cannot easily be imagined." "Three days ago a child of four years, +well taught and intelligent, was promenaded around the garden, in +broad daylight, at least twenty times, borne on the shoulders of a +street porter, crying out, 'Verdict of the French people: Polignac +exiled one hundred leagues from Paris; Condé the same; Conti the +same; Artois the same; the Queen, -- I dare not write it.'" A hall +made of boards in the middle of the Palais-Royal is always full, +especially of young men, who carry on their deliberations in +parliamentary fashion : in the evening the president invites the +spectators to come forward and sign motions passed during the day, +and of which the originals are placed in the Café Foy.[23] They +count on their fingers the enemies of the country; "and first two +Royal Highnesses (Monsieur and the Count d'Artois), three Most +Serene Highnesses (the Prince de Condé, Duc de Bourbon, and the +Prince de Conti), one favorite (Madame de Polignac), MM. de +Vandreuil, de la Trémoille, du Châtelet, de Villedeuil, de Barentin, +de la Galaisière, Vidaud de la Tour, Berthier, Foulon, and also M. +Linguet." Placards are posted demanding the pillory on the Pont-Neuf +for the Abbeé Maury. One speaker proposes "to burn the house of M. +d'Espréménil, his wife, children and furniture, and himself: this is +passed unanimously." -- No opposition is tolerated. One of those +present having manifested some horror at such sanguinary motions, +"is seized by the collar, obliged to kneel down, to make an apology, +and to kiss the ground. The punishment inflicted on children is +given to him; he is ducked repeatedly in one of the fountain-basins, +after which they him over to the mob, who roll him in the mud." On +the following day an ecclesiastic is trodden under foot, and flung +from hand to hand. A few days after, on the 22nd of June, there are +two similar events. The sovereign mob exercises all the functions +of sovereign authority, with those of the legislator those of the +judge, and those of the judge with those of the executioner. -- Its +idols are sacred; if any one fails to show them respect he is guilty +of lése-majesté, and at once punished. In the first week of July, +an abbé who speaks ill of Necker is flogged; a woman who insults the +bust of Necker is stripped by the fishwomen, and beaten until she is +covered with blood. War is declared against suspicious uniforms. +"On the appearance of a hussar," writes Desmoulins, "they shout, +'There goes Punch!' and the stone-cutters fling stones at him. Last +night two officers of the hussars, MM. de Sombreuil and de Polignac, +came to the Palais-Royal. . . chairs were flung at them, and they +would have been knocked down if they had not run away. The day +before yesterday they seized a spy of the police and gave him a +ducking in the fountain. They ran him down like a stag, hustled +him, pelted him with stones, struck him with canes, forced one of +his eyes out of its socket, and finally, in spite of his entreaties +and cries for mercy, plunged him a second time in the fountain. His +torments lasted from noon until half-past five o'clock, and he had +about ten thousand executioners." -- Consider the effect of such a +focal center at a time like this. A new power has sprung up +alongside the legal powers, a legislature of the highways and public +squares, anonymous, irresponsible, without restraint. It is driven +onward by coffeehouse theories, by strong emotions and the vehemence +of mountebanks, while the bare arms which have just accomplished the +work of destruction in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, form its +bodyguard and ministerial cabinet. + + V. + +Popular mobs become a political force. - Pressure on the Assembly. - +Defection of the soldiery. + +This is the dictatorship of a mob, and its proceedings, conforming +to its nature, consist in acts of violence, wherever it finds +resistance, it strikes. -- The people of Versailles, in the streets +and at the doors of the Assembly, daily "come and insult those whom +they call aristocrats."[24] On Monday, June 22nd, "d'Espréménil +barely escapes being knocked down; the Abbé Maury. . . owes his +escape to the strength of a curé, who takes him up in his arms and +tosses him into the carriage of the Archbishop of Arles." On the +23rd, "the Archbishop of Paris and the Keeper of the Seals are +hooted, railed at, scoffed at, and derided, until they almost sink +with shame and rage." So formidable is the tempest of rage with +which they are greeted, that Passeret, the King's secretary, who +accompanies the minister, dies of the excitement that very day. On +the 24th, the Bishop of Beauvais is almost knocked down by a stone +striking him on the head. On the 25th, the Archbishop of Paris is +saved only by the speed of his horses, the multitude pursuing him +and pelting him with stones. His mansion is besieged, the windows +are all shattered, and, notwithstanding the intervention of the +French Guards, the peril is so great that he is obliged to promise +that he will join the deputies of the Third-Estate. This is the way +in which the rude hand of the people effects a reunion of the +Orders. It bears as heavily on its own representatives as on its +adversaries. "Although our hall was closed to the public," says +Bailly, "there were always more than six hundred spectators."[25] +These were not respectful and silent, but active and noisy, mingling +with the deputies, raising their hands to vote in all cases, taking +part in the deliberations, by their applause and hisses: a +collateral Assembly which often imposes its own will on the other. +They take note of and put down the names of their opponents, +transmit them to the chair-bearers in attendance at the entrance of +the hall, and from them to the mob waiting for the departure of the +deputies, these names are from now considered as the names of public +enemies.[26] Lists are made out and printed, and, at the Palais- +Royal in the evening, they become the lists of the proscribed. -- +It is under this brutal pressure that many decrees are passed, and, +amongst them, that by which the commons declare themselves the +National Assembly and assume supreme power. The night before, +Malouet had proposed to ascertain, by a preliminary vote, on which +side the majority was. In an instant all those against had gathered +around him to the number of three hundred. "Upon which a mans +springs out from the galleries, falls upon him and takes him by the +collar exclaiming, 'Hold your tongue, you false citizen!' " Malouet +is released and the guard comes forward, "but terror has spread +through the hall, threats are uttered against opponents, and the +next day we were only ninety." Moreover, the lists of their names +had been circulated; some of them, deputies from Paris, went to see +Bailly that very evening. One amongst them, "a very honest man and +good patriot," had been told that his house was to be set on fire. +Now his wife had just given birth to a child, and the slightest +tumult before the house would have been fatal. Such arguments are +decisive. Consequently, three days afterwards, at the Tennis-court, +but one deputy, Martin d'Auch, dares to write the word "opposing" +after his name. Insulted by many of colleagues, "at once denounced +to the people who had collected at the entrance of the building, he +is obliged to escape by a side door to avoid being cut to pieces," +and, for several days, to keep away from the meetings.[27] - Owing +to this intervention of the galleries the radical minority, +numbering about thirty,[28] lead the majority, and they do not allow +them to free themselves. -- On the 28th of May, Malouet, having +demanded a secret session to discuss the conciliatory measures which +the King had proposed, the galleries hoot at him, and a deputy, M. +Bourche, addresses him in very plain terms. "You must know, sir, +that we are deliberating here in the presence of our masters, and +that we must account to them for our opinions." This is the doctrine +of the Contrat-Social. Through timidity, fear of the Court and of +the privileged class, through optimism and faith in human nature, +through enthusiasm and the necessity of adhering to previous +actions, the deputies, who are novices, provincial, and given up to +theories, neither dare nor know how to escape from the tyranny of +the prevailing dogma. -- Henceforth it becomes the law. All the +Assemblies, the Constituent, the Legislative, the Convention,[29] +submit to it entirely. The public in the galleries is the admitted +representatives of the people, under the same title, and even under +a higher title, than the deputies. Now, this public is that of the +Palais-Royal, consisting of strangers, idlers, lovers of novelties, +Paris romancers, leaders of the coffee-houses, the future pillars of +the clubs, in short, the wild enthusiasts among the middle-class, +just as the crowd which threatens doors and throws stones is +recruited from among the wild enthusiasts of the lowest class. Thus +by an involuntary selection, the faction which constitutes itself a +public power is composed of nothing but violent minds and violent +hands. Spontaneously and without previous concert dangerous +fanatics are joined with dangerous brutes, and in the increasing +discord between the legal authorities this is the illegal league +which is certain to overthrow all. + +When a commanding general sits in council with his staff-officers +and his counselors, and discusses the plan of a campaign, the chief +public interest is that discipline should remain intact, and that +intruders, soldiers, or menials, should not throw the weight of +their turbulence and thoughtlessness into the scales which have to +be cautiously and firmly held by their chiefs. This was the express +demand of the Government;[30] but the demand was not regarded; and +against the persistent usurpation of the multitude nothing is left +to it but the employment of force. But force itself is slipping +from its hands, while growing disobedience, like a contagion, after +having gained the people is spreading among the troops. - From the +23rd of June,[31] two companies of the French Guards refused to do +duty. Confined to their barracks, they on the 27th break out, and +henceforth "they are seen every evening entering the Palais-Royal, +marching in double file." They know the place well; it is the +general rendezvous of the abandoned women whose lovers and parasites +they are.[32] "The patriots all gather around them, treat them to +ice cream and wine, and debauch them in the face of their officers." +-- To this, moreover, must be added the fact that their colonel, M. +du Châtelet, has long been odious to them, that he has fatigued them +with forced drills, worried them and diminished the number of their +sergeants; that he suppressed the school for the education of the +children of their musicians; that he uses the stick in punishing the +men, and picks quarrels with them about their appearance, their +board, and their clothing. This regiment is lost to discipline: a +secret society has been formed in it, and the soldiers have pledged +themselves to their ensigns not to act against the National +Assembly. Thus the confederation between them and the Palais-Royal +is established. -- On the 30th of June, eleven of their leaders, +taken off to the Abbaye, write to claim their assistance. A young +man mounts a chair in front of the Café Foy and reads their letter +aloud; a band sets out on the instant, forces the gate with a +sledge-hammer and iron bars, brings back the prisoners in triumph, +gives them a feast in the garden and mounts guard around them to +prevent their being re-taken. -- When disorders of this kind go +unpunished, order cannot be maintained; in fact, on the morning of +the 14th of July, five out of six battalions had deserted. -- As to +the other corps, they are no better and are also seduced. +"Yesterday," Desmoulins writes, "the artillery regiment followed the +example of the French Guards, overpowering the sentinels and coming +over to mingle with the patriots in the Palais-Royal . . .. We +see nothing but the rabble attaching themselves to soldiers whom +they chance to encounter. 'Allons, Vive le Tiers-Etat!' and they +lead them off to a tavern to drink the health of the Commons." +Dragoons tell the officers who are marching them to Versailles: "We +obey you, but you may tell the ministers on our arrival that if we +are ordered to use the least violence against our fellow-citizens, +the first shot shall be for you." At the Invalides twenty men, +ordered to remove the cocks and ramrods from the guns stored in a +threatened arsenal, devote six hours to rendering twenty guns +useless; their object is to keep them intact for plunder and for the +arming of the people. + +In short, the largest portion of the army has deserted. However +kind a superior officer might be, the fact of his being a superior +officer secures for him the treatment of an enemy. The governor, +"M. de Sombreuil, against whom these people could utter no +reproach," will soon see his artillerists point their guns at his +apartment, and will just escape being hung on the iron-railings by +their own hands. Thus the force which is brought forward to +suppress insurrection only serves to furnish it with recruits. And +even worse, for the display of arms that was relied on to restrain +the mob, furnished the instigation to rebellion. + + VI. + +July 13th and 14th 1789. + +The fatal moment has arrived; it is no longer a government which +falls that it may give way to another; it is all government which +ceases to exist in order to make way for an intermittent despotism, +for factions blindly impelled on by enthusiasm, credulity, misery, +and fear.[33] Like a tame elephant suddenly become wild again, the +mob throws off it ordinary driver, and the new guides who it +tolerates perched on its neck are there simply for show. In future +it will move along as it pleases, freed from control, and abandoned +to its own feelings, instincts, and appetites. -- Apparently, there +was no desire to do more than anticipate its aberrations. The King +has forbidden all violence; the commanders order the troops not to +fire;[34] but the excited and wild animal takes all precautions for +insults; in future, it intends to be its own conductor, and, to +begin, it treads its guides under foot. -- On the 12th of July, +near noon,[35] on the news of the dismissal of Necker, a cry of rage +arises in the Palais-Royal; Camille Desmoulins, mounted on a table, +announces that the Court meditates "a St. Bartholomew of patriots." +The crowd embrace him, adopt the green cockade which he has +proposed, and oblige the dancing-saloons and theaters to close in +sign of mourning: they hurry off to the residence of Curtius, and +take the busts of the Duke of Orleans and of Necker and carry them +about in triumph. -- Meanwhile, the dragoons of the Prince de +Lambesc, drawn up on the Place Louis-Quinze, find a barricade of +chairs at the entrance of the Tuileries, and are greeted with a +shower of stones and bottles.[36] Elsewhere, on the Boulevard, +before the Hôtel Montmorency, some of the French Guards, escaped +from their barracks, fired on a loyal detachment of the "Royal +Allemand." - The alarm bell is sounding on all sides, the shops +where arms are sold are pillaged, and the Hôtel-de-Ville is invaded; +fifteen or sixteen well-disposed electors, who meet there, order the +districts to be assembled and armed. -- The new sovereign, the +people in arms and in the street, has declared himself. + +The dregs of society at once come to the surface. During the night +between the 12th and 13th of July,[37] "all the barriers, from the +Faubourg Saint-Antoine to the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, besides those +of the Faubourgs Saint-Marcel and Saint-Jacques, are forced and set +on fire." There is no longer an octroi; the city is without a +revenue just at the moment when it is obliged to make the heaviest +expenditures; but this is of no consequence to the mob, which, above +all things, wants to have cheap wine. "Ruffians, armed with pikes +and sticks, proceed in several parties to give up to pillage the +houses of those who are regarded as enemies to the public welfare." +"They go from door to door crying, 'Arms and bread!' During this +fearful night, the bourgeoisie kept themselves shut up, each +trembling at home for himself and those belonging to him." On the +following day, the 13th, the capital appears to be given up to +bandits and the lowest of the low. One of the bands hews down the +gate of the Lazarists, destroys the library and clothes-presses, the +pictures, the windows and laboratory, and rushes to the cellars; +where it staves in the casks and gets drunk: twenty-four hours after +this, about thirty of them are found dead and dying, drowned in +wine, men and women, one of these being at the point of childbirth. +In front of the house[38] the street is full of the wreckage, and of +ruffians who hold in their hands, " some, eatables, others a jug, +forcing the passers-by to drink, and pouring out wine to all comers. +Wine runs down into the gutter, and the scent of it fills the air;" +it is a drinking bout: meanwhile they carry away the grain and flour +which the monks kept on hand according to law, fifty-two loads of it +being taken to the market. Another troop comes to La Force, to +deliver those imprisoned for debt; a third breaks into the Garde +Meuble, carrying away valuable arms and armour. Mobs assemble +before the hotel of Madame de Breteuil and the Palais-Bourbon, which +they intend to ransack, in order to punish their proprietors. M. de +Crosne, one of the most liberal and most respected men of Paris, +but, unfortunately for himself a lieutenant of the police, is +pursued, escaping with difficulty, and his hotel is sacked. -- +During the night between the 13th and 14th of May, the baker's shops +and the wine shops are pillaged; "men of the vilest class, armed +with guns, pikes, and turnspits, make people open their doors and +give them something to eat and drink, as well as money and arms." +Vagrants, ragged men, several of them "almost naked," and "most of +them armed like savages, and of hideous appearance;" they are " such +as one does not remember to have seen in broad daylight;" many of +them are strangers, come from nobody knows where.[39] It is stated +that there were 50,000 of them, and that they had taken possession +of the principal guard-houses. + +During these two days and nights, says Bailly, "Paris ran the risk +of being pillaged, and was only saved from the marauders by the +National Guard." Already, in the open street,[40] "these creatures +tore off women's shoes and earrings," and the robbers were beginning +to have full sway. -- Fortunately the militia organized itself and +the principal inhabitants and gentlemen enrolled themselves; 48,000 +men are formed into battalions and companies; the bourgeoisie buy +guns of the vagabonds for three livres apiece, and sabers or pistols +for twelve sous. At last, some of the offenders are hung on the +spot, and others disarmed, and the insurrection again becomes +political. But, whatever its object, it remains always wild, +because it is in the hands of the mob. Dusaulx, its panegyrist, +confesses[41] that "he thought he was witnessing the total +dissolution of society." There is no leader, no management. The +electors who have converted themselves into the representatives of +Paris seem to command the crowd, but it is the crowd which commands +them. One of them, Legrand, to save the Hôtel-de-Ville, has no +other resource but to send for six barrels of gun-powder, and to +declare to the assailants that he is about to blow everything into +the air. The commandant whom they themselves have chosen, M. de +Salles, has twenty bayonets at his breast during a quarter of an +hour, and, more than once, the whole committee is near being +massacred. Let the reader imagine, on the premises where the +discussions are going on, and petitions are being made, "a concourse +of fifteen hundred men pressed by a hundred thousand others who are +forcing an entrance," the wainscoting cracking, the benches upset +one over another, the enclosure of the bureau pushed back against +the president's chair, a tumult such as to bring to mind 'the day of +judgment," the death-shrieks, songs, yells, and "people beside +themselves, for the most part not knowing where they are nor what +they want." -- Each district is also a petty center, while the +Palais-Royal is the main center. Propositions, " accusations, and +deputations travel to and fro from one to the other, along with the +human torrent which is obstructed or rushes ahead with no other +guide than its own inclination and the chances of the way. One wave +gathers here and another there, their strategy consisting in pushing +and in being pushed. Yet, their entrance is effected only because +they are let in. If they get into the Invalides it is owing to the +connivance of the soldiers. -- At the Bastille, firearms are +discharged from ten in the morning to five in the evening against +walls forty feet high and thirty feet thick, and it is by chance +that one of their shots reaches an invalid on the towers. They are +treated the same as children whom one wishes to hurt as little as +possible. The governor, on the first summons to surrender, orders +the cannon to be withdrawn from the embrasures; he makes the +garrison swear not to fire if it is not attacked; he invites the +first of the deputations to lunch; he allows the messenger +dispatched from the Hôtel-de-Ville to inspect the fortress; he +receives several discharges without returning them, and lets the +first bridge be carried without firing a shot.[42] When, at length, +he does fire, it is at the last extremity, to defend the second +bridge, and after having notified the assailants that he is going to +do so. In short, his forbearance and patience are excessive, in +conformity with the humanity of the times. The people, in turn, are +infatuated with the novel sensations of attack and resistance, with +the smell of gunpowder, with the excitement of the contest; all they +can think of doing is to rush against the mass of stone, their +expedients being on a level with their tactics. A brewer fancies +that he can set fire to this block of masonry by pumping over it +spikenard and poppy-seed oil mixed with phosphorus. A young +carpenter, who has some archaeological notions, proposes to +construct a catapult. Some of them think that they have seized the +governor's daughter, and want to burn her in order to make the +father surrender. Others set fire to a projecting mass of buildings +filled with straw, and thus close up the passage. "The Bastille was +not taken by main force," says the brave Elie, one of the +combatants; "it surrendered before even it was attacked,"[43] by +capitulation, on the promise that no harm should be done to anybody. +The garrison, being perfectly secure, had no longer the heart to +fire on human beings while themselves risking nothing,[44] and, on +the other hand, they were unnerved by the sight of the immense +crowd. Eight or nine hundred men only[45] were concerned in the +attack, most of them workmen or shopkeepers belonging to the +faubourg, tailors, wheelwrights, mercers and wine-dealers, mixed +with the French Guards. The Place de la Bastille, however, and all +the streets in the vicinity, were crowded with the curious who came +to witness the sight; "among them," says a witness,[46] "were a +number of fashionable women of very good appearance, who had left +their carriages at some distance." To the hundred and twenty men of +the garrison looking down from their parapets it seemed as though +all Paris had come out against them. It is they, also, who lower +the drawbridge an introduce the enemy: everybody has lost his head, +the besieged as well as the besiegers, the latter more completely +because they are intoxicated with the sense of victory. Scarcely +have they entered when they begin the work of destruction, and the +latest arrivals shoot at random those that come earlier; "each one +fires without heeding where or on whom his shot tells." Sudden +omnipotence and the liberty to kill are a wine too strong for human +nature; giddiness is the result; men see red, and their frenzy ends +in ferocity. + +For the peculiarity of a popular insurrection is that nobody obeys +anybody; the bad passions are free as well as the generous ones; +heroes are unable to restrain assassins. Elie, who is the first to +enter the fortress, Cholat, Hulin, the brave fellows who are in +advance, the French Guards who are cognizant of the laws of war, try +to keep their word of honor; but the crowd pressing on behind them +know not whom to strike, and they strike at random. They spare the +Swiss soldiers who have fired at them, and who, in their blue +smocks, seem to them to be prisoners; on the other hand, by way of +compensation, they fall furiously on the invalides who opened the +gates to them; the man who prevented the governor from blowing up +the fortress has his wrist severed by the blow of a saber, is twice +pierced with a sword and is hung, and the hand which had saved one +of the districts of Paris is promenaded through the streets in +triumph. The officers are dragged along and five of them are +killed, with three soldiers, on the spot, or on the way. During the +long hours of firing, the murderous instinct has become aroused, and +the wish to kill, changed into a fixed idea, spreads afar among the +crowd which has hitherto remained inactive. It is convinced by its +own clamor; a hue and cry is all that it now needs; the moment one +strikes, all want to strike. "Those who had no arms," says an +officer, "threw stones at me;[47] the women ground their teeth and +shook their fists at me. Two of my men had already been +assassinated behind me. I finally got to within some hundreds of +paces of the Hôtel-de-Ville, amidst a general cry that I should be +hung, when a head, stuck on a pike, was presented to me to look at, +while at. the same moment I was told that it was that of M. de +Launay," the governor. - The latter, on going out, had received +the cut of a sword on his right shoulder; n reaching the Rue Saint- +Antoine "everybody pulled his hair out and struck him." Under the +arcade of Saint-Jean he was already "severely wounded." Around him, +some said, "his head ought to be struck off;" others, "let him be +hung;" and others, "he ought to be tied to a horse's tail." Then, in +despair, and wishing to put an end to his torments, he cried out, +"Kill me," and, in struggling, kicked one of the men who held him in +the lower abdomen. On the instant he is pierced with bayonets, +dragged in the gutter, and, striking his corpse, they exclaim, "He's +a scurvy wretch (galeux) and a monster who has betrayed us; the +nation demands his head to exhibit to the public," and the man who +was kicked is asked to cut it off. -- This man, an unemployed +cook, a simpleton who "went to the Bastille to see what was going +on," thinks that as it is the general opinion, the act is patriotic, +and even believes that he "deserves a medal for destroying a +monster." Taking a saber which is lent to him, he strikes the bare +neck, but the dull saber not doing its work, he takes a small black- +handled knife from his pocket, and, "as in his capacity of cook he +knows how to cut meat," he finishes the operation successfully. +Then, placing the head on the end of a three-pronged pitchfork, and +accompanied by over two hundred armed men, "not counting the mob," +he marches along, and, in the Rue Saint-Honoré, he has two +inscriptions attached to the head, to indicate without mistake whose +head it is. -- They grow merry over it: after filing alongside of +the Palais-Royal, the procession arrives at the Pont-Neuf, where, +before the statue of Henry IV., they bow the head three times, +saying, "Salute thy master ! " -- This is the last joke: it is to be +found in every triumph, and inside the butcher, we find the rogue. + + +VII. + +Murders of Foulon and Berthier. + +Meanwhile, at the Palais-Royal, other buffoons, who with the levity +of gossips sport with lives as freely as with words, have drawn u. +During the night between the 13th and 14th of July, a list of +proscriptions, copies of which are hawked about. Care is taken to +address one of them to each of the persons designated, the Comte +d'Artois, Marshal de Broglie, the Prince de Lambesc, Baron de +Bezenval, MM. de Breteuil, Foulon, Berthier, Maury, d'Espréménil, +Lefèvre d'Amécourt, and others besides.[48] A reward is promised to +whoever will bring their heads to the Café de Caveau. Here are +names for the unchained multitude; all that now is necessary is that +some band should encounter a man who is denounced; he will go as far +as the lamppost at the street corner, but not beyond it. - +Throughout the day of the 14th, this improvised tribunal holds a +permanent session, and follows up its decisions with its actions. +M. de Flesselles, provost of the merchants and president of the +electors at the Hôtel-de-Ville, having shown himself somewhat +lukewarm,[49] the Palais-Royal declares him a traitor and sends him +off to be hung. On the way a young man fells him with a pistol- +shot, others fall upon his body, while his head, borne upon a pike, +goes to join that of M. de Launay. -- Equally deadly accusations +and of equally speedy execution float in the air and from every +direction. "On the slightest pretext," says an elector, "they +denounced to us those whom they thought opposed to the Revolution, +which already signified the same as enemies of the State. Without +any investigation, there was only talk of the seizure of their +persons, the ruin of their homes, and the razing of their houses. +One young man exclaimed: 'Follow me at once, let us start off at +once to Bezenval's!'" -- Their brains are so frightened, and their +minds so distrustful, that at every step in the streets "one's name +has to be given, one's profession declared, one's residence, and +one's intentions . . .. One can neither enter nor leave Paris +without being suspected of treason." The Prince de Montbarrey, +advocate of the new ideas, and his wife, are stopped in their +carriage at the barrier, and are on the point of being cut to +pieces. A deputy of the nobles, on his way to the National +Assembly, is seized in his cab and conducted to the Place de Grève; +the corpse of M. de Launay is shown to him, and he is told that he +is to be treated in the same fashion. - Every life hangs by a +thread, and, on the following days, when the King had sent away his +troops, dismissed his Ministers, recalled Necker, and granted +everything, the danger remains just as great. The multitude, +abandoned to the revolutionaries and to itself, continues the same +bloody antics, while the municipal chiefs[50] whom it has elected, +Bailly, Mayor of Paris, and Lafayette, commandant of the National +Guard, are obliged to use cunning, to implore, to throw themselves +between the multitude and the unfortunates whom they wish to +destroy. + +On the 15th of July, in the night, a woman disguised as a man is +arrested in the court of the Hôtel-de-Ville, and so maltreated that +she faints away; Bailly, in order to save her, is obliged to feign +anger against her and have her sent immediately to prison. From the +14th to the 22nd of July, Lafayette, at the risk of his life, saves +with his own hand seventeen persons in different quarters.[51] -- On +the 22nd of July, upon the denunciations which multiply around Paris +like trains of gunpowder, two administrators of high rank, M. +Foulon, Councillor of State, and M. Berthier, his son-in-law, are +arrested, one near Fontainebleau, and the other near Compiègne. M. +Foulon, a strict master,[52] but intelligent and useful, expended +sixty thousand francs the previous winter on his estate in giving +employment to the poor. M. Berthier, an industrious and capable +man, had officially surveyed and valued Ile-de-France, to equalize +the taxes, and had reduced the overcharged quotas first one-eighth +and then a quarter. But both of these gentlemen have arranged the +details of the camp against which Paris has risen; both are publicly +proscribed for eight days previously by the Palais-Royal, and, with +a people frightened by disorder, exasperated by hunger, and +stupefied by suspicion, an accused person is a guilty one. -- With +regard to Foulon, as with Réveillon, a story is made up, coined in +the same mint, a sort of currency for popular circulation, and which +the people itself manufactures by casting into one tragic expression +the sum of its sufferings and rankling memories:[53] "He said that +we were worth no more than his horses; and that if we had no bread +we had only to eat grass." -- The old man of seventy-four is brought +to Paris, with a truss of hay on his head, a collar of thistles +around his neck, and his mouth stuffed with hay. In vain does the +electoral bureau order his imprisonment that he may be saved; the +crowd yells out: "Sentenced and hung!" and, authoritatively, +appoints the judges. In vain does Lafayette insist and entreat +three times that the judgment be regularly rendered, and that the +accused be sent to the Abbaye. A new wave of people comes up, and +one man, "well dressed," cries out: "What is the need of a sentence +for a man who has been condemned for thirty years?" Foulon is +carried off; dragged across the square, and hung to the lamp post. +The cord breaks twice, and twice he falls upon the pavement. Re- +hung with a fresh cord and then cut down, his head is severed from +his body and placed on the end of a pike.[54] Meanwhile, Berthier, +sent away from Compiègne by the municipality, afraid to keep him in +his prison where he was constantly menaced, arrives in a cabriolet +under escort. The people carry placards around him filled with +opprobrious epithets; in changing horses they threw hard black bread +into the carriage, exclaiming, "There, wretch, see the bread you +made us eat!" On reaching the church of Saint-Merry, a fearful storm +of insults burst forth against him. He is called a monopolist, +"although he had never bought or sold a grain of wheat." In the eyes +of the multitude, who has to explain the evil as caused by some +evil-doer, he is the author of the famine. Conducted to the Abbaye, +his escort is dispersed and he is pushed over to the lamp post. +Then, seeing that all is lost, he snatches a gun from one of his +murderers and bravely defends himself. A soldier of the "Royal +Croats" gives him a cut with his saber across the stomach, and +another tears out his heart. As the cook, who had cut off the head +of M. de Launay, happens to be on the spot, they hand him the heart +to carry while the soldiers take the head, and both go to the Hôtel- +de-Ville to show their trophies to M. de Lafayette. On their return +to the Palais-Royal, and while they are seated at table in a tavern, +the people demand these two remains. They throw them out of the +window and finish their supper, whilst the heart is marched about +below in a bouquet of white carnations. -- Such are the spectacles +which this garden presents where, a year before, "good society in +full dress" came on leaving the Opera to chat, often until two +o'clock in the morning, under the mild light of the moon, listening +now to the violin of Saint-Georges, and now to the charming voice of +Garat. + + +VIII. + +Paris in the hands of the people. + +Henceforth it is clear that no one is safe: neither the new militia +nor the new authorities suffice to enforce respect for the law. +"They did not dare," says Bailly,[55] "oppose the people who, eight +days before this, had taken the Bastille." -- In vain, after the +last two murders, do Bailly and Lafayette indignantly threaten to +withdraw; they are forced to remain; their protection, such as it +is, is all that is left, and, if the National Guard is unable to +prevent every murder, it prevents some of them. People live as they +can under the constant expectation of fresh popular violence. "To +every impartial man," says Malouet, "the Terror dates from the 14th +of July". - On the 17th, before setting out for Paris, the King +attends communion and makes his will in anticipation of +assassination. From the 16th to the 18th, twenty personages of high +rank, among others most of those on whose heads a price is set by +the Palais-Royal, leave France: The Count d'Artois, Marshal de +Broglie, the Princes de Condé, de Conti, de Lambesc, de Vaudemont, +the Countess de Polignac, and the Duchesses de Polignac and de +Guiche. -- The day following the two murders, M. de Crosne, M. +Doumer, M. Sureau, the most zealous and most valuable members of the +committee on subsistence, all those appointed to make purchases and +to take care of the storehouses, conceal themselves or fly. On the +eve of the two murders, the notaries of Paris, being menaced with a +riot, had to advance 45,000 francs which were promised to the +workmen of the Faubourg Saint-Antoine; while the public treasury, +almost empty, is drained of 30,000 livres per day to diminish the +cost of bread. -- Persons and possessions, great and small, private +individuals and public functionaries, the Government itself, all is +in the hands of the mob. "From this moment," says a deputy,[56] +"liberty did not exist even in the National Assembly . . . France +stood dumb before thirty factious persons. The Assembly became in +their hands a passive instrument, which they forced to serve them in +the execution of their projects." -- They themselves do not lead, +although they seem to lead. The great brute, which has taken the +bit in its mouth, holds on to it, and it's plunging becomes more +violent. Not only do both spurs which maddened it, I mean the +desire for innovation and the daily scarcity of food, continue to +prick it on. But also the political hornets which, increasing by +thousands, buzz around its ears. And the license in which it revels +for the first time, joined to the applause lavished upon it, urges +it forward more violently each day. The insurrection is glorified. +Not one of the assassins is sought out. It is against the +conspiracy of Ministers that the Assembly institutes an inquiry. +Rewards are bestowed upon the conquerors of the Bastille; it is +declared that they have saved France. All honors are awarded to the +people-to their good sense, their magnanimity, and their justice. +Adoration is paid to this new sovereign: he is publicly and +officially told, in the Assembly and by the press, that he possesses +every virtue, all rights and all powers. If he spills blood it is +inadvertently, on provocation, and always with an infallible +instinct. Moreover, says a deputy, "this blood, was it so pure?" +The greater number of people prefers the theories of their books to +the experience of their eyes; they persist in the idyll, which they +have fashioned for themselves. At the worst their dream, driven out +from the present, takes refuge in the future. To-morrow, when the +Constitution is complete, the people, made happy, will again become +wise: let us endure the storm, which leads us on to so noble a +harbor. + +Meanwhile, beyond the King, inert and disarmed, beyond the Assembly, +disobeyed or submissive, appears the real monarch, the people - that +is to say, a crowd of a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand +individuals gathered together at random, on an impulse, on an alarm, +suddenly and irresistibly made legislators, judges, and +executioners. A formidable power, undefined and destructive, on +which no one has any hold, and which, with its mother, howling and +misshapen Liberty, sits at the threshold of the Revolution like +Milton's two specters at the gates of Hell. + +. . Before the gates there sat +On either side a formidable shape; +The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, +but ended foul in many a scaly fold +Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd +With mortal sting: about her middle round +A cry of hell hounds never ceasing bark'd +With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung +A hideous peal: yet, when they list, would creep, +If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb, +And kennel there; yet there still bark'd and howl'd +Within unseen . . . + ........the other shape, +If shape it might be call'd, that shape had none +Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, +Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd +For each seem'd either: black it stood as night, +Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, +And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head +The likeness of a kingly crown had on. + * * * * * * +The monster moving onward came as fast, +With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. + +________________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + + +[1] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Miron, lieutenant +de police, April 26th; of M. Joly de Fleury, procureur-général, May +29th; of MM. Marchais and Berthier, April 18th and 27th, March 23rd, +April 5th, May 5th. - Arthur Young, June 10th and 29th. "Archives +Nationales," H. 1453 Letter of the sub-delegate of Montlhéry, April +14th. + +[2] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of the sub-delegate +Gobert, March 17th; of the officers of police, June 15th : -- " On +the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th of March the inhabitants of Conflans +generally rebelled against the game law in relation to the rabbit." + +[3] Montjoie, 2nd part, ch. XXI. p.14 (the first week in June). +Montjoie is a party man; but he gives dates and details, and his +testimony, when it is confirmed elsewhere, deserves, to be admitted. + +[4] Montjoie, 1st part, 92-101. - "Archives Nationales," H. +1453. Letter of the officer of police of Saint-Denis: "A good many +workmen arrive daily from Lorraine as well as from Champagne," which +increases the prices. + +[5] De Bezenval, "Mémoires," I.353. Cf. "The Ancient Regime," +p.509. - Marmontel, II, 252 and following pages. - De Ferrières, +I. 407. + +[6] Arthur Young, September 1st, 1788 + +[7] Barrère, "Mémoires," I. 234. + +[8] See, in the National Library, the long catalogue of those which +have survived. + +[9] Malouet, I. 255. Bailly, I. 43 (May 9th and 19th). -- +D'Hezecques, "Souvenirs d'un page de Louis XV." 293. --De +Bezenval, I. 368. + +[10] Marmontel, II, 249. -- Montjoie, 1st part, p. 92. -- De +Bezenval, I. 387: "These spies added that persons were seen +exciting the tumult and were distributing money." + +[11] "Archives Nationales," Y.11441. Interrogatory of the Abbé Roy, +May 5th. -- Y.11033, Interrogatory (April 28th and May 4th) of +twenty-three wounded persons brought to the Hôtel-Dieu -- These two +documents are of prime importance in presenting the true aspect of +the insurrection; to these must he added the narrative of M. de +Bezenval, who was commandant at this time with M. de Châtelet. +Almost all other narratives are amplified or falsified through party +bias. + +[12] De Ferrières, vol. III. note A. (justificatory explanation +by Réveillon). + +[13] Bailly I. 25 (April 26th). + +[14] Hippeau, IV. 377 (Letters of M. Perrot, April 29th). + +[15] Letter to the King by an inhabitant of the Faubourg Saint- +Antoine -"Do not doubt, sire, that our recent misfortunes are due to +the dearness of bread" + +[16] Dampmartin, "Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes yeux," etc. +I. 25: "We turned back and were held up by small bands of +scoundrels, who insolently proposed to us to shout 'Vive Necker! +Vive le Tiers-Etat !'" His two companions were knights of St. +Louis, and their badges seemed an object of "increasing hatred." +"The badge excited coarse mutterings, even on the part of persons +who appeared superior to the agitators." + +[17] Dampmartin, ibid. i. 25 : " I was dining this very day at the +Hôtel d'Ecquevilly, in the Rue Saint-Louis." He leaves the house on +foot and witnesses the disturbance. "Fifteen to Sixteen hundred +wretches, the excrement of the nation, degraded by shameful vices, +covered with rags, and gorged with brandy, presented the most +disgusting and revolting spectacle. More than a hundred thousand +persons of both sexes and of all ages and conditions interfered +greatly with the operations of the troops. The firing soon +commenced and blood flowed: two innocent persons were wounded near +me." + +[18] De Goncourt, "La Société Française pendant la Révolution." +Thirty-one gambling-houses are counted here, while a pamphlet of the +day is entitled "Pétition des deux mill cent filles du Palais- +Royal." + +[19] Montjoie, 2nd part, 144. -- Bailly, II, 130. + +[20] Arthur Young, June 24th, 1789. - Montjoie, 2nd part, 69. + +[21] Arthur Young, June 9th, 24th, and 26th. - "La France libre," +passim, by C. Desmoulins. + +[22] C. Desmoulins, letters to his father, and Arthur Young, June +9th. + +[23] Montjoie, 2nd part, 69, 77, 124, 144. C. Desmoulins, letter, +of June 24th and the following days. + +[24] Etienne Dumont, "Souvenirs," p.72. - C. Desmoulins, letter +of; June 24th. - Arthur Young, June 25th. - Buchez and Roux, +II. 28. + +[25] Bailly, I. 227 and 179. - Monnier, "Recherches sur les +causes," etc. I. 289, 291; II.61; -- Malouet, I. 299; II. 10. +-- "Actes des Apôtres," V.43. (Letter of M. de Guillermy, July +31st, 1790). - Marmontel, I. 28: "The people came even into the +Assembly, to encourage their partisans, to select and indicate their +victims, and to terrify the feeble with the dreadful trial of open +balloting." + +[26] Manuscript letters of M. Boullé, deputy, to the municipal +authorities of Pontivy, from May 1st, 1789, to September 4th, 1790 +(communicated by M. Rosenzweig, archivist at Vannes). June 16th, +1789: "The crowd gathered around the hall . . . was, during these +days, from 3,000 to 4,000 persons." + +[27] Letters of M. Boullé, June 23rd. "How sublime the moment, that +in which we enthusiastically bind ourselves to the country by a new +oath! . . . . Why should this moment be selected by one of our +number to dishonor himself? His name is now blasted throughout +France. And the unfortunate man has children! Suddenly overwhelmed +by public contempt he leaves, and falls fainting at the door, +exclaiming, 'Ah! this will be my death!' I do not know what has +become of him since. What is strange is, he had not behaved badly +up to that time, and he voted for the Constitution." + +[28] De Ferrières, I. 168. - Malouet, I. 298 (according to him +the faction did not number more than ten members), -- idem II. 10. +- Dumont, 250. + +[29] "Convention nationale" governed France from 21st September 1792 +until Oct. 26th 1796. We distinguish between three different +assemblies, "la Convention Girondine" 1792-93, "the Mountain," 1793- +94 and "la Thermidorienne, from 1794-1795. (SR). + +[30] Declaration of June 23rd, article 15. + +[31] Montjoie, 2nd part, 118. -- C. Desmoulins, letters of June +24th and the following days. A faithful narrative by M. de Sainte- +Fère, formerly an officer in the French Guard, p.9. -- De Bezenval, +III, 413. - Buchez and Roux, II. 35. -- "Souvenirs", by PASQUIER +(Etienne-Dennis, duc), chancelier de France. in VI volumes, +Librarie Plon, Paris 1893.. + +[32] Peuchet ("Encyclopédie Méthodique," 1789, quoted by Parent +Duchâtelet): "Almost all of the soldiers of the Guard belong to that +class (the procurers of public women): many, indeed, only enlist in +the corps that they may live at the expense of these unfortunates." + +[33] Gouverneur Morris, "Liberty is now the general cry; authority +is a name and no longer a reality." (Correspondence with Washington, +July 19th.) + +[34] Bailly. I. 302. "The King was very well-disposed; his +measures were intended only to preserve order and the public peace. +. . Du Châtelet was forced by facts to acquit M. de Bezenval of +attempts against the people and the country." -- Cf. Marmontel, +IV. 183; Mounier, II, 40. + +[35] Desmoulins, letter of the 16th July. Buchez and Roux, II. 83. + +[36] Trial of the Prince de Lambesc (Paris, 1790), with the eighty- +three depositions and the discussion of the testimony. - It is the +crowd which began the attack. The troops fired in the air. But one +man, a sieur Chauvel, was wounded slightly by the Prince de Lambesc. +(Testimony of M. Carboire, p.84, and of Captain de Reinack, p. +101.) "M. le Prince de Lambesc, mounted on a gray horse with a gray +saddle without holsters or pistols, had scarcely entered the garden +when a dozen persons jumped at the mane and bridle of his horse and +made every effort to drag him off. A small man in gray clothes +fired at him with a pistol. . . . The prince tried hard to free +himself, and succeeded by making his horse rear up and by +flourishing his sword; without, however, up to this time, wounding +any one. . . . He deposes that he saw the prince strike a man on +the head with the flat of his saber who was trying to close the +turning-bridge, which would have cut off the retreat of his troops +The troops did no more than try to keep off the crowd which assailed +them with stones, and even with firearms, from the top of the +terraces." -- The man who tried to close the bridge had seized the +prince's horse with one hand; the wound he received was a scratch +about 23 lines long, which was dressed and cured with a bandage +soaked in brandy. All the details of the affair prove that the +patience and humanity of the officer, were extreme. Nevertheless +"on the following day, the 13th, some one posted a written placard +on the crossing Bussy recommending the citizens of Paris to seize +the prince and quarter him at once." -- (Deposition of M. Cosson, +p.114. + +[37] Bailly, I. 3, 6. -- Marmontel, IV. 310 + +[38] Montjoie, part 3, 86. "I talked with those who guarded the +château of the Tuileries. They did not belong to Paris. . . . A +frightful physiognomy and hideous apparel." Montjoie, not to be +trusted in many places, merits consultation for little facts of +which he was an eye-witness. -- Morellet, "Mémoires," I. 374. - +Dusaulx, "L'œuvre des sept jours," 352. - Revue Historique," +March, 1876. Interrogatory of Desnot. His occupation during the +13th of July (published by Guiffrey). + +[39] Mathieu Dumas, "Mémoires," I. 531. "Peaceable people fled at +the sight of these groups of strange, frantic vagabonds. Everybody +closed their houses . . . . When I reached home, in the Saint- +Denis quarter, several of these brigands caused great alarm by +firing off guns in the air." + +[40] Dusaulx, 379. + +[41] Dusaulx, 359, 360, 361, 288, 336. " In effect their entreaties +resembled commands, and, more than once, it was impossible to resist +them." + +[42] Dusaulx, 447 (Deposition of the invalides).-- "Revue +Rétrospective," IV. 282 (Narrative of the commander of the thirty- +two Swiss Guards). + +[43] Marmontel, IV. 317. + +[44] Dusaulx, 454. "The soldiers replied that they would accept +whatever happened rather than cause the destruction of so great a +number of their fellow-citizens." + +[45] Dusaulx, 447. The number of combatants, maimed, wounded, dead, +and living, is 825. -- Marmontel, IV. 320. "To the number of +victors, which has been carried up to 800, people have been added +who were never near the place." + +[46] "Memoires", by PASQUIER (Etienne-Dennis, duc, 1767-1862), +chancelier de France. in VI volumes, Librarie Plon, Paris 1893. +Vol. I. p.52. Pasquier was eye-witness. He leaned against the fence +of the Beaumarchais garden and looked on, with mademoiselle Contat, +the actress, at his side, who had left her carriage in the Place- +Royale. -- Marat, "L'ami du peuple," No. 530. "When an unheard-of +conjunction of circumstances had caused the fall of the badly +defended walls of the Bastille, under the efforts of a handful of +soldiers and a troop of unfortunate creatures, most of them Germans +and almost all provincials, the Parisians presented themselves the +fortress, curiosity alone having led them there." + +[47] Narrative of the commander of the thirty-two Swiss. -- +Narrative of Cholat, wine-dealer, one of the victors. -- +Examination of Desnot (who cut off the head of M. de Launay). + +[48] Montjoie, part 3, 85. -- Dusaulx, 355, 287, 368. + +[49] Nothing more. No Witness states that he had seen the pretended +note to M. do Launay. According to Dusaulx, he could not have had +either the time or the means to write it. + +[50] Bailly, II. 32, 74, 88, 90, 95, 108, 117, 137, 158, 174. "I +gave orders which were neither obeyed nor listened to. . . . +They gave me to understand that I was not safe." (July 15th.) "In +these sad times one enemy and one calumnious report sufficed to +excite the multitude. All who had formerly held power, all who had +annoyed or restrained the insurrectionists, were sure of being +arrested." + +[51] M. de Lafayette, "Mémoires," III. 264. Letter of July 16th, +1789. "I have already saved the lives of six persons whom they were +hanging in different quarters." + +[52] Poujoulat. "Histoire de la Révolution Française," p.100 (with +supporting documents). Procès-verbaux of the Provincial Assembly, +lle-de-France (1787), p.127. + +[53] For instance: "He is severe with his peasants." -- "He gives +them no bread, and he wants them then to eat grass." "He wants them +to eat grass like horses."-- "He has said that they could very well +eat hay, and that they are no better than horses." -- The same story +is found in many of the contemporary jacqueries. + +[54] Bailly, II. 108. "The people, less enlightened and as +imperious as despots, recognize no positive signs of good +administration but success." + +[55] Bailly, II, 108, 95. - Malouet, II, 14. + +[56] De Ferrières, I. 168. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +I. + +Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th, 1789. - Destruction of the +Government. - To whom does real power belong? + +However bad a particular government may be, there is something still +worse, and that is the suppression of all government. For, it is +owing to government that human wills form a harmony instead of +chaos. It serves society as the brain serves a living being. +Incapable, inconsiderate, extravagant, engrossing, it often abuses +its position, overstraining or misleading the body for which it +should care, and which it should direct. But, taking all things +into account, whatever it may do, more good than harm is done, for +through it the body stands erect, marches on and guides its steps. +Without it there is no organized deliberate action, serviceable to +the whole body. In it alone do we find the comprehensive views, +knowledge of the members of which it consists and of their aims, an +idea of outward relationships, full and accurate information, in +short, the superior intelligence which conceives what is best for +the common interests, and adapts means to ends. If it falters and +is no longer obeyed, if it is forced and pushed from without by a +violent pressure, it ceases to control public affairs, and the +social organization retrogrades by many steps. Through the +dissolution of society, and the isolation of individuals, each man +returns to his original feeble state, while power is vested in +passing aggregates that like whirlwinds spring up from the human +dust. -- One may divine how this power, which the most competent +find it difficult to apply properly, is exercised by bands of men +springing out of nowhere. It is a matter of supplies, of their +possessions, price and distribution. It is a matter of taxes, its +proportion, apportionment and collection; of private property, its +varieties, rights, and limitations It is a problem of public +authority, its allocation and its limits; of all those delicate +cogwheels which, working into each other, constitute the great +economic, social, and political machine. Each band in its own +canton lays its rude hands on the wheels within its reach. They +wrench or break them haphazardly, under the impulse of the moment, +heedless and indifferent to consequences, even when the reaction of +to-morrow crushes them in the ruin that they cause to day. Thus do +unchained Negroes, each pulling and hauling his own way, undertake +to manage a ship of which they have just obtained mastery. -- In +such a state of things white men are hardly worth more than black +ones. For, not only is the band, whose aim is violence, composed of +those who are most destitute, most wildly enthusiastic, and most +inclined to destructiveness and to license. But also, as this band +tumultuously carries out its violent action, each individual the +most brutal, the most irrational, and most corrupt, descends lower +than himself, even to the darkness, the madness, and the savagery of +the dregs of society. In fact, a man who in the interchange of +blows, would resist the excitement of murder, and not use his +strength like a savage, must be familiar with arms. He must be +accustomed to danger, be cool-blooded, alive to the sentiment of +honor, and above all, sensitive to that stern military code which, +to the imagination of the soldier, ever holds out to him the +provost's gibbet to which he is sure to rise, should he strike one +blow too many. Should all these restraints, inward as well as +outward, be wanting, the man plunges into insurrection. He is a +novice in the acts of violence, which he carries out. He has no +fear of the law, because he abolishes it. The action begun carries +him further than he intended to go. Peril and resistance exasperate +his anger. He catches the fever from contact with those who are +fevered, and follows robbers who have become his comrades.[1] Add +to this the clamors, the drunkenness, the spectacle of destruction, +the nervous tremor of the body strained beyond its powers of +endurance, and we can comprehend how, from the peasant, the laborer, +and the bourgeois, pacified and tamed by an old civilization, we see +all of a sudden spring forth the barbarian. Or still worse, the +primitive animal, the grinning, sanguinary, wanton baboon, who +giggles while he slays, and gambols over the ruin he has +accomplished. Such is the actual government to which France is +given up, and after eighteen months' experience, the best qualified, +most judicious and profoundest observer of the Revolution will find +nothing to compare it to but the invasion of the Roman Empire in the +fourth century.[2] "The Huns, the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Goths +will come neither from the north nor from the Black Sea; they are in +our very midst." + + II. + +The provinces. - Destruction of old Authorities. - Inadequacy of +new Authorities + +When in a building the principal beam gives way, cracks follow and +multiply, and the secondary joists fall in one by one for lack of +the prop, which supported them. In a similar manner the authority +of the King being broken, all the powers, which he delegated, fall +to the ground.[3] Intendants, parliaments, military commands, grand +provosts, administrative, judicial, and police functionaries in +every province, and of every branch of the service, who maintain +order and protect property, taught by the murder of M. de Launey, +the imprisonment of M. de Besenval, the flight of Marshal de +Broglie, the assassinations of Foullon and Bertier, know what it +costs should they try to perform their duties. Should it be +forgotten local insurrections intervene, and keep them in mind of +it. + +The officer in command in Burgundy is a prisoner at Dijon, with a +guard at his door; and he is not allowed to speak with any one +without permission, and without the presence of witnesses.[4] The +Commandant of Caen is besieged in the old palace and capitulates. +The Commandant of Bordeaux surrenders Château-Trompette with its +guns and equipment. The Commandant at Metz, who remains firm, +suffers the insults and the orders of the populace. The Commandant +of Brittany wanders about his province "like a vagabond," while at +Rennes his people, furniture, and plate are kept as pledges. As +soon as he sets foot in Normandy he is surrounded, and a sentinel is +placed at his door. -- The Intendant of Besançon takes to flight; +that of Rouen sees his dwelling sacked from top to bottom, and +escapes amid the shouts of a mob demanding his head. - At Rennes, +the Dean of the Parliament is arrested, maltreated, kept in his room +with a guard over him, and then, although ill, sent out of the town +under an escort. -- At Strasbourg "thirty-six houses of magistrates +are marked for pillage."[5] -- At Besançon, the President of the +Parliament is constrained to let out of prison the insurgents +arrested in a late out-break, and to publicly burn the whole of the +papers belonging to the prosecution. - In Alsace, since the +beginning of the troubles, the provosts were obliged to fly, the +bailiffs and manorial judges hid themselves, the forest-inspectors +ran away, and the houses of the guards were demolished. One man, +sixty years of age, is outrageously beaten and marched about the +village, the people, meanwhile, pulling out his hair; nothing +remains of his dwelling but the walls and a portion of the roof. +All his furniture and effects are broken up, burnt or stolen. He is +forced to sign, along with his wife, an act by which he binds +himself to refund all penalties inflicted by him, and to abandon all +claims for damages for the injuries to which he has just been +subjected. -- In Franche-Comté the authorities dare not condemn +delinquents, and the police do not arrest them; the military +commandant writes that "crimes of every kind are on the increase, +and that he has no means of punishing them." Insubordination is +permanent in all the provinces; one of the provincial commissions +states with sadness: + + "When all powers are in confusion and annihilated, when public +force no longer exists, when all ties are sundered, when every +individual considers himself relieved from all kinds of obligation, +when public authority no longer dares make itself felt, and it is a +crime to have been clothed with it, what can be expected of our +efforts to restore order? "[6] + + All that remains of this great demolished State is forty thousand +groups of people, each separated and isolated, in towns and small +market villages where municipal bodies, elected committees, and +improvised National Guards strive to prevent the worst excesses. -- +But these local chiefs are novices; they are human, and they are +timid. Chosen by acclamation they believe in popular rights; in the +midst of riots they feel themselves in danger. Hence, they +generally obey the crowd. + +"Rarely," says one of the provincial commissions reports, "do the +municipal authorities issue a summons; they allow the greatest +excesses rather than enter upon prosecutions for which, sooner or +later, they may be held responsible by their fellow-citizens. . . +. Municipal bodies have no longer the power to resist anything." + +Especially in the rural districts the mayor or syndic, who is a +farmer, makes it his first aim to make no enemies, and would resign +his place if it were to bring him any "unpleasantness" with it. His +rule in the towns, and especially in large cities, is almost as lax +and more precarious, because explosive material is accumulated here +to a much larger extent, and the municipal officers, in their arm- +chairs at the town-hall, sit over a mine which may explode at any +time. To-morrow, perhaps, some resolution passed at a tavern in the +suburbs, or some incendiary newspaper just received from Paris, will +furnish the spark. - No other defense against the populace is at +hand than the sentimental proclamations of the National Assembly, +the useless presence of troops who stand by and look on, and the +uncertain help of a National Guard which will arrive too late. +Occasionally these townspeople, who are now the rulers, utter a cry +of distress from under the hands of the sovereigns of the street who +grasp them by the throat. At Puy-en-Velay,[7] a town of twenty +thousand inhabitants, the présidial,[8] the committee of twenty-four +commissioners, a body of two hundred dragoons, and eight hundred men +of the guard of burgesses, are "paralyzed, and completely stupefied, +by the vile populace. A mild treatment only increases its +insubordination and insolence." This populace proscribes whomsoever it +pleases, and six days ago a gibbet, erected by its hands, has announced +to the new magistrates the fate that awaits them. + + " What will become of us this winter," they exclaim, "in our +impoverished country, where bread is not to be had! We shall be the +prey of wild beasts!" + + III. + +Public feeling. - Famine + +These people, in truth, are hungry, and, since the Revolution, their +misery has increased. Around Puy-en-Velay the country is laid +waste, and the soil broken up by a terrible tempest, a fierce +hailstorm, and a deluge of rain. In the south, the crop proved to +be moderate and even insufficient. + +"To trace a picture of the condition of Languedoc," writes the +intendant,[9] "would be to give an account of calamities of every +description. The panic which prevails in all communities, and which +is stronger than all laws, stops traffic, and would cause famine +even in the midst of plenty. Commodities are enormously expensive, +and there is a lack of cash. Communities are ruined by the enormous +outlays to which they are exposed: The payment of the deputies to +the seneschal's court, the establishment of the burgess guards, +guardhouses for this militia, and the purchase of arms, uniforms, +and outlays in forming communes and permanent councils. To this +must be add the cost of the printing of all kinds, and the +publication of trivial deliberations. Further the loss of time due +to disturbances occasioned by these circumstances, and the utter +stagnation of manufactures and of trade." All these causes combined +"have reduced Languedoc to the last extremity."- + +In the Center, and in the North, where the crops are good, +provisions are not less scarce, because wheat is not put in +circulation, and is kept concealed. + + "For five months," writes the municipal assembly of Louviers,[10] +"not a farmer has made his appearance in the markets of this town. +Such a circumstance was never known before, although, from time to +time, high prices have prevailed to a considerable extent. On the +contrary, the markets were always well supplied in proportion to the +high price of grain." + + In vain the municipality orders the surrounding forty-seven +parishes to provide them with wheat. They pay no attention to the +mandate; each for himself and each for his own house; the intendant +is no longer present to compel local interests to give way to public +interests. + +"In the wheat districts around us," says a letter from one of the +Burgundy towns, "we cannot rely on being able to make free +purchases. Special regulations, supported by the civic guard, +prevent grain from being sent out, and put a stop to its +circulation. The adjacent markets are of no use to us. Not a sack +of grain has been brought into our market for about eight months." + +At Troyes, bread costs four sous per pound, at Bar-sur-Aube, and in +the vicinity, four and a half sous per pound. The artisan who is +out of work now earns twelve sous a day at the relief works, and, on +going into the country, he sees that the grain crop is good. What +conclusion can he come to but that the dearth is due to the +monopolists, and that, if he should die of hunger, it would be +because those scoundrels have starved him? -- By virtue of this +reasoning whoever has to do with these provisions, whether +proprietor, farmer, merchant or administrator, all are considered +traitors. It is plain that there is a plot against the people: the +government, the Queen, the clergy, the nobles are all parties to it; +and likewise the magistrates and the wealthy amongst the bourgeoisie +and the rich. A rumor is current in the Ile-de-France that sacks of +flour are thrown into the Seine, and that the cavalry horses are +purposely made to eat unripe wheat in stalk. In Brittany, it is +maintained that grain is exported and stored up abroad. In +Touraine, it is certain that this or that wholesale dealer allows it +to sprout in his granaries rather than sell it. At Troyes, a story +prevails that another has poisoned his flour with alum and arsenic, +commissioned to do so by the bakers. -- Conceive the effect of +suspicions like these upon a suffering multitude! A wave of hatred +ascends from the empty stomach to the morbid brain. The people are +everywhere in quest of their imaginary enemies, plunging forward +with closed eyes no matter on whom or on what, not merely with all +the weight of their mass, but with all the energy of their fury. + + IV. + +Panic. - General arming. + +>From the earliest of these weeks they were already alarmed. +Accustomed to being led, the human herd is scared at being left to +itself; it misses its leaders who it has trodden under foot; in +throwing off their trammels it has deprived itself of their +protection. It feels lonely, in an unknown country, exposed to +dangers of which it is ignorant, and against which it is unable to +guard itself. Now that the shepherds are slain or disarmed, suppose +the wolves should unexpectedly appear! - And there are wolves - I +mean vagabonds and criminals - who have but just issued out of the +darkness. They have robbed and burned, and are to be found at every +insurrection. Now that the police force no longer puts them down, +they show themselves instead of keeping themselves concealed. They +have only to lie in wait and come forth in a band, and both life and +property will be at their mercy. - Deep anxiety, a vague feeling of +dread, spreads through both town and country: towards the end of +July the panic, like a blinding, suffocating whirl of dusts, +suddenly sweeps over hundreds of leagues of territory. The brigands +are coming! They are burning the crops! They are only six leagues +off, and then only two - the refugees who have run away from the +disorder prove it. + +On the 28th of July, at Angoulême,[11] the alarm bell is heard about +three o'clock in the afternoon; the drums beat to arms, and cannon +are mounted on the ramparts. The town has to be put in a state of +defense against 15,000 bandits who are approaching, and from the +walls a cloud of dust on the road is discovered with terror. It +proves to be the post-wagon on its way to Bordeaux. After this the +number of brigands is reduced to 1,500, but there is no doubt that +they are ravaging the country. At nine o'clock in the evening +20,000 men are under arms, and thus they pass the night, always +listening without hearing anything. Towards three o'clock in the +morning there is another alarm, the church bells ringing and the +people forming a battle array. They are convinced that the brigands +have burned Ruffec, Vernenil, La Rochefoucauld, and other places. +The next day countrymen flock in to give their aid against bandits +who are still absent. "At nine o'clock," says a witness, "we had +40,000 men in the town, to whom we showed our gratitude." As the +bandits do not show themselves, it must be because they are +concealed; a hundred horsemen, a large number of men on foot, start +out to search the forest of Braçonne, and to their great surprise +they find nothing. But the terror is not allayed; "during the +following days a guard is kept mounted, and companies are enrolled +among the townsmen," while Bordeaux, duly informed, dispatches a +courier to offer the support of 20,000 men and even 30,000. "What +is surprising," adds the narrator, is that at ten leagues off in the +neighborhood, in each parish, a similar disturbance took place, and +at about the same hour." -- All that is required is that a girl, +returning to the village at night, should meet two men who do not +belong to the neighborhood. The case is the same in Auvergne. +Whole parishes, on the strength of this, betake themselves at night +to the woods, abandoning their houses, and carrying away their +furniture; "the fugitives trod down and destroyed their own crops; +pregnant women were injured in the forests, and others lost their +wits." Fear lends them wings. Two years after this, Madame Campan +was shown a rocky peak on which a woman had taken refuge, and from +which she was obliged to be let down with ropes. -- The people at +last return to their homes, and resume their usual routines. But +such large masses are not unsettled with impunity; a tumult like +this is, in itself, a lively source of alarm. As the country did +rise, it must have been on account of threatened danger and if the +peril was not due to brigands, it must have come from some other +quarter. Arthur Young, at Dijon and in Alsace,[12] hears at the +public dinner tables that the Queen had formed a plot to undermine +the National Assembly and to massacre all Paris. Later on he is +arrested in a village near Clermont, and examined because he is +evidently conspiring with the Queen and the Comte d'Entraigues to +blow up the town and send the survivors to the galleys. + +No argument, no experience has any effect against the multiplying +phantoms of an over-excited imagination. Henceforth every commune, +and every man, provide themselves with arms and keep them ready for +use. The peasant searches his hoard, and "finds from ten to twelve +francs for the purchase of a gun." "A national militia is found in +the poorest village." Burgess guards and companies of volunteers +patrol all the towns. Military commanders deliver arms, ammunition, +and equipment, on the requisition of municipal bodies, while, in +case of refusal, the arsenals are pillaged, and, voluntarily or by +force, four hundred thousand guns thus pass into the hands of the +people in six months.[13] Not content with this they must have +cannon. Brest having demanded two, every town in Brittany does the +same thing; their self-esteem is at stake as well as a need of +feeling themselves strong. - They lack nothing now to render +themselves masters. All authority, all force, every means of +constraint and of intimidation is in their hands, and in theirs +alone; and these sovereign hands have nothing to guide them in this +actual interregnum of all legal powers, but the wild or murderous +suggestions of hunger or distrust. + + V. + +Attacks on public individuals and public property. - At Strasbourg. +- At Cherbourg. - At Mauberge. - At Rouen. - At Besançon. - At +Troyes. + +It would take too much space to recount all the violent acts which +were committed, - convoys arrested, grain pillaged, millers and corn +merchants hung, decapitated, slaughtered, farmers called upon under +the threats of death to give up even the seed reserved for sowing, +proprietors ransomed and houses sacked.[14] These outrages, +unpunished, tolerated and even excused or badly suppressed, are +constantly repeated, and are, at first, directed against public men +and public property. As is commonly the case, the rabble head the +march and stamp the character of the whole insurrection. + +On the 19th of July, at Strasbourg, on the news of Necker's return +to office, it interprets after its own fashion the public joy, which +it witnesses. Five or six hundred beggars,[15] their numbers soon +increased by the petty tradesmen, rush to the town hall, the +magistrates only having time to fly through a back door. The +soldiers, on their part, with arms in their hands, allow all these +things to go on, while several of them spur the assailants on. The +windows are dashed to pieces under a hailstorm of stones, the doors +are forced with iron crowbars, and the populace enter amid a burst +of acclamations from the spectators. Immediately, through every +opening in the building, which has a facade frontage of eighty feet, +" there is a shower of shutters, sashes, chairs, tables, sofas, +books and papers, and then another of tiles, boards, balconies and +fragments of wood-work." The public archives are thrown to the wind, +and the surrounding streets are strewed with them; the letters of +enfranchisement, the charters of privileges, all the authentic acts +which, since Louis XIV, have guaranteed the liberties of the town, +perish in the flames. Some of the rabble in the cellars stave in +casks of precious wine; fifteen thousand measures of it are lost, +making a pool five feet deep in which several are drowned. Others, +loaded with booty, go away under the eyes of the soldiers without +being arrested. The havoc continues for three days; a number of +houses belonging to some of the magistrates "are sacked from garret +to cellar." When the honest citizens at last obtain arms and restore +order, they are content with the hanging of one of the robbers; +although, in order to please the people, the magistrates are changed +and the price of bread and meat is reduced. - It is not surprising +that after such tactics, and with such rewards, the riot should +spread through the neighborhood far and near: in fact, starting from +Strasbourg it overruns Alsace, while in the country as in the city, +there are always drunkards and rascals found to head it. + +No matter where, be it in the East, in the West, or in the North, +the instigators are always of this stamp. At Cherbourg, on the 21st +of July,[16] the two leaders of the riot are " highway robbers," who +place themselves at the head of women of the suburbs, foreign +sailors, the populace of the harbor, and it includes soldiers in +workmen's smocks. They force the delivery of the keys of the grain +warehouses, and wreck the dwellings of the three richest merchants, +also that of M. de Garantot, the sub-delegate: "All records and +papers are burnt; at M. de Garantot's alone the loss is estimated at +more than 100,000 crowns at least." -- The same instinct of +destruction prevails everywhere, a sort of envious fury against all +who possess, command, or enjoy anything. At Maubeuge, on the 27th +of July, at the very assembly of the representatives of the +commune,[17] the rabble interferes directly in its usual fashion. A +band of nail and gun-makers takes possession of the town-hall, and +obliges the mayor to reduce the price of bread. Almost immediately +after this another band follows uttering cries of death, and smashes +the windows, while the garrison, which has been ordered out, quietly +contemplates the damage done. Death to the mayor, to all rulers, +and to all employees! The rioters force open the prisons, set the +prisoners free, and attack the tax-offices. The octroi offices are +demolished from top to bottom: they pull down the harbor offices and +throw the scales and weights into the river. All the custom and +excise stores are carried off; and the officials are compelled to +give acquaintances. The houses of the registrar and of the sheriff, +that of the revenue comptroller, two hundred yards outside the town, +are sacked; the doors and the windows are smashed, the furniture and +linen is torn to shreds, and the plate and jewelry is thrown into +the wells. The same havoc is committed in the mayor's town-house, +also in his country-house a league off. "Not a window, not a door, +not one article or eatable " is preserved; their work, moreover, is +conscientiously done, without stopping a moment, "from ten in the +evening up to ten in the morning on the following day." In addition +to this the mayor, who has served for thirty-four years, resigns his +office at the solicitation of the well-disposed but terrified +people, and leaves the country. -- At Rouen, after the 24th of +July,[18] a written placard shows, by its orthography and its style, +what sort of intellects composed it and what kind of actions are to +follow it: + +"Nation, you have here four heads to strike off, those of Pontcarry +(the first president), Maussion (the intendant), Godard de Belbœuf +(the attorney-general), and Durand (the attorney of the King in the +town). Without this we are lost, and if you do not do it, people +will take you for a heartless nation." + +Nothing could be more explicit. The municipal body, however, to +whom the Parliament denounces this list of proscriptions, replies, +with its forced optimism, that + + "no citizen should consider himself or be considered as proscribed; +he may and must believe himself to be safe in his own dwelling, +satisfied that there is not a person in the city who would not fly +to his rescue." + +This is equal to telling the populace that it is free to do as it +pleases. On the strength of this the leaders of the riot work on in +security for ten days. One of them is a man named Jourdain, a +lawyer of Lisieux, and, like most of his brethren, a demagogue in +principles; the other is a strolling actor from Paris named Bordier, +famous in the part of harlequin,[19] a bully in a house of ill-fame, +"a night-rover and drunkard, and who, fearing neither God nor +devil," has taken up patriotism, and comes down into the provinces +to play tragedy, and that, tragedy in real life. The fifth act +begins on the night of the 3rd of August, with Bordier and Jourdain +as the principal actors, and behind them the rabble along with +several companies of fresh volunteers. A shout is heard, "Death to +the monopolists! death to Maussion! we must have his head!" They +pillage his hotel: many of them become intoxicated and fall asleep +in his cellar. The revenue offices, the toll-gates of the town, the +excise office, all buildings in which the royal revenue is +collected, are wrecked. Immense bonfires are lighted in the streets +and on the old market square; furniture, clothes, papers, kitchen +utensils, are all thrown in pell-mell, while carriages are dragged +out and tumbled into the Seine. It is only when the town-hall is +attacked that the National Guard, beginning to be alarmed, makes up +its mind to seize Bordier and some others. The following morning, +however, at the shout of Carabo, and led by Jourdain, the prison is +forced, Bordier set free, and the intendant's residence, with its +offices, is sacked a second time. When, finally, the two rascals +are taken and led to the scaffold, the populace is so strongly in +their favor as to require the pointing of loaded cannon on them to +keep them down. -- At Besançon,[20] on the 13th of August, the +leaders consist of the servant of an exhibitor of wild animals, two +goal-birds of whom one has already been branded in consequence of a +riot, and a number of "inhabitants of ill-repute," who, towards +evening, spread through the town along with the soldiers. The +gunners insult the officers they meet, seize them by the throat and +want to throw them into the Doubs. Others go to the house of the +commandant, M. de Langeron, and demand money of him; on his refusing +to give it they tear off their cockades and exclaim, "We too belong +to the Third-Estate!" in other words, that they are the masters: +subsequently they demand the head of the intendant, M. de Caumartin, +forcibly enter his dwelling and break up his furniture. On the +following day the rabble and the soldiers enter the coffee-houses, +the convents, and the inns, and demand to be served with wine and +eatables as much as they want, and then, heated by drink, they burn +the excise offices, force open several prisons, and set free all the +smugglers and deserters. To put an end to this saturnalia a grand +banquet in the open air is suggested, in which the National Guard is +to fraternize with the whole garrison; but the banquet turns into a +drinking-bout, entire companies remaining under the tables dead +drunk; other companies carry away with them four hogsheads of wine, +and the rest, finding themselves left in the lurch, are scattered +abroad outside the walls in order to rob the cellars of the +neighboring villages. The next day, encouraged by the example set +them, a portion of the garrison, accompanied by a number of workmen, +repeat the expedition in the country. Finally, after four days of +this orgy, to prevent Besançon and its outskirts from being +indefinitely treated as a conquered country, the burgess guard, in +alliance with the soldiers who have remained loyal, rebel against +the rebellion, go in quest of the marauders and hang two of them +that same evening. -- Such is rioting![21] an irruption of brute +force which, turned loose on the habitations of men, can do nothing +but gorge itself, waste, break, destroy, and do damage to itself; +and if we follow the details of local history, we see how, in these +days, similar outbreaks of violence might be expected at any time. + +At Troyes,[22] on the 18th of July, a market-day, the peasants +refuse to pay the entrance duties; the octroi having been suppressed +at Paris, it ought also to be suppressed at Troyes. The populace, +excited by this first disorderly act, gather into a mob for the +purpose of dividing the grain and arms amongst themselves, and the +next day the town-hall is invested by seven or eight thousand men, +armed with clubs and stones. The day after, a band, recruited in +the surrounding villages, armed with flails, shovels, and pitch- +forks, enters under the leadership of a joiner who marches at the +head of it with a drawn saber; fortunately, "all the honest folks +among the burgesses "immediately form themselves into a National +Guard, and this first attempt at a Jacquerie is put down. But the +agitation continues, and false rumors constantly keep it up. - On +the 29th of July, on the report being circulated that five hundred +"brigands" had left Paris and were coming to ravage the country, the +alarm bell sounds in the villages, and the peasants go forth armed. +Henceforth, a vague idea of some impending danger fills all minds; +the necessity of defense and of guarding against enemies is +maintained. The new demagogues avail themselves of this to keep +their hold on the people, and when the time comes, to use it against +their chiefs. - It is of no use to assure the people that the +latter are patriots; that the recently welcomed Necker with +enthusiastic shouts; that the priests, the monks, and canons were +the first to adopt the national cockade; that the nobles of the city +and its environs are the most liberal in France; that, on the 20th +of July, the burgess guard saved the town; that all the wealthy give +to the national workshops; that Mayor Huez, "a venerable and honest +magistrate," is a benefactor to the poor and to the public. All the +old leaders are objects of distrust. -- On the 8th of August, a mob +demands the dismissal of the dragoons, arms for all volunteers, +bread at two sous the pound, and the freedom of all prisoners. On +the 19th of August the National Guard rejects its old officers as +aristocrats, and elects new ones. On the 27th of August, the crowd +invade the town-hall and distribute the arms amongst themselves. On +the 5th of September, two hundred men, led by Truelle, president of +the new committee, force the salt depot and have salt delivered to +them at six sous per pound. -- Meanwhile, in the lowest quarters of +the city, a story is concocted to the effect that if wheat is scarce +it is because Huez, the mayor, and M. de St. Georges, the old +commandant, are monopolists, and now they say of Huez what they said +five weeks before of Foulon, that "he wants to make the people eat +hay." The many-headed brute growls fiercely and is about to spring. +As usual, instead of restraining him, they try to manage him. + + "You must put your authority aside for a moment," writes the deputy +of Troyes to the sheriffs," and act towards the people as to a +friend; be as gentle with them as you would be with your equals, and +rest assured that they are capable of responding to it." + + Thus does Huez act, and he even does more, paying no attention to +their menaces, refusing to provide for his own safety and almost +offering himself as a sacrifice. + + "I have wronged no one," he exclaimed; "why should any one bear me +ill-will?" + +His sole precaution is to provide something for the unfortunate poor +when he is gone: he bequeaths in his will 18,000 livres to the poor, +and, on the eve of his death, sends 100 crowns to the bureau of +charity. But what avail self-abnegation and beneficence against +blind, insane rage! On the 9th of September, three loads of flour +proving to be unsound, the people collect and shout out, + + "Down with the flour-dealers! Down with machinery! Down with the +mayor! Death to the mayor, and let Truelle be put in his place! " + +Huez, on leaving his court-room, is knocked down, murdered by kicks +and blows, throttled, dragged to the reception hall, struck on his +head with a wooden-shoe and pitched down the grand staircase. The +municipal officers strive in vain to protect him; a rope is put +around his neck and they begin to drag him along. A priest, who +begs to be allowed at least to save his soul, is repulsed and +beaten. A woman jumps on the prostrate old man, stamps on his face +and repeatedly thrusts her scissors in his eyes. He is dragged +along with the rope around his neck up to the Pont de la Selle, and +thrown into the neighboring ford, and then drawn out, again dragged +through the streets and in the gutters, with a bunch of hay crammed +in his mouth.[23] + +In the meantime, his house as well as that of the lieutenant of +police, that of the notary Guyot, and that of M. de Saint-Georges, +are sacked; the pillaging and destruction lasts four hours; at the +notary's house, six hundred bottles of wine are consumed or carried +off; objects of value are divided, and the rest, even down to the +iron balcony, is demolished or broken; the rioters cry out, on +leaving, that they have still to burn twenty-seven houses, and to +take twenty-seven heads. "No one at Troyes went to bed that fatal +night."- During the succeeding days, for nearly two weeks, society +seems to be dissolved. Placards posted about the streets proscribe +municipal officers, canons, divines, privileged persons, prominent +merchants, and even ladies of charity; the latter are so frightened +that they throw up their office, while a number of persons move off +into the country; others barricade themselves in their dwellings and +only open their doors with saber in hand. Not until the 26th does +the orderly class rally sufficiently to resume the ascendancy and +arrest the miscreants. -- Such is public life in France after the +14th of July: the magistrates in each town feel that they are at the +mercy of a band of savages and sometimes of cannibals. Those of +Troyes had just tortured Huez after the fashion of Hurons, while +those of Caen did worse; Major de Belzance, not less innocent, and +under sworn protection,[24] was cut to pieces like Laperouse in the +Fiji Islands, and a woman ate his heart. + + VI. + + +Taxes are no longer paid. - Devastation of the Forests. - The new +game laws. + +It is, under such circumstances, possible to foretell whether taxes +come in, and whether municipalities that sway about in every popular +breeze will have the authority to collect the odious revenues. -- +Towards the end of September,[25] I find a list of thirty-six +committees or municipal bodies which, within a radius of fifty +leagues around Paris, refuse to ensure the collection of taxes. One +of them tolerates the sale of contraband salt, in order not to +excite a riot. Another takes the precaution to disarm the employees +in the excise department. In a third the municipal officers were +the first to provide themselves with contraband salt and contraband +tobacco. + +At Peronne and at Ham, the order having come to restore the toll- +houses, the people destroy the soldiers' quarters, conduct all the +employees to their homes, and order them to leave within twenty-four +hours, under penalty of death. After twenty months' resistance +Paris will end the matter by forcing the National Assembly to give +in and by obtaining the final suppression of its octroi.[26] -- Of +all the creditors whose hand each one felt on his shoulders, that of +the exchequer was the heaviest, and now it is the weakest; hence +this is the first whose grasp is to be shaken off; there is none +which is more heartily detested or which receives harsher treatment. +Especially against collectors of the salt-tax, custom-house +officers, and excisemen the fury is universal. These, +everywhere,[27] are in danger of their lives and are obliged to fly. +At Falaise, in Normandy, the people threaten to "cut to pieces the +director of the excise." At Baignes, in Saintonge, his house is +devastated and his papers and effects are burned; they put a knife +to the throat of his son, a child six years of age, saying, "Thou +must perish that there may be no more of thy race." +For four hours the clerks are on the point of being torn to pieces; +through the entreaties of the lord of the manor, who sees scythes +and sabers aimed at his own head, they are released only on the +condition that they "abjure their employment." -- Again, for two +months following the taking of the Bastille, insurrections break out +by hundreds, like a volley of musketry, against indirect taxation. +>From the 23rd of July the Intendant of Champagne reports that "the +uprising is general in almost all the towns under his command." On +the following day the Intendant of Alençon writes that, in his +province, "the royal dues will no longer be paid anywhere." On the +7th of August, M. Necker states to the National Assembly that in the +two intendants' districts of Caen and Alençon it has been necessary +to reduce the price of salt one-half; that "in an infinity of places +" the collection of the excise is stopped or suspended; that the +smuggling of salt and tobacco is done by "convoys and by open force +" in Picardy, in Lorraine, and in the Trois-Évêchés; that the +indirect tax does not come in, that the receivers-general and the +receivers of the taille are "at bay" and can no longer keep their +engagements. The public income diminishes from month to month; in +the social body, the heart, already so feeble, faints; deprived of +the blood which no longer reaches it, it ceases to propel to the +muscles the vivifying current which restores their waste and adds to +their energy. + +"All controlling power is slackened," says Necker, "everything is a +prey to the passions of individuals." Where is the power to +constrain them and to secure to the State its dues? -- The clergy, +the nobles, wealthy townsmen, and certain brave artisans and +farmers, undoubtedly pay, and even sometimes give spontaneously. +But in society those who possess intelligence, who are in easy +circumstances and conscientious, form a small select class; the +great mass is egotistic, ignorant, and needy, and lets its money go +only under constraint; there is but one way to collect the taxes, +and that is to extort them. From time immemorial, direct taxes in +France have been collected only by bailiffs and seizures; which is +not surprising, as they take away a full half of the net income. +Now that the peasants of each village are armed and form a band, let +the collector come and make seizures if he dare ! -- " Immediately +after the decree on the equality of the taxes," writes the +provincial commission of Alsace,[28] "the people generally refused +to make any payments, until those who were exempt and privileged +should have been inscribed on the local lists." In many places the +peasants threaten to obtain the reimbursement of their installments, +while in others they insist that the decree should be retrospective +and that the new rate-payers should pay for the past year. "No +collector dare send an official to distrain; none that are sent dare +fulfill their mission." -- " It is not the good bourgeois" of whom +there is any fear, "but the rabble who make the latter and every one +else afraid of them;" resistance and disorder everywhere come from +"people that have nothing to lose." -- Not only do they shake off +taxation, but they usurp property, and declare that, being the +Nation, whatever belongs to the Nation belongs to them. The forests +of Alsace are laid waste, the seignorial as well as communal, and +wantonly destroyed with the wastefulness of children or of maniacs. +"In many places, to avoid the trouble of removing the woods, they +are burnt, and the people content themselves with carrying off the +ashes." -- After the decrees of August 4th, and in spite of the law +which licenses the proprietor only to hunt on his own grounds, the +impulse to break the law becomes irresistible. Every man who can +procure a gun begins operations;[29] the crops which are still +standing are trodden under foot, the lordly residences are invaded +and the palings are scaled; the King himself at Versailles is +wakened by shots fired in his park. Stags, fawns, deer, wild boars, +hares, and rabbits, are slain by thousands, cooked with stolen wood, +and eaten up on the spot. There is a constant discharge of musketry +throughout France for more than two months, and, as on an American +prairie, every living animal belongs to him who kills it. At +Choiseul, in Champagne, not only are all the hares and partridges of +the barony exterminated, but the ponds are exhausted of fish; the +court of the chateau even is entered, to fire on the pigeon-house +and destroy the pigeons, and then the pigeons and fish, of which +they have too many, are offered to the proprietor for sale -- It is +"the patriots" of the village with "smugglers and bad characters" +belonging to the neighborhood who make this expedition; they are +seen in the front ranks of every act of violence, and it is not +difficult to foresee that, under their leadership, attacks on public +persons and public property will be followed by attacks on private +persons and private property. + + VII. + +Attack upon private individuals and private property. - Aristocrats +denounced to the people as their enemies. - Effect of news from +Paris.- Influence of the village attorneys. - Isolated acts of +violence. - A general rising of the peasantry in the east. - War +against the castles, feudal estates, and property. - Preparations +for other Jacqueries. + +Indeed, an outlawed class already exists, they are called " +aristocrats." This deadly term, applied at first to the nobles and +prelates in the States-General who declined to take part in the +reunion of the three orders, is extended so as to embrace all whose +titles, offices, alliances, and manner of living distinguish them +from the multitude. That which entitled them to respect is that +which marks them out as objects of ill-will; while the people, who, +though suffering from their privileges, did not regard them +personally with hatred, are now taught to consider them as their +enemies. Each, on his own estate, is held accountable for the evil +designs attributed to his brethren at Versailles, and, on the false +report of a plot at the center, the peasants classify him as one of +the conspirators.[30] Thus does the peasant jacquerie commence, and +the fanatics who have fanned the flame in Paris are to do the same +in the provinces. "You wish to know the authors of the agitation," +writes a sensible man to the committee of investigation; "you will +find them amongst the deputies of the Third-Estate," and especially +among the attorneys and advocates. "These dispatch incendiary +letters to their constituents, which letters are received by +municipal bodies alike composed of attorneys and of advocates.... +they are read aloud in the public squares, while copies of them are +distributed among all the villages. In these villages, if any one +knows how to read besides the priest and the lord of the manor, it +is the legal practitioner," the born enemy of the lord of the manor, +whose place he covets, vain of his oratorical powers, embittered by +his power, and never failing to blacken everything.[31] It is +highly probable that he is the one who composes and circulates the +placards calling on the people, in the King's name, to resort to +violence. -- At Secondigny, in Poitou, on the 23rd of July,[32] the +laborers in the forest receive a letter "which summons them to +attack all the country gentlemen round about, and to massacre +without mercy all those who refuse to renounce their privileges.... +promising them that not only will their crimes go unpunished, but +that they will even be rewarded." M. Despretz-Montpezat, +correspondent of the deputies of the nobles, is seized, and dragged +with his son to the dwelling of the procurator-fiscal, to force him +to give his signature; the inhabitants are forbidden to render him +assistance "on pain of death and fire." "Sign," they exclaim, "or we +will tear out your heart, and set fire to this house !" At this +moment the neighboring notary, who is doubtless an accomplice, +appears with a stamped paper, and says to him, "Monsieur, I have +just come from Niort, where the Third-Estate has done the same thing +to all the gentlemen of the town; one, who refused, was cut to +pieces before our eyes." -- "We are compelled to sign renunciations +of our privileges, and give our assent to one and the same taxation, +as if the nobles had not already done so." The band gives notice +that it will proceed in the same fashion with all the chateaux in +the vicinity, and terror precedes or follows them. "Nobody dares +write," M. Despretz sends word; " I attempt it at the risk of my +life." -- Nobles and prelates become objects of suspicion +everywhere; village committees open their letters, and they have to +suffer their houses to be searched.[33] They are forced to adopt +the new cockade: to be a gentleman, and not wear it, is to deserve +hanging. At Mamers, in Maine, M. de Beauvoir refuses to wear it, +and is at the point of being put into the pillory and felled. Near +La F1èche, M. de Brissac is arrested, and a message is sent to Paris +to know if he shall be taken there, "or be beheaded in the +meantime." Two deputies of the nobles, MM. de Montesson and de Vassé +who had come to ask the consent of their constituents to their +joining the Third-Estate, are recognized near Mans; their honorable +scruples and their pledges to the constituents are considered of no +importance, nor even the step that they are now taking to fulfill +them; it suffices that they voted against the Third-Estate at +Versailles; the populace pursues them and breaks up their carriages, +and pillages their trunks. -- Woe to the nobles, especially if they +have taken any part in local rule, and if they are opposed to +popular panics! M. Cureau, deputy-mayor of Mans,[34] had issued +orders during the famine, and, having retired to his chateau of +Nouay, had told the peasants that the announcement of the coming of +brigands was a false alarm; he thought that it was not necessary to +sound the alarm bell, and all that was necessary was that they +should remain quiet. Accordingly he is set down as being in league +with the brigands, and besides this he is a monopolist, and a buyer +of standing crops. The peasants lead him off; along with his son- +in-law, M. de Montesson, to the neighboring village, where there +are judges. On the way "they dragged their victims on the ground, +pummeled them, trampled on them, spit in their faces, and besmeared +them with filth." M. de Montesson is shot, while M. Cureau is killed +by degrees; a carpenter cuts off the two heads with a double-edged +ax, and children bear them along to the sound of drums and violins. +Meanwhile, the judges of the place, brought by force, draw up an +official report stating the finding of thirty louis and several +bills of the Banque d'Escompte in the pockets of M. de Cureau, on +the discovery of which a shout of triumph is set up: this evidence +proves that they were going to buy up the standing wheat ! -- Such +is the course of popular justice. Now that the Third-Estate has +become the nation, every mob thinks that it has the right to +pronounce sentences, which it carries out, on lives and on +possessions. + +These explosions are isolated in the western, central and southern +provinces; the conflagration, however, is universal in the east. On +a strip of ground from thirty to fifty leagues broad, extending from +the extreme north down to Provence. Alsace, Franche-Comté, +Burgundy, Mâconnais, Beaujolais, Auvergne, Viennois, Dauphiny, the +whole of this territory resembles a continuous mine which explodes +at the same time. The first column of flame which shoots up is on +the frontiers of Alsace and Franche-Comté, in the vicinity of +Belfort and Vésoul, a feudal district, in which the peasant, over- +burdened with taxes, bears the heavier yoke with greater impatience. +An instinctive argument is going on in his mind without his knowing +it. "The good Assembly and the good King want us to be happy, +suppose we help them! They say that the King has already relieved us +of the taxes, suppose we relieve ourselves of paying rents! Down +with the nobles! They are no better than the tax-collectors! " -- On +the 16th of July, the chateau of Sancy, belonging to the Princesses +de Beaufremont, is sacked, and on the 18th those of Lure, Bithaine, +and Molans.[35] On the 29th, an accident which occurs with some +fire-works at a popular festival at the house of M. de Mesmay, leads +the lower class to believe that the invitation extended to them was +a trap, and that there was a desire to get rid of them by +treachery.[36] Seized with rage they set fire to the chateau, and +during the following week[37] destroy three abbeys, ruin eleven +chateaux and pillage others. " All records are destroyed, the +registers and court-rolls are carried off; and the deposits +violated." -- Starting from this spot, "the hurricane of +insurrection" stretches over the whole of Alsace from Huningue to +Landau.[38] The insurgents display placards, signed Louis, stating +that for a certain lapse of time they shall be permitted to exercise +justice themselves, and, in Sundgau, a well-dressed weaver, +decorated with a blue belt, passes for a prince, the King's second +son. They begin by falling on the Jews, their hereditary leeches; +they sack their dwellings, divide their money among themselves, and +hunt them down like so many fallow-deer. At Bâle alone, it is said +that twelve hundred of these unfortunate fugitives arrived with +their families. -- The distance between the Jew creditor and the +Christian proprietor is not great, and this is soon cleared. +Remiremont is only saved by a detachment of dragoons. Eight hundred +men attack the chateau of Uberbrünn. The abbey of Neubourg is taken +by storm. At Guebwiller, on the 31st of July, five hundred +peasants, subjects of the abbey of Murbach, make a descent on the +abbot's palace and on the house of the canons. Cupboards, chests, +beds, windows, mirrors, frames, even the tiles of the roof and the +hinges of the casements are hacked to pieces: "They kindle fires on +the beautiful inlaid floors of the apartments, and there burn up the +library and the title-deeds." The abbot's superb carriage is so +broken up that not a wheel remains entire. "Wine streams through +the cellars. One cask of sixteen hundred measures is half lost; the +plate and the linen are carried off." -- Society is evidently being +overthrown, while with the power, property is changing hands. + +These are their very words. In Franche-Comte[39] the inhabitants of +eight communes come and declare to the Bernardins of Grâce-Dieu and +of Lieu-Croissant "that, being of the Third-Estate, it is time now +for the people to rule over abbots and monks, considering that the +domination of the latter has lasted too long," and thereupon they +carry off all the titles to property and to rentals belonging to the +abbey in their commune. In Upper Dauphiny, during the destruction +of M. de Murat's chateau, a man named Ferréol struck the furniture +with a big stick, exclaiming, "Hey, so much for you, Murat; you have +been master a good while, now it's our turn!"[40] Those who rifle +houses, and steal like highway robbers, think that they are +defending a cause, and reply to the challenge, "Who goes there?" "We +are for the brigand Third-Estate!" -- Everywhere the belief prevails +that they are clothed with authority, and they conduct themselves +like a conquering horde under the orders of an absent general. At +Remiremont and at Luxeuil they produce an edict, stating that "all +this brigandage, pillage, and destruction" is permitted. In +Dauphiny, the leaders of the bands say that they possess the King's +orders. In Auvergne, "they follow imperative orders, being advised +that such is his Majesty's will." Nowhere do we see that an +insurgent village exercises personal vengeance against its lord. If +the people fire on the nobles they encounter, it is not through +personal hatred. They are destroying the class, and do not pursue +individuals. They detest feudal privileges, holders of charters, +the cursed parchments by virtue of which they are made to pay, but +not the nobleman who, when he resides at home, is of humane +intentions, compassionate, and even often beneficent. At Luxeuil, +the abbot, who is forced with uplifted ax to sign a relinquishment +of his seignorial rights over twenty-three estates, has dwelt among +them for forty-six years, and has been wholly devoted to them.[41] +In the canton of Crémieu, "where the havoc is immense," all the +nobles, write the municipal officers, are "patriots and benevolent." +In Dauphiny, the engineers, magistrates, and prelates, whose +chateaux are sacked, were the first to espouse the cause of the +people and of public liberties against the ministers. In Auvergne, +the peasants themselves "manifest a good deal of repugnance to act +in this way against such kind masters." But it must be done; the +only concession which can be made in consideration of the kindness +which had been extended to them is, not to burn the chateau of the +ladies of Vanes, who had been so charitable; but they burn all their +title-deeds, and torture the business agent at three different times +by fire, to force him to deliver a document which he does not +possess; they then only withdraw him from the fire half-broiled, +because the ladies, on their knees, implore mercy for him. They are +like the soldiers on a campaign who execute orders with docility, +for which necessity is the only plea, and who, without regarding +themselves as brigands, commit acts of brigandage. + +But here the situation is more tragic, for it is war in the midst of +peace, a war of the brutal and barbaric multitude against the highly +cultivated, well-disposed and confiding, who had not anticipated +anything of the kind, who had not even dreamt of defending +themselves, and who had no protection. The Comte de Courtivron, +with his family, was staying at the watering-place of Luxeuil with +his uncle, the Abbé of Clermont-Tonnerre, an old man of seventy +years. On the 19th of July, fifty peasants from Fougerolle break +into and demolish everything in the houses of an usher and a +collector of the excise. Thereupon the mayor of the place intimates +to the nobles and magistrates who are taking the waters, that they +had better leave the house in twenty-four hours, as "he had been +advised of an intention to burn the houses in which they were +staying," and he did not wish to have Luxeuil exposed to this danger +on account of their presence there. The following day, the guard, +as obliging as the mayor, allows the band to enter the town and to +force the abbey: the usual events follow, renunciations are +extorted, records and cellars are ransacked, plate and other effects +are stolen. M. de Courtivron escaping with his uncle during the +night, the alarm bell is sounded and they are pursued, and with +difficulty obtain refuge in Plombières. The bourgeoisie of +Plombières, however, for fear of compromising themselves, oblige +them to depart. On the road two hundred insurgents threaten to kill +their horses and to smash their carriage, and they only find safety +at last at Porentruy, outside of France. On his return, M. de +Courtivron is shot at by the band which has just pillaged the abbey +of Lure, and they shout out at him as he passes, "Let's massacre the +nobles!" Meanwhile, the chateau of Vauvilliers, to which his sick +wife had been carried, is devastated from top to bottom; the mob +search for her everywhere, and she only escapes by hiding herself in +a hay-loft. Both are anxious to fly into Burgundy, but word is sent +them that at Dijon "the nobles are blockaded by the people," and +that, in the country, they threaten to set their houses on fire. -- +There is no asylum to be had, either in their own homes nor in the +homes of others, nor in places along the roads, fugitives being +stopped in all the small villages and market-towns. In Dauphiny[42] +"the Abbess of St. Pierre de Lyon, one of the nuns, M. de Perrotin, +M. de Bellegarde, the Marquis de la Tour-du-Pin, and the Chevalier +de Moidieu, are arrested at Champier by the armed population, led to +the Côte Saint-André, confined in the town-hall, whence they send to +Grenoble for assistance," and, to have them released, the Grenoble +Committee is obliged to send commissioners. Their only refuge is in +the large cities, where some semblance of a precarious order exists, +and in the ranks of the City Guards, which march from Lyons, Dijon, +and Grenoble, to keep the inundation down. Throughout the country +scattered chateaux are swallowed up by the popular tide, and, as the +feudal rights are often in plebeian hands, it insensibly rises +beyond its first overflow. -- There is no limit to an insurrection +against property. This one extends from abbeys and chateaux to the +"houses of the bourgeoisie."[43] The grudge at first was confined +to the holders of charters; now it is extended to all who possess +anything. Well-to-do farmers and priests abandon their parishes and +fly to the towns. Travelers are put to ransom. Thieves, robbers, +and returned convicts, at the head of armed bands, seize whatever +they can lay their hands on. Cupidity becomes inflamed by such +examples; on domains which are deserted and in a state of confusion, +where there is nothing to indicate a master's presence, all seems to +lapse to the first comer. A small farmer of the neighborhood has +carried away wine and returns the following day in search of hay. +All the furniture of a chateau in Dauphin is removed, even to the +hinges of the doors, by a large reinforcement of carts. -- " It is +the war of the poor against the rich," says a deputy, "and, on the +3rd of August, the Committee on Reports declares to the National +Assembly "that no kind of property has been spared." In Franche- +Comté, "nearly forty chateaux and seignorial mansions have been +pillaged or burnt."[44] From Lancers to Gray about three out of +five chateaux are sacked. In Dauphin twenty-seven are burned or +destroyed; five in the small district of Viennese, and, besides +these, all the monasteries -- nine at least in Auvergne, seventy- +two, it is said, in Mâconnais and Beaujolais, without counting those +of Alsace. On the 31st of July, Lally-Tollendal, on entering the +tribune, has his hands full of letters of distress, with a list of +thirty-six chateaux burnt, demolished, or pillaged, in one province, +and the details of still worse violence against persons:[45] + + "in Languedoc, M. de Barras, cut to pieces in the presence of his +wife who is about to be confined, and who is dead in consequence; in +Normandy, a paralytic gentleman left on a burning pile and taken off +from it with his hands burnt; in Franche-Comté, Madame de Bathilly +compelled, with an ax over her head, to give up her title-deeds and +even her estate; Madame de Listenay forced to do the same, with a +pitchfork at her neck and her two daughters in a swoon at her feet; +Comte de Montjustin, with his wife, having a pistol at his throat +for three hours; and both dragged from their carriage to be thrown +into a pond, where they are saved by a passing regiment of soldiers; +Baron de Montjustin, one of the twenty-two popular noblemen, +suspended for an hour in a well, listening to a discussion whether +he shall be dropped down or whether he should die in some other way; +the Chevalier d'Ambly, torn from his chateau and dragged naked into +the village, placed on a dung-heap after having his eyebrows and all +his hair pulled out, while the crowd kept on dancing around him." + +In the midst of a disintegrated society, under the semblance only of +a government, it is manifest that an invasion is under way, an +invasion of barbarians which will complete by terror that which it +has begun by violence, and which, like the invasions of the Normans +in the tenth and eleventh centuries, ends in the conquest and +dispossession of an entire class. In vain the National Guard and +the other troops that remain loyal succeed in stemming the first +torrent; in vain does the Assembly hollow out a bed for it and +strive to bank it in by fixed boundaries. The decrees of the 4th of +August and the regulations which follow are but so many spiders' +webs stretched across a torrent. The peasants, moreover, putting +their own interpretation on the decrees, convert the new laws into +authority for continuing in their course or beginning over again. +No more rents, however legitimate, however legal! + +"Yesterday,"[46] writes a gentleman of Auvergne, we were notified +that the fruit-tithe (percières) would no longer be paid, and that +the example of other provinces was only being followed which no +longer, even by royal order, pay tithes." In Franche-Comté "numerous +communities are satisfied that they no longer owe anything either to +the King or to their lords. . . . The villages divide amongst +themselves the fields and woods belonging to the nobles." -- + + It must be noted that charter-holding and feudal titles are still +intact in three-fourths of France, that it is the interest of the +peasant to ensure their disappearance, and that he is always armed. +To secure a new outbreak of jacqueries, it is only necessary that +central control, already thrown into disorder, should be withdrawn. +This is the work of Versailles and of Paris; and there, at Paris as +well as at Versailles, some, through lack of foresight and +infatuation, and others, through blindness and indecision -- the +latter through weakness and the former through violence -- all are +laboring to accomplish it. + +____________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + +[1] Dusaulx, 374. " I remarked that if there were a few among the +people at that time who dared commit crime, there were several who +wished it, and that every one endured it." -- " Archives +Nationales," DXXIX, 3. (Letter of the municipal authorities of +Crémieu, Dauphiny, November 3, 1789.) "The care taken to lead them +first to the cellars and to intoxicate them, can alone give a +conception of the incredible excesses of rage to which they gave +themselves up in the sacking and burning of the chateaux." + +[2] Mercure de France, January 4, 1792. ("Revue politique de +l'année 1791," by Mallet du Pan.) + +[3] Albert Babeau, I. 206. (Letter of the deputy Camuzet de +Belombre, August 22, 1789.) The executive power is absolutely gone +to-day." -- Gouverneur Morris, letter of July 31, 1789: "This +country is now as near in a state of anarchy as it is possible for a +community to be without breaking up." + +[4] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letter of M. Amelot, July +24th; H. 784, of M. de Langeron, October 16th and 18th . -- KK. +1105. correspondence of M. de Thiard, October 7th and 30th, +September 4th. -- Floquet, VII. 527, 555. - Guadet, "Histoire +des Girondins" (July 29, 1789). + +[5] M. de Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353 (July 18th). - Sauzay, +"Histoire de la Persécution Révolutionnaire dans le Département de +Doubs," I. 128 (July 19th.) -- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3253. +(Letter of the deputies of the provincial commission of Alsace, +September 8th.) D. XXIX. I. note of M. de Latour-du-Pin, October +28, 1789. - Letter of M. de Langeron, September 3rd; of Breitman, +garde-marteau, Val Saint-Amarin (Upper Alsace), July 26th. + +[6] Léonce de Lavergne, 197. (Letter of the intermediate commission +of Poitou, the last month in 1789.) -- Cf. Brissot (Le patriote +français, August, 1789). "General insubordination prevails in the +provinces because the restraints of executive power are no longer +felt. What were but lately the guarantees of that power? The +intendants, tribunals, and the army. The intendants are gone, the +tribunals are silent, and the army is against the executive power +and on the side of the people. Liberty is not a nourishment for +unprepared stomachs." + +[7] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of the clergy, +consuls, présidial-councillors and principal merchants of Puy-en- +Velay, September 16, 1789.) -- H. 1453. (letter of the Intendant +or Alençon, July 18th). "I must not leave you in ignorance of the +multiplied outbreaks we have in all parts of my jurisdiction. The +impunity with which they flatter themselves, because the judges are +afraid of irritating the people by examples of severity, only +emboldens them. Mischief-makers, confounded with honest folks, +spread false reports about particular persons whom they accuse of +concealing grain, or of not belonging to the Third-Estate, and, +under this pretext, they pillage their houses, taking whatever they +can find, the owners only avoiding death by flight." + +[8] A body of magistrates forming one of the lower tribunals.-[Tr.] + +[9] "Archives Nationales," H. 942. (Observations of M. de +Ballainvilliers, October 30, 1789.) + +[10] "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 1. Letter of the municipal +assembly of Louviers, the end of August, 1789. - Letter of the +communal assembly of Saint-Bris (bailiwick of Auxerre), September +25th. - Letter of the municipal officers of Ricey-Haut, near Bar- +sur-Seine, August 25th; of the Chevalier d'Allouville, September +8th. + +[11] "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. I. Letter of M. Briand- +Delessart (Angoulême, August 1st). -- Of M. Bret, Lieutenant- +General of the provostship of Mardogne, September 5th. -- Of the +Chevalier de Castellas (Auvergue), September 15th (relating to the +night between the 2nd and 3rd of August). - Madame Campan, II. +65. + +[12] Arthur Young, "Voyages in France," July 24th and 31st, August +13th and 19th. + +[13] De Bouillé, 108. - " Archives Nationales," KK. 1105. +Correspondence of M. deThiard, September 20, 1789 (apropos of one +hundred guns given to the town of Saint-Brieuc). "They are not of +the slightest use, but this passion for arms is a temporary epidemic +which must be allowed to subside of itself. People are determined +to believe in brigands and in enemies, whereas neither exist." -- +September 25th, "Vanity alone impels them, and the pride of having +cannon is their sole motive." + +[14] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. Letters of M. Amelot, July +17th and 24th. "Several wealthy private persons of the town +(Auxonne) have been put to ransom by this band, of which the largest +portion consists of ruffians." - Letter of nine cultivators of +Breteuil (Picardy) July 23rd (their granaries were pillaged up to +the last grain the previous evening). "They threaten to pillage our +crops and set our barns on fire as soon as they are full. M. +Tassard, the notary, has been visited in his house by the populace, +and his life has been threatened." Letter of Moreau, Procureur du +Roi at the Senechal's Court at Bar-le-Duc, September 15, 1789, D, +XXIX, 1. "On the 27th of July the people rose and most cruelly +assassinated a merchant trading in wheat. On the 27th and 28th his +house and that of another were sacked," etc. + +[15] Chronicle of Dominick Schmutz ("Revue d'Alsace," V. III. 3rd +series. These are his own expressions: Gesindel, Lumpen-gesindel. +-- De Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353. - Arthur Young (an eye- +witness), July 21st. -- Of Dampmartin (eye-witness), I. 105. M. +de Rochambeau shows the usual indecision and want of vigor: whilst +the mob are pillaging houses and throwing things out of the windows, +he passes in front of his regiments (8,000 men) drawn up for action, +and says, "My friends, my good friends, you see what is going on. +How horrible! Alas! these are your papers, your titles and those of +your parents." The soldiers smile at this sentimental prattle. + +[16] Dumouriez (an eye-witness), book III. ch. 3. - The trial +was begun and judgment given by twelve lawyers and an assessor, whom +the people, in arms, had themselves appointed. -- Hippeau, IV. +382. + +[17] Archives Nationales," F7 3248. (Letter of the mayor, M. +Poussiaude de Thierri, September 11th.) + +[18] Floquet, VII. 551. + +[19] De Goncourt, "La Société française pendant la Révolution," 37. + +[20] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the officers of +the bailiwick of Dôle, August 24th. - Sauzay I. 128. + +[21] There is a similar occurrence at Strasbourg, a few days after +the sacking of the town-hall. The municipality having given each +man of the garrison twenty sous, the soldiers abandon their post, +set the prisoners free at the Pont-Couvert, feast publicly in the +streets with the women taken out of the penitentiary, and force +innkeepers and the keepers of drinking-places to give up their +provisions. The shops are all closed, and, for twenty-four hours, +the officers are not obeyed. (De Dampmartin, I. 105.) + +[22] Albert Babeau, I. 187-273. -- Moniteur, II. 379. (Extract +from the provost's verdict of November 27, 1789.) + +[23] Moniteur, ibid. Picard, the principal murderer, confessed +"that he had made him suffer a great deal; that the said sieur Huez +did not die until they came near the Chaudron Inn ; that he +nevertheless intended to make him suffer more by stabbing him in the +neck at the corner of each street, (and) by contriving it so that he +might do it often, as long as there was life in him; that the day on +which M. Huez died yielded him ten francs, together with the neck- +buckle of M. Hues, found on him when he was arrested in his flight." + +[24] Mercure de France, , September 26, 1789. Letters of the +officers of the Bourbon regiment and of members of the general +committee of Caen. - Floquet, VII. 545. + +[25] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. - Ibid. D. XXIX. I. +Note of M. de la Tour-du-Pin, October 28th. + +[26] Decree, February 5, 1789, enforced May 1st following. + +[27] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the count de +Montausier, August 8th, with notes by M. Paulian, director of the +excise (an admirable letter, modest and liberal, and ending by +demanding a pardon for people led astray). -- H. 1453. Letter of +the attorney of the election district of Falaise, July 17th, etc. - +- Moniteur, I. 303, 387, 505 (sessions of August 7th and 27th and +of September 23rd). "The royal revenues are diminishing steadily." +-- Buchez and Roux, III. 219 (session of October 24, 1789). +Discourse of a deputation from Anjou: "Sixty thousand men are armed; +the barriers have been destroyed, the clerks' horses have been sold +by auction; the employees have been told to withdraw from the +province within eight days. The inhabitants have declared that they +will not pay taxes so long as the salt-tax exists. + +[28] "Archives Nationales,"F7 3253 (Letter of September 8, 1789). + +[29] Arthur Young, September 30th. "It is being said that every +rusty gun in Provence is at work, killing all sorts of birds; the +shot has fallen five or six times in my chaise and about my ears." - +- Beugnot, I.142. - "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter +of the Chevalier d'Allonville, September 8, 1789 (Near Bar-sur- +Aube). "The peasants go in armed bands into the woods belonging to +the Abbey of Trois-Fontaines, which they cut down. They saw up the +oaks and transport them on wagons to Pont-Saint-Dizier, where they +sell them. In other places they fish in the ponds and break the +embankments." + +[30] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of the assessor of +the police of Saint-Flour, October 3, 1789. On the 31st of July, a +rumor is spread that the brigands are coming. On the 1st of August +the peasants arm themselves. "They amuse themselves by drinking, +awaiting the arrival of the brigands; the excitement increases to +such an extent as to make them believe that M. le Comte d'Espinchal +had arrived in disguise the evening before at Massiac, that he was +the author of the troubles disturbing the province at this time, and +that he was concealed in his chateau." On the strength of this shots +are fired into the windows, and there are searches, etc. + +[31] "Archives Nationales," D, XXIX, I, Letter of Etienne Fermier, +Naveinne, September 18th (it is possible that the author, for the +sake of caution, took a fictitious name). - The manuscript +correspondence of M. Boullé, deputy of Pontivy, to his constituents, +is a type of this declamatory and incendiary writing. - Letter of +the consuls, priests, and merchants of Puy-en-Velay, September 16th. +- " The Ancient Régime," p. 396. + +[32] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. 1. Letter of M. Despretz- +Montpezat, a former artillery officer, July 24th (with several other +signatures). On the same day the alarm bell is sounded In fifty +villages on the rumor spreading that 7,000 brigands, English and +Breton, were invading the country. + +[33] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of Briand- +Delessart, August 1st (domiciliary visits to the Carmelites of +Angoulême where it is pretended that Mme. de Polignac has just +arrived. - Beugnot, I. 140. -- Arthur Young, July 20th, etc. - +Buchez and Roux, IV. 166. Letter of Mamers, July 24th; of Mans, +July 26th. + +[34] Montjoie, ch. LXXII, p. 93 (according to acts of legal +procedure). There was a soldier in the band who had served under M. +de Montesson and who wanted to avenge himself for the punishments he +had undergone in the regiment. + +[35] Mercure de France, August 20th (Letter from Vésoul, August +13th). + +[36] M. de Memmay proved his innocence later on, and was +rehabilitated by a public decision after two years' proceedings +(session of June 4, 1791; Mercure of June 11th). + +[37] Journal des Débats et Décrets, I. 258. (Letter of the +municipality of Vésoul, July 22nd. -- Discourse of M. de +Toulougeon, July 29th.) + +[38] De Rochambeau, "Mémoires," I. 353. -- "Archives Nationales," +F7, 3253. (Letter of M. de Rochamheau, August 4th.) -- Chronicle +of Schmutz (ibid. ), p. 284. "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. +(Letter of Mme. Ferrette, of Remiremont, August 9th.) + +[39] Sauzay, I. 180. (Letters of monks, July 22nd and 26th.) + +[40] "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. (Letter of M. de +Bergeron, attorney to the présidial of Valence, August 28th, with +the details of the verdict stated.) Official report of the militia +of Lyons, sent to the president of the National Assembly, August +10th. (Expedition to Serrière, in Dauphiny, July 31st.) + +[41] Letter of the Count of Courtivron, deputy substitute (an eye- +witness). -- "Archives Nationales," D. XXIX. I. Letter of the +municipal officers of Crémieu (Dauphiny), November 3rd. Letter of +the Vicomte de Carbonnière (Auvergne), August 3rd. -- Arthur Young, +July 30th (Dijon) says, apropos of a noble family which escaped +almost naked from its burning chateau, " they were esteemed by the +neighbors; their virtues ought to have commanded the love of the +poor, for whose resentment there was no cause." + +[42] "Archives Nationales," XXIX. I. (Letter of the commission of +the States of Dauphiny, July 31st.) + +[43] "Désastres du Mâconnais," by Puthod de la Maison-Rouge (August, +1789). "Ravages du Mâconnais." -- Arthur Young, July 27th. - +Buchez and Roux, IV. 215, 214. -- Mercure de France, September 12, +1789. (Letter by a volunteer of Orleans.) "On the 15th of August, +eighty-eight ruffians, calling themselves reapers, present +themselves at Bascon, in Beauce, and, the next day, at a chateau in +the neighborhood, where they demand within an hour the head of the +son of the lord of the manor, M. Tassin, who can only redeem himself +by a contribution of 1,600 livres and the pillaging of his cellars. + +[44] Letter of the Count de Courtivron. - Arthur Young, July 31st. +- Buchez and Roux, II. 243. - Mercure de France, August 15, 1789 +(sitting of the 8th, discourse of a deputy from Dauphiné.) -- +Mermet, "Histoire de la Ville de Vienne," 445 -- " Archives +Nationales," ibid. (Letter of the commission of the States of +Dauphiny, July 31st.) -- "The list of burnt or devastated chateaux +is immense." The committee already cites sixteen of them. -- +Puthod de la Maison-Rouge, ibid. : "Were all devastated places to +be mentioned, it would be necessary to cite the whole province " +(Letter from Mâcon). "They have not the less destroyed most of the +chateaux and bourgeois dwellings, either burning them and or else +tearing them down." + +[45] Lally-Tollendal, "Second Letter to my Constituents," 104. + +[46] Doniol, "La Révolution et la Féodalité," p.60 (a few days after +the 4th of August). - "Archives Nationales," H. 784. Letters of +M. de Langeron, military commander at Besançon, October 16th and +18th . -- Ibid. , D. XXIX. I. Letter of the same, September +3rd.-- Arthur Young (in Provence, at the house of Baron de la Tour- +d'Aignes). "The baron is an enormous sufferer by the Revolution; a +great extent of country which belonged in absolute right to his +ancestors, has been granted for quit-rents, ceus, and other feudal +payments, so that there is no comparison between the lands retained +and those thus granted by his family. . . . The solid payments +which the Assembly have declared to be redeemable are every hour +falling to nothing, without a shadow of recompense . . . The +situation of the nobility in this country is pitiable; they are +under apprehensions that nothing will be left them, but simply such +houses as the mob allows to stand unburned; that the small farmers +will retain their farms without paying the landlord his half of the +produce; and that, in case of such a refusal, there is actually +neither law nor authority in the country to prevent it. This +chateau, splendid even in ruins, with the fortune and lives of the +owners, is at the mercy of an armed rabble." + + +CHAPTER IV. PARIS. + +I. + +Paris. -- Powerlessness and discords of the authorities. -- The +people, king. + +THE powerlessness, indeed, of the heads of the Government, and the +lack of discipline among all its subordinates, are much greater in +the capital than in the provinces. -- Paris possesses a mayor, +Bailly; but "from the first day, and in the easiest manner +possible,"[1] his municipal council, that is to say, "the assembly +of the representatives of the commune, has accustomed itself to +carry on the government alone, overlooking him entirely." There is a +central administration, the municipal council, presided over by the +mayor; but, "at this time, authority is everywhere except where the +preponderating authority should be; the districts have delegated it +and at the same time retained it;" each of them acts as if it were +alone and supreme. -- There are secondary powers, the district- +committees, each with its president, its clerk, its offices, and +commissioners; but the mobs of the street march on without awaiting +their orders; while the people, shouting under their" windows, +impose their will on them; -- in short, says Bailly again, +"everybody knew how to command, but nobody knew how to obey." + +"Imagine," writes Loustalot[2] himself; "a man whose feet, hands, +and limbs possessed each its own intelligence and will, whose one +leg would wish to walk when the other one wanted to rest, whose +throat would close when the stomach demanded food, whose mouth would +sing when the eyelids were weighed down with sleep; and you will +have a striking picture of the condition of things in the capital" + +There are "sixty Republics"[3] in Paris; each district is an +independent, isolated power, which receives no order without +criticizing it, always in disagreement and often in conflict with +the central authority or with the other districts. It receives +denunciations, orders domiciliary visits, sends deputations to the +National Assembly, passes resolutions, posts its bills, not only in +its own quarter but throughout the city, and sometimes even extends +its jurisdiction outside of Paris. Everything comes within its +province, and particularly that which ought not to do so. -- On the +18th of July, the district of Petits-Augustins[4] "decrees in its +own name the establishment of justices of the peace," under the +title of tribunes, and proceeds at once to elect its own, nominating +the actor Molé. On the 30th, that of the Oratoire annuls the +amnesty which the representatives of the commune in the Hôtel-de- +Ville had granted, and orders two of its members to go to a distance +of thirty leagues to arrest M. de Bezenval. On the 19th of August, +that of Nazareth issues commissions to seize and bring to Paris the +arms deposited in strong places. From the beginning each assembly +sent to the Arsenal in its own name, and "obtained as many +cartridges and as much powder as it desired." Others claim the right +of keeping a watchful eye over the Hôtel-de-Ville and of +reprimanding the National Assembly. The Oratoire decides that the +representatives of the commune shall be invited to deliberate in +public. Saint-Nicholas des Champs deliberates on the veto and begs +the Assembly to suspend its vote. -- It is a strange spectacle, +that of these various authorities each contradicting and destroying +the other. To-day the Hôtel-de-Ville appropriates five loads of +cloth which have been dispatched by the Government, and the district +of Saint-Gervais opposes the decision of the Hôtel-de-Ville. To- +morrow Versailles intercepts grain destined for Paris, while Paris +threatens, if it is not restored, to march on Versailles. I omit +the incidents that are ridiculous:[5] anarchy in its essence is both +tragic and grotesque, and, in this universal breaking up of things, +the capital, like the kingdom, resembles a bear-garden when it does +not resemble a Babel. + +But behind all these discordant authorities the real sovereign, who +is the mob, is very soon apparent. -- On the 15th of July it +undertakes the demolition of the Bastille of its own accord, and +this popular act is sanctioned ; for it is necessary that +appearances should be kept up; even to give orders after the blow is +dealt, and to follow when it is impossible to lead.[6] A short time +after this the collection of the octroi at the barriers is ordered +to be resumed; forty armed individuals, however, present themselves +in their district and say, that if guards are placed at the octroi +stations, "they will resist force with force, and even make use of +their cannon." -- On the false rumor that arms are concealed in the +Abbey of Montmartre, the abbess, Madame de Montmorency, is accused +of treachery, and twenty thousand persons invade the monastery. -- +The commander of the National Guard and the mayor are constantly +expecting a riot; they hardly dare absent themselves a day to attend +the King fête at Versailles. As soon as the multitude can assemble +in the streets, an explosion is imminent. "On rainy days," says +Bailly, "I was quite at my ease." -- It is under this constant +pressure that the Government is carried on; and the elect of the +people, the most esteemed magistrates, those who are in best repute, +are at the mercy of the throng who clamor at their doors. In the +district of St. Roch,[7] after many useless refusals, the General +Assembly, notwithstanding all the reproaches of its conscience and +the resistance of its reason, is obliged to open letters addressed +to Monsieur, to the Duke of Orleans, and to the Ministers of War, of +Foreign Affairs, and of the Marine. In the committee on +subsistence, M. Serreau, who is indispensable and who is confirmed +by a public proclamation, is denounced, threatened, and constrained +to leave Paris. M. de la Salle, one of the strongest patriots among +the nobles, is on the point of being murdered for having signed an +order for the transport of gunpowder;[8] the multitude, in pursuit +of him, attach a rope to the nearest street-lamp, ransack the Hôtel- +de-Ville, force every door, mount into the belfry, and seek for the +traitor even under the carpet of the bureau and between the legs of +the electors, and are only stayed in their course by the arrival of +the National Guard. + +The people not only sentence but they execute, and, as is always the +case, blindly. At Saint-Denis, Chatel, the mayor's lieutenant, +whose duty it is to distribute flour, had reduced the price of bread +at his own expense: on the 3rd of August his house is forced open at +two o'clock in the morning, and he takes refuge in a steeple; the +mob follow him, cut his throat and drag his head along the streets. +-- Not only do the people execute, but they pardon -- and with equal +discernment. On the 11th of August, at Versailles, as a parricide +is about to be broken on the wheel, the crowd demand his release, +fly at the executioner, and set the man free.[9] Veritably this is +sovereign power like that of the oriental sovereign who arbitrarily +awards life or death! A woman who protests against this scandalous +pardon is seized and comes near being hung; for the new monarch +considers as a crime whatever is offensive to his new majesty. +Again, he receives public and humble homage. The Prime Minister, on +imploring the pardon of M. de Bezenval at the Hôtel-de-Ville, in the +presence of the electors and of the public, has put it in +appropriate words: + + "It is before the most unknown, the obscurest citizen of Paris that +I prostrate myself; at whose feet I kneel." + +A few days before this, at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and at Poissy, the +deputies of the National Assembly not only kneel down in words, but +actually, and for a long time, on the pavement in the street, and +stretch forth their hands, weeping, to save two lives of which only +one is granted to them. - Behold the monarch by these brilliant +signs! Already do the young, who are eager imitators of all actions +that are in fashion, ape them in miniature; during the month which +follows the murder of Berthier and Foulon, Bailly is informed that +the gamins in the streets are parading about with the heads of two +cats stuck on the ends of two poles.[10] + + II. . + +The distress of the people. - The dearth and the lack of work. - +How men of executive ability are recruited. + +A pitiable monarch, whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more +miserable than he was before! Bread is always scarce, and before the +baker's doors the row of waiting people does not diminish. In vain +Bailly passes his nights with the committee on supplies; they are +always in a state of terrible anxiety. Every morning for two months +there is only one or two days' supply of flour, and often, in the +evening, there is not enough for the following morning.[11] The +life of the capital depends on a convoy which is ten, fifteen, +twenty leagues off; and which may never arrive: one convoy of twenty +carts is pillaged on the 18th of July, on the Rouen road; another, +on the 4th of August, in the vicinity of Louviers. Were it not for +Salis' Swiss regiment, which, from the 14th of July to the end of +September, marches day and night as an escort, not a boat-load of +grain would reach Paris from Rouen.[12] -- The commissaries charged +with making purchases or with supervising the expeditions are in +danger of their lives. Those who are sent to provinces are seized, +and a column of four hundred men with cannon has to be dispatched to +deliver them. The one who is sent to Rouen learns that he will be +hung if he dares to enter the place. At Mantes a mob surrounds his +cabriolet, the people regarding whoever comes there for the purpose +of carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with difficulty +out of a back door and returns on foot to Paris. -- From the very +beginning, according to a universal rule, the fear of a short supply +helps to augment the famine. Every one lays in a stock for several +days; on one occasion sixteen loaves of four pounds each are found +in an old woman's garret. The bakings, consequently, which are +estimated according to the quantity needed for a single day, become +inadequate, and the last of those who wait at the bakers' shops for +bread return home empty-handed. -- On the other hand the +appropriations made by the city and the State to diminish the price +of bread simply serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for it; +the countrymen flock in thither, and return home loaded to their +villages. At Saint-Denis, bread having been reduced to two sous the +pound, none is left for the inhabitants. To this constant anxiety +add that of unemployment. Not only is there no certainty of there +being bread at the bakers' during the coming week, but many know +that they will not have money in the coming week with which to buy +bread. Now that security has disappeared and the rights of property +are shaken, work is wanting. The rich, deprived of their feudal +dues, and, in addition thereto of their rents, have reduced their +expenditure; many of them, threatened by the committee of +investigation, exposed to domiciliary visits, and liable to be +informed against by their servants, have emigrated. In the month of +September M. Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports +in fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants. In the month of +October ladies of high rank, refugees in Rome, send word that their +domestics should be discharged and their daughters placed in +convents. Before the end of 1789 there are so many fugitives in +Switzerland that a house, it is said, brings in more rent than it is +worth as capital. With this first emigration, which is that of the +chief spendthrifts, the Count d'Artois, Prince de Conti, Duc de +Bourbon, and so many others, the opulent foreigners have left, and, +at the head of them, the Duchesse de l'Infantado, who spent 800,000 +livres a year. There are only three Englishmen in Paris. + +It used to be a city of luxury, it was the European hot-house of +costly and refined pleasures, but once the glass was broken then the +delicate plants perish, their lovers leave, and there is no +employment now for the innumerable hands which cultivated them. +Fortunate are they who at the relief works obtain a miserable sum by +handling a pick-axe! "I saw," says Bailly, "mercers, jewellers, and +merchants implore the favor of being employed at twenty sous the +day." Enumerate, if you can, in one or two recognized callings, the +hands which are doing nothing:[13] 1,200 hair-dressers keep about +6,000 journeymen; 2,000 others follow the same calling in private- +houses; 6,000 lackeys do but little else than this work. The body +of tailors is composed of 2,800 masters, who have under them 5,000 +workmen. "Add to these the number privately employed -- the +refugees in privileged places like the abbeys of Saint-Germain and +Saint-Marcel, the vast enclosure of the Temple, that of Saint-John +the Lateran, and the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and you will find at +least 12,000 persons cutting, fitting, and sewing." How many in +these two groups are now idle! How many others are walking the +streets, such as upholsterers, lace-makers, embroiderers, fan- +makers, gilders, carnage-makers, binders, engravers, and all the +other producers of Parisian nick-nacks! For those who are still at +work how many days are lost at the doors of bakers' shops and in +patrolling as National Guards! Gatherings are formed in spite of the +prohibitions of the Hôtel-de-Ville,[14] and the crowd openly discuss +their miserable condition: 3,000 journeymen-tailors near the +Colonnade, as many journeymen-shoemakers in the Place Louis XV., the +journeymen-hairdressers in the Champs-Elysees, 4,000 domestics +without places on the approaches to the Louvre, -- and their +propositions are on a level with their intelligence. Servants +demand the expulsion from Paris of the Savoyards who enter into +competition with them. Journeymen-tailors demand that a day's wages +be fixed at forty sous, and that the old-clothes dealers shall not +be allowed to make new ones. The journeymen-shoemakers declare that +those who make shoes below the fixed price shall be driven out of +the kingdom. Each of these irritated and agitated crowds contains +the germ of an outbreak -- and, in truth, these germs are found on +every pavement in Paris: at the relief works, which at Montmartre +collect 17,000 paupers; in the Market, where the bakers want to hang +the flour commissioners, and at the doors of the bakers, of whom +two, on the 14th of September and on the 5th of October, are +conducted to the lamp post and barely escape with their lives. -- In +this suffering, mendicant crowd, enterprising men become more +numerous every day: they consist of deserters, and from every +regiment; they reach Paris in bands, often 250 in one day. There, +"caressed and fed to the top of their bent,"[15] having received +from the National Assembly 50 livres each, maintained by the King in +the enjoyment of their advance-money, entertained by the districts, +of which one alone incurs a debt of 14,000 livres for wine and +sausages furnished to them, "they accustom themselves to greater +expense," to greater license, and are followed by their companions. +"During the night of the 31st of July the French Guards on duty at +Versailles abandon the custody of the King and betake themselves to +Paris, without their officers, but with their arms and baggage," +that "they may take part in the cheer which the city of Paris +extends to their regiment." At the beginning of September, 16,000 +deserters of this stamp are counted.[16] Now, among those who +commit murder these are in the first rank; and this is not +surprising when we take the least account of their antecedents, +education, and habits. It was a soldier of the "Royal Croat" who +tore out the heart of Berthier. They were three soldiers of the +regiment of Provence who forced the house of Chatel at Saint-Denis, +and dragged his head through the streets. It is Swiss soldiers who, +at Passy, knock down the commissioners of police with their guns. +Their headquarters are at the Palais-Royal, amongst women whose +instruments they are, and amongst agitators from whom they receive +the word of command. Henceforth, all depends on this word, and we +have only to contemplate the new popular leaders to know what it +will be. + + +III. + +The new popular leaders.- Their ascendancy .- Their education. - +Their sentiments.- Their situation. - Their councils. - Their +denunciations. - + +Administrators and members of district assemblies, agitators of +barracks, coffee-houses, clubs and public thoroughfares, writers of +pamphlets, penny-a-liners are multiplying as fast as buzzing insects +are hatched on a sultry night. After the 14th of July thousands of +jobs have become available for released ambitions; "attorneys, +notaries' clerks, artists, merchants, shopkeepers, comedians and +especially advocates;[17] each wants to be either an officer, a +director, a councillor, or a minister of the new reign; while +journals, which are established by dozens,[18] form a permanent +tribune, where speakers come to court the people to their personal +advantage." Philosophy, fallen into such hands, seems to parody +itself; and nothing equals its emptiness, unless it be its +mischievousness and success. Lawyers, in the sixty assembly +districts, roll out the high-sounding dogmas of the revolutionary +catechism. This or that one, passing from the question of a party +wall to the constitution of empires, becomes the improvised +legislator, so much the more inexhaustible and the more applauded as +his flow of words, showered upon his hearers, proves to them that +every capacity and every right are naturally and legitimately +theirs. + + "When that man opened his mouth," says a cold-blooded witness, "we +were sure of being inundated with quotations and maxims, often +apropos of street lamp posts, or of the stall of a herb-dealer. His +stentorian voice made the vaults ring; and after he had spoken for +two hours, and his breath was completely exhausted, the admiring and +enthusiastic shouts which greeted him amounted almost to frenzy. +Thus the orator fancied himself a Mirabeau, while the spectators +imagined themselves the Constituent Assembly, deciding the fate of +France." + +The journals and pamphlets are written in the same style. Every +brain is filled with the fumes of conceit and of big words; the +leader of the crowd is he who raves the most, and he guides the wild +enthusiasm which he increases. + +Let us consider the most popular of these chiefs ; they are the +green or the dry fruit of literature, and of the bar. The newspaper +is the stall which every morning offers them for sale, and if they +suit the overexcited public it is simply owing to their acid or +bitter flavor. Their empty, unpracticed minds are wholly void of +political conceptions; they have no capacity or practical +experience. Desmoulins is twenty-nine years of age, Loustalot +twenty-seven, and their intellectual ballast consists of college +reminiscences, souvenirs of the law schools, and the common-places +picked up in the houses of Raynal and his associates. As to Brissot +and Marat, who are ostentatious humanitarians, their knowledge of +France and of foreign countries consists in what they have seen +through the dormer windows of their garrets, and through utopian +spectacles. In minds like these, empty or led astray, the Contrat- +Social could not fail to become a gospel; for it reduces political +science to a strict application of an elementary axiom which +relieves them of all study, and hands society over to the caprice of +the people, or, in other words, delivers it into their own hands. - +- Hence they demolish all that remains of social institutions, and +push on equalization until everything is brought down to the same +level. + + "With my principles," writes Desmoulins,[19] "is associated the +satisfaction of putting myself where I belong, of showing my +strength to those who have despised me, of lowering to my level all +whom fortune has placed above me: my motto is that of all honest +people: 'No superiors!'" + +Thus, under the great name of Liberty, each vain spirit seeks its +revenge and finds its nourishment. What is sweeter and more natural +than to justify passion by theory, to be factious in the belief that +this is patriotism, and to cloak the interests of ambition with the +interests of humanity? + +Let us picture to ourselves these directors of public opinion as +they were three months earlier: Desmoulins, a briefless barrister, +living in furnished lodgings with petty debts, and on a few louis +extracted from his relations. Loustalot, still more unknown, was +admitted the previous year to the Parliament of Bordeaux, and has +landed at Paris in search of a career. Danton, another second-rate +lawyer, coming out of a hovel in Champagne, borrowed the money to +pay his expenses, while his stinted household is kept up only by +means of a louis which is given to him weekly by his father-in-law, +who is a coffee-house keeper. Brissot, a strolling Bohemian, +formerly employee of literary pirates, has roamed over the world for +fifteen years, without bringing back with him either from England or +America anything but a coat out at elbows and false ideas; and, +finally, Marat; a writer that has been hissed, an abortive scholar +and philosopher, a misrepresenter of his own experiences, caught by +the natural philosopher Charles in the act of committing a +scientific fraud, and fallen from the top of his inordinate ambition +to the subordinate post of doctor in the stables of the Comte +d'Artois. -- At the present time, Danton, President of the +Cordeliers, can arrest any one he pleases in his district, and his +violent gestures and thundering voice secure to him, till something +better turns up, the government of his section of the city. A word +of Marat's has just caused Major Belzunce at Caen to be +assassinated. Desmoulins announces, with a smile of triumph, that +"a large section of the capital regards him as one among the +principal instigators of the Revolution, and that many even go so +far as to say that he is the author of it." Is it to be supposed +that, borne so high by such a sudden jerk of fortune, they wish to +put on the drag and again descend? and is it not clear that they +will aid with all their might the revolt which hoists them towards +the loftiest summits? -- Moreover, the brain reels at a height like +this ; suddenly launched in the air and feeling as if everything was +tottering around them, they utter exclamations of indignation and +terror, they see plots on all sides, imagine invisible cords pulling +in an opposite direction, and they call upon the people to cut them. +With the full weight of their inexperience, incapacity, and +improvidence, of their fears, credulity, and dogmatic obstinacy, +they urge on popular attacks, and their newspaper articles or +discourses are all summed up in the following phrases: + +"Fellow-citizens, you, the people of the lower class, you who listen +to me, you have enemies in the Court and the aristocracy. The +Hôtel-de-Ville and the National Assembly are your servants. Seize +your enemies with a strong hand, and hang them, and let your +servants know that they must quicken their steps!" + +Desmoulins styles himself "District-attorney of the gallows,"[20] +and if he at all regrets the murders of Foulon and Berthier, it is +because this too expeditious judgment has allowed the proofs of +conspiracy to perish, thereby saving a number of traitors: he +himself mentions twenty of them haphazard, and little does he care +whether he makes mistakes. + + "We are in the dark, and it is well that faithful dogs should bark, +even at all who pass by, so that there may be no fear of robbers." + +>From this time forth Marat[21] denounces the King, the ministers, +the administration, the bench, the bar, the financial system and the +academies, all as "suspicious;" at all events the people only suffer +on their account. + + "The Government is monopolizing grain, to make us to pay through + the nose for a poisonous bread." + +The Government, again, through a new conspiracy is about to blockade +Paris, so as to starve it with greater ease. Utterances of this +kind, at such a time, are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to +kindle the flames of rage and cruelty. To this frightened and +fasting crowd the agitators and newspaper writers continue to repeat +that it must act, and act alongside of the authorities, and, if need +be, against them. In other words, We will do as we please; we are +the sole legitimate masters; + +"in a well-constituted government, the people as a body are the real +sovereign: our delegates are appointed only to execute our orders ; +what right has the clay to rebel against the potter?" + +On the strength of such principles, the tumultuous club which +occupies the Palais-Royal substitutes itself for the Assembly at +Versailles. Has it not all the titles for this office? The Palais- +Royal "saved the nation" on the 12th and 13th of July. The Palais- +Royal, "through its spokesmen and pamphlets," has made everybody and +even the soldiers "philosophers." It is the house of patriotism, +"the rendezvous of the select among the patriotic," whether +provincials or Parisians, of all who possess the right of suffrage, +and who cannot or will not exercise it in their own district. "It +saves time to come to the Palais-Royal. There is no need there of +appealing to the President for the right to speak, or to wait one's +time for a couple of hours. The orator proposes his motion, and, if +it finds supporters, mounts a chair. If he is applauded, it is put +into proper shape. If he is hissed, he goes away. This was the way +of the Romans." Behold the veritable National Assembly ! It is +superior to the other semi-feudal affair, encumbered with "six +hundred deputies of the clergy and nobility," who are so many +intruders and who "should be sent out into the galleries." -- Hence +the pure Assembly rules the impure Assembly, and "the Café Foy lays +claim to the government of France." + + IV. + +Intervention by the popular leaders with the Government. - Their +pressure on the Assembly. + +On the 30th of July, the harlequin who led the insurrection at Rouen +having been arrested, "it is openly proposed at the Palais Royal[22] +to go in a body and demand his release." -- On the 1st of August, +Thouret, whom the moderate party of the Assembly have just made +President, is obliged to resign; the Palais-Royal threatens to send +a band and murder him along with those who voted for him, and lists +of proscriptions, in which several of the deputies are inscribed, +begin to be circulated. -- From this time forth, on all great +questions-the abolition of the feudal system, the suppression of +tithes, a declaration of the rights of man, the dispute about the +Chambers, the King's power of veto,[23] the pressure from without +inclines the balance: in this way the Declaration of Rights, which +is rejected in secret session by twenty-eight bureaus out of thirty, +is forced through by the tribunes in a public sitting and passed by +a majority. -- Just as before the 14th of July, and to a still +greater extent, two kinds of compulsion influence the votes, and it +is always the ruling faction which employs both its hands to +throttle its opponents. On the one hand this faction takes post on +the galleries in knots composed nearly always of the same persons, +"five or six hundred permanent actors," who yell according to +understood signals and at the word of command.[24] Many of these +are French Guards, in civilian clothes, and who relieve each other: +previously they have asked of their favorite deputy "at what hour +they must come, whether all goes on well, and whether he is +satisfied with those fools of parsons (calotins) and the +aristocrats." Others consist of low women under the command of +Théroigne de Méricourt, a virago courtesan, who assigns them their +positions and gives them the signal for hooting or for applause. +Publicly and in full session, on the occasion of the debate on the +veto, "the deputies are applauded or insulted by the galleries +according as they utter the word 'suspensive,' or the word +'indefinite.' " "Threats," (says one of them) "circulated; I heard +them on all sides around me." These threats are repeated on going +out: "Valets dismissed by their masters, deserters, and women in +rags," threaten the refractory with the lamp post, "and thrust their +fists in their faces. In the hall itself, and much more accurately +than before the 14th of July, their names are taken down, and the +lists, handed over to the populace," travel to the Palais-Royal, +from where they are dispatched in correspondence and in newspapers +to the provinces.[25] - Thus we see the second means of +compulsion; each deputy is answerable for his vote, at Paris, with +his own life, and, in the province, with those of his family. +Members of the former Third-Estate avow that they abandon the idea +of two Chambers, because "they are not disposed to get their wives' +and children's throats cut." On the 30th of August, Saint-Hurugue, +the most noisy of the Palais-Royal barkers, marches off to +Versailles, at the head of 1,500 men, to complete the conversion of +the Assembly. This garden club indeed, from the heights of its +great learning, integrity, and immaculate reputation, decides that +the ignorant, corrupt, and doubtful deputies must be got rid of." +That they are such cannot be questioned, because they defend the +royal sanction; there are over 600 and more, 120 are deputies of the +communes, who must be expelled to begin with, and then must be +brought to judgment.[26] In the meantime they are informed, as well +as the Bishop of Langres, President of the National Assembly, that +"15,000 men are ready to light up their chateaux and in particular +yours, sir." To avoid all mistake, the secretaries of the Assembly +are informed in writing that " 2,000 letters" will be sent into the +provinces to denounce to the people the conduct of the malignant +deputies: "Your houses are held as a surety for your opinions: keep +this in mind, and save yourselves !" At last, on the morning of the +1st of August, five deputations from the Palais-Royal, one of them +led by Loustalot, march in turn to the Hôtel-de-Ville, insisting +that the drums should be beaten and the citizens be called together +for the purpose of changing the deputies, or their instructions, and +of ordering the National Assembly to suspend its discussion on the +veto until the districts and provinces could give expression to +their will: the people, in effect, alone being sovereign, and alone +competent, always has the right to dismiss or instruct anew its +servants, the deputies. On the following day, August 2nd, to make +matters plainer, new delegates from the same Palais-Royal suit +gestures to words; they place two fingers on their throats, on being +introduced before the representatives of the commune, as a hint +that, if the latter do not obey, they will be hung. + +After this it is vain for the National Assembly to make any show of +indignation, to declare that it despises threats, and to protest its +independence; the impression is already produced. "More than 300 +members of the communes," says Mounier, "had decided to support the +absolute veto." At the end of ten days most of these had gone over, +several of them through attachment to the King, because they were +afraid of "a general uprising," and "were not willing to jeopardize +the lives of the royal family." But concessions like these only +provoke fresh extortions. The politicians of the street now know by +experience the effect of brutal violence on legal authority. +Emboldened by success and by impunity, they reckon up their strength +and the weakness of the latter. One blow more, and they are +undisputed masters. Besides, the issue is already apparent to +clear-sighted men. When the agitators of the public thoroughfares, +and the porters at the street-corners, convinced of their superior +wisdom, impose decrees by the strength of their lungs, of their +fists, and of their pikes, at that moment experience, knowledge, +good sense, cool-blood, genius, and judgment, disappear from human +affairs, and things revert back to chaos. Mirabeau, in favor of the +veto for life, saw the crowd imploring him with tears in their eyes +to change his opinion : + + "Monsieur le Comte, if the King obtains this veto, what will be the +use of a National Assembly? We shall all be slaves "[27] + +Outbursts of this description are not to be resisted, and all is +lost. Already, near the end of September, the remark applies which +Mirabeau makes to the Comte de la Marck: + +"Yes, all is lost; the King and Queen will be swept away, and you +will see the populace trampling on their lifeless bodies." + +Eight days after this, on the 5th and 6th of October, it breaks out +against both King and Queen, against the National Assembly and the +Government, against all government present and to come; the violent +party which rules in Paris obtains possession of the chiefs of +France to hold them under strict surveillance, and to justify its +intermittent outrages by one permanent outrage. + + V. + +The 5th and 6th of October. + +Once more, two different currents combine into one torrent to hurry +the crowd onward to a common end. -- On the one hand are the +cravings of the stomach, and women excited by the famine: + +"Now that bread cannot be had in Paris, let us go to Versailles and +demand it there; once we have the King, Queen, and Dauphin in the +midst of us, they will be obliged to feed us;" we will bring back +"the Baker, the Bakeress, and the Baker's boy." + + -- On the other hand, there is fanaticism, and men who are pushed +on by the need to dominate. + + "Now that our chiefs yonder disobey us, -- let us go and make them +obey us forthwith; the King is quibbling over the Constitution and +the Rights of Man -- make him approve them ; his guards refuse to +wear our cockade -- make them accept it; they want to carry him off +to Metz -- make him come to Paris, here, under our eyes and in our +hands, he, and the lame Assembly too, will march straight on, and +quickly, whether they like it or not, and always on the right road." + +-- Under this confluence of ideas the expedition is arranged.[28] +Ten days before this, it is publicly alluded to at Versailles. On +the 4th of October, at Paris, a woman proposes it at the Palais- +Royal; Danton roars at the Cordeliers; Marat, "alone, makes as much +noise as the four trumpets on the Day of Judgment." Loustalot writes +that a second revolutionary paroxysm is necessary." "The day +passes," says Desmoulins, "in holding councils at the Palais-Royal, +and in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the ends of the bridges, and +on the quays... in pulling off the cockades of but one color.... +These are torn off and trampled under foot with threats of the lamp +post, in case of fresh offense; a soldier who is trying to refasten +his, changes his mind on seeing a hundred sticks raised against +him."[29] These are the premonitory symptoms of a crisis; a huge +ulcer has formed in this feverish, suffering body, and it is about +to break. + +But, as is usually the case, it is a purulent concentration of the +most poisonous passions and the foulest motives. The vilest of men +and women were engaged in it. Money was freely distributed. Was it +done by intriguing subalterns who, playing upon the aspirations of +the Duke of Orleans, extracted millions from him under the pretext +of making him lieutenant-general of the kingdom? Or is it due to the +fanatics who, from the end of April, clubbed together to debauch the +soldiery, and stir up a body of ruffians for the purpose of leveling +and destroying everything around them?[30] There are always +Machiavellis of the highways and of houses of ill-fame ready to +excite the foul and the vile of both sexes. On the first day that +the Flemish regiment goes into garrison at Versailles an attempt is +made to corrupt it with money and women. Sixty abandoned women are +sent from Paris for this purpose, while the French Guards come and +treat their new comrades. The latter have been treated at the +Palais-Royal, while three of them, at Versailles, exclaim, showing +some crown pieces of six livres, "What a pleasure it is to go to +Paris! one always comes back with money !" In this way, resistance +is overcome beforehand. As to the attack, women are to be the +advanced guard, because the soldiers will scruple to fire at them; +their ranks, however, will be reinforced by a number of men +disguised as women. On looking closely at them they are easily +recognized, notwithstanding their rouge, by their badly-shaven +beards, and by their voices and gait.[31] No difficulty has been +found in obtaining men and women among the prostitutes of the +Palais-Royal and the military deserters who serve them as bullies. +It is probable that the former lent their lovers the cast-off +dresses they had to spare. At night all will meet again at the +common rendezvous, on the benches of the National Assembly, where +they are quite as much at home as in their own houses.[32] -- In any +event, the first band which marches out is of this stamp, displaying +the finery and the gaiety of the profession; "most of them young, +dressed in white, with powdered hair and a sprightly air;" many of +them "laughing, singing, and drinking," as they would do at setting +out for a picnic in the country. Three or four of them are known by +name -- one brandishing a sword, and another, the notorious +Théroigne. Madeleine Chabry Louison, who is selected to address the +King, is a pretty grisette who sells flowers, and, no doubt, +something else, at the Palais-Royal. Some appear to belong to the +first rank in their calling, and to have tact and the manners of +society -- suppose, for instance, that Champfort and Laclos sent +their mistresses. To these must be added washerwomen, beggars, +bare-footed women, and fishwomen, enlisted for several days before +and paid accordingly. This is the first nucleus, and it keeps on +growing; for, by compulsion or consent, the troop incorporates into +it, as it passes along, all the women it encounters -- seamstresses, +portresses, housekeepers, and even respectable females, whose +dwellings are entered with threats of cutting off their hair if they +do not fall in. To these must be added vagrants, street-rovers, +ruffians and robbers -- the lees of Paris, which accumulate and come +to the surface every time agitation occurs: they are to be found +already at the first hour, behind the troop of women at the Hôtel- +de-Ville. Others are to follow during the evening and in the night. +Others are waiting at Versailles. Many, both at Paris and +Versailles, are under pay: one, in a dirty whitish vest, chinks gold +and silver coin in his hand. -- Such is the foul scum which, both +in front and in the rear, rolls along with the popular tide; +whatever is done to stem the torrent, it widens out and will leave +its mark at every stage of its overflow. + +The first troop, consisting of four or five hundred women, begin +operations by forcing the guard of the Hôtel-de-Ville, which is +unwilling to make use of its bayonets. They spread through the +rooms and try to burn all the written documents they can find, +declaring that there has been nothing but scribbling since the +Revolution began.[33] A crowd of men follow after them, bursting +open doors, and pillaging the magazine of arms. Two hundred +thousand francs in Treasury notes are stolen or disappear; several +of the ruffians set fire to the building, while others hang an abbé. +The abbé is cut down, and the fire extinguished only just in time: +such are the interludes of the popular drama. In the meantime, the +crowd of women increases on the Place de Grève, always with the same +unceasing cry, "Bread!" and "To Versailles!" One of the conquerors +of the Bastille; the usher Maillard, offers himself as a leader. He +is accepted, and taps his drum; on leaving Paris, he has seven or +eight thousand women with him, and, in addition, some hundreds of +men ; by dint of remonstrances, he succeeds in maintaining some kind +of order amongst this rabble as far as Versailles. -- But it is a +rabble notwithstanding, and consequently so much brute force, at +once anarchical and imperious. On the one hand, each, and the worst +among them, does what he pleases -- which will be quite evident this +very evening. On the other hand, its ponderous mass crushes all +authority and overrides all rules and regulations -- which is at +once apparent on reaching Versailles. -- Admitted into the +Assembly, at first in small numbers, the women crowd against the +door, push in with a rush, fill the galleries, then the hall, the +men along with them, armed with clubs, halberds, and pikes, all +pell-mell, side by side with the deputies, taking possession of +their benches, voting along with them, and gathering about the +President, who, surrounded, threatened, and insulted, finally +abandons the position, while his chair is taken by a woman.[34] A +fishwoman commands in a gallery, and about a hundred women around +her shout or keep silence at her bidding, while she interrupts and +abuses the deputies: + +"Who is that speaker there? Silence that blabbermouth; he does not +know what he is talking about. The question is how to get bread. +Let papa Mirabeau speak -- we want to hear him." + +A decree on subsistence having been passed, the leaders demand +something in addition; they must be allowed to enter all places +where they suspect any monopolizing to be going on, and the price of +"bread must be fixed at six sous the four pounds, and meat at six +sous per pound." + + "You must not think that we are children to be played with. We are +ready to strike. Do as you are bidden." + +All their political injunctions emanate from this central idea. And +further: + + "Send back the Flemish regiment -- it is a thousand men more to +feed, and they take bread out of our mouths." -- "Punish the +aristocrats, who hinder the bakers from baking." "Down with the +skull-cap; the priests are the cause of our trouble! " -- "Monsieur +Mounier, why did you advocate that villainous veto? Beware of the +lamp post ! " + +Under this pressure, a deputation of the Assembly, with the +President at its head, sets out on foot, in the mud, through the +rain, and watched by a howling escort of women and men armed with +pikes: after five hours of waiting and entreaty, it wrings from the +King, besides the decree on subsistence, about which there was no +difficulty, the acceptance, pure and simple, of the Declaration of +Rights, and his sanction to the constitutional articles. -- Such is +the independence of the King and the Assembly.[35] Thus are the new +principles of justice established, the grand outlines of the +Constitution, the abstract axioms of political truth under the +dictatorship of a crowd which extorts not only blindly, but which is +half-conscious of its blindness. + + "Monsieur le President," some among the women say to Mounier, who +returns with the Royal sanction, "will it be of any real use to us? +will it give poor folks bread in Paris?" + +Meanwhile, the scum has been bubbling up around the chateau; and the +abandoned women subsidized in Paris are pursuing their calling.[36] +They slip through into the lines of the regiment drawn on the +square, in spite of the sentinels. Théroigne, in an Amazonian red +vest, distributes money among them. + + "Side with us," some say to the men; "we shall soon beat the King's +Guards, strip off their fine coats and sell them." + +Others lie sprawling on the ground, alluring the soldiers, and make +such offers as to lead one of them to exclaim, "We are going to have +a jolly time of it !" Before the day is over, the regiment is +seduced; the women have, according to their own idea, acted for a +good motive. When a political idea finds its way into such heads, +instead of ennobling them, it becomes degraded there; its only +effect is to let loose vices which a remnant of modesty still keeps +in subjection, and full play is given to luxurious or ferocious +instincts under cover of the public good. -- The passions, +moreover, become intensified through their mutual interaction; +crowds, clamor, disorder, longings, and fasting, end in a state of +frenzy, from which nothing can issue but dizzy madness and rage. -- +This frenzy began to show itself on the way. Already, on setting +out, a woman had exclaimed, + + + "We shall bring back the Queen's head on the end of a pike!"[37] + +On reaching the Sèvres bridge others added, + + "Let us cut her throat, and make cockades of her entrails!" + +Rain is falling; they are cold, tired, and hungry, and get nothing +to eat but a bit of bread, distributed at a late hour, and with +difficulty, on the Place d'Armes. One of the bands cuts up a +slaughtered horse, roasts it, and consumes it half raw, after the +manner of savages. It is not surprising that, under the names of +patriotism and "justice," savage ideas spring up in their minds +against "members of the National Assembly who are not with the +principles of the people," against "the Bishop of Langres, Mounier, +and the rest." One man in a ragged old red coat declares that "he +must have the head of the Abbé Maury to play nine-pins with." But it +is especially against the Queen, who is a woman, and in sight, that +the feminine imagination is the most aroused. + + "She alone is the cause of the evils we endure .... she must be +killed, and quartered." + +-- Night advances; there are acts of violence, and violence +engenders violence. + +"How glad I should be," says one man, "if I could only lay my hand +on that she-devil, and strike off her head on the first curbstone !" + +Towards morning, some cry out, + +"Where is that cursed cat? We must eat her heart out... We'll take +off her head, cut her heart out, and fry her liver I " + +-- With the first murders the appetite for blood has been awakened; +the women from Paris say that "they have brought tubs to carry away +the stumps of the Royal Guards," and at these words others clap +their hands. Some of the riffraff of the crowd examine the rope of +the lamp post in the court of the National Assembly, and judging it +not to be sufficiently strong, are desirous of supplying its place +with another "to hang the Archbishop of Paris, Maury, and +d'Espréménil." -- This murderous, carnivorous rage penetrates even +among those whose duty it is to maintain order, one of the National +Guard being heard to say that "the body-guards must be killed to the +last man, and their hearts torn out for a breakfast." + +Finally, towards midnight, the National Guard of Paris arrives; but +it only adds one insurrection to another, for it has likewise +mutinied against its chiefs.[38] + + "If M. de Lafayette is not disposed to accompany us," says one of +the grenadiers, "we will take an old grenadier for our commander." + +Having come to this decision, they sought the general at the Hôtel- +de-Ville, and the delegates of six of the companies made their +instructions known to him. + + "General, we do not believe that you are a traitor, but we think +that the Government is betraying us.... The committee on +subsistence is deceiving us, and must be removed. We want to go to +Versailles to exterminate the body-guard and the Flemish regiment +who have trampled on the national cockade. If the King of France is +too feeble to wear his crown, let him take it off; we will crown his +son and things will go better." + +In vain Lafayette refuses, and harangues them on the Place de Grève; +in vain he resists for hours, now addressing them and now imposing +silence. Armed bands, coming from the Faubourgs Saint-Antoine and +Saint-Marceau, swell the crowd; they take aim at him; others prepare +the lamp-post. He then dismounts and endeavors to return to the +Hôtel-de-Ville, but his grenadiers bar the way: + +"Morbleu, General, you will stay with us; you will not abandon us !" + +Being their chief it is pretty plain that he must follow them; which +is also the sentiment of the representatives of the commune at the +Hôtel-de-Ville, who send him their authorization, and even the order +to march, "seeing that it is impossible for him to refuse." + +Fifteen thousand men thus reach Versailles, and in front of and +along with them thousands of ruffians, protected by the darkness. +On this side the National Guard of Versailles, posted around the +chateau, together with the people of Versailles, who bar the way +against vehicles, have closed up every outlet.[39] The King is +prisoner in his own palace, he and his, with his ministers and his +court, and with no defense. For, with his usual optimism, he has +confided the outer posts of the chateau to Lafayette's soldiers, +and, through a humanitarian obstinacy which he is to maintain up to +the last,[40] he has forbidden his own guards to fire on the crowd, +so that they are only there for show. With common right in his +favor, the law, and the oath which Lafayette had just obliged his +troops to renew, what could he have to fear? What could be more +effective with the people than trust in them and prudence? And by +playing the sheep one is sure of taming brutes! + +>From five o'clock in the morning they prowl around the palace- +railings. Lafayette, exhausted with fatigue, has taken an hour's +repose,[41] which hour suffices for them.[42] A populace armed with +pikes and clubs, men and women, surrounds a squad of eighty-eight +National Guards, forces them to fire on the King's Guards, bursts +open a door, seizes two of the guards and chops their heads off. +The executioner, who is a studio model, with a heavy beard, +stretches out his blood-stained hands and glories in the act; and so +great is the effect on the National Guard that they move off; +through sensibility, in order not to witness such sights: such is +the resistance! In the meantime the crowd invade the staircases, +beat down and trample on the guards they encounter, and burst open +the doors with imprecations against the Queen. The Queen runs off; +just in time, in her underclothes; she takes refuge with the King +and the rest of the royal family, who have in vain barricaded +themselves in the Œil-de-Boeuf, a door of which is broken in: here +they stand, awaiting death, when Lafayette arrives with his +grenadiers and saves all that can be save -- their lives, and +nothing more. For, from the crowd huddled in the marble court the +shout rises, "To Paris with the King !" a command to which the King +submits. + +Now that the great hostage is in their hands, will they deign to +accept the second one? This is doubtful. On the Queen approaching +the balcony with her son and daughter, a howl arises of "No +children!" They want to have her alone in the sights of their guns, +and she understands that. At this moment M. de Lafayette, throwing +the shield of his popularity over her, appears on the balcony at her +side and respectfully kisses her hand. The reaction is +instantaneous in this over-excited crowd. Both the men and +especially the women, in such a state of nervous tension, readily +jump from one extreme to another, rage bordering on tears. A +portress, who is a companion of Maillard's,[43] imagines that she +hears Lafayette promise in the Queen's name "to love her people and +be as much attached to them as Jesus Christ to his Church." People +sob and embrace each other; the grenadiers shift their caps to the +heads of the body-guard. Everything will be fine : "the people have +won their King back." -- Nothing is to be done now but to rejoice; +and the cortege moves on. The royal family and a hundred deputies, +in carriages, form the center, and then comes the artillery, with a +number of women bestriding the cannons; next, a convoy of flour. +Round about are the King's Guards, each with a National Guard +mounted behind him; then comes the National Guard of Paris, and +after them men with pikes and women on foot, on horseback, in cabs, +and on carts; in front is a band bearing two severed heads on the +ends of two poles, which halts at a hairdresser's, in Sèvres, to +have these heads powdered and curled;[44] they are made to bow by +way of salutation, and are daubed all over with cream; there are +jokes and shouts of laughter; the people stop to eat and drink on +the road, and oblige the guards to clink glasses with them; they +shout and fire salvos of musketry; men and women hold each other's +hands and sing and dance about in the mud. -- Such is the new +fraternity: a funeral procession of legal and legitimate +authorities, a triumph of brutality over intelligence, a murderous +and political Mardi-gras, a formidable masquerade which, preceded by +the insignia of death, drags along with it the heads of France, the +King, the ministers, and the deputies, that it may constrain them to +rule to until according to its frenzy, that it may hold them under +its them pikes until it is pleased to slaughter them. + + VI. + +The Government and the nation in the hands of the revolutionary +party. + +This time there can be no mistake: the Reign of Terror is fully and +firmly established. On this very day the mob stops a vehicle, in +which it hopes to find M. de Virieu, and declares, on searching it, +that "they are looking for the deputy to massacre him, as well as +others of whom they have a list."[45] Two days afterwards the Abbé +Grégoire tells the National Assembly that not a day passes without +ecclesiastics being insulted in Paris, and pursued with "horrible +threats." Malouet is advised that "as soon as guns are distributed +among the militia, the first use made of them will be to get rid of +those deputies who are bad citizens," and among others of the Abbé +Maury. "The moment I stepped out into the streets," writes Mounier, +"I was publicly followed. It was a crime to be seen in my company. +Wherever I happened to go, along with two or three of my companions, +it was stated that an assembly of aristocrats was forming. I had +become such an object of terror that they threatened to set fire to +a country-house where I had passed twenty-four hours; and, to +relieve their minds, a promise had to be given that neither myself +nor my friends should be again received into it." In one week five +or six hundred deputies have their passports[46] made out, and hold +themselves ready to depart. During the following month one hundred +and twenty give in their resignations, or no longer appear in the +Assembly. Mounier, Lally-Tollendal, the Bishop of Langres, and +others besides, quit Paris, and afterwards France. Mallet du Pan +writes, "Opinion now dictates its judgment with steel in hand. +Believe or die is the anathema which vehement spirits pronounce, and +this in the name of Liberty. Moderation has become a crime." After +the 7th of October, Mirabeau says to the Comte de la Marck: + + "If you have any influence with the King or the Queen, persuade +them that they and France are lost if the royal family does not +leave Paris. I am busy with a plan for getting them away." + +He prefers everything to the present situation, "even civil war;" +for "war, at least, invigorates the soul," while here, "under the +dictatorship of demagogues, we are being drowned in slime." Given up +to itself, Paris, in three months, "will certainly be a hospital, +and, perhaps, a theater of horrors." Against the rabble and its +leaders, it is essential that the King should at once coalesce "with +his people," that he should go to Rouen, appeal to the provinces, +provide a Centre for public opinion, and, if necessary, resort to +armed resistance. Malouet, on his side, declares that "the +Revolution, since the 5th of October, "horrifies all sensible men, +and every party, but that it is complete and irresistible." Thus the +three best minds that are associated with the Revolution -- those +whose verified prophecies attest genius or good sense; the only ones +who, for two or three years, and from week to week, have always +predicted wisely, and who have employed reason in their +demonstrations -- these three, Mallet du Pan, Mirabeau, Mabuet, +agree in their estimate of the event, and in measuring its +consequences. The nation is gliding down a declivity, and no one +possesses the means or the force to arrest it. The King cannot do +it : "undecided and weak beyond all expression, his character +resembles those oiled ivory balls which one vainly strives to keep +together."[47] And as for the Assembly, blinded, violated, and +impelled on by the theory it proclaims, and by the faction which +supports it, each of its grand decrees only renders its fall the +more precipitate. + +________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + + +[1] Bailly, " Mémoires," II. 195, 242. + +[2] Elysée Loustalot, journalist, editor of the paper "Révolutions +de Paris," was a young lawyer who had shown a natural genius for +innovative journalism. He was to die already in 1790. (SR.) + +[3] Montjoie, ch. LXX, p. 65. + +[4] Bailly, II. 74, 174, 242, 261, 282, 345, 392. + +[5] Such as domiciliary visits and arrests apparently made by +lunatics. ("Archives de la Préfecture de Police de Paris.") -- And +Montjoie, ch. LXX. p.67. Expedition of the National Guard against +imaginary brigands who are cutting down the crops at Montmorency and +the volley fired in the air. -- Conquest of Ile-Adam and Chantilly. + +[6] Bailly, II. 46, 95, 232, 287, 296. + +[7] "Archives de la Préfecture de Police," minutes of the meeting of +the section of Butte des Moulins, October 5, 1789. + +[8] Bailly, II. 224. -- Dusaulx, 418, 202, 257, 174, 158. The +powder transported was called poudre de traite (transport); the +people understood it as poudre de traître (traitor). M. de la Salle +was near being killed through the addition of an r. It is he who +had taken command of the National Guard on the 13th of July. + +[9] Floquet, VII. 54. There is the same scene at Granville, in +Normandy, on the 16th of October. A woman had assassinated her +husband, while a soldier who was her lover is her accomplice; the +woman was about to he hung and the man broken on the wheel, when the +populace shout, "The nation has the right of pardon," upset the +scaffold, and save the two assassins. + +[10] Bailly, II. 274 (August 17th). + +[11] Bailly, II, 83, 202, 230, 235, 283, 299. + +[12] Mercure de France, the number for September 26th. - De +Goncourt, p. 111. + +[13] Mercier, "Tableau de Paris," I, 58; X. 151. + +[14] De Ferrières, I. 178. -- Buchez and Roux, II. 311, 316. -- +Bai11y, II. 104, 174, 207, 246, 257, 282. + +[15] Mercure de France, September 5th, 1789. Horace Walpole's +Letters, September 5, 1789. -- M. de Lafayette, "Mémoires," I. 272. +During the week following the 14th of July, 6,000 soldiers deserted +and went over to the people, besides 400 and 800 Swiss Guards and +six battalions of the French Guards, who remain without officers, +and do as they please. Vagabonds from the neighboring villages +flock in, and there are more than "30,000 strangers and vagrants" in +Paris. + +[16] Bailly, II. 282. The crowd of deserters was so great that +Lafayette was obliged to place a guard at the barriers to keep them +from entering the city. "Without this precaution the whole army +would have come in." + +[17] De Ferrières, I. 103. -- De Lavalette, I. 39. -- Bailly, I. 53 +(on the lawyers). "It may be said that the success of the +Revolution is due to this class." -- Marmontel, II. 243 "Since the +first elections of Paris, in 1789, I remarked," he says, "this +species of restless intriguing men, contending with each other to be +heard, impatient to make themselves prominent....It is well known +what interest this body (the lawyers) had to change Reform into +Revolution, the Monarchy into a Republic; the object was to organize +for itself a perpetual aristocracy." -- Buchez and Roux, II. 358 +(article by C. Desmoulins). "In the districts everybody exhausts +his lungs and his time in trying to be president, vice-president, +secretary or vice-secretary" + +[18] Eugène Hatin, "Histoire de la Presse," vol. V. p. 113. "Le +Patriote français" by Brissot, July 28, 1789. -- "L'Ami du Peuple," +by Marat, September 12, 1789. -- "Annales patriotiques et +littéraires," by Carra and Mercier, October 5, 1789, -- "Les +Révolutions de Paris," chief editor Loustalot, July 17th, 1789. - +"Le Tribun du peuple," letters by (middle of 1789). - "Révolutions +de France et de Brabant," by C. Desmoulins, November 28, 1789; his +"France libre" (I believe of the month of August, and his "Discours +de la Lanterne" of the month of September). - "The Moniteur" does +not make its appearance until November 24, 1789. In the seventy +numbers which follow, up to February 3, 1790, the debates of the +Assembly were afterwards written out, amplified, and put in a +dramatic form. All numbers anterior to February 3, 1790, are the +result of a compilation executed in the year IV. The narrative part +during the first six months of the Revolution is of no value. The +report of the sittings of the Assembly is more exact, but should be +revised sitting by sitting and discourse by discourse for a detailed +history of the National Assembly. The principal authorities which +are really contemporary are, "Le Mercure de France," "Le Journal de +Paris," "Le point de Jour" by Barrère, the "Courrier de Versailles," +by Gorsas, the "Courrier de Provence" by Mirabeau, the "Journal des +Débats et Décrets," the official reports of the National assembly, +the "Bulletin de l'Asemblée Nationale," by Marat, besides the +newspapers above cited for the period following the 14th of July, +and the speeches, which are printed separately. + +[19] C. Desmoulins, letters of September 20th and of subsequent +dates. (He quote, a passage from Lucan in the sense indicated). -- +Brissot, "Mémoires," passim. -- Biography of Danton by Robinet. (See +the testimony of Madame Roland and of Rousselin de Saint-Albin.) + +[20] "Discours de la Lanterne." See the epigraph of the engraving. + +[21] Buchez and Roux; III. 55; article of Marat, October lst. +"Sweep all the suspected men out of the Hôtel-de-Ville. . . . . +Reduce the deputies of the communes to fifty; do not let them remain +in office more than a month or six weeks, and compel them to +transact business only in public." -- And II. 412, another article +by Marat. -- Ibid. III. 21. An article by Loustalot. - C. +Desmoulins, "Discours de la Lanterne," passim. -- Bailly, II. 326. + +[22] Mounier, "Des causes qui ont empêche les Français d'être +libre," I. 59. - Lally-Tollendal, second letter, 104. -- +Bailly, II. 203. + +[23] De Bouillé, 207. -- Lally-Tollendal, ibid, 141, 146. -- +Mounier, ibid., 41, 60. + +[24] Mercure de France, October 2, 1790 (article of Mallet du Pan: +"I saw it"). Criminal proceedings at the Châtelet on the events of +October 5th and 6th. Deposition of M. Feydel, a deputy, No. 178. - +- De Montlosier, i. 259. -- Desmoulins (La Lanterne). "Some members +of the communes are gradually won over by pensions, by plans for +making a fortune and by flattery. Happily, the incorruptible +galleries are always on the side of the patriots. They represent +the tribunes of the people seated on a bench in attendance on the +deliberations of the Senate and who had the veto. They represent +the metropolis and, fortunately, it is under the batteries of the +metropolis that the constitution is being framed." (C. Desmoulins, +simple-minded politician, always let the cat out of the bag.) + +[25] "Procédure du Châtelet," Ibid. Deposition of M. Malouet (No. +111). "I received every day, as well as MM. Lally and Mounier, +anonymous letters and lists of proscriptions on which we were +inscribed. These letters announced a prompt and violent death to +every deputy that advocated the authority of the King." + +[26] Buchez and Roux, I. 368, 376. -- -- Bailly, II. 326, 341. - +Mounier, ibid., 62, 75. + +[27] Etienne Dumont, 145. -- Correspondence between Comte de +Mirabeau and Comte de la Marck. + +[28] "Procédure criminelle du Châtelet," Deposition 148. - Buchez +and Roux, III. 67, 65. (Narrative of Desmoulins, article of +Loustalot.) Mercure de France, number for September 5, 1789. +"Sunday evening, August 30, at the Palais-Royal, the expulsion of +several deputies of every class was demanded, and especially some of +those from Dauphiny. . . They spoke of bringing the King to Paris as +well as the Dauphin. All virtuous citizens, every incorruptible +patriot, was exhorted to set out immediately for Versailles." + +[29] These acts of violence were not reprisals; nothing of the kind +took place at the banquet of the body-guards (October 1st). "Amidst +the general joy," says an eye-witness, I heard no insults against +the National Assembly, nor against the popular party, nor against +anybody. The only cries were 'Vive le Roi! Vive la Reine! We will +defend them to the death!'" (Madame de Larochejacquelein, p.40. - +Ibid. Madame Campan, another eye-witness.) -- It appears to be +certain, however, that the younger members of the National Guard at +Versailles turned their cockades so as to be like other people, and +it is also probable that some of the ladies distributed white +cockades. The rest is a story made up before and after the event to +justify the insurrection. -- Cf. Lerol, "Histoire de Versailles," +II. 20-107. Ibid. p. 141. "As to that proscription of the +national cockade, all witnesses deny it." The originator of the +calumny is Gorsas, editor of the Courrier de Versailles. + +[30] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 88, 110, 120, +126, 127, 140, 146, 148. -- Marmontel, "Mémoires," a conversation +with Champfort, in May, 1789. -- Morellet, "Mémoires," I. 398. +(According to the evidence of Garat, Champfort gave all his savings, +3,000 livres, to defray the expenses of maneuvers of this +description.) -- Malouet (II. 2). knew four of the deputies "who +took direct part in this conspiracy." + +[31] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." 1st. On the Flemish +soldiers. Depositions 17, 20, 24, 35, 87, 89, 98. -- 2nd. On the +men disguised as women. Depositions 5, 10, 14, 44, 49, 59, 60, 110, +120, 139, 145, 146, 148. The prosecutor designates six of them to +be seized. -- 3rd. On the condition of the women of the expedition. +Depositions 35, 83, 91, 98, 146, and 24. -- 4th. On the money +distributed. Depositions 49, 56, 71, 82, 110, 126. + +[32] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 61. "During the +night scenes, not very decent, occurred among these people, which +the witness thought it useless to relate." + +[33] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 35, 44, 81. -- +Buchez and Roux, III. 120. (Minutes of the meeting of the Commune, +October 5th.) Journal de Paris, October 12th. A few days after, M. +Pic, clerk of the prosecutor, brought "a package of 100,000 francs +which he had saved from the enemies' hands," and another package of +notes was found thrown, in the hubbub, into a receipt-box. + +[34] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 61, 77, 81, +148, 154. -- Dumont, 181. -- Mounier, "Exposé justificatif," and +specially "Fait relatif à la dernière insurrection." + +[35] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 168. The witness +sees on leaving the King's apartment " several women dressed as +fish-wives, one of whom, with a pretty face, has a paper in her +hand, and who exclaims as she holds it up, 'He! F..., we have forced +the guy to sign.' " + +[36] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 89, 91, 98. +"Promising all, even raising their petticoats before them." + +[37] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet," Depositions 9, 20, 24, 30, +49, 61, 82, 115, 149, 155. + +[38] Procédure criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 7, 30, 35, 40. - +- Cf. Lafayette, "Mémoires," and Madame Campan, "Mémoires." + +[39] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Deposition 24. A number of +butcher-boys run after the carriages issuing from the Petite-Ecurie +shouting out, "Don't let the curs escape!" + +[40] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 101, 91, 89, +and 17. M. de Miomandre, a body-guard, mildly says to the ruffians +mounting the staircase: "My friends, you love your King, and yet you +come to annoy him even in his palace!" + +[41] Malouet, II. 2. "I felt no distrust," says Lafayette in 1798; +"the people promised to remain quiet." + +[42] "Procédure Criminelle du Chatelet." Depositions 9, 16, 60, 128, +129, 130, 139, 158, 168, 170. -- M. du Repaire, body-guard, being +sentry at the railing from two o'clock in the morning, a man passes +his pike through the bars saying, "You embroidered b. . . , your +turn will come before long." M. de Repaire, " retires within the +sentry-box without saying a word to this man, considering the orders +that have been issued not to act." + +[43] "Procédure Criminelle du Châtelet." Depositions 82, 170 -- +Madame Campan. II. 87. -- De Lavalette, I.33. -- Cf. Bertrand de +Molleville, Mémoires." + +[44] Duval," Souvenirs de la Terreur," I. 78. (Doubtful in almost +everything, but here he is an eye-witness. He dined opposite the +hair-dresser's, near the railing of the Park of Saint-Cloud.) -- M. +de Lally-Tollendal's second letter to a friend. "At the moment the +King entered his capital with two bishops of his council with him in +the carriage, the cry was heard, "Off to the lamp post with the +bishops!" + +[45] De Montlosier, I. 303. -- Moniteur, sessions of the 8th, 9th, +and 10th of October. -- Malouet, II. 9, 10, 20. -- Mounier, +Recherches sur les Causes, etc.," and "Addresse aux Dauphinois." + +[46] De Ferrières, I. 346. (On the 9th of October, 300 members have +already taken their passports.) Mercure de France, No. of the 17th +October. Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I. 116, +126, 364. + +[47] Correspondence of Mirabeau and M. de la Marck, I.175. (The +words of Monsieur to M. de la Marck.) + + + + +BOOK SECOND. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, AND THE RESULT OF ITS +LABORS. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY. - CONDITIONS REQUIRED FOR THE FRAMING OF +GOOD LAWS. + +Among the most difficult undertakings in this world is the +formulation of a national constitution, especially if this is to be +a complete and comprehensive work. To replace the old structures +inside which a great people has lived by a new, different, +appropriate and durable set of laws, to apply a mold of one hundred +thousand compartments on to the life of twenty-six million people, +to construct it so harmoniously, adapt it so well, so closely, with +such an exact appreciation of their needs and their faculties, that +they enter it of themselves and move about it without collisions, +and that their spontaneous activity should at once find the ease of +familiar routine, - is an extraordinary undertaking and probably +beyond the powers of the human mind. In any event, the mind +requires all its powers to carry the undertaking out, and it cannot +protect itself carefully enough against all sources of disturbance +and error. An Assembly, especially a Constituent Assembly, +requires, outwardly, security and independence, inwardly, silence +and order, and generally, calmness, good sense, practical ability +and discipline under competent and recognized leaders. Do we find +anything of all this in the Constituent Assembly? + + I. + + +These conditions absent in the Assembly - Causes of disorder and +irrationality - The place of meeting - The large number of deputies +- Interference of the galleries - Rules of procedure wanting, +defective, or disregarded.- The parliamentary leaders - +Susceptibility and over-excitement of the Assembly - Its paroxysms +of enthusiasm. - Its tendency to emotion. -It encourages +theatrical display - Changes which these displays introduce in its +good intentions. + + We have only to look at it outwardly to have some doubts about it. +At Versailles, and then at Paris, the sessions are held in an +immense hall capable of seating 2,000 persons, in which the most +powerful voice must be strained in order to be heard. It is not +calculated for the moderate tone suitable for the discussion of +business; the speaker is obliged to shout, and the strain on the +voice communicates itself to the mind; the place itself suggests +declamation; and this all the more readily because the assemblage +consists of 1,200, that is to say, a crowd, and almost a mob. 'At +the present day (1877), in our assemblies of five or six hundred +deputies, there are constant interruptions and an incessant buzz; +there is nothing so rare as self-control, and the firm resolve to +give an hour's attention to a discourse opposed to the opinions of +the hearers. -- What can be done here to compel silence and +patience? Arthur Young on different occasions sees "a hundred +members on the floor at once," shouting and gesticulating. +"Gentlemen, you are killing me!" says Bailly, one day, sinking with +exhaustion. Another president exclaims in despair, "Two hundred +speaking at the same time cannot be heard; will you make it +impossible then to restore order in the Assembly?" The rumbling, +discordant din is further increased by the uproar of the +galleries.[1] + + "In the British Parliament," writes Mallet du Pan, "I saw the +galleries cleared in a trice because the Duchess of Gordon happened +unintentionally to laugh too loud." + +Here, the thronging crowd of spectators, stringers, delegates from +the Palais-Royal, soldiers disguised as citizens, and prostitutes +collected and marshaled, applaud, clap their hands, stamp and hoot, +at their pleasure. This is carried to so great an extent that M. +de Montlosier ironically proposes "to give the galleries a voice in +the deliberations."[2] Another member wishes to know whether the +representatives are so many actors, whom the nation sends there to +endure the hisses of the Paris public. Interruptions, in fact, take +place as in a theater, and, frequently, if the members do not give +satisfaction, they are forced to desist. On the other hand, the +deputies who are popular with this energetic audience, on which they +keep and eye, are actors before the footlights: they involuntarily +yield to its influence, and exaggerate their ideas as well as their +words to be in unison with it. Tumult and violence, under such +circumstances, become a matter of course, and the chances of an +Assembly acting wisely are diminished by one-half; on becoming a +club of agitators, it ceases to be a conclave of legislators. + + +Let us enter and see how this one proceeds. Thus encumbered, thus +surrounded and agitated, does it take at least those precautions +without which no assembly of men can govern itself. When several +hundred persons assemble together for deliberation, it is evident +that some sort of an internal police is necessary; first of all, +some code of accepted usage, some written precedents, by which its +acts may be prepared and defined, considered in detail, and properly +passed. The best of these codes it ready to hand: at the request +of Mirabeau, Romilly has sent over the standing orders of the +English House of Commons.[3} But with the presumption of novices, +they pay no attention to this code; they imagine it is needless for +them; they will borrow nothing from foreigners; they accord no +authority to experience, and, not content with rejecting the forms +it prescribes, "it is with difficulty they can be made to follow any +rule whatever." They leave the field open to the impulsiveness of +individuals; any kind of influence, even that of a deputy, even of +one elected by themselves, is suspected by them; hence their choice +of a new president every fortnight. - They submit to no constraint +or control, neither to the legal authority of a parliamentary code, +nor to the moral authority of parliamentary chiefs. They are +without any such; they are not organized in parties; neither on one +side nor on the other is a recognized leader found who fixes the +time, arranges the debate, draws up the motion, assigns parts, and +gives the rein to or restrains his supporters. Mirabeau is the +only one capable of obtaining this ascendancy; but, on the opening +of the Assembly, he is discredited by the notoriety of his vices, +and, towards the last, is compromised by his connections with the +Court. No other is of sufficient eminence to have any influence; +there is too much of average and too little of superior talent. - +Their self-esteem is, moreover, as yet too strong to allow any +concessions. Each of these improvised legislators has come +satisfied with his own system, and to submit to a leader to whom he +would entrust his political conscience, to make of him what three +out of four of these deputies should be, a voting machine, would +require an apprehension of danger, some painful experience, an +enforced surrender which he is far from realizing.[4] For this +reason, save in the violent party, each acts as his own chief, +according to the impulse of the moment, and the confusion may be +imagined. Strangers who witness it, lift their hands in pity and +astonishment. "They discuss nothing in their Assembly," writes +Gouverneur Morris,[5] "One large half of the time is spent in +hallowing and bawling.... Each Man permitted to speak delivers the +Result of his Lubrications," amidst this noise, taking his turn as +inscribed, without replying to his predecessor, or being replied to +by his successor, without ever meeting argument by argument; so +that while the firing is interminable, "all their shots are fired in +the air." Before this "frightful clatter" can be reported, the +papers of the day are obliged to make all sorts of excisions, to +prune away "nonsense," and reduce the "inflated and bombastic +style." Chatter and clamor, that is the whole substance of most of +these famous sittings. + + "You would hear," says a journalist, "more yells than speeches; the +sittings seemed more likely to end in fights than in decrees. . . . +Twenty times I said to myself, on leaving, that if anything could +arrest and turn the tide of the Revolution, it would be a picture of +these meetings traced without caution or adaptation. . . All my +efforts were therefore directed to represent the truth, without +rendering it repulsive. Out of what had been merely a row, I +concocted a scene. . . I gave all the sentiments, but not always in +the same words. I translated their yells into words, their furious +gestures into attitudes, and when I could not inspire esteem, I +endeavored to rouse the emotions." + + There is no remedy for this evil; for, besides the absence of +discipline, there is an inward and fundamental cause for the +disorder. These people are too susceptible. They are Frenchmen, +and Frenchmen of the eighteenth century; brought up in the amenities +of the utmost refinement, accustomed to deferential manners, to +constant kind attentions and mutual obligations, so thoroughly +imbued with the instinct of good breeding that their conversation +seems almost insipid to strangers.[6] -- And suddenly they find +themselves on the thorny soil of politics, exposed to insulting +debates, flat contradictions, venomous denunciation, constant +detraction and open invective; engaged in a battle in which every +species of weapon peculiar to a parliamentary life is employed, and +in which the hardiest veterans are scarcely able to keep cool. +Judge of the effect of all this on inexperienced, highly strung +nerves, on men of the world accustomed to the accommodations and +amiabilities of universal urbanity. They are at once beside +themselves. - And all the more so because they never anticipated a +battle; but, on the contrary, a festival, a grand and charming +idyll, in which everybody, hand in hand, would assemble in tears +around the throne and save the country amid mutual embraces. +Necker himself arranges, like a theater, the chamber in which the +sessions of the Assembly are to be held.[7] "He was not disposed to +regard the Assemblies of the States-General as anything but a +peaceful, imposing, solemn, august spectacle, which the people would +enjoy;" and when the idyll suddenly changes into a drama, he is so +frightened that it seems to him as if a landslide had occurred that +threatened, during the night, to break down the framework of the +building. - At the time of the meeting of the States-General, +everybody is delighted; all imagine that they are about to enter the +promised land. During the procession of the 4thof May, + + "tears of joy," says the Marquis de Ferrières, "filled my eyes. . . +. In a state of sweet rapture I beheld France supported by +Religion" exhorting us all to concord. "The sacred ceremonies, the +music, the incense, the priests in their sacrificial robes, that +dais, that orb radiant with precious stones. .. I called to my +mind the words of the prophet. . . . My God, my country, and my +countrymen, all were one with myself! " + + +Such emotions repeatedly explode in the course of the session, and +resulted in the passage of laws which no one could have imagined. + + +"Sometimes,"[8] writes the American ambassador, "a speaker gets up +in the midst of a deliberation, makes a fine discourse on a +different subject, and closes with a nice little resolution which is +carried with a hurrah. Thus, in considering the plan of a national +bank proposed by M. Necker, one of them took it into his head to +move that every member should give his silver buckles, which was +agreed to at once, and the honorable mover laid his upon the table, +after which the business went on again." + + +Thus, over-excited, they do not know in the morning what they will +do in the afternoon, and they are at the mercy of every surprise. +When they are seized with these fits of enthusiasm, infatuation +spreads over all the benches; prudence gives way, all foresight +disappears and every objection is stifled. During the night of the +4th of August,[9] "nobody is master of himself . The Assembly +presents the spectacle of an inebriated crowd in a shop of valuable +furniture, breaking and smashing at will whatever they can lay their +hands on." + + + "That which would have required a year of care and reflection," +says a competent foreigner, "was proposed, deliberated over, and +passed by general acclamation. The abolition of feudal rights, of +titles, of the privileges of the provinces, three articles which +alone embraced a whole system of jurisprudence and statesmanship, +were decided with ten or twelve other measures in less time than is +required in the English Parliament for the first reading of an +important bill." + + + "Such are our Frenchmen," says Mirabeau again, "they spend a month +in disputes about syllables, and overthrow, in a single night, the +whole established system of the Monarchy !"[10] + + + The truth is, they display the nervousness of women, and, from one +end of the Revolution to the other, this excitability keeps on +increasing. + + +Not only are they excited, but the pitch of excitement must be +maintained, and, like the drunkard who, once stimulated, has +recourse again to strong waters, one would say that they carefully +try to expel the last remnants of calmness and common sense from +their brains. They delight in pompous phrases, in high-sounding +rhetoric, in declamatory sentimental strokes of eloquence: this is +the style of nearly all their speeches, and so strong is their +taste, they are not satisfied with the orations made amongst +themselves. Lally and Necker, having made "affecting and sublime" +speeches at the Hôtel-de-Ville, the Assembly wish them to be +repeated before them:[11] this being the heart of France, it is +proper for it to answer to the noble emotions of all Frenchmen. +Let this heart throb on, and as strongly as possible, for that is +its office, and day by day it receives fresh impulses. Almost all +sittings begin with the reading of flattering addresses or of +threatening denunciations. The petitioners frequently appear in +person, and read their enthusiastic effusions, their imperious +advice, their doctrines of dissolution. To-day it is Danton, in +the name of Paris, with his bull visage and his voice that seems a +tocsin of insurrection; to-morrow, the vanquishers of the Bastille, +or some other troop, with a band of music which continues playing +even into the hall. The meeting is not a conference for business, +but a patriotic opera, where the eclogue, the melodrama, and +sometimes the masquerade, mingle with the cheers and the clapping of +hands.[12] -- A serf of the Jura is brought to the bar of the +Assembly aged one hundred and twenty years, and one of the members +of the cortège, " M. Bourbon de la Crosnière, director of a +patriotic school, asks permission to take charge of an honorable old +man, that he may be waited on by the young people of all ranks, and +especially by the children of those whose fathers were killed in the +attack on the Bastille." [13] Great is the hubbub and excitement. +The scene seems to be in imitation of Berquin,[14] with the +additional complication of a mercenary consideration. + +But small matters are not closely looked into, and the Assembly, +under the pressure of the galleries, stoops to shows, such as are +held at fairs. Sixty vagabonds who are paid twelve francs a head, +in the costumes of Spaniards, Dutchmen, Turks, Arabs, Tripolitans, +Persians, Hindus, Mongols, and Chinese, conducted by the Prussian +Anacharsis Clootz, enter, under the title of Ambassadors of the +Human Race, to declaim against tyrants, and they are admitted to the +honors of the sitting. On this occasion the masquerade is a stroke +devised to hasten and extort the abolition of nobility.[15] At other +times, there is little or no object in it; its ridiculousness is +inexpressible, for the farce is played out as seriously and +earnestly as in a village award of prizes. For three days, the +children who have taken their first communion before the +constitutional bishop have been promenaded through the streets of +Paris; at the Jacobin club they recite the nonsense they have +committed to memory; and, on the fourth day, admitted to the bar of +the Assembly, their spokesman, a poor little thing of twelve years, +repeats the parrot-like tirade. He winds up with the accustomed +oath, upon which all the others cry out in their piping, shrill +voices, " We swear ! " As a climax, the President, Trejlhard, a +sober lawyer, replies to the little gamins with perfect gravity in a +similar strain, employing metaphors, personifications, and +everything else belonging to the stock-in-trade of a pedant on his +platform: + + "You merit a share in the glory of the founders of liberty, +prepared as you are to shed your blood in her behalf." + + Immense applause from the "left" and the galleries, and a decree +ordering the speeches of both president and children to be printed. +The children, probably, would rather have gone out to play; but, +willingly or unwillingly, they receive or endure the honors of the +sitting.[16] + +Such are the tricks of the stage and of the platform by which the +managers here move their political puppets. Emotional +susceptibility, once recognized as a legitimate force, thus becomes +an instrument of intrigue and constraint. The Assembly, having +accepted theatrical exhibitions when these were sincere and earnest, +is obliged to tolerate them when they become mere sham and +buffoonery. At this vast national banquet, over which it meant to +preside, and to which, throwing the doors wide open, it invited all +France, its first intoxication was due to wine of a noble quality; +but it has touched glasses with the populace, and by degrees, under +the pressure of its associates, it has descended to adulterated and +burning drinks, to a grotesque unwholesome inebriety which is all +the more grotesque and unwholesome, because it persists in believing +itself to be reason. + + II. + +Inadequacy of its information - Its composition - The social +standing and culture of the larger number - Their incapacity. +Their presumption - Fruitless advice of competent men.- Deductive +politics - Parties - The minority; its faults - The majority; its +dogmatism. + +If reason could only resume its empire during the lucid intervals! +But reason must exist before it can govern, and in no French +Assembly, except the two following this, have there ever been fewer +political intellects. - Strictly speaking, with careful search, +there could undoubtedly be found in France, in 1789, five or six +hundred experienced men, such as the intendants and military +commanders of every province; next to these the prelates, +administrators of large dioceses the members of the local +"parlements," whose courts gave them influence, and who, besides +judicial functions, possessed a portion of administrative power; and +finally, the principal members of the Provincial Assemblies, all of +them influential and sensible people who had exercised control over +men and affairs, at once humane, liberal, moderate, and capable of +understanding the difficulty, as well as the necessity, of a great +reform; indeed, their correspondence, full of facts, stated with +precision and judgment, when compared with the doctrinaire rubbish +of the Assembly, presents the strongest possible contrast. - But +most of these lights remain under a bushel; only a few of them get +into the Assembly; these burn without illuminating, and are soon +extinguished in the tempest.' I. The venerable Machault is not there, +nor Malesherbes; there are none of the old ministers or the marshals +of France. Not one of the intendants is there, except Malouet, and +by the superiority of this man, the most judicious of the Assembly, +one can judge the services which his colleagues would have rendered. +Out of two hundred and ninety-one members of the clergy,[17] there +are indeed forty-eight bishops or archbishops and thirty-five abbots +or canons, but, being prelates and with large endowments, they +excite the envy of their order, and are generals without any +soldiers. We have the same spectacle among the nobles. Most of +them, the gentry of the provinces, have been elected in opposition +to the grandees of the Court. Moreover, neither the grandees of +the Court, devoted to worldly pursuits, nor the gentry of the +provinces, confined to private life, are practically familiar with +public affairs. A small group among them, twenty-eight magistrates +and about thirty superior officials who have held command or have +been connected with the administration, probably have some idea of +the peril of society; but it is precisely for this reason that they +seem to be behind the age and remain without influence. - In the +Third-Estate, out of five hundred and seventy-seven members, only +ten have exercised any important functions, those of intendant, +councillor of state, receiver-general, lieutenant of police, +director of the mint, and others of the same category. The great +majority is composed of unknown lawyers and people occupying +inferior positions in the profession, notaries, royal attorneys, +register commissaries, judges and assessors of; the présidial, +bailiffs and lieutenants of the bailiwick, simple practitioners +confined from their youth to the narrow circle of an inferior +jurisdiction or to a routine of scribbling, with no escape but +philosophical excursions in imaginary space under the guidance of +Rousseau and Raynal. There are three hundred and seventy-three of +this class, to whom may be added thirty-eight farmers and +husbandmen, fifteen physicians, and, among the manufacturers, +merchants, and capitalists, some fifty or sixty who are their equals +in education and in political capacity. Scarcely one hundred and +fifty proprietors are here from the middle class.[18] To these four +hundred and fifty deputies, whose condition, education, instruction, +and mental range qualified them for being good clerks, prominent men +in a commune, honorable fathers of a family, or, at best, +provincial academicians, add two hundred and eight curés, their +equals; this makes six hundred and fifty out of eleven hundred and +eighteen deputies, forming a positive majority, which, again, is +augmented by about fifty philosophical nobles, leaving out the weak +who follow the current, and the ambitious who range themselves on +the strong side. - We may divine what a chamber thus made up can +do, and those who are familiar with such matters prophesy what it +will do.[19] + +"There are some able men in the National Assembly," writes the +American minister, "yet the best heads among them would not be +injured by experience, and, unfortunately, there are great numbers +who, with much imagination, have little knowledge, judgment, or +reflection." + +It would be just as sensible to select eleven hundred notables from +an inland province and entrust them to the repair of an old frigate. +They would conscientiously break the vessel up, and the frigate they +would construct in its place would founder before it left port. + +If they would only consult the pilots and professional shipbuilders! +-- There are several of such to be found around them, whom they +cannot suspect, for most of them are foreigners, born in free +countries, impartial, sympathetic, and, what is more, unanimous. +The Minister of the United States writes, two months before the +convocation of the States-General:[20] + +"I, a republican, and just, as it were, emerged from that Assembly +which has formed one of the most republican of republican +constitutions, - I preach incessantly respect for the prince, +attention to the rights of the nobility, and moderation, not only in +the object, but also in the pursuit of it." + + Jefferson, a democrat and radical, expresses himself no +differently. At the time of the oath of the Tennis Court, he +redoubles his efforts to induce Lafayette and other patriots to make +some arrangement with the King to secure freedom of the press, +religious, liberty, trial by jury, the habeas corpus, and a national +legislature, - things which he could certainly be made to adopt, - +and then to retire into private life, and let these institutions act +upon the condition of the people until they had rendered it capable +of further progress, with the assurance that there would be no lack +of opportunity for them to obtain still more. + + "This was all," he continues, "that I thought your countrymen able +to bear soberly and usefully." + + Arthur Young, who studies the moral life of France so +conscientiously, and who is so severe in depicting old abuses, +cannot comprehend the conduct of the Commons. + + "To set aside practice for theory . . . in establishing the +interests of a great kingdom, in securing freedom to 25,000,000 of +people, seems to me the very acme of imprudence, the very +quintessence of insanity." + + Undoubtedly, now that the Assembly is all-powerful, it is to be +hoped that it will be reasonable: + + "I will not allow myself to believe for a moment that the +representatives of the people can ever so far forget their duty to +the French nation, to humanity, and their own fame, as to suffer any +inordinate and impracticable views - any visionary or theoretic +systems - . . . to turn aside their exertions from that security +which is in their hands, to place on the chance and hazard of public +commotion and civil war the invaluable blessings which are certainly +in their power. I will not conceive it possible that men who have +eternal fame within their grasp will place the rich inheritance on +the cast of a die, and, losing the venture, be damned among the +worst and most profligate adventurers that ever disgraced humanity." + + As their plan becomes more definite the remonstrances become more +decided, and all the expert judges point out to them the importance +of the wheels which they are willfully breaking. + + "As they have[21] hitherto felt severely the authority exercised +over them in the name of their princes, every limitation of that +authority seems to them desirable. Never having felt the evils of +too weak an executive, the disorders to be apprehended from anarchy +make as yet no impression" -- "They want an American +Constitution,[22] but with a King instead of a President, without +reflecting they have no American citizens to support that +Constitution. . . If they have the good sense to give the nobles, +as nobles, some portion of the national power, this free +constitution will probably last, But otherwise it will degenerate +either into a pure monarchy, or a vast republic, or a democracy. +Will the latter last? I doubt it. I am sure that it will not, +unless the whole nation is changed." + + A little later, when they renounce a parliamentary monarchy to put +in its place "a royal democracy," it is at once explained to them +that such an institution applied to France can produce nothing but +anarchy, and finally end in despotism. + + "Nowhere[23] has liberty proved to be stable without a sacrifice +of its excesses, without some barrier to its own omnipotence. . . . +Under this miserable government . . . the people, soon weary of +storms, and abandoned without legal protection to their seducers or +to their oppressors, will shatter the helm, or hand it over to some +audacious hand that stands ready to seize it." + + Events occur from month to month in fulfillment of these +predictions, and the predictions grow gloomier and more gloomy. It +is a flock of wild birds:[24] + + "It is very difficult to guess whereabouts the flock will settle +when it flies so wild. . . . This unhappy country, bewildered in +the pursuit of metaphysical whims, presents to our moral view a +mighty ruin. The Assembly, at once master and slave, new in power, +wild in theory, raw in practice, engrossing all functions without +being able to exercise any, has freed that fierce, ferocious people +from every restraint of religion and respect. . . . Such a state +of things cannot last . . . The glorious opportunity is lost and +for this time, at least, the Revolution has failed." + + We see, from the replies of Washington, that he is of the same +opinion. On the other side of the Channel, Pitt, the ablest +practician, and Burke, the ablest theorist, of political liberty, +express the same judgment. Pitt, after 1789, declares that the +French have overleaped freedom. After 1790, Burke, in a work which +is a prophecy as well as a masterpiece, points to military +dictatorship as the termination of the Revolution, "the most +completely arbitrary power that has ever appeared on earth." Nothing +is of any effect. With the exception of the small powerless group +around Malouet and Mounier, the warnings of Morris, Jefferson, +Romilly, Dumont, Mallet du Pan, Arthur Young, Pitt and Burke, all of +them men who have experience of free institutions, are received with +indifference or repelled with disdain. Not only are our new +politicians incapable, but they think themselves the contrary, and +their incompetence is aggravated by their infatuation. + + "I often used to say, "writes Dumont,[25] "that if a hundred +persons were stopped at haphazard in the streets of London, and a +hundred in the streets of Paris, and a proposal were made to them to +take charge of the Government, ninety-nine would accept it in Paris +and ninety-nine would refuse it in London . . . The Frenchman +thinks that all difficulties can be overcome by a little quickness +of wit. Mirabeau accepted the post of reporter to the Committee on +Mines without having the slightest tincture of knowledge on the +subject." + + In short, most of them enter politics "like the gentleman who, on +being asked if he knew how to play on the harpsichord, replied, 'I +cannot tell, I never tried, but I will see.' " + + "The Assembly had so high an opinion of itself, especially the +left side of it, that it would willingly have undertaken the framing +of the Code of Laws for all nations. . . Never has so many men been +seen together, fancying that they were all legislators, and that +they were there to correct all the errors of the past, to remedy all +mistakes of the human mind, and ensure the happiness of all ages to +come. Doubt had no place in their minds, and infallibility always +presided over their contradictory decrees." -- + + This is because they have a theory and because, according to their +notion, this theory renders special knowledge unnecessary. Herein +they are thoroughly sincere, and it is of set purpose that they +reverse all ordinary modes of procedure. Up to this time a +constitution used to be organized or repaired like a ship. +Experiments were made from time to time, or a model was taken from +vessels in the neighborhood; the first aim was to make the ship +sail; its construction was subordinated to its work; it was +fashioned in this or that way according to the materials on hand; a +beginning was made by examining these materials, and trying to +estimate their rigidity, weight, and strength. - All this is +reactionary; the age of Reason has come and the Assembly is too +enlightened to drag on in a rut. In conformity with the fashion of +the time it works by deduction, after the method of Rousseau, +according to an abstract notion of right, of the State and of the +social compact.[26] According to this process, by virtue of +political geometry alone, they shall have the perfect vessel and +since it perfect it follows that it will sail, and that much better +than any empirical craft. - They legislate according to this +principle, and one may imagine the nature of their discussions. +There are no convincing facts, no pointed arguments; nobody would +ever imagine that the speakers were gathered together to conduct +real business. Through speech after speech, strings of hollow +abstractions are endlessly renewed as in a meeting of students in +rhetoric for the purpose of practice, or in a society of old +bookworms for their own amusement. On the question of the veto +"each orator in turn, armed with his portfolio, reads a dissertation +which has no bearing whatever" on the preceding one, which makes a +"sort of academical session,"[27] a succession of pamphlets fresh +every morning for several days. On the question of the Rights of +Man fifty-four speakers are placed on the list. + + "I remember," says Dumont, "that long discussion, which lasted for +weeks, as a period of deadly boredom, -- vain disputes over words, a +metaphysical jumble, and most tedious babble; the Assembly was +turned into a Sorbonne lecture-room," + + and all this while chateaux were burning, while town-halls were +being sacked, and courts dared no longer hold assize, while the +distribution of wheat was stopped, and while society was in course +of dissolution. In the same manner the theologians of the Easter +Roman Empire kept up their wrangles about the uncreated light of +Mount Tabor while Mahomet II was battering the walls of +Constantinople with his cannon. - Ours, of course, are another +sort of men, juvenile in feeling, sincere, enthusiastic, even +generous, and further, more devoted, laborious, and in some cases +endowed with rare talent. But neither zeal, nor labor, nor talent +are of any use when not employed in the service of a sound idea; and +if in the service of a false one, the greater they are the more +mischief they do. + + Towards the end of the year 1789, there can be not doubt of this; +and the parties now formed reveal their presumption, improvidence, +incapacity, and obstinacy. "This Assembly," writes the American +ambassador,[28] "may be divided into three parties; -- + + one called the aristocrats, consists of the high clergy, the +parliamentary judges, and such of the nobility as think they ought +to form a separate order." This is the party which offers resistance +to follies and errors, but with follies and errors almost equally +great. In the beginning "the prelates,[29] instead of conciliating +the curés, kept them at a humiliating distance, affecting +distinctions, exacting respect," and, in their own chamber, "ranging +themselves apart on separate benches." The nobles, on the other +hand, the more to alienate the commons, began by charging these +with, "revolt, treachery, and treason," and by demanding the use of +military force against them. Now that the victorious Third-Estate +has again overcome them and overwhelms them with numbers, they +become still more maladroit, and conduct the defense much less +efficiently than the attack. "In the Assembly," says one of them, +"they do not listen, but laugh and talk aloud;" they take pains to +embitter their adversaries and the galleries by their impertinence. +"They leave the chamber when the President puts the question and +invite the deputies of their party to follow them, or cry out to +them not to take part in the deliberation : through this desertion, +the clubbists become the majority, and decree whatever they please." +It is in this way that the appointment of judges and bishops is +withdrawn from the King and assigned to the people. Again, after +the return from Varennes, when the Assembly finds out that the +result of its labors is impracticable and wants to make it less +democratic, the whole of the right side refuses to share in the +debates, and, what is worse, votes with the revolutionaries to +exclude the members of the Constituent from the Legislative +Assembly. Thus, not only does it abandon its own cause, but it +commits self-destruction, and its desertion ends in suicide. -- + + A second party remains, "the middle party,"[30] which consists of +well-intentioned people from every class, sincere partisans of a +good government; but, unfortunately, they have acquired their ideas +of government from books, and are admirable on paper. But as it +happens that the men who live in the world are very different from +imaginary men who dwell in the heads of philosophers, it is not to +be wondered at if the systems taken out of books are fit for nothing +but to be upset by another book. Intellects of this stamp are the +natural prey of utopians. Lacking the ballast of experience they +are carried away by pure logic and serve to enlarge the flock of +theorists. - The latter form the third party, which is called the +"enragés (the wild men), and who, at the expiration of six months, +find themselves "the most numerous of all." + + "It is composed," says Morris, "of that class which in America is +known by the name of pettifogging lawyers, together with a host of +curates and many of those persons who in all revolutions throng to +the standard of change because they are not well.[31] This last +party is in close alliance with the populace and derives from this +circumstance very great authority." + + All powerful passions are on its side, not merely the irritation +of the people tormented by misery and suspicion, not merely the +ambition and self-esteem of the bourgeois, in revolt against the +ancient régime, but also the inveterate bitterness and fixed ideas +of so many suffering minds and so many factious intellects, +Protestants, Jansenists, economists, philosophers, men who, like +Fréteau, Rabout-Saint-Etienne, Volney, Sieyès, are hatching out a +long arrears of resentments or hopes, and who only await the +opportunity to impose their system with all the intolerance of +dogmatism and of faith. To minds of this stamp the past is a dead +letter; example is no authority; realities are of no account; they +live in their own Utopia. Sieyès, the most important of them all, +judges that "the whole English constitution is charlatanism, +designed for imposing on the people;"[32] he regards the English "as +children in the matter of a constitution," and thinks that he is +capable of giving France a much better one. Dumont, who sees the +first committees at the houses of Brissot and Clavières, goes away +with as much anxiety as "disgust." + + "It is impossible," he says, "to depict the confusion of ideas, +the license of the imagination, the burlesque of popular notions. +One would think that they saw before them the world on the day after +the Creation." + + They seem to think, indeed, that human society does not exist, and +that they are appointed to create it. Just as well might +ambassadors "of hostile tribes, and of diverse interests, set +themselves to arrange their common lot as if nothing had previously +existed." There is no hesitation. They are satisfied that the +thing can be easily done, and that, with two or three axioms of +political philosophy, the first man that comes may make himself +master of it. Immoderate conceit of this kind among men of +experience would seem ridiculous; in this assembly of novices it is +a strength. A flock which has lost its way follows those who +appears to forge ahead; they are the most irrational but they are +the most confident, and in the Chamber as in the nation it is the +daredevils who become leaders. + + + + III. THE POWER OF SIMPLE, GENERAL IDEAS. + + Ascendancy of the revolutionary party - Theory in its favor - The +constraint thus imposed on men's minds - Appeal to the passions - +Brute force on the side of the party - It profits by this - +Oppression of the minority. + + Two advantages give this party the ascendancy, and these advantages +are of such importance that henceforth whoever possesses them is +sure of being master. - In the first place the prevailing theory is +on the side of the revolutionaries, and they alone are, in the +second place, determined thoroughly to apply it. This party, +therefore, is the only one which is consistent and popular in the +face of adversaries who are unpopular and inconsequent. Nearly all +of the latter, indeed, defenders of the ancient régime, or partisans +of a limited monarchy, are likewise imbued with abstract principles +and philosophical speculation. The most refractory nobles have +advocated the rights of man in their memorials. Mounier, the +principal opponent of the demagogues, was the leader of the commons +when they proclaimed themselves to be the National -Assembly.[33] +This is enough: they have entered the narrow defile which leads to +the abyss. They had no idea of it at the first start, but one step +leads to another, and, willing or unwilling, they march on, or are +pushed on. When the abyss comes in sight it is too late; they have +been driven there by the logical results of their own concessions; +they can do nothing but wax eloquent and indignant; having abandoned +their vantage ground, they find no halting-place remaining. - There +is an enormous power in general ideas, especially if they are +simple, and appeal to the passions. None are simpler than these, +since they are reducible to the axiom which assumes the rights of +man, and subordinate to them every institution, old or new. None +are better calculated to inflame the sentiments, since the doctrine +enlists human arrogance and pride in its service, and, in the name +of justice, consecrates all the demands of independence and +domination. Consider three-fourths of the deputies, immature and +prejudiced, possessing no information but a few formulas of the +current philosophy, with no thread to guide them but pure logic, +abandoned to the declamation of lawyers, to the wild utterances of +the newspapers, to the promptings of self-esteem, to the hundred +thousand tongues which, on all sides, at the bar of the Assembly, at +the tribune, in the clubs, in the streets, in their own breasts, +repeat unanimously to them, and every day, the same flattery: + + "You are sovereign and omnipotent. Right is vested in you alone. +The King exists only to execute your will. Every order, every +corporation, every power, every civil or ecclesiastical association +is illegitimate and null the moment you declare it to be so. You +may even transform religion. You are the fathers of the country. +You have saved France, you will regenerate humanity. The whole +world looks on you in admiration; finish your glorious work -- +forward, always forward." + + Superior good sense and rooted convictions could alone stand firm +against this flood of seductions and solicitations; but vacillating +and ordinary men are carried away by it. In the harmony of +applause which rises, they do not hear the crash of the ruins they +produce. In any case, they stop their ears, and shun the cries of +the oppressed; they refuse to admit that their work could possibly +bring about evil results; they accept the sophisms and untruths +which justify it; they allow the assassinated to be calumniated in +order to excuse the assassins; they listen to Merlin de Douay, who, +after three or four jacqueries, when pillaging, arson, and murder +are going on in all the provinces, has just declared in the name of +the Committee on Feudalism[34] that "a law must be presented to the +people, the justice of which may enforce silence on the feudatory +egoists who, for the past six months, so indecently protest against +plunder; the wisdom of which may restore to a sense of duty the +peasant who has been led astray for a moment by his resentment of a +long oppression." And when Raynal, the surviving patriarch of the +philosophic party, one day, for a wonder, takes the plain truth with +him into their tribune, they resent his straightforwardness as an +outrage, and excuse it solely on the ground of his imbecility. An +omnipotent legislator cannot depreciate himself; like a king he is +condemned to self-admiration in his public capacity. "There were +not thirty deputies amongst us," says a witness, "who thought +differently from Raynal," but "in each other's presence the credit +of the Revolution, the perspective of its blessings, was an article +of faith which had to be believed in;" and, against their own +reason, against their conscience, the moderates, caught in the net +of their own acts, join the revolutionaries to complete the +Revolution. + + Had they refused, they would have been compelled; for, to obtain +the power, the Assembly has, from the very first, either tolerated +or solicited the violence of the streets. But, in accepting +insurrectionists for its allies, it makes them masters, and +henceforth, in Paris as in the provinces, illegal and brutal force +becomes the principal power of the State. "The triumph was +accomplished through the people; it was impossible to be severe with +them;"[35] hence, when insurrections were to be put down, the +Assembly had neither the courage nor the force necessary. "They +blame for the sake of decency; they frame their deeds by +expediency." and in turn justly undergo the pressure which they +themselves have sanctioned against others. Only three or four +times do the majority, when the insurrection becomes too daring -- +after the murder of the baker François, the insurrection of the +Swiss Guard at Nancy, and the outbreak of the Champ de Mars -- feel +that they themselves are menaced, vote for and apply martial law, +and repel force with force. But, in general, when the despotism of +the people is exercised only against the royalist minority, they +allow their adversaries to be oppressed, and do not consider +themselves affected by the violence which assails the party of the +"right:" they are enemies, and may be given up to the wild beasts. +In accordance with this, the "left " has made its arrangements; its +fanaticism has no scruples; it is principle, it is absolute truth +that is at stake; this must triumph at any cost. Besides, can +there be any hesitation in having recourse to the people in the +people's own cause? A little compulsion will help along the good +cause, and hence the siege of the Assembly is continually renewed. +This was the practice already at Versailles before the 6th of +October, while now, at Paris, it is kept up more actively and with +less disguise. + + At the beginning of the year 1790,[36] the band under pay comprises +seven hundred and fifty effective men, most of them deserters or +soldiers drummed out of their regiments, who are at first paid five +francs and then forty sous a day. It is their business to make or +support motions in the coffee-houses and in the streets, to mix with +the spectators at the sittings of the sections, with the groups at +the Palais-Royal, and especially in the galleries of the National- +Assembly, where they are to hoot or applaud at a given signal. +Their leader is a Chevalier de Saint-Louis, to whom they swear +obedience, and who receives his orders from the Committee of +Jacobins. His first lieutenant at the Assembly is a M. Saule, "a +stout, small, stunted old fellow, formerly an upholsterer, then a +charlatan hawker of four penny boxes of grease (made from the fat of +those that had been hung - for the cure of diseases of the kidneys) +and all his life a sot .... who, by means of a tolerably shrill +voice, which was always well moistened, has acquired some reputation +in the galleries of the Assembly." In fact, he has forged admission +tickets he has been turned out; he has been obliged to resume "the +box of ointment, and travel for one or two months in the provinces +with a man of letters for his companion." But on his return, +"through the protection of a groom of the Court, he obtained a piece +of ground for a coffee-house against the wall of the Tuileries +garden, almost alongside of the National Assembly," and now it is at +home in his coffee-shop behind his counter that the hirelings of the +galleries " come to him to know what they must say, and to be told +the order of the day in regard to applause." Besides this, he is +there himself; "it is he who for three years is to regulate public +sentiment in the galleries confided to his care, and, for his useful +and satisfactory services, the Constituent Assembly will award him a +recompense," to which the Legislative Assembly will add " a pension +of six hundred livres, besides a lodging in an apartment of the +Feuillants." + + We can divine how men of this stamp, thus compensated, do their +work. From the top of the galleries[37] they drown the demands of +the "right" by the force of their lungs; this or that decree, as, +for instance, the abolition of titles of nobility, is carried, "not +by shouts, but by terrific howls."[38] On the arrival of the news of +the sacking of the Hôtel de Castries by the populace, they applaud. +On the question coming up as to the decision whether the Catholic +faith shall be dominant, "they shout out that the aristocrats must +all be hung, and then things will go on well." Their outrages not +only remain unpunished, but are encouraged: this or that noble who +complains of their hooting is called to order, while their +interference and vociferations, their insults and their menaces, are +from this time introduced as one of the regular wheels of +legislative operations. Their pressure is still worse outside the +Chamber.[39] The Assembly is obliged several times to double its +guard. On the 27th of September, 1790, there are 40,000 men around +the building to extort the dismissal of the Ministers, and "motions +for assassination" are made under the windows, On the 4th of +January, 1791, whilst on a call of the house the ecclesiastical +deputies pass in turn to the tribune, to take or refuse the oath to +the civil constitution of the clergy, a furious clamor ascends in +the Tuileries, and even penetrates into the Chamber. "To the lamp +post with all those who refuse! " On the 27th of September, 1790, M. +Dupont, economist, having spoken against the assignats, is +surrounded on leaving the Chamber and hooted at, hustled, pushed +against the basin of the Tuileries, into which he was being thrown +when the guard rescued him. On the 21st of June, 1790, M. de +Cazalès just misses "being torn to pieces by the people."[40] +Deputies of the "right" are threatened over and over again by +gestures in the streets and in the coffee-houses; effigies of them +with ropes about the neck are publicly displayed. The Abbé Maury +is several times on the point of being hung: he saves himself once +by presenting a pistol. Another time the Vicomte de Mirabeau is +obliged to draw his sword. M. de Clermont-Tonnerre, having voted +against the annexation of the Comtat to France, is assailed with +chairs and clubs in the Palais-Royal, pursued into a porter's room +and from thence to his dwelling; the howling crowd break in the +doors, and are only repelled with great difficulty. It is +impossible for the members of the "right" to assemble together; they +are "stoned" in the church of the Capuchins, then in the Salon +Français in the Rue Royale, and then, to crown the whole, an +ordinance of the new judges shuts up their hall, and punishes them +for the violence which they have to suffer.[41] In short they are at +the mercy of the mob. The most moderate, the most liberal, and the +most manly both in heart and head, Malouet, declares that "in going +to the Assembly he rarely forgot to carry his pistols with him."[42] +"For two years," he says, "after the King's flight, we never enjoyed +one moment of freedom and security." + + " On going into a slaughter-house," writes another deputy, "you see +some animals at the entrance which still have a short time to live, +until the hour comes to dispatch them. Such was the impression +which the assemblage of nobles, bishops, and parliamentarians[43] on +the right side made on my mind every time I entered the Assembly, +the executioners of the left side permitting them to breathe a +little longer." + + They are insulted and outraged even upon their benches; "placed +between peril within and peril without, between the hostility of the +galleries,"[44] and that of the howlers at the entrance, " between +personal insults and the abbey of Saint-Germain, between shouts of +laughter celebrating the burning of their chateaux and the clamors +which, thirty times in a quarter of an hour, cry down their +opinions," they are given over and denounced "to the ten thousand +Cerberuses " of the journals and of the streets, who pursue them +with their yells and "cover them with their slaver." Any expedient +is good enough for putting down their opposition, and, at the end of +the session, in full Assembly, they are threatened with "a +recommendation to the departments," which means the excitement of +riots and of the permanent jacquerie of the provinces against them +in their own houses. - Parliamentary strategy of this sort, +employed uninterruptedly for twenty-nine months, finally produces +its effect. Many of the weak are gained over;[45] even on +characters of firm temper fear has a hold; he who would march under +fire with head erect shuddered at the idea of being dragged in the +gutter by the rabble ; the brutality of the populace always +exercises a material ascendancy over finely strung nerves. On the +12th of July, 1791,[46] the call of the house decreed against the +absentees proves that one hundred and thirty-two deputies no longer +appear in their places. Eleven days before, among those who take +no further part in the proceedings. Thus, before the completion of +the Constitution, the whole of the opposition, more than four +hundred members, over one-third of the Assembly, is reduced to +flight or to silence. By dint of oppression, the revolutionary +party has got rid of all resistance, while the violence which gave +to it ascendancy in the streets, now gives to it equal ascendance +within the walls of Parliament. + + + + IV. + + Refusal to supply the ministry - Effects of this mistake - +Misconception of the situation - The committee of investigation - +Constant alarms - Effects of ignorance and fear on the work of the +Constituent Assembly. + + Generally in an omnipotent assembly, when a party takes the lead +and forms a majority, it furnishes the Ministry; and this fact +suffices to give, or to bring back to it, some glimpse of common +sense. For its leaders, with the Government in their own hands, +become responsible for it, and when they propose or pass a law, they +are obliged to anticipate its effect. Rarely will a Secretary of +War or of the Navy adopt a military code which goes to establish +permanent disobedience in the army or in the navy. Rarely will a +Secretary of the Treasury propose an expenditure for which there is +not a sufficient revenue, or a system of taxation that provides no +returns. Placed where full information can be procured, daily +advised of every details, surrounded by skillful counselors and +expert clerks, the chiefs of the majority, who thus become heads of +the administration, immediately drop theory for practice; and the +fumes of political speculation must be pretty dense in their minds +if they exclude the multiplied rays of light which experience +constantly sheds upon them. Let the most stubborn of theorists +take his stand at the helm of a ship, and, whatever be the obstinacy +of his principles or his prejudices, he will never, unless he is +blind or led by the blind, persist in steering always to the right +or always to the left. Just so after the flight to Varennes, when +the Assembly, in full possession of the executive power, directly +controls the Ministry, it comes to recognize for itself that its +constitutional machine will not work, except in the way of +destruction; and it is the principal revolutionaries, Barnave, +Duport, the Lameths, Chapelier, and Thouret,[47] who undertake to +make alterations in the mechanisms so as to lessen its friction. +But this source of knowledge and reason, however, to which they are +momentarily induced to draw, in spite of themselves and too late, +has been turned off by themselves from the very beginning. On the +6th of November, 1789, in deference to principle and in dread of +corruption, the Assembly had declared that none of its members +should hold ministerial office. We see it in consequence deprived +of all the instruction which comes from direct contact with affairs, +surrendered without any counterpoise to the seductions of theory, +reduced by its own decision to become a mere academy of legislation +only. + + Nay, still worse, through another effect of the same error, it +condemns itself by its own act to constant fits of panic. For, +having allowed the power which it was not willing to assume to slip +into indifferent or suspect hands, it is always uneasy, and all its +decrees bear an uniform stamp, not only of the willful ignorance +within which it confines itself, but also of the exaggerated or +chimerical fears in which its life is passed. - Imagine a ship +conveying a company of lawyers, literary men, and other passengers, +who, supported by a mutinous and poorly fed crew, take full command, +but refuse to select one of their own number for a pilot or for the +officer of the watch. The former captain continues to nominate +them; through very shame, and because he is a good sort of man, his +title is left to him, and he is retained for the transmission of +orders. If these orders are absurd, so much the worse for him; if +he resists them, a fresh mutiny forces him to yield; and even when +they cannot be executed, he has to answer for their being carried +out. In the meantime, in a room between decks, far away from the +helm and the compass, our club of amateurs discuss the equilibrium +of floating bodies, decree a new system of navigation, have the +ballast thrown overboard, crowd on all sail, and are astonished to +find that the ship heels over on its side. The officer of the +watch and the pilot must, evidently, have managed the maneuver +badly. They are accordingly dismissed and others put in their +place, while the ship heels over farther yet and begins to leak in +every joint. Enough: it is the fault of the captain and the old +staff of officers, They are not well-disposed; for a beautiful +system of navigation like this ought to work well; and if it fails +to do so, it is because some one interferes with it. It is +positively certain that some of those people belonging to the former +régime must be traitors, who would rather have the ship go down than +submit; they are public enemies and monsters. They must be seized, +disarmed, put under surveillance, and punished. - Such is the +reasoning of the Assembly. Evidently, to reassure it, a message +from the Minister of the Interior chosen by the Assembly, to the +lieutenant of police whom he had appointed, to come to his office +every morning, would be all that was necessary. But it is deprived +of this simple resource by its own act, and has no other expedient +than to appoint a committee of investigation to discover crimes of +"treason against the nation."[48] What could be more vague than +such a term? What could be more mischievous than such an +institution? -- Renewed every month, deprived of special agents, +composed of credulous and inexperienced deputies, this committee, +set to perform the work of a Lenoir or a Fouché, makes up for its +incapacity by violence, and its proceedings anticipate those of the +Jacobine inquisition.[49] Alarmist and suspicious, it encourages +accusations, and, for lack of plots to discover, it invents them. +Inclinations, in its eyes, stand for actions, and floating projects +become accomplished outrages. On the denunciation of a domestic +who has listened at a door, on the gossip of a washerwoman who has +found a scrap of paper in a dressing-gown, on the false +interpretation of a letter, on vague indications which it completes +and patches together by the strength of its imagination, it forges a +coup d'état, makes examinations, domiciliary visits, nocturnal +surprises and arrests;[50] it exaggerates, blackens, and comes in +public session to denounce the whole affair to the National +Assembly. First comes the plot of the Breton nobles to deliver +Brest to the English;[51] then the plot for hiring brigands to +destroy the crops; then the plot of 14th of July to burn Paris; then +the plot of Favras to murder Lafayette, Necker, and Bailly; then the +plot of Augeard to carry off the King, and many others, week after +week, not counting those which swarm in the brains of the +journalists, and which Desmoulins, Fréron, and Marat reveal with a +flourish of trumpets in each of their publications. + + "All these alarms are cried daily in the streets like cabbages and +turnips, the good people of Paris inhaling them along with the +pestilential vapors of our mud."[52] + + ..............Now, in this aspect, as well as in a good many others, the +Assembly is the people; satisfied that it is in danger,[53] it makes +laws as the former make their insurrections, and protects itself by +strokes of legislation as the former protects itself by blows with +pikes. Failing to take hold of the motor spring by which it might +direct the government machine, it distrusts all the old and all the +new wheels. The old ones seem to it an obstacle, and, instead of +utilizing them, it breaks them one by one -- parliaments, provincial +states, religious orders, the church, the nobles, and royalty. The +new ones are suspicious, and instead of harmonizing them, it puts +them out of gear in advance -- the executive power, administrative +powers, judicial powers, the police, the gendarmerie, and the +army.[54] Thanks to these precautions it is impossible for any of +them to be turned against itself; but, also, thanks to these +precautions, none of them can perform their functions.[55] + + In building, as well as in destroying, the Assembly had two bad +counselors, on the one hand fear, on the other hand theory; and on +the ruins of the old machine which it had demolished without +discernment, the new machine, which it has constructed without +forecast, will work only to its own ruin. + +__________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + +[1] Arthur Young, June 15, 1789. - Bailly, passim, -- Moniteur, +IV. 522 (June 2, 1790). - Mercure de France (Feb. 11 1792). + +[2] Moniteur, v. 631 (Sep. 12, 1790), and September 8th (what is +said by the Abbé Maury). - Marmontel, book XIII. 237. - +Malouet, I. 261. - Bailly, I. 227. + +[3] Sir Samuel Romilly, "Mémoires," I. 102, 354. - Dumont, 158. +(The official rules bear are dated July 29, 1789.) + +[4] Cf. Ferrières, I. 3. His repentance is affecting. + +[5] Letter from Morris to Washington, January 24, 1790 See page 382, +"A diary of the French revolution", Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. +1972. - Dumont 125 - Garat, letter to Condorcet. + +[6] Arthur Young, I. 46. "Tame and elegant, uninteresting and +polite, the mingled mass of communicated ideas has power neither to +offend nor instruct. . . . . All vigor of thought seems excluded +from expression. . . . . Where there is much polish of character +there is little argument." -- Cabinet des Estampes. See +engravings of the day by Moreau, Prieur, Monet, representing the +opening of the States-General. All the figures have a graceful, +elegant, and genteel air. + +[7] Marmontel, book XIII. 237. - Malouet, I. 261. - Ferrières, I. +19. + +[8] Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790. - Likewise (De Ferrières, +I.71) the decree on the abolition of nobility was not the order of +the day, and was carried by surprise. + +[9] Ferrières, I. 189. - Dumont, 146. + +[10] Letter of Mirabeau to Sieyès, June 11, 1790. "Our nation of +monkeys with the throats of parrots." -- Dumont, 146. "Sieyès and +Mirabeau always entertained a contemptible opinion of the +Constituent Assembly." + +[11] Moniteur, I, 256, 431 (July 16 and 31, 1789). - Journal des +Débats et Décrets, 105, July 16th "A member demands that M. de Lally +should put his speech in writing. "The whole Assembly has repeated +this request." + +[12] Moniteur. (March 11, 1790). "A nun of St. Mandé, brought to the +bar of the house, thanks the Assembly for the decree by which the +cloisters are opened, and denounces the tricks, intrigues, and even +violence exercised in the convents to prevent the execution of the +decree." -- Ibid. March 29, 1790. See the various addresses which +are read. " At Lagnon, the mother of a family assembled her ten +children, and swore with them and for them to be loyal to the nation +and to the King." -- Ibid. June 5, 1790. "M. Chambroud reads the +letter of the collector of customs of Lannion, in Brittany, to a +priest, a member of the National Assembly. He implores his +influence to secure the acceptance of his civic oath and that of all +his family, ready to wield either the censer, the cart, the scales, +the sword, or the pen. On reading a number of these addresses the +Assembly appears to be a supplement of the Petites Affiches (a small +advertising journal in Paris). + +[13] Moniteur, October 23, 1789. + +[14] A well-known writer of children's stories.-[Tr.] + +[15] Ferrières, II. 65 (June 10,1790). - De Montlosier, I. +402. "One of these puppets came the following day to get his money +of the Comte de Billancourt, mistaking him for the Duc de Liancourt. +'Monsieur,' says he, 'I am the man who played the Chaldean +yesterday.' + +[16] Buchez and Roux, X. 118 (June 16, 1791). + +[17] See the printed list of deputies, with the indication of their +baillage or sénéchaussée, quality, condition, and profession. + +[18] De Bouillé, 75. - When the King first saw the list of the +deputies, he exclaimed," What would the nation have said if I had +made up my council or the Notables in this way?" (Buchez and Roux, +IV. 39.) + +[19] Gouverneur Morris, July 31, 1789. + +[20] Gouverneur Morris, February 25, 1789. - Lafayette, +"Mémoires," V. 492. Letter of Jefferson, February 14, 1815. - +Arthur Young, June 27 and 29, 1789. + +[21] Morris, July 1, 1789. + +[22] Morris, July 4, 1789. + +[23] Mallet du Pan, Mercure, September 26, 1789. + +[24] Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790; November 22, 1790. + +[25] Dumont, 33, 58, 62. + +[26] Sir Samuel. Romilly, "Mémoirs," I. 102. "It was their +constant course first, decree the principle and leave the drawing up +of what they had so resolved (or, as they called it, la rédaction) +for later. It is astonishing how great an influence it had on +their debates and measures. - Ibid. I. 354. Letter by +Dumont, June 2, 1789. "They prefer their own folly to all the +results of British experience. They revolt at the idea of +borrowing anything from our government, which is scoffed at here as +one of the iniquities of human reason; although they admit that you +have two or three good laws; but that you should presume to have a +constitution is not to be sustained." + +[27] Dumont, 138, 151. + +[28] Morris, January 24, 1790. + +[29] Marmontel, XII. 265. - Ferrières, . I. 48¸ II. 50, +58, 126. - Dumont, 74. + +[30] Gouverneur Morris, January 24, 1790. - According to Ferrières +this party comprised about three hundred members. + +[31] Here Ambassador Morris describes the kind of man who should +form the backbone of all later revolutions whether communist or +fascist ones. (SR.) + +[32] Dumont, 33, 58, 62. + +[33] De Lavergne, "Les Assemblées Provinciales," 384. +Deliberations of the States of Dauphiny, drawn up by Mournier and +signed by two hundred gentlemen (July, 1788). "The rights of man +are derived from nature alone, and are independent of human +conventions. + +[34] Report by Merlin de Douai, February 8, 1790, p.2. -- Malouet, +II, 51. + +[35] Dumont, 133. - De Montlosier, I, 355, 361. + +[36] Bertrand de Molleville, II. 221 (according to a police +report). - Schmidt, "Tableaux de la Révolution," I. 215. +(Report of the agent Dutard, May 13, 1793) -- Lacretelle, "Dix Ans +d'Epreuves," p.35. "It was about midnight when we went out in the +rain, sleet, and snow, in the piercing cold, to the church of the +Feuillants, to secure places for the galleries of the Assembly, +which we were not to occupy till noon on the following day. We +were obliged, moreover, to contend for them with a crowd animated by +passions, and even by interests, very different from our own. We +were not long in perceiving that a considerable part of the +galleries was under pay, and that the scenes of cruelty which gave +pain to us were joy to them. I cannot express the horror I felt on +hearing those women, since called tricoteuses, take a delight in the +already homicidal doctrines of Robespierre, enjoying his sharp voice +and feasting their eyes on his ugly face, the living type of envy." +(The first months of 1790.) + +[37] Moniteur, V. 237 (July 26, 1790); V. 594. (September 8, +1790); V. 631 (September 12, 1790); VI. 310 (October 6, 1790). +(Letter of the Abbé Peretti.) + +[38] De Ferrières, II. 75. - Moniteur, VI. 373 (September 6, +1790). - M. de Virieu. "Those who insult certain members and +hinder the freedom of debate by hooting or applause must be +silenced. Is it the three hundred spectators who are to be our +judges, or the nation?" M. Chasset, President: "Monsieur opinionist, +I call you to order. You speak of hindrances to a free vote; there +has never been anything of the kind in this Assembly." + +[39] Sauzay, I 140. Letter of M. Lompré, liberal deputy, to M. +Séguin, chanoine (towards the end of November, 1789). "The service +becomes more difficult every day; we have become objects of popular +fury, and, when no other resource was left to us to avoid the +tempest but to get rid of the endowments of the clergy, we yielded +to force. It had become a pressing necessity, and I should have +been sorry to have had you still here, exposed to the outrages and +violence with which I have been repeatedly threatened." + +[40] Mercure de France, Nos. of January 15, 1791; October 2, 1790; +May 14,1791.-- Buchez and Roux, V. 343 (April 13, 1790); VII. 76 +(September 2, 1790); X. 225 ( June 21, 1791). - De Montlosier, +I. 357. - Moniteur, IV, 427. + +[41] Archives of the Police, exposed by the Committee of the +district of Saint-Roch. Judgment of the Police Tribunal, May 15, +1790. + +[42] Malouet, II. 68. - De Montlosier, II. 217, 257 (Speech of +M. Lavie, September 18, 1791). + +[43] I.e. members of the old local parlements. + +[44] Mercure, October 1, 1791. (Article by Mallet du Pan.) + +[45] Malouet II. 66. "Those only who were not intimidated by +insults or threats, nor by actual blows, could come forward as +opponents." + +[46] Buchez and Roux, X. 432, 465. + +[47] Malouet, II, 153. + +[48] Decrees of July 23rd and 28th, 1789. - "Archives Nationales." +Papers of Committee of Investigation, passim. Among other affairs +see that of Madame de Persan (Moniteur, V. 611, sitting of September +9, 1790), and that of Malouet ("Mémoires II. 12). + +[49] Buchez and Roux, IV. 56 (Report of Garan de Coulon); V. 49 +(Decision of the Committee of Investigation, December 28, 1789). + +[50] The arrests of M. de Riolles, M. de Bussy, etc., of Madame de +Jumilhac, of two other ladies, one at Bar-le-Duc and the other of +Nancy, etc. + +[51] Sitting of July 28, 1789, the speeches of Duport and Rewbell, +etc. - Mercure, No. of January 1, 1791 (article by Mallet du +Pan). - Buchez and Roux, V. 146l "Behold five or six successive +conspiracies -- that of the sacks of flour, that of the sacks of +money, etc. (Article by Camille Desmoulins.) + +[52] "Archives de la Préfecture de Police." Extract from the +registers of the deliberations of the Conseil-Général of the +district of Saint-Roch, October 10 1789: Arrête: to request all the +men in the commune to devote themselves, with all the prudence, +activity, and force of which they are capable, to the discovery, +exposure, and publication of the horrible plots and infernal +treachery which are constantly meditated against the inhabitants of +the capital; to denounce to the public the authors, abettors, and +adherents of the said plots, whatever their rank may be; to secure +their persons and insure their punishment with all the rigor which +outrages of this kind call for." The commandant of the battalion and +the district captains come daily to consult with the committee. +"While the alarm lasts, the first story of each house is to be +lighted with lamps during the night: all citizens of the district +are requested to be at home by ten o'clock in the evening at the +latest, unless they should be on duty. . . . All citizens are +invited to communicate whatever they may learn or discover in +relation to the abominable plots which are secretly going on in the +capital." + +[53] Letter of M. de Guillermy, July 31, 1790 ("Actes des Apôtres," +V. 56). "During these two nights (July 13th and 14th, 1789) that we +remained in session I heard one deputy try to get it believed that +an artillery corps had been ordered to point its guns against our +hall; another, that it was undermined, and that it was to be blown +up; another went so far as to declare that he smelt powder, upon +which M. le Comte de Virieu replied that power had no odor until it +was burnt." + +[54] Dumont, 351. "Each constitutional law was a party triumph." + +[55] Here Taine indicates how subversive parties may proceed to +weaken a nation prior to their take-over.(SR.) + + + + +CHAPTER II. DESTRUCTION. + +I. +Two principal vices of the ancient régime. - Two principal reforms +proposed by the King and the privileged classes. - They suffice for +actual needs. - Impracticable if carried further. + + +In the structure of the old society there were two fundamental vices +which called for two reforms of corresponding importance.[1] + +In the first place, those who were privileged having ceased to +render the services for which the advantages they enjoyed +constituted their compensation and their privileges were no longer +anything but a gratuitous charge imposed on one portion of the +nation for the benefit of the other. Hence the necessity for +suppressing them. + +In the second place, the Government, being absolute, made use of +public resources as if they were its own private property, +arbitrarily and wastefully;[2] it was therefore necessary to impose +upon it some effective and regular restraints. + +To render all citizens equal before taxation, to put the purse of +the tax-payers into the hands of their representatives, such was the +twofold operation to be carried out in 1789; and the privileged +class as well as the King willingly lent themselves to it. Not +only, in this respect, were the memorials of nobles and clergy in +perfect harmony, but the monarch himself; in his declaration of the +23rd of June, 1789, decreed the two articles. Henceforth, every tax +or loan was to obtain the consent of the States-General; this +consent was to be renewed at each new meeting of the States; the +public estimates were to be annually published, discussed, +specified, apportioned, voted on and verified by the States; there +were to be no arbitrary assessments or use of public funds; +allowances were to be specially assigned for all separate services, +the household of the King included. In each province or district- +general, there was to be an elected Provincial Assembly, one-half +composed of ecclesiastics and nobles, and the other half of members +of the Third-Estate, to apportion general taxes, to manage local +affairs, to decree and direct public works, to administer hospitals, +prisons, workhouses, and to continue its function, in the interval +of the sessions, through an intermediary commission chosen by +itself; so that, besides the principal control of the center, there +were to be thirty subordinate controlling powers at the extremities. +There was to be no more exemption or distinction in the matter of +taxation; the roadtax (covée) was to be abolished, also the right of +franc-fief[3] imposed on plebeians; the rights of mortmain,[4] +subject to indemnity, and internal customs duties. There was to be +a reduction of the captaincies, a modification of the salt-tax and +of the excise, the transformation of civil justice, too costly for +the poor, and of criminal justice, too severe for the humbler +classes. Here we have, besides the principal reform, equalization +of taxes; the beginning and inducement of the more complete +operation which is to strike off the last of the feudal manacles. +Moreover; six weeks later, on the 4th of August; the privileged, in +an outburst of generosity, come forward of their own accord to cut +off or undo the whole of them. This double reform thus encountered +no obstacles, and, as Arthur Young reported to his friends, it +merely required one vote to have it adopted.[5] + +This was enough; for all real necessities were now satisfied. On +the one hand, through the abolition of privileges in the matter of +taxation, the burden of the peasant and, in general, on the small +tax-payer was diminished one-half, and perhaps two thirds; instead +of paying fifty-three francs on one hundred francs of net income, he +paid no more than twenty-five or even sixteen;[6] an enormous +relief, and one which, with the proposed revision of the excise and +salt duties, made a complete change in his condition. Add to this +the gradual redemption of ecclesiastical and feudal dues: and after +twenty years the peasant, already proprietor of a fifth of the soil, +would, without the violent events of the Revolution, in any case +have attained the same degree of independence and well-being which +he was to achieve by passing through it. On the other hand, through +the annual vote on the taxes, not only were waste and arbitrariness +in the employment of the public funds put a stop to, but also the +foundations of the parliamentary system of government were laid: +whoever holds the purse-strings is, or becomes, master of the rest; +henceforth in the maintenance or establishment of any service, the +assent of the States was to be necessary. Now, in the three +Chambers which the three orders were thenceforward to form, there +were two in which the plebeians predominated. Public opinion, +moreover, was on their side, while the King, the true constitutional +monarch, far from possessing the imperious inflexibility of a +despot, did not now possess the initiative of an ordinary person. +Thus the preponderance fell to the communes, and they could legally, +without any collision, execute multiply, and complete, with the aid +of the prince and through him, all useful reforms.[7] -- This was +enough; for human society, like a living body, is seized with +convulsions when it is subjected to operations on too great a scale, +and these, although restricted, were probably all that France in +1789 could endure. To equitably reorganize afresh the whole system +of direct and indirect taxation; to revise, recast, and transfer to +the frontiers the customs-tariffs; to suppress, through negotiations +and with indemnity, feudal and ecclesiastical claims, was an +operation of the greatest magnitude, and as complex as it was +delicate. Things could be satisfactorily arranged only through +minute inquiries, verified calculations, prolonged essays, and +mutual concessions. In England, in our day, a quarter of a century +has been required to bring about a lesser reform, the transformation +of tithes and manorial-rights; and time likewise was necessary for +our Assemblies to perfect their political education,[8] to get of +their theories, to learn, by contact with practical business, and in +the study of details, the distance which separates speculation from +practice; to discover that a new system of institutions works well +only through a new system of habits, and that to decree a new system +of habits is tantamount to attempting to build an old house. -- +Such, however, is the work they undertake. They reject the King's +proposals, the limited reforms, the gradual transformations. +According to them, it is their right and their duty to re-make +society from top to bottom. Such is the command of pure reason, +which has discovered the Rights of Man and the conditions of the +Social Contract. + + +II + +Nature of societies, and the principle of enduring constitutions. + +Apply the Social Contract, if you like, but apply it only to those +for whom it was drawn up. These were abstract beings, belonging +neither to a period nor to a country, perfect creatures hatched out +under the magic wand of a metaphysician. They had as a matter of +fact come into existence by removing all the characteristics which +distinguish one man from another,[9] a Frenchman from a Papuan, a +modern Englishman from a Briton in the time of Caesar, and by +retaining only the part which is common to all.[10] The essence thus +obtained is a prodigiously meager one, an infinitely curtailed +extract of human nature, that is, in the phraseology of the day, + + "A BEING WITH A DESIRE TO BE HAPPY AND THE FACULTY OF REASONING," + +nothing more and nothing else. After this pattern several million +individuals, all precisely alike, have been prepared while, through +a second simplification, as extraordinary as the first one, they are +all supposed to be free and all equal, without a past, without +kindred, without responsibility, without traditions, without +customs, like so many mathematical units, all separable and all +equivalent, and then it is imagined that, assembled together for the +first time, these proceed to make their primitive bargain. From the +nature they are supposed to possess and the situation in which they +are placed, no difficulty is found in deducing their interests, +their wills, and the contract between them. But if this contract +suits them, it does not follow that it suits others. On the +contrary, if follows that is does not suit others; the inconvenience +becomes extreme on its being imposed on a living society; the +measure of that inconvenience will be the immensity of the distance +which divides a hollow abstraction, a philosophical phantom, an +empty insubstantial image from the real and complete man. + +In any event we are not here considering a specimen, so reduced and +mutilated as to be only an outline of a human being; no, we are to +the contrary considering Frenchmen of the year 1789. It is for them +alone that the constitution is being made: it is therefore they +alone who should be considered; they are manifestly men of a +particular species, having their peculiar temperament, their special +aptitudes, their own inclinations, their religion, their history, +all adding up into a mental and moral structure, hereditary and +deeply rooted, bequeathed to them by the indigenous stock, and to +which every great event, each political or literary phase for twenty +centuries, has added a growth, a transformation or a custom. It is +like some tree of a unique species whose trunk, thickened by age, +preserves in its annual rings and in its knots, branches, and +curvatures, the deposits which its sap has made and the imprint of +the innumerable seasons through which it has passed. Using the +philosophic definition, so vague and trite, to such an organism, is +only a puerile label teaching us nothing. -- And all the more +because extreme diversities and inequalities show themselves on this +exceedingly elaborate and complicated background, -- those of age, +education, faith, class and fortune; and these must be taken into +account, for these contribute to the formation of interests, +passions, and dispositions. To take only the most important of +these, it is clear that, according to the average of human life,[11] +one-half of the population is composed of children, and, besides +this, one-half of the adults are women. In every twenty inhabitants +eighteen are Catholic, of whom sixteen are believers, at least +through habit and tradition. Twenty-five out of twenty-six millions +of Frenchmen cannot read, one million at the most being able to do +so; and in political matters only five or six hundred are competent. +As to the condition of each class, its ideas, its sentiments, its +kind and degree of culture, we should have to devote a large volume +to a mere sketch of them. + +There is still another feature and the most important of all. These +men who are so different from each other are far from being +independent, or from contracting together for the first time. They +and their ancestors for eight hundred years form a national body, +and it is because they belong to this body that they live, multiply, +labor, make acquisitions, become enlightened and civilized, and +accumulate the vast heritage of comforts and intelligence which they +now enjoy. Each in this community is like the cell of an organized +body; undoubtedly the body is only an accumulation of cells, but the +cell is born, subsists, develops and attains its individual ends +only be the healthy condition of the whole body. Its chief +interest, accordingly, is the prosperity of the whole organism, and +the fundamental requirement of all the little fragmentary lives, +whether they know it or not, is the conservation of the great total +life in which they are comprised as musical notes in a concert. -- +Not only is this a necessity for them, but it is also a duty. We +are all born with a debt to our country, and this debt increases +while we grow up; it is with the assistance of our country, under +the protection of the law, upheld by the authorities, that our +ancestors and parents have given us life, property, and education. +Each person's faculties, ideas, attitudes, his or her entire moral +and physical being are the products to which the community has +contributed, directly or indirectly, at least as tutor and guardian. +By virtue of this the state is his creditor, just as a destitute +father is of his able-bodied son; it can lay claim to nourishment, +services, and, in all the force or resources of which he disposes, +it deservedly demands a share. -- This he knows and feels, the +notion of country is deeply implanted within him, and when occasion +calls for it, it will show itself in ardent emotions, fueling steady +sacrifice and heroic effort. -- Such are veritable Frenchmen, and +we at once see how different they are from the simple, +indistinguishable, detached monads which the philosophers insist on +substituting for them. Their association need not be created, for +it already exists; for eight centuries they have a "common weal " +(la chose publique). The safety and prosperity of this common weal +is at once their interest, their need, their duty, and even their +most secret wish. If it is possible to speak here of a contract, +their quasi-contract is made and settled for them beforehand. The +first article, at all events, is stipulated for, and this overrides +all the others. The nation must not be dissolved. Public +authorities must, accordingly, exist, and these must be respected. +If there are a number of these, they must be so defined and so +balanced as to be of mutual assistance, instead of neutralizing each +other by their opposition. Whatever government is adopted, it must +place matters in the hands best qualified to conduct them. The law +must not exist for the advantage of the minority, nor for that of +the majority, but for the entire community. -- In regard to this +first article no one must derogate from it, neither the minority nor +the majority, neither the Assembly elected by the nation, nor the +nation itself, even if unanimous. It has no right arbitrarily to +dispose of the common weal, to put it in peril according to its +caprice, to subordinate it to the application of a theory or to the +interest of a single class, even if this class is the most numerous. +For, that which is the common weal does not belong to it, but to the +whole community, past, present, and to come. Each generation is +simply the temporary manager and responsible trustee of a precious +and glorious patrimony which it has received from the former +generation, and which it has to transmit to the one that comes after +it. In this perpetual endowment, to which all Frenchmen from the +first days of France have brought their offerings, there is no doubt +about the intentions of countless benefactors; they have made their +gifts conditionally, that is, on the condition that the endowment +should remain intact, and that each successive beneficiary should +merely serve as the administrator of it. Should any of the +beneficiaries, through presumption or levity, through rashness or +one-sidedness, compromise the charge entrusted to them, they wrong +all their predecessors whose sacrifices they invalidate, and all +their successors whose hopes they frustrate. Accordingly, before +undertaking to frame a constitution, let the whole community be +considered in its entirety, not merely in the present but in the +future, as far as the eye can reach. The interest of the public, +viewed in this far-sighted manner, is the end to which all the rest +must be subordinate, and for which a constitution provides. A +constitution, whether oligarchic, monarchist, or aristocratic, is +simply an instrument, good if it attains this end, and bad if it +does not attain it, and which, to attain it, must, like every +species of mechanism, vary according to the ground, materials, and +circumstances. The most ingenious is illegitimate if it dissolves +the State, while the clumsiest is legitimate if it keeps the State +intact. There is none that springs out of an anterior, universal, +and absolute right. According to the people, the epoch, and the +degree of civilization, according to the outer or inner condition of +things, all civil or political equality or inequality may, in turn, +be or cease to be beneficial or hurtful, and therefore justify the +legislator in removing or preserving it. It is according to this +superior and salutary law, and not according to an imaginary and +impossible contract, that he is to organize, limit, delegate and +distribute from the center to the extremities, through inheritance +or through election, through equalization or through privilege, the +rights of the citizen and the power of the community. + + +III. + +The estates of a society. - Political aptitude of the aristocracy. +- Its disposition in 1789. - Special services which it might have +rendered. - The principle of the Assembly as to original equality. +- Rejection of an Upper Chamber. - The feudal rights of the +aristocracy. - How far and why they were worthy of respect. - How +they should have been transformed. - Principle of the Assembly as +to original liberty. - Distinction established by it in feudal +dues; application of its principle. - The lacunae of its law. - +Difficulties of redemption. - Actual abolition of all feudal liens. +- Abolition of titles and territorial names. - Growing prejudice +against the aristocracy. - Its persecutions. - The emigration. - + +Was it necessary to begin by making a clean sweep, and was it +advisable to abolish or only to reform the various orders and +corporations? -- Two prominent orders, the clergy and the nobles, +enlarged by the ennobled plebeians who had grown wealthy and +acquired titled estates, formed a privileged aristocracy side by +side with the Government, whose favors it might receive on the +condition of seeking them assiduously and with due acknowledgment, +privileged on its own domains, and taking advantage there of all +rights belonging to the feudal chieftain without performing his +duties. This abuse was evidently an enormous one and had to be +ended. But, it did not follow that, because the position of the +privileged class on their domains and in connection with the +Government was open to abuse, they should be deprived of protection +for person and property on their domains, and of influence and +occupation under the Government. -- A favored aristocracy, when it +is unoccupied and renders none of the services which its rank admits +of, when it monopolizes all honors, offices, promotions, +preferences, and pensions,[12] to the detriment of others not less +needy and deserving, is undoubtedly a serious evil. But when an +aristocracy is subject to the common law, when it is occupied, +especially when its occupation is in conformity with its aptitudes, +and more particularly when it is available for the formation of an +upper elective chamber or an hereditary peerage, it is a vast +service. -- In any case it cannot be irreversibly suppressed; for, +although it may be abolished by law, it is reconstituted by facts. +The legislator must necessarily choose between two systems, that +which lets it lie fallow, or that which enables it to be productive, +that which drives it away from, or that which rallies it round, the +public service. In every society which has lived for any length of +time, a nucleus of families always exists whose fortunes and +importance are of ancient date. Even when, as in France in 1789, +this class seems to be exclusive, each half century introduces into +it new families; judges, governors, rich businessmen or bankers who +have risen to the tope of the social ladder through the wealth they +have acquired or through the important offices they have filled; and +here, in the medium thus constituted, the statesman and wise +counselor of the people, the independent and able politician is most +naturally developed. - Because, on the one hand, thanks to his +fortune and his rank, a man of this class is above all vulgar +ambitions and temptations. He is able to serve gratis; he is not +obliged to concern himself about money or about providing for his +family and making his way in the world. A political mission is no +interruption to his career; he is not obliged, like the engineer, +merchant, or physician, to sacrifice either his business, his +advancement, or his clients. He can resign his post without injury +to himself or to those dependent on him, follow his own convictions, +resist the noisy deleterious opinions of the day, and be the loyal +servant, not the low flatterer of the public. Whilst, consequently, +in the inferior or average conditions of life, the incentive is +self-interest, with him the grand motive is pride. Now, amongst the +deeper feelings of man there is none which is more adapted for +transformation into probity, patriotism, and conscientiousness; for +the first requisite of the high-spirited man is self-respect, and, +to obtain that, he is induced to deserve it. Compare, from this +point of view, the gentry and nobility of England with the +"politicians" of the United States. - On the other hand, with equal +talents, a man who belongs to this sphere of life enjoys +opportunities for acquiring a better comprehension of public affairs +than a poor man of the lower classes. The information he requires +is not the erudition obtained in libraries and in private study. He +must be familiar with living men, and, besides these, with +agglomerations of men, and even more with human organizations, with +States, with Governments, with parties, with administrative systems, +at home and abroad, in full operation and on the spot. There is but +one way to reach this end, and that is to see for himself, with his +own eyes, at once in general outline and in details, by intercourse +with the heads of departments, with eminent men and specialists, in +whom are gathered up the information and the ideas of a whole class. +Now the young do not frequent society of this description, either at +home or abroad, except on the condition of possessing a name, +family, fortune, education and a knowledge of social observances. +All this is necessary to enable a young man of twenty to find doors +everywhere open to him to be received everywhere on an equal +footing, to be able to speak and to write three or four living +languages, to make long, expensive, and instructive sojourns in +foreign lands, to select and vary his position in the different +branches of the public service, without pay or nearly so, and with +no object in view but that of his political culture Thus brought up +a man, even of common capacity, is worthy of being consulted. If he +is of superior ability, and there is employment for him, he may +become a statesman before thirty; he may acquire ripe capacities, +become prime Minister, the sole pilot, alone able, like Pitt, +Canning, or Peel, to steer the ship of State between the reefs, or +give in the nick of time the touch to the helm which will save the +ship. -- Such is the service to which an upper class is adapted. +Only this kind of specialized stud farm can furnish a regular supply +of racers, and, now and then, the favorite winner that distances all +his competitors in the European field. + +But in order that they may prepare and educate themselves for this +career, the way must be clear, and they must not be compelled to +travel too repulsive a road. If rank, inherited fortune, personal +dignity, and refined manners are sources of disfavor with the +people; if, to obtain their votes, he is forced to treat as equals +electoral brokers of low character; if impudent charlatanism, vulgar +declamation, and servile flattery are the sole means by which votes +can be secured, then, as nowadays in the United States, and formerly +in Athens, the aristocratic body will retire into private life and +soon settle down into a state of idleness. A man of culture and +refinement, born with an income of a hundred thousand a year, is not +tempted to become either manufacturer, lawyer, or physician. For +want of other occupation he loiters about, entertains his friends, +chats, indulges in the tastes and hobbies of an amateur, is bored or +enjoys himself. As a result one of society's great forces is thus +lost to the nation. In this way the best and largest acquisition of +the past, the heaviest accumulation of material and of moral +capital, remain unproductive. In a pure democracy the upper +branches of the social tree, not only the old ones but the young +ones, remain sterile. When a vigorous branch passes above the rest +and reaches the top it ceases to bear fruit. The élite of the +nation is thus condemned to constant and irremediable failures +because it cannot find a suitable outlet for its activity. It wants +no other outlet, for in all directions its rival, who are born below +it, can serve as usefully and as well as itself. But this one it +must have, for on this its aptitudes are superior, natural, unique, +and the State which refuses to employ it resembles the gardener who +in his fondness for a plane surface would repress his best +shoots.[13] -- Hence, in the constructions which aim to utilize the +permanent forces of society and yet maintain civil equality, the +aristocracy is brought to take a part in public affairs by the +duration and gratuitous character of its mission, by the institution +of an hereditary character, by the application of various machinery, +all of which is combined so as to develop the ambition, the culture, +and the political capacity of the upper class, and to place power, +or the control of power, in its hands, on the condition that it +shows itself worthy of exercising it. -- Now, in 1789, the upper +class was not unworthy of it. Members of the parliaments, the +noblemen, bishops, capitalists, were the men amongst whom, and +through whom, the philosophy of the eighteenth century was +propagated. Never was an aristocracy more liberal, more humane, and +more thoroughly converted to useful reforms;[14] many of them remain +so under the knife of the guillotine. The magistrates of the +superior tribunals, in particular, traditionally and by virtue of +their institution, were the enemies of excessive expenditure and the +critics of arbitrary acts. As to the gentry of the provinces, "they +were so weary," says one of them,[15] "of the Court and the +Ministers that most of them were democrats." For many years, in the +Provincial Assemblies, the whole of the upper class, the clergy, +nobles, and Third-Estate, furnishes abundant evidence of its good +disposition, of its application to business, its capacity and even +generosity. Its mode of studying, discussing, and assigning the +local taxation indicates what it would have done with the general +budget had this been entrusted to it. It is evident that it would +have protected the general taxpayer as zealously as the taxpayer of +the province, and kept as close an eye upon the public purse at +Paris as on that of Bourges or of Montauban. -- Thus were the +materials of a good chamber ready at hand, and the only thing that +had to be done was to convene them. On having the facts presented +to them, its members would have passed without difficulty from a +hazardous theory to common-sense practice, and the aristocracy which +had enthusiastically given an impetus to reform in its saloons +would, in all probability, have carried it out effectively and with +moderation in the Parliament. + +Unhappily, the Assembly is not providing a Constitution for +contemporary Frenchmen, but for abstract beings. Instead of seeing +classes in society one placed above the other, it simply sees +individuals in juxtaposition; its attention is not fixed on the +advantage of the nation, but on the imaginary rights of man. As all +men are equal, all must have an equal share in the government. +There must be no orders in a State, no avowed or concealed political +privileges, no constitutional complications or electoral +combinations by which an aristocracy, however liberal and capable, +may put its hands upon any portion of the public power. -- On the +contrary, because it was once privileged to enjoy important and +rewarding public employment, the candidacy of the upper classes is +now suspect. All projects which, directly or indirectly, reserve or +provide a place for it, are refused: At first the Royal Declaration, +which, in conformity with historical precedents, maintained the +three orders in three distinct chambers, and only summoned them to +deliberate together "on matters of general utility." Then the plan +of the Constitutional Committee, which proposed a second Chamber, +appointed for life by the King on the nomination of the Provincial +Assemblies. And finally the project of Mounier who proposed to +confide to these same Assemblies the election of a Senate for six +years, renewed by thirds every two years. This Senate was to be +composed of men of at least thirty-five years of age, and with an +income in real property of 30,000 livres per annum. The instinct of +equality is too powerful and a second Chamber is not wanted, even if +accessible to plebeians. Through it,[16] + +"The smaller number would control the greater;" ... "we should fall +back on the humiliating distinctions" of the ancient regime; "we +should revivify the germ of an aristocracy which must be +exterminated.".... "Moreover, whatever recalls or revives feudal +Institutions is bad, and an Upper Chamber is one of its remnants." +...."If the English have one, it is because they have been forced to +make a compromise with prejudice." + +The National Assembly, sovereign and philosophic, soars above their +errors, their trammel; and their example. The depository of truth, +it has not to receive lessons from others, but to give them, and to +offer to the world's admiration the first type of a Constitution +which is perfect and in conformity with principle, the most +effective of any in preventing the formation of a governing class; +in closing the way to public business, not only to the old noblesse, +but to the aristocracy of the future; in continuing and exaggerating +the work of absolute monarchy; in preparing for a community of +officials and administrators; in lowering the level of humanity; in +reducing to sloth and brutalizing or blighting the elite of the +families which maintain or raise themselves; and in withering the +most precious of nurseries, that in which the State recruits its +statesmen.[17] + +Excluded from the Government, the aristocracy is about to retire +into private life. Let us follow them to their estates: Feudal +rights instituted for a barbarous State are certainly a great draw- +back in a modern State. If appropriate in an epoch when property +and sovereignty were fused together, when the Government was local, +when life was militant, they form an incongruity at a time when +sovereignty and property are separated, when the Government is +centralized, when the regime is a pacific one. The bondage which, +in the tenth century, was necessary to re-established security and +agriculture, is, in the eighteenth century, purposeless thralldom +which impoverishes the soil and fetters the peasant. But, because +these ancient claims are liable to abuse and injurious at the +present day, it does not follow that they never were useful and +legitimate, nor that it is allowable to abolish them without +indemnity On the contrary, for many centuries, and, on the whole, so +long as the lord of the manor resided on his estates this primitive +contract was advantageous to both parties, and to such an extent +that it has led to the modern contract. Thanks to the pressure of +this tight bandage, the broken fragments of the community can be +again united, and society once more recover its solidity, force, and +activity. -- In any event, that the institution, like all human +institutions, took its rise in violence and was corrupted by abuses +is of little consequence; the State, for eight hundred years, +recognized these feudal claims, and, with its own consent and the +concurrence of its Courts, they were transmitted, bequeathed, sold, +mortgaged, and exchanged, like any other species of property. Only +two or three hundred, at most, now remained in the families of the +original proprietors. "The largest portion of the titled estates," +says a contemporary,[18] "have become the property of capitalists, +merchants, and their descendants; the fiefs, for the most part, +being in the hands of the bourgeois of the towns." All the fiefs +which, during two centuries past, have been bought by new men, now +represent the economy and labor of their purchasers. -- Moreover; +whoever the actual holders may be, whether old or whether new men, +the State is under obligation to them, not only by general right -- +and because, from the beginning, it is in its nature the guardian of +all property, -- but also by a special right, because it has itself +sanctioned this particular species of property. The buyers of +yesterday paid their money only under its guarantee; its signature +is affixed to the contract, and it has bound itself to secure to +them the enjoyment of it. If it prevents them from doing so, let it +make them compensation; in default of the thing promised to them, it +owes them the value of it. Such is the law in cases of +expropriation for public utility; in 1834, for instance, the +English, for the legal abolition of slavery, paid to their planters +the sum of £20,000,000. -- - But that is not sufficient: when, in +the suppression of feudal rights, the legislator's thoughts are +taken up with the creditors, he has only half performed his task; +there are two sides to the question, and he must likewise think of +the debtors. If he is not merely a lover of abstractions and of +fine phrases, if that which interests him is men and not words, if +he is bent upon the effective enfranchisement of the cultivator of +the soil, he will not rest content with proclaiming a principle, +with permitting the redemption of rents, with fixing the rate of +redemption, and, in case of dispute, with sending parties before the +tribunals. He will reflect that the peasantry, jointly responsible +for the same debt will find difficulty in agreeing among themselves; +that they are afraid of litigation; that, being ignorant, they will +not know how to set about it; that, being poor, they will be unable +to pay; and that, under the weight of discord, distrust, indigence, +and inertia, the new law will remain a dead letter, and only +exasperate their cupidity or kindle their resentment. In +anticipation of this disorder the legislator will come to their +assistance ; he will interpose commissions of arbitration between +them and the lord of the manor; he will substitute a scale of +annuities for a full and immediate redemption; he will lend them the +capital which they cannot borrow elsewhere; he will establish a +bank, rights, and a mode of procedure, -- in short, as in Savoy in +1771, in England in 1845,[19] and in Russia in 1861, he will relieve +the poor without despoiling the rich; he will establish liberty +without violating the rights of property; he will conciliate +interests and classes; he will not let loose a brutal peasant revolt +(Jacquerie) to enforce unjust confiscation; and he will terminate +the social conflict not with strife but with peace. + +It is just the reverse in 1789 In conformity with the doctrine of +the social contract, the principle is set up that every man is born +free, and that his freedom has always been inalienable. If he +formerly submitted to slavery or to serfdom, it was owing to his +having had a knife at his throat; a contract of this sort is +essentially null and void. So much the worse for those who have the +benefit of it at the present day; they are holders of stolen +property, and must restore it to the legitimate owners. Let no one +object that this property was acquired for cash down, and in good +faith; they ought to have known beforehand that man and his liberty +are not commercial matters, and that unjust acquisitions rightly +perish in their hands.[20] Nobody dreams that the State which was a +party to this transaction is the responsible guarantor. Only one +scruple affects the Assembly ; its jurists and Merlin, its reporter, +are obliged to yield to proof; they know that in current practice, +and by innumerable ancient and modern titles, the noble in many +cases is nothing but an ordinary lessor, and that if, in those +cases, he collects his dues, it is simply in his capacity as a +private person, by virtue of a mutual contract, because he has given +a perpetual lease of a certain portion of his land; and he has given +it only in consideration of an annual payment in money or produce, +or services, together with another contingent claim which the farmer +pays in case of the transmission of the lease. These two +obligations could not be canceled without indemnity; if it were +done, more than one-half of the proprietors in France would be +dispossessed in favor of the farmers. Hence the distinction which +the Assembly makes in the feudal dues. -- On the one hand it +abolishes without indemnity all those dues which the noble receives +by virtue of being the local sovereign, the ancient proprietor of +persons and the usurper of public. powers; all those which the +lessee paid as serf, subject to rights of inheritance, and as former +vassal or dependent. On the other hand, it maintains and decrees as +redeemable at a certain rate all those which the noble receives +through his title of landed proprietor and of simple lessor; all +those which the lessee pays by virtue of being a free contracting +party, former purchaser, tenant, farmer or grantee of landed estate. +-- By this division it fancies that it has respected lawful +ownership by overthrowing illegitimate property, and that in the +feudal scheme of obligations, it has separated the wheat from the +chaff.[21] + +But, through the principle, the drawing up and the omissions of its +law, it condemns both to a common destruction; the fire on which it +has thrown the chaff necessarily burns up the wheat. -- Both are +in fact bound up together in the same sheaf. If the noble formerly +brought men under subjection by the sword, it is also by the sword +that he formerly acquired possession of the soil. If the subjection +of persons is invalid on account of the original stain of violence, +the usurpation of the soil is invalid for the same reason. And if +the sanction and guarantee of the State could not justify the first +act of brigandage, they could not justify the second; and, since the +rights which are derived from unjust sovereignty are abolished +without indemnity, the rights which are derived from unjust +proprietorship should be likewise abolished without compensation. - +- The Assembly, with remarkable imprudence, had declared in the +preamble to its law that "it abolished the feudal system entirely," +and, whatever its ulterior reservations might be, the fiat has gone +forth. The forty thousand sovereign municipalities to which the +text of the decree is read pay attention only to the first article, +and the village attorney, imbued with the rights of man, easily +proves to these assemblies of debtors that they owe nothing to their +creditors. There must be no exceptions nor distinctions: no more +annual rents, field-rents, dues on produce, nor contingent rents, +nor lord's dues and fines, or fifths.[22] If these have been +maintained by the Assembly, it is owing to misunderstanding, +timidity, inconsistency, and on all sides, in the rural districts, +the grumbling of disappointed greed or of unsatisfied necessities is +heard:[23] + +"You thought that you were destroying feudalism, while your +redemption laws have done just the contrary. . . . Are you not +aware that what was called a Seigneur was simply an unpunished +usurper? . . That detestable decree of 1790 is the ruin of lease- +holders. It has thrown the villages into a state of consternation. +The nobles reap all the advantage of it. . Never will redemption +be possible. Redemption of unreal claims! Redemption of dues that +are detestable!" + +In vain the Assembly insists, specifies and explains by examples and +by detailed instructions the mode of procedure and the conditions of +redemption. Neither the procedure nor its conditions are +practicable. It has made no provisions for facilitating the +agreement of parties and the satisfaction of feudal liens, no +special arbitrators, nor bank for loans, nor system of annuities. +And worse still, instead of clearing the road it has barred it by +legal arrangements. The lease-holder is not to redeem his annual +rent without at the same time compounding for the contingent rent: +he is not allowed on his own to redeem his quota since he is tied up +in solidarity with the other partners. Should his hoard be a small +one, so much the worse for him. Not being able to redeem the whole, +he is not allowed to redeem a part. Not having the money with which +to relieve himself from both ground-rents and lord's dues he cannot +relieve himself from ground-rents. Not having the money to +liquidate the debt in full of those who are bound along with him- +self, he remains a captive in his ancient chains by virtue of the +new law which announces to him his freedom. + +In the face of these unexpected trammels the peasant becomes +furious: His fixed idea, from the outbreak of the Revolution, is +that he no longer owes anything to anybody, and, among the speeches, +decrees, proclamations, and instructions which rumor brings to his +ears, he comprehends but one phrase, and is determined to comprehend +no other, and that is, that henceforth his obligations are removed. +He does not swerve from this, and since the law hinders, instead of +aiding him, he will break the law. In fact, after the 4th of +August, 1789, feudal dues cease to be collected. The claims which +are maintained are not enforced any more than those which are +suppressed. Whole communities come and give notice to the lord of +the manor that they will not pay any more rent. Others, with sword +in hand, compel him to give them acquittances. Others again, to be +more secure, break open his safe, and throw his title-deeds into the +fire.[24] Public force is nowhere strong enough to protect him in +his legal rights. Officers dare not serve writs, the courts dare +not give judgment, administrative bodies dare not decree in his +favor. He is despoiled through the connivance, the neglect, or the +impotence of all the authorities which ought to defend him. He is +abandoned to the peasants who fell his forests, under the pretext +that they formerly belonged to the commune; who take possession of +his mill, his wine-press, and his oven, under the pretext that +territorial privileges are suppressed.[25] Most of the gentry of the +provinces are ruined, without any resource, and have not even their +daily bread; for their income consisted in seignorial rights, and in +rents derived from their real property, which they had let on +perpetual leases, and now, in accordance with the law, one-half of +this income ceases to be paid, while the other half ceases to be +paid in spite of the law. One hundred and twenty-three millions of +revenue, representing two thousand millions and a half of capital in +the money of that time, double, at least, that of the present day, +thus passes as a gift, or through the toleration of the National +Assembly, from the hands of creditors into those of their debtors. +To this must be added an equal sum for revenue and capital arising +from the tithes which are suppressed without compensation, and by +the same stroke. -- This is the commencement of the great +revolutionary operation, that is to say, of the universal bankruptcy +which, directly or indirectly, is to destroy all contracts, and +abolish all debts in France. Violations of property, especially of +private property, cannot be made with impunity. The Assembly +desired to lop off only the feudal branch; but, in admitting that +the State can annul, without compensation, the obligations which it +has guaranteed, it put the ax to the root of the tree, and other +rougher hands are already driving it in up to the haft. + +Nothing now remains to the noble but his title, his territorial +name, and his armorial bearings, which are innocent distinctions, +since they no longer confer any jurisdiction or pre-eminence upon +him, and which, as the law ceases to protect him, the first comer +may borrow with impunity. Not only, moreover, do they do no harm, +but they are even worthy of respect. With many of the nobles the +title of the estate covers the family name, the former alone being +made use of. If one were substituted for the other, the public +would have difficulty in discovering M. de Mirabeau, Lafayette, and +M. de Moutmorency, under the new names Riquetti, M. Mottié, and M. +Bouchard. Besides, it would be wrong to the bearer of it, to whom +the abolished title is a legitimate possession, often precious, it +being a certificate of quality and descent, an authentic personal +distinction of which he cannot be deprived without losing his +position, rank, and worth, in the human world around him. -- The +Assembly, however, with a popular principle at stake, gives no heed +to public utility, nor to the rights of individuals. The feudal +system being abolished, all that remains of it must be got rid of. +A decree is passed that "hereditary nobility is offensive to reason +and to true liberty;" that, where it exists, "there is no political +equality."[26] Every French citizen is forbidden to assume or retain +the titles of prince, duke, count, marquis, chevalier, and the like, +and to bear any other than the "true name of his family;" he is +prohibited from making his servants wear liveries, and from having +coats-of-arms on his house or on his carriage. In case of any +infraction of this law a penalty is inflicted upon him equal to six +times the sum of his personal taxes; he is to be struck off the +register of citizens, and declared incapable of holding any civil or +military office. There is the same punishment if to any contract or +acquittance he affixes his accustomed signature; if; through habit +or inadvertence, he adds the title of his estate to his family name +-- if; with a view to recognition, and to render his identity +certain, he merely mentions that he once bore the former name. Any +notary or public officer who shall write, or allow to be written, in +any document the word ci-devant (formerly) is to be suspended from +his functions. Not only are old names thus abolished, but an effort +is made to efface all remembrance of them. In a little while, the +childish law will become a murderous one. It will be but a little +while and, according to the terms of this same decree, a military +veteran of seventy-seven years, a loyal servant of the Republic, and +a brigadier-general under the Convention, will be arrested on +returning to his native village, because he has mechanically signed +the register of the revolutionary committee as Montperreux instead +of Vannod, and, for this infraction, he will be guillotined along +with his brother and his sister-in-law.[27] + +Once on this road, it is impossible to stop; for the principles +which are proclaimed go beyond the decrees which are passed, and a +bad law introduces a worse. The Constituent Assembly[28] had +supposed that annual dues, like ground-rents, and contingent dues, +like feudal duties (lods et rentes), were the price of an ancient +concession of land, and, consequently, the proof to the contrary is +to be thrown upon the tenant. The Legislative Assembly is about to +assume that these same rentals are the result of an old feudal +usurpation, and that, consequently, the proof to the contrary must +rest with the proprietor. His rights cannot be established by +possession from time immemorial, nor by innumerable and regular +acquittances; he must produce the act of enfeoffment which is many +centuries old, the lease which has never, perhaps, been written out, +the primitive title already rare in 1720,[29] and since stolen or +burnt in the recent jacqueries: otherwise he is despoiled without +indemnity. All feudal claims are swept away by this act without +exception and without compensation. + +In a similar manner, the Constituent Assembly, setting common law +aside in relation to inheritances ab intestato, had deprived all +eldest sons and males of any advantages.[30] The Convention, +suppressing the freedom of testamentary bequest, prohibits the +father from disposing of more than one-tenth of his possessions; and +again, going back to the past, it makes its decrees retrospective: +every will opened after the 14th of July, 1789, is declared invalid +if not in conformity with this decree; every succession from the +14th of June, 1789, which is administered after the same date, is +re-divided if the division has not been equal; every donation which +has been made among the heirs after the same date is void. Not only +is the feudal family destroyed in this way, but it must never be +reformed. The aristocracy, being once declared a venomous plant, it +is not sufficient to prime it away, but it must be extirpated, not +only dug up by the root, but its seed must be crushed out. -- A +malignant prejudice is aroused against it, and this grows from day +to day. The stings of self-conceit, the disappointments of +ambition, and envious sentiments have prepared the way. Its hard, +dry kernel consists of the abstract idea of equality. All around +revolutionary fervor has caused blood to flow, has embittered +tempers, intensified sensibilities, and created a painful abscess +which daily irritation renders still more painful. Through steadily +brooding over a purely speculative preference this has become a +fixed idea, and is becoming a murderous one. It is a strange +passion, one wholly of the brains, nourished by magniloquent +phrases, but the more destructive, because phantoms are created out +of words, and against phantoms no reasoning nor actual facts can +prevail. This or that shopkeeper who, up to this time, had always +formed his idea of nobles from his impressions of the members of the +Parliament of his town or of the gentry of his canton, now pictures +them according to the declamations of the club and the invectives of +the newspapers. The imaginary figure, in his mind, has gradually +absorbed the living figure: he no longer sees the calm and engaging +countenance, but a grinning and distorted mask. Kindliness or +indifference is replaced by animosity and distrust; they are +overthrown tyrants, ancient evil-doers, And enemies of the public; +he is satisfied beforehand and without further investigation that +they are hatching plots. If they avoid being caught, it is owing to +their address and perfidy, and they are only the more dangerous the +more inoffensive they appear. Their sub-mission is merely a feint, +their resignation hypocrisy, their favorable disposition, treachery. +Against these conspirators who cannot be touched the law is +inadequate; let us stretch it in practice, and as they wince at +equality let us try to make them bow beneath the yoke. + +In fact, illegal persecution precedes legal prosecution ; the +privileged person who, by the late decrees, seems merely to be +brought within the pale of the common law, is, in fact; driven +outside of it. The King, disarmed, is no longer able to protect +him; the partial Assembly repels his complaints ; the committee of +inquiry regards him as a culprit when he is simply oppressed. His +income, his property, his repose, his freedom, his home, his life, +that of his wife and of his children, are in the hands of an +administration elected by the crowd, directed by clubs, and +threatened or violated by the mob. He is debarred from the +elections. The newspapers denounce him. He undergoes domiciliary +visits. In hundreds of places his chateau is sacked; the assassins +and incendiaries who depart from it with their hands full and +steeped in blood are not prosecuted, or are shielded by an +amnesty:[31] it is established by innumerable precedents that he may +be run down with impunity. To prevent him from defending himself, +companies of the National Guard come and seize his arms: he must +become a prey, and an easy prey, like game kept back in its +enclosure for an approaching hunt. -- In vain he abstains from +provocation and reduces himself to the standing of a private +individual. In vain does he patiently endure numerous provocations +and resist only extreme violence. I have read many hundreds of +investigations in the original manuscripts, and almost always I have +admired the humanity of the nobles, their forbearance, their horror +of bloodshed. Not only are a great many of them men of courage and +all men of honor, but also, educated in the philosophy of the +eighteenth century, they are mild, sensitive, and deeds of violence +are repugnant to them. Military officers especially are exemplary, +their great defect being their weakness: rather than fire on the +crowd they surrender the forts under their command, and allow +themselves to be insulted and stoned by the people. For two +years,[32] "exposed to a thousand outrages, to defamation, to daily +peril, persecuted by clubs and misguided soldiers," disobeyed, +menaced, put under arrest by their own men, they remain at their +post to prevent the ranks from being broken up; "with stoic +perseverance they put up with contempt of their authority that they +may preserve its semblance, their courage is of that rarest kind +which consists in remaining at the post of duty, impassive beneath +both affronts and blows. -- Through a wrong of the greatest +magnitude, an entire class which have no share in the favors of the +Court, and which suffered as many injuries as any of the common +plebeians, is confounded with the titled parasites who besiege the +antechambers of Versailles. Twenty-five thousand families, "the +nursery of the army and the fleet," the elite of the agricultural +proprietors, also many gentlemen who look after and turn to account +the little estates on which they live, and "who have not left their +homes a year in their lives," become the pariahs of their +canton.[33] After 1789, they begin to feel that their position is +no longer tenable.[34] + +" It is absolutely in opposition to the rights of man," says another +letter from Franche-Comté, "to find one's self in perpetual fear of +having one's throat cut by scoundrels who are daily confounding +liberty with license." + +"I never knew anything so wearying," says another letter from +Champagne, "as this anxiety about property and security. Never was +there a better reason for it. A moment suffices to let loose an +intractable population which thinks that it may do what it pleases, +and which is carefully sustained in that error" + + "After the sacrifices that we have made," says a letter from +Burgundy, "we could not expect such treatment. I thought that our +property would be the last violated because the people owed us some +return for staying at home in the country to expend among them the +few resources that remain to us. . . (Now), I beg the Assembly to +repeal the decree on emigration; otherwise it may be said that +people are purposely kept here to be assassinated. . . In case it +should refuse to do us this justice, I should be quite as willing to +have it decree an act of proscription against us, for we should not +then be lulled to sleep by the protection of laws which are +doubtless very wise, but which are not respected anywhere." + + " It is not our privileges," say several others, "it is not our +nobility that we regret; but how is the persecution to which we are +abandoned to be supported? There is no safety for us, for our +property, or for our families. Wretches who are our debtors, the +small farmers who rob us of our incomes, daily threaten us with the +torch and the lamp post. We do not enjoy one hour of repose; not a +night that we are certain to pass through without trouble. Our +persons are given up to the vilest outrages, our dwellings to an +inquisition of armed tyrants; we are robbed of our rentals with +impunity, and our property is openly attacked. We, being now the +only people to pay imposts, are unfairly taxed; in various places +our entire incomes would not. suffice to pay the quota which +crushes us. We can make no complaint without incurring the risk of +being massacred. The tribunals and the administrative bodies, the +tools of the multitude, daily sacrifice us to its attacks. Even the +Government seems afraid of compromising itself by claiming the +protection of the laws on our behalf. It is sufficient to be +pointed out as an aristocrat to be without any security. If our +peasants, in general, have shown more honesty, consideration, and +attachment toward us, every bourgeois of importance, the wild +members of clubs, the vilest of men who sully a uniform, consider +themselves privileged to insult us, and these wretches go unpunished +and are protected! Even our religion is not free. One of our number +has had his house sacked for having shown hospitality to an old curé +of eighty belonging to his parish who refused to take the oath. +Such is our fate. We are not so base as to endure it. Our right to +resist oppression is not due to a decree of the National Assembly, +but to natural law. We are going to leave, and to die if necessary. +But to live under such a revolting anarchy ! Should it not be broken +up we shall never set foot in France again!" + +The operation is successful. The Assembly, through its decrees and +institutions, through the laws it enacts and the violence which it +tolerates, has uprooted the aristocracy and cast it out of the +country. The nobles, now the reverse of privileged, cannot remain +in a country where, while respecting the law, they are really beyond +its pale. Those who first emigrated on the 15th of July, 1789, +along with the Prince de Condé, received at their houses the evening +before they left a list of the proscribed on which their names +appeared, and a reward was promised to whoever would bring their +heads to the cellar of the Palais-Royal -- Others, in larger +numbers, left after the occurrences of the 6th of October. -- +During the last months of the Constituent Assembly,[35] + + "the emigration goes on in companies composed of men of every +condition. . .. Twelve hundred gentlemen have left Poitou alone; +Auvergne, Limousin, and ten other provinces have been equally +depopulated of their landowners. There are towns in which nobody +remains but common. workmen, a club, and the crowd of devouring +office-holders created by the Constitution. All the nobles in +Brittany have left, and the emigration has begun in Normandy, and is +going on in the frontier provinces. + + "More than two-thirds of the army will be without officers." On +being called upon to take the new oath in which the King's name is +purposely omitted, "six thousand officers send in their +resignation." + +The example gradually becomes contagious; they are men of the sword, +and their honor is at stake. Many of them join the princes at +Coblentz, and. subsequently do battle against France in the belief +that they are contending only against their executioners. + +The treatment of the nobles by the Assembly is the same as the +treatment of the Protestants by Louis XIV.[36] In both cases the +oppressed are a superior class of men. In both cases France has +been made uninhabitable for them. In both cases they are reduced to +exile, and they are punished because they exiled them selves. In +both cases it ended in a confiscation of their property, and in the +penalty of death to all who should harbor them. In both cases, by +dint of persecution, they are driven to revolt. The insurrection of +La Vendée corresponds with the insurrection of the Cévennes; and the +emigrants, like the refugees of former times, will be found under. +the flags of Prussia and of England. One hundred thousand Frenchmen +driven out at the end of the seventeenth century, and one hundred +thousand driven out at the end of the eighteenth century! Mark how +an intolerant democracy completes the work of an intolerant +monarchy. The moral aristocracy was mowed down in the name of +uniformity; the social aristocracy is mowed down in the name of +equality. For the second time, an absolute principle, and with the +same effect, buries its blade in the heart of a living society. + +The success is complete. One of the deputies of the Legislative +Assembly, early in its session, on being informed of the great +increase in emigration, joyfully exclaims, + +"SO MUCH THE BETTER; FRANCE IS BEING PURGED!" + +She is, in truth, being depleted of one-half of her best blood. + + + +IV. + +Abuse and lukewarmness in 1789 in the ecclesiastical bodies. - How +the State used its right of overseeing and reforming them. - Social +usefulness of corporations.- The sound part in the monastic +institution. - Zeal and services of nuns. - How ecclesiastical +possessions should be employed. - Principle of the Assembly as to +private communities, feudal rights and trust-funds. - Abolition and +expropriation all corporations. - Uncompensated suppression of +tithes.- Confiscation of ecclesiastical possessions. - Effect on +the Treasury and on expropriated services. -The civil constitution +of the clergy.- Rights of the Church in relation to the State. - +Certainty and effects of a conflict. - Priests considered as State- +functionaries.- Principal stipulations of the law. - Obligations of +the oath. - The majority of priests refuse to take it. - The +majority of believes on their side. - Persecution of believers and +of priests. + + +There remained the corporate, ecclesiastic, and lay bodies, and, +notably, the oldest, most opulent, and most considerable of all the +regular and secular clergy. -- Grave abuses existed here also, for, +the institution being founded on ancient requirements, had not +accommodated itself to new necessities.[37] There were too many +episcopal sees, and these were arranged according to the Christian +distribution of the population in the fourth century; a revenue +still more badly apportioned -- bishops and abbés with one hundred +thousand livres a year, leading the lives of amiable idlers, while +curés, overburdened with work, have but seven hundred; in one +monastery nineteen monks instead of eighty, and in another four +instead of fifty;[38] a number of monasteries reduced to three or to +two inhabitants, and even to one; almost all the congregations of +men going to decay, and many of them dying out for lack of +novices;[39] a general lukewarmness among the members, great laxity +in many establishments, and with scandals in some of them; scarcely +one-third taking an interest in their calling, while the remaining +two-thirds wish to go back to the world,[40] -- it is evident from +all this that the primitive inspiration has been diverted or has +cooled; that the endowment only partially fulfills its ends; that +one-half of its resources are employed in the wrong way or remain +sterile; in short, that there is a need of reformation in the body. +-- That this ought to be effected with the co-operation of the +State and even under its direction is not less certain. For a +corporation is not an individual like other individuals, and, in +order that it may acquire or possess the privileges of an ordinary +citizen, something supplementary must be added, some fiction, some +expedient of the law. If the law is disposed to overlook the fact +that a corporation is not a natural personage, if it gives to it a +civil personality, if it declares it to be capable of inheriting, of +acquiring and of selling, if it becomes a protected and respected +proprietor, this is due to the favors of the State which places its +tribunal and gendarmes at its service, and which, in exchange for +this service, justly imposes conditions on it, and, among others, +that of being useful and remaining useful, or at least that of never +becoming harmful. Such was the rule under the Ancient Régime, and +especially since the Government has for the last quarter of a +century gradually and efficaciously worked out a reform. Not only, +in 1749, had it prohibited the Church from accepting land, either by +donation, by testament, or in exchange, without royal letters-patent +registered in Parliament; not only in 1764 had it abolished the +order of Jesuits, closed their colleges and sold their possessions, +but also, since 1766, a permanent commission, formed by the King's +order and instructed by him, had lopped off all the dying and dead +branches of the ecclesiastical tree.[41] There was a revision of the +primitive Constitutions; a prohibition to every institution to have +more than two monasteries at Paris and more than one in other towns; +a postponement of the age for taking vows -- that of sixteen being +no longer permitted -- to twenty-one for men and eighteen for +women; an obligatory minimum of monks and nuns for each +establishment, which varies from fifteen to nine according to +circumstances; if this is not kept up there follows a suppression or +prohibition to receive novices: owing to these measures, rigorously +executed, at the end of twelve years "the Grammontins, the Servites, +the Celestins, the ancient order of Saint-Bénédict, that of the Holy +Ghost of Montpellier, and those of Sainte-Brigitte, Sainte-Croix-de- +la-Bretonnerie, Saint-Ruff, and Saint-Antoine," - in short, nine +complete congregations had disappeared. At the end of twenty years +three hundred and eighty-six establishments had been suppressed, the +number of monks and nuns had diminished one-third, the larger +portion of possessions which had escheated were usefully applied, +and the congregations of men lacked novices and complained that they +could not fill up their ranks. If the monks were still found to be +too numerous, too wealthy, and too indolent, it was merely necessary +to keep on in this way; before the end of the century, merely by the +application of the edict, the institution would be brought back, +without brutality or injustice, within the scope of the development, +the limitations of fortune, and the class of functions acceptable to +a modern State. + +But, because these ecclesiastical bodies stood in need of reform it +does not follow that it was necessary to destroy them, nor, in +general, that independent institutions are detrimental to a nation. +Organized purposely for a public service, and possessing, nearly or +remotely under the supervision of the State, the faculty of self- +administration, these bodies are valuable organs and not malign +tumors. + +In the first place, through their institution, a great public +benefit is secured without any cost to the government - worship, +scientific research, primary or higher education, help for the poor, +care of the sick - all set apart and sheltered from the cuts which +public financial difficulties might make necessary, and supported by +the private generosity which, finding a ready receptacle at hand, +gathers together, century after century, its thousands of scattered +springs: as an example, note the wealth, stability, and usefulness +of the English and German universities. + +In the second place, their institution furnishes an obstacle to the +omnipotence of the State; their walls provide a protection against +the leveling standardization of absolute monarchy or of pure +democracy. A man can here freely develop himself without donning +the livery of either courtier or demagogue, he can acquire wealth, +consideration and authority, without being indebted to the caprices +of either royal or popular favor; he can stand firm against +established or prevailing opinions sheltered by associates bound by +their esprit de corps. Such, at the present day (1885), is the +situation of a professor at Oxford, Göttingen, and Harvard Such, +under the Ancient Régime, were a bishop, a member of the French +Parliaments, and even a plain attorney. What can be worse than +universal bureaucracy, producing a mechanical and servile +uniformity! Those who serve the public need not all be Government +clerks; in countries where an aristocracy has perished, bodies of +this kind are their last place of refuge. + +In the third place, through such institutions, distinct original +societies may come to be inside the great commonplace world. Here +special personalities may find the only existence that suits them. +If devout or laborious, not only do these afford an outlet for the +deeper needs of conscience, of the imagination, of activity, and of +discipline, but also they serve as dikes which restrain and direct +them in a channel which will lead to the creation of a masterpiece +of infinite value. In this way thousands of men and women fulfill +at small cost, voluntarily and gratis, and with great effect, the +least attractive and more repulsive social needs, thus performing in +human society the role which, inside the ant-hill, we see assigned +to the sexless worker-ant.[42] + +Thus, at bottom, the institution was really good, and if it had to +be cauterized it was merely essential to remove the inert or +corrupted parts and preserve the healthy and sound parts. -- Now, +if we take only the monastic bodies, there were more than one-half +of these entitled to respect. I omit those monks, one-third of whom +remained zealous and exemplary-the Benedictines, who continue the +"Gallia Christiana," with others who, at sixty years of age, labor +in rooms without a fire; the Trappists, who cultivate the ground +with their own hands, and the innumerable monasteries which serve as +educational seminaries, bureaus of charity, hospices for shelter, +and of which all the villages in their neighborhood demand the +conservation by the National Assembly.[43] I have to mention the +nuns, thirty-seven thousand in fifteen hundred convents. Here, +except in the twenty-five chapters of canonesses, which are a semi- +worldly rendezvous for poor young girls of noble birth, fervor, +frugality, and usefulness are almost everywhere incontestable. One +of the members of the Ecclesiastical Committee admits in the +Assembly tribunal that, in all their letters and addresses, the nuns +ask to be allowed to remain in their cloisters; their entreaties, in +fact, are as earnest as they are affecting.[44] One Community +writes, + + "We should prefer the sacrifice of our lives to that of our +calling. . . . This is not the voice of some among our sisters, +but of all. The National Assembly has established the claims of +liberty-would it prevent the exercise of these by the only +disinterested beings who ardently desire to be useful, and have +renounced society solely to be of greater service to it?" + + "The little contact we have with the world," writes another "is the +reason why our contentment is so little known. But it is not the +less real and substantial. We know of no distinctions, no +privileges amongst ourselves; our misfortunes and our property are +in common. One in heart and one in soul . . . we protest before +the nation, in the face of heaven and of earth, that it is not in +the power of any being to shake our fidelity to our vows, which vows +we renew with still more ardor than when we first pronounced +them."[45] + +Many of the communities have no means of subsistence other than the +work of their own hands and the small dowries the nuns have brought +with them on entering the convent. So great, however is their +frugality and economy, that the total expenditure of each nun does +not surpass 250 livres a year. The Annonciades of Saint-Amour say, + + "We, thirty-three nuns, both choristers and those of the white +veil, live on 4,400 livres net income, without being a charge to our +families or to the public. . . If we were living in society, our +expenses would be three times as much;" + +and, not content with providing for themselves, they give in +charity. + +Among these communities several hundreds are educational +establishments; a very great number give gratuitous primary +instruction. -- Now, in 1789, there are no other schools for +girls, and were these to be suppressed, every avenue of instruction +and culture would be closed to one of the two sexes, forming one- +half of the French population. Fourteen thousand sisters of +charity, distributed among four hundred and twenty convents, look +after the hospitals, attend upon the sick, serve the infirm, bring +up foundlings, provide for orphans, lying-in women, and repentant +prostitutes. The "Visitation" is an asylum for "those who are not +favored by nature," -- and, in those days, there were many more of +the disfigured than at present, since out of every eight deaths one +was caused by the smallpox. Widows are received here, as well as +girls without means and without protection, persons "worn out. with +the agitation of the world," those who are too feeble to support the +battle of life, those who withdraw from it wounded or invalid, and +"the rules of the order, not very strict, are not beyond the health +or strength of the most frail and delicate." Some ingenious device +of charity thus applies to each moral or social sore, with skill and +care, the proper and proportionate dressing. And finally, far from +falling off, nearly all these communities are in a flourishing +state, and whilst among the establishments for men there are only +nine, on the average, to each, in those for women there is an +average of twenty-four. Here, at Saint-Flour, is one which is +bringing up fifty boarders; another, at Beaulieu, instructs one +hundred; another, in Franche-Comté, has charge of eight hundred +abandoned children.[46] -- Evidently, in the presence of such +institutions one must pause, however. little one may care for +justice and the public interest; and, moreover, because it is +useless to act rigorously against them the legislator crushes them +in vain, for they spring up again of their own accord; they are in +the blood of every Catholic nation. In France, instead of thirty- +seven thousand nuns, at the present day (1866) there are eighty-six +thousand-that is to say, forty-five in every ten thousand women +instead of twenty-eight.[47] + +In any case, if the State deprives them of their property, along +with that of other ecclesiastical bodies, it is not the State that +ought to claim the spoil. -- The State is not their heir, and +their land, furniture, and rentals are in their very nature devoted +to a special purpose, although they have no designated proprietor. +This treasure, which consists of the accumulations of fourteen +centuries, has been formed, increased, and preserved, in view of a +certain object. The millions of generous, repentant, or devout +souls who have made a gift of it, or have managed it, did so with a +certain intention. It was their desire to ensure education, +beneficence, and religion, and nothing else. Their legitimate +intentions should not be frustrated: the dead have rights in society +as well as the living, for it is the dead who have made the society +which the living enjoy, and we receive their heritage only on the +condition of executing their testamentary act. -- Should this be +of ancient date, it is undoubtedly necessary to make a liberal +interpretation of it; to supplement its scanty provisions, and to +take new circumstances into consideration. The requirements for +which it provided have often disappeared; for instance, after the +destruction of the Barbary pirates, there were no more Christians to +be ransomed; and only by transferring an endowment can it be +perpetuated. -- But if, in the original institution, several +accessory and special clauses have become antiquated, there remains +the one important, general intention, which manifestly continues +imperative and permanent, that of providing for a distinct service, +either of charity, of worship, or of instruction. Let the +administrators be changed, if necessary, also the apportionment of +the legacy bequeathed, but do not divert any of it to services of an +alien character; it is inapplicable to any but that purpose or to +others strictly analogous. The four milliards of investment in real +property, the two hundred millions of ecclesiastical income, form +for it an express and special endowment. This is not a pile of gold +abandoned on the highway, which the exchequer can appropriate or +assign to those who live by the roadside. Authentic titles to it +exist, which, declaring its origin, fix its destination, and your +business is simply to see that it reaches its destination. Such was +the principle under the ancient régime, in spite of grave abuses, +and under forced exactions. When the ecclesiastical commission +suppressed an ecclesiastical order, it was not for the purpose of +making its possessions over to the public treasury, but to apply +these to seminaries, schools, and hospitals. In 1789, the revenues +of Saint-Denis supported Saint-Cyr; those of Saint Germain went to +the Economats, and the Government, although absolute and needy, was +sufficiently honest to adjust that confiscation was robbery. The +greater our power, the greater the obligation to be just, and +honesty always proves in the end to be the best policy. -- It is, +therefore, both just and useful that the Church, as in England and +in America, that superior education, as in England and in Germany, +that special instruction, as in America, and that diverse endowments +for public assistance and utility, should be unreservedly secured in +the maintenance of their heritage. The State, as testamentary +executor of this inheritance, strangely abuses its mandate when it +pockets the bequest in order to choke the deficit of its own +treasury, risking it in bad speculations, and swallowing it up in +its own bankruptcy, until of this vast treasure, which has been +heaped up for generations for the benefit of children, the infirm, +the sick and the poor, not enough is left to pay the salary of a +school-mistress, the wages of a parish nurse, or for a bowl of broth +in a hospital.[48] + +The Assembly remains deaf to all these arguments, and that which +makes its refuse to listen is not financial distress. -- The +Archbishop of Aix, M. de Boisjelin, offered, in the name of the +clergy, to liquidate at once the debt of three hundred millions, +which was urgent, by a mortgage-loan of four hundred millions on the +ecclesiastical property, which was a very good expedient; for at +this time the credit of the clergy is the only substantial one. It +generally borrows at less than five per cent., and more money has +always been offered to it than it wanted, whilst the State borrows +at ten per cent., and, at this moment, there are no lenders. -- +But, to our new revolutionary statesmen, the cost-benefit of a +service is of much less consequence than the application of a +principle. In conformity with the Social Contract they establish +the maxim that in the State there is no need of corporate bodies: +they acknowledge nothing but, on the one hand, the State, the +depositary of all public powers, and, on the other hand, a myriad of +solitary individuals. Special associations, specific groups, +collateral corporations are not wanted, even to fulfill functions +which the State is incapable of fulfilling. "As soon as one enters +a corporation," says and orator, "one must love it as one loves a +family;"[49] whereas the affections and obedience are all to be +monopolized by the State. Moreover, on entering into an order a man +receives special aid and comfort from it, and whatever distinguishes +one man from another, is opposed to civil equality. Hence, if men +are to remain equal and become citizens they must be deprived of +every rallying point that might compete with that of the State, and +give to some an advantage over others. All natural or acquired +ties, consequently, which bound men together through geographical +position, through climate, history, pursuits, and trade, are +sundered. The old provinces, the old provincial governments, the +old municipal administrations, parliaments, guilds and masterships, +all are suppressed. The groups which spring up most naturally, those +which arise through a community of interests, are all dispersed, and +the broadest, most express, and most positive interdictions are +promulgated against their revival under any pretext whatever.[50] +France is cut up into geometrical sections like a chess-board, and, +within these improvised limits, which are destined for a long time +to remain artificial, nothing is allowed to subsist but isolated +individuals in juxtaposition. There is no desire to spare organized +bodies where the cohesion is great, and least of all that of the +clergy. + "Special associations," says Mirabeau,[51] "in the community at +large, break up the unity of its principles and destroy the +equilibrium of its forces. Large political bodies in a State are +dangerous through the strength which results from their coalition +and the resistance which is born out of their interests." ii -- +That of the clergy, besides, is inherently bad,[52] because "its +system is in constant antagonism to the rights of man." An +institution in which a vow of obedience is necessary is +"incompatible" with the constitution. Congregations "subject to +independent chiefs are out of the social pale and incompatible with +public spirit." As to the right of society over these, and also over +the Church, this is not doubtful. " Corporate bodies exist only +through society, and, in destroying them, society merely takes back +the life she has imparted to them." "They are simply instruments +fabricated by the law.[53] What does the workman do when the tool +he works with no longer suits him? He breaks or alters it." -- This +primary sophism being admitted the conclusion is plain. Since +corporate bodies are abolished they no longer exist, and since they +no longer exist, they cannot again become proprietors. + + "Your aim was to destroy ecclesiastical orders,[54] because their +destruction was essential to the safety of the State. If the clergy +preserve their property, the clerical order is not destroyed: you +necessarily leave it the right of assembling; you sanction its +independence." In no case must ecclesiastics hold possessions. "If +they are proprietors they are independent, and if they are +independent they will associate this independence with the exercise +of their functions." The clergy, cost what it will, must be in the +hands of the State, as simple functionaries and supported by its +subsidies. It would be too dangerous for a nation ,"to admit in its +bosom as proprietors a large body of men to whom so many sources of +credit already give so great power. As religion is the property of +all, its ministers, through this fact alone, should be in the pay of +the nation;" they are essentially "officers of morality and +instruction," and "salaried" like judges and professors. Let us +fetch them back to this condition of things, which is the only one +compatible with the rights of man, and ordain that " the clergy, as +well as all corporations and bodies with power of inheritance, are +now, and shall be for ever incapable of holding any personal or +landed estate."[55] + +Who, now, is the legitimate heir of all these vacated possessions? +Through another sophism, the State, at once judge and party in the +cause, assigns them to the State: + + "The founders presented them to the Church, that is to say, to the +nation."[56] "Since the nation has permitted their possession by the +clergy, she may re-demand that which is possessed only through her +authorization." "The principle must be maintained that every nation +is solely and veritably proprietor of the possessions of its +clergy." + +This principle, it must be noted, as it is laid down, involves the +destruction of ecclesiastical and lay corporations, along with the +confiscation of all their possessions, and soon we shall see +appearing on the horizon the final and complete decree[57] by which +the Legislative Assembly, + + "considering that a State truly free should not suffer any +corporation within its bosom, not even those which, devoted to +public instruction, deserve well of the country," not even those +"which are solely devoted to the service of the hospitals-and the +relief of the sick," + +suppresses all congregations, all associations of men or of women, +lay or ecclesiastical, all endowments for pious, charitable, and +missionary purposes, all houses of education, all seminaries and +colleges, and those of the Sorbonne and Navarre. Add to these the +last sweep of the broom: under the Legislative Assembly the division +of all communal property, except woods: under the Convention, the +abolition of all literary societies, academies of science and of +literature, the confiscation of all their property, their libraries, +museums, and botanical gardens; the confiscation of all communal +possessions not previously divided; and the confiscation of all the +property of hospitals and other philanthropic establishments.[58] -- +The abstract principle, proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly, +reveals, by degrees, its exterminating virtues. France now, owing +to it, contains nothing but dispersed, powerless, ephemeral +individuals, and confronting them, the State, the sole, the only +permanent body that has devoured all the others, a veritable +Colossus, alone erect in the midst of these insignificant dwarfs. + +Substituted for the others, it is henceforth to perform their +duties, and spend the money well which they have expended badly. -- +In the first place, it abolishes tithes, not gradually and by means +of a process of redemption, as in England, but at one stroke, and +with no indemnity, on the ground that the tax, being an abusive, +illegitimate impost, a private tax levied by individuals in cowl and +cassock on others in smock frocks, is a vexatious usurpation, and +resembles the feudal dues. It is a radical operation, and in +conformity with principle. Unfortunately, the puerility of the +thing is so gross as to defeat its own object. In effect, since the +days of Charlemagne, all the estates in the country which have been +sold and resold over and over again have always paid tithes, and +have never been purchased except with this charge upon them, which +amounts to about one-seventh of the net revenue of the country. +Take off this tax and one-seventh is added to the income of the +proprietor, and, consequently, a seventh to his capital. A present +is made to him of one hundred francs if his land is worth seven +hundred-francs, and of one thousand if it is worth seven thousand, +of ten thousand if it is worth seventy thousand, and of one hundred +thousand if it is worth seven hundred thousand. Some people gain +six hundred thousand francs by this act, and thirty thousand francs +in Income.[59] Through this gratuitous and unexpected gift, one +hundred and twenty-three millions of revenue, and two milliards and +a half of capital, is divided among the holders of real estate in +France, and in a manner so ingenious that the rich receive the most. +Such is the effect of abstract principles. To afford a relief of +thirty millions a year to the peasants in wooden shoes, an assembly +of democrats adds thirty millions a year to the revenue of wealthy +bourgeois and thirty millions a year to opulent nobles. The first +part of this operation moreover, is but another burden to the State; +for, in taking off the load from the holders of real property, it +has encumbered itself, the State henceforth, without pocketing a +penny, being obliged to defray the expenses of worship in their +place. - As to the second part of the operation, which consists in +the confiscation of four milliards of real estate, it proves, after +all, to be ruinous, although promising to be lucrative. It makes +the same impression on our statesmen that the inheritance of a great +estate makes on a needy and fanciful upstart. Regarding it as a +bottomless well of gold, he draws upon it without stint and strives +to realize all his fancies; as he can afford to pay for it all, he +is free to smash it all. It is thus that the Assembly suppresses +and compensates magisterial offices to the amount of four hundred +and fifty millions; financial securities and obligations to the +amount of three hundred and twenty-one millions; the household +charges of the King, Queen, and princes, fifty-two millions; +military services and encumbrances, thirty-five millions; enfeoffed +tithes, one hundred millions, and so on.[60] "In the month of May, +1789," says Necker, "the re-establishment of order in the finances +were mere child's-play." At the end of a year, by dint of involving +itself in debt, by increasing its expenses, and by abolishing or +abandoning its income, the State lives now on the paper-currency it +issues, eats up its capital, and rapidly marches onward to +bankruptcy. Never was such a vast inheritance so quickly reduced to +nothing, and to less than nothing. + +Meanwhile, we can demonstrate, from the first few months, what use +the administrators will be able to make of it, and the manner in +which they will endow the service to which it binds them. -- No +portion of this confiscated property is reserved for the maintenance +of public worship, or to keep up the hospitals, asylums, and +schools. Not only do all obligations and all productive real +property find their way into the great national crucible to be +converted into assignats[61], but a number of special buildings, all +monastic real estate and a portion of the ecclesiastical real +estate, diverted from its natural course, becomes swallowed up in +the same gulf. At Besançon,[62] three churches out of eight, with +their land and treasure, the funds of the chapter, all the money of +the monastic churches, the sacred vessels, shrines, crosses, +reliquaries, votive offerings, ivories, statues, pictures, tapestry, +sacerdotal dresses and ornaments, plate, jewels and precious +furniture, libraries, railings, bells, masterpieces of art and of +piety, all are broken up and melted in the Mint, or sold by auction +for almost nothing. This is the way in which the intentions of the +founders and donors are carried out. -- How are so many +communities, which are deprived of their rentals, to support their +schools, hospices, and asylums? Even after the decree[63] which, +exceptionally and provisionally, orders the whole of their revenue +to be accounted for to them, will it be paid over now that it is +collected by a local administration whose coffers are always empty, +and whose intentions are almost always hostile? Every establishment +for benevolent and educational purposes is evidently sinking, now +that the special streams which nourished them run into and are lost +in the dry bed of the public treasury.[64] Already, in 1790, there +are no funds with which to pay the monks and nuns their small +pensions for their maintenance. In Franche-Comté the Capuchins of +Baume have no bread, and, to live, they are obliged to re-sell, with +the consent of the district, a portion of the stores of their +monastery which had been confiscated. The Ursuline nuns of Ornans +live on the means furnished them by private individuals in order to +keep up the only school which the town possesses. The Bernardine +nuns of Pontarlier are reduced to the lowest stage of want: "We are +satisfied," the district reports, "that they have nothing to put +into their mouths. We have to contribute something every day +amongst ourselves to keep them from starving."[65] Only too +thankful are they when the local administration gives them something +to eat, or allows others to give them something. In many places it +strives to famish them, or takes delight in annoying them. In +March, 1791, the department of Doubs, in spite of the entreaties of +the district, reduces the pension of the Visitant nuns to one +hundred and one livres for the choristers, and fifty for the lay- +sisters. Two months before this, the municipality of Besançon, +putting its own interpretation on the decree which allowed nuns to +dress as they pleased, enjoins them all, including even the sisters +of charity, to abandon their old costume, which few among them had +the means of replacing. -- Helplessness, indifference, or +malevolence, such are the various dispositions which are encountered +among the new authorities whose duty it is to support and protect +them. To let loose persecution there is now only needed a decree +which puts the civil power in conflict with religious convictions. +That decree is promulgated, and, on the 12th of July, 1790, the +Assembly establishes the civil constitution of the clergy. + +Notwithstanding the confiscation of ecclesiastical property, and the +dispersion of the monastic communities, the main body of the +ecclesiastical corps remains intact: seventy thousand priests ranged +under the bishops, with the Pope in the center as the commander-in- +chief. There is no corporation more solid, more incompatible, or +more attacked. For, against it are opposed implacable hatreds and +fixed opinions: the Gallicanism of the jurists who, from St. Louis +downwards, are the adversaries of ecclesiastical power; the doctrine +of the Jansenists who, since Louis XIII., desire to bring back the +Church to its primitive form; and the theory of the philosophers +who, for sixty years, have considered Christianity as a mistake and +Catholicism as a scourge. At the very least the institution of a +clergy in Catholicism is condemned, and they think that they are +moderate if they respect the rest. + +"WE MIGHT CHANGE THE RELIGION," + +say the deputies in the tribune.[66] Now, the decree affects +neither dogma nor worship; it is confined to a revision of matters +of discipline, and on this particular domain which is claimed for +the civil power, it is pretended that demolition and re-construction +may be effected at discretion without the concurrence of the +ecclesiastical power. + +Here there is an abuse of power, for an ecclesiastical as well as +civil society has the right to choose its own form, its own +hierarchy, its own government. - On this point, every argument that +can be advanced in favor of the former can be repeated in favor of +the latter, and the moment one becomes legitimate the other becomes +legitimate also. The justification for a civil or of a religious +community or society may be the performance of a long series of +services which, for centuries, it has rendered to its members, the +zeal and success with which it discharges its functions, the +feelings of gratitude they entertain for it, the importance they +attribute to its offices, the need they have of it, and their +attachment to it, the conviction imprinted in their minds that +without it they would be deprived of a benefit upon which they set +more store than upon any other. This benefit, in a civil society, +is the security of persons and property. In the religious society +it is the eternal salvation of the soul. iii In all other +particulars the resemblance is complete, and the titles of the +Church are as good as those of the State. Hence, if it be just for +one to be sovereign and free on its own domain, it is just for the +other to be equally sovereign and free, If the Church encroaches +when it assumes to regulate the constitution of the State, then the +State also encroaches when it pretends to regulate the constitution +of the Church. If the former claims the respect of the latter on +its domain, the latter must show equal respect for the former on its +ground. The boundary-line between the two territories is, +undoubtedly, not clearly defined and frequent contests arise between +the two. Sometimes these may be forestalled or terminated by each +shutting itself up within a wall of separation, and by their +remaining as much as possible indifferent to each other, as is the +case in America. At another, they may, by a carefully considered +contract,[67] each accord to the other specific rights on the +intermediate zone, and both exercise their divided authority on that +zone, which is the case in France. In both cases, however, the two +powers, like the two societies, must remain distinct. It is +necessary for each of them that the other should be an equal, and +not a subordinate to which it prescribes conditions. Whatever the +civil system may be, whether monarchical or republican, oligarchic +or democratic, the Church abuses its credit when it condemns or +attacks it. Whatever may be the ecclesiastical system, whether +papal, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or congregational, the State +abuses its strength when, without the assent of the faithful, it +abolishes their systems or imposes a new one upon them. Not only +does it violate right, but its violence, most frequently, is +fruitless. It may strike as it will, the root of the tree is beyond +its reach, and, in the unjust war which it wages against an +institution as vital as itself, it often ends in getting the worst +of it. + +Unfortunately, the Assembly, in this as in other matters, being +preoccupied with principles, fails to look at practical facts; and, +aiming to remove only the dead bark, it injures the living trunk. -- +For many centuries, and especially since the Council of Trent, the +vigorous element of Catholicism is much less religion itself than +the Church. Theology has retired into the background, while +discipline has come to the front. Believers who, according to +Church law, are required to regard spiritual authority as dogma, in +fact attach their faith to the spiritual authority much more than to +the dogma. - + +Catholic Faith insists, in relation to discipline as well as to +dogma, that if one rejects the decision of the Roman Church one +ceases to be a Catholic; that the constitution of the Church is +monarchical, that the ordaining of priests and bishops is made from +above so that without communion with the Pope, its supreme head, one +is schismatic and that no schismatic priest legitimately can perform +a holy service, and that no true faithful may attend his service or +receive his blessings without committing a sin. - It is a fact that +the faithful, apart from a few Jansenists, are neither theologians +nor canonists; that they read neither prayers nor scriptures, and if +they accept the creed, it is in a lump, without investigation, +confiding in the hand which presents it; that their obedient +conscience is in the keeping of this pastoral guide; that the Church +of the third century is of little consequence to them; and that, as +far as the true form of the actual Church goes, the doctor whose +advice they follow is not St. Cyprian, of whom they know nothing, +but their visible bishop and their living curé. +Put these two premises together and the conclusion is self-evident: +it is clear that they will not believe that they are baptized, +absolved, or married except by this curé authorized by this bishop. +Let others be put in their places whom they condemn, and you +suppress worship, sacraments, and the most precious functions of +spiritual life to twenty-four millions of French people, to all the +peasantry, all the children, and to almost all the women; you stir +up in rebellion against you the two greatest forces which move the +mind, conscience and habit. -- And observe the result of this. +You not only convert the State into a policeman in the service of +heresy, but also, through this fruitless and tyrannous attempt of +Gallican Jansenism, you bring into permanent discredit Gallican +maxims and Jansenist doctrines. You cut away the last two roots by +which a liberal sentiment still vegetated in orthodox Catholicism. +You throw the clergy back on Rome; you attach them to the Pope from +whom you wish to separate them, and deprive them of the national +character which you wish to impose on them. They were French, and +you render them Ultramontane.[68] They excited ill-will and envy, +and you render them sympathetic and popular. They were a divided +body, and you give them unanimity. They were a straggling militia, +scattered about under several independent authorities, and rooted to +the soil through the possession of the ground; thanks to you, they +are to become a regular, manageable army, emancipated from every +local attachment, organized under one head, and always prepared to +take the field at the word of command. Compare the authority of a +bishop in his diocese in 1789 with that of a bishop sixty years +later. In 1789, the Archbishop of Besançon, out of fifteen hundred +offices and benefices, had the patronage of one hundred, In ninety- +three incumbencies the selections were made by the metropolitan +chapter; in eighteen it was made by the chapter of the Madeleine; in +seventy parishes by the noble founder or benefactor. One abbé had +thirteen incumbencies at his disposal, another thirty-four, another +thirty-five, a prior nine, an abbess twenty; five communes directly +nominated their own pastor, while abbeys, priories and canonries +were in the hands of the King.[69] At the present day (1880) in a +diocese the bishop appoints all the curés or officiating priests, +and may deprive nine out of ten of them; in the diocese above named, +from 1850 to 1860, scarcely one lay functionary was nominated +without the consent or intervention of the cardinal-archbishop.[70] +To comprehend the spirit, discipline, and influence of our +contemporary clergy, go back to the source of it, and you will find +it in the decree of the Constituent Assembly. A natural +organization cannot be broken up with impunity; it forms anew, +adapting itself to circumstances, and closes up its ranks in +proportion to its danger. + +But even if, according to the maxims of the Assembly, faith and +worship are free, as far as the sovereign State is concerned, the +churches are subjects.-- For these are societies, administrations, +and hierarchies, and no society, administration, or hierarchy may +exist in the State without entering into its ---departments under +the title of subordinate, delegate, or employee. A priest is now +essentially a salaried officer like the rest, a functionary[71] +presiding over matters pertaining to worship and morality. If the +State is disposed to change the number, the mode of nomination, the +duties and the posts of its engineers, it is not bound to assemble +its engineers and ask their permission, least of all that of a +foreign engineer established at Rome. If it wishes to change the +condition of "its ecclesiastical officers," its right to do so is +the same, and therefore unquestioned. There is no need of asking +anybody's consent in the exercise of this right, and it allows no +interference between it and its clerks. The Assembly refuses to +call a Gallican council; it refuses to negotiate with the Pope, and, +on its own authority alone, it recasts the whole Constitution of the +Church. Henceforth this branch of the public administration is to +be organized on the model of the others. -- In the first +place[72] the diocese is to be in extent and limits the same as the +French department; consequently, all ecclesiastical districts are +marked out anew, and forty-eight episcopal sees disappear. -- In +the second place, the appointed bishop is forbidden "to refer to the +Pope to obtain any confirmation whatever." All he can do is to write +to him "in testimony of the unity of faith and of the communion +which he is to maintain with him." The bishop is thus no longer +installed by his canonical chief, and the Church of France becomes +schismatic. -- In the third place, the metropolitan or bishop is +forbidden to exact from the new bishops or curés "any oath other +than that they profess the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion." +Assisted by his council he may examine them on their doctrine and +morals, and refuse them canonical installation, but in this case his +reasons must be given in writing, and be signed by himself and his +council. His authority, in other respects, does not extend beyond +this for it is the civil tribunal which decides between contending +parties. Thus is the catholic hierarchy broken up; the +ecclesiastical superior has his hands tied; if he still delegates +sacerdotal functions it is only as a matter of form. Between the +curé and the bishop subordination ceases to exist just as it has +ceased to exist between the bishop and the Pope, and the Church of +France becomes Presbyterian. -- The people now, in effect, choose +their own ministers, as they do in the Presbyterian church; the +bishop is appointed by the electors of the department, the cure by +the district electors, and, what is an extraordinary aggravation, +these need not be of his communion. It is of no consequence whether +the electoral Assembly contains, as at Nîmes, Montauban, Strasbourg, +and Metz, a notable proportion of Calvinists, Lutherans, and Jews, +or whether its majority, furnished by the club, is notoriously +hostile to Catholicism, and even to Christianity itself. The bishop +and the curé must be chosen by the electoral body; the Holy Ghost +dwells with it, and with the civil tribunals, and these may install +its elect in spite of any resistance. -- To complete the +dependence of the clergy, every bishop is forbidden to absent +himself more than fifteen days without permission from the +department; every curé the same length of time without the +permission of the district, even to attend upon a dying father or to +undergo the operation of lithotomy. In default of this permission +his salary is suspended: as a functionary under salary, he owes all +his time to his bureau, and if he desires a leave of absence he must +ask for it from his chiefs in the Hôtel-de-Ville.[73] -- He must +assent to all these innovations, not only with passive obedience, +but by a solemn oath. All old or new ecclesiastics, archbishops, +bishops, curés, vicars, preachers, hospital and prison chaplains, +superiors and directors of seminaries, professors of seminaries and +colleges, are to state in writing that they are ready to take this +oath: moreover, they must take it publicly, in church, "in the +presence of the general council, the commune, and the faithful," and +promise "to maintain with all their power" a schismatic and +Presbyterian Church. -- For there can be no doubt about the sense +and bearing of the prescribed oath. It was all very well to +incorporate it with a broader one, that of maintaining the +Constitution. But the Constitution of the clergy is too clearly +comprised in the general Constitution, like a chapter in a book, and +to sign the book is to sign the chapter. Besides, in the formula to +which the ecclesiastics in the Assembly are obliged to swear in the +tribune, the chapter is precisely indicated, and no exception or +reservation is allowed.[74] The Bishop of Clermont, with all those +who have accepted the Constitution in full, save the decrees +affecting spiritual matters, are silenced. Where the spiritual +begins and where it ends the Assembly knows better than they, for it +has defined this, and it imposes its definition on canonist and +theologian; it is, in its turn, the Pope, and all consciences must +bow to its decision. Let them take the "oath, pure and simple," or +if they do not they are 'refractory." The fiat goes forth, and the +effect of it is immense, for, along with the clergy, the law reaches +to laymen. On the one hand, all the ecclesiastics who refuse the +oath are dismissed. If they continue "to interfere with public +functions which they have personally or corporately exercised" they +"shall be prosecuted as disturbers of the peace, and condemned as +rebels against the law," deprived of all rights as active citizens, +and declared incompetent to hold any public office. This is the +penalty already inflicted on the nonjuring bishop who persists in +considering himself a bishop, who ordains priests and who issues a +pastoral letter. Such is soon to be the penalty inflicted on the +nonjuring curé who presumes to hear confession or officiate at a +mass.[75] On the other hand, all citizens who refuse to take the +prescribed oath, all electors, municipal officers, judges and +administrative agents, shall lose their right of suffrage, have +their functions revoked, and be declared incompetent for all public +duties.[76] The result is that scrupulous Catholics are excluded +from every administrative post, from all elections, and especially +from ecclesiastical elections; from which it follows that, the +stronger one's faith the less one's share in the choice of a +priest.[77] -- What an admirable law, that which, under the pretext +of doing away with ecclesiastical abuses, places the faithful, lay +or clerical, outside the pale of the law! + +This soon becomes apparent. One hundred and thirty four +archbishops, bishops, and coadjutors refuse to take the oath; there +are only four of them who do so, three of whom, MM. de Talleyrand, +de Jarente, and de Brienne, are unbelievers and notorious for their +licentiousness; the others are influenced by their consciences, +above all, by their esprit de corps and a point of honor. Most of +the curés rally around this staff of officers. In the diocese of +Besançon,[78] out of fourteen hundred priests, three hundred take +the oath, a thousand refuse it, and eighty retract. In the +department of Doubs, only four consent to swear. In the department +of Lozère, there are only "ten out of two hundred and fifty." It is +stated positively," writes the best informed of all observers that +everywhere in France two-thirds of the ecclesiastics have refused +the oath, or have only taken it with the same reservations as the +Bishop of Clermont." + +Thus, out of seventy thousand priests, forty-six thousand are turned +out of office, and the majority of their parishioners are on their +side. This is apparent in the absence of electors convoked to +replace them: at Bordeaux only four hundred and fifty came to the +poll out of nine hundred, while elsewhere the summons brings +together only "a third or a quarter" In many places there are no +candidates, or those elected decline to accept. They are obliged, +in order to supply their places, to hunt up unfrocked monks of a +questionable character. There are two parties, after this, in each +parish; two faiths, two systems of worship, and permanent discord. +Even when the new and the old curés are accommodating, their +situations bring them into conflict. To the former the latter are +"intruders." To the latter the former are " refractories." By virtue +of his being a guardian of souls, the former cannot dispense with +telling his parishioners that the intruder is excommunicated, that +his sacraments are null or sacrilegious, and that it is a sin to +attend his mass. By virtue of his being a public functionary, the +latter does not fail to write to the authorities that the " +refractory " entraps the faithful, excites their consciences, saps +the Constitution, and that he ought to be put down by force. In +other words, the former draws everybody away from the latter, while +the latter sends the gendarmes against the former, and persecution +begins. - In a strange reversal, it is the majority which undergoes +persecution, and the minority which carries it out. The mass of the +constitutional curé is, everywhere, deserted.[79] In La Vendée there +are ten or twelve present in the church out of five or six hundred +parishioners; on Sundays and holidays whole villages and market- +towns travel from one to two leagues off to attend the orthodox +mass, the villagers declaring that "if the old curé can only be +restored to them, they will gladly pay a double tax." In Alsace, +"nine tenths, at least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize the +legally sworn priests." The same spectacle presents itself in +Franche-Comté, Artois, and in ten of the other provinces. -- +Finally, as in a chemical composition, the analysis is complete. +Those who believe, or who recover their belief, are ranged around +the old curé; all who, through conviction or tradition, hold to the +sacraments, all who, through faith or habit, wish or feel a need to +attend the mass. The auditors of the new curé consist of +unbelievers, deists, the indifferent members of the clubs and of the +administration, who resort to the church as to the Hôtel-de-ville or +to a popular meeting, not through religious but through political +zeal, and who support the "intruder" in order to sustain the +Constitution. All this does not secure to him very fervent +followers, but it provides him with very zealous defenders; and, in +default of the faith which they do not possess, they give the force +which is at their disposal. All means are proper against an +intractable bishop or curé; not only the law which they aggravate +through their forced interpretation of it and through their +arbitrary verdicts, but also the riots which they stir up by their +instigation and which they sanction by their toleration.[80] He is +driven out of his parish, consigned to the county town, and kept in +a safe place. The Directory of Aisne denounces him as a disturber +of the public peace, and forbids him, under severe penalties, from +administering the sacraments. The municipality of Cahors shuts up +particular churches and orders the nonjuring ecclesiastics to leave +the town in twenty-four hours. The electoral corps of Lot denounces +them publicly as "ferocious brutes," incendiaries, and provokers of +civil war. The Directory of the Bas-Rhin banishes them to +Strasbourg or to fifteen leagues from the frontier. At Saint-Leon +the bishop is forced to fly. At Auch the archbishop is imprisoned; +at Lyons M. de Boisboissel, grand vicar, is confined in Pierre- +Encize, for having preserved an archiepiscopal mandate in his house; +brutality is everywhere the minister of intolerance. A certain cure +of Aisne who, in 1789, had fed two thousand poor, having presumed to +read from his pulpit a pastoral charge concerning the observance of +Lent, the mayor seizes him by the collar and prevents him from going +to the altar; "two of the National Yeomanry" draw their sabers on +him, and forthwith lead him away bareheaded, not allowing him to +return to his house, and drive him to a distance of two leagues by +beat of drum and under escort. At Paris, in the church of Saint- +Eustache, the curé is greeted with outcries, a pistol is pointed at +his head, he is seized by the hair, struck with fists, and only +reaches the sacristy through the intervention of the National Guard. +In the church of the Théatins, rented by the orthodox with all legal +formality, a furious band disperses the priests and their +assistants, upsets the altar and profanes the sacred vessels. A +placard, posted up by the department, calls upon the people to +respect the law, "I saw it," says an eye-witness, "torn down amidst +imprecations against the department, the priests, and the devout. +One of the chief haranguers, standing on the steps terminated his +speech by stating that schism ought to be stopped at any cost, that +no worship but his should be allowed, that women should be whipped +and priests knocked on the head." And, in fact, "a young lady +accompanied by her mother is whipped on the steps of the church." +Elsewhere nuns are the sufferers, even the sisters of Saint-Vincent +de Paul; and, from April, 1793, onward; the same outrages on modesty +and against life are propagated from town to town. At Dijon, rods +are nailed fast to the gates of all the convents; at Montpellier, +two or three hundred ruffians, armed with large iron--bound sticks, +murder the men and outrage the women. -- Nothing remains but to +put the gangsters under the shelter of an amnesty, which is done by +the Constituent Assembly, and to legally sanction the animosity of +local administrations, which is done by the Legislative +Assembly.[81] Henceforth the nonjuring ecclesiastics are deprived +of their sustenance; they are declared " suspected of revolt against +the law and of evil intentions against the country." - Thus, says a +contemporary Protestant, "on the strength of these suspicions and +these intentions, a Directory, to which the law interdicts judicial +functions, may arbitrarily drive out of his house the minister of a +God of peace and charity, grown gray in the shadow of the altar" +Thus, "everywhere, where disturbances occur on account of religious +opinions, and whether these troubles are due to the frantic +scourgers of the virtuous sisters of charity or to the ruffians +armed with cow-hides who, at Nîmes and Montpellier, outrage all the +laws of decorum and of liberty for six whole months, the non-juring +priests are to be punished with banishment. Torn from their +families whose means of living they share, they are sent away to +wander on the highways, abandoned to public pity or ferocity the +moment any scoundrel chooses to excite a disturbance that he can +impute to them." - Thus we see approaching the revolt of the +peasantry, the insurrections of Nîmes, Franche-Comté, la Vendée and +Brittany, emigration, transportation; imprisonment, the guillotine +or drowning for two thirds of the clergy of France, and likewise for +myriads of the loyal, for husbandmen, artisans, day-laborers, +seamstresses, and servants, and the humblest among the lower class +of the people. This is what the laws of the Constituent Assembly +are leading to. -- In the institution of the clergy, as in that of +the nobles and the King, it demolished a solid wall in order to dig +through it an open door, and it is nothing strange if the whole +structure tumbles down on the heads of its inmates. The true course +was to respect, to reform, to utilize rank and corporations: all +that the Assembly thought of was the abolition of these in the name +of abstract equality and of national sovereignty. In order to +abolish these it executed, tolerated, or initiated all the attacks +on persons and on property. Those it is about to commit are the +inevitable result of those which it has already committed; for, +through its Constitution, bad is changed to worse, and the social +edifice, already half in ruins through the clumsy havoc that is +effected in it, will fall in completely under the weight of the +incongruous or extravagant constructions which it proceeds to +extemporize. + +___________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + +[1] Cf. "The Ancient Régime," books I. and V. + +[2] Perhaps we are here at the core of why all regimes end up +becoming corrupt, inefficient and sick; their leaders take their +privileges for granted and become more and more inattentive to the +work which must be done if the people are to be kept at work and +possible adversaries kept under control. (SR.) + +[3] A special tax paid the king by a plebeian owning a fief. (TR) + +[4] The right to an income from trust funds. (SR.) + +[5] Arthur Young, I. 209, 223. "If the communes steadily refuse +what is now offered to them, they put immense and certain benefits +to the chance of fortune, to that hazard which may make posterity +curse instead of bless their memories as real patriots who had +nothing in view but the happiness of their country. + +[6] According to valuations by the Constituent Assembly, the tax on +real estate ought to bring 240,000,000 francs, and provide one-fifth +of the net revenue of France, estimated at 1,200,000,000. +Additionally, the personal tax on movable property, which replaced +the capitation, ought to bring 60,000,000. Total for direct +taxation, 300,000,000, or one-fourth -- that is to say, twenty-five +per cent, of the net revenue.-- If the direct taxation had been +maintained up to the rate of the ancient régime (190,000,000, +according to Necker's report in May, 1689), this impost would only +have provided one-sixth of the net revenue, or sixteen percent. + +[7] Dumont, 267. (The words of Mirabeau three months before his +death:) "Ah, my friend, how right we were at the start when we +wanted to prevent the commons from declaring themselves the National +Assembly! That was the source of the evil. They wanted to rule the +King, instead of ruling through him." + +[8] Gouverneur Morris, April 29, 1789 (on the principles of the +future constitution), "One generation at least will be required to +render the public familiar with them." + +[9] Cf. "The Ancient Régime," book II, ch. III. + +[10] French women did not obtain the right to vote until 1946. (SR.) + +[11] According to Voltaire ("L'Homme aux Quarante Écus"), the +average duration of human life was only twenty-three years. + +[12] Mercure, July 6, 1790. According to the report of Camus +(sitting of July 2nd), the official total of pensions amounted to +thirty-two millions; but if we add the gratuities and allowances out +of the various treasuries, the actual total was fifty-six millions. + +[13] I note that today in 1998, 100 years after Taine's death, +Denmark, my country, has had total democracy, that is universal +suffrage for women and men of 18 years of age for a considerable +time, and a witty author has noted that the first rule of our +unwritten constitution is that "thou shalt not think that thou art +important". I have noted, however, that when a Dane praises Denmark +and the Danes even in the most excessive manner, then he is not +considered as a chauvinist but admired as being a man of truth. In +spite of the process of 'democratization' even socialist chieftains +seem to favor and protect their own children, send them to good +private schools and later abroad to study and help them to find +favorable employment in the party or with the public services. A +new élite is thus continuously created by the ruling political and +administrative upper class. (SR.). + +[14] The Ancient Régime," p.388, and the following pages.-" Le Duc de +Broglie," by M. Goizot, p. 11. (Last words of Prince Victor de +Broglie, and the opinions of M. d'Argenson.) + +[15] De Ferrières, I. p.2. + +[16] Moniteur, sitting of September 7, 1790, I. 431-437. Speeches, +of MM. de Sillery, de Lanjuinais, Thouret, de Lameth, and Rabaut- +Saint-Etienne. Barnave wrote in 1791: "It was necessary to be +content with one single chamber; the instinct of equality required +it. A second Chamber would have been the refuge of the +aristocrats." + +[17] Lenin should later create an elite, an aristocracy which, under +his leadership was to become the Communist party. Lenin could not +have imagined or at least would not have been concerned that the +leadership of this party would fall into the hands of tyrants later, +under the pressure of age and corruption, to be replaced by the KGB +and later the FSB. (SR.) + +[18] "De Bouillé," p. 50: "All the old noble families, save two or +three hundred, were ruined." + +[19] Cf. Doniol, "La Révolution et la Féodalité." + +[20] Moniteur, sitting of August 6, !789. Speech of Duport: +"Whatever is unjust cannot last. Similarly, no compensation for +these unjust rights can be maintained." Sitting of February 27, +1790. M. Populus: "As slavery could not spring from a legitimate +contract, because liberty cannot be alienated, you have abolished +without indemnity hereditary property in persons." Instructions and +decree of June 15-19, 1791: "The National Assembly has recognized in +the most emphatic manner that a man never could become the +proprietor of another man, and consequently, that the rights which +one had assumed to have over the person of the other, could not +become the property of the former." Cf. the diverse reports of +Merlin to the Committee of Feudality and the National Assembly. + +[21] Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et Décrets." Laws of the 4-11 +August, 1789; March 15-28, 1790; May 3-9, 1790; June 15-19, 1791. + +[22] Agrier percières -- terms denoting taxes paid in the shape of +shares of produce. Those which follow: lods, rentes, quint, requint +belong to the taxes levied on real property. [Tr.] + +[23] Doniol ("Noveaux cahiers de 1790"). Complaints of the copy- +holders of Rouergues and of Quercy, pp. 97-105. + +[24] See further on, book III. ch. II. § 4 and also ch. III. + +[25] Moniteur, sitting of March 2, 1790. Speech by Merlin: "The +peasants have been made to believe that the annulation of the +banalities (the obligation to use the public mill, wine-press, and +oven, which belonged to the noble) carried along with it the loss to +the noble of all these; the peasants regarding themselves as +proprietors of them." + +[26] Moniteur; sitting of June 9, !790. Speech of M. Charles de +Lameth -- Duvergier (laws of June 19-23 1790; September 27 and +October 16, 1791). + +[27] Sauzay, V. 400 -410. + +[28] Duvergier, laws of June 15-19, 1791; of June 18 -July 6, 1792; +of August 25-28, 1792. + +[29] "Institution du Droit Français," par Argou, I.103. (He wrote +under the Regency.) "The origin of most of the feoffs is so ancient +that, if the seigneurs were obliged to produce the titles of the +original concession to obtain their rents, there would scarcely be +one able to produce them. This deficiency is made up by common +law." + +[30] Duvergier (laws of April 8-15, 1791; March 7-11; October 26, +1791; January 6-10, 1794). -- Mirabeau had already proposed to +reduce the disposable portion to one-tenth. + +[31] See farther on, book III, ch. III. + +[32] Mercure, September 10, 1791. Article by Mallet du Pan. - Ibid. +October 15, 1791. + +[33] Should Hitler or Lenin have read and understood the +consequences of these events they would have deduced that given the +command from official sources or recognized leaders ordinary people +all over the world could easily be tempted to attack any group, +being it Jews, Protestants, Hindus or foreigners. (SR.) + +[34] "Archives Nationales," II. 784. Letters of M. de Langeron, +October 16 and 18, 1789. -- Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," +letters addressed to the Chevalier de Poterats , July, 1790. -- +"Archives Nationales," papers of the Committee on Reports, bundle 4, +letter of M. le Belin-Chatellenot to the to the President of the +National Assembly, July 1, 1791. -- Mercure, October 15, 1791. +Article by Mallet du Pan: "Such is literally the language of these +emigrants; I do not add a word." - Ibid. May 15, 1790. Letter of +the Baron de Bois d'Aizy, April 29,1790, demanding a decree of +protection fur the nobles. "We shall know (then) whether we are +outlawed or are of any account in the rights of man written out with +so much blood, or whether, finally, no other option is left to us +but that of carrying to distant skies the remains of our property +and our wretched existence." + +[35] Mercure, October 15, 1791, and September 10, 1791. Read the +admirable letter of the Chevalier de Mesgrigny, appointed colonel +during the suspension of the King, and refusing his new rank. + +[36] Cf. the "Mémoires" of M. de Boustaquet, a Norman gentleman. + +[37] Cf. "The Ancient Régime," books I. and II. + +[38] Boivin- Champeaux, "Notice Historique sur la Révolution dans le +Département de L'Eure," the register of grievances. In 1788, at +Rouen, there was not a single profession made by men. In the +monastery of the Deux-Amants the chapter convoked in 1789 consisted +of two monks. -- "Archives Nationales," papers of the ecclesiastic +committee, passim. + +[39] "Apologie de l'État Religieux" (1775), with statistics. Since +1768 the decline is "frightful." "It is easy to foresee that in ten +or twelve years most of the regular bodies will be absolutely +extinct, or reduced to a state of feebleness akin to death." + +[40] Sanzay, I. 224 (November, 1790). At Besançon, out of 266 +monks, "79 only showed any loyalty to their engements or any +affection for their calling." Others preferred to abandon it, +especially all the Dominicans but five, all but one of the bare +footed Carmelites, and all the Grand Carmelites. The same +disposition is apparent throughout the department, as, for instance, +with the Benedictines of Cluny except one, all the Minimes but +three, all the Capuchins but five, the Bernandins, Dominicans, and +Augustins, all preferring to leave. -- Montalembert, "Les Moines +d'Occident," introduction, pp. 105-164. Letter of a Benedictine of +Saint-Germain-des-Prés to a Benedictine of Vannes. "Of all the +members of your congregation which come here to lodge, I have +scarcely found one capable of edifying us. You may probably say the +same of those who came to you from our place." -- Cf. in the +"Mémoires" of Merlin de Thionville the description of the Chartreuse +of Val St. Pierre. + +[41] Ch. Guerin, "Revue des Questions Historiques" (July 1, 1875; +April 1, 1876). -- Abbé Guettée, "Histoire de l'Eglise de France," +XII, 128. ("Minutes of the meeting of l'Assemblée du Clergé," in +1780.) -- "Archives nationales," official reports and memorandums of +the States-General in 1789. The most obnoxious proceeding to the +chiefs of the order is the postponement of the age at which vows may +be taken, it being, in their view, the ruin of their institutions. +-- "The Ancient Régime," p. 403. + +[42] In order for a modern uninstructed non-believing reader to +understand the motivation which moved thousands of self-less +sisters and brothers to do their useful and kind work read St. +Matthew chapter 25, verses 31 to 46 where Jesus predicts how he will +sit in judgment on mankind and separate the sheep from the goats. (SR.) + +[43] "The Ancient Régime," P.33 -- Cf. Guerin "The monastery of the +Trois-Rois, in the north of Franche-Comté, founded four villages +collected from foreign colonists. It is the only center of charity +and civilization in a radius of three leagues. It took care of two +hundred of the sick in a recent epidemic; it lodges the troops which +pass from Alsace into Franche-Comté, and in the late hailstorm it +supplied the whole neighborhood with food." + +[44] Moniteur, sitting of February 13,1790. (Speech of the Abbé de +Montesquiou). -- Archives Nationales," papers of the +Ecclesiastical Committee, DXIX. 6, Visitation de Limoges, DXIX. +25, Annonciades de Saint-Denis; ibid. Annonciades de Saint Amour, +Ursulines d'Auch, de Beaulieu, d'Eymoutier, de la Ciotat, de Pont +Saint-Esprit, Hospitalières d'Ernée, de Laval; Sainte Claire de +Laval, de Marseilles, etc. " + +[45] Sauzay, I. 247. Out of three hundred and seventy-seven nuns +at Doubs, three hundred and fifty-eight preferred to remain as they +were, especially at Pontarlier, all the Bernardines, Annonciades, +and Ursulines; at Besançon, all the Carmelites, the Visitandines, +the Annonciades, the Clarisses, the Sisters of Refuge, the Nuns of +the Saint-Esprit and, save one, all the Benedictine Nuns. + +[46] "Archives Nationales." Papers of the Ecclesiastical Committee, +passim.-- Suzay, I. 51. -- Statistics of France for 1866. + +[47] In 1993 this number has once more fallen, and continues to +fall, to 55 900. "Quid", 1996 page 623. (SR.) + +[48] Felix Rocquain, "La France aprés le 18 Brumaire." (Reports of +the Councillors of State dispatched on this service, passim). + +[49] Moniteur, October 24, 1789. (Speech of Dupont de Nemours.) All +these speeches, often more fully reported and with various +renderings, may be found in "Les Archives Parlementaires," 1st +series, vols. VIII. and IX. + +[50] Duvergier, decree of June 14-17, 1791. "The annihilation of +every corporation of citizens of any one condition or profession +being on of the foundation-stones of the French constitution, it is +forbidden to re-establish these de-facto under any pretext or form +whatever. Citizens of a like condition or profession, such as +contractors, shopkeepers, workmen of all classes, and associates in +any art whatever shall not, on assembling together, appoint either +president, or secretaries, or syndics, discuss or pass resolutions, +or frame any regulations in relation to their assumed common +interests." + +[51] Moniteur, sitting of November 2nd, 1789. + +[52] Moniteur, sitting of February 12, 1790. Speeches of Dally +d'Agier and Barnave. + +[53] Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by Garat; +February 12, 1790, speech by Pétion; October 30, 1789, speech by +Thouret. + +[54] Moniteur, sitting of November 2, 1789. Speech by Chapelier; +October 24, 1789, speech by Garat; October 30, 1789, speech by +Mirabeau, and the sitting of August 10, 1789. + +[55] Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by Thouret. + +[56] Moniteur, sitting of October 23, 1789. Speech by Treilhard; +October24th, speech by Garat; October 30, speech by Mirabeau. -- On +the 8th of August, 1789, Al. de Lameth says in the tribune: "When +an foundation was set up, it is to the nation, which the grant was +given." + +[57] Duvergier, laws of August 18, 1792; August 8-14, 1793; July 11, +1794; July 14, 1792; August 24, 1793. + +[58] Moniteur, sitting of July 31, 1792. Speech of M. Boistard; +the property of the hospitals, at this time was estimated at eight +hundred millions. -- Already in 1791 (sitting of January 30th) M. +de Larochefoucauld-Liancourt said to the Assembly: Nothing will more +readily restore confidence to the poor than to see the nation +assuming the right of rendering them assistance." He proposes to +decree; accordingly, that all hospitals and places of beneficence he +placed under the control of the nation. (Mercure, February 12, +1791.) + +[59] Moniteur, sitting of August 10, 1789. Speech by Sieyès. -- +The figures given here are deduced from the statistics already given +in the "Ancient Régime." + +[60] Moniteur, v. 571.sitting of September 4, 1790. Report of the +Committee on Finances -- V. 675, sitting of September 17, 1790. +Report by Necker. + +[61] A Revolutionary Government promissory bank note. (SR.) + +[62] Sauzay, I. 228 (from October 10, 1790, to February 20, 1791). +"The total weight of the spoil of the monastic establishments in +gold, silver, and plated ware, sent to the Mint amounted to more +than 525 kilograms (for the department)." + +[63] Duvergier, law of October 8-14. + +[64] Moniteur, sitting of June 3,1792. Speech of M. Bernard, in +the name of the committee of Public Assistance: "Not a day passes in +which we do not receive the saddest news from the departments on the +penury of their hospitals." -- Mercure de France, December 17, 1791, +sitting of December 5. A number of deputies of the Department of +the North demand aid for their hospitals and municipalities. Out of +480,000 livres revenue there remains 10,000 to them. "The property +of the Communes is mortgaged, and no longer affords them any +resources. 280,000 persons are without bread. + +[65] Sauzay, I. 252 (December 3, 1790. April 13, 1791). + +[66] Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speeches by Camus, +Treilhard, etc. + +[67] But on the assumption that all religion has been invented by +human beings for their own comfort or use, then what would be more +natural than clever rulers using their power to influence the +religious authorities to their own advantage. (SR.) + +[68] Ultramontane: Extreme in favoring the Pope's supremacy. (SR.) + +[69] Sauzay, I. 168. + +[70] Personal knowledge, as I visited Besançon four times between +1863 and 1867. + +[71] Moniteur, sitting of May 30, 1790, and others following. +(Report of Treilhard, speech by Robespierre.) + +[72] Duvergier, laws of July 12th-August 14th; November 14-25, 1790; +January 21-26, 1791. + +[73] Moniteur, sitting of May 31, 1790. Robespierre, in covert +terms, demands the marriage of priests. -- Mirabeau prepared a +speech in the same sense, concluding that every priest and monk +should be able to contract marriage; on the priest or monk +presenting himself with his bride before the curé, the latter should +be obliged to give them the nuptial benediction etc. Mirabeau +wrote, June 2, 1790: "Robespierre... has juggled me out of my +motion on the marriage of priests." -- In general the germ of all +the laws of the Convention is found in the Constituent Assembly. +(Ph. Plan, "Un Collaborateur de Mirabeau," p.56, 144.) + +[74] Duvergier, laws of November 27th -- December 26, 1790; February +5th, March 22nd, and April 5, 1791. -- Moniteur, sitting of +November 6, 1790, and those that follow, especially that of December +27th. "I swear to maintain with all my power the French +Constitution and especially the decrees relating to the Civil +Constitution of the clergy." -- Cf. sitting of January 2, 1791, +speech by the Bishop of Clermont. + +[75] Duvergier, law of May 7, 1791, to maintain the right of +nonjuring priests to perform mass in national or private edifices. +(Demanded by Talleyrand and Sieyès.) + +[76] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3235. Letter of M. de Château- +Randon, deputy of la Lozère, May 28, 1791. After the decree of May +23rd, all the functionaries of the department handed in their +resignations. + +[77] Duvergier, law of May 21-29, 1791. + +[78] Sauzay, I. 366, 538 to 593, 750. -- Archives Nationales," F7, +3235, Letter of M. de Chânteau-Randon, May 10, 1791. -- Mercure, +April 23rd, and April 16, 1701. Articles of Mallet du Pan, letter +from Bordeaux, March 20, 1791. + +[79] Buchez and Roux, XII, 77. Report of Gallois and Gensonné sent +to La Vendée and the Deux Sévres (July 25, 1791). -- " Archives +Nationales," F7, 3253, letter of the Directory of the Bas-Rhin +(letter of January 7, 1792). -- " Le District de Machecoul de 1788 +à 1793," by Lallier. --" Histoire de Joseph Lebon," by Paris. -- +Sauzay, vol. I. and II. in full. + +[80] Mercure, January 15th, April 23rd, May 16th and 30th, June 1st, +November 23rd, 1791. -- "Le District de Machecoul," by Lallier, +173. -- Sauzay, I. 295. -- Lavirotte, "Annales d'Arnay-le-Duc +(February 5, 1792). -- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Petition +of a number of the inhabitants of Montpellier, November 17, 1791. + +[81] Duvergier, decree of November 29, 1791. -- Mercure, November +30, 1791 (article by Mallet du Pan). + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE CONSTRUCTIONS - THE CONSTITUTION OF 1791.. + +That which is called a Government is a concert of powers, each with +a distinct function, and all working towards a final and complete +end. The merit of a Government consists in the attainment of this +end; the worth of a machine depends upon the work it accomplishes. +The important thing is not to produce a good mechanical design on +paper, but to see that the machine works well when set up on the +ground. In vain might its founders allege the beauty of their plan +and the logical connection of their theorems; they are not required +to furnish either plan or theorems, but an instrument. + +Two conditions are requisite to render this instrument serviceable +and effective. In the first place, the public powers must harmonize +with each other, if not, one will neutralize the other; in the +second place they must be obeyed, or they are null. + +The Constituent Assembly made no provision for securing this harmony +or this obedience. In the machine which it constructed the motions +all counteract each other; the impulse is not transmitted; the +gearing is not complete between the center and the extremities; the +large central and upper wheels turn to no purpose; the innumerable +small wheels near the ground break or get out of order: the machine, +by virtue of its own mechanism, remains useless, over-heated, under +clouds of waste steam, creaking and thumping in such a matter as to +show clearly that it must explode. + + +I. + +Powers of the Central Government. - The Assembly on the partition of +power. - Rupture of every tie between the Legislature and the King. +- The Assembly on the subordination of the executive power. - How +this is nullified. - Certainty of a conflict. - The deposition of +the King is inevitable. + +Let us first consider the two central powers, the Assembly and the +King. - Ordinarily when distinct powers of different origin are +established by a Constitution, it makes, in the case of conflict +between them, a provision for an arbiter in the institution of an +Upper Chamber. Each of these powers, at least, has a hold on the +other. The Assembly must have one on the King: which is the right +to refuse taxation. The King must have one on the Assembly: which +is the right of dissolving it. Otherwise, one of the two being +disarmed, the other becomes omnipotent, and, consequently, insane. +The peril here is as great for an omnipotent Assembly as it is for +an absolute King. If the former is desirous of remaining in its +right mind, it needs repression and control as much as the latter. +If it is proper for the Assembly to restrain the King by refusing +him subsidies, it is proper for him to be able to defend himself by +appealing to the electors. - But, besides these extreme measures, +which are dangerous and rarely resorted to, there is another which +is ordinarily employed and is safe, that is, the right for the King +to take his ministers from the Chamber. Generally, the leaders of +the majority form the ministry, their nomination being the means of +restoring harmony between the King and Assembly; they are at once +men belonging to the Assembly and men belonging to the King. +Through this expedient not only is the confidence of the Assembly +assured, since the Government remains in the hands of its leaders, +but also it is under restraint because these become simultaneously +both powerful and responsible. Placed at the head of all branches +of the service, they are, before proposing it or accepting it, in a +position to judge whether a law is useful and practicable. Nothing +is so healthy for a majority as a ministry composed of its own +chiefs; nothing is so effective in repressing rashness or +intemperance. A railway conductor is not willing that his +locomotive should be deprived of coal, nor to have the rails he is +about to run on broken up. - This arrangement, with all its +drawbacks and inconveniences, is the best one yet arrived at by +human experience for the security of societies against despotism and +anarchy. For the absolute power which establishes or saves them may +also oppress or exhaust them, there is a gradual substitution of +differentiated powers, held together through the mediation of a +third umpire, caused by reciprocal dependence and an which is common +to both. + +Experience, however, is unimportant to the members of the +Constituent Assembly; under the banner of principles they sunder one +after another all the ties which keep the two powers together +harmoniously. - There must not be an Upper Chamber, because this +would be an asylum or a nursery for aristocrats. Moreover, "the +nation being of one mind," it is averse to "the creation of +different organs." So, applying ready-made formulas and metaphors, +they continue to produce ideological definitions and distinctions. + +The King must not have a hold on the legislative body: the executive +is an arm, whose business it is to obey; it is absurd for the arm to +constrain or direct the head. Scarcely is the monarch allowed a +delaying veto. Sieyès here enters with his protest declaring that +this is a "lettre de cachet[1] launched against the universal will," +and there is excluded from the action of the veto the articles of +the Constitution, all money-bills, and some other laws. - -Neither +the monarch nor the electors of the Assembly are to convoke the +Assembly; he has no voice in or oversight of the details of its +formation; the electors are to meet together and vote without his +summons or supervision. Once the Assembly is elected he can neither +adjourn nor dissolve it. He cannot even propose a law;[2] per- +mission is only granted to him "to invite it to take a subject into +consideration." He is limited to his executive duties; and still +more, a sort of wall is built up between him and the Assembly, and +the opening in it, by which each could take the other's hand, is +carefully closed up. The deputies are forbidden to become ministers +throughout the term of their service and for two years afterwards. +This is because fears are entertained that they might be corrupted +through contact with the Court, and, again, whoever the ministers +might be, there is no disposition to accept their ascendancy.[3] If +one of them is admitted into the Assembly it is not for the purpose +of giving advice, but to furnish information, reply to +interrogatories, and make protestations of his zeal in humble terms +and in a dubious position.[4] By virtue of being a royal agent he +is under suspicion like the King himself, and he is sequestered in +his bureau as the King is sequestered in his palace.- Such is the +spirit of the Constitution: by force of the theory, and the better +to secure a separation of the powers,[5] a common understanding +between them is for ever rendered impossible, and to make up for +this impossibility there remains nothing but to make one the master +and the other the clerk. + +This they did not fail to do, and for greater security, the latter +is made an honorary clerk, The executive power is conferred on him +nominally and in appearance; he does not possess it in fact, care +having been taken to place it in other hands. - In effect, all +executive agents and all secondary and local powers are elective. +The King has no voice, directly or indirectly, in the choice of +judges, public prosecutors, bishops, curés, collectors and assessors +of the taxes, commissaries of police, district and departmental +administrators, mayors, and municipal officers. At most, should an +administrator violate a law, he may annul his acts and suspend him; +but the Assembly, the superior power, has the right to cancel this +suspension. - As to the armed force, of which he is supposed to be +the commander-in-chief, this escapes from him entirely: the National +Guard is not to receive orders from him; the gendarmerie and the +troops are bound to respond to the requisitions of the municipal +authorities, whom the King can neither select nor displace: in +short, local action of any kind - that is to say, all effective +action - is denied to him. - The executive instrument is purposely +destroyed. The connection which existed between the wheels of the +extremities and the central shaft is broken, and henceforth, +incapable of distributing its energy, this shaft, in the hands of +the monarch, stands still or else turns to no purpose. The King, +"supreme head of the general administration, of the army, and of the +navy, guardian of public peace and order, hereditary representative +of the nation," is without the means, in spite of his lofty titles, +of directly applying his pretended powers, of causing a schedule of +assessments to be drawn up in a refractory commune, of compelling +payment by a delinquent tax-payer, of enforcing the free circulation +of a convoy of grain, of executing the judgment of a court, of +suppressing an outbreak, or of securing protection to persons and +property. For he can bring no constraint to bear on the agents who +are declared to be subordinate to him; he has no resources but those +of warning and persuasion. He sends to each Departmental Assembly +the decrees which he has sanctioned, requesting it to transmit them +and cause them to be carried out; he receives its correspondence and +bestows his censure or approval - and that is all. He is merely a +powerless medium of communication, a herald or public advertiser, a +sort of central echo, sonorous and empty, to which news is brought, +and from which laws depart, to spread abroad like a common rumor. +Such as he is, and thus diminished, he is still considered to be too +strong. He is deprived of the right of pardon, "which severs the +last artery of monarchical government."[6] All sorts of precautions +are taken against him. He cannot declare war without a decree of +the Assembly; he is obliged to bring war to an end on the decree of +the Assembly; he cannot make a treaty of peace, an alliance, or a +commercial treaty, without the ratification of these by the +Assembly. It is expressly declared that he is to nominate but two- +thirds of the rear-admirals, one-half of the lieutenant-generals, +field-marshals, captains of Vessels and colonels of the gendarmerie, +one-third of the colonels and lieutenant-colonels of the line, and a +sixth of the naval lieutenants. He must not allow troops to stay or +pass within 30,000 yards of the Assembly. His guard must not +consist of more than 1,800 men, duly verified, and protected against +his seductions by the civil oath. The heir-presumptive must not +leave the country without the Assembly's assent. It is the Assembly +which is to regulate by law the education of his son during +minority. - All these precautions are accompanied with threats. +There are against him five possible causes of dethronement; against +his responsible Ministers, eight causes for condemnation to from +twelve to twenty years of constraint, and eight grounds for +condemnations to death.[7] Everywhere between the lines of the +Constitution, we read the constant disposition to assume an attitude +of defense, the secret dread of treachery, the conviction that +executive power, of whatever kind, is in its nature inimical to the +public welfare. - For withholding the nomination of judges, the +reason alleged is that "the Court and the Ministers are the most +contemptible portion of the nation."[8] If the nomination of +Ministers is conceded, it is on the ground that" Ministers appointed +by the people would necessarily be too highly esteemed." The +principle is that "the legislative body alone must possess the +confidence of the people," that royal authority corrupts its +depository, and that executive power is always tempted to commit +abuses and to engage in conspiracies. If it is provided for in the +Constitution it is with regret, through the necessity of the case, +and on the condition of its being trammeled by impediments; it will +prove so much the less baneful in proportion as it is restrained, +guarded, threatened, and denounced. - A position of this kind is +manifestly intolerable; and only a man as passive as Louis XVI. +could have put up with it. Do what he will, however, he cannot make +it a tenable one. In vain does he scrupulously adhere to the +Constitution, and fulfill it to the letter. Because he is powerless +the Assembly regards him as lukewarm, and imputes to him the +friction of the machine which is not under his control. If he +presumes once to exercise his veto it is rebellion, and the +rebellion of an official against his superior, which is the +Assembly; the rebellion of a subject against his Sovereign, which is +the people. In this case dethronement is proper, and the Assembly +has only to pass the decree; the people have simply to execute the +act, and the Constitution ends in a Revolution. - A piece of +machinery of this stamp breaks down through its own movement. In +conformity with the philosophic theory the two wheels of government +must be separated, and to do this they have to be disconnected and +isolated one from the other. In conformity with the popular creed, +the driving-wheel must be subordinated and its influence +neutralized: to do this it is necessary to reduce its energy to a +minimum, break up its connections, and raise it up in the air to +turn round like a top, or to remain there as an obstacle to +something else. It is certain that, after much ill-usage as a +plaything, it will finally be removed as a hindrance. + + + +II. THE CREATION OF POPULAR DEMOCRACY. + +Administrative powers. - The Assembly on the hierarchy. - Grades +abolished. - Collective powers. - Election introduced, and the +influence of subordinates in all branches of the service. - +Certainty of disorganization. - Power in the hands of municipal +bodies. + +Let us leave the center of government and go to the extremities, and +observe the various administrations in working operation.[9] + +For any service to work well and with precision, there must be a +single and unique chief who can appoint, pay, punish and dismiss his +subordinates. - For, on the one hand, he stands alone and feels his +responsibility; he brings to bear on the management of affairs a +degree of attention and consistency, a tact and a power of +initiation of which a committee is incapable; corporate follies or +defects do not involve any one in particular, and authority is +effective only when it is in one hand. - On the other hand, being +master, he can rely on the subalterns whom he has himself selected, +whom he controls through their hopes or fears, and whom he +discharges if they do not perform their duties; otherwise he has no +hold on them and they are not instruments to be depended on. Only +on these conditions can a railway manager be sure that his pointsmen +are on the job. Only on these conditions can the foreman of a +foundry engage to execute work by a given day. In every public or +private enterprise, direct, immediate authority is the only known, +the only human and possible way to ensure the obedience and +punctuality of agents. - Administration is thus carried on in all +countries, by one or several series of functionaries, each under +some central manager who holds the reins in his single grasp.[10] + +This is all reversed in the new Constitution. In the eyes of our +legislators obedience must be spontaneous and never compulsory, and, +in the suppression of despotism, they suppress government. The +general rule in the hierarchy which they establish is that the +subordinates should be independent of their superior, for he must +neither appoint nor displace them: the only right he has is to give +them advice and remonstrate with them.[11] At best, in certain +cases, he can annul their acts and inflict on them a provisional +suspension of their functions, which can be contested and is +revocable.[12] We see, thus, that none of the local powers are +delegated by the central power; the latter is simply like a man +without either hands or arms, seated in a gilt chair. The Minister +of the Finances cannot appoint or dismiss either an assessor or a +collector; the Minister of the Interior, not one of the +departmental, district, or communal administrators; the Minister of +Justice, not one judge or public prosecutor. The King, in these +three branches of the service, has but one officer of his own, the +commissioner whose duty it is to advocate the observance of the laws +in the courts, and, on sentence being given, to enforce its +execution. - All the muscles of the central power are paralyzed by +this stroke, and henceforth each department is a State apart, living +by itself. + +An similar amputation, however, in the department itself, has cut +away all the ties by which the superior could control and direct his +subordinate. - If the administrators of the department are suffered +to influence those of the district, and those of the district those +of the municipality, it is only, again, in the way of council and +solicitation. Nowhere is the superior a commander who orders and +constrains, but everywhere a censor who gives warnings and scolds. +To render this already feeble authority still more feeble at each +step of the hierarchy, it is divided among several bodies. These +consist of superposed councils, which administer the department, the +district, and the commune. There is no directing head in any of +these councils. Permanency and executive functions throughout are +vested in the directories of four or eight members, or in bureaus of +two, three, four, six, and even seven members whose elected chief, a +president or mayor,[13] has simply an honorary primacy. Decision +and action, everywhere blunted, delayed, or curtailed by talk and +the processes of discussion, are brought forth only after the +difficult, tumultuous assent of several discordant wills.[14] +Elective and collective as these powers are, measures are still +taken to guard against them. Not only are they subject to the +control of an elected council, one-half renewable every two years, +but, again, the mayor and public prosecutor of the commune after +serving four years, and the procureur-syndic of the department or +district after eight years service, and the district collector after +six years' service, are not re-elected. Should these officials have +deserved and won the confidence of the electors, should familiarity +with affairs have made them specially competent and valuable, so +much the worse for affairs and the public ; they are not to be +anchored to their post.[15] Should their continuance in office +introduce into the service a spirit of order and economy, that is of +no consequence; there is danger of their acquiring to much +influence, and the law sends them off as soon as they become expert +and entitled to rule. - Never has jealousy and suspicion been more +on the alert against power, even legal and legitimate. Sapping and +mining goes on even in services which are recognized as essential, +as the army and the gendarmerie.[16] In the army, on the +appointment of a non-commissioned officer, the other non- +commissioned officers make up a list of candidates, and the captain +selects three, one of whom is chosen by the colonel. In the choice +of a sub-lieutenant, all the officers of the regiment vote, and he +who receives a majority is appointed. In the gendarmerie, for the +appointment of a gendarme, the directory of the department forms a +list; the colonel designates five names on it, and the directory +selects one of them. For the choice of a corporal, quartermaster or +lieutenant, there is, besides the directory and the colonel, another +intervention, that of the officers, both commissioned and non- +commissioned. It is a system of elective complications and lot- +drawings; one which, giving a voice in the choice of officers to the +civil authorities and to military subordinates, leaves the colonel +with only a third or one-quarter of his former ascendancy. In +relation to the National Guard, the new principle is applied without +any reservation. All the officers and non-commissioned officers up +to the grade of captain are elected by their own men. All the +superior officers are elected by the inferior officers. All under- +officers and all inferior and superior officers are elected for one +year only, and are not eligible for re-election until after an +interval of a year, during which they must serve in the ranks.[17] +- The result is manifest: command, in every civil and in every +military order, becomes upset; subalterns are no longer precise and +trustworthy instruments; the chief no longer has any practical hold +on them; his orders, consequently, encounter only tame obedience, +doubtful deference, sometimes even open resistance; their execution +remains dilatory, uncertain, incomplete, and at length is utterly +neglected; a latent and soon flagrant system of disorganization is +instituted by the law. Step by step, in the hierarchy of +Government, power has slipped downwards, and henceforth belongs by +virtue of the Constitution to the authorities who sit at the bottom +of the ladder. It is not the King, or the minister, or the +directory of the department or of the district who rules, but its +municipal officers; and their sway is as omnipotent as it can be in +a small independent republic. They alone have the "strong hand" +with which to search the pockets of refractory tax-payers, and +ensure the collection of the revenue; to seize the rioter by the +throat, and protect life and property; in short, to convert the +promises and menaces of the law into acts. Every armed force, the +National Guard, the regulars, and the gendarmerie, must march on +their requisition. They alone, among the body of administrators, +are endowed with this sovereign right; all that the department or +the district can do is to invite them to exercise it. It is they +who proclaim martial law. Accordingly, the sword is in their +hands.[18] Assisted by commissioners who are appointed by the +council-general of the commune, they prepare the schedule of +taxation of real and personal property, fix the quota of each tax- +payer, adjust assessments, verify the registers and the collector's +receipts, audit his accounts, discharge the insolvent, answer for +returns and authorize prosecutions.[19] Private purses are, in this +way, at their mercy, and they take from them whatever they determine +to belong to the public. - With the purse and the sword in their +hands they lack nothing that is necessary to make them masters, and +all the more because the application of every law belongs to them; +because no orders of the Assembly to the King, of the King to the +ministers, of ministers to the departments, of departments to the +districts, of the districts to the communes, brings about any real +local result except through them; because each measure of general +application undergoes their special interpretation, and can always +be optionally disfigured, softened, or exaggerated according to +their timidity, inertia, violence or partiality. Moreover, they are +not long in discovering their strength. We see them on all sides +arguing with their superiors against district, departmental, and +ministerial orders, and even against the Assembly itself; alleging +circumstances; lack of means, their own danger and the public +safety, failing to obey, acting for themselves, openly disobeying +and glorying in the act,[20] and claiming, as a right, the +omnipotence which they exercise in point of fact. Those of Troyes, +at the festival of the Federation, refuse to submit to the +precedence of the department and claim it for themselves, as +"immediate representatives of the people." Those of Brest, +notwithstanding the reiterated prohibitions of their district, +dispatch four hundred men and two cannon to force the submission of +a neighboring commune to a cure' who has taken the oath. Those of +Arnay-le-Duc arrest Mesdames (the King's aunts), in spite of their +passport signed by the ministers, hold them in spite of departmental +and district orders, persist in barring the way to them in spite of +a special decree of the National Assembly, and send two deputies to +Paris to obtain the sanction of their decision. What with arsenals +pillaged, citadels invaded, convoys arrested, couriers stopped, +letters intercepted, constant and increasing insubordination, +usurpations without truce or measure, the municipalities arrogate to +themselves every species of license on their own territory and +frequently outside of it. Henceforth, forty thousand sovereign +bodies exist in the kingdom. Force is placed in their hands, and +they make good use of it. They make such good use of it that one of +them, the commune of Paris, taking advantage of its proximity, lays +siege to, mutilates, and rules the National Convention, and through +it France. + + + +III. MUNICIPAL KINGDOMS. + +The Municipal bodies. - Their great task. - Their incapacity. - +Their feeble authority.- Insufficiency of their means of action. - +The role of the National Guard. - + +Let us follow these municipal kings into their own domain: the +burden on their shoulders is immense, and much beyond what human +strength can support. All the details of executive duty are +confided to them; they have not to busy themselves with a petty +routine, but with a complete social system which is being taken to +pieces, while another is reconstructed in its place. - They are in +possession of four milliards of ecclesiastical property, real and +personal, and soon there will be two and a half milliards of +property belonging to the emigrants, which must be sequestered, +valued, managed, inventoried, divided, sold, and the proceeds +received. They have seven or eight thousand monks and thirty +thousand nuns to displace, install, sanction, and provide for. They +have forty-six thousand ecclesiastics, bishops, canons, curés, and +vicars, to dispossess, replace, often by force, and later on to +expel, intern, imprison, and support. They are obliged to discuss, +trace out, teach and make public new territorial boundaries, those +of the commune, of the district and of the department. They have to +convoke, lodge, and protect the numerous primary and secondary +Assemblies, to supervise their operations, which sometimes last for +weeks. They must install those elected by them, justices of the +peace, officers of the National Guard, judges, public prosecutors, +curés, bishops, district and departmental administrators. They are +to form new lists of tax-payers, apportion amongst themselves, +according to a new system of impost, entirely new real and personal +taxes, decide on claims, appoint an assessor, regularly audit his +accounts and verify his books, aid him with force, use force in the +collection of the excise and salt duties, which being reduced, +equalized, and transformed in vain by the National Assembly, afford +no returns in spite of its decrees. They are obliged to find the +funds for dressing, equipping, and arming the National Guard, to +step in between it and the military commanders, and to maintain +concord between its diverse battalions. They have to protect +forests from pillage, communal land from being invaded, to maintain +the octroi, to protect former functionaries, ecclesiastics, and +nobles, suspected and threatened, and, above all, to provide, no +matter how, provisions for the commune which lacks food, and +consequently, to raise subscriptions, negotiate purchases at a +distance and even abroad, organize escorts, indemnify bakers, supply +the market every week notwithstanding the dearth, the insecurity of +roads, and the resistance of cultivators. - Even an absolute chief; +sent from a distance and from high place, the most energetic and +expert possible, supported by the best-disciplined and most obedient +troops, would scarcely succeed in such an undertaking; and there is +instead only a municipality which has neither the authority, the +means, the experience, the capacity, nor the will. + +In the country, says an orator in the tribune,[21] "the municipal +officers, in twenty thousand out of forty thousand municipalities, +do not know how to read or write." The curé, in effect, is excluded +from such offices by law, and, save in La Vendée and the noble is +excluded by public opinion. Besides, in many of the provinces, +nothing but patois is spoken.[22] French, especially the philosophic +and abstract phraseology of the new laws and proclamations, remains +gibberish to their inhabitants. They cannot possibly understand and +apply the complicated decrees and fine-spun instructions which reach +them from Paris. They hurry off to the towns, get the duties of the +office imposed on them explained and commented on in detail, try to +comprehend, imagine they do, and then, the following week, come back +again without having understood anything, either the mode of keeping +state registers, the distinction between feudal rights which are +abolished and those retained, the regulations they should enforce in +cases of election, the limits which the law imposes as to their +powers and subordination. Nothing of all this finds its way into +their rude, untrained brains; instead of a peasant who has just left +his oxen, there is needed here a legal adept aided by a trained +clerk. - Prudential considerations must be added to their ignorance. +They do not wish to make enemies for themselves in their commune, +and they abstain from any positive action, especially in all tax +matters. Nine months after the decree on the patriotic +contribution, "twenty-eight thousand municipalities are overdue, not +having (yet) returned either rolls or estimates."[23] At the end of +January, 1792, "out of forty thousand nine hundred and eleven +municipalities, only five thousand four hundred and forty-eight have +deposited their registers; two thousand five hundred and eighty +rolls only are definitive and in process of collection. A large +number have not even begun their sectional statements."[24] - It is +much worse when, thinking that they do understand it, they undertake +to do their work. In their minds, incapable of abstraction, the law +is transformed and deformed by extraordinary interpretations. We +shall see what it becomes when it is brought to bear on feudal dues, +on the forests, on communal rights, on the circulation of corn, on +the taxes on provisions, on the supervision of the aristocrats, and +on the protection of persons and property. According to them, it +authorizes and invites them to do by force, and at once, whatever +they need or desire for the time being. - The municipal officers of +the large boroughs and towns, more acute and often able to +comprehend the decrees, are scarcely in a better condition to carry +them out effectively. They are undoubtedly intelligent, inspired by +the best disposition, and zealous for the public welfare. During +the first two years of the Revolution it is, on the whole, the best +informed and most liberal portion of the bourgeoisie which, in the +department as in the district, undertakes the management of affairs. +Almost all are men of the law, advocates, notaries, and attorneys, +with a small number of the old privileged class imbued with the same +spirit, a canon at Besançon, a gentleman at Nîmes. Their intentions +are of the very best; they love order and liberty, they give their +time and their money, they hold permanent sessions and accomplish an +incredible amount of work, and they often voluntarily expose +themselves to great danger. - But they are bourgeois philosophers, +and, in this latter particular, similar to their deputies in the +National Assembly, and, with this twofold character, as incapable as +their deputies of governing a disintegrated nation. In this twofold +character they are ill-disposed towards the ancient régime, hostile +to Catholicism and feudal rights, unfavorable to the clergy and the +nobility, inclined to extend the bearing and exaggerate the rigor of +recent decrees, partisans of the Rights of Man, and, therefore, +humanitarians and optimists, disposed to excuse the misdeeds of the +people, hesitating, tardy and often timid in the face of an outbreak +- in short, admirable writers, exhorters, and reformers, but good +for nothing when it comes to breaking heads and risking their own +bones. They have not been brought up in such a way as to become men +of action in a single day. Up to this time they have always lived +as passive administrators, as quiet individuals, as studious men and +clerks, domesticated, conversational, and polished, to whom words +concealed facts, and who, on their evening promenade, warmly +discussed important principles of government, without any +consciousness of the practical machinery which, with a police-system +for its ultimate wheel, rendered themselves, their promenade, and +their conversation perfectly secure. They are not imbued with that +sentiment of social danger which produces the veritable chief; the +man who subordinates the emotions of pity to the exigencies of the +public service. They are not aware that it is better to mow down a +hundred conscientious citizens rather than let them hang a culprit +without a trial. Repression, in their hands, is neither prompt, +rigid, nor constant. They continue to be in the Hôtel-de-Ville what +they were when they went into it, so many jurists and scribes, +fruitful in proclamations, reports, and correspondence. Such is +wholly their role, and, if any amongst them, with more energy, +desires to depart from it, he has no hold on the commune which, +according to the Constitution, he has to direct, and on that armed +force which is entrusted to him with a view to insure the observance +of the laws. + +To insure respect for authority, indeed, it must not spring up on +the spot and under the hands of its subordinates. It loses its +prestige and independence when those who create it are precisely +those who have to submit to it. For, in submitting to it, they +remember that they have created it. This or that candidate among +them who has but lately solicited their suffrages is now a +magistrate who issues orders, and this sudden transformation is +their work. It is with difficulty that they pass from the role of +sovereign electors to that of docile subjects of the administration, +and recognize a commander in one of their own creatures.[25] On the +contrary, they will submit to his control only in their own fashion, +reserving to themselves in practice the powers the right to which +they have conferred on him. + + "We gave him his place, and he must do as we want him to do," + +Such popular reasoning is the most natural in the world. It is as +applicable to the municipal officer wearing his scarf as to the +officer in the National Guard wearing his epaulettes; the former as +well as the latter being conferred by the arbitrary voice of the +electors, and always seeming to them a gift which is revocable at +their pleasure. The superior always, and more particularly in times +of danger or of great public excitement, seems, if directly +appointed by those whom he commands, to be their clerk. - Such is +municipal authority at this epoch, intermittent, uncertain, and +weak; and all the weaker because the sword, whose hilt the men of +the Hôtel-de-Ville seem to hold, does not always leave its scabbard +at their bidding. They alone are empowered to summon the National +Guard, but it does not depend on them, and it is not at their +disposal. To obtain its support it is needful that its independent +chiefs should be willing to respond to their requisition; that the +men should willingly obey their elected officers; that these +improvised soldiers should consent to quit their plow, their stores, +their workshops and offices, to lose their day, to patrol the +streets at night, to be pelted with stones, to fire on a riotous +crowd whose enmities and prejudices they often share. Undoubtedly, +they will fire on some occasions, but generally they will remain +quiet, with their arms at rest; and, at last, they will grow weary +of a trying, dangerous, and constant service, which is disagreeable +to them, and for which they are not fitted. They will not answer +the summons, or, if they do, they will come too late, and in too +small a number. In this event, the regulars who are sent for, will +do as they do and remain quiet, following their example, while the +municipal magistrate, into whose hands the sword has glided, will be +able to do no more than make grievous reports, to his superiors of +the department or district, concerning the popular violence of which +he is a powerless witness. - In other cases, and especially in the +country, his condition is worse. The National Guard, preceded by +its drums, will come and take him off to the town hall to authorize +by his presence, and to legalize by his orders, the outrages that it +is about to commit. He marches along seized by the collar, and +affixes his signature at the point of the bayonet. In this case not +only is his instrument taken away from him, but it is turned against +of holding it by the hilt, he feels the point: the armed force which +he ought to make use of makes use of him. + + + +IV. On Universal Suffrage. + +The National Guard as electors. - Its great power.- Its important +task. - The work imposed on active citizens. - They avoid it. + +Behold, then, the true sovereign, the elector, both National Guard +and voter. They are the kings designed by the Constitution; there +he is, in every hierarchical stage, with his suffrage, with which to +delegate authority, and his gun to assure its exercise. - Through +his free choice he creates all local powers, intermediary, central, +legislative, administrative, ecclesiastical, and judiciary. He +appoints directly, and in the primary assemblies, the mayor, the +municipal board, the public prosecutor and council of the commune, +the justice of the peace and his assessors, and the electors of the +second degree. Indirectly, and through these elected electors, he +appoints the administrators and procureurs-syndics of both district +and department, the civil and criminal judges, the public +prosecutor, bishops, and priests, the members of the National +Assembly and jurors of the higher National Court[26]. All these +commissions which he issues are of short date, the principal ones, +those of municipal officer, elector, and deputy, having but two +years to run; at the end of this brief term their recipients are +again subject to his vote, in order that, if he is displeased with +them, he may replace them by others. He must not be fettered in his +choice; in every well-conducted establishment the legitimate +proprietor must be free easily and frequently to renew his staff of +clerks. He is the only one in whom confidence can be placed, and, +for greater security, all arms are given up to him. When his clerks +wish to employ force he is the one to place it at their disposal. +Whatever he desired as elector he executes as National Guard. On +two occasions he interferes, both times in a decisive manner; and +his control over the legal powers is irresistible because these are +born out of his vote and are obeyed only through his support. - But +these rights are, at the same time, burdens. The Constitution +describes him as an "active citizen," and this he eminently is or +should be, since public action begins and ends with him, since +everything depends on his zeal and capacity, since the machine is +good and only works well in proportion to his discernment, +punctuality, calmness, firmness, discipline at the polls, and in the +ranks. The law requires his services incessantly day and night, in +body and mind, as gendarme and as elector. - How burdensome this +service of gendarme must be, can be judged by the number of riots. +How burdensome that of elector must be, the list of elections will +show. + +In February, March, April, and May, 1789, there are prolonged parish +meetings, for the purpose of choosing electors and writing out +grievances, also bailiwick meetings of still longer duration to +choose deputies and draw up the memorial. During the months of July +and August, 1789, there are spontaneous gatherings to elect or +confirm the municipal bodies; other spontaneous meetings by which +the militia is formed and officered; and then, following these, +constant meetings of this same militia to fuse themselves into a +National Guard, to renew officers and appoint deputies to the +federative assemblies. In December, 1789, and January, 1790, there +are primary meetings, to elect municipal officers and their +councils. In May, 1790, there are primary and secondary meetings, +to appoint district and departmental administrators. In October, +1790, there are primary meetings, to elect the justice of the peace +and his assessors, also secondary meetings, to elect the district +courts. In November, 1790, there are primary meetings, to renew +one-half of the municipal bodies. In February and March, 1791, +there are secondary meetings, to nominate the bishop and curés. In +June, July, August, September, 1791, there are primary and secondary +meetings, to renew one-half of the district and departmental +administrators, to nominate the president, the public prosecutor, +and the clerk of the criminal court, and to choose deputies. In +November, 1791, there are primary meetings to renew one-half of the +municipal council. Observe that many of these elections drag along +because the voters lack experience, because the formalities are +complicated, and because opinions are divided. In August and +September, 1791, at Tours, they are prolonged for thirteen days;[27] +at Troyes, in January, 1790, instead of three days they last for +three weeks; at Paris, in September and October, 1791, only for the +purpose of choosing deputies, they last for thirty-seven days; in +many places their proceedings are contested, annulled, and begun +over again. To these universal gatherings, which put all France in +motion, we must add the local gatherings by which a commune approves +or gainsays its municipal officers, makes claims on the department, +on the King, or on the Assembly, demands the maintenance of its +parish priest, the provisioning of its market, the arrival or +dispatch of a military detachment, - and think of all that these +meetings, petitions, and nominations presuppose in the way of +preparatory committees and preliminary meetings and debates! Every +public representation begins with rehearsals in secret session. In +the choice of a candidate, and, above all, of a list of candidates; +in the appointment in each commune of from three to twenty-one +municipal officers, and from six to forty-two notables; in the +selection of twelve district administrators and thirty-six +departmental administrators, especially as the list must be of a +double length and contain twice as many officers as there are places +to fill, immediate agreement is impossible. In every important +election the electors are sure to be in a state of agitation a month +beforehand, while four weeks of discussion and caucus is not too +much to give to inquiries about candidates, and to canvassing +voters. Let us add, accordingly, this long preface to each of the +elections, so long and so often repeated, and now sum up the +troubles and disturbances, all this loss of time, all the labor +which the process demands. Each convocation of the primary +assemblies, summons to the town-hall or principal town of the +canton, for one or for several days, about three million five +hundred thousand electors of the first degree. Each convocation of +the assemblies of the second class compels the attendance and +sojourn at the principal town of the department, and again in the +principal town of the district, of about three hundred and fifty +thousand elected electors. Each revision or re-election in the +National Guard gathers together on the public square, or subjects to +roll-call at the town-hall, three or four millions of National +Guards. Each federation, after exacting the same gathering or the +same roll-call, sends delegates by hundreds of thousands to the +principal towns of the districts and departments, and tens of +thousands to Paris. - The powers thus instituted at the cost of so +great an effort, require an equal effort to make them work; one +branch alone of the administration[28] keeps 2,988 officials busy in +the departments, 6,950 in the districts, 1,175,000 in the communes - +in all, nearly one million two hundred thousand administrators, +whose places, as we have seen above, are no sinecures. Never did a +political machine require so prodigious an expenditure of force to +set it up and keep it in motion. In the United States, where it is +now (around 1875) deranged by its own action, it has been estimated +that, to meet the intentions of the law and keep each wheel in its +proper place, it would be necessary for each citizen to give one +whole day in each week, or on-sixth of his time, to public business. +In France, under the newly adopted system, where disorder is +universal, where the duty of National Guard is added to and +complicates that of elector and administrator, I estimate that two +days would be necessary. This is what the Constitution comes to, +this is its essential and supreme requirement: each active citizen +has to give up one-third of his time to public affairs. + +Now, these twelve hundred thousand administrators and three or four +million electors and National Guards, are just the men in France who +have the least leisure. The class of active citizens, indeed, +comprises about all the men who labor with their hands or with their +heads. The law exempts only domestics devoted to personal service +or common laborers who, possessing no property or income, earn less +than twenty-one sous a day. Every journeyman-miller, the smallest +farmer, every village proprietor of a cottage or of a vegetable- +garden, any ordinary workman, votes at the primary meetings, and may +become a municipal officer. Again, if he pays ten francs a year +direct tax, if he is a farmer or yeomen on any property which brings +him in four hundred francs, if his rent is one hundred and fifty +francs, he may become an elected elector and an administrator of the +district or department. According to this standard the eligible are +innumerable; in Doubs, in 1790,[29] they form two-thirds of the +active citizens. Thus, the way to office is open to all, or almost +all, and the law has taken no precaution whatever to reserve or +provide places for the elite, who could best fill them. On the +contrary, the nobles, the ecclesiastical dignitaries, the members of +the parliaments, the grand functionaries of the ancient regime, the +upper class of the bourgeoisie, almost all the rich who possess +leisure, are practically excluded from the elections by violence, +and from the various offices by public opinion: they soon retire +into private life, and, through discouragement or disgust, through +monarchical or religious scruples, abandon entirely a public career. +- The burden of the new system falls, accordingly, on the most +occupied portion of the community: on merchants, manufacturers, +agents of the law, employees, shopkeepers, artisans, and +cultivators. They are the people who must give up one-third of +their time already appropriated, neglect private for public +business, leave their harvests, their bench, their shop, or their +briefs to escort convoys and patrol the highways, to run off to the +principal town of the canton, district, or department, and stay and +sit there in the town-hall,[30] subject to a deluge of phrases and +papers, conscious that they are forced to gratuitous drudgery, and +that this drudgery is of little advantage to the public. - For the +first six months they do it with good grace; their zeal in penning +memorials, in providing themselves with arms against "brigands," and +in suppressing taxes, rents, and tithes, is active enough. But now +that this much is obtained or extorted, decreed as a right, or +accomplished in fact, they must not be further disturbed. They need +the whole of their time: they have their crops to get in, their +customers to serve, their orders to give, their books to make up, +their credits to adjust, all which are urgent matters, and neither +ought to be neglected or interrupted. Under the lash of necessity +and of the crisis they have put their backs to it, and, if we take +their word for it, they hauled the public cart out of the mud; but +they had no idea of putting themselves permanently in harness to +drag it along themselves. Confined as this class has been for +centuries to private life, each has his own wheelbarrow to trundle +along, and it is for this, before all and above all, that he holds +himself responsible. From the beginning of the year 1790 the +returns of the votes taken show that as many are absent as present; +at Besançon there are only nine hundred and fifty-nine voters out of +thirty-two hundred inscribed; four months after this more than one- +half of the electors fail to come to the polls;[31] and throughout +France, even at Paris, the indifference to voting keeps on +increasing. Puppets of such an administration as that of Louis XV. +and Louis XVI. do not become Florentine or Athenian citizens in a +single night. The hearts and heads of three or four millions of men +are not suddenly endowed with faculties and habits which render them +capable of diverting one-third of their energies to work which is +new, disproportionate, gratuitous, and supererogatory. - A fallacy +of monstrous duplicity lies at the basis of the political theories +of the day and of those which were invented during the following ten +years. Arbitrarily, and without any examination, a certain weight +and resistance are attributed to the human metal employed. It is +found on trial to have ten times less resistance and twenty times +more weight than was supposed. + + + +V. The Ruling Minority. + +The restless minority. - Its elements.- The clubs.- Their +ascendancy.- How they interpret the Rights of Man. - Their +usurpations and violence. + +In default of the majority, who shirk their responsibilities, it is +the minority which does the work and assumes the power. The +majority having resigned, the minority becomes sovereign, and public +business, abandoned by the hesitating, weak, and absent multitude, +falls into the hands of the resolute, energetic, ever-present few +who find the leisure and the disposition to assume the +responsibility. In a system in which all offices are elective, and +in which elections are frequent, politics becomes a profession for +those who subordinate their private interests to it, and who find it +of personal advantage; every village contains five or six men of +this class, every borough twenty or thirty, every town its hundreds +and Paris its many thousands.[32] These are veritable active +citizens They alone give all their time and attention to public +matters, correspond with the newspapers and with the deputies at +Paris, receive and spread abroad the party watchword on every +important question, hold caucuses, get up meetings, make motions, +draw up addresses, overlook, rebuke, or denounce the local +magistrates, form themselves into committees, publish and push +candidates, and go into the suburbs and the country to canvass for +votes. They hold the power in recompense for their labor, for they +manage the elections, and are elected to office or provided with +places by the successful candidates. There is a prodigious number +of these offices and places, not only those of officers of the +National Guard and the administrators of the commune, the district, +and the department, whose duties are gratuitous, or little short of +it, but a quantity of others which are paid,[33] - eighty-three +bishops, seven hundred and fifty deputies, four hundred criminal +judges, three thousand and seven civil judges, five thousand +justices of the peace, twenty thousand assessors forty thousand +communal collectors, forty-six thousand curés, without counting the +accessory or insignificant places which exist by tens and hundreds +of thousands, from secretaries, clerks, bailiffs and notaries, to +gendarmes, constables, office-clerks, beadles, grave-diggers, and +keepers of sequestered goods. The pasture is vast for the +ambitious; it is not small for the needy, and they seize upon it. +Such is the rule in pure democracies: hence the swarm of politicians +in the United States. When the law incessantly calls all citizens +to political action, there are only a few who devote themselves to +it; these become expert in this particular work, and, consequently, +preponderant. But they must be paid for their trouble, and the +election secures to them their places because they manage the +elections. + +Two sorts of men furnish the recruits for this dominant minority: on +the one hand the enthusiasts, and on the other those who have no +social position. Towards the end of 1789, moderate people, who are +minding their own business, retire into privacy, and are daily less +disposed to show themselves. The public square is occupied by +others who, through zeal and political passion, abandon their +pursuits, and by those who, finding themselves hampered in their +social sphere, or repelled from ordinary circles, were merely +awaiting a new opening to take a fresh start. In these utopian and +revolutionary times, there is no lack of either class. Flung out by +handfuls, the dogma of popular sovereignty falls like a seed +scattered around, to end up vegetating in heated brains, in the +narrow and rash minds which, once possessed by an idea, adhere to it +and are mastered by it. It falls amongst a class of reasoners who, +starting from a principle, dash forward like a horse who has had +blinders put on. This is especially the case with the legal class, +whose profession accustoms them to deductions; nor less with the +village attorney, the unfrocked monk, the "intruding" and +excommunicated curé, and above all, the journalist and the local +orator, who, for the first time in his life, finds that he has an +audience, applause, influence and a future before him. These are +the only people who can do the complicated and constant work which +the new Constitution calls for; for they are the only men whose +desires are unlimited, whose dreams are coherent, whose doctrine is +explicit, whose enthusiasm is contagious, who cherish no scruples, +and whose presumption is unbounded. Thus has the rigid will been +wrought and tempered within them, the inward spring of energy which, +being daily more tightly wound up, urges them on to propaganda and +to action. - During the second half of the year 1790 we see them +everywhere following the example of the Paris Jacobins, styling +themselves friends of the Constitution, and grouping themselves +together in popular associations. Each town and village gives birth +to a club of patriots who regularly every evening, or several times +a week, meet "for the purpose of co-operating for the safety of the +commonwealth."[34] This is a new and spontaneous organ,[35] an +cancer and a parasite, which develops itself in the social body +alongside of its legal organizations. Its growth insensibly +increases, attracting to itself the substance of the others, +employing them for its own ends, substituting itself for them, +acting by and for itself alone, a sort of omnivorous outgrowth the +encroachment of which is irresistible, not only because +circumstances and the working of the Constitution nourish it, but +also because its germ, deposited at a great depth, is a living +portion of the Constitution itself. + +For, placed at the head of the Constitution, as well as of the +decrees which are attached to it, stands the Declaration of the +Rights of Man. According to this, and by the avowal of the +legislators themselves, there are two parts to be distinguished in +the law, the one superior, eternal, inviolable, which is the self- +evident principle, and the other inferior, temporary, and open to +discussion, which comprehends more or less exact or erroneous +applications of this principle. No application of the law is valid +if it derogates from the principle. No institution or authority is +entitled to obedience if it is opposed to the rights which it aims +to guarantee. These sacred rights, anterior to all society, take +precedence of every social convention, and whenever we would know if +a legal order is legitimate, we have merely to ascertain if it is in +conformity with natural right. Let us, accordingly, in every +doubtful or difficult case, refer to this philosophic gospel, to +this incontestable catechism, this primordial creed proclaimed by +the National Assembly. - The National Assembly itself invites us to +do so. For it announces that + +"ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole +causes + of public misfortune, and of the corruption of governments." + +It declares that + +"the object of every political association is the preservation of +natural and + imprescriptible rights." + +It enumerates them, "in order that the acts of legislative power and +the acts of executive power may at once be compared with the purpose +of every political institution." It desires "that every member of +the social body should have its declaration constantly in mind." - +Thus we are told to control all acts of application by the +principle, and also we are provided with the rule by which we may +and should accord, measure, or even refuse our submission to, +deference for, and toleration of established institutions and legal +authority. + +What are these superior rights, and, in case of dispute, who will +decide as arbitrator? - There is nothing here like the precise +declarations of the American Constitution,[36] those positive +prescriptions which serve to sustain a judicial appeal, those +express prohibitions which prevent beforehand certain species of +laws from being passed, which prescribe limits to public powers, +which mark out the province not to be invaded by the State because +it is reserved to the individual. + +On the contrary, in the declaration of the national Assembly, most +of the articles are abstract dogmas,[37] metaphysical definitions, +more or less literary axioms, that is to say, more or less false, +now vague and now contradictory, open to various interpretations and +to opposite constructions, These are good for platform display but +bad in practice, mere stage effect, a sort of pompous standard, +useless and heavy, which, hoisted in front of the Constitutional +house and shaken every day by violent hands, cannot fail soon to +tumble on the heads of passers by.[38] - Nothing is done to ward +off this visible danger. There is nothing here like that Supreme +Court which, in the United States, guards the Constitution even +against its Congress, and which, in the name of the Constitution, +actually invalidates a law, even when it has passed through all +formalities and been voted on by all the powers; which listens to +the complaints of the individual affected by an unconstitutional +law; which stays the sheriff's or collector's hand raised against +him, and which above their heads gives judgment on his interests and +wrongs. Ill-defined and discordant laws are proclaimed without any +provision being made for their interpretation, application or +sanction. No means are taken to have them specially expounded. No +district tribunal is assigned to consider the claims which grow out +of them, to put an end to litigation legally, peacefully, on a last +appeal, and through a final decision which becomes a precedent and +fixes the loose sense of the text. All this is made the duty of +everybody, that is to say of those who are disposed to charge +themselves with it, - in other words, the active minority in council +assembled. - Thus, in each town or village it is the local club +which, by the authorization of the legislator himself, becomes the +champion, judge, interpreter and administrator of the rights of man, +and which, in the name of these superior rights, may protest or +rebel, as it seems best, not only against the legitimate acts of +legal powers, but also against the authentic text of the +Constitution and the Laws.[39] + +Consider, indeed, these rights as they are proclaimed, along with +the commentary of the speaker who expounds them at the club before +an audience of heated and daring spirits, or in the street to the +rude and fanatical multitude. Every article in the Declaration is a +dagger pointed at human society, and the handle has only to be +pressed to make the blade enter the flesh.[40] Among "these natural +and imprescriptible rights" the legislator has placed "resistance to +oppression." We are oppressed : let us resist and take up arms. +According to this legislator, "society has the right to bring every +public agent of the Administration to account." Let us away to the +Hôtel-de-Ville, and interrogate our lukewarm or suspected +magistrates, and watch their sessions to see if they prosecute +priests and disarm the aristocrats; let us stop their intrigues +against the people; let us force these slow clerks to hasten their +steps. - According to this legislator "all citizens have the right +to take part in person, or through their representatives, in the +formation of the law." There must thus be no more electors +privileged by their payment of a three-franc tax. Down with the new +aristocracy of active citizens! Let us restore to the two millions +of proletarians the right of suffrage, of which the Constitution has +unjustly defrauded them! - According to this legislator, "men are +born and remain free, and equal in their rights." Consequently, let +no one be excluded from the National Guard; let everybody, even the +pauper, have some kind of weapon, a pike or gun, to defend his +freedom! - In the very terms of the Declaration, "the law is the +expression of the universal will." Listen to these clamors in the +open streets, to these petitions flowing in from the towns on all +sides; behold the universal will, the living law which abolishes the +written law! On the strength of this the leader of a few clubs in +Paris are to depose the King, to violate the Legislative Assembly +and decimate the National Convention. - In other terms, the +turbulent, factious minority is to supplant the sovereign nation, +and henceforth there is nothing to hinder it from doing what it +pleases just when it pleases. The operation of the Constitution has +given to it the reality of power, while the preamble of the +Constitution clothes it with the semblance of right. + + + +VI. Summary of the work of the Constituent Assembly. + +Such is the work of the Constituent Assembly. In several of its +laws, especially those which relate to private interests, in the +institution of civil regulations, in the penal and rural codes,[41] +in the first attempts at, and the promise of, a uniform civil code, +in the enunciation of a few simple regulations regarding taxation, +procedure, and administration, it planted good seed. But in all +that relates to political institutions and social organization its +proceedings are those of an academy of Utopians, and not those of +practical legislators. - On the sick body entrusted to it, it +performed amputations which were as useless as they were excessive, +and applied bandages as inadequate as they were injurious. With the +exception of two or three restrictions admitted inadvertently, and +the maintenance of the show of royalty, also the obligation of a +small electoral qualification, it carried out its principle to the +end, the principle of Rousseau. It deliberately refused to consider +man as he really was under its own eyes, and persisted in seeing +nothing in him but the abstract being created in books. +Consequently, with the blindness and obstinacy characteristic of a +speculative surgeon, it destroyed, in the society submitted to its +scalpel and its theories, not only the tumors, the enlargements, and +the inflamed parts of the organs, but also the organs themselves, +and even the vital governing centers around which cells arrange +themselves to recompose an injured organ. That is, the Assembly +destroyed on the one hand the time-honored, spontaneous, and lasting +societies formed by geographical position, history, common +occupations and interests, and on the other, those natural chiefs +whose name, repute, education, independence, and earnestness +designated them as the best qualified to occupy high positions. In +one direction it despoils and permits the ruin and proscription of +the superior class, the nobles, the members of Parliament, and the +upper middle class. In another it dispossesses and breaks up all +historic or natural corporations, religious congregations, clerical +bodies, provinces, parliaments, societies of art and of all other +professions and pursuits. This done, every tie or bond which holds +men together is found to be severed; all subordination and every +graduated scale of rank have disappeared. There is no longer rank +and file, or commander-in-chief. Nothing remains but individual +particles, 26 millions of equal and disconnected atoms. Never was +so much disintegrated matter, less capable of resistance, offered to +hands undertaking to mold it. Harshness and violence will be +sufficient to ensure success. These brutal hands are ready for the +work, and the Assembly which has reduced the material to powder has +likewise provided the mortar and pestle. As awkward in destruction +as it is in construction, it invents for the restoration of order in +a society which is turned upside down a machine which would, of +itself, create disorder in a tranquil society. The most absolute +and most concentrated government would not be strong enough to +effect without disturbance a similar equalization of ranks, the same +dismemberment of associations, and the same displacement of +property. No social transformation can be peacefully accomplished +without a well-commanded army, obedient and everywhere present, as +was the case in the emancipation of the Russian serfs by Emperor +Alexander. The new Constitution,[42] on the contrary, reduces the +King to the position of an honorary president, suspected and called +in question by a disorganized State. Between him and the +legislative body it interposes nothing but sources of conflict, and +suppresses all means of concord. The monarch has no hold whatever +on the administrative departments which he must direct; the mutual +independence of the powers, from the center to the extremities of +the State, everywhere produces indifference, negligence, and +disobedience between the injunctions issued and their execution. +France is a federation of forty thousand municipal sovereignties, in +which the authority of legal magistrates varies according to the +caprice of active citizens. These active citizens, too heavily +loaded, shy away from the performance of public duty; in which a +minority of fanatics and ambitious men monopolize the right to +speak, to vote, all influence, the power and all action. They +justify their multiple ursurpations, their unbridled despotism, and +their increasing encroachments by the Declaration of the Rights of +Man. The masterpiece[43] of ideal abstractions and of practical +absurdities is accomplished. In accordance with the Constitution +spontaneous anarchy becomes legalized anarchy. The latter is +perfect; nothing finer of the kind has been seen since the ninth +century. + +______________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + +[1] The name for the dreaded secret Royal warrant of arrest. (SR.) + +[2] The initiative rests with the King on one point: war cannot be +decreed by the Assembly except on his formal and preliminary +proposition. This exception was secured only after a violent +struggle and a supreme effort by Mirabeau. + +[3] Speech by Lanjuinais, November 7, 1789. "We determined on the +separation of the powers. Why, then, should the proposal he made to +us to unite the legislative power with the executive power in the +persons of the ministers?" + +[4] See the attendance of the Ministers before the Legislative +Assembly. + +[5] "Any society in which the separation of the powers is not +clearly defined has no constitution." (Declaration of Rights, +article XVI.) - This principle is borrowed from a text by +Montesquieu, also from the American Constitution. In the rest the +theory of Rousseau is followed. + +[6] Mercure de France, an expression by Mallet du Pan. + +[7] Constitution of 1791, ch. II. articles 5, 6, 7. -- Decree of +September 25 - October 6, 1791, section III. articles, 8 to 25. + +[8] Speeches by Barnave and Roederer in the constituent Assembly. - +Speeches by Barnave and Duport in the Jacobin Club. + +[9] Principal texts. (Duvergier, "Collection des Lois et Decrets.") +- Laws on municipal and administrative organization, December 14 and +22, 1789; August 12-20, 1790; March 12, 1791. On the municipal +organization of Paris, May 21st, June 27, 1790. - Laws on the +organization of the Judiciary, August 16-24, 1790; September 16-29, +1791; September 29, October 21, 1791.- Laws on military +organization, September 23, October 29, 1790; January 16, 1791; July +27, 28, 1791 - Laws on the financial organization, November 14- +24,.1790; November 23, 1790; March 17, 1791; September 26, October +2, 1791. + +[10] The removal of such managerial authority has since the second +World war taken place inside the United Nations and other Western +public administrations and seems to be the aim of much communist +trade union effort. The result has everywhere been added cost and +decreased efficiency. (SR.) + +[11] This principle has been introduced in Western educational +systems when clever self-appointed psychologists told parents and +teacher alike that they could and should not punish their children +but only talk and explain to them. (SR.) + +[12] This description fits the staff regulations of the United +Nations secretariat in which I served for 32 years. (SR.) + +[13] Decrees of December 14 and December 22, 1789: "In +municipalities reduced to three members (communes below five hundred +inhabitants), all executive functions shall belong to the mayor +alone." + +[14] Could it be that Lenin took note of this and had "it this +translated in Russian and made use of it in his and later in Stalin's +schools for international revolutionaries. It would in any case +have weakened the Bourgeois Capitalist countries. In any case such +measures have been introduced both in the international +organizations and in most Western Democratic Governments after World +War II. (SR.) + +[15] This was in the United Nations called 'Rotation' and made the +administration of missions and forces difficult, expensive and +inefficient. This rotation was also used in the Indian and other +armies in order to prevent the officers to reach an understanding or +achieve any power over the troops under their command. (SR.) + +[16] Laws of September 23 - October 29, 1790; January 16, 1791. +(Titles II. And VII.) - Cf. the legal prescriptions in relation to +the military tribunals. In every prosecuting or judicial jury one- +seventh of the sworn members are taken from the non-commissioned +officers, and one-seventh from the soldiers, and again, according to +the rank of the accused, the number of those of the same rank is +doubled. + +[17] Law of July 28th, August 12, 1791. + +[18] Laws of November 24, 1789 (article 52), August 10-14, 1789. - +Instruction of August 10-20, 1790; § 8 - Law of October 21, +November 21, 1789. + +[19] Laws of November 14 and 23, 1790; January 13th, September 26th, +October 9, 1792. + +[20] Albert Babeau, I. 327 (Féte of the Federation, July14, 1790). +- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215 (May 17,1791, Deliberation of the +council-general of the commune of Brest. May 17 and 19, Letters of +the directory of the district). - Mercure, March 5, 1791. "Mesdames +are stopped until the return of the two deputies, whom the Republic +of Arnay-le-Duc has sent to the representatives of the nation to +demonstrate to them the necessity of keeping the king's aunts in the +kingdom." + +[21] Moniteur, X. 132. Speech by M. Labergerie, November 8, 1791. + +[22] At Montauban, in the intendant's salon, the ladies of the place +spoke patois only, the grandmother of the gentleman who has informed +me of this fact did not understand any other language. + +[23] Moniteur, V.163, sitting of July 18, 1791. Speech by M. +Lecoulteux, reporter. + +[24] Moniteur, XI. 283, sitting of February 2, 1792. Speech by +Cambon: "They go away thinking that they understand what is +explained to them, but return the following day to obtain fresh +explanations. The attorneys refuse to give the municipalities any +assistance, stating that they know nothing about these matters." + +[25] The same may happen when a subordinate is promoted to be placed +in charge of his or her former equals and colleagues. This is why +it is often preferably to transfer someone who is recognized as +being of superior talent whenever a promotions is to take place. (SR.) + +[26] Law of May 11-15, 1791. + +[27] Minutes of the meeting of the Electoral Assembly of the +Department of Indre-et-Loire (1791, printed). + +[28] De Ferrières, I. 367. + +[29] Suzay, I, 191 (21,711 are eligible out of 32,288 inscribed +citizens). + +[30] Official report of the Electoral Assembly of the Department of +Indre-et-Loire, Aug. 27, 1791. "A member of the Assembly made a +motion that all the members composing it should be indemnified for +the expenses which would be incurred by their absence from home and +the long sojourn they had to make in the town where the Assembly was +held. He remarked that the inhabitants of the country were those +who suffered the most, their labor being their sole riches; that if +no attention was paid to this demand, they would be obliged, in +spite of their patriotism, to withdraw and abandon their important +mission; that the electoral assemblies would then be deserted, or +would be composed of those whose resources permitted them to make +this sacrifice." + +[31] Sauzay, I. 147, 192. + +[32] For the detail of these figures, see vol. II. Book IV. + +[33] De Ferrières, I. 367. Cf. The various laws above mentioned. + +[34] Constant, "Histoire d'un Club Jacobin en Province" +(Fontainebleau) p.15. (Procés-verbaux of the founding of the clubs +of Moret, Thomery, Nemours, and Montereau.) + +[35] Later to change and become socialist and communist parties +everywhere. (SR.) + +[36] Cf. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 (except the +first phrase, which is a catchword thrown out for the European +philosophers). - Jefferson proposed a Declaration of Rights for the +Constitution of March 4, 1789, but it was refused. They were +content to add to it the eleven amendments which set forth the +fundamental rights of the citizen. + +[37] Article I. "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights +common to all. Social distinctions are founded solely on public +utility." + + The first phrase condemns the hereditary royalty which is +sanctioned by the Constitution. The second phrase can be used to +legitimate hereditary monarchy and an aristocracy. - Articles 10 and +11 bear upon the manifestations of religious convictions and on +freedom of speech and of the press. By virtue of these two articles +worship, speech, and the press may be made subject to the most +repressive restrictions, etc. + +[38] The International Bill of Human Rights of 1948 is quite +different from the one approved in 1789. In 1948 there is no more +any mention of any "right to resistance to oppression", there is a +softening of the position on the right of property and new rights, +to free education, to a country, to rest and leisure, to a high +standard of health and to an adequate standard of living have been +introduced. (SR.) + +[39] Stalin and his successors organized such a system of "clubs" +world-wide which even today remain active as "protectors" of the +environment, refugees, prisoners, animals and the environment. +(SR.) + +[40] Buchez and Roux , XI. 237. (Speech by Malouet in relation to +the revision, August 5, 1791.) "You constantly tempt the people with +sovereignty without giving them the immediate use of it." + +[41] Decrees of September 25 - October 6, 1791; September 28 - +October 6, 1791. + +[42] Impartial contemporaries, those well qualified to judge, agree +as to the absurdity of the Constitution. + +"The Constitution was a veritable monster. There was too much of +monarchy in it for a republic, and too much of a republic for a +monarchy. The King was a side-dish, un hors d'œuvre, everywhere +present in appearance but without any actual power." (Dumont, 339.) + +"It is a general and almost universal conviction that this +Constitution is inexecutable. The makers of it to a man condemn it. +(G. Morris, September 30, 1791.) + +"Every day proves more clearly that their new Constitution is good +for nothing." (ibid. , December 27, 1791.) + +Cf. The sensible and prophetic speech made by Malouet (August 5, +1791, Buchez and Roux, XI. 237). + +[43] Taine's vivid description is likely to have encouraged any +radical revolutionary having the luck to read his explicit +description of how to proceed with the destruction of a naïve +corrupt capitalist, bourgeois society. (SR.) + + + + +BOOK THIRD. THE APPLICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION.[1] + + +CHAPTER I. + +I. The Federations. - Popular application of philosophic theory. - +Idyllic celebration of the Contrat-Social. - The two strata of the +human mind. - Permanent disorder. + +If there ever was an Utopia which seemed capable of realization, or, +what is still more to the purpose, was really applied, converted +into a fact, fully established, it is that of Rousseau, in 1789 and +during the three following years. For, not only are his principles +embodied in the laws, and the Constitution throughout animated with +his spirit, but it seems as if the nation looked upon his +ideological gambols, his abstract fiction, as serious. This fiction +it carried out in every particular. A social contract, at one +spontaneous and practical, an immense gathering of men associating +together freely for the first time for the recognition of their +respective rights, forming a specific compact, and binding +themselves by a solemn oath: such is the social recipe prescribed by +the philosophers, and which is carried out to the letter. Moreover, +as this recipe is esteemed infallible, the imagination is worked +upon and the sensibilities of the day are brought into play. It is +admitted that men, on again becoming equals, have again become +brothers.[2] A sudden and amazing harmony of all volitions and all +intelligences will restore the golden age on earth. It is proper, +accordingly, to regard the social contract as a festival, an +affecting, sublime idyll, in which, from one end of France to the +other, all, hand in hand, should assemble and swear to the new +compact, with song, with dance, with tears of joy, with shouts of +gladness, the worthy beginning of public felicity. With unanimous +assent, indeed, the idyll is performed as if according to a written +program. + +On the 29th of November, 1789, at Etoile, near Valence, the +federations began.[3] Twelve thousand National Guards, from the two +banks of the Rhône, promise "to remain for ever united, to insure +the circulation of grain, and to maintain the laws passed by the +National Assembly." On the 13th of December, at Montélimart, six +thousand men, the representatives of 27 000 other men, take a +similar oath and confederate themselves with the foregoing. - Upon +this the excitement spreads from month to month and from province to +province. Fourteen towns of the bailiwicks of Franche-Comté form a +patriotic league. At Pontivy, Brittany enters into federal +relations with Anjou. One thousand National Guards of Vivarais and +Languedoc send their delegates to Voute. 48 000 in the Vosges send +their deputies to Epinal. During February, March, April, and May, +1790, in Alsace, Champagne, Dauphiny, Orléanais, Touraine, Lyonnais, +and Provence, there is the same spectacle. At Draguignan eight +thousand National Guards take the oath in the presence of 20 000 +spectators. At Lyons 50 000 men, delegates of more than 500 000 +others take the civic oath. - But local unions are not sufficient to +complete the organization of France ; a general union of all +Frenchmen must take place. Many of the various National Guards have +already written to Paris for the purpose of affiliating themselves +with the National Guard there; and, one the 5th of June, the +Parisian municipal body having proposed it, the Assembly decrees the +universal federation. It is to take place on the 14th of July, +everywhere on the same day, both at the center and at the +extremities of the kingdom. There is to be one in the principal +town of each district and of each department, and one in the +capital. To the latter each body of the National Guards is to send +deputies in the proportion of one man to every two hundred; and each +regiment one officer, one non-commissioned officer, and four +privates. Fourteen thousand representatives of the National Guard +of the provinces appear on the Champ de Mars, the theater of the +festival; also eleven to twelve thousand representatives of the land +and marine forces, besides the National Guard of Paris, and sixty +thousand spectators on the surrounding slopes, with a still greater +crowd on the heights of Chaillot and of Passy. All rise to their +feet and swear fidelity to the nation, to the law, to the King and +to the new Constitution. When the report of the cannon is heard +which announces the taking of the oath, those of the Parisians who +have remained at home, men, women, and children, raise their hands +in the direction of the Champ de Mars and likewise make their +affirmation. In every principal town of every district, department, +and commune in France there is the same oath on the same day. Never +was there a more perfect social compact heard of. Here, for the +first time in the world, everybody beholds a veritable legitimate +society, for it is founded on free pledges, on solemn stipulations, +and on actual consent. They possess the authentic act and the dated +official report of it.[4] + +There is still something more - the time and the occasion betoken a +union of all hearts. The barriers which have hitherto separated men +from each other are all removed and without effort. Provincial +antagonisms are now to cease: the confederates of Brittany and Anjou +write that they no longer desire to be Angevins and Bretons, but +simply Frenchmen. All religious discords are to come to an end: at +Saint-Jean-du-Gard, near Alais, the Catholic curé and the Protestant +pastor embrace each other at the altar; the pastor occupies the best +seat in the church, and at the Protestant meeting-house the curé has +the place of honor, and listens to the sermon of the pastor.[5] +Distinctions of rank and condition will no longer exist; at Saint- +Andéol " the honor of taking the oath in the name of the people is +conferred on two old men, one ninety-three and the other ninety-four +years of age, one a noble and a colonel of the National Guard, and +the other a simple peasant." At Paris, two hundred thousand persons +of all conditions, ages, and sexes, officers and soldiers, monks and +actors, school-boys and masters, dandies and ragamuffins, elegant +ladies and fishwives, workmen of every class and the peasants from +the vicinity, all flocked to the Champ de Mars to dig the earth +which was not ready, and in a week, trundling wheelbarrows and +handling the pick-ax as equals and comrades, all voluntarily yoked +in the same service, converted a flat surface into a valley between +two hills. - At Strasbourg, General Luckner, commander-in-chief, +worked a whole afternoon in his shirt-sleeves just like the +commonest laborer. The confederates are fed, housed, and have their +expenses paid everywhere on all the roads. At Paris the publicans +and keepers of furnished houses lower their prices of their own +accord, and do not think of robbing their new guests. "The +districts," moreover, "feast the provincials to their heart's +content.[6] There are meals every day for from twelve to fifteen +hundred people." Provincials and Parisians, soldiers and bourgeois, +seated and mingled together, drink each other's health and embrace. +The soldiers, especially, and the inferior officers are surrounded, +welcomed, and entertained to such an extent that they lose their +heads, their health, and more besides. One "old trooper, who had +been over fifty years in the service, died on the way home, used up +with cordials and excess of pleasure." In short, the joy is +excessive, as it should be on the great day when the wish of an +entire century is accomplished. - Behold ideal felicity, as +displayed in the books and illustrations of the time! The natural +man buried underneath an artificial civilization is disinterred, and +again appears as in early days, as in Tahiti, as in philosophic and +literary pastorals, as in bucolic and mythological operas, +confiding, affectionate, and happy. "The sight of all these beings +again restored to the sweet sentiments of primitive brotherhood is +an exquisite delight almost too great for the soul to support," and +the Frenchman, more light-hearted and far more childlike than he is +to-day, gives himself up unrestrainedly to his social, sympathetic, +and generous instincts. Whatever the imagination of the day offers +him to increase his emotions, all the classical, rhetorical, and +dramatic material at his command, are employed for the embellishment +of his festival. Already wildly enthusiastic, he is anxious to +increase his enthusiasm. - At Lyons, the fifty thousand confederates +from the south range themselves in line of battle around an +artificial rock, fifty feet high, covered with shrubs, and +surmounted by a Temple of Concord in which stands a huge statue of +Liberty; the steps of the rock are decked with flags, and a solemn +mass precedes the administration of the oath. - At Paris, an alter +dedicated to the nation is erected in the middle of the Champ de +Mars, which is transformed into a colossal circus. The regular +troops and the federations of the departments stand in position +around it, the King being in front with the Queen and the dauphin, +while near them are the princes and princesses in a gallery, and the +members of the National Assembly in an amphitheater; two hundred +priests, draped in their albs and with tricolored belts, officiate +around Talleyrand, Bishop of Autun; three hundred drums and twelve +hundred musicians all play at once; forty piece of cannon are +discharged at one volley, and four hundred thousand cheers go up as +if from one threat. Never was such an effort made to intoxicate the +senses and strain the nerves beyond their powers of endurance! - The +moral machine is made to vibrate to the same and even to a greater +extent. For more than a year past, harangues, proclamations, +addresses, newspapers and events have daily added one degree more to +the pressure. On this occasion, thousands of speeches, multiplied +by myriads of newspapers, carry the enthusiasm to the highest pitch. +Declamation foams and rolls along in a steady stream of rhetoric +everywhere throughout France.[7] In this state of excitement the +difference between magniloquence and sincerity, between the false +and the true, between show and substance, is no longer +distinguishable. The Federation becomes an opera which is seriously +played in the open street - children have parts assigned them in it; +it occurs to no one that they are puppets, and that the words taken +for an expression of the heart are simply memorized speeches that +have been put into their mouths. At Besançon, on the return of the +confederates, hundreds of "youthful citizens" from twelve to +fourteen years of age,[8] in the national uniform, "with sword in +hand," march up to the standard of Liberty. Three little girls from +eleven to thirteen years old and two little boy of nine years each +pronounce "a discourse full of fire and breathing nothing but +patriotism;" after which, a young lady of fourteen, raising her +voice and pointing to the flag, harangues in turn the crowd, the +deputies, the National Guard, the mayor, and the commander of the +troops, the scene ending with a ball. This is the universal finale +- men and women, children and adults, common people and men of the +world, chiefs and subordinates, all, everywhere, frisk about as in +the last act of a pastoral drama. At Paris, - writes an eye- +witness, "I saw chevaliers of Saint-Louis and chaplains dancing in +the street with people belonging to their department."[9] At the +Champ de Mars, on the day of the Federation, notwithstanding that +rain was falling in torrents, "the first arrivals began to dance, +and those who came after them, joining in, formed a circle which +soon spread over a portion of the Champ de Mars. . . .Three +hundred thousand spectators kept time with their hands." On the +following days dancing is kept up on the Champ de Mars and in the +streets, and there is drinking and carousing; "there was a ball with +refreshments at the Corn-Exchange, and on the site of the Bastille." +- At Tours, where fifty-two detachments from the neighboring +provinces are collected, about four o'clock in the afternoon,[10] +through an irresistible outburst of insane gaiety, "the officers, +inferior officers, and soldiers, pell-mell, race through the +streets, some with saber in hand and others dancing and shouting +'Vive le Roi!' 'Vive la Nation!' flinging up their hats and +compelling every one they met to join in the dance. One of the +canons of the cathedral, who happens to be passing quietly along, +has a grenadier's cap put on his head," and is dragged into the +circle, and after him two monks; "they are often embraced," and then +allowed to depart. The carriages of the mayor and the Marquise de +Montausier arrive; people mount up behind, get inside, and seat +themselves in front, as many as can find room, and force the +coachmen to parade through the principal streets in this fashion. +There is no malice in it, nothing but sport and the overflow of +spirits. "Nobody was maltreated or insulted, although almost every +one was drunk." - Nevertheless, there is one bad symptom: the +soldiers of the Anjou regiment leave their barracks the following +day and "pass the whole night abroad, no one being able to hinder +them." And there is another of still graver aspect; at Orleans, +after the companies of the National Militia had danced on the square +in the evening, "a large number of volunteers marched in procession +through the town with drums, shouting out with all their might that +the aristocracy must be destroyed, and that priests and aristocrats +should be strung up to the lamp post. They enter a suspected +coffee-house, drive out the inmates with insults, lay hands on a +gentleman who is supposed not to have cried out as correctly and as +lustily as themselves, and come near to hanging him.[11] - Such is +the fruit of the philosophy and the attitudes of the eighteenth +century. Men believed that, for the organization of a perfect +society and the permanent establishment of freedom, justice, and +happiness on earth, an inspiration of sentiments and an act of the +will would suffice. The inspiration came and the act was fulfilled; +they have been carried away, delighted, affected and out of their +minds. Now comes the reaction, when they have to fall back upon +themselves. The effort has succeeded in accomplishing all that it +could accomplish, namely, a deluge of emotional demonstrations and +slogans, a verbal and not a real contract ostentatious fraternity +skin-deep, a well-meaning masquerade, an outpouring of feeling +evaporating through its own pageantry - in short, an agreeable +carnival of a day's duration. + +The reason is that in the human mind there are two strata. One +superficial, of which men are conscious, the other deep down, of +which they are unconscious.[12] The former unstable and vacillating +like shifting sand, the latter stable and fixed like a solid rock, +to which their caprices and agitation never descend. The latter +alone determines the general inclination of the soil, the main +current of human activity necessarily following the bent thus +prepared for it. - Certainly embraces have been interchanged and +oaths have been taken; but after, as before the ceremony, men are +just what many centuries of administrative thralldom and one century +of political literature have made them. Their ignorance and +presumption, their prejudices, hatreds, and distrusts, their +inveterate intellectual and emotional habits are still preserved. +They are human, and their stomachs need to be filled daily. They +have imagination, and, if bread be scarce, they fear that they may +not get enough of it. They prefer to keep their money rather than +to give it away. For this reason they spurn the claims which the +State and individuals have upon them as much as possible. They +avoid paying their debts. They willingly lay their hands on public +property which is badly protected; finally they are disposed to +regard gendarmes and proprietors as detrimental, and all the more so +because this has been repeated to them over and over again, day +after day, for a whole year. - On the other hand there is no change +in the situation of things. They are ever living in a disorganized +community, under an impracticable constitution, the passions which +sap public order being only the more stimulated by the semblance of +fraternity under which they seemed to be allayed. Men cannot be +persuaded with impunity that the millennium has come, for they will +want to enjoy it immediately, and will tolerate no deception +practiced on their expectations. In this violent state, fired by +boundless expectations, all their whims appear reasonable and all +their opinions rational. They are no longer able to find faults +with or control themselves. In their brain, overflowing with +emotions and enthusiasm, there is no room but for one intense, +absorbing, fixed idea. Each is confident and over-confident in his +own opinion; all become impassioned, imperious, and intractable. +Having assumed that all obstacles are taken out of the way, they +grow indignant at each obstacle they actually encounter. Whatever +it may be, they shatter it on the instant, and their over-excited +imagination covers with the fine name of patriotism their natural +appetite for despotism and domination. + +France, accordingly, in the three years which follow the taking of +the Bastille, presents a strange spectacle. In the words we find +charity and in the laws symmetry; while the actual events present a +spectacle of disorder and violence. Afar, is the reign of +philosophy; close up is the chaos of the Carlovingian era. + +"Foreigners," remarks an observer,[13] "are not aware that, with a +great extension of political rights, the liberty of the individual +is in law reduced to nothing, while in practice it is subject to the +caprice of sixty thousand constitutional assemblies; that no citizen +enjoys any protection against the annoyances of these popular +assemblies; that, according to the opinions which they entertain of +persons and things, they act in one place in one way and in another +place in another way. Here, a department, acting for itself and +without referring elsewhere, puts an embargo on vessels, while +another orders the expulsion of a military detachment essential for +the security of places devastated by ruffians; and the minister, who +responds to the demands of those interested, replies: 'Such are the +orders of the department.' Elsewhere are administrative bodies +which, the moment the Assembly decrees relief of consciences and the +freedom of nonjuring priests, order the latter out of their homes +within 24 hours. Always in advance of or lagging behind the laws; +alternately bold and cowardly; daring all things when seconded by +public license, and daring nothing to repress it; eager to abuse +their momentary authority against the weak in order to acquire +titles to popularity in the future; incapable of maintaining order +except at the expense of public safety and tranquility; entangled +in the reins of their new and complex administration, adding the +fury of passion to incapacity and inexperience; such are, for the +most part, the men sprung from nothing, void of ideas and drunk with +pretension, on whom now rests responsibility for public powers and +resources, the interest of security, and the foundations of the +power of government. In all sections of the nation, in every branch +of the administration, in every report, we detect the confusion of +authorities, the uncertainty of obedience, the dissolution of all +restraints, the absence of all resources, the deplorable +complication of enervated springs, without any of the means of real +power, and, for their sole support, laws which, in supposing France +to be peopled with men without vices or passions, abandon humanity +to its primitive state of independence." + +A few months after this, in the beginning of 1792, Malouet sums up +all in one phrase: + +"It is the Government of Algiers without the Dey." + + +II. + +Independence of the municipalities. - The causes of their +initiative. - Sentiment of danger.- Issy-l'Evêque in 1789. - Exalted +pride. - Brittany in 1790.- Usurpations of the municipalities. - +Capture of the citadels. - Violence increased against their +commanders. - Stoppage of convoys.- Powerlessness of the Directories +and the ministers. - Marseilles in 1790. + +Things could not work otherwise. For, before the 6th of October, +and the King's captivity in Paris, the Government had already been +destroyed. Now, through the successive decrees of the Assembly, it +is legally done away with, and each local group is left to itself. - +The intendants have fled, military commanders are not obeyed, the +bailiwicks dare hold no courts, the parliaments are suspended, and +seven months elapse before the district and department +administrations are elected, a year before the new judgeships are +instituted, while afterwards, as well as before, the real power is +in the hands of the communes. - The commune must arm itself, appoint +its own chiefs, provide its own supplies, protect itself against +brigands, and feed its own poor. It has to sell its national +property, install the constitutional priest, and, amidst so many +eager passions and injured interest, accomplish the transformation +by which a new society replaces the ancient one. It alone has to +ward off the perpetual and constantly reviving dangers which assail +it or which it imagines. These are great, and it exaggerates them. +It is inexperienced and alarmed. It is not surprising that, in the +exercise of its extemporized power, it should pass beyond its +natural or legal limit, and without being aware of it, overstep the +metaphysical line which the Constitution defines between its rights +and the rights of the State. Neither hunger, fear, rage, nor any of +the popular passions can wait; there is no time to refer to Paris. +Action is necessary, immediate action, and, with the means at hand, +they must save themselves as well as they can. This or that mayor +of a village is soon to find himself a general and a legislator. +This or that petty town is to give itself a charter like Laon or +Vezelay in the twelfth century. "On the 6th of October, 1789,[14] +near Autun, the market-town of Issy-l'Evêque declares itself an +independent State. The parish assembly is convoked by the priest, +M. Carion, who is appointed member of the administrative committee +and of the new military staff. In full session he secures the +adoption of a complete code, political, judiciary, penal and +military, consisting of sixty articles. Nothing is overlooked; we +find ordinances concerning + +"the town police, the laying out of streets and public squares, the +repairs of prisons, the road taxes and price of grain, the +administration of justice, fines, confiscations, and the diet of the +National Guards." + +He is a provincial Solon,[15] zealous for the public welfare, and a +man of executive power, he expounds his ordinances from the pulpit, +and threatens the refractory. He passes decrees and renders +judgments in the town-hall: outside the town limits, at the head of +the National Guard, saber in hand, he will enforce his own +decisions. He causes it to be decided that, on the written order of +the committee, every citizen may be imprisoned. He imposes and +collects taxes; he has boundary walls torn down; he goes in person +to the houses of cultivators and makes requisitions for grain; he +seizes the convoys which have not deposited their quote in his own +richly stored granaries. One day, preceded by a drummer, he marches +outside the walls, makes proclamation of "his agrarian laws," and +proceeds at once to the partition of the territory, and, by virtue +of the ancient communal or church property rights, to assign to +himself a portion of it. All this is done in public and +consciously, the notary and the scrivener being called in to draw up +the official record of his acts; he is satisfied that human society +has come to an end, and that each local group has the right to begin +over again and apply in its own way the Constitution which it has +accorded to itself without reference to anybody else. - This man, +undoubtedly, talks too loudly, an proceeds too quickly; and first +the bailiwick, next the Châtelet, and afterwards the National +Assembly temporarily put a stop to his proceedings; but his +principle is a popular one, and the forty thousand communes of +France are about to act like so many distinct republics, under the +sentimental and constantly more powerless reprimands of the central +authority. + +Excited and invigorated by a new sentiment, men now abandon +themselves to the proud consciousness of their own power and +independence. Nowhere is greater satisfaction found than among the +new local chiefs, the municipal officers and commanders of the +National Guard, for never before has such supreme authority and such +great dignity fallen upon men previously so submissive and so +insignificant. - Formerly the subordinates of an intendant or sub- +delegate, appointed, maintained, and ill-used by him, kept aloof +from transactions of any importance, unable to defend themselves +except by humble protestations against the aggravation of taxation, +concerned with precedence and the conflicts of etiquette,[16] plain +townspeople or peasants who never dreamt of interfering in military +matters, henceforth become sovereigns in all military and civil +affairs. This or that mayor or syndic of a little town or parish, a +petty bourgeois or villager in a blouse, whom the intendant or +military commander could imprison at will, now orders a gentleman, a +captain of dragoons, to march or stand still, and the captain stands +still or marches at his command. On the same bourgeois or villager +depends the safety of the neighboring chateau, of the large land- +owner and his family, of the prelate, and of all the prominent +personages of the district. in order that they may be out of harm's +way he must protect them; they will be pillaged if, in case of +insurrection, he does not send troops and the National Guard to +their assistance. It is he who, lending or refusing public force to +the collection of their rents, gives them or deprives them of the +means of living. He accordingly rules, and on the sole condition of +ruling according to the wishes of his equals, the vociferous +multitude, the restless, dominant mob which has elected him. - In +the towns, especially, and notably in the large towns, the contrast +between what he was and what he is immense, since to the plenitude +of his power is added the extent of his jurisdiction. Judge of the +effect on his brain in cities like those of Marseilles, Bordeaux, +Nantes, Rouen and Lyons, where he holds in his hand the lives and +property of eighty or a hundred thousand men. And the more as, amid +the municipal officers of the towns, three-quarters of them, +prosecutors or lawyers, are imbued with the new dogmas, and are +persuaded that in themselves alone, the directly elected of the +people, is vested all legitimate authority. Bewildered by their +recent elevation, distrustful as upstarts, in revolt against all +ancient or rival powers, they are additionally alarmed by their +imagination and ignorance, their minds being vaguely disturbed by +the contrast between their role in the past and their present role: +anxious on their own account, they find no security but in abuse and +use of power. The municipalities, on the strength of the reports +emanating from the coffee-houses, decide that the ministry are +traitors. With an obstinacy of conviction and a boldness of +presumption alike extraordinary, they believe that they have the +right to act without and against their orders, and against the +orders of the National Assembly itself, as if, in the now +disintegrated France, each municipality constituted the nation. + +Thus, if the armed force of the country is now obedient to any body, +it is to them and to them alone, and not only the National Guard, +but also the regular troops which, placed under the orders of +municipalities by a decree of the National Assembly,[17] will comply +with no other. Military commanders in the provinces, after +September, 1787, declare themselves powerless; when they and the +municipality give orders, it is only those of the municipality which +the troops recognize. "However pressing may be the necessity for +moving the troops where their presence is required, they are stopped +by the resistance of the village committee."[18] "Without any +reasonable motive," writes the commander of the forces in Brittany, +"Vannes and Auray made opposition to the detachment which I thought +it prudent to send to Belle-Ile, to replace another one . . . The +Government cannot move without encountering obstacles. . . . The +Minister of War no longer has the direction of the army. . . . +No orders are executed. . . Every one wants to command, and no +one to obey. . . How could the King, the Government, or the +Minister of War send troops where they are wanted if the towns +believe that they have the right to countermand the orders given to +the regiments and change their destination? "-And it is still worse, +for, "on the false supposition of brigands and conspiracies which do +not exist,[19] the towns and villages make demands on me for arms +and even cannon. . . The whole of Brittany will soon be in a +frightful belligerent state on this account, for, having no real +enemies, they will turn their arms against each other." - This is +of no consequence. The panic is an "epidemic." People are +determined to believe in "brigands and enemies." At Nantes, the +assertion is constantly repeated that the Spaniards are going to +land, that the French regiments are going to make an attack, that an +army of brigands is approaching, that the castle is threatened, that +it is threatening, and that it contains too many engines of war. +The commandant of the province writes in vain to the mayor to +reassure him, and to explain to him that "the municipality, being +master of the chateau, is likewise master of its magazine. Why then +should it entertain fear about that which is in its own possession? +Why should any surprise be manifested at an arsenal containing arms +and gunpowder? " - Nothing is of any effect. The chateau is +invaded; two hundred workmen set to work to demolish the +fortifications; they listen only to their fears, and cannot exercise +too great precaution. However inoffensive the citadels may be, they +are held to be dangerous; however accommodating the commanders may +be, they are regarded with suspicion. The people chafe against the +bridle, relaxed and slack as it is. It is broken and cast aside, +that it may not be used again when occasion requires. Each +municipal body, each company of the National Guard, wants to reign +on its own plot of ground out of the way of any foreign control; and +this is what is called liberty. Its adversary, therefore, is the +central power. This must be disarmed for fear that it may +interpose. On all sides, with a sure and persistent instinct, +through the capture of fortresses, the pillage of arsenals, the +seduction of the soldiery, and the expulsion of generals, the +municipality ensures its omnipotence by guaranteeing itself +beforehand against all repression. + +At Brest the municipal authorities insist that a naval officer shall +be surrendered to the people, and on the refusal of the King's +lieutenant to give him up, the permanent committee orders the +National Guard to load its guns.[20] At Nantes the municipal body +refuses to recognize M. d'Hervilly, sent to take command of a camp, +and the towns of the province write to declare that they will suffer +no other than the federated troops on their territory. At Lille the +permanent committee insists that the military authorities shall +place the keys of the town in its keeping every evening, and, a few +months after this, the National Guard, joined by mutinous soldiers, +seize the citadel and the person of Livarot, its commander. At +Toulon the commander of the arsenal, M. de Rioms, and several naval +officers, are put in the dungeon. At Montpellier the citadel is +surprised, and the club writes to the National Assembly to demand +its demolition. At Valence, the commandant, M. de Voisin, on +taking measures of defense, is massacred, and henceforth the +municipality issues all orders to the garrison. At Bastia, Colonel +de Rully falls under a shower of bullets, and the National Guard +takes possession of the citadel and the powder magazine. These are +not passing outbursts: at the end of two years the same +insubordinate spirit is apparent everywhere.[21] In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly seek to transfer the Nassau +regiment from Metz. Sedan refuses to receive it; while Thionville +declares that, if it comes, she will blow up the bridges, and +Sarrebuis threatens, if it approaches, that it will open fire on it. +At Caen neither the municipality nor the directory dares enforce the +law which assigns the castle to the troops of the line; the National +Guard refuses to leave it, and forbids the director of the artillery +to inspect the munitions. - In this state of things a Government +subsists in name but not in fact, for it no longer possesses the +means of enforcing obedience. Each commune arrogates to itself the +right of suspending or preventing the execution of the simplest and +most urgent orders. Arnay-le-Duc, in spite of passports and legal +injunctions, persists in retaining Mesdames; Arcis-sur-Aube retains +Necker, and Montigny is about to retain M. Caillard, Ambassador of +France.[22] - In the month of June, 1791, a convoy of eighty +thousand crowns of six livres sets out from Paris for Switzerland; +this is a repayment by the French Government to that of Soleure; the +date of payment is fixed, the itinerary marked out; all the +necessary documents are provided; it is important that it should +arrive on the day when the bill falls due. But they have counted +without the municipalities and the National Guards. Arrested at +Bar-sur-Aube, it is only at the end of a month, and on a decree of +the National Assembly, that the convoy can resume. its march. At +Belfort it is seized again, and it still remains there in the month +of November. In vain has the directory of the Bas-Rhin ordered its +release; the Belfort municipality paid no attention to the order. +In vain the same directory dispatches a commissioner, who is near +being cut to pieces. The personal interference of General Luckner, +with the strong arm, is necessary, before the convoy can pass the +frontier, after five months of delay.[23] In the month of July 1791, +a French vessel on the way from Rouen to Caudebec, said to be loaded +with kegs of gold and silver, is stopped. On the examination being +made, it has a right to leave; its papers are all correct, and the +department enjoins the district to respect the law. The district, +however, replies that it is impossible, since "all the +municipalities on the banks of the Seine have armed and are awaiting +the passing of the vessel," and the National Assembly itself is +obliged to pass a decree that the vessel shall be discharged. + +If the rebellion of the small communes is of this stamp, what must +be that of the larger ones?[24] The departments and districts summon +the municipality in vain; it disobeys or pays no attention to the +summons. + + "Since the session began," writes the directory of Saône-et-Loire; +"the municipality of Maçon has taken no step in relation to us which +has not been an encroachment. It has not uttered a word, which has +not been an insult. It has not entered upon a deliberation which +has not been an outrage." + + "If the regiment of Aunis is not ordered here immediately," writes +the directory of Calvados, "if prompt and efficient measures are not +taken to provide us with an armed force, we shall abandon a post +which we can not longer hold due to insubordination, license, +contempt for all the authorities. We shall in this case be unable to +perform the duties which were imposed upon us." + +The directory of the Bouches-du-Rhone, on being attacked, flies +before the bayonets of Marseilles. The members of the directory of +Gers, in conflict with the municipality of Auch, are almost beaten +to death. As to the ministers, who are distrusted by virtue of +their office, they are still less respected than the directories, +They are constantly denounced to the Assembly, while the +municipalities send back their dispatches without deigning to open +them,[25] and, towards the end of 1791, their increasing +powerlessness ends in complete annihilation. We can judge of this +by one example. In the month of December 1791, Limoges is not +allowed to carry away the grain, which it had just purchased in +Indre, a force of sixty horsemen being necessary to protect its +transportation. The directory of Indre at once calls upon the +ministers to furnish them with this small troop.[26] After trying +for three weeks, the minister replies that it is out of his power; +he has knocked at all doors in vain. "I have pointed out one way," +he says, "to the deputies of your department in the National +Assembly, namely, to withdraw the 20th regiment of cavalry from +Orleans, and I have recommended them to broach the matter to the +deputies of Loiret." The answer is still delayed: the deputies of +the two departments have to come to an agreement, for, otherwise, +the minister dares not displace sixty men to protect a convoy of +grain. It is plain enough that there is no longer any executive +power. There is no longer a central authority. There is no longer +a France, but merely so many disintegrated and independent communes, +like Orleans and Limoges, which, through their representatives, +carry on negotiations with each other, one to secure itself from a +deficiency of troops, and the other to secure itself from a want of +bread. + +Let us consider this general dissolution on the spot, and take up a +case in detail. On the 18th of January 1790, the new municipal +authorities of Marseilles enter upon their duties. As is generally +the case, the majority of the electors have had nothing to do with +the balloting. The mayor, Martin, having been elected by only an +eighth of the active citizens.[27] If, however, the dominant +minority is a small one, it is resolute and not inclined to stop at +trifles. "Scarcely is it organized,"[28] when it sends deputies to +the King to have him withdraw his troops from Marseilles. The King, +always weak and accommodating, finally consents; and, the orders to +march being prepared, the municipality is duly advised of them. But +the municipality will tolerate no delay, and immediately "draws up, +prints, and issues a denunciation to the National Assembly" against +the commandant and the two ministers who, according to it, are +guilty of having forged or suppressed the King's orders. In the +meantime it equips and fortifies itself as for a combat. At its +first establishment the municipality broke up the bourgeois guard, +which was too great a lover of order, and organized a National +Guard, in which those who have no property are soon to be admitted. +"Daily additions are made to its military apparatus;[29] +entrenchments and barricades at the Hôtel-de-Ville, are increasing, +the artillery is increased; the town is filled with the excitement +of a military camp in the immediate presence of an enemy." Thus, in +possession of force, it makes use of it, and in the first place +against justice. -- A popular insurrection had been suppressed in +the month of August 1789, and the three principal leaders, Rebecqui, +Pascal, and Granet, had been imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. They +are the friends of the municipal authorities, and they must be set +free. At the demand of this body the affair is taken out of the +hands of the grand-prévôt and put into those of the sénéchaussée, +the former, meanwhile, together with his councilors, undergoing +punishment for having performed their duty. The municipality, on +its own authority, forbids them from further exercise of their +functions. They are publicly denounced, "threatened with poniards, +the scaffold, and every species of assassination." [30] No printer +dares publish their defense, for fear of "municipal annoyances." It +is not long before the royal procureur and a councillor are reduced +to seeking refuge in Fort Saint-Jean, while the grand-prévôt after +having resisted a little longer, leaves Marseilles in order to save +his life. As to the three imprisoned men, the municipal authorities +visit them in a body and demand their provisional release. One of +them having made his escape, they refuse to give the commandant the +order for his re-arrest. The other two triumphantly leave the +chateau on the 11th of April, escorted by eight hundred National +Guards. They go, for form's sake, to the prisons of the +sénéchaussée but the next day are set at liberty, and further +prosecution ceases. As an offset to this, M. d'Ambert, colonel in +the Royal Marine, guilty of expressing himself too warmly against +the National Guard, although acquitted by the tribunal before which +he was brought, can be set at liberty only in secret and under the +protection of two thousand soldiers. The populace want to burn the +house of the criminal lieutenant that dared absolve him. The +magistrate himself is in danger, and is forced to take refuge in the +house of the military commander.[31] Meanwhile, printed and written +papers, insulting libels by the municipal body and the club, the +seditious or violent discussions of the district assemblies, and a +lot of pamphlets, are freely distributed among the people and the +soldiers: the latter are purposely stirred up in advance against +their chiefs. - - In vain are the officers mild, conciliatory, and +cautious. In vain does the commander-in-chief depart with a portion +of the troops. The object now is to dislodge the regiment occupying +the three forts. The club sets the ball in motion, and, forcibly or +otherwise, the will of the people must be carried out. On the 29th +of April, two actors, supported by fifty volunteers, surprise a +sentinel and get possession of Notre-Dame de la Garde. On the same +day, six thousand National Guards invest the forts of Saint-Jean and +Saint-Nicolas. The municipal authorities, summoned to respect the +fortresses, reply by demanding the opening of the gates to the +National Guard, that it may do duty jointly with the soldiers. The +commandants hesitate, refer to the law, and demand time to consult +their superiors. A second requisition, more urgent, is made; the +commandants are held responsible for the disturbances they provoke +by their refusal. If they resist they are declared promoters of +civil war.[32] They accordingly yield and sign a capitulation. +One among them, the Chevalier de Beausset, major in Fort Saint-Jean, +is opposed to this, and refuses his signature. On the following day +he is seized as he is about to enter the Hôtel-de-Ville, and +massacred, his head being borne about on the end of a pike, while +the band of assassins, the soldiers, and the rabble dance about and +shout over his remains. - " It is a sad accident," writes the +municipality.[33] How does it happen that, "after having thus far +merited and obtained all praise, a Beausset, whom we were unable to +protect against the decrees of Providence, should sully our laurels? +Having had nothing to do with this tragic affair, it is not for us +to prosecute the authors of it." Moreover, he was "culpable . . .. +rebellious, condemned by public opinion, and Providence itself seems +to have abandoned him to the irrevocable decrees of its vengeance." +- As to the taking of the forts, nothing is more legitimate. "These +places were in the hands of the enemies of the State, while now they +are in the hands of the defenders of the Constitution of the empire. +Woe to whoever would take them from us again, to convert them into a +focus of counter-revolution " - M. de Miran, commandant of the +province, has, it is true, made a demand for them. But, "is it not +somewhat pitiable to see the requisition of a Sieur de Miran, made +in the name of the King he betrays, to surrender to his Majesty's +troops places which, henceforth in our hands, guarantee public +security to the nation, to the law, and to the King?" In vain does +the King, at the request of the National Assembly,[34] order the +municipality to restore the forts to the commandants, and to make +the National Guards leave them. The municipal authorities become +indignant, and resist. According to them the wrong is all on the +side of the commandant and the ministers. It is the commandants +who, "with the threatening equipment of their citadels, their stores +of provisions and of artillery, are disturbers of the public peace. +What does the minister mean by driving the national troops out of +the forts, in order to entrust their guardianship to foreign troops? +His object is apparent in this plan . . . . he wants to kindle +civil war." - "All the misfortunes of Marseilles originate in the +secret under-standing existing between the ministers and the enemies +of the State." The municipal corps is at last obliged to evacuate +the forts, but it is determined not to give them up. The day +following that on which it receives the decree of the National +Assembly, it conceives the design of demolishing them. On the 17th +of May, two hundred laborers, paid in advance, begin the work of +destruction. To save appearances the municipal body betakes itself +at eleven o'clock in the morning to the different localities, and +orders them to stop. But, on its departure, the laborers keep on; +and, at six o'clock in the evening, a resolution is passed that, "to +prevent the entire demolition of the citadel, it is deemed advisable +to authorize only that of the part overlooking the town." On the +18th of May the Jacobin club, at once agent, accomplice, and +councilor of the municipal body, compels private individuals to +contribute something towards defraying the expenses of the +demolition. It "sends round to every house, and to the syndics of +all corporations, exacting their quotas, and making all citizens +subscribe a document by which they appear to sanction the action of +the municipal body, and to express their thanks to it. People had +to sign it, pay, and keep silent. Woe to any one that refused !" On +the 20th of May the municipal body presumes to write to the +Assembly, that "this threatening citadel, this odious monument of a +stupendous despotism, is about to disappear." To justify its +disobedience, it takes occasion to remark, "that the love of country +is the most powerful and most enduring of an empire's ramparts." On +the 28th of May it secures the performance in two theaters of a +piece representing the capture of the forts of Marseilles, for the +benefit of the men engaged in their demolition. Meanwhile, it has +summoned the Paris Jacobins to its support; it has proposed to +invite the Lyons federation and all the municipalities of the +kingdom to denounce the minister. It has forced M. de Miran, +threatened with death and watched by a party in ambush on the road, +to quit Aix, and then demands his recall.[35] Only on the 6th of +June does it decide, at the express command of the National +Assembly, to suspend the almost completed demolition. - ?Authorities +to which obedience is due could not be treated more insolently. The +end, however, is attained; there is no longer a citadel, and the +troops have departed; the regiment commanded by Ernest alone +remains, to be tampered with, insulted, and then sent off. It is +ordered to Aix, and the National Guard of Marseilles will go there +to disarm and disband it. Henceforth the municipal body has full +sway. It "observes only those laws which suit it, makes others to +its own liking, and, in short, governs in the most despotic and +arbitrary manner."[36] And not only at Marseilles, but throughout +the department where, under no authority but its own, it undertakes +armed expeditions and makes raids and sudden attacks. + + + +III. + +Independent Assemblies. - Why they took the initiative. - The people +in council. - Powerlessness of the municipalities. - the violence to +which they are subject. - Aix in 1790. - Government disobeyed and +perverted everywhere. + +Were it but possible for the dissolution to stop here! But each +commune is far from being a tranquil little state under the rule of +a body of respected magistrates. The same causes which render +municipalities rebellious against the central authority render +individuals rebellious against local authority. They also feel that +they are in danger and want to provide for their own safety. They +also, in virtue of the Constitution and of circumstances, believe +themselves appointed to save the country. They also consider +themselves qualified to judge for themselves on all points and +entitled to carry out their judgments with their own hands. The +shopkeeper, workman or peasant, at once elector and National Guard, +furnished with his vote and a musket, suddenly becomes the equal and +master of his superiors; instead of obeying, he commands, while all +who see him again after some years' absence, find that "in his +demeanor and manner all is changed." "There was great agitation +everywhere,"[37] says M. de Ségur; "I noticed groups of men talking +earnestly in the streets and on the squares. The sound of the drum +struck my ear in the villages, while I was astonished at the great +number of armed men I encountered in the little towns. On +interrogating various persons among the lower classes they would +reply with a proud look and in a bold and confident tone. I +observed everywhere the effect of those sentiments of equality and +liberty which had then become such violent passions." - Thus +exalted in their own eyes they believed themselves qualified to take +the lead in everything, not only in local affairs, but also in +general matters. France is to be governed by them; by virtue of the +Constitution they arrogate to themselves the right, and, by dint of +ignorance, attribute to themselves the capacity, to govern it. A +torrent of new, shapeless, and disproportionate ideas have taken +possession of their brains in the space of a few months. Vast +interests about which they have never thought, have to be +considered. Government, royalty, the church, creeds, foreign +powers, internal and external dangers, what is occurring at Paris +and at Coblentz, the insurrection in the Low Countries, the acts of +the cabinets of London, Vienna, Madrid, Berlin; and, of all this, +they inform themselves as they best can. An officer,[38] who +traverses France at this time, narrates that at the post-stations +they made him wait for horses until he had "given them details. The +peasants stopped my carriage in the middle of the road and +overwhelmed me with questions. At Autun, I was obliged, in spite of +the cold, to talk out of a window opening upon the square and tell +what I knew about the Assembly." - These on-dits are all changed +and amplified in passing from mouth to mouth. They finally become +circumstantial stories adapted to the caliber of the minds they pass +into and to the dominant passion that propagates them. Trace the +effect of these fables in the house of a peasant or fish-woman in an +outlying village or a populous suburb, on brutish or almost brutal +minds, especially when they are lively, heated, and over-excited - +the effect is tremendous. For, in minds of this stamp, belief is at +once converted into action, and into rude and destructive action. +It is an acquired self-control, reflection, and culture which +interposes between belief and action the solicitude for social +interests, the observance of forms and respect for the law. These +restraints are all wanting in the new sovereign. He does not know +how to stop and will not suffer himself to be stopped. Why so many +delays when the peril is urgent? What is the use of observing +formalities when the safety of the people is at stake? What is there +sacred in the law when it protects public enemies? What is more +pernicious than passive deference and patient waiting under timid or +blind officials? What can be more just than to do one's self justice +at once and on the spot? - Precipitation and passion, in their +eyes, are both duties and merits. One day "the militia of Lorient +decide upon marching to Versailles and to Paris without considering +how they are to get over the ground or what they will do on their +arrival."[39] Were the central government within reach they would +lay their hands on it. In default of this they substitute +themselves for it on their own territory, and exercise its functions +with a full conviction of right, principally those of gendarme, +judge, and executioner. + +During the month of October, 1789, at Paris, after the assassination +of the baker François, the leading murderer, who is a porter at the +grain depot, declares "that he wanted to avenge the nation." It is +quite probable that this declaration is sincere. In his mind, +assassination is one of the forms of patriotism, and it does not +take long for his way of thinking to become prevalent. In ordinary +times, social and political ideas slumber in uncultured minds in the +shape of vague antipathies, restrained aspirations, and fleeting +desires. Behold them aroused - energetic, imperious, stubborn, and +unbridled. Objection or opposition is not to be tolerated; dissent, +with them, is a sure sign of treachery. - Apropos of the nonjuring +priests,[40] five hundred and twenty-seven of the National Guards of +Arras write, "that no one could doubt their iniquity without being +suspected of being their accomplices. . . . Should the whole +town combine and express a contrary opinion, it would simply show +that it is filled with enemies of the Constitution;" and forthwith, +in spite of the law and the remonstrances of the authorities, they +insist on the closing of the churches. At Boulogne-sur-Mer, an +English vessel having shipped a quantity of poultry, game, and eggs, +"the National Guards, of their own authority," go on board and +remove the cargo. On the strength of this, the accommodating +municipal body approves of the act, declares the cargo confiscated, +orders it to be sold, and awards one-half of the proceeds to the +National Guards and the other half to charitable purposes. The +concession is a vain one, for the National Guards consider that one- +half is too little, "insult and threaten the municipal officers," +and immediately proceed to divide the booty in kind, each one going +home with a share of stolen hams and chickens.[41] The magistrates +must necessarily keep quiet with the guns of those they govern +pointed at them. - Sometimes, and it is generally the case, they are +timid, and do not try to resist. At Douai,[42] the municipal +officers, on being summoned three times to proclaim martial law, +refuse, and end by avowing that they dare not unfold the red flag: +"Were we to take this course we should all be sacrificed on the +spot." Neither the troops nor the National Guards, in fact, are to +be relied on. In this universal state of apathy the field is open +to savages, and a dealer in wheat is hung. - Sometimes the +administrative corps tries to resist, but in the end it has to +succumb to violence. "For more than six hours," writes one of the +members of the district of Etampes,[43] "we were closed in by +bayonets leveled at us and with pistols at our breasts ; and they +were obliged to sign a dismissal of the troops which had arrived to +protect the market. At present "we are all away from Etampes; there +is no longer a district or a municipality;" almost all have handed +in their resignations, or are to return for that purpose. - +Sometimes, and this is the rarest case,[44] the officials do their +duty to the end, and perish. In this same town, six months later, +Simoneau, the mayor, having refused to cut down the price of wheat, +is beaten with iron-pointed sticks, and his corpse is riddled with +balls by the murderers. - Municipal bodies must take heed how they +undertake to stem the torrent; the, slightest opposition will soon +be at the expense of their lives. In Touraine,[45] "as the +publication of the tax-rolls takes place, riots break out against +the municipal authorities; they are forced to surrender the rolls +they have drawn up, and their papers are torn up." And still more, +"they kill, they assassinate the municipal authorities." In that +large commune men and women "beat and kick them with their fists and +sabots. . . . The mayor is laid up after it, and the procureur +of the commune died between nine and ten o'clock in the morning. +Véteau, a municipal officer, received the last sacrament this +morning ;" the rest have fled, being constantly threatened with +death and incendiarism. They do not, consequently, return, and "no +one now will take the office of either mayor or administrator." - +The outrages which the municipalities thus commit against their +superiors are committed against themselves. The National Guards, +the mob, the controlling faction, arrogating to themselves in the +commune the same violent sovereignty which the commune pretends to +exercise against the State. + +I should never finish if I undertook to enumerate the outbreaks in +which the magistrates are constrained to tolerate or to sanction +popular usurpations, to shut up churches, to drive off or imprison +priests, to suppress octrois, tax grain, and allow clerks; bakers, +corn-dealers, ecclesiastics, nobles, and officers to be hung, beaten +to death, or to have their throats cut. Ninety-four thick files of +records in the national archives are filled with these acts of +violence, and do not contain two-thirds of them. It is worth while +to take in detail one case more, a special one, and one that is +authentic, which serves as a specimen, and which presents a +foreshortened image of France during one tranquil year. At Aix, in +the month of December, 1790,[46] in Opposition to the two Jacobin +clubs, a club had been organized, had complied with all the +formalities, and, like the " Club des Monarchiens" at Paris, claimed +the same right of meeting as the others. But here, as at Paris, the +Jacobins recognize no rights but for themselves alone, and refuse to +admit their adversaries to the privileges of the law. Moreover, +alarming rumors are circulated. A person who has arrived from Nice +states that he had "heard that there were twenty thousand men +between Turin and Nice, under the pay of the emigrants, and that at +Nice a neuvaine[47] was held in Saint François-de-Paule to pray God +to enlighten the French." A counter-revolution is certainly under +way. Some of the aristocrats have stated "with an air of triumph, +that the National Guard and municipalities are a mere toy, and that +this sort of thing will not last long." One of the leading members +of the new club, M. de Guiraitiand, an old officer of seventy-eight +years, makes speeches in public against the National Assembly, tries +to enlist artisans in his party, "affects to wear a white button on +his hat fastened by pins with their points jutting out," and, as it +is stated, he has given to several mercers a large order for white +cockades. In reality, on examination, not one is found in any shop, +and all the dealers in ribbons, on being interrogated, reply that +they know of no transaction of that description. But this simply +proves that the culprit is a clever dissimulator, and the more +dangerous because he is eager to save the country. - On the 12th of +December, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the two Jacobin clubs +fraternise, and pass in long procession before the place of meeting, +"where some of the members, a few officers of the Lyons regiment and +other individuals, are quietly engaged at play or seeing others +play." The crowd hoot, but they remain quiet. The procession passes +by again, and they hoot and shout, "Down with the aristocrats to the +lamp post with them! " Two or three of the officers standing on the +threshold of the door become irritated, and one of them, drawing his +sword, threatens to strike a young man if he keeps on. Upon this +the crowd cries out, "Guard! Help! An assassin!" and rushes at the +officer, who withdraws into the house, exclaiming, "To arms!" His +comrades, sword in hand, descend in order to defend the door; M. de +Guiramand fires two pistol shots and receives a stab in the thigh. +A shower of stones smashes in the windows, and the door is on the +point of being burst open when several of the members of the club +save themselves by taking to the roof. About a dozen others, most +of them officers, form in line, penetrate the crowd with uplifted +swords, strike and get struck, and escape, five of them being +wounded. The municipality orders the doors and windows of the club- +house to be walled up, sends the Lyons regiment away, decrees the +arrest of seven officers and of M. de Guiramand, and all this in a +few hours, with no other testimony than that of the conquerors. + +But these prompt, vigorous and partial measures are not sufficient +for the Jacobin club; other conspirators must be seized, and it is +the club which designates them and goes to take them. - Three months +before this, M. Pascalis, an advocate, on addressing along with +some of his professional brethren the dissolved parliament, deplored +the blindness of the people, "exalted by prerogatives of which they +knew not the danger." A man who dared talk in this way is evidently +a traitor. - There is another, M. Morellet de la Roquette, who +refused to join the proscribed club. His former vassals, however, +had been obliged to bring an action against him to make him accept +the redemption of his feudal dues; also, six years before this, his +carriage, passing along the public promenade, had run over a child; +he likewise is an enemy of the people. While the municipal officers +are deliberating, "a few members of the club" get together and +decide that M. Pascalis and M. de la Roquette must be arrested. +At eleven o'clock at night eighty trustworthy National Guards, led +by the president of the club, travel a league off to seize them in +their beds and lodge them in the town prison. - Zeal of this kind +excites some uneasiness, and if the municipality tolerates the +arrests, it is because it is desirous of preventing murder. +Consequently, on the following day, December 13th, it sends to +Marseilles for four hundred men of the Swiss Guard commanded by +Ernest, and four hundred National Guards, adding to these the +National Guard of Aix, and orders this company to protect the prison +against any violence. But, along with the Marseilles National +Guards, there came a lot of armed people who are volunteers of +disorder. On the afternoon of the 13th the first mob strives to +force the prison, and the next day, fresh squads congregate around +it demanding the head of M. Pascalis. The members of the club head +the riot with "a crowd of unknown men from outside the town, who +give orders and carry them out." During the night the populace of +Aix are tampered with, and the dikes all give way at the same +moment. At the first clamors the National Guard on duty on the +public promenade disband and disperse, while, as there is no signal +for the assemblage of the others, notwithstanding the regulations, +the general alarm is not sounded. "The largest portion of the +National Guard draws off so as not to appear to authorize by its +presence outrages which it has not been ordered to prevent. +Peaceable Citizens are in great consternation;" each one takes to +flight or shuts himself up in his house, the streets being deserted +and silent. Meanwhile the prison gates are shattered with axes. +The procureur-syndic of the department, who requests the commandant +of the Swiss regiment to protect the prisoners, is seized, borne +off, and runs the risk of losing his life. Three municipal officers +in their scarves, who arrive on the ground, dare not give the order +required by the commandant. At this decisive moment, when it is +necessary to shed blood and kill a number of men, they obviously +fear to take the responsibility; their reply is, "We have no orders +to give." - An extraordinary spectacle now presents itself in this +barrack courtyard surrounding the prison. On the side of the law +stand eight hundred armed men, four hundred of the "Swiss" and four +hundred of the National Guard of Marseilles. They are drawn up in +battle array, with guns to their shoulders, with special orders +repeated the evening before at three different times by the +municipal district and departmental authorities and they have the +sympathies of all honest people and of most of the National Guard. +But the legal indispensable phrase does not pass the lips of those +who by virtue of the Constitution should utter it, and a small group +of convicts are found to be sovereign. -- The three municipal +officers are seized in their turn under the eyes of their own +soldiers who remain motionless, and "with bayonets at their breasts +they sign, under constraint, the order to give up M. Pascalis to +the people." M. de la Roquette is likewise surrendered. "The only +portion of the National Guard of Aix which was visible," that is to +say, the Jacobin minority, form a circle around the gate of the +prison and organize themselves into a council of war. And there +they stand; at once "accusers, witnesses, judges, and executioners." +A captain conducts the two victims to the public promenade where +they are hung. Very soon after this old M. de Guiramand, whom the +National Guard of his village have brought a prisoner to Aix, is +hung in the same manner. + +There is no prosecution of the assassins. The new tribunal, +frightened or forestalled, has for some time back ranged itself on +the popular side; its writs, consequently, are served on the +oppressed, against the members of the assaulted dub. Writs of +arrest, summonses to attend court, searches, seizures of +correspondence, and other proceedings, rain down upon them. Three +hundred witnesses are examined. Some of the arrested officers are +"loaded with chains and thrust into dungeons." Henceforth the club +rules, and "makes everybody tremble."[48] "From the 23rd to the +27th of December, more than ten thousand passports are delivered at +Aix." "If the emigrations continue," write the commissioners, "there +will be no one left at Aix but workmen without work and with no +resources. Whole streets are uninhabited. . . . . As long as +such crimes can be permitted with impunity fear will drive out of +this town every one who has the means of living elsewhere." - ?Many +come back after the arrival of the commissioners, hoping to obtain +justice and security through them. But, "if a prosecution is not +ordered, we shall scarcely have departed from Aix when three or four +hundred families will abandon it. . . . And what man in his +senses would dare guarantee that each village will not soon have +some one hung in it? . . . Country valets arrest their masters. +. . . The expectation of impunity leads the inhabitants of +villages to commit all sorts of depredations in the forests, which +is very harmful in a region where woods are very scarce. They set +up the most absurd and most unjust pretensions against rich +proprietors, and the fatal rope is ever the interpreter and the +signal of their will." There is no refuge against these outrages. +"The department, the districts, the municipalities, administer only +in conformity with the multiplied petitions of the club." In the +sight of all, and on one solemn day, a crushing defeat has +demonstrated the weakness of the government officials; and, bowed +beneath the yoke of their new masters, they preserve their legal +authority only on the condition that it remains at the service of +the victorious party. + +_____________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + +[1] Festivals approving the federation of all the National Guards in +France. (SR.) + +[2] See the address of the commune of Paris, June 5, 1790. "Let the +most touching of all utterances be heard on this day (the +anniversary of the taking of the Bastille), Frenchmen, we are +brothers! Yes, brothers, freemen and with a country!" Roux et +Buchez, VI. 275. + +[3] Buchez and Roux, IV. 3, 309; V. 123; VI. 274, 399. - +Duvergier, Collection of Laws and Decrees. Decree of June 8 and 9, +1790. + +[4] For one who, like myself, has lived for years among the Moslems, +the 5 daily ritual prayers all performed while turned towards Mecca, +this description of the French taking of the oath, has something +familiar in it. (SR.) + +[5] Michelet, "Histoire de la Révolution Française," II, 470, 474. + +[6] De Ferrières, II. 91. - Albert Babeau, I. 340. (Letter +addressed to the Chevalier de Poterat, July 18, 1790.) - De +Dampmartin, "Evénements qui se sont passés sous mes yeux,"etc., 155. + +[7] One may imagine the impression Taine's description made upon the +thousands of political science students and others in the years +after this book was printed and widely sold all over Europe. (SR.) + +[8] Sauzay, I. 202. + +[9] Albert Babeau, ib. I, 339 - De Ferrières, II, 92. + +[10] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453, Correspondence of M. de +Bercheney, May 23, 1790. + +[11] "Archives Nationales," ibid, May 13, 1790. "M. de la +Rifaudière was dragged from his carriage and brought to the guard- +house, which was immediately filled with people, shouting, 'To the +lamp post, the aristocrat!' - The fact is this: after his having +repeatedly shouted Vive le Roi et la Nation! They wanted him to +shout Vive la Nation! alone, upon which he gave Vive la Nation tant +qu'elle pourra." - At Blois, on the day of the Federation, a mob +promenades the streets with a wooden head covered with a wig, and a +placard stating that the aristocrats must be decapitated. + +[12] Might Freud ( 1856- 1939) have been inspired, directly or +indirectly, by Taine's observation? 'La Révolution' vol. I, was +published in 1877 when Freud was 21 years old!! (SR.) + +[13] Mercure de France, the articles by Mallet du Pan (June 18th and +August 16, 1791; April 14, 1792). + +[14] Moniteur, IV. 560. (sitting of June 5, 1790) report of M. +Freteau. "These facts are attested by fifty witnesses." - Cf. +The number of April 19, 1791. + +[15] Solon was a famous legislator who reformed Athens some 2500 +years ago. (SR.) + +[16] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, military commandant in Brittany (September, 1789), "There +are in every petty village three conflicting powers, the présidial, +the bourgeois militia, and the permanent committee. Each is anxious +to outrank the other, and, on this occasion, a scene happened to +come under my eyes at Landivisiau which might have had a bloody +termination, but which turned out to be simply ridiculous. A lively +dispute arose between three speakers to determine which should make +the first address. They appealed to me to decide. Not to offend +either of the parties, I decided that all three should speak at the +same time; which decision was immediately carried out. + +[17] Decree of August 10-14, 1789. + +[18] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, September 21, 1789. "The troops now obey the municipalities +only." -- Also July 30th, August 11, 1790. + +[19] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of 31. M. de +Thiard, September 11 and 25, November 20, December 25 and 30, 1789. + +[20] Buchez and Roux, V.304 (April, 1790). - "Archives Nationales," +Papers of the committee of Investigation, DXXIX. I (note of M. +Latour-du-Pin, October 28, 1789) - ? Buchez and Roux, IV. 3 +(December 1, 1789); IV. 390 (February, 1790); VI. 179 (April and +May, 1790). + +[21] Mercure de France, Report of M. Emery, sitting of July 21, +1790, Number for July 32. -- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. +Letter of the directory of Calvados, September 26 and October 20, +1791. + +[22] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3207. Letter of the minister +Dumouriez, June 15, 1792. Report of M. Caillard, May 29, 1792. + +[23] Mercure de France, No. for July, 1791 (sitting of the 6th); +Nos. for November 5 and 26, 1791. + +[24] Albert Babeau, "Histoire de Troyes," vol. I. passim. -- " +Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Address of the Directory of Saône- +et-Loire to the National Assembly, November 1, 1790. -- F7, 3200. +Letter of the Directory of Calvados, November 9, 1791. -- F 7, +3195. Minutes of the meeting of the municipality of Aix, March 1, +1792 (on the events of February 26th); letter of M. Villard, +President of the Directory, March 20, 1792. -- F7, 3220. Extracts +from the deliberations of the Directory of Gers, and a letter to the +King, January 28, 1792. Letter of M. Lafitau, President of the +Directory, January 30. (He was dragged along by his hair and +obliged to leave the town.) + +[25] Mercure de France, No. for October 30, 1790. + +[26] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter of the directory of +Indre to M. Cahier, minister, December 6, 1791. -- Letter of M. +Delessart, minister, to the directory of Indre, December 31, 1791. + +[27] Fabre, "Histoire de Marseille," II. 442. Martin had but 3,555 +votes, when shortly after the National Guard numbered 24,000 men. + +[28] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of the minister, M. +de Saint-Priest, to the President of the National Assembly, May 11, +1790. + +[29] "Archives Nationales," F7 3196. Letters of the military +commandant, M. de Miran, March 6, 14, 30, 1790. + +[30] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of M. de Bournissac, +grand-privot, March 6,1790. + +[31] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of M. du Miran, +April 11th and 16th, and May 1, 1790. + +[32] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Procés-verbal of events on +the 30th of April. + +[33] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letters of the Municipality +of Marseilles to the National Assembly, May 5 and 20, 1790. + +[34] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Order of the king, May10. +Letter of M. de Saint-Priest to the National Assembly, May 11. +Decree of the National Assembly, May 12. Letter of the Municipality +to the King. May 20. Letter of M. de Rubum, May 20. Note sent +from Marseilles, May 31. Address of the Municipality to the +President of the Friends of the Constitution, at Paris, May 5. In +his narration of the taking of the forts we read the following +sentence: "We arrived without hindrance in the presence of the +commandant, whom we brought to an agreement by means of the +influence which force, fear and reason give to persuasion." + +[35] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196, Letter of M. de Miran, May 5. +-- The spirit of the ruling party at Marseilles is indicated by +several printed documents joined to the dossier, and, among others, +by a "Requéte à Desmoulins, procureur-général de la Lanterne." It +relates to a "patriotic inkstand," recently made out of the stones +of the demolished citadel, representing a hydra with four heads, +symbolizing the nobility, the clergy, the ministry and the judges. +"It is from the four patriotic skulls of the hydra that the ink of +proscription will he taken for the enemies of the Constitution. +This inkstand, cut out of the first stone that fell in the +demolition of Fort Saint-Nicolas, is dedicated to the patriotic +Assembly of Marseilles. The magic art of the hero of the liberty of +Marseilles, that Renaud who, under the mask of devotion, surprised +the watchful sentinel of Notre-Dame de la Garde, and whose manly +courage and cunning ensured the conquest of that key of the great +focus of counter-revolution, has just given birth to a new trait of +genius a new Deucalion, he personifies this stone which Liberty has +flung from the summit of our menacing Bastilles, etc." + +[36] "Archives Nationales," F7. 3198. Letters of the royal +commissioners, April 13 and 5, 1791. + +[37] De Ségur, "Memoires," III, 482 (early in 1790). + +[38] De Dampmartin, I. 184 (January, 1791). + +[39] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. Correspondence of M. de +Thiard (October 12, 1789). + +[40] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Minutes from the meeting of +the directory of the department. March 28, 1792. "As the ferment +was at the highest point and fears were entertained that greater +evils would follow, M. le Président, with painful emotion declared +that he yielded and passed the unconstitutional act." Reply of the +minister, June 23: " If the constituted authorities are thus forced +to yield to the arbitrary will of a wild multitude, government no +longer exists and we are in the saddest stage of anarchy. If you +think it best I will propose to the King to reverse your last +decision." + +[41] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Letter of M. Duport, +minister of justice, December 24, 1791. + +[42] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, Report of the members of the +department, finished March 18, 1792. -- Buchez and Roux, IX. 240 +(Report of M. Alquier). + +[43] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Seine-et-Oise, with the documents +relating to the insurrection at Etampes, September 16, 1791. Letter +of M. Venard, administrator of the district, September 20 -- " I +shall not set foot in Etampes until the re-establishment of order +and tranquility, and the first thing I shall do will be to record +my resignation in the register. I am tired of making sacrifices, +for ungrateful wretches." + +[44] Moniteur, March 16, 1792. -- Mortimer-Ternaux, "Histoire de la +Terreur" (Proceedings against the assassins of Simoneau), I. 381. + +[45] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3226. Letter and memorandum of +Chenantin, cultivator, November 7, 1792. Extract from the +deliberations of the directory of Langeais, November 5, 1792 +(sedition at Chapelle-Blanche, near Langeais, October 5, 1792). + +[46] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3105. Report of the commissioners +sent by the National Assembly and the King, February 23, 1791. (On +the events of December 12 and 14, 1790) -- Mercure de France, +February 29, 5791. (Letters from Aix, and notably a letter from +seven officers shut up in prison at Aix, January 30, 1791.) The +oldest Jacobin Club formed in February, 1790, was entitled "(Club +des vrais amis de la Constitution." The second Jacobin club, formed +in October, 1790, was "composed from the beginning of artisans and +laborers from the faubourgs and suburbs." Its title was" Société des +frères anti-politiques," or "frères vrais, justes et utiles à la +patrie." The opposition club, formed in December, 1790, bore the +title, according to some, of "Les Amis du Roi, de la paix et de la +religion;" according to others, "Les amis de la paix;" and finally, +according to another report, "Les Défenseurs de la religion, des +personnes et des proprietés." + +[47] A special series of religious services. (TR) + +[48] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letters of the commissioners, +March 20, February 11, May 10, 1791. + + + + + +CHAPTER II. SOVEREIGNTY OF UNRESTRAINED PASSIONS. + +Under these conditions when passions are freed; any determined and +competent man who can gather a couple of hundred men may form a band +and slip through the enlarged or weakened meshes of the net held by +the passive or ineffective government. An experiment on a grand +scale is about to be made on human society; owing to the slackening +of the regular restraints which have maintained it, it is now +possible to measure the force of the permanent instincts which +attack it. They are always there even in ordinary times; we do not +notice them because they are kept in check; but they are not the +less energetic and effective, and, moreover, indestructible. The +moment their repression ceases, their power of mischief becomes +evident; just as that of the water which floats a ship, but which, +at the first leak enters into it and sinks it. + + +I. + +Old Religious Grudges - Montauban and Nîmes in 1790. + +Religious passions, to begin with, are not to be kept down by +federations, embraces, and effusions of fraternity. In the south, +where the Protestants have been persecuted for more than a century, +hatreds exist more than a century old.[1] In vain have the odious +edicts which oppressed them fallen into desuetude for the past +twenty years; in vain have civil rights been restored to them since +1787: The past still lives in transmitted recollections; and two +groups are confronting each other, one Protestant and the other +Catholic, each defiant, hostile, ready to act on the defensive, and +interpreting the preparations of its adversary as a plan of attack. +Under such circumstances the guns go off of their own accord. - On +a sudden alarm at Uzès[2] the Catholics, two thousand in number, +take possession of the bishop's palace and the Hôtel-de-Ville; while +the Protestants, numbering four hundred, assemble outside the walls +on the esplanade, and pass the night under arms, each troop +persuaded that the other is going to massacre it, one party +summoning the Catholics of Jalès to its aid, and the other the +Protestants of Gardonnenque. - There is but one way of avoiding +civil war between parties in such an attitude, and that is the +ascendancy of an energetic third party, impartial and on the spot. +A plan to this effect, which promises well, is proposed by the +military commandant of Languedoc.[3] According to him the two +firebrands are, on the one hand, the bishops of Lower Languedoc, and +on the other, MM. Rabaut-Saint-Etienne, father and two sons, all +three being pastors. Let them be responsible "with their heads" for +any mob, insurrection, or attempt to debauch the army; let a +tribunal of twelve judges be selected from the municipal bodies of +twelve towns, and all delinquents be brought before it; let this be +the court of final appeal, and its sentence immediately executed. +The system in vogue, however, is just the reverse. Both parties +being organized into a body of militia, each takes care of itself, +and is sure to fire on the other; and the more readily, inasmuch as +the new ecclesiastical regulations, which are issued from month to +month, strike like so many hammers on Catholic sensibility, and +scatter showers of sparks on the primings of the already loaded +guns. + +At Montauban, on the 10th of May, 1790, the day of the inventory and +expropriation of the religious communities,[4] the commissioners are +not allowed to enter. Women in a state of frenzy lie across the +thresholds of the doors, and it would be necessary to pass over +their bodies; a large mob gathers around the "Cordeliers," and a +petition is signed to have the convents maintained. - The +Protestants who witness this commotion become alarmed, and eighty of +their National Guards march to the Hôtel-de-Ville, and take forcible +possession of the guard-house which protects it. The municipal +authorities order them to withdraw, which they refuse to do. +Thereupon the Catholics assembled at the "Cordeliers" begin a riot, +throw stones, and drive in the doors with pieces of timber, while a +cry is heard that the Protestants, who have taken refuge in the +guard-house, are firing from the windows. The enraged multitude +immediately invade the arsenal, seize all the guns they can lay +their hands on, and fire volleys on the guard-house, the effect of +which is to kill five of the Protestants and wound twenty-four +others. The rest are saved by a municipal officer and the police; +but they are obliged to appear, two and two, before the cathedral in +their shirts, and do public penance, after which they are put in +prison. During the tumult political shouts have been heard: "Hurrah +for the nobles! Hurrah for the aristocracy! Down with the nation! +Down with the tricolor flag!" Bordeaux, regarding Montauban as in +rebellion against France, dispatches fifteen hundred of its National +Guard to set the prisoners free. Toulouse gives its aid to +Bordeaux. The fermentation is frightful. Four thousand of the +Protestants of Montauban take flight; armed cities are about to +contend with each other, as formerly in Italy. It is necessary that +a commissioner of the National Assembly and of the King, Mathieu +Dumas, should be dispatched to harangue the people of Montauban, +obtain the release of the prisoners, and re-establish order. + +One month after this a more bloody affray takes place at Nîmes[5] +against the Catholics. The Protestants, in fact, are but twelve +thousand out of fifty-four thousand inhabitants, but the principal +trade of the place is in their hands; they hold the manufactories +and support thirty thousand workmen; in the elections of 1789 they +furnished five out of the eight deputies. The sympathies of that +time were in their favor; nobody then imagined that the dominant +Church was exposed to any risk. It is to be attacked in its turn, +and the two parties are seen confronting each other. - The +Catholics sign a petition,[6] hunt up recruits among the market- +gardeners of the suburbs, retain the white cockade, and, when this +is prohibited, replace it with a red rosette, another sign of +recognition. At their head is an energetic man named Froment, who +has vast projects in view; but as the soil on which he treads is +undermined, he cannot prevent the explosion. It takes place +naturally, by chance, through the simple collision of two equally +distrustful bodies; and before the final day it has commenced and +recommenced twenty times, through mutual provocations and +denunciations, through insults, libels, scuffles, stone-throwing, +and gun-shots. - On the 13th of June, 1790, the question is which +party shall furnish administrators for the district and department, +and the conflict begins in relation to the elections. The Electoral +Assembly is held at the guard-house of the bishop's palace, where +the Protestant dragoons and patriots have come "three times as many +as usual, with loaded muskets and pistols, and with full cartridge- +boxes," and they patrol the surrounding neighborhood. On their +side, the red rosettes, royalists and Catholics, complain of being +threatened and "treated contemptuously" (nargués). They give notice +to the gate-keeper "not to let any dragoon enter the town either on +foot or mounted, at the peril of his life," and declare that "the +bishop's quarters were not made for a guard-house." - A mob +forms, and shouting takes place under the windows; stones are +thrown; the bugle of a dragoon, who sounds the roll-call, is broken +and two shots are fired.[7] The dragoons immediately fire a volley, +which wounds a good many people and kills seven. From this moment, +firing goes on during the evening and all night, in every quarter of +the town, each party believing that the other wants to exterminate +it, the Protestants satisfied that it is another St. Bartholomew, +and the Catholics that it is "a Michelade."[8] There is no one to +act between them. The municipality authorities, far from issuing +orders, receive them: they are roughly handled, hustled and jostled +about, and made to march about like servants. The patriots seize +the Abbé de Belmont, a municipal officer, at the Hôtel-de-Ville, +order him, on pain of death, to proclaim martial -law, and place the +red flag in his hand. "March, rascal, you bastard! Hold up your +flag - higher up still - you are big enough to do that!" Blows +follow with the but-ends of their muskets. The poor man spits +blood, but this is of no consequence; he must be in full sight at +the head of the crowd, like a target, whilst his conductors +prudently remain behind. Thus does he advance, exposed to bullets, +holding the flag, and finally becomes the prisoner of the red +rosettes, who release him, but keep his flag. There is a second +march with a red flag held by a town valet, and fresh gunshots; the +red rosettes capture this flag also, as well as another municipal +officer. The rest of the municipal body, with a royal commissioner, +take refuge in the barracks and order out the troops. Meanwhile +Froment, with his three companies, posted in their towers and in the +houses on the ramparts, resist to the last extremity. Daylight +comes, the tocsin is sounded, the drums beat to arms, and the +patriot militia of the neighborhood, the Protestants from the +mountains, the rude Cévenols, arrive in crowds. The red rosettes +are besieged; a Capuchin convent, from which it is pretended that +they have fired, is sacked, and five of the monks are killed. +Froment's tower is demolished with cannon and taken by assault. His +brother is massacred and thrown from the walls, while a Jacobin +convent next to the ramparts is sacked. Towards night, all the red +rosettes who have fought are slain or have fled, and there is no +longer any resistance.-- But the fury still lasts; the fifteen +thousand rustics who have flooded the town think that they have not +yet done enough. In vain are they told that the other fifteen +companies of red rosettes have not moved; that the pretended +aggressors "did not even put themselves in a state of defense;" that +during the battle they remained at home, and that afterwards, +through extra precaution, the municipal authorities had made them +give up their arms. In vain does the Electoral Assembly, preceded +by a white flag, march to the public square and exhort the people to +keep the peace. "Under the pretext of searching suspicious houses, +they pillage or destroy, and what-ever cannot be carried away is +broken." One hundred and twenty houses are sacked in Nîmes alone, +while the same ravages are committed in the environs, the damage, at +the end of three days, amounting to seven or eight hundred thousand +livres. A number of poor creatures, workmen, merchants, old and +infirm men, are massacred in their houses; some, "who have been +bedridden for many years, are dragged to the sills of their doors to +be shot." Others are hung on the esplanade and at the Cours Neuf, +while others have their noses, ears, feet, and hands cut off; and +are hacked to pieces with sabers and scythes. Horrible stories, as +is commonly the case, provoke the most atrocious acts. + +A publican, who refuses to distribute anti-Catholic lists, is +supposed to have a mine in his cellar filled with kegs of gunpowder +and with sulfur matches all ready; he is hacked to pieces with a +saber, and twenty guns are discharged into his corpse: they expose +the body before his house with a long loaf of bread on his breast, +and they again stab him with bayonets, saying to him: "Eat, you +bastard, eat" - More than five hundred Catholics were +assassinated, and many others, covered with blood, "are crowded +together in the prisons, while the search for the proscribed is +continued; whenever they are seen, they are fired upon like so many +wolves." Thousands of the inhabitants, accordingly, demand their +passports and leave the town. The rural Catholics, meanwhile, on +their side, massacre six Protestants in the environs - an old man +of eighty-two years, a youth of fifteen, and a husband and his wife +in their farm-house. In order to put a stop to the murderous acts, +the National Guard of Montpellier have to be summoned. But the +restoration of order is for the benefit of the victorious party. +Three-fifths of the electors have fled; one-third of the district +and departmental administrators have been appointed in their +absence, and the majority of the new directories is taken from the +club of patriots. It is for this reason that the prisoners are +prejudged as guilty. "No bailiff of the court dares give them the +benefit of his services; they are not allowed to bring forward +justifying facts in evidence, while everybody knows that the judges +are not impartial."[9] + +Thus do the violent measures of political and religious discord come +to an end. The victor stops the mouth of the law when it is about +to speak in his adversary's behalf; and, under the legal iniquity of +an administration which he has himself established, he crushes those +whom the illegal force of his own strong hand has stricken down. + + + +II. + +Passion Supreme. - Dread of hunger its most acute form. - The +non-circulation of grain. - Intervention and usurpations of the +electoral assemblies. - The rural code in Nivernais. - The four +central provinces in 1790. - Why high prices are kept up. - +Anxiety and insecurity. - Stagnation of the grain market. - +The departments near Paris in 1791. - The supply and price of +grain regulated by force. - The mobs in 1792. - Village armies +of Eure and of the lower Seine and of Aisne. - Aggravation of the +disorder after August 10th. - The dictatorship of unbridled +instinct. - Its practical and political expedients. + + +Passions of this stamp are the product of human cultivation, and +break loose only within narrow bounds. Another passion exists which +is neither historic nor local, but natural and universal, the most +indomitable, most imperious, and most formidable of all, namely, the +fear of hunger. There is no such thing with this passion as delay, +or reflection, or looking beyond itself. Each commune or canton +wants its bread, and a sure and unlimited supply of it. Our +neighbor may provide for himself as best he can, but let us look out +for ourselves first and then for other people. Each group of +people, accordingly, through its own decrees, or by main force, +keeps for itself whatever subsistence it possesses, or takes from +others the subsistence which it does not possess. ii + +At the end of 1789,[10] "Roussillon refuses aid to Languedoc; Upper +Languedoc to the rest of the province, and Burgundy to Lyonnais; +Dauphiny shuts herself up, and Normandy retains the wheat purchased +for the relief of Paris." At Paris, sentinels are posted at the +doors of all the bakers; on the 21st of October one of the latter is +hung, and his head is borne about on a pike. On the 27th of +October, at Vernon, a corn-merchant named Planter, who the preceding +winter had supported the poor for six leagues around, has to take +his turn. At the present moment the people do not forgive him for +having sent flour to Paris, and he is hung twice, but is saved +through the breaking of the rope each time. -- It is only by force +and under an escort that it is possible to insure the arrival of +grain in a town; the excited people or the National Guards +constantly seize it on its passage. In Normandy the militia of Caen +stops wheat on the highways which is destined for Harcourt and +elsewhere.[11] In Brittany, Auray and Vannes retain the convoys for +Nantes, and Lannion those for Brest. Brest having attempted to +negotiate, its commissioners are seized, and, with knives at their +throats, are forced to sign a renunciation, pure and simple, of the +grain which they have paid for, and they are led out of Lannion and +stoned on the way. Eighteen hundred men, consequently, leave Brest +with four cannon, and go to recover their property with their guns +loaded. These are the customs prevalent during the great famines of +feudal times; and, from one end of France to the other, to say +nothing of the out-breaks of the famished in the large towns, +similar outrages or attempts at recovery are constantly occurring. +- " The armed population of Nantua, Saint-Claude, and Septmoncel," +says a dispatch,[12] "have again cut off provisions from the Gex +region; there is no wheat coming there from any direction, all the +roads being guarded. Without the aid of the government of Geneva, +which is willing to lend to this region eight hundred Cuttings of +wheat, we should either die of starvation or be compelled to take +grain by force from the municipalities which keep it to themselves." +Narbonne starves Toulon; the navigation of the Languedoc canal is +intercepted; the people on its banks repulse two companies of +soldiers, burn a large building, and want to destroy the canal +itself." Boats are stopped, wagons are pillaged, bread is forcibly +lowered in price, stones are thrown and guns discharged; the +populace contend with the National Guard, peasants with townsmen, +purchasers with dealers, artisans and laborers with farmers and +land-owners, at Castelnaudary, Niort, Saint-Etienne, in Aisne, in +Pas-de-Calais, and especially along the line stretching from +Montbrison to Angers - that is to say, for almost the whole of the +extent of the vast basin of the Loire, - such is the spectacle +presented by the year 1790. - And yet the crop has not been a bad +one. But there is no circulation of grain. Each petty center has +formed a league for the monopoly of food; and hence the fasting of +others and the convulsions of the entire body are the first effects +of the unbridled freedom which the Constitution and circumstances +have conferred on each local group. + +"We are told to assemble, vote, and elect men that will attend to +our business; let us attend to it ourselves. We have had enough of +talk and hypocrisy. Bread at two sous, and let us go after wheat +where it can be found!" Such is the reasoning of the peasantry, and, +in Nivernais, Bourbonnais, Berri, and Touraine, electoral gatherings +are the firebrands of the insurrections.[13] At Saint-Sauge, "the +first work of the primary meeting is to oblige the municipal +officers to fix the price of wheat under the penalty of being +decapitated." At Saint-Géran the same course is taken with regard to +bread, wheat, and meat; at Châtillon-en-Bayait it is done with all +supplies, and always a third or a half under the market price, +without mentioning other exactions. - They come by degrees to the +drafting of a tariff for all the valuables they know, proclaiming +the maximum price which an article may reach, and so establishing a +complete code of rural and social economy. We see in the turbulent +and spasmodic wording of this instrument their dispositions and +sentiments, as in a mirror.[14] It is the program of villagers. +Its diverse articles, save local variations, must be executed, now +one and now the other, according to the occasion, the need, and the +time, and, above all, whatever concerns provisions. - The wish, as +usual, is the father of the thought; the peasantry thinks that it is +acting by authority: here, through a decree of the King and the +National Assembly, there, by a commission directly entrusted to the +Comte d'Estrées. Even before this, in the market-place of Saint- +Amand, "a man jumped on a heap of wheat and cried out, 'In the name +of the King and the nation, wheat at one-half the market-price!"' An +old officer of the Royal Grenadiers, a chevalier of the order of +Saint-Louis, is reported to be marching at the head of several +parishes, and promulgating ordinances in his own name and that of +the King, imposing a fine of eight livres on whoever may refuse to +join him. - On all sides there is a swarm of working people, and +resistance is fruitless. There are too many of them, the +constabulary being drowned in the flood. For, these rustic +legislators are the National Guard itself, and when they vote +reductions upon, or requisitions for, supplies, they enforce their +demands with their guns. The municipal officials, willingly or +unwillingly, must needs serve the insurgents. At Donjon the +Electoral Assembly has seized the mayor of the place and threatened +to kill him, or to burn his house, if he did not put the cutting of +wheat at forty sous; whereupon he signs, and all the mayors with +him, "under the penalty of death." As soon as this is done the +peasants, "to the sound of fifes and drums," spread through the +neighboring parishes and force the delivery of wheat at forty sous, +and show such a determined spirit that the four brigades of +gendarmes sent out against them think it best to retire. - Not +content with taking what they want, they provide for reserve +supplies; wheat is a prisoner. In Nivernais and Bourbonnais, the +peasants trace a boundary line over which no sack of grain of that +region must pass; in case of any infraction of this law the rope and +the torch are close at hand for the delinquent. - It remains to +make sure that this rule is enforced. In Berri bands of peasants +visit the markets to see that their tariff is everywhere maintained. +In vain are they told that they are emptying the markets; "they +reply that they know how to make grain come, that they will take it +from private hands, and money besides, if necessary." In fact, the +granaries and cellars belonging to a large number of persons are +pillaged. Farmers are constrained to put their crops into a common +granary, and the rich are put to ransom; "the nobles are compelled +to contribute, and obliged to give entire domains as donations; +cattle are carried off; and they want to take the lives of the +proprietors," while the towns, which defend their storehouses and +markets, are openly attacked.[15] Bourbon-Lancy, Bourbon- +l'Archambault, Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, Montluçon, Saint-Amand, +Chateau-Gontier, Decises, each petty community is an islet assailed +by the mounting tide of rustic insurrection. The militia pass the +night under arms; detachments of the National Guards of the large +towns with regular troops come and garrison them. The red flag is +continuously raised for eight days at Bourbon-Lancy, and cannon +stand loaded and pointed in the public square. On the 24th of May +an attack is made on Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier, and fusillades take +place all night on both sides. On the 2nd of June, Saint-Amand, +menaced by twenty-seven parishes, is saved only by the preparations +it makes and by the garrison. About the same time Bourbon-Lancy is +attacked by twelve parishes combined, and Chateau-Gontier by the +sabotiers of the forests in the vicinity. A band of from four to +five hundred villagers arrests the convoys of Saint-Amand, and +forces their escorts to capitulate; another band entrenches itself +in the Chateau de la Fin, and fires throughout the day on the +regulars and the National Guard. - The large towns themselves are +not safe. Three or four hundred rustics, led by their municipal +officers, forcibly enter Tours, to compel the municipality to lower +the price of corn and diminish the rate of leases. Two thousand +slate-quarry-men, armed with guns, spits, and forks, force their way +into Angers to obtain a reduction on bread, fire upon the guard, and +are charged by the troops and the National Guard; a number remain +dead in the streets, two are hung that very evening, and the red +flag is displayed for eight days. "The town," say the dispatches, +"would have been pillaged and burnt had it not been for the Picardy +regiment." Fortunately, as the crop promises to be a good one, +prices fall. As the Electoral Assemblies are closed, the +fermentation subsides; and towards the end of the year, like a clear +spell in a steady storm, the gleam of a truce appears in the civil +war excited by hunger. + +But the truce does not last long, as it is broken in twenty places +by isolated explosions; and towards the month of July, 1791, the +disturbances arising from the uncertainty of basic food supplies +begin again, to cease no more. We will consider but one group in +this universal state of disorder - that of the eight or ten +departments which surround Paris and furnish it with supplies. +These districts, Brie and Beauce, are rich wheat regions, and not +only was the crop of 1790 good, but that of 1791 is ample. +Information is sent to the minister from Laon[16] that, in the +department of Aisne, "there is a supply of wheat for two years . . +. that the barns, generally empty by the month of April, will not +be so this season before July," and, consequently, "subsistence is +assured." But this does not suffice, for the source of the evil is +not in a scarcity of wheat. In order that everybody, in a vast and +populous country, where the soil, cultivation, and occupations +differ, may eat, it is essential that food should be attainable by +the non-producers; and for it to reach them freely, without delay, +solely by the natural operation of supply and demand, it is +essential that there should be a police able to protect property, +transactions, and transport. Just in proportion as the authority of +a State becomes weakened, and in proportion as security diminishes, +the distribution of subsistence becomes more and more difficult: a +gendarmerie, therefore, is an indispensable wheel in the machine by +which we are able to secure our daily bread. Hence it is that, in +1791, daily bread is wanting to a large number of men. Simply +through the working of the Constitution, all restraints, already +slackened both at the extremities and at the center, are becoming +looser and more loose each day. The municipalities, which are +really sovereign, repress the people more feebly, some because the +latter are the bolder and themselves more timid, and others because +they are more radical and always consider them in the right. The +National Guard is wearied, never comes forward, or refuses to use +its arms. The active citizens are disgusted, and remain at home. +At Étampes,[17] where they are convoked by the commissioners of the +department to take steps to re-establish some kind of order, only +twenty assemble; the others excuse themselves by saying that, if the +populace knew that they opposed its will, "their houses would be +burnt," and they accordingly stay away. "Thus," write the +commissioners, "the common-weal is given up to artisans and laborers +whose views are limited to their own existence." - It is, +accordingly, the lower class which rules, and the information upon +which it bases its decrees consists of rumors which it accepts or +manufactures, to hide by an appearance of right the outrages which +are due to its cupidity or to the brutalities of its hunger. At +Étampes, "they have been made to believe that the grain which had +been sold for supplying the departments below the Loire, is shipped +at Paimbœuf and taken out of the kingdom from there to be sold +abroad." In the suburbs of Rouen they imagine that grain is +purposely " engulfed in the swamps, ponds, and clay-pits." At Laon, +imbecile and Jacobin committees attribute the dearness of provisions +to the avidity of the rich and the malevolence of the aristocrats +according to them, "jealous millionaires grow rich at the expense of +the people. They know the popular strength," and, not daring to +measure their forces with it, "in an honorable fight," have recourse +"to treachery." To conquer the people easily they have determined to +reduce them in advance by extreme suffering and by the length of +their fast, and hence they monopolize "wheat, rye, and meal, soap, +sugar, and brandy."[18] - Similar reports suffice to excite a +suffering crowd to acts of violence, and it must inevitably accept +for its leaders and advisers those who urge it forward on the side +to which it is inclined. The people always require leaders, and +they are chosen wherever they can be found, at one time amongst the +elite, and at another amongst the dregs. Now that the nobles are +driven out, the bourgeoisie in retirement, the large cultivators +under suspicion, while animal necessities exercise their blind and +intermittent despotism, the appropriate popular ministers consist of +adventurers and of bandits. They need not be very numerous, for in +a place full of combustible matter a few firebrands suffice to start +the conflagration. "About twenty, at most, can be counted in the +towns of Étampes and Dourdan, men with nothing to lose and +everything to gain by disturbances; they are those who always +produce excitement and disorder, while other citizens afford them +the means through their indifference." Those whose names are known +among the new guides of the crowd are almost all escaped convicts +whose previous habits have accustomed them to blows, violence, +frequently to murder, and always to contempt for the law. At +Brunoy,[19] the leaders of the outbreak are "two deserters of the +18th regiment, sentenced and unpunished, who, in company with the +vilest and most desperate of the parish, always go about armed and +threatening." At Étampes, "the two principal assassins of the mayor +are a poacher repeatedly condemned for poaching, and an old +carabiniere dismissed from his regiment with a bad record against +him."[20] Around these are artisans "without a known residence," +wandering workmen, journeymen and apprentices, vagrants and highway +rovers, who flock into the towns on market-days and are always - +ready for mischief when an opportunity occurs. Vagabonds, indeed, +now roam about the country everywhere, all restrictions against them +having ceased. + +"For a year past," write several parishes in the neighborhood of +Versailles, "we have seen no gendarmes except those who come with +decrees," and hence the multiplication of "murders and brigandage " +between Étampes and Versailles, on the highways and in the country. +Bands of thirteen, fifteen, twenty and twenty-two beggars rob the +vineyards, enter farm-houses at night, and compel their inmates to +lodge and feed them, returning in the same way every fortnight, all +farms or isolated dwellings being their prey. An ecclesiastic is +killed in his own house in the suburbs of Versailles, on the 26th of +September, 1791, and, on the same day, a bourgeois and his wife are +garroted and robbed. On the 22nd of September, near Saint-Rémi- +Honoré, eight bandits ransack the dwelling of a farmer. On the 25th +of September, at Villers-le-Sec, thirteen others strip another +farmer, and then add with much politeness, "It is lucky for your +masters that they are not here, for we would have roasted them at +yonder fire." Six similar outrages are committed by armed ruffians +in dwelling-places, within a radius of from three to four leagues, +accompanied with the threats of the chauffeurs.[21] "After +enterprises of such force and boldness," write the people of this +region, "there is not a well-to-do man in the country who can rely +upon an hour's security in his house. Already many of our best +cultivators are giving up their business, while others threaten to +do the same in case these disorders continue." - What is worse +still is the fact that in these outrages most of the bandits were +"in the national uniform." The most ignorant, the poorest, and most +fanatical of the National Guard thus enlist for the sake of plunder. +It is so natural for men to believe in their right to that of which +they feel the need, that the possessors of wheat thus become its +monopolists, and the superfluity of the rich the property of the +poor! This is what the peasants say who devastate the forest of +Bruyères-le-Chatel: "We have neither wood, bread, nor work - +necessity knows no law." + +The necessaries of life are not to be had cheap under such a system. +There is too much anxiety, and property is too precarious; there are +too many obstacles to commerce ; purchases, sales, shipments, +arrivals and payments are too uncertain. How are goods to be stored +and transported in a country where neither the central government, +the local authorities, the National Guard, nor the regular troops +perform their duties, and where every transaction in produce, even +the most legal and the most serviceable, is subject to the caprice +of a dozen villains whom the populace obey. - Wheat remains in the +barn, or is secreted, or is kept waiting, and only reaches by +stealth the hands of those who are rich enough to pay, not only its +price, but the extra cost of the risk. Thus forced into a narrow +channel, it rises to a rate which the depreciation of the assignats +augments, its dearness being not only maintained, but ever on the +increase. -- Thereupon popular instinct invents for the cure of the +evil a remedy which serves to aggravate it: henceforth, wheat must +not travel; it is impounded in the canton in which it is gathered. +At Laon, "the people have sworn to die rather than let their food be +carried off." At Étampes, to which the municipality of Angers +dispatches an administrator of its hospital to buy two hundred and +fifty sacks of flour, the commission cannot be executed, the +delegate not even daring to avow for several days the object of his +coming; all he can do is "to visit incognito, and at night, the +different flour-dealers in the valley, who would offer to furnish +the supply, but fear for their lives and dare not even leave their +houses." - The same violence is shown in the more distant circle of +departments which surround the first circle. At Aubigny, in +Cher,[22] grain-wagons are stopped, the district administrators are +menaced; two have a price set on their heads; a portion of the +National Guard sides with the mutineers. At Chaumont, in Haute- +Marne, the whole of the National Guard is in a state of mutiny; a +convoy of over three hundred sacks is stopped, the Hôtel-de-Ville +forced, and the insurrection lasts four days; the directory of the +department takes flight; and the people seize on the powder and +cannons. At Douai, in the "Nord," to save a grain-dealer, he is put +in prison; the mob forces the gates, the soldiers refuse to fire, +and the man is hung, while the directory of the department takes +refuge in Lille. At Montreuil-sur-Mer, in Pas-de-Calais, the two +leaders of the insurrection, a brazier and a horse-shoer, "Bèquelin, +called Petit-Gueux," the latter with his saber in hand, reply to the +summons of the municipal authorities, that "not a grain shall go now +that they are masters," and that if they dare to make such +proclamations "they will cut off their heads." There are no means of +resistance. The National Guard, when it is convoked, does not +respond; the volunteers when called upon turn their muskets down, +and the crowd, assembled beneath the windows, shouts out its +huzzahs. So much the worse for the law when it opposes popular +passion: "We will not obey it," they say; "people make laws to +please themselves." - By way of practical illustration, at Tortes, +in Seine-Inférieure, six thousand armed men belonging to the +surrounding parishes form a deliberative armed body; the better to +establish their rights, they bring two cannon with them fastened by +ropes on a couple of carts; twenty-two companies of the National +Guard, each under its own banner, march beside them, while all +peaceable inhabitants are compelled to fall in "under penalty of +death," the municipal officers being at their head. This improvised +parliament promulgates a complete law in relation to grain, which, +as a matter of form, is sent for acceptance to the department, and +to the National Assembly; and one of its articles declares that all +husbandmen shall be forbidden "to sell their wheat elsewhere than on +the market-places." With no other outlet for it, wheat must be +brought to the corn markets (halles), and when these are full the +price must necessarily fall. + +What a profound deception! Even in the granary of France wheat +remains dear, and costs about one-third more than would be necessary +to secure the sale of bread at two sous the pound, in conformity +with the will of the people. For instance,[23] at Gonesse, Dourdan, +Corbeil, Mennecy, Brunoy, Limours, Brie-Comte-Robert, and especially +at Étampes and Montlhéry, the holders of grain are compelled almost +weekly, through the clamors and violence of the people, to reduce +prices one-third and more. It is impossible for the authorities to +maintain, on their corn-exchange, the freedom of buying and selling. +The regular troops have been sent off by the people beforehand. +Whatever the tolerance or connivance of the soldiers may be, the +people have a vague sentiment that they are not there to permit the +ripping open of sacks of flour, or the seizing of farmers by the +throat. To get rid of all obstacles and of being watched, they make +use of the municipality itself, and force it to effect its own +disarmament. The municipal officers, besieged in the town-hall, at +times threatened with pistols and bayonets,[24] dispatch to the +detachments they are expecting an order to turn back, and entreat +the Directory not to send any more troops, for, if any come, they +have been told that "they will be sorry for it." Nowhere are there +regular troops. At Étampes, the people repeat that "they are sent +for and paid by the flour-dealers;" at Montlhéry, that "they merely +serve to arm citizens against each other;" at Limours, that "they +make grain dearer." All pretexts seem good in this direction; the +popular will is absolute, and the authorities complacently meet its +decrees half-way. At Montlhéry, the municipal body orders the +gendarmerie to remain at the gates of the town, which gives full +play to the insurrection. - The administrators, however, are not +relieved by leaving the people free to act; they are obliged to +sanction their exactions by ordinances. They are taken out of the +Hôtel-de-Ville, led to the marketplace, and there forthwith, under +the dictation of the uproar which establishes prices, they, like +simple clerks, proclaim the reduction. When, moreover, the armed +rabble of a village marches forth to tyrannize over a neighboring +market, it carries its mayor along with it in spite of himself, as +an official instrument which belongs to it.[25] "There is no +resistance against force," writes the mayor of Vert-le-Petit; "we +had to set forth immediately." - " They assured me," says the +Mayor of Fontenay, "that, if I did not obey them, they would hang +me." - On any municipal officer hazarding a remonstrance, they +tell him that "he is getting to be an aristocrat." Aristocrat and +hung, the argument is irresistible, and all the more so because it +is actually applied. At Corbeil, the procureur-syndic who tries to +enforce the law is almost beaten to death, and three houses in which +they try to find him are demolished. At Montlhéry, a seed merchant, +accused of mixing the flour of beans (twice as dear) with wheaten +flour, is massacred in his own house. At Étampes, the mayor who +promulgates the law is cudgeled to death. Mobs talk of nothing but +"burning and destroying," while the farmers, abused, hooted at, +forced to sell, threatened with death and robbed, run away, +declaring they will never return to the market again. + +Such is the first effect of popular dictatorship. Like all +unintelligent forces, it operates in a direction the reverse of its +intention: to dearness it adds dearth, and empties, instead of +replenishing, the markets. That of Étampes often contained fifteen +or sixteen hundred sacks of flour; the week following this +insurrection there were, at most, sixty brought to it. At +Montlhéry, where six thousand men had collected together, each one +obtains for his share only a small measure, while the bakers of the +town have none at all. This being the case, the enraged National +Guards tell the farmers that they are coming to see them on their +farms. And they really go.[26] Drums roll constantly on the roads +around Montlhéry, Limours, and other large market-towns. Columns of +two, three, and four hundred men are seen passing under the lead of +their commandant and of the mayor whom they take along with them. +They enter each farm, mount into the granaries, estimate the +quantity of grain thrashed out, and force the proprietor to sign an +agreement to bring it to market the following week. Sometimes, as +they are hungry, they compel people to give them something to eat +and drink on the spot, and it will not do to enrage them, - a +farmer and his wife come near being hung in their own barn. + +Their effort is useless: Wheat is impounded and hunted up in vain; +it takes to the earth or slips off like a frightened animal. In +vain do insurrections continue. In vain do armed mobs, in all the +market-towns of the department,[27] subject grain to a forced +reduction of price. Wheat becomes scarcer and dearer from month to +month, rising in price from twenty-six francs to thirty-three. And +because the outraged farmer "brings now a very little," just "what +is necessary to sacrifice in order to avoid threats, he sells at +home, or in the inns, to the flour-dealers from Paris." - The +people, in running after abundance, have thus fallen deeper down +into want: their brutality has aggravated their misery, and it is to +themselves that their starvation is owing. But they are far from +attributing all this to their own insubordination; the magistrates +are accused; these, in the eyes of the populace, are "in league with +the monopolists." On this incline no stoppage is possible. Distress +increases rage, and rage increases distress; and on this fatal +declivity men are precipitated from one outrage to another. + +After the month of February, 1792, such outrages are innumerable; +the mobs which go in quest of grain or which cut down its price +consist of armies. One of six thousand men comes to control the +market of Montlhéry.[28] There are seven to eight -thousand men who +invade the market-place of Verneuil, and there is an army of ten and +another of twenty-five thousand men, who remain organized for ten +days near Laon. One hundred and fifty parishes have sounded the +tocsin, and the insurrection spreads for ten leagues around. Five +boats loaded with grain are stopped, and, in spite of the orders of +district, department, minister, King, and National Assembly, they +refuse to surrender them. Their contents, in the meantime, are made +the most of: "The municipal officers of the different parishes, +assembled together, pay themselves their fees, to wit : one hundred +sous per diem for the mayor, three livres for the municipal +officers, two livres ten sous for the guards, two livres for the +porters. They have ordered that these sums should be paid in grain, +and they reduce grain, it is said, fifteen livres the sack. It is +certain that they have divided it amongst themselves, and that +fourteen hundred sacks have been distributed." In vain do the +commissioners of the National Assembly make speeches to them three +hours in length. The discourse being finished, they deliberate, in +presence of the commissioners, whether the latter shall be hung, +drowned, or cut up, and their heads put on the five points of the +middle of the abbey railing. On being threatened with military +force, they make their dispositions accordingly. Nine hundred men +who relieve each other watch day and night on the ground, in a well +chosen and permanent encampment, while lookouts stationed in the +belfries of the surrounding villages have only to sound the alarm to +bring together twenty-five thousand men in a few hours. - So long +as the Government remains on its feet it carries on the combat as +well as it can; but it grows weaker from month to month, and, after +the 10th of August, when it lies on the ground, the mob takes its +place and becomes the universal sovereign. From this time forth not +only is the law which protects provisioning powerless against the +disturbers of sale and circulation, but the Assembly actually +sanctions their acts, since it decrees[29] the stoppage of all +proceedings commenced against them, remits sentences already passed, +and sets free all who are imprisoned or in irons. Behold every +administration, with merchants, proprietors, and farmers abandoned +to the famished, the furious, and to robbers; henceforth food +supplies are for those who are disposed and able to take them. + +"You will be told," says a petition,[30] "that we violate the law. +We reply to these perfidious insinuations that the salvation of the +people is the supreme law. We come in order to keep the markets +supplied, and to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout the +Republic. For, there is no doubt about it, the purest patriotism +dies out (sic) when there is no bread to be had. . . . +Resistance to oppression - yes, resistance to oppression is the +most sacred of duties; is there any oppression more terrible than +that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly, no . . . . Join us and 'Ça +ira, ça ira!' We cannot end our petition better than with this +patriotic air." + +This supplication was written on a drum, amidst a circle of +firearms; and with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a +command. - They are well aware of it, and of their own authority +they often confer upon themselves not only the right but also the +title. In Loire-et-Cher,[31] a band of from four to five thousand +men assume the name of "Sovereign Power." They go from one market- +town to another, to Saint-Calais, Montdoubleau, Blois, Vendôme, +reducing the cost of provisions, their troop increasing like a +snowball - for they threaten "to burn the effects and set fire to +the houses of all who are not as courageous as themselves." + +In this state of social disintegration, insurrection is a gangrene +in which the healthy are infected by the morbid parts. Mobs are +everywhere produced and re-produced, incessantly, large and small, +like abscesses which break out side by side, and painfully irritate +each other and finally combine. There are the towns against the +rural districts and rural districts against the towns. On the one +hand "every farmer who transports anything to the market passes (at +home) for an aristocrat,[32] and becomes the horror of his fellow- +citizens in the village." On the other hand the National Guards of +the towns spread themselves through the rural districts and make +raids to save themselves from death by hunger.[33] It is admitted +in the rural districts that each municipality has the right to +isolate itself from the rest. It is admitted in the towns that each +town has the right to derive its provisions from the country. It is +admitted by the indigent of each commune that the commune must +provide bread gratis or at a cheap rate. On the strength of this +there is a shower of stones and a fusillade; department against +department, district against district, canton against canton, all +fight for food, and the strongest get it and keep it for themselves. +- I have simply described the North, where, for the past three +years, the crops are good. I have omitted the South, where trade is +interrupted on the canal of the Deux Mers, where the procureur- +syndic of Aude has lately been massacred for trying to secure the +passage of a convoy; where the harvest has been poor; where, in many +places, bread costs eight sous the pound; where, in almost every +department, a bushel of wheat is sold twice as dear as in the North! + +Strange phenomenon! and the most instructive of all, for in it we +see down into the depths of humanity; for, as on a raft of +shipwrecked beings without food, there is a reversion to a state of +nature. The light tissue of habit and of rational ideas in which +civilization has enveloped man, is torn asunder and is floating in +rags around him; the bare arms of the savage show themselves, and +they are striking out. The only guide he has for his conduct is +that of primitive days, the startled instinct of a craving stomach. +Henceforth that which rules in him and through him is animal +necessity with its train of violent and narrow suggestions, +sometimes sanguinary and sometimes grotesque. Incompetent or +savage, in all respects like a Negro monarch, his sole political +expedients are either the methods of a slaughter house or the dreams +of a carnival. Two commissioners whom Roland, Minister of the +Interior, sends to Lyons, are able to see within a few days the +carnival and the slaughter-house.[34] - On the one hand the +peasants, all along the road, arrest everybody; the people regard +every traveler as an aristocrat who is running away - which is so +much the worse for those who fall into their hands. Near Autun, +four priests who, to obey the law, are betaking themselves to the +frontier, are put in prison "for their own protection;" they are +taken out a quarter of an hour later, and, in spite of thirty-two of +the mounted police, are massacred. "Their carriage was still +burning as I passed, and the corpses were stretched out not far off. +Their driver was still in durance, and it was it vain that I +solicited his release." - On the other hand, at Lyons, the power +has fallen into the hands of the degraded women of the streets. +"They seized the central club, constituted themselves commissaries +of police, signed notices as such, and paid visits of inspection to +store-houses;" they drew up a tariff of provisions, "from bread and +meat up to common peaches, and peaches of fine quality." They +announced that "whoever dared to dispute it would be considered a +traitor to the country, an adherent of the civil list, and +prosecuted as such." All this is published, proclaimed and applied +by "female commissaries of police," themselves the dregs of the +lowest sinks of corruption. Respectable housewives and workwomen +had nothing to do with it, nor "working-people of any class." The +sole actors of this administrative parody are " scamps, a few +bullies of houses of ill-fame, and a portion of the dregs of the +female sex." - To this end comes the dictatorship of instinct, +yonder let loose on the highway in a massacre of priests, and here, +in the second city of France, in the government of strumpets. + + +III. + +Egotism of the tax-payer. - Issoudun in 1790. - Rebellion against +taxation. - Indirect taxes in 1789 and 1790. - Abolition of the +salt tax, excise, and octrois. - Direct taxation in 1789 and 1790. +- Delay and insufficiency of the returns. - New levies in 1791 +and 1792. - Delays, partiality, and concealment in preparing the +rolls. - Insufficiency of, and the delay in, the returns. - +Payment in assignats.- The tax-payer relieves himself of one-half. +- Devastation of the forests. - Division of the communal +property. + +The fear of starvation is only the sharper form of a more general +passion, which is the desire of possession and the determination not +to give anything up. No popular instinct, had been longer, more +rudely, more universally offended under the ancient régime; and +there is none which gushes out more readily under constraint, none +which requires a higher or broader public barrier, or one more +entirely constructed of solid blocks, to keep it in check. Hence it +is that this passion from the commencement breaks down or engulfs +the slight and low boundaries, the tottering embankments of +crumbling earth between which the Constitution pretends to confine +it. - The first flood sweeps away the pecuniary claims of the +State, of the clergy, and of the noblesse. The people regard them +as abolished, or, at least, they consider their debts discharged. +Their idea, in relation to this, is formed and fixed; for them it is +that which constitutes the Revolution. The people have no longer a +creditor; they are determined to have none, they will pay nobody, +and first of all, they will make no further payment to the State. + +On the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation, the population +of Issoudun, in Touraine, solemnly convoked for the purpose, had +just taken the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace, social +harmony, and respect for the law for evermore.[35] Here, probably, +as elsewhere, arrangements had been made for an stirring ceremonial; +there were young girls dressed in white, and learned and +impressionable magistrates were to pronounce philosophical +harangues. All at once they discover that the people gathered on +the public square are provided with clubs, scythes, and axes, and +that the National Guard will not prevent their use; on the contrary, +the Guard itself is composed almost wholly of wine growers and +others interested in the suppression of the duties on wine, of +coopers, innkeepers, workmen, carters of casks, and others of the +same stamp, all rough fellows who have their own way of interpreting +the Social Contract. The whole mass of decrees, acts, and +rhetorical flourishes which are dispatched to them from Paris, or +which emanate from the new authorities, are not worth a halfpenny +tax maintained on each bottle of wine. There are to be no more +excise duties; they will only take the civic oath on this express +condition, and that very evening they hang, in effigy, their two +deputies, who "had not supported their interests" in the National +Assembly. A few months later, of all the National Guard called upon +to protect the clerks, only the commandant and two officers respond +to the summons. If a docile taxpayer happens to be found, he is not +allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and almost +treachery. An entry of three puncheons of wine having been made, +they are stove in with stones, a portion is drunk, and the rest +taken to the barracks to debauch the soldiers; M. de Sauzay, +commandant of the "Royal Roussillon," who was bold enough to save +the clerks, is menaced, and for this misdeed he barely escapes being +hung himself. When the municipal body is called upon to interpose +and employ force, it replies that "for so small a matter, it is not +worth while to compromise the lives of the citizens," and the +regular troops sent to the Hôtel-de-Ville are ordered by the people +not to go except with the but-ends of their muskets in the air. +Five days after this the windows of the excise office are smashed, +and the public notices are torn down; the fermentation does not +subside, and M. de Sauzay writes that a regiment would be necessary +to restrain the town. At Saint-Amand the insurrection breaks out +violently, and is only put down by violence. At Saint-Étienne-en- +Forez, Bertheas, a clerk in the excise office, falsely accused of +monopolizing grain,[36] is fruitlessly defended by the National +Guard; he is put in prison, according to the usual custom, to save +his life, and, for greater security, the crowd insist on his being +fastened by an iron collar. But, suddenly changing its mind, it +breaks upon the door and drags him outside, beating him till he is +unconscious. Stretched on the ground, his head still moves and he +raises his hand to it, when a woman, picking up a large stone, +smashes his skull. - These are not isolated occurrences. During +the months of July and August, 1789, the tax offices are burnt in +almost every town in the kingdom. In vain does the National +Assembly order their reconstruction, insist on the maintenance of +duties and octrois, and explain to the people the public needs, +pathetically reminding them, moreover, that the Assembly has already +given them relief; - the people prefer to relieve themselves +instantly and entirely. Whatever is consumed must no longer be +taxed, either for the benefit of the State or for that of the towns. +"Entrance dues on wine and cattle," writes the municipality of +Saint-Etienne, "scarcely amount to anything, and our powers are +inadequate for their enforcement." At Cambrai, two successive +outbreaks compel the excise office and the magistracy of the +town[37] to reduce the duties on beer one-half. But "the evil, at +first confined to one corner of the province, soon spreads ;" the +grands baillis of Lille, Douai, and Orchies write that "we have +hardly a bureau which has not been molested, and in which the taxes +are not wholly subject to popular discretion." Those only pay who +are disposed to do so, and, consequently, "greater fraud could not +exist." The taxpayers, indeed, cunningly defend themselves, and find +plenty of arguments or quibbles to avoid paying their dues. At +Cambrai they allege that, as the privileged now pay as well as the +rest, the Treasury must be rich enough.[38] At Noyon, Ham, and +Chauny, and in the surrounding parishes, the butchers, innkeepers, +and publicans combined, who have refused to pay excise duties, pick +flaws in the special decree by which the Assembly subjects them to +the law, and a second special decree is necessary to circumvent +these new legal experts. The process at Lyons is simpler. Here the +thirty-two sections appoint commissioners; these decide against the +octroi, and request the municipal authorities to abolish it. They +must necessarily comply, for the people are at hand and are furious. +Without waiting, however, for any legal measures, they take the +authority on themselves, rush to the toll-houses and drive out the +clerks, while large quantities of provisions, which "through a +singular predestination" were waiting at the gates, come in free of +duty. - The Treasury defends itself as it best can against this +universally bad disposition of the tax-payer, against these +irruptions and infiltrations of fraud; it repairs the dike where it +has been carried away, stops up the fissures and again resumes +collections. But how can these be regular and complete in a State +where the courts dare not condemn delinquents, where public force +dares not support the courts,[39] where popular favor protects the +most notorious bandits and the worst vagabonds against the tribunals +and against the public powers? At Paris, where, After eight months +of impunity, proceedings are begun against the pillagers who, on the +13th of August, 1789, set fire to the tax offices, the officers of +the election, "considering that their audiences have become too +tumultuous, that the thronging of the people excites uneasiness, +that threats have been uttered of a kind calculated to create +reasonable alarm," are constrained to suspend their sittings and +refer matters to the National Assembly, while the latter, +considering that "if prosecutions are authorized in Paris it will be +necessary to authorize them throughout the kingdom," decides that it +is best "to veil the statue of the Law."[40] + +Not only does the Assembly veil the statue of the Law, but it takes +to pieces, remakes, and mutilates it, according to the requirements +of the popular will; and, in the matter of indirect imposts all its +decrees are forced upon it. The outbreak against the salt impost +was terrible from the beginning; sixty thousand men in Anjou alone +combined to destroy it, and the price of salt had to be reduced from +sixteen to six sous.[41] The people, however, are not satisfied +with this. This monopoly has been the cause of so much suffering +that they are not disposed to put up with any remains of it, and are +always on the side of the smugglers against the excise officers. In +the month of January, 1790, at Béziers, thirty-two employees, who +had seized a quantity of contraband salt on the persons of armed +smugglers,[42] are pursued by the crowd to the Hôtel-de-Ville; the +consuls decline to defend them and run away; the troops defend them, +but in vain. Five are tortured, horribly mutilated, and then hung. +In the month of March, 1790, Necker states that, according to the +returns of the past three months, the deficit in the salt-tax +amounts to more than four millions a month, which is four-fifths of +the ordinary revenue, while the tobacco monopoly is no more +respected than that of salt. At Tours,[43] the bourgeois militia +refuse to give assistance to the employees, and "openly protect +smuggling," "and contraband tobacco is publicly sold at the fair, +under the eyes of the municipal authorities, who dare make no +Opposition to it." All receipts, consequently, diminish at the same +time.[44] From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790, the +general collections amount to 127 millions instead of 150 millions; +the dues and excise combined return only 31, instead of 50 millions. +The streams which filled the public exchequer are more and more +obstructed by popular resistance, and under the popular pressure, +the Assembly ends by closing them entirely. In the month of March, +1790,[45] it abolishes salt duties, internal customs-duties, taxes +on leather, on oil, on starch, and the stamp of iron. In February +and March, 1791, it abolishes octrois and entrance-dues in all the +cities and boroughs of the kingdom, all the excise duties and those +connected with the excise, especially all taxes which affect the +manufacture, sale, or circulation of beverages. The people have in +the end prevailed, and on the 1st of May, 1791, the day of the +application of the decree, the National Guard of Paris parades +around the walls playing patriotic airs. The cannon of the +Invalides and those on the Pont-Neuf thunder out as if for an +important victory. There is an illumination in the evening, there +is drinking all night, a universal revel. Beer, indeed, is to be +had at three sous the pot, and wine at six sous a pint, which is a +reduction of one-half; no conquest could be more popular, since it +brings intoxication within easy reach of the thirsty.[46] + +The object, now, is to provide for the expenses which have been +defrayed by the suppressed octrois. In 1790, the octroi of Paris +had produced 35,910,859 francs, of which 25,059,446 went to the +State, and 10,851,413 went to the city. How is the city going to +pay for its watch, the lighting and cleaning of its streets, and the +support of its hospitals? What are the twelve hundred other cities +and boroughs going to do which are brought by the same stroke to the +same situation? What will the State do, which, in abolishing the +general revenue from all entrance-dues and excise, is suddenly +deprived of two-fifths of its revenue? - In the month of March, +1790, when the Assembly suppressed the salt and other duties, it +established in the place of these a tax of fifty millions, to be +divided between the direct imposts and dues on entrance to the +towns. Now, consequently, that the entrance-dues are abolished, the +new charge falls entirely upon the direct imposts. Do returns come +in, and will they come in? - In the face of so many outbreaks, any +indirect taxation (VAT) is, certainly, difficult to collect. +Nevertheless it is not so repulsive as the other because the levies +of the State disappear in the price of the article, the hand of the +Exchequer being hidden by the hand of the dealer. The Government +clerk formerly presented himself with his stamped paper and the +seller handed him the money without much grumbling, knowing that he +would soon be more than reimbursed by his customer: the indirect tax +is thus collected. Should any difficulty arise, it is between the +dealer and the taxpayer who comes to his shop to lay in his little +store; the latter grumbles, but it is at the high price which he +feels, and possibly at the seller who pockets his silver; he does +not find fault with the clerk of the Exchequer, whom he does not see +and who is not then present In the collection of the direct tax, on +the contrary, it is the clerk himself whom he sees before him, who +abstracts the precious piece of silver. This authorized robber, +moreover, gives him nothing in exchange; it is an entire loss. On +leaving the dealer's shop he goes away with a jug of wine, a pot of +salt, or similar commodities; on leaving the tax office he has +nothing in hand but an acquittance, a miserable bit of scribbled +paper. - But now he is master in his own commune, an elector, a +National Guard, mayor, the sole authority in the use of armed force, +and charged with his own taxation. Come and ask him to unearth the +buried mite on which he has set all his heart and all his soul, the +earthen pot wherein he has deposited his cherished pieces of silver +one by one, and which he has laid by for so many years at the cost +of so much misery and fasting, in the very face of the bailiff in +spite of the prosecutions of the sub-delegate, commissioner, +collector, and clerk! + +>From the 1st of May, 1789, to the 1st of May, 1790,[47] the general +returns, the taille and its accessories, the poll-tax and +"twentieths," instead of yielding 161.000,000 francs, yield but +28,000,000 francs in the provinces which impose their own taxes +(pays d'Etats); instead of 28,000,000 francs, the Treasury obtains +but 6,000,000. On the patriotic contribution which was to deduct +one quarter of all incomes over four hundred livres, and to levy two +and a half per cent. on plate, jewels, and whatever gold and silver +each person has in reserve, the State received 9.700,000 francs. As +to patriotic gifts, their total, comprising the silver buckles of +the deputies, reaches only 361,587 francs; and the closer our +examination into the particulars of these figures, the more do we +see the contributions of the villager, artisan, and former subjects +of the taille diminish. - Since the month of October, 1789, the +privileged classes, in fact, appear in the tax-rolls, and they +certainly form the class which is best off, the most alive to +general ideas and the most truly patriotic. It is therefore +probable that, of the forty-three millions of returns from the +direct imposts and from the patriotic contribution, they have +furnished the larger portion, perhaps two thirds of it, or even +three-quarters. If this be the case, the peasant, the former tax- +payer, gave nothing or almost nothing from his pocket during the +first year of the Revolution. For instance, in regard to the +patriotic contribution, the Assembly left it to the conscience of +each person to fix his own quota; at the end of six months, +consciences are found too elastic, and the Assembly is obliged to +confer this right on the municipalities. The result is[48] that +this or that individual who taxed himself at forty-eight livres, is +taxed at a hundred and fifty; another, a cultivator, who had offered +six livres, is judged to be able to pay over one hundred. Every +regiment contains a small number of select brave men, and it is +always these who are ready to advance under fire. Every State +contains a select few of honest men who advance to meet the tax- +collector. Some effective constraint is essential in the regiment +to supply those with courage who have but little, and in the State +to supply those with probity who do not possess it. Hence, during +the eight months which follow, from May 1st, 1790, to January 1st, +1791, the patriotic contribution furnishes but 11,000,000 livres. +Two years later, on the 1st of February, 1793, out of the forty +thousand communal tax-rolls which should provide for it, there are +seven thousand which are not yet drawn up; out of 180,000,000 livres +which it ought to produce, there are 70,000,000 livres which are +still due. - The resistance of the tax-payer produces a similar +deficit, and similar delays in all branches of the national +income.[49] In the month of June, 1790, a deputy declares in the +tribune that "out of thirty-six millions of imposts which ought to +be returned each month only nine have been received."[50] In the +month of November, 1791, a reporter on the budget states that the +receipts, which should amount to forty or forty-eight millions a +month, do not reach eleven millions and a half. On February 1, +1793, there remains still due on the direct taxes of 1789 and 1790 +one hundred and seventy-six millions. It is evident that the people +struggle with all their might against the old taxes, even authorized +and prolonged by the Constituent Assembly, and all that is obtained +from them is wrested from them. + +Will the people be more docile under the new taxation? The Assembly +exhorts them to be so and shows them how, with the relief they have +gained and with the patriotism they ought to possess, they can and +should discharge their dues. The people are able to do it because, +having got rid of tithes, feudal dues, the salt-tax, octrois and +excise duties, they are in a comfortable position. They should do +so, because the taxation adopted is indispensable to the State, +equitable, assessed on all in proportion to their fortune, collected +and expended under rigid scrutiny, without perversion or waste, +according to precise, clear, periodical and audited accounts. No +doubt exists that, after the 1st of January, 1791, the date when the +new financial scheme comes into operation, each tax-payer will +gladly pay as a good citizen, and the two hundred and forty millions +of the new tax on real property, and the sixty millions of that on +personal property, leaving out the rest - registries, license, and +customs duties - will flow in regularly and easily of their own +accord. + +Unfortunately, before the tax-gatherer can collect the first two +levies these have to be assessed, and as there are complicated +writings and formalities, claims to settle amidst great resistance +and local ignorance, the operation is indefinitely prolonged. The +personal and land-tax schedule of 1791 is not transmitted to the +departments by the Assembly until June, 1791. The departments do +not distribute it among the districts until the months of July, +August, and September, 1791. It is not distributed by the districts +among the communes before October, November, and December, 1791. +Thus in the last month of 1791 it is not yet distributed to the tax- +payers by the communes; from which it follows that on the budget of +1791 and throughout that year, the tax-payer has paid nothing. - At +last, in 1792, everybody begins to receive this assessment. It +would require a volume to set forth the partiality and dissimulation +of these assessments. In the first place the office of assessor is +one of danger; the municipal authorities, whose duty it is to assign +the quotas, are not comfortable in their town quarters. Already, in +1790,[51] the municipal officers of Monbazon have been threatened +with death if they dared to tax industrial pursuits on the tax-roll, +and they escaped to Tours in the middle of the night. Even at +Tours, three or four hundred insurgents of the vicinity, dragging +along with them the municipal officers of three market-towns, come +and declare to the town authorities "that for all taxes they will +not pay more than forty-five sous per household." I have already +narrated how, in 1792, in the same department, "they kill, they +assassinate the municipal officers" who presume to publish the tax- +rolls of personal property. In Creuse, at Clugnac, the moment the +clerk begins to read the document, the women spring upon him, seize +the tax-roll, and "tear it up with countless imprecations;" the +municipal council is assailed, and two hundred persons stone its +members, one of whom is thrown down, has his head shaved, and is +promenaded through the village in derision. - When the small tax- +payer defends himself in this manner, it is a warning that he must +be humored. The assessment, accordingly, in the village councils is +made amongst a knot of cronies. Each relieves himself of the burden +by shoving it off on somebody else. "They tax the large +proprietors, whom they want to make pay the whole tax." The noble, +the old seigneur, is the most taxed, and to such an extent that in +many places his income does not suffice to pay his quota. - In the +next place they make themselves out poor, and falsify or elude the +prescriptions of the law. "In most of the municipalities, houses, +tenements, and factories[52] are estimated according to the value of +the area they cover, and considered as land of the first class, +which reduces the quota to almost nothing." And this fraud is not +practiced in the villages alone. "Communes of eight or ten thousand +souls might be cited which have arranged matters so well amongst +themselves in this respect that not a house is to be found worth +more than fifty sous." - Last expedient of all, the commune defers +as long as it can the preparation of its tax-rolls. On the 30th of +January, 1792, out of 40,211, there are only 2,560 which are +complete; on the 5th of October, 1792, the schedules are not made +out in 4,800 municipalities, and it must be noted that all this +relates to a term of administration which has been finished for more +than nine months. At the same date, there are more than six +thousand communes which have not yet begun to collect the land-tax +of 1791, and more than fifteen thousand communes which have not yet +begun to collect the personal tax; the Treasury and the departments +have not yet received 152,000,000 francs, there being still +222,000,000 to collect. On the 1st February, 1793, there still +remains due on the same period 161,000,000 francs, while of the +50,000,000 assessed in 1790, to replace the salt-tax and other +suppressed duties, only 2,000,000 have been collected. Finally, at +the same date, out of the two direct taxes of 1792, which should +produce 300,000,000, less than 4,000,000 have been received. - It +is a maxim of the debtor that he must put off payment as long as +possible. Whoever the creditor may be, the State or a private +individual, a leg or a wing may be saved by dint of procrastination. +The maxim is true, and, on this occasion, success once more +demonstrates its soundness. During the year 1792, the peasant +begins to discharge a portion of his arrears, but it is with +assignats. In January, February, and March, 1792, the assignats +diminish thirty-four, forty-four, and forty-five per cent. in +value; in January, February, and March, 1793, forty-seven and fifty +percent.; in May, June, and July, 1793, fifty-four, sixty, and +sixty-seven per cent. Thus has the old credit of the State melted +away in its hands; those who have held on to their crowns gain fifty +per cent. and more. Again, the greater their delay the more their +debts diminish, and already, on the strength of this, the way to +release themselves at half-price is found. + +Meanwhile, hands are laid on the badly defended landed property of +this feeble creditor. - It is always difficult for rude brains to +form any conception of the vague, invisible, abstract entity called +the State, to regard it as a veritable personage and a legitimate +proprietor, especially when they are persistently told that the +State is everybody. The property of all is the property of each, +and as the forests belong to the public, the first-comer has a right +to profit by them. In the month of December, 1789,[53] bands of +sixty men or more chop down the trees in the Bois de Boulogne and at +Vincennes. In April, 1790, in the forest of Saint-Germain, "the +patrols arrest all kinds of delinquents day and night:" handed over +to the National Guards and municipalities in the vicinity, these are +"almost immediately released, even with the wood which they have cut +down against the law." iii There is no means of repressing "the +reiterated threats and insults of the low class of people." A mob of +women, urged on by an old French guardsman, come and pillage under +the nose of the escort a load of faggots confiscated for the benefit +of a hospital; and in the forest itself, bands of marauders fire +upon the patrols. - At Chantilly, three game-keepers are mortally +wounded;[54] both parks are devastated for eighteen consecutive +days; the game is all killed, transported to Paris and sold. - At +Chambord the lieutenant of the constabulary writes to announce his +powerlessness; the woods are ravaged and even burnt; the poachers +are now masters of the situation; breaches in the wall are made by +them, and the water from the pond is drawn off to enable them to +catch the fish. - At Claix, in Dauphiny, an officer of the +jurisdiction of woods and forests, who has secured an injunction +against the inhabitants for cutting down trees on leased ground, is +seized, tortured during five hours, and then stoned to death. - In +vain does the National Assembly issue three decrees and regulations, +placing the forests under the supervision and protection of +administrative bodies, - he latter are too much afraid of their +charge. Between the central power, which is weak and remote, and +the people, present and strong, they always decide in favor of the +latter. Not one of the five municipalities surrounding Chantilly is +disposed to assist in the execution of the laws, while the +directories of the district and department respectively, sanction +their inertia. - Similarly, near Toulouse,[55] where the +magnificent forest of Larramet is devastated in open day and by an +armed force, where the wanton destruction by the populace leaves +nothing of the underwood and shrubbery but "a few scattered trees +and the remains of trunks cut at different heights," the +municipalities of Toulouse and of Tournefeuille refuse all aid. And +worse still, in other provinces, as for instance in Alsace, "whole +municipalities, with their mayors at the head, cut down woods which +are confided to them, and carry them off."[56] If some tribunal is +disposed to enforce the law, it is to no purpose; it takes the risk, +either of not being allowed to give judgment, or of being +constrained to reverse its decision. At Paris the judgment prepared +against the incendiaries of the tax-offices could not be given. At +Montargis, the sentence pronounced against the marauders who had +stolen cartloads of wood in the national forests had to be revised, +and by the judges themselves. The moment the tribunal announced the +confiscation of the carts and horses which had been seized, there +arose a furious outcry against it; the court was insulted by those +present; the condemned parties openly declared that they would have +their carts and horses back by force. Upon this "the judges +withdrew into the council-chamber, and when soon after they resumed +their seats, that part of their decision which related to the +confiscation was canceled." + +And yet this administration of justice, ludicrous and flouted as it +may be, is still a sort of barrier. When it falls, along with the +Government, everything is exposed to plunder, and there is no such +thing as public property. - After August 10, 1792, each commune or +individual appropriates whatever comes in its way, either products +or the soil itself. Some of the plunderers go so far as to say +that, since the Government no longer represses them, they act under +its authority.[57] "They have destroyed even the recent plantation +of young trees." "One of the villages near Fontainebleau cleared off +and divided an entire grove. At Rambouillet, from August 10th to +the end of October," the loss is more than 100,000 crowns; the rural +agitators demand with threats the partition of the forest among the +inhabitants. "The destruction is enormous" everywhere, prolonged +for entire months, and of such a kind, says the minister, as to dry +up this source of public revenue for a long time to come. - +Communal property is no more respected than national property. In +each commune, these bold and needy folk, the rural populace, are +privileged to enjoy and make the most of it. Not content with +enjoying it, they desire to acquire ownership of it, and, for days +after the King's fall, the Legislative Assembly, losing its footing +in the universal breaking up, empowers the indigent to put in force +the agrarian law. Henceforth it suffices in any commune for one- +third of its inhabitants of both sexes, servants, common laborers, +shepherds, farm-hands or cowherds, and even paupers, to demand a +partition of the communal possessions. All that the commune owns, +save public edifices and woods, is to be cut up into as many equal +lots as there are heads, the lots to be drawn for, and each +individual to take possession of his or her portion.[58] The +Operation is carried out, for "those who are least well off are +infinitely flattered by it." In the district of Arcis-sur-Aube, +there are not a dozen communes out of ninety in which more than two- +thirds of the voters had the good sense to pronounce against it. +>From this time forth the commune ceases to be an independent +proprietor; it has nothing to fall back upon. In case of distress +it is obliged to lay on extra taxes and obtain, if it can, a few +additional sous. Its future revenue is at present in the tightly +buttoned pockets of the new proprietors. - The prevalence of +short-sighted views is once more due to the covetousness of +individuals. Whether national or communal, it is always public +interest which succumbs, and it succumbs always under the +usurpations of indigent minorities, at one time through the +feebleness of public authority, which dares not oppose their +violence, and at another through the complicity of public authority, +which has conferred upon them the rights of the majority. + + +IV. + +Cupidity of tenants. - The third and fourth jacquerie. - +Brittany and other provinces in 1790 and 1791. - The burning of +chateaux. - Title-deeds destroyed. - Refusal of claims. - +Destruction of reservoirs. - Principal characteristics, prime +motive and ruling passion of the revolution + +When there is a lack of public force for the protection of public +property, there is also a lack of it for the protection of private +property, for the same greed and the same needs attack both. Let a +man owe anything either to the State or to an individual, and the +temptation not to pay is equally the same. In both cases it +suffices to find a pretext for denying the debt; in finding this +pretext the cupidity of the tenant is as good as the selfishness of +the tax-payer. Now that the feudal system is abolished let nothing +remain of it: let there be no more seignorial claims. "If the +Assembly has maintained some of them, yonder in Paris, it did so +inadvertently or through corruption: we shall soon hear of all being +suppressed. In the meantime we will relieve ourselves, and burn the +agreements in the places where they are kept." + +Such being the argument, the jacquerie breaks out afresh: in truth, +it is permanent and universal. Just as in a body in which some of +the elements of its vital substance are affected by an organic +disease, the evil is apparent in the parts which seem to be sound: +even where as yet no outbreak has occurred, one is imminent; +constant anxiety, a profound restlessness, a low fever, denote its +presence. Here, the debtor does not pay, and the creditor is afraid +to prosecute him. In other places isolated eruptions occur. At +Auxon,[59] on an estate spared by the great jacquerie of July, 1789, +the woods are ravaged, and the peasants, enraged at being denounced +by the keepers, march to the chateau, which is occupied by an old +man and a child; everybody belonging to the village is there, men +and women; they hew down the barricaded door with their axes, and +fire on the neighbors who come to the assistance of its inmates. - +In other places, in the districts of Saint-Étienne and Montbrison, +"the trees belonging to the proprietors are carried away with +impunity, and the walls of their grounds and terraces are +demolished, the complainants being threatened with death or with the +sight of the destruction of their dwellings." Near Paris, around +Montargis, Nemours, and Fontainebleau, a number of parishes refuse +to pay the tithes and ground-rent (champart) which the Assembly has +a second time sanctioned; gibbets are erected and the collectors are +threatened with hanging, while, in the neighborhood of Tonnerre, a +mob of debtors fire upon the body of police which comes to enforce +the claims. - Near Amiens, the Comtesse de la Mire,[60] on her +estate of Davencourt, is visited by the municipal authorities of the +village, who request her to renounce her right to ground-rent +(champart) and thirds (tiers). She refuses and they insist, and she +refuses again, when they inform her that " some misfortune will +happen to her." In effect, two of the municipal officers cause the +tocsin to be rung, and the whole village rushes to arms. One of the +domestics has an arm broken by a ball, and for three hours the +countess and her two children are subject to the grossest insults +and to blows: she is forced to sign a paper which she is not allowed +to read, and, in warding off the stroke of a saber, her arm is cleft +from the elbow to the wrist; the chateau is pillaged, and she owes +her escape to the zeal of some of her servants. - Large eruptions +take place at the same time over entire provinces; one succeeds the +other almost without interruption, the fever encroaching on parts +which were supposed to be cured, and to such an extent that the +virulent ulcers finally combine and form one over the whole surface +of the social body. + +By the end of December, 1789, the chronic fermentation comes to a +head in Brittany. Imagination, as usual, has forged a plot, and, as +the people say, if they make an attack it is in their own defense. +- A report spreads[61] that M. de Goyon, near Lamballe, has +assembled in his chateau a number of gentlemen and six hundred +soldiers. The mayor and National Guard of Lamballe immediately +depart in force; they find everything tranquil there, and no company +but two or three friends, and no other arms than a few fowling- +pieces. - The impulse, however, is given, and, on the 15th of +January, the great federation of Pontivy has excited the wildest +enthusiasm. The people drink, sing, and shout in honor of the new +decrees before armed peasants who do not comprehend the French +tongue, still less legal terms, and who, on their return home, +arguing with each other in bas-breton, interpret the law in a +peculiar way. "A decree of the Assembly, in their eyes, is a decree +of arrest" and as the principal decrees of the Assembly are issued +against the nobles, they are so many decrees of arrest against them. +- Some days after this, about the end of January, during the whole +of February, and down to the month of April, the execution of this +theory is tumultuously carried out by mobs of villagers and +vagabonds around Nantes, Auray, Redon, Dinan, Ploërmel, Rennes, +Guingamp, and other villages. Everywhere, writes the Mayor of +Nantes,[62] "the country-people believe that in burning deeds and +contracts they get rid of their debts; the very best of them concur +in this belief," or let things take their course; the excesses are +enormous, because many gratify "special animosities, and all are +heated with wine. - At Beuvres, "the peasants and vassals of the +manor, after burning title-deeds, establish themselves in the +chateau, and threaten to fire it if other papers, which they allege +are concealed there, are not surrendered." Near Redon the Abbey of +Saint-Sauveur is reduced to ashes. Redon is menaced, and Ploërmel +almost besieged. At the end of a month thirty-seven chateaux are +enumerated as attacked: twenty-five in which the title-deeds are +burnt, and twelve in which the proprietors are obliged to sign an +abandonment of their rights. Two chateaux which began to burn are +saved by the National Guard. That of Bois-au-Voyer is entirely +consumed, and several have been sacked. By way of addition, "more +than fifteen procureurs-fiscaux, clerks, notaries, and officers of +seignorial courts have been plundered or burnt," while proprietors +take refuge in the towns because the country is now uninhabitable +for them. + +A second tumor makes its appearance at the same time at another +point.[63] It showed itself in Lower Limousin in the beginning of +January. From thence the purulent inflammation spreads to Quercy, +Upper Languedoc, Perigord, and Rouergue, and in February from Tulle +to Montauban, and from Agen to Périgueux and Cahors, extending over +three departments. - Then, also, expectancy is the creator, +according to rule, of its own object. By dint of longing for a law +for the suppression of all claims, it is imagined that it is passed, +and the statement is current that "the King and the National +Assembly have ordered deputations to set up the maypole[64] and to +'light up' the chateaux." - Moreover, and always in accordance +with current practice, bandits, people without occupation, take the +lead of the furious crowd and manage things their own way. As soon +as a band is formed it arrests all the peaceable people it can find +on the roads, in the fields, and in isolated farmhouses, and takes +good care to put them in front in case of blows. - These +miscreants add terror to compulsion. They erect gibbets for any one +that pays casual duties or annual dues, while the parishes of Quercy +threaten their neighbors of Perigord with fire and sword in a week's +time if they do not do in Perigord as they have done in Quercy. - +The tocsin rings, the drums beat, and "the ceremony " is performed +from commune to commune. The keys of the church are forcibly taken +from the curé the seats are burned, and, frequently, the woodwork +marked with the seigneur's arms. They march to the seigneur's +mansion, tear down his weathercocks, and compel him to furnish his +finest tree, together with feathers and ribbons with which to deck +it, without omitting the three measures which he uses in the +collection of his dues in grain or flour. The maypole is planted in +the village square, and the weathercocks, ribbons, and feathers are +attached to its top, together with the three measures and this +inscription, "By order of the King and National Assembly, the final +quittance for all rentals." When this is done it is evident that the +seigneur, who no longer possesses weathercocks, or a seat in the +church, or measures to rate his dues by, is no longer a seigneur, +and can no longer put forth claims of any kind. Huzzahs and +acclamations accordingly burst forth, and there is a revel and an +orgy on the public square. All who can pay - the seigneur, the +curé, and the rich - are put under contribution for the festival, +while the people eat and drink "without any interval of sobriety." +- In this condition, being armed, they strike, and when resistance +is offered, they burn. In Agénois, a chateau belonging to M. de +Lameth, and another of M. d'Aiguillon; in Upper Languedoc, that of +M. de Bournazel, and in Perigord that of M. de Bar, are burnt down: + +M. de Bar is almost beaten to death, while six others are killed in +Quercy. A number of chateaux in the environs of Montauban and in +Limousin are assaulted with firearms, and several are pillaged. - +Bands of twelve hundred men swarm the country; "they have a spite +against every estate;" they redress wrongs; "they try over again +cases disposed of thirty years ago, and give judgments which they +put into execution." - If anybody fails to conform to the new code +he is punished, and to the advantage of the new sovereigns. In +Agénois, a gentleman having paid the rent which was associated with +his fief the people take his receipt from him, mulct him in a sum +equal to that which he paid, and come under his windows to spend the +money on good cheer, in triumph and with derision. + +Many of the National Guards who still possess some degree of energy, +several of the municipalities which still preserve some love of +order, and a number of the resident gentry, employ their arms +against these excited swarms of brutal usurpers. Some of the +ruffians, taken in the act, are judged somewhat after the fashion of +a drum-head court-martial, and immediately executed as examples. +Everybody in the country sees that the peril to society is great and +urgent, and that if such acts go unpunished, there will be no such +thing as law and property in France. The Bordeaux parliament, +moreover, insists upon prosecutions. Eighty-three boroughs and +cities sign addresses, and send a special deputation to the National +Assembly to urge on prosecutions already commenced, the punishment +of criminals under arrest, and, above all, the maintenance of the +prévôtés.[65] In reply to this, the Assembly inflicts upon the +parliament of Bordeaux its disapprobation in the rudest manner, and +enters upon the demolition of every judicial corporation.[66] After +this, the execution of all prévotal decisions is adjourned. A few +months later the Assembly will oblige the King to declare that the +proceedings begun against the jacquerie of Brittany shall be +regarded as null and void, and that the arrested insurgents shall be +set free. For repressive purposes, it dispatches a sentimental +exhortation to the French people, consisting of twelve pages of +literary insipidity, which Florian might have composed for his +Estilles and his Nemorins.[67] - New conflagrations, as an +inevitable consequence, kindle around live coals which have been +imperfectly extinguished. In the district of Saintes,[68] M. +Dupaty, counselor of the parliament of Bordeaux, after having +exhausted mild resources, and having concluded by issuing writs +against those of his tenantry who would not pay their rents, the +parish of Saint-Thomas de Cosnac, combined with five or six others, +puts itself in motion and assails his two chateaux of Bois-Roche and +Saint-George-des-Agouts; these are plundered and then set on fire, +his son escaping through a volley of musket-balls. They visit +Martin, the notary and steward, in the same fashion; his furniture +is pillaged and his money is taken, and "his daughter undergoes the +most frightful outrages." Another detachment pushes on to the house +of-the Marquis de Cumont, and forces him, under the penalty of +having his house burnt down, to give a discharge for all the claims +he has upon them. At the head of these incendiaries are the +municipal officers of Saint-Thomas, except the mayor, who has taken +to flight. + +The electoral system organized by the Constituent Assembly is +beginning to take effect. "Almost everywhere," writes the royal +commissioner, "the large proprietors have been eliminated, and the +offices have been filled by men who strictly fulfill the conditions +of eligibility. The result is a sort of rage of the petty rich to +annoy those who enjoy large heritages." - Six months later, the +National Guards and village authorities in this same department at +Aujean, Migron, and Varaise, decide that no more tithes, agriers or +champarts, nor any of the dues which are retained, shall be paid. +In vain does the department annul the decision, and send its +commissioners, gendarmes, and law-officers. The commissioners are +driven away, and the officers and gendarmes are fired upon; the +vice-president of the district, who was on his way to make his +report to the department, is seized on the road and forced to give +in his resignation. Seven parishes have coalesced with Aujean and +ten with Migron; Varaise has sounded the tocsin, and the villages +for four leagues round have risen; fifteen hundred men, armed with +guns, scythes, hatchets and pitchforks, lend their aid. The object +is to set free the principal leader at Varaise, one Planche, who was +arrested, and to punish the mayor of Varaise, Latierce, who is +suspected of having denounced Planche. Latierce is unmercifully +beaten, and "forced to undergo a thousand torments during thirty +hours;" then they set out with him to Saint-Jean-d'Angely, and +demand the release of Planche. The municipality at first refuses, +but finally consents on the condition that Latierce be given up in +exchange for him. Planche, consequently, is set at liberty and +welcomed with shouts of triumph. Latierce, however, is not given +up; on the contrary, he is tormented for an hour and then massacred, +while the directory of the district, which is less submissive than +the municipal body, is forced to fly. - Symptoms of this kind are +not to be mistaken, and similar ones exist in Brittany. It is +evident that the minds of the people are permanently in revolt. +Instead of the social abscess being relieved by the discharge, it is +always filling up and getting more inflamed. It will burst a second +time in the same places; in 1791 as in 1790, the jacquerie spreads +throughout Brittany as it has spread over Limousin. + +This is because the determination of the peasant is of another +nature than ours, his will being more firm and tenacious. When an +idea obtains a hold on him it takes root in an obscure and profound +conviction upon which neither discussion nor argument have any +effect; once planted, it vegetates according to his notions, not +according to ours, and no legislative text, no judicial verdict, no +administrative remonstrance can change in any respect the fruit it +produces. This fruit, developed during centuries, is the feeling of +an excessive plunder, and, consequently, the need of an absolute +release. Too much having been paid to everybody, the peasant now is +not disposed to pay anything to anybody, and this idea, vainly +repressed, always rises up in the manner of an instinct. - In the +month of January, 1791,[69] bands again form in Brittany, owing to +the proprietors of the ancient fiefs having insisted on the payment +of their rents. At first the coalesced parishes refuse to pay the +stewards, and after this the rustic National Guards enter the +chateaux to constrain the proprietors. Generally, it is the +commander of the National Guard, and sometimes the communal +attorney, who dictates to the lord of the manor the renunciation of +his claims; they oblige him, moreover, to sign notes for the benefit +of the parish, or for that of various private individuals. This is +considered by them to be compensation for damages; all feudal dues +being abolished, he must return what he received from them during +the past year, and as they have been put to inconvenience he must +indemnify them by "paying them for their time and journey." Such are +the operations of two of the principal bands, one of them numbering +fifteen hundred men, around Dinan and St. Malo; for greater +security they burn title-deeds in the chateaux of Saint-Tual, Besso, +Beaumanoir, La Rivière, La Bellière, Chateauneuf, Chenay, +Chausavoir, Tourdelon, and Chalonge; and as a climax they set fire +to Chateauneuf just before the arrival of the regular troops. - In +the beginning, a dim conception of legal and social order seems to +be floating in their brains; at Saint-Tual, before taking 2,000 +livres from the steward, they oblige the mayor to give them his +consent in writing; at Yvignac, their chief, called upon to show the +authority under which he acted, declares that "he is authorized by +the general will of the populace of the nation."[70] - But when, at +the end of a month, they are beaten by the regular troops, made +furious by the blows given and taken, and excited by the weakness of +the municipal authorities who release their prisoners, they then +become bandits of the worst species. During the night of the 22nd +of February, the chateau of Villefranche, three leagues from +Malestroit, is attacked. Thirty-two rascals with their faces +masked, and led by a chief in the national uniform, break open the +door. The domestics are strangled. The proprietor, M. de la +Bourdonnaie, an old man, with his wife aged sixty, are half killed +by blows and tied fast to their bed, and after this a fire is +applied to their feet and they are warmed (chauffé). In the +meantime the plate, linen, stuffs, jewelry, two thousand francs in +silver, and even watches, buckles, and rings, - everything is +pillaged, piled on the backs of the eleven horses in the stables, +and carried off. - ?When property is concerned, one sort of +outrage provokes another, the narrow cupidity of the lease-holder +being completed by the unlimited rapacity of the brigand. + +Meanwhile, in the south-western provinces, the same causes have +produced the same results; and towards the end of autumn, when the +crops are gathered in and the proprietors demand their dues in money +or in produce, the peasant, immovably fixed in his idea, again +refuses.[71] In his eyes, any law that may be against him is not +that of the National Assembly, but of the so-called seigneurs, who +have extorted or manufactured it; and therefore it is null. The +department and district administrators may promulgate it as much as +they please: it does not concern him, and if the opportunity occurs, +he knows how to make them smart for it. The village National +Guards, who are lease-holders like himself, side with him, and +instead of repressing him give him their support. As a +commencement, he replants the maypoles, as a sign of emancipation, +and erects the gibbet by way of a threat. - In the district of +Gourdon, the regulars and the police having been sent to put them +down, the tocsin is at once sounded: a crowd of peasants, amounting +to four or five thousand, arrives from every surrounding parish, +armed with scythes and guns; the soldiers, forming a body of one +hundred, retire into a church, where they capitulate after a siege +of twenty-four hours, being obliged to give the names of the +proprietors who demanded their intervention of the district, and who +are Messrs. Hébray, de Fontange, and many others. All their houses +are destroyed from top to bottom, and they effect their escape in +order not to be hung. The chateaux of Repaire and Salviat are +burned. At the expiration of eight days Quercy is in flames and +thirty chateaux are destroyed. - The leader of a band of rustic +National Guards, Joseph Linard, at the head of a village army, +penetrates into Gourdon, installs himself in the Hôtel-de-Ville, +declares himself the people's protector against the directory of the +district, writes to the department in the name of his "companions in +arms," and vaunts his patriotism. Meanwhile he commands as a +conqueror, throws open the prisons, and promises that, if the +regular troops and police be sent off; he and his companions will +withdraw in good order. - This species of tumultuous authority, +however, instituted by acclamation for attack, is powerless for +resistance. Scarcely has Linard retired when savagery is let loose. +"A price is set upon the heads of the administrators; their houses +are the first devastated; all the houses of wealthy citizens are +pillaged; and the same is the case with all chateaux and country +habitations which display any signs of luxury." - Fifteen +gentlemen, assembled together at the house of M. d'Escayrac, in +Castel, appeal to all good citizens to march to the assistance of +the proprietors who may be attacked in this jacquerie, which is +spreading everywhere;[72] but there are too few proprietors in the +country, and none of the towns have too many of them for their own +protection. M. d'Escayrac, after a few skirmishes, abandoned by the +municipal officers of his village, and wounded, withdraws to the +house of the Comte de Clarac, a major-general, in Languedoc. Here, +too, the chateau, is surrounded,[73] blockaded, and besieged by the +local National Guard. M. de Clarac descends and tries to hold a +parley with the attacking party, and is fired upon. He goes back +inside and throws money out of the window; the money is gathered up, +and he is again fired upon. The chateau is set on fire, and M. +d'Escayrac receives five shots, and is killed. M. de Clarac, with +another person, having taken refuge in a subterranean vault, are +taken out almost stifled the next morning but one by the National +Guard of the vicinity, who conduct them to Toulouse, where they are +kept in prison and where the public prosecutor takes proceedings +against them. The chateau of Bagat, near Montcuq, is demolished at +the same time. The abbey of Espagnac, near Figeac, is assaulted +with fire-arms; the abbess is forced to refund all rents she has +collected, and to restore four thousand livres for the expenses of a +trial which the convent had gained twenty years before. + +After such successes, the extension of the revolt is inevitable; and +at the end of some weeks and months it becomes permanent in the +three neighboring departments. - In Creuse,[74] the judges are +threatened with death if they order the payment of seignorial dues, +and the same fate awaits all proprietors who claim their rents. In +many places, and especially in the mountains, the peasants, +"considering that they form the nation, and that clerical +possessions are national," want to have these divided amongst +themselves, instead of their being sold. Fifty parishes around La +Souterraine receive incendiary letters inviting them to come in arms +to the town, in order to secure by force, and by staking their +lives, the production of all titles to rentals. The peasants, in a +circle of eight leagues, are all stirred up by the sound of the +tocsin, and preceded by the municipal officers in their scarves; +there are four thousand of them, and they drag with them a wagon +full of arms: this is for the revision and re-constitution of the +ownership of the soil. - In Dordogne,[75] self-appointed +arbitrators interpose imperiously between the proprietor and the +small farmer, at the time of harvest, to prevent the proprietor from +claiming, and the farmer from paying, the tithes or the réve;[76] +any agreement to this end is forbidden; whoever shall transgress the +new order of things, proprietor or farmer, shall be hung. +Accordingly, the rural militia in the districts of Bergerac, +Excideuil, Ribérac, Mucidan, Montignac, and Perigueux, led by the +municipal officers, go from commune to commune in order to force the +proprietors to sign an act of withdrawal; and these visits "are +always accompanied with robberies, outrages, and ill-treatment from +which there is no escape but in absolute submission." Moreover, +"they demand the abolition of every species of tax and the partition +of the soil. " - It is impossible for "proprietors moderately +rich " to remain in the country; on all sides they take refuge in +Perigueux, and there, organizing in companies, along with the +gendarmerie and the National Guard of the town, overrun the cantons +to restore order. But there is no way of persuading the peasantry +that it is order which they wish to restore. With that stubbornness +of the imagination which no obstacle arrests, and which, like a +vigorous spring, always finds some outlet, the people declare that +"the gendarmes and National Guard" who come to restrain them "are +priests and gentlemen in disguise." - The new theories, moreover, +have struck down to the lowest depths; and nothing is easier than to +draw from them the abolition of debts, and even the agrarian law. +At Ribérac, which is invaded by the people of the neighboring +parishes, a village tailor, taking the catechism of the Constitution +from his pocket, argues with the procureur-syndic, and proves to him +that the insurgents are only exercising the rights of man. The book +states, in the first place, "that Frenchmen are equals and brethren, +and that they should give each other aid;" and that "the masters +should share with their fellows, especially this year, which is one +of scarcity." In the next place, it is written that "all property +belongs to the nation," and that is the reason why "it has taken the +possessions of the Church." Now, all Frenchmen compose the nation, +and the conclusion is clearly apparent. Since, in the eyes of the +tailor, the property of individual Frenchmen belongs to all the +French, he, the tailor, has a right to at least the quota which +belongs to him. - One travels fast and far on this downhill road, +for every mob considers that this means immediate enjoyment, and +enjoyment according to its own ideas. There is no care for +neighbors or for consequences, even when imminent and physical, and +in twenty places the confiscated property perishes in the hands of +the usurpers. + +This voluntary destruction of property can be best observed in the +third department, that of Corrèze.[77] Not only have the peasants +here refused to pay rents from the beginning of the Revolution; not +only have they "planted maypoles, supplied with iron hooks, to hang +" the first one that dared to claim or to pay them; not only are +violent acts of every description committed "by entire communes," +"the National Guards of the small communes participating in them;" +not only do the culprits, whose arrest is ordered, remain at +liberty, while "nothing is spoken of but the hanging of the +constables who serve writs," but farther, together with the +ownership of the water-sources, the power of collecting, directing, +and distributing the water is overthrown, and, in a country of in a +country of steep slopes, the consequences of such an operation may +be imagined. Three leagues from Tulle, in a forming a semi-circle, a +pond twenty feet in depth, and covering an area of three hundred +acres, was enclosed by a broad embankment on the side of a very deep +gorge, which was completely covered with houses, mills, and +cultivation. On the 17th of April, 1791, a troop of five hundred +armed men assembled by the beat of a drum, and collected from three +villages in the vicinity, set themselves to demolish the dike. The +proprietor, M. de Sedières, a substitute-deputy in the National +Assembly, is not advised of it until eleven o'clock in the evening. +Mounting his horse, along with his guests and domestics, he makes a +charge on the insane wretches, and, with the aid of pistol and gun +shots, disperses them. It was time, for the trench they had dug was +already eight feet deep, and the water was nearly on a level with +it: a half-hour later and the terrible rolling mass of waters would +have poured out on the inhabitants of the gorge. - But such +vigorous strokes, which are rare and hardly ever successful, are no +defense against universal and continuous attacks. The regular +troops and the gendarmerie, both of which are in the way of +reorganization or of dissolution, are not trustworthy, or are too +weak. There are no more than thirty of the cavalry in Creuse, and +as many in Corrèze. The National Guards of the towns are knocked up +by expeditions into the country, and there is no money with which to +provide for their change of quarters. And finally, as the elections +are in the hands of the people, this brings into power men disposed +to tolerate popular excesses. At Tulle, the electors of the second +class, almost all chosen from among the cultivators, and, moreover, +catechized by the club, nominate for deputies and public prosecutor +only the candidates who are pledged against rentals and against +water privileges. - Accordingly, the general demolition of the +dikes begins as the month of May approaches. This operation +continues unopposed on a vast pond, a league and a half from the +town, and lasts for a whole week; elsewhere, on the arrival of the +guards or of the gendarmerie, they are fired upon. Towards the end +of September, all the embankments in the department are broken down: +nothing is left in the place of the ponds but fetid marshes; the +mill-wheels no longer turn, and the fields are no longer watered. +But those who demolish them carry away baskets full of fish, and the +soil of the ponds again becomes communal. - Hatred is not the +motive which impels them, but the instinct of acquisition: all these +violent outstretched hands, which rigidly resist the law, are +directed against property, but not against the proprietor; they are +more greedy than hostile. One of the noblemen of Corrèze,[78] M. de +Saint-Victour, has been absent for five years. From the beginning +of the Revolution, although his feudal dues constitute one-half of +the income of his estate, he has given orders that no rigorous +measures shall be employed in their collection, and the result is +that, since 1789, none of them were collected. Moreover, having a +reserve stock of wheat on hand, he lent grain, to the amount of four +thousand francs, to those of his tenants who had none. In short, he +is liberal, and, in the neighboring town, at Ussel, he even passes +for a Jacobin. In spite of all this, he is treated just like the +rest. It is because the parishes in his domain are "clubbist," +governed by associations of moral and practical levelers; in one of +them "the brigands have organized themselves into a municipal body," +and have chosen their leader as procureur-syndic. Consequently, on +the 22nd of August, eighty armed peasants opened the dam of his +large pond, at the risk of submerging a village in the neighborhood, +the inhabitants of which came and closed it up. Five other ponds +belonging to him are demolished in the course of the two following +weeks; fish to the value of from four to five thousand francs are +stolen, and the rest perish in the weeds. In order to make this +expropriation sure, an effort is made to burn his title-deeds; his +chateau, twice attacked in the night, is saved only by the National +Guard of Ussel. His farmers and domestics hesitate, for the time +being, whether or not to cultivate the ground, and come and ask the +steward if they could sow the seeds. There is no recourse to the +proper authorities: the administrators and judges, even when their +own property is concerned, "dare not openly show themselves," +because "they do not find themselves protected by the shield of the +law. " - Popular will, traversing both the old and the new law, +obstinately persists in its work, and forcibly attains its ends. +Thus, whatever the grand terms of liberty, equality, and fraternity +may be, with which the Revolution graces itself, it is, in its +essence, a transfer of property; in this alone consists its chief +support, its enduring energy, its primary impulse and its historical +significance. - Formerly, in antiquity, similar movements were +accomplished, debts were abolished or lessened, the possessions of +the rich were confiscated, and the public lands were divided; but +this operation was confined to a city and limited to a small +territory. For the first time it takes place on a large scale and +in a modern State. - Thus far, in these vast States, when the +deeper foundations have been disturbed, it has ever been on account +of foreign domination or on account of an oppression of conscience. +In France in the fifteenth century, in Holland in the sixteenth and +in England in the seventeenth century, the peasant, the mechanic, +and the laborer had taken up arms against an enemy or in behalf of +their faith. On religious or patriotic zeal has followed the +craving for prosperity and comfort, and the new motive is as +powerful as the others; for in our industrial, democratic, and +utilitarian societies it is this which governs almost all lives, and +excites almost all efforts. Kept down for centuries, the passion +recovers itself by throwing off government and privilege, the two +great weights which have borne it down. At the present time this +passion launches itself impetuously with its whole force, with +brutal insensibility, athwart every kind of proprietorship that is +legal and legitimate, whether it be public or private. The +obstacles it encounters only render it the more destructive , beyond +property it attacks proprietors, and completes plunder with +proscriptions. + +______________________________________________________________________ + +Notes: + + +[1] The expression is that of Jean Bon Saint-André to Mathieu Dumas, +sent to re-establish tranquillity in Montauban (1790): "The day of +vengeance, which we have been awaiting for a hundred years, has +come!" + +[2] De Dampmartin, I. 187 (an eye-witness). + +[3] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223 and 3216. Letters of M. de +Bouzols, major general, residing at Montpellier, May 21, 25, 28, +1790. + +[4] Mary Lafon, "Histoire d'une Ville Protestante ".(with original +documents derived from the archives of Montauban). + +[5] Archives Nationales," F7, 2216. Procés-verbal of the +Municipality of Nîmes and report of the Abbé de Belmont. - Report +of the Administrative commissioners, June 28, 1790. - Petition of +the Catholics, April 20. - Letters of the Municipality, the +commissioners, and M. de Nausel, on the events of May 2 and 3. - +Letter of M. Rabaut Saint-Etienne, May 12 - Petition of the widow +Gas, July 30. - Report (printed) of M. Alquier, February 19, +1791. - Memoir (printed) of the massacre of the Catholics at +Nîmes, by Froment (1790). - New address of the Municipality of +Nîmes, presented by M. de Marguerite, mayor and deputy (1790), +printed. Mercure de France, February 23, 1791. + +[6] The petition is signed by 3,127 persons, besides 1560 who put a +cross declaring that they could not write. The counter-petition of +the club is signed by 262 persons. + +[7] This last item, stated in M. Alquier's report, is denied by the +municipality. According to it, the red rosettes gathered around the +bishop's quarters had no guns. + +[8] An insurrection in the sixteenth century, when the Protestants +fired on the Catholics on St. Michael's Day.-[TR.] + +[9] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3216. Letter of M. de Lespin, Major +at Nîmes, to the commandant of Provence, M de Perigord, July 27, +1790: "The plots and conspiracies which were attributed to the +vanquished party, and which, it was believed, would be discovered in +the depositions of the four hundred men in prison, vanish as the +proceedings advance. The veritable culprits are to be found among +the informers. + +[10] Buchez and Roux, III. 240 (Memorandum of the Ministers, +October 28, 1789). - " Archives Nationales," D, XXIX. 3. +Deliberation of the Municipal council of Vernon (November 4, 1789) + +[11] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. correspondence of M. de +Thiard, November 4, 1789. - See similar occurrences, September 4, +October 23, November 4 and 19, 1789, January 27 and March 27, 1790 + +[12] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3257. Letter from Gex, May 29, +1790. - Buchez and Roux, VII. 198, 369 (September, October, +1790). + +[13] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, Commandant of the four central provinces. Letters of May +25, June 11, 19, and 27, 1790. - " Archives Nationales," D. +XXIX. 4. Deliberations of the district administrators of Bourbon- +Lancy, May 26. + +[14] "Archives Nationales," H. 2453. Minutes of the meeting of a +dozen parishes in Nivernais, June 4. "White bread is to be 2 sous, +and brown bread 11/2 sous. Husbandmen are to have 30 sous, reapers +10 sous, wheelwrights 10 sous, bailiffs 6 sous per league. Butter +is to be at 8 sous, meat at 5 sous, pork at 8 sous, oil at 8 sous +the pint, a square foot of masonry-work 40 sous, a pair of large +sabots 3 sous. All rights of pasturage and of forests are to he +surrendered. The roads are to be free everywhere, as formerly. All +seignorial rents arc to be suppressed. Millers are to take only one +thirty-second of a bushel. The seigneurs of our department are to +give up all servile holidays and ill-acquired property. The curé of +Bièze is simply to say mass at nine o'clock in the morning and +vespers at two o'clock in the afternoon, in summer and winter; he +must marry and bury gratis, it being reserved to us to pay him a +salary. He is to be paid 6 sous for masses, and not to leave his +curé except to repeat his breviary and make proper calls on the men +and women of his parish. Hats must be had from 3 livres to 30 sous. +Nails 3 livres the gross. Curés are to have none but circumspect +females of fifty for domestics. Curés are not to go to either fairs +or markets. All curés are to he on the same footing as the one at +Bièze. There must he no more wholesale dealers in wheat. Law +officers who make unjust seizures must return the money. Farm +leases must expire on St. Martin's Day. M. le Comte, although not +there, M. de Tontenelle, and M. de Commandant must sign this +document without difficulty. M. de Mingot is formally to resign his +place in writing: he went away with his servant-woman - he even +missed his mass on the first Friday of the Fête-Dieu, and it is +supposed that he slept in the woods. Joiners' wages shall he fixed +at the same rate as wheelwrights'. Ox-straps are not to cost over +40 sous, yokes 10 sous. Masters must pay one-half of the tailles . +Notaries are to take only the half of what they had formerly, as +well as comptrollers. The Commune claims the right of protest +against whatever it may have forgotten in the present article, in +fact or in law." (It is signed by about twenty persons, several of +them being mayors and municipal clerks.) + +[15] "Archives Nationales," H. 1453. The same correspondence, May +29, June 11 and 17, September 15, 1790. - ibid, F7, 3257. Letter of +the municipal authorities of Marsigny, May 3; of the municipal +officers of Bourbon-Lancy, June 5. Extract from letters written to +M. Amelot, June 1st. + +[16] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3185, 3186. Letter of the President +of the Tribunal of the district of Laon, February 8, 1792. + +[17] "Archives Nationales F7, 3268. Procés-verbal and observations +of the two commissioners sent to Étampes September 22-25, 1791. + +[18] "Archives Nationales F7, 3265. The following document, among +many others, shows the expedients and conceptions of the popular +imagination. Petition of several inhabitants of the commune of +Forges (Seine Inférieure) "to the good and incorruptible Minister of +the Interior" (October 16, 1792). After three good crops in +succession, the famine still continues. Under the ancient régime +wheat was superabundant; hogs were fed with it, and calves were +fattened with bread. It is certain, therefore, that wheat is +diverted by monopolists and the enemies of the new regime. The +farms are too large; let them he divided. There is too much +pasture-ground: sow it with wheat. Compel each farmer and land- +owner to give a statement of his crop: let the quantity be published +at the church service, and in case of falsehood let the man be put +to death or imprisoned, and his grain he confiscated. Oblige all +the cultivators of the neighborhood to sell their wheat at Forges +only, etc." + +[19] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Report of the commissioners +sent by the department, March 11, 1792 (apropos of the insurrection +of March 4). - Mortimer-Ternaux, I. 381. + +[20] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letters of several mayors, +district administrators, cultivators of Velizy, Villacoublay, La +celle-Saint-Cloud, Montigny, etc. November 12, 1791. - Letter of +M. de Narbonne, January 13, 1792; of M. Sureau, justice of the peace +in the canton of Étampes, September 17, 1791. - Letter of +Bruyères-le-Châtel, January 28, 1792. + +[21] A term applied to brigands at this epoch who demand money and +objects of value, and force their delivery by exposing the soles of +the feet of their victims to a fire. - [TR.] + +[22] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory of +Cher, August 25, 1791. - F7, 3240. Letter of the Directory of +Haute Marne, November 6, 1791. - F7, 3248. Minutes of the +meeting of the members of the department of the Nord, March 18, +1791. - F7, 3250. Minutes of the meeting of the municipal +officers of Montreuil-sur-Mer, October 16, 1791. - F7, 3265. +Letter of the Directory of Seine Infereure, July 22, 1791. - D, +XXIX. 4. Remonstrances of the municipalities assembled at Tostes, +July 21, 1791. - Petition, of the municipal officers of the +districts of Dieppe, Cany, and Caudebec, July 22, 1791. + +[23] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. + +[24] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. +Deliberations of the Directory of Seine-et-Oise, September 20, 1791 +(apropos of the insurrection. September 16, at Étampes). - +Letter of Charpentier, president of the district, September 19. - +Report of the Department Commissioners, March 11, 1792 (on the +insurrection at Brunoy, March 4.) - Report of the Department +Commissioners, March 4, 1792 (on the insurrection at Montlhéry, +February 13 to 20). - Deliberation of the Directory of Seine-et- +Oise, September 16, 1791 (on the insurrection at Corbeil). - +Letters of the mayors of Limours, Lonjumeau, etc. + +[25] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. - Minutes of +the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhéry, February 28, 1792: "We +cannot enter into fuller details without exposing ourselves to +extremities which would be only disastrous to us." - Letter of the +justice of the peace of the canton, February 25: "Public outcry +teaches me that if I issue writs of arrest against those who +massacred Thibault, the people would rise." + +[26] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. Reports of +the gendarmerie, February 24, 1792, and the following days. - +Letter of the sergeant of Limours, March 2; of the manager of the +farm of Plessis-le-Comte, February 23. + +[27] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269, passim. - Memorandum +to the National Assembly by the citizens of Rambouillet, September +17, 1792. + +[28] "Archives Nationales," F7 3268 and 3269, Passim. Minutes of +the meeting of the Municipality of Montlhéry, February 27, 1792. - +Buchez and Roux, XIII. 421, (March, 1792); and XIII., 317. - +Mercure de France, February 25, 1792. (Letters of M. Dauchy, +President of the Directory of the Department; of M. de Gouy, +messenger sent by the minister, etc.) - Moniteur, sitting of +February 15, 1792. + +[29] Decree of September 3, 1792. + +[30] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268 and 3269. Petition of the +citizens of Montfort-l'Amaury, Saint-Léger, Gros-Rouvre, Gelin, +Laqueue, and Méré, to the citizens of Rambouillet. + +[31] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3230. Letter of an administrator of +the district of Vendôme, with the deliberation of the commune of +Vendôme, November 24, 1792. + +[32] Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the administrators +of the Department of Seine-Inférieure, Octobers 23, 1792. - +Letters of the Special Comittee of Rouen, October 22 and 23, 1792: +"The more the zeal and patriotism of the cultivators is stimulated, +the more do they seem determined to avoid the market-places, which +are always in a State of absolute destitution." + +[33] Archives Nationales," F7, 3265. Letter of David, a cultivator, +October 20, 1792. - Letter of the Department Administrators, +October 13, 1792, etc. - Letter (printed) of the minister to the +convention, November 4. - Proclamation of the Provisional +Executive council, October 31, 1792. (The setier of grain of two +hundred and forty pounds is sold at 60 francs in the south, and at +half that sum in the north.) + +[34] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letters of Bonnemant, +September 11, 1792; of Laussel, September 22, 1792. + +[35] "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 28, October 24 and 26, 1790. - The same +disposition lasted. An insurrection occurred in Issoudun after the +three days of July, 1830, against the combined imposts. Seven or +eight thousand wine growers burnt the archives and tax-offices and +dragged an employee through the streets, shouting out at each +street-lamp, "Let him be hung!" The general sent to repress the +outbreak entered the town only through a capitulation; the moment he +reached the Hôtel-de-Ville a man of the Faubourg de Rome put his +pruning-book around his neck, exclaiming, "No more clerks where +there is nothing to do!" + +[36] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. Letter of the Directory of +Cher, April 9, 1790. - Ibid, F7, 3255. Letter of August 4, 1790. +Verdict of the présidial, November 4, 1790. - Letter of the +Municipality of Saint-Etienne, August 5, 1790. + +[37] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248. Letter of M. Sénac de +Mejlhan, April 10, 1790. - Letter of the grands baillis, June 30, +1790. + +[38] Buchez and Roux, VI. 403. Report of Chabroud on the +insurrection at Lyons, July 9 and 10, 1790. - Duvergier, +"Collection des Décrets." Decrees of August 4 and 15, 1790. + +[39] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. Letter of the Minister, July +2, 1790, to the Directory of Rhône-et-Loire. "The King is informed +that, throughout your department, and especially in the districts of +Saint-Etienne and Montbrison, license is carried to the extreme; +that the judges dare not prosecute; that in many places the +municipal officers are at the head of the disturbances; and that, in +others, the National Guard do not obey requisitions." - Letter of +September 5, 1790. "In the bourg of Thisy, brigands have invaded +divers cotton-spinning establishments and partially destroyed them +and after having plundered them, they have sold the goods by public +auction." + +[40] Buchez and Roux, VI. 345. Report of M. Muguet, July 1, 1790. + +[41] Minutes of the meeting of the National Assembly. (Sitting of +October 24, 1789.) - Decree of September 27, 1789, applicable the +1st of October. There are other alleviations applicable on the 1st +of January, 1790. + +[42] Mercure de France, February 27, 1790. (Memorandum of the garde +des sceaux, January 16. - Observations of M. Necker on the report +made by the Financial committee, at the sitting of March 12, 1790. + +[43] "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, April 24, May 4 and 6, 1790: "It is much to be feared that +the tobacco-tax will share the fate of the salt-tax." + +[44] Mercure de France, July 31, 1790 (sitting of July 10.) M. +Lambert, Comptroller General of the Finances, informs the Assembly +of "the obstacles which continual outbreaks, brigandage, and the +maxims of anarchical freedom impose, from one end of France to the +other, on the collection of the taxes. On one side, the people are +led to believe that, if they stubbornly refuse a tax contrary to +their rights, it abolition will be secured. Elsewhere, smuggling is +openly carried on by force; the people favor it, while the National +Guards refuse to act against the nation. In other places hatred is +excited, and divisions between the troops and the overseers at the +toll-houses: the latter are massacred, the bureaus are pillaged, and +the prisons are forced open." - Memorandum from M. Necker to the +National Assembly, July 21, 1790. + +[45] Decrees of March 21 and 22, 1790, applicable April 21 +following. - Decrees of February 19 and March 2, 1791, applicable +May 1 following. + +[46] De Goncourt, "La Societé Française pendant la Révolution," 204. +- Maxime Du Camp, "Paris, sa vie et ses organes," VI. 11. + +[47] "Compte des Revenus et Dépenses au 1er Mai, 1789." - +Memorandum of M. Necker, July 21, 1790. - Memoranda presented by +M. de Montesquiou, September 9, 1791. - Comptes-rendus by the +minister, Clavières, October 5, 1792, February 1, 1792. - Report +of Cambon, February, 1793. + +[48] Boivin-Champeaux, 231. + +[49] Mercure de France, May 28, 1791. (Sitting of May 22.) - +Speech of M. d'Allarde: "Burgundy has paid nothing belonging to +1790." + +[50] Moniteur, sitting of June 1, 1790. Speech by M. Freteau. - +Mercure de France. November 26, 1791. Report by Lafont-Ladebat. + +[51] "Archives Nationales," H, 2453. correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, June 5, 1790, etc. - F7, 3226. Letters of Chenantin, +cultivator, November 7, 1792, also of the prosecuting attorney , +November 6. - F7, 3269. Minutes of the meeting of the +municipality of Clugnac, August 5th, 1792. - F7, 3202. Letter of +the Minister of Justice, Duport, January 3, 1792. "The utter +absence of public force in the district of Montargis renders every +operation of the Government and all execution of the laws +impossible. The arrears of taxes to be collected is here very +considerable, while all proceedings of constraint are dangerous and +impossible to execute, owing to the fears of the bailiffs, who dare +not perform their duties, and the violence of the tax-payers, on +whom there is no check." + +[52] Report of the Committee on Finances, by Ramel, 19th Floréal, +year II (The Constituent Assembly had fixed the real tax of a house +at one-sixth of its letting value.) + +[53] Mercure de France, December 12, 1789. - "Archives +Nationales," F7, 3268. Memorandum from the officers in command of +the detachment of the Paris National Guard stationed at Conflans- +Sainte-Honorine (April, 1790). Certificate of the Municipal +Officers of Poissy, March 31. + +[54] Mercure de France, March 12 and 26, 1791. - "Archives +Nationales," H, 1453. Letter of the police-lieutenant of Blois, +April 22, 1790. - Mercure de France, July 24, 1790. Two of the +murderers exclaimed to those who tried to save one of the keepers, +"Hanging is well done at Paris! Bah, you are aristocrats! We shall +be talked about in the gazettes of Paris." (Deposition of +witnesses.) - Decrees and proclamations regarding the protection +of the forests, November 3 and December 11, 1789. - Another in +October, 1790. - Another June 29, 1791. + +[55] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of the bailli de +Virieu, January 26, 1792. + +[56] Mercure de France, December 3, 1791. (Letter from Sarreluis, +November 15, 1791.) - "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter of +the Municipal Officers of Montargis. January 8, 1792. + +[57] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3268. Letter of the overseer of the +national domains at Rambouillet, October 31, 1792. - Report of +the minister Clavières, February 1. 1793. + +[58] Decrees of August 14, 1792, June 10, 1793. - " Archives +Nationales," Missions des Représentants, D, § 7. (Deliberation of +the district of Troyes, 2 Ventose, an. III.) - At Thunelières, +the drawing took place on the 10th Fructidor, year II, and was done +over again in behalf of a servant of Billy, an influential municipal +officer who "was the soul of his colleagues." - Ibid. Abstract of +operations in the district of Arcis-sur-Aube, 30 Pluviose, year III. +"Two-thirds of the communes hold this kind of property. Most of +them have voted on and effected the partition, or are actually +engaged on it. + +[59] Mercure de France, January 7, 1790. (Chateau of Auxon in +Haute-Saone.) - "Archives Nationales," F7, 3255. (Letter of the +minister to the Directory of Rhone-et-Loire, July 2, 1790.) - +Mercure de France, July 17, 1790. (Report of M. de Broglie, July +13, and decree of July 13-18.) - "Archives Nationales," H, 1453. +(Correspondence of M. de Bercheny, July 21, 1790.) + +[60] Mercure de France, March 19, 1790. Letter from Amien, February +28. (Mallet du Pan publishes in the Mercure only letters which are +signed and authentic.) + +[61] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (Correspondence of M. de +Thiard; letters of Chevalier de Bévy, December 26, 1789, and others +up to April 5, 1790.) - Moniteur, sitting of February 9, 1790. - +Mercure de France, February 6 and March 6, 1790 (list of chateaux). + +[62] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105. (correspondence of M. de +Thiard.) Letters of the Mayor of Nantes, February 16, !790, of the +Municipality of Redon, February 19, etc. + +[63] Mercure de France, February 6 and 27, 1790. (Speech of M. de +Foucault, sittings of February 2 and 5) - Moniteur (same dates). +(Report of Grégoire, February 9; speeches by MM. Sallé de Chaux and +de Noailles, February 9.) - Memorandum of the deputies of the town +of Tulle, drawn up by the Abbé Morellet (from the deliberations and +addresses of eighty-three boroughs and cities in the province). + +[64] In allusion to the feudal custom of paying seignorial dues on +the first of May around a maypole. See further on. [TR] + +[65] Criminal Courts without appeal.-[TR.) + +[66] Moniteur, sitting of March 4, 1790. - Duvergier, decrees of +March 6, 1790, and August 6-10 1790 + +[67] The address is dated February 11, 1793. This singularly comic +document would alone suffice to make the history of the Revolution +perfectly comprehensible. + +[68] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3203. (Letters of the royal +commissioner, April 30 and May 9, 1790.) - Letter of the Duc de +Maillé, May 6. - Report from the administrators of the +department, November 12, 1790. - Moniteur VI. 515. + +[69] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory from +Ille-et-Vilaine, January 30, 1791, and letter from Dinan, January 29 +- Mercure de France, April 2 and 16, 1791. Letters from Rennes, +March 20th; from Redon, March 12. + +[70] So expressed in the minutes of the meeting. + +[71] Moniteur, sitting of December 15, 1790. (Address of the +department of Lot, December 7.) - Sitting of December 20 (Speech +by M. de Foucault.) - Mercure de France, December 18, 1790. +(Letter from Belves, in Perigord, December 7.) - Ibid., January +22, 29, 1791. (Letter from M. de Clarac, January 18.) + +[72] December 17, 1790. + +[73] January 7, 1791. + +[74] Revolutionary archives of the department of Creuse, by Duval. +(Letter of the administrators of the department, March 31, 1791.) - +" Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. (Deliberation of the Directory of +the Department, May 12, 1791 - Minutes of the meeting of the +municipality of La Souterraine, August 23, 1791.) + +[75] "Archives Nationales", F7, 3269. - Order of the directory of +the district of Ribérac, August 5, 1791, and requisitions of the +prosecuting attorney of the department, August 24, and September 11. +- Letter of the king's commissioner, August 22. + +[76] A sort of export duty.-[TR.] + +[77] "Archives Nationales," P7, 3204. - Letter, from the +Directory of the Department, June 2, 1791; September 8 and 22. - +Letter from the Minister of Justice, May 15, 1791. - Letter from +M. de Lentilhac, September 2. - Letter from M. Melon-Padon, Royal +Commissioner, September. - Mercure de France, May 14, 1791. +(Letter of an eye-witness, M.de Loyac, April 25, 1791.) + +[78] "Archives Nationales," F7. 3204. Letters from M. de Saint- +Victour, September 25, October 2 and 10, 1791. - Letter from the +steward of his estate, September 18. + + + + +CHAPTER III. Development of the ruling Passion. + +I. Attitude of the nobles. Their moderate resistance. + +IF popular passion ended in murder it was not because resistance was +great or violent. On the contrary, never did an aristocracy undergo +dispossession with so much patience, or employ less force in the +defense of its prerogatives, or even of its property. To speak with +exactness, the class in question receives blows without returning +them, and when it does take up arms, it is always with the bourgeois +and the National Guard, at the request of the magistrates, in +conformity with the law, and for the protection of persons and +property. The nobles try to avoid being either killed or robbed, +nothing more: for nearly three years they raise no political banner. +In the towns where they exert the most influence and which are +denounced as rebellious, for ex-ample in Mende and Arles, their +opposition is limited to the suppression of riots, the restraining +of the common people, and ensuring respect for the law, It is not +the new order of things against which they conspire, but against +brutal disorder. - At Mende," says the municipal body,[1] "we had +the honor of being the first to furnish the contributions of 1790. +We supplied the place of our bishop and installed his successor +without disturbance, and without the assistance of any foreign force +. . . . We dispersed the members of a cathedral body to which we +were attached by the ties of blood and friendship; we dismissed all, +from the bishop down to the children of the choir. We had but three +communities of mendicant monks, and all three have been suppressed. +We have sold all national possessions without exception." - The +commander of their gendarmerie is, in fact, an old member of the +body-guard, while the superior officers of the National Guard are +gentlemen, or belong to the order of Saint-Louis. It is very +evident that, if they defend themselves against Jacobins, they are +not insurgent against the National Assembly. - In Arles,[2] which +has put down its populace, which has armed itself, which has shut +its gates, and which passes for a focus of royalist conspiracy, the +commissioners sent by the King and by the National Assembly, men of +discretion and of consideration, find nothing, after a month's +investigation, but submission to the decrees and zeal for the public +welfare. + + "Such," they say, "are the men who have been calumniated because, +cherishing the Constitution, they hold fanaticism, demagogues and +anarchy, in horror. If the citizens had not roused themselves when +the moment of danger arrived, they would have been slaughtered like +their neighbors (of Avignon). It is this insurrection against crime +which the brigands have slandered." If their gates were shut it was +because "the National Guard of Marseilles, the same which behaved so +badly in the Comtat, flocked there under the pretext of maintaining +liberty and of forestalling the counter-revolution, but, in reality, +to village the town." + + Vive la Nation! Vive la Loi! Vive le Roi were the only cries heard +at the very quiet and orderly elections that had just taken place. + + "The attachment of the citizens to the Constitution has been spoken +of. . . . Obedience to the laws, the readiest disposition to +discharge public contributions, were remarked by us among these +pretended counter-revolutionaries. Those who are subject to the +license-tax came in crowds to the Hôtel-de-Ville." Scarcely "was the +bureau of receipts opened when it was filled with respectable +people; those on the contrary who style themselves good patriots, +republicans or anarchists, were not conspicuous on this occasion; +but a very small number among them have made their submission. The +rest are surprised at being called upon for money; they had been +given a quite different hope." + +In short, during more than thirty months, and under a steady fire of +threats, outrages, and plunder, the nobles who remain in France +neither commit nor undertake any hostile act against the Government +that persecutes them. None of them, not even M. de Bouillé, attempts +to carry out any real plan of civil war; I find but one resolute man +in their ranks at this date, ready for action, and who labors to +form one militant party against another militant party: he is really +a politician and conspirator; he has an understanding with the Comte +d'Artois; he gets petitions signed for the freedom of the King and +of the Church; he organizes armed companies; he recruits the +peasants; he prepares a Vendée for Languedoc and Provence; and this +person is a bourgeois, Froment of Nîmes.[3] But, at the moment of +action, he finds only three out of eighteen companies, supposed by +him to be enlisted in his cause, that are willing to march with him. +Others remain in their quarters until, Froment being overcome, they +are found there and slaughtered; the survivors, who escape to Jalès, +find, not a stronghold, but a temporary asylum, where they never +succeed in transforming their inclinations into determinations.[4] +- The nobles too, like other Frenchmen, have been subject to the +lasting pressure of monarchical centralization. They no longer form +one body.; they have lost the instinct of association. They no +longer know how to act for themselves; they are the puppets of +administration awaiting an impulse from the center, while at the +center the King, their hereditary general, a captive in the hands of +the people, commands them to be resigned and to do nothing.[5] +Moreover, like other Frenchmen, they have been brought up in the +philosophy of the eighteenth century. "Liberty is so precious," +wrote the Duc de Brissac,[6] "that it may well be purchased with +some suffering; a destroyed feudalism will not prevent the good and +the true from being respected and loved." - They persist in this +illusion for a long time and remain optimists. As they feel kindly +towards the people, they cannot comprehend that the people should +entertain other sentiments toward them; they firmly believe that the +troubles are transient. Immediately on the proclamation of the +Constitution they return in crowds from Spain, Belgium, and Germany; +at Troyes there are not enough post-horses for many days to supply +the emigrants who are coming back.[7] Thus they accept not only the +abolition of feudalism with civil equality, but also political +equality and numerical sovereignty. + +Some consideration for them, some outward signs of respect, a few +bows, would, in all probability, have rallied them sincerely to +democratic institutions. They would soon consent to be confounded +with the crowd, to submit to the common level, and to live as +private individuals. Had they been treated like the bourgeois or +the peasant, their neighbors, had their property and persons been +respected, they might have accepted the new régime without any +bitterness of feeling. That the leading emigrant nobles and those +forming a part of the old court carry on intrigues at Coblentz or at +Turin is natural, since they have lost everything: authority, +places, pensions, sinecures, pleasures, and the rest. But, to the +gentry and inferior nobles of the provinces, chevaliers of Saint- +Louis, subaltern officers and resident proprietors, the loss is +insignificant. The law has suppressed one-half of their seignorial +dues; but by virtue of the same law their lands are no longer +burdened with tithes. Popular elections will not provide them with +places, but they did not enjoy them under the arbitrary ministerial +rule. Little does it matter to them that power, whether ministerial +or popular, has changed hands: they are not accustomed to its +favors, and will pursue their ordinary avocations - the chase, +promenading, reading, visiting, and conversing - provided they, +like the first-comer, the grocer at the corner, or their farm- +servant, find protection, safety, and security on the public road +and in their dwellings.[8] + +II. + +Workings of the popular imagination with respect to them. - The +monomania of suspicion. - The nobles distrusted and treated as +enemies. - Situation of a gentleman on his domain. - M. de. +Bussy + +Popular passion, unfortunately, is a blind power, and, for lack of +enlightenment, suffers itself to be guided by spectral illusions. +Imaginary conceptions work, and work in conformity with the +structure of the excited brain which has given birth to them: + +What if the Ancient Regime should return! + +What if we were obliged to restore the property of the clergy! + +What if we should be again forced to pay the salt tax, the excise, +the taille, and other dues which, thanks to the law, we no longer +pay, besides other taxes and dues that we do not pay in spite of the +law! + +What if all the nobles whose chateaux are burnt, and who have given +rent acquittances at the point of the sword, should find some way to +avenge themselves and recover their former privileges! + +Undoubtedly they brood over these things, make agreements amongst +each other, and plot with the strangers; at the first opportunity +they will fall upon us: we must watch them, repress them, and, if +needs be, destroy them. - This instinctive process of reasoning +prevailed from the outset, and, in proportion as excesses increase, +prevails to a much greater extent. The noble is ever the past, +present, and future creditor, or, at the very least, a possible one, +which means that he is the worst and most odious of enemies. All +his ways are suspicious, even when he is doing nothing; whatever he +may do it is with a view of arming himself. + +M. de Gilliers, who lives with his wife and sister one league out of +Romans in Dauphiny,[9] amuses himself by planting trees and flowers; +a few steps from his house, on another domain, M. de Montchorel, an +old soldier, and M. Osmond, an old lawyer from Paris, with their +wives and children, occupy their leisure hours in somewhat the same +manner. M. de Gilliers having ordered and received wooden water- +pipes, the report spreads that they are cannon. His guest, M. +Servan, receives an English traveling-trunk, which is said to be +full of pistols. When M. Osmond and M. Servan stroll about the +country with pencils and drawing-paper, it is averred that they are +preparing topographical plans for the Spaniards and Savoyards. The +four carriages belonging to the two families go to Romans to fetch +some guests: instead of four there are nineteen, and they are sent +for aristocrats who are coming to hide away in underground passages. +M. de Senneville, decorated with a cordon rouge (red ribbon), pays a +visit on his return from Algiers: the decoration becomes a blue one, +and the wearer is the Comte d'Artois[10] in person. There is +certainly a plot brewing, and at five o'clock in the morning +eighteen communes (two thousand armed men) arrive before the doors +of the two houses; shouts and threats of death last for eight hours; +a gun fired a few paces off at the suspects misfires; a peasant who +is aiming at them says to his neighbor, "Give me a decent gun and I +will plant both my balls in their bodies!" Finally, M. de Gilliers, +who was absent, attending a baptism, returns with the Royal +Chasseurs of Dauphiny and the National Guard of Romans, and with +their assistance delivers his family. - It is only in the towns, +that is, in a few towns, and for a very short time, that an +inoffensive noble who is attacked obtains any aid; the phantoms +which people create for themselves there are less gross; a certain +degree of enlightenment, and a remnant of common sense, prevent the +hatching of too absurd stories. - But in the dark recesses of +rustic brains nothing can arrest the monomania of suspicion. +Fancies multiply there like weeds in a dark hole: they take root and +vegetate until they become belief, conviction, and certainty; they +produce the fruit of hostility and hatred, homicidal and incendiary +ideas. With eyes constantly fixed on the chateau, the village +regards it as a Bastille which must be captured, and, instead of +saluting the lord of the manor, it thinks only of firing at him. + +Let us take up one of these local histories in detail.[11] In the +month of July, 1789, during the jacquerie in Mâçonnais, the parish +of Villiers appealed for assistance to its lord, M. de Bussy, a +former colonel of dragoons. He had returned home, treated the +people of his village to a dinner, and attempted to form them into a +body of guards to protect themselves against incendiaries and +brigands; along with the well-disposed men of the place "he +patrolled every evening to restore tranquillity to the parish." On a +rumor spreading that "the wells were poisoned," he placed sentinels +alongside of all the wells except his own, "to prove that he was +acting for the parish and not for himself." In short, he did all he +could to conciliate the villagers, and to interest them in the +common safety. - But, by virtue of being a noble and an officer he +is distrusted, and it is Perron, the syndic of the commune, to whom +the commune now listens. Perron announces that the King "having +abjured his sworn word," no more confidence is to be placed in him, +and, consequently, neither in his officers nor in the gentry. On M. +de Bussy proposing to the National Guards that they should go to the +assistance of the chateau of Thil, which is in flames, Perron +prevents them, declaring that "these fires are kindled by the nobles +and the clergy." M. de Bussy insists, and entreats them to go, +offering to abandon "his terrier," that is to say all his seignorial +dues, if they will only accompany him and arrest this destruction. +They refuse to do so. He perseveres, and, on being informed that +the chateau of Juillenas is in peril, he collects, after great +efforts, a body of one hundred and fifty men of his parish, and, +marching with them, arrives in time to save the chateau, which a mob +was about to set on fire. But the popular excitement, which he had +just succeeded in calming at Juillenas, has gained the upper hand +amongst his own troop: the brigands have seduced his men, "which +obliges him to lead them back, while, along the road, they seem +inclined to fire at him." - Having returned, he is followed with +threats even to his own house: a band comes to attack his chateau; +finding it on the defensive, they insist on being led to that of +Courcelles. - ?In the midst of all this violence M. de Bussy, with +about fifteen friends and tenants, succeeds in protecting himself +and, by dint of patience, energy, and cool blood, without killing or +wounding a single man, ends in bringing back security throughout the +whole canton. The jacquerie subsides, and it seems as if the newly +restored order would be maintained. He sends for Madame de Bussy to +return, and some months pass away. - The popular imagination, +however, is poisoned, and whatever a gentleman may do, he is no +longer tolerated on his estate. A few leagues from there, on April +29, 1790, M. de Bois-d'Aisy, deputy to the National Assembly, had +returned to his parish to vote at the new elections.[12] "Scarcely +has he arrived," when the commune of Bois-d'Aisy gives him notice +through its mayor "that it will not regard him as eligible." He +attends the electoral meeting which is held in the church there, a +municipal officer in the pulpit inveighs against nobles and priests, +and declares that they must not take part in the elections. All +eyes turn upon M. de Boisd'Aisy, who is the only noble present. +Nevertheless, he takes the civic oath, which nearly costs him dear, +for murmurs arise around him, and the peasants say that he ought to +have been hanged like the lord of Sainte-Colombe, to prevent his +taking the oath. In fact, the evening before, the latter, M. de +Vitteaux, an old man of seventy-four years of age, was expelled from +the primary assembly, then torn out of the house in which he had +sought refuge, half killed with blows, and dragged through the +streets to the open square; his mouth was stuffed with manure, a +stick was thrust into his ears, and "he expired after a martyrdom of +three hours." The same day, in the church of the Capuchins, at +Sémur, the rural parishes which met together excluded their priests +and gentry in the same fashion. M. de Damas and M. de Sainte-Maure +were beaten with clubs and stones; the curé of Massigny died after +six stabs with a knife, and M. de Virieu saved himself as he best +could. - With such examples before them it is probable that many +of the nobles will no longer exercise their right of suffrage. M. +de Bussy does not pretend to do it. He merely tries to prove that +he is loyal to the nation, and that he meditates no wrong to the +National Guard or to the people. He proposed, at the out-set, to +the volunteers of Mâçon to join them, along with his little troop; +they refused to have him and thus the fault is not on his side. On +the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation on his domain, he +sends all his people off to Villiers, furnished with the tricolour +cockade. He himself, with three of his friends, attends the +ceremony to take the oath, all four in uniform, with the cockade on +their hats, without any weapons but their swords and a light cane in +their hands. They salute the assembled National Guards of the three +neighboring parishes, and keep outside the enclosure so as not to +give offense. But they have not taken into account the prejudices +and animosities of the new municipal bodies. Perron, the former +syndic, is now mayor. A man named Bailly, who is the village +shoemaker, is another of the municipal officers; their councilor is +an old dragoon, one of those soldiers probably who have deserted or +been discharged, and who are the firebrands of almost every riot +that takes place. A squad of a dozen or fifteen men leave the ranks +and march up to the four gentlemen, who advance, hat in hand, to +meet them. Suddenly the men aim at them, and Bailly, with a furious +air, demands: "What the devil do you come here for?" M. de Bussy +replies that, having been informed of the Federation, he had come to +take the oath like the rest of the people. Bailly asks why he had +come armed. M. de Bussy remarks that "having been in the service, +the sword was inseparable from the uniform," and had they come there +without that badge they would have been at fault; besides, they must +have observed that they had no other arms. Bailly, still in a rage, +and, moreover, exasperated by such good reasons, turns round with +his gun in his hand towards the leader of the squad and asks him +three times in succession, "Commander, must I fire?" The commander +not daring to take the responsibility of so gratuitous a murder, +remains silent, and finally orders M. de Bussy to "clear out;" +"which I did," says M. de Bussy. - Nevertheless, on reaching home, +he writes to the municipal authorities clearly setting forth the +motive of his coming, and demands an explanation of the treatment he +had received. Mayor Perron throws aside his letter without reading +it, and, on the following day, on leaving the mass, the National +Guards come, by way of menace, to load their guns in sight of M. de +Bussy, round his garden. - A few days after this, at the instigation +of Bailly, two other proprietors in the neighborhood are +assassinated in their houses. Finally, on a journey to Lyons, M. de +Bussy learns "that the chateaux in Poitou are again in flames, and +that the work is to begin again everywhere." - Alarmed at all +these indications, "he resolves to form a company of volunteers, +which, taking up their quarters in his chateau, can serve the whole +canton on a legal requisition." He thinks that about fifteen brave +men will be sufficient. He has already six men with him in the +month of October, 1790; green coats are ordered for them, and +buttons are bought for the uniform. Seven or eight domestics may be +added to the number. In the way of arms and munitions the chateau +contains two kegs of gunpowder which were on hand before 1789, seven +blunderbusses, and five cavalry sabers, left there in passing by M. +de Bussy's old dragoons: to these must be added two double-barreled +fowling-pieces, three soldiers' muskets, five brace of pistols, two +poor common guns, two old swords, and a hunting-knife. Such is the +garrison, such the arsenal, and these are the preparations, so well +justified and so slight, which prejudice conjointly with gossip is +about to transform into a great conspiracy. + +The chateau, in effect, was an object of suspicion in the village +from the very first day. All its visitors, whenever they went out +or came in, with all the details of their actions, were watched, +denounced, exaggerated, and misinterpreted. If through the +awkwardness or carelessness of so many inexperienced National +Guards, a stray ball reaches a farm-house one day in broad daylight, +it comes from the chateau; it is the aristocrats who have fired upon +the peasants. - There is the same state of suspicion in the +neighboring towns. The municipal body of Valence, hearing that two +youths had ordered coats made "of a color which seemed suspicious," +send for the tailor; he confesses the fact, and adds that "they +intended to put the buttons on themselves." Such a detail is +alarming. An inquiry is set on foot and the alarm increases; people +in a strange uniform have been seen passing on their way to the +chateau of Villiers; from thence, on reaching the number of two +hundred, they will go and join the garrison of Besançon; they will +travel four at a time in order to avoid detection. At Besançon they +are to meet a corps of forty thousand men, commanded by M. +Autichamp, which corps is to march on to Paris to carry off the +King, and break up the National Assembly. The National Guards along +the whole route are to be forced into the lines. At a certain +distance each man is to receive 1,200 francs, and, at the end of the +expedition, is to be enrolled in the Artois Guard, or sent home with +a recompense of 12,000 francs. - ?Meanwhile, the Prince de Condé; +with forty thousand men, will come by the way of Pont Saint-Esprit +in Languedoc, rally the disaffected of Carpentras and of the Jalès +camp to his standard, and occupy Cette and the other seaports; and +finally, the Comte d'Artois, on his side, will enter by Pont- +Beauvoisin with thirty thousand men. - A horrible discovery! The +municipal authorities of Valence immediately inform those of Lyons, +Besançon, Châlons, Maçon, and others beside. On the strength of +this the municipal body of Maçon, "considering that the enemies of +the Revolution are ever making the most strenuous efforts to +annihilate the Constitution which secures the happiness of this +empire," and "that it is highly important to frustrate their +designs," sends two hundred men of its National Guard to the chateau +of Villiers," empowered to employ armed force in case of +resistance." For greater security, this troop is joined by the +National Guards of the three neighboring parishes. M. de Bussy, on +being told that they were climbing over the wall into his garden, +seizes a gun and takes aim, but does not fire, and then, the +requisition being legal, throws all open to them. There are found in +the house six green coats, seven dozens of large buttons, and +fifteen dozens of small ones. The proof is manifest. He explains +what his project was and states his motive - it is a mere pretext. +He makes a sign, as an order, to his valet - there is a positive +complicity. M. de Bussy, his six guests, and the valet, are +arrested and transported to Maçon. A trial takes place, with +depositions and interrogatories, in which the truth is elicited in +spite of the most adverse testimony; it is clear that M. de Bussy +never intended to do more than defend himself. - But prejudice is +a blindfold to hostile eyes. It cannot be admitted that, under a +constitution which is perfect, an innocent man could incur danger; +the objection is made to him that "it is not natural for an armed +company to be formed to resist a massacre by which it is not menaced +;" they are convinced beforehand that he is guilty. On a decree of +the National Assembly the minister had ordered all accused persons +to be brought to Paris by the constabulary and hussars; the National +Guard of Maçon, "in the greatest state of agitation," declares that, +"as it had arrested M. de Bussy, it would not consent to his +transport by any other body. . . Undoubtedly, the object is to +allow him to escape on the way," but it will know how to keep its +captive secure. The guard, in fine, of its own authority, escorts +M. de Bussy to Paris, into the Abbaye prison, where he is kept +confined for several months - so long, indeed, that, after a new +trial and investigation, the absurdity of the accusation being too +palpable, they are obliged to set him at liberty. - Such is the +situation of most of the gentry on their own estates, and M. de +Bussy, even acquitted and vindicated, will act wisely in not +returning home. + +III. + +Domiciliary visits. - The fifth jacquerie. - Burgundy and +Lyonnais in 1791. - M. de Chaponay and M. Guillin-Dumoutet + +He would be nothing but a hostage there. Alone against thousands, +sole survivor and representative of an abolished régime which all +detest, it is the noble against whom everybody turns whenever a +political shock seems to shake the new régime. He is at least +disarmed, as he might be dangerous, and, in these popular +executions, brutal instincts and appetites break loose like a bull +that dashes through a door and rages through a dwelling-house. In +the same department, some months later, on the news arriving of the +arrest of the King at Varennes, "all nonjuring[13] priests and ci- +devant nobles are exposed to the horrors of persecution." Bands +forcibly enter houses to seize arms: Commarin, Grosbois, Montculot, +Chaudenay, Créancé, Toisy, Chatellenot, and other houses are thus +visited, and several are sacked. During the night of June 26-27, +1791, at the chateau of Créancé "there is pillaging throughout; the +mirrors are broken, the pictures are torn up, and the doors are +broken down." The master of the house, "M. de Comeau-Créncé, Knight +of St. Louis, horribly maltreated, is dragged to the foot of the +stairs, where he lies as if dead:" previous to this, "he was forced +to give a considerable contribution, and to refund all penalties +collected by him before the Revolution as the local lord of the +manor. " - Two other proprietors in the neighborhood, both +Knights of St. Louis, are treated in the same way. "That is the +way in which three old and brave soldiers are rewarded for their +services!" A fourth, a peaceable man, escapes beforehand, leaving +his keys in the locks and his gardener in the house. +Notwithstanding this, the doors and the clothes-presses were broken +open, the pillaging lasting five hours and a half; with threats of +setting the house on fire if the seigneur did not make his +appearance. Questions were asked "as to whether he attended the +mass of the new curé whether he had formerly exacted fines, and +finally, whether any of the inhabitants had any complaint to make +against him." No complaint is made; on the contrary, he is rather +beloved. - But, in tumults of this sort, a hundred madmen and +fifty rogues prescribe the law to the timid and the indifferent. +These outlaws declared that "they were acting under orders; they +compelled the mayor and prosecuting attorney to take part in their +robberies; they likewise took the precaution to force a few honest +citizens, by using the severest threats, to march along with them." +These people come the next day to apologize to the pillaged +proprietor, while the municipal officers draw up a statement of the +violence practiced against them. The violence nevertheless, is +accomplished, and, as it will go unpunished, it is soon to be +repeated. + +A beginning and an end are already made in the two neighboring +departments. There, especially in the south, nothing is more +instructive than to see how an outbreak stimulated by enthusiasm for +the public good immediately degenerates under the impulse of private +interest, and ends in crime. - Around Lyons,[14] under the same +pretext and at the same date, similar mobs perform similar +visitations, and, on all these occasions, "the rent-rolls are burnt, +and houses are pillaged and set on fire. Municipal authority, +organized for the security of property, is in many hands but one +facility more for its violation. The National Guard seems to be +armed merely for the protection of robbery and disorder." - For +more than thirty years, M. de Chaponay, the father of six children +of whom three are in the service, expended his vast income on his +estate of Beaulieu, giving occupation to a number of persons, men, +women, and children. After the hailstorm of 1761, which nearly +destroyed the village of Moranée, he rebuilt thirty-three houses, +furnished others with timber for the framework, supplied the +commune with wheat, and, for several years, obtained for the +inhabitants a diminution of their taxation. In 1790, he celebrated +the Federation Festival on a magnificent scale, giving two banquets, +one of a hundred and thirty seats, for the municipal bodies and +officers of the National Guards in the vicinity, and the other of a +thousand seats for the privates. If any of the gentry had reason to +believe himself popular and safe it was certainly this man. - On +the 24th of June, 1791, the municipal authorities of Moranée, +Lucenay, and Chazelai, with their mayors and National Guards, in all +nearly two thousand men, arrive at the chateau with drums beating +and flags flying. M. de Chaponay goes out to meet them, and begs to +know to what he owes "the pleasure" of their visit. They reply that +they do not come to offend him, but to carry out the orders of the +district, which oblige them to take possession of the chateau and to +place in it a guard of sixty men: on the following day the +"district" and the National Guard of Villefranche are to come and +inspect it. - Be it noted that these orders are imaginary, for M. +de Chaponay asks in vain to see them; they cannot be produced. The +cause of their setting out, probably, is the false rumor that the +National Guard of Villefranche is coming to deprive them of a booty +on which they had calculated. - Nevertheless M. de Chaponay +submits; he merely requests the municipal officers to make the +search themselves and in an orderly manner. Upon this the +commandant of the National Guard of Lucenay exclaims, with some +irritation, that "all are equal and all must go in," and at the same +moment all rush forward. "M. de Chaponay orders the apartments to +be opened; they immediately shut them up, purposely to let the +sappers break through the doors with their axes." - Everything is +pillaged, "plate, assignats, stocks of linen, laces and other +articles; the trees of the avenues are hacked and mutilated; the +cellars are emptied, the casks are rolled out on the terrace, the +wine is suffered to run out, and the chateau keep is demolished. . +. . The officers urge on those that are laggard." Towards nine +o'clock in the evening M. de Chaponay is informed by his servants +that the municipal authorities have determined upon forcing him to +sign an abandonment of his feudal dues and afterwards beheading him. +He escapes with his wife through the only door which is left +unguarded, wanders about all night, exposed to the gun-shots of the +squads which are on his track, and reaches Lyons only on the +following day. - ?Meanwhile the pillagers send him notice that if +he does not abandon his rentals, they will cut down his forests and +burn up everything on his estate. The chateau, indeed, is fired +three distinct times, while, in the interval, the band sack another +chateau at Bayère, and, on again passing by that of M. de Chaponay, +demolish a dam which had cost 10,000 livres. - The public +prosecutor, for his part, remains quiet, notwithstanding the appeals +to him: he doubtless says to himself that a gentleman whose house +has been searched is lucky to have saved his life, and that others, +like M. Guillin-Dumoutet, for example, have not been as fortunate. + +The latter gentleman, formerly captain of a vessel belonging to the +India Company, afterwards Commandant at Senegal, now retired from +active life, occupied his chateau of Poleymieux with his young wife +and two infant children, his sisters, nieces, and sister-in-law - +in all, ten women belonging to his family and domestic service - +one Negro servant and himself; an old man of sixty years of age; +here is a haunt of militant conspirators which must be disarmed as +soon as possible.[15] Unfortunately, a brother of M. Guillin, +accused of treason to the nation, had been arrested ten months +previously, which was quite sufficient for the clubs in the +neighborhood. In the month of December, 1790, the chateau had +already been ransacked by the people of the parishes in the +vicinity: nothing was found, and the Department first censured and +afterwards interdicted these arbitrary searches. On this occasion +they will manage things better. - On the 26th of June, 1791, at +ten o'clock in the morning, the municipal body of Poleymicux, along +with two other bodies in their scarves, and three hundred National +Guards, are seen approaching, under the usual pretext of searching +for arms. Madame Guillin presents herself; reminds them of the +interdict of the Department, and demands the legal order under which +they act. They refuse to give it. M. Guillin descends in his turn +and offers to open his doors to them if they will produce the order. +They have no order to show him. During the colloquy a certain man +named Rosier, a former soldier who had deserted twice, and who is +now in command of the National Guard, seizes M. Guillin by the +throat; the old captain defends himself; presents a pistol at the +man, which misses fire, and then, throwing the fellow off, withdraws +into the house, closing the door behind him. - Soon after this, the +tocsin sounds in the neighborhood, thirty parishes start up, and two +thousand men arrive. Madame Guillin, by entreaties, succeeds in +having delegates appointed, chosen by the crowd, to inspect the +chateau. These delegates examine the apartments, and declare that +they can find nothing but the arms ordinarily kept on hand. This +declaration is of no effect: the multitude, whose excitement is +increased by waiting, feel their strength, and have no idea of +returning empty-handed. A volley is fired, and the chateau windows +are riddled with balls. As a last effort Madame Guillin, with her +two children in her arms, comes out, and going to the municipal +officers, calls upon them to do their duty. Far from doing this +they retain her as a hostage, and place her in such a position that, +if there is firing from the chateau, she may receive the bullets. +Meanwhile, the doors are forced, the house is pillaged from top to +bottom, and then set on fire; M. Guillin, who seeks refuge in the +keep, is almost reached by the flames. At this moment, some of the +assailants, less ferocious than the rest, prevail upon him to +descend, and they answer for his life. Scarcely has he shown +himself when others fall on him; they cry that he must be killed, +that he has a life-rent of 36,000 francs from the State, and "this +will be so much saved for the nation." "He is hacked to pieces +alive;" his head is cut off and borne upon a pike; his body is cut +up, and sent piece by piece to each parish; several wash their hands +in his blood, and besmear their faces with it. It seems as if +tumult, clamor, incendiarism, robbery, and murder had aroused in +them not only the cruel instincts of the savage, but the carnivorous +appetites of the brute; some of them, seized by the gendarmerie at +Chasselay, had roasted the dead man's arm and dined upon it.[16] - +Madame Guillin, who is saved through the compassion of two of the +inhabitants of the place, succeeds, after encountering many dangers, +in reaching Lyons; she and her children lost everything, "the +chateau, its dependencies, the crop of the preceding year, wine, +grain, furniture, plate, ready money, assignats, notes, and +contracts." Ten days later, the department gives notice to the +National Assembly that "similar projects are still being plotted and +arranged, and that there are (always) threats of burning chateaux +and rent-rolls;" that no doubt of this can possibly exist: "the +inhabitants of the country only await the opportunity, to renew +these scenes of horror."[17] + +IV. + +The nobles obliged to leave the rural districts. - They take +refuge in towns. - The dangers they incur. - The eighty-two +gentlemen of Caen + +Amidst these multiplied and reviving Jacqueries there is nothing +left but flight, and the nobles, driven out of the rural districts, +seek refuge in the towns. But here also a jacquerie awaits them. As +the effects of the Constitution are developed, successive +administrations become feebler and more partial; the unbridled +populace has become more excitable and more violent; the enthroned +club has become more suspicious and more despotic. Henceforth the +club, through or in opposition to the administrative bodies, leads +the populace, and the nobles will find it as hostile as the +peasants. All their reunions, even when liberal, are closed like +that in Paris, through the illegal interference of mobs, or through +the iniquitous action of the popular magistrates. All their +associations, even when legal and salutary, are broken up by brute +force or by municipal intolerance, They are punished for having +thought of defending themselves, and slaughtered because they try to +avoid assassination. - Three or four hundred gentlemen, who were +threatened on their estates, sought refuge with their families in +Caen;[18] and they trusted to find one there, for, by three +different resolutions, the municipal body promised them aid and +protection. Unfortunately, the club thinks otherwise, and, on +August 23, 1791, prints and posts up a list of their names and +residences, declaring that since "their suspected opinions have +compelled them to abandon the rural districts," they are emigrants +in the interior;" from which it follows that "their conduct must be +scrupulously watched," because "it may be the effect of some +dangerous plot against the country." Fifteen are especially +designated; among others "the former curé of Saint-Loup, the great +bloodhound of the aristocrats, and all of them very suspicious +persons, harboring the worst intentions." - Thus denounced and +singled out, it is evident that they can no longer sleep peacefully: +moreover, now that their addresses are published, they are openly +threatened with domiciliary visits and violence. As to the +administrative authorities, their intervention cannot be expected +on; the department itself gives notice to the minister that, as the +law stands, it cannot put the chateau in the hands of the +regulars,[19] as this would, it is said, excite the National Guard. +Besides, how without an army is this post to be wrested from the +hands which hold it? It is impossible with only the resources which +the Constitution affords us." Thus, in the defense of the oppressed, +the Constitution is a dead letter. - Hence it is that the +refugees, finding protection only in themselves, undertake to help +each other. No association can be more justifiable, more pacific, +more innocent. Its object is "to demand the execution of the laws +constantly violated, and to protect persons and property." In each +quarter they will try to bring together "all good citizens;" they +will form a committee of eight members, and, in each committee, +there will always be "an officer of justice or a member of the +administrative body with an officer or subaltern of the National +Guard." Should any citizen be attacked in person or property the +association will draw up a petition in his favor. Should any +particular act of violence require the employment of public force, +the members of the district will assemble under the orders of the +officer of justice and of the National Guard to enforce obedience. +"In all possible cases" they "will avoid with the greatest care any +insult of individuals; they will consider that the object of the +meeting is solely to ensure public peace, and that protection from +the law to which every citizen is entitled." - In short, they are +volunteer constables. Turn the inquiry which way they will, a +hostile municipality and a prejudiced tribunal can put no other +construction upon it; they find nothing else. The only evidence +against one of the leaders is a letter in which he tries to prevent +a gentleman from going to Coblentz, striving to prove to him that he +will be more useful at Caen. The principal evidence against the +association is that of a townsman whom they wished to enroll, and of +whom they demanded his opinions. He had stated that he was in favor +of the execution of the laws; upon which they told him: "In this +case you belong to us, and are more of an aristocrat than you think +you are. Their aristocracy, in effect, consists wholly in the +suppression of brigandage. No claim is more unpalatable, because it +interposes an obstacle to the arbitrary acts of a party which thinks +it has a right to do as it pleases. On the 4th of October the +regiment of Aunis left the town, and all good citizens were handed +over to the militia, "in uniform or not," they alone being armed. +That day, for the first time in a long period, M. Bunel, the former +curé of Saint-Jean, with the consent and assistance of his sworn +successor, officiates at the mass. There is a large gathering of +the orthodox, which causes uneasiness among the patriots. The +following day M. Bunel is to say mass again; whereupon, through the +municipal authorities, the patriots forbid him to officiate, to +which he submits. Nevertheless, for lack of due notice, a crowd of +the faithful have arrived and the church is filled. A dangerous +mob! The patriots and National Guards arrive "to preserve order," +which has not been disturbed, and which they alone disturb. +Threatening words are exchanged between the servants of the nobles +and the National Guard. The latter draw their swords, and a young +man is hewn down and trampled on; M. de Saffrey, who comes to his +assistance unarmed, is himself cut down and pierced with bayonets, +and two others are wounded. - Meanwhile, in a neighboring street, +M. Achard de Vagogne, seeing a man maltreated by armed men, +approaches, in order to make peace. The man is shot down and M. +Achard is covered with saber and bayonet gashes: "there is not a +thread on him which is not dyed with the blood that ran down even +into his shoes." In this condition he is led to the chateau along +with M. de Saifrey. Others break down the door of the house of M. +du Rosel, an old officer of seventy-five years, of which fifty-nine +have been passed in the service, and pursue him even over the wall +of his garden. A fourth squad seizes M. d'Héricy, another venerable +officer, who, like M. du Rosel, was ignorant of all that was going +on, and was quietly leaving for his country seat. - The town is +full of tumult, and, through the orders of the municipal +authorities, the general alarm is sounded. + +The time for the special constables to act has come; about sixty +gentlemen, with a number of merchants and artisans, set out. +According to the rules of their association, and with significant +scruple, they beg an Officer of the National Guard, who happens to +be passing, to put himself at their head; they reach the Place +Saint-Sauveur, encounter the superior officer sent after them by the +municipal authorities, and, at his first command, follow him to the +Hôtel-de-Ville. On reaching this, without any resistance on their +part, they are arrested, disarmed, and searched. The rules and +regulations of their league are found on their persons; they are +evidently hatching a counter-revolution. The uproar against them is +terrible. "To keep them safe," they are conducted to the chateau, +while many of them are cruelly treated on the way by the crowd. +Others, seized in their houses - M. Levaillant and a servant of M. +d'Héricy - are carried off bleeding and pierced with bayonets. +Eighty-two prisoners are thus collected, while fears are constantly +entertained that they may escape. "Their bread and meat are cut up +into little pieces, to see that nothing is concealed therein; the +surgeons, who are likewise treated as aristocrats, are denied access +to them." Nocturnal visits are, at the same time, paid to their +houses; every stranger is ordered to present himself at the Hôtel- +de-Ville, to state why he comes to the town to reside, and to give +up his arms; every nonjuring priest is forbidden to say mass. The +Department, which is disposed to resist, has its hands tied and +confesses its powerlessness. "The people," it writes, "know their +strength: they know that we have no power; excited by disreputable +citizens, they permit whatever serves their passions or their +interests; they influence our deliberations, and force us to those +which, under other circumstances, we should carefully avoid." - +Three days after this the victors celebrate their triumph "with +drums, music, and lighted torches; the people are using hammers to +destroy on the mansions the coats-of-arms which had previously been +covered over with plaster;" the defeat of the aristocrats is +accomplished. - And yet their innocence is so clearly manifest +that the Legislative Assembly itself cannot help recognizing it. +After eleven weeks of durance the order is given to set them free, +with the exception of two, a youth of less than eighteen years and +an old man, almost an octogenarian, on whom two letters, +misunderstood, still leave a shadow of suspicion. - But it is not +certain that the people are disposed to give them up. The National +Guard refuses to discharge them in open daylight and serve as their +escort. Even the evening before numerous groups of women, a few men +mingled with them, talk of murdering all those fellows the moment +they set foot outside the chateau." They have to be let out at two +o'clock in the morning, secretly, under a strong guard, and to leave +the town at once as six months before they left the rural districts. +- Neither in country nor in the town[20] are they under the +protection of civil or religious law; a gentleman, who is not +compromised in the affair, remarks that their situation is worse +than that of Protestants and vagabonds during the worst years of the +Ancient Régime. of them and who abuse the use of them? Why should +one be on an equality for purposes of payment, and distinguished + +"Does not the law allow (nonjuring) priests the liberty of saying +mass? Why then can we not listen to their mass except at the risk of +our lives? Does not the law command all citizens to preserve the +public peace? Why then are those whom the cry to arms has summoned +forth to maintain public order assailed as aristocrats? Why is the +refuge of citizens which the laws have declared sacred, violated +without orders, without accusation, without any appearance of wrong- +doing? Why are all prominent citizens and those who are well off +disarmed in preference to others? Are weapons exclusively made for +those but lately deprived only for purposes of annoyance and insult" + +He has spoken right. Those who now rule form an aristocracy in an +inverse sense, contrary to the law, and yet more contrary to +nature.[21] For, by a violent inversion, the lower grades in the +graduated scale of civilization and culture now are found uppermost, +while the superior grades are found at the uniform. The Constitution +having suppressed inequality, this has again arisen in an inverse +sense. The populace, both of town and country, taxes, imprisons, +pillages, and slays more arbitrarily, more brutally, more unjustly +than feudal barons, and for its serfs or villains it has its ancient +chieftains. + +V. +Persecutions in private life. + +Let us suppose that, in order not to excite suspicion, they are +content to be without arms, to form no more associations, not to +attend elections, to shut themselves up at home, to strictly confine +themselves within the harmless precincts of domestic life. The same +distrust, the same animosity, still pursues them there. - At +Cahors,[22] where the municipal authorities, in spite of the law, +had just expelled the Carthusians who, under legal sanction, chose +to remain and live in common, two of the monks, before their +departure, give to M. de Beaumont, their friend and neighbor, four +dwarf pear-trees and some onions in blossom in their garden. On the +strength of this, the municipal body decree that + + "the sieur Louis de Beaumont, formerly count, is guilty of having +audaciously and maliciously damaged national property," condemns him +to pay a fine of three hundred livres, and orders "that the four +pear-trees, pulled up in the so-called Carthusian garden, be brought +on the following day, Wednesday, to the door of the said sieur de +Beaumont, and there remain for four consecutive days, guarded, day +and night, by two fusiliers, at the expense of the said sieur de +Beaumont; and upon the said trees shall be placed the following +inscription, to wit: Louis de Beaumont, destroyer of the national +property. And the judgment herewith rendered shall be printed to +the number of one thousand copies, read, published, and posted at +the expense of the said sieur de Beaumont, and duly addressed +throughout the department of Lot to the districts and municipalities +thereof, as well as to all societies of the Friends of the +Constitution and of Liberty." + +Every line of this legal invective discloses the malignant envy of +the local recorder, who revenges himself for having formerly bowed +too low. - The following year, M. de Beaumont, having formally and +under notarial sanction bought a church which was sold by the +district, along with the ornaments and objects of worship it +contained, the mayor and municipal officers, followed by a lot of +workmen, come and carry away and destroy everything - +confessionals, altars, and even the saint's canonised body, which +had been interred for one hundred and fifty years: so that, after +their departure, "the edifice resembled a vast barn filled with +ruins and rubbish."[23] It must be noted that, at this very time, M. +de Beaumont is military commandant at Perigord. The treatment he +undergoes shows what is in reserve for ordinary nobles. I do not +recommend them to attend official sales of property.[24] - Will +they even be free in their domestic enjoyments, and on entering a +drawing-room are they sure of quietly passing an evening there? - +At Paris, even, a number of persons of rank, among them the +ambassadors of Denmark and Venice, are listening to a concert in a +mansion in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré given by a foreign virtuoso, +when a cart enters the court loaded with fifty bundles of hay, the +monthly supply for the horses. A patriot, who sees the cart driven +in, imagines that the King is concealed underneath the hay, and that +he has come there for the purpose of plotting with the aristocrats +about his flight. A mob gathers, and the National Guard arrives, +along with a commissioner, while four grenadiers stand guard around +the cart. The commissioner, in the meantime, inspects the hotel; he +sees music-stands, and the arrangements for a supper; comes back, +has the cart unloaded, and states to the people that he has found +nothing suspicious. The people do not believe him, and demand a +second inspection. This is made by twenty-four delegates; the +bundles of hay, moreover, are counted, and several of them are +unbound, but all in vain. Disappointed and irritated, having +anticipated a spectacle, the crowd insists that all the invited +guests, men and women, should leave the house on foot, and only get +into their carriages at the end of the street. "First comes a file +of empty carriages;" next, "all the guests in their evening attire, +and the ladies in full dress, trembling with fear, with downcast +eyes, between two rows of men, women, and children, who stare them +in the face, and overwhelm them with insults."[25] + +Suspected of holding secret meetings, and called to account in his +own house, has the noble at least the right to frequent a public +saloon, to eat in a restaurant, and to take the fresh air in a +balcony? - The Vicomte de Mirabeau, who has just dined in the +Palais-Royal, stands at the window to take the air, and is +recognized; there is a gathering, and the cry is soon heard, "Down +with Mirabeau-Tonneau (barrel-Mirabeau)!"[26] "Gravel is flung at +him from all sides, and occasionally stones. One of the window- +panes is broken by a stone. Immediately picking up the stone, he +shows it to the crowd, and, at the same time, quietly places it on +the sill of the window, in token of moderation." There is a loud +outcry; his friends force him to withdraw inside, and Bailly, the +mayor, comes in person to quiet the aggressors. In this case there +are good reasons for their hatred. The gentleman whom they stone is +a bon-vivant, large and fat, fond of rich epicurean Suppers; and on +this account the populace imagine him to be a monster, and even +worse, an ogre. With regard to these nobles, whose greatest +misfortune is to be over-polished and too worldly, the over-excited +imagination revives its old nursery tales. - M. de Montlosier, +living in the Rue Richelieu, finds that he is watched on his way to +the National Assembly. One woman especially, from thirty to thirty- +two years of age, who sold meat at a stall in the Passage Saint- +Guillaume, "regarded him with special attention. As soon as she saw +him coming she took up a long, broad knife which she sharpened +before him, casting furious looks at him." He asks his housekeeper +what this means. Two children of that quarter have disappeared, +carried off by gipsies, and the report is current that M. de +Montlosier, the Marquis de Mirabeau, and other deputies of the +"right," meet together "to hold orgies in which they eat little +children." + +In this state of public opinion there is no crime which is not +imputed to them, no insult which is not freely bestowed on them. +"Traitors, tyrants, conspirators, assassins," such is the current +vocabulary of the clubs and newspapers in relation to them. +"Aristocrat" signifies all this, and whoever dares to refute the +calumny is himself an aristocrat. - At the Palais-Royal, it is +constantly repeated that M. de Castries, in his last duel, made use +of a poisoned sword, and an officer of the navy who protests against +this false report is himself accused, tried on the spot, and +condemned "to be shut up in the guard-house or thrown into the +fountain."[27] - The nobles must beware of defending their honor +in the usual way and of meeting an insult with a challenge! At +Castelnau, near Cahors,[28] one of those who, the preceding year, +marched against the incendiaries, M. de Bellud, Knight of Saint- +Louis, on coming down the public square with his brother, a +guardsman, is greeted with cries of "The aristocrat! to the lamp +post !" His brother is in a morning coat and slippers, and not +wishing to get into trouble they do not reply. A squad of the +National Guard, passing by, repeats the cry, but they still remain +silent. The shout continues, and M. de Bellud, after some time has +elapsed, begs the captain to order his men to be quiet. He refuses, +and M. de Bellud demands satisfaction outside the town. At these +words the National Guards rush at M. de Bellud with fixed bayonets. +His brother receives a saber-cut on the neck, while he, defending +himself with his sword, slightly wounds the captain and one of the +men. The two brothers, alone against the whole body, fight on, +retreating to their house, in which they are blockaded. Towards +seven o'clock in the evening, two or three hundred National Guards +from Cahors arrive to reinforce the besiegers. The house is taken, +and the guardsman, escaping across the fields, sprains his ankle and +is captured. M. de Bellud, who has found his way into another +house, continues to defend himself there: the house is set on fire +and burnt, together with two others alongside of it. Taking refuge +in a cellar he still keeps on firing. Bundles of lighted straw are +thrown in at the air-holes. Almost suffocated, he springs out, +kills his first assailant with a shot from one pistol, and himself +with another. His head is cut off with that of his servant. The +guardsman is made to kiss the two heads, and, on his demanding a +glass of water, they fill his mouth with the blood which drops from +the severed head of his brother. The victorious gang then set out +for Cahors, with the two heads stuck on bayonets, and the guardsman +in a cart. It comes to a halt before a house in which a literary +circle meets, suspected by the Jacobin club. The wounded man is +made to descend from the cart and is hung: his body is riddled with +balls, and everything the house contains is broken up, "the +furniture is thrown out of the windows, and the house pulled down." +- Every popular execution is of this character, at once prompt and +complete, similar to those of an Oriental monarch who, on the +instant, without inquiry or trial, avenges his offended majesty, +and. for every offense, knows no other punishment than death. At +Tulle, M. de Massy,[29] lieutenant of the "Royal Navarre," having +struck a man that insulted him, is seized in the house in which he +took refuge, and, in spite of the three administrative bodies, is at +once massacred. - At Brest, two anti-revolutionary caricatures +having been drawn with charcoal on the walls of the military coffee- +house, the excited crowd lay the blame of it on the officers; one of +these, M. Patry, takes it upon himself, and, on the point of being +torn to pieces, attempts to kill himself. He is disarmed, but, when +the municipal authorities come to his assistance, they find him +"already dead through an infinite number of wounds," and his head is +borne about on the end of a pike.[30] - + +VI. + +Conduct of officers. - Their self-sacrifice.- Disposition of the +soldiery. - Military outbreaks.- Spread and increase of +insubordination. - Resignation of the officers. + +Much better would it be to live under an Eastern king, for he is not +found everywhere, nor always furious and mad, like the populace. +Nowhere are the nobles safe, neither in public nor in private life, +neither in the country nor in the towns, neither associated together +nor separate. Popular hostility hangs over them like a dark and +threatening cloud from one end of the territory to the other, and the +tempest bursts upon them in a continuous storm of vexations, outrages, +calumnies, robberies, and acts of violence; here, there, and almost +daily, bloody thunderbolts fall haphazard on the most inoffensive +heads, on an old man asleep, on a Knight of Saint-Louis taking a +walk, on a family at prayers in a church. But, in this aristocracy, +crushed down in some places and attacked everywhere, the thunderbolt +finds one predestined group which attracts it and on which it constantly +falls, and that is the corps of officers. + +VI. + +Conduct of the officers. - Their self-sacrifice. - Disposition +of the soldiery. - Military outbreaks. - Spread and increase of +insubordination. - Resignation of the officers. + +With the exception of a few fops, frequenters of drawing-rooms, and +the court favorites who have reached a high rank through the +intrigues of the antechamber, it was in this group, especially in +the medium ranks, that true moral nobility was then found. Nowhere +in France was there so much tried, substantial merit. A man of +genius, who associated with them in his youth, rendered them this +homage: many among them are men possessing " the most amiable +characters and minds of the highest order."[31] Indeed, for most of +them, military service was not a career of ambition, but an +obligation of birth. It was the rule in each noble family for the +eldest son to enter the army, and advancement was of but little +consequence. He discharged the debt of his rank; this sufficed for +him, and, after twenty or thirty years of service, the order of +Saint-Louis, and sometimes a meager pension, were all he had a right +to expect. Amongst nine or ten thousand officers, the great +majority coming from the lower and poorer class of provincial +nobles, body-guards, lieutenants, captains, majors, lieutenant- +colonels, and even colonels, have no other pretension. Satisfied +with favors[32] restricted to their subordinate rank, they leave the +highest grades of the service to the heirs of the great families, to +the courtiers or to the parvenus at Versailles, and content +themselves with remaining the guardians of public order, and the +brave defenders of the State. Under this system, when the heart is +not depraved it becomes exalted; it is made a point of honor to +serve without compensation; there is nothing but the public welfare +in view, and all the more because, at this moment, it is the +absorbing topic of all minds and of all literature. Nowhere has +practical philosophy, that which consists in a spirit of abnegation, +more deeply penetrated than among this unrecognized nobility. Under +a polished, brilliant, and sometimes frivolous exterior, they have a +serious soul ; the old sentiment of honor is converted into one of +patriotism. Set to execute the laws, with force in hand to maintain +peace through fear, they feel the importance of their mission, and, +for two years, fulfill its duties with extraordinary moderation, +gentleness, and patience, not only at the risk of their lives, but +amidst great and multiplied humiliations, through the sacrifice of +their authority and self-esteem, through the subjection of their +intelligent will to the dictation and incapacity of the masters +imposed upon them. For a noble officer to respond to the +requisitions of an extemporized bourgeois municipal body,[33] to +subordinate his competence, courage, and prudence to the blunders +and alarms of five or six inexperienced, frightened, and timid +attorneys, to place his energy and daring at the service of their +presumption, feebleness, and lack of decision, even when their +orders or refusal of orders are manifestly absurd or injurious, even +when they are opposed to the previous instructions of his general or +of his minister, even when they end in the plundering of a market, +the burning of a chateau, the assassination of an innocent person, +even when they impose upon him the obligation of witnessing crime +with his sword sheathed and arms folded,[34] - this is a hard +task. It is hard for the noble officer to see independent, popular, +and bourgeois troops organized in the face of his own troops, rivals +and even hostile, in any case ten times as numerous and no less +exacting than sensitive - hard to be expected to show them +deference and extend civilities to them, to surrender to them posts, +arsenals, and citadels, to treat their chiefs as equals, however +ignorant or unworthy, and whatever they may be - here a lawyer, +there a Capuchin, elsewhere a brewer or a shoemaker, most generally +some demagogue, and, in many a town or village, some deserter or +soldier drummed out of his regiment for bad conduct, perhaps one of +the noble's own men, a scamp whom he has formerly discharged with +the yellow cartridge, telling him to go and be hung elsewhere. It +is hard for the noble officer to be publicly and daily calumniated +on account of his rank and title, to be characterized as a traitor +at the club and in the newspapers, to be designated by name as an +object of popular suspicion and fury, to be hooted at in the streets +and in the theater, to submit to the disobedience of his men, to be +denounced, insulted, arrested, fleeced, hunted down and slaughtered +by them and by the populace, to see before him a cruel, ignoble, and +unavenged death - that of M. de Launay, murdered at Paris - +that of M. de Belzunce, murdered at Caen - that of M. de +Beausset, murdered at Marseilles - that of M. de Voisins, +murdered at Valence - that of M. de Rully, murdered at Bastia, or +that of M. de Rochetailler, murdered at Port-au-Prince.[35] All +this is endured by the officers among the nobles. Not one of the +municipalities, even Jacobin, can find any pretext which will +warrant the charge of disobeying orders. Through tact and deference +they avoid all conflict with the National Guards. Never do they +give provocation, and, even when insulted, rarely defend themselves. +Their gravest faults consist of imprudent conversations, vivacious +expressions and witticisms. Like good watch-dogs amongst a +frightened herd which trample them under foot, or pierce them with +their horns, they allow themselves to be pierced and trampled on +without biting, and would remain at their post to the end were they +not driven away from it. + +All to no purpose: doubly suspicious as members of a proscribed +class, and as heads of the army, it is against them that public +distrust excites the most frequent explosions, and so much the more +as the instrument they handle is singularly explosive. Recruited by +volunteer enlistment "amongst a passionate, turbulent, and somewhat +debauched people," the army is composed of "all that are most fiery, +most turbulent, and most debauched in the nation."[36] Add to these +the sweepings of the alms-houses, and you find a good many +blackguards in uniform! When we consider that the pay is small, the +food bad, discipline severe, no promotion, and desertion endemic, we +are no longer surprised at the general disorder: license, to such +men, is too powerful a temptation. With wine, women, and money they +have from the first been made turncoats, and from Paris the +contagion has spread to the provinces. In Brittany,[37] the +grenadiers and chasseurs of Ile-de-France "sell their coats, their +guns, and their shoes, exacting advances in order to consume it in +the tavern;" fifty-six soldiers of Penthièvre "wanted to murder +their officers," and it is foreseen that, left to themselves, they +will soon, for lack of pay, "betake themselves to the highways, to +rob and assassinate." In Euree-et-Loir, the dragoons,[38] with saber +and pistols in hand, visit the farmers' houses and take bread and +money, while the foot soldiers of the "Royal-Comtois" and the +dragoons of the "Colonel-Général" desert in bands in order to go to +Paris, where amusement is to be had. The main thing with them is +"to have a jolly time." In fact, the extensive military +insurrections of the earliest date, those of Paris, Versailles, +Besançon, and Strasbourg, began or ended with a revel. - Out of +these depths of gross desires there has sprung up natural or +legitimate ambitions. A number of soldiers, for twenty years past, +have learned how to read, and think themselves qualified to be +officers. One quarter of those enlisted, moreover, are young men +born in good circumstances, and whom a caprice has thrown into the +army. They choke in this narrow, low, dark, confined passage where +the privileged by birth close up the issue, and they will march over +their chiefs to secure advancement. These are the discontented, the +disputants, the orators of the mess-room, and between these barrack +politicians and the politicians of the street an alliance is at once +formed. - Starting from the same point they march on to the same +end, and the imagination which has labored to blacken the Government +in the minds of the people, blackens the officers in the minds of +the soldiers. + +The Treasury is empty and there are arrears of pay. The towns, +burdened with debt, no longer furnish their quotas of supplies; and +at Orleans, with the distress of the municipality before them, the +Swiss of Chateauvieux were obliged to impose on themselves a +stoppage of one sou per day and per man to have wood in winter.[39] +Grain is scarce, the flour is spoilt, and the army bread, which was +bad, has become worse. The administration, worm-eaten by old +abuses, is deranged through the new disorder, the soldiers suffering +as well through its dissolution as through their extravagance. - +They think themselves robbed and they complain, at first with +moderation; and justice is done to their well-founded claims. Soon +they exact accounts, and these are made out for them. At Strasbourg, +on these being verified before Kellermann and a commissioner of the +National Assembly, it is proved that they have not been wronged out +of a sou; nevertheless a gratification of six francs a head is given +to them, and they cry out that they are content and have nothing +more to ask for. A few months after this fresh complaints arise, +and there is a new verification: an ensign, accused of embezzlement +and whom they wished to hang, is tried in their presence; his +accounting is tidy; none of them can cite against him a proven +charge, and, once more, they remain silent. On other occasions, +after hearing the reading of registers for several hours, they yawn, +cease to listen, and go outside to get something to drink. - But +the figures of their demands, as these have been summed up by their +mess-room calculators, remain implanted in their brains; they have +taken root there, and are constantly springing up without any +account or refutation being able to extirpate them. No more writings +nor speeches - what they want is money: 11,000 livres for the +Beaune regiment, 39,500 livres for that of Forez, 44,000 livres for +that of Salm, 200,000 livres for that of Chateauvieux, and similarly +for the rest. So much the worse for the officers if the money-chest +does not suffice for them; let them assess each other, or borrow on +their note of hand from the municipality, or from the rich men of +the town. - For greater security, in divers places, the soldiers +take possession of the military chest and mount guard around it: it +belongs to them, since they form the regiment, and, in any case, it +is better that it should be in their hands than in suspected hands. +- Already, on the 4th of June, 1790, the Minister of War announces +to the Assembly that "the military body threatens to fall into a +perfect state of anarchy." His report shows "the most incredible +pretensions put forth in the most plain-spoken way - orders +without force, chiefs without authority, the military chest and +flags carried away, the orders of the King himself openly defied, +the officers condemned, insulted, threatened, driven off; some of +them even captive amidst their own troops, leading a precarious life +in the midst of disgust and humiliations, and, as the climax of +horror, commanders having their throat cut under the eyes and almost +in the arms of their own soldiers." + +It is much worse after the July Federation. Entertained, flattered, +and indoctrinated at the clubs, their delegates, inferior officers +and privates, return to the regiment Jacobins; and henceforth +correspond with the Jacobins of Paris, "receiving their instructions +and reporting to them,"[40] - Three weeks later, the Minister of +War gives notice to the National Assembly that there is no limit to +the license in the army. "Couriers, the bearers of fresh +complaints, are arriving constantly." In one place "a statement of +the fund is demanded, and it is proposed to divide it." Elsewhere, a +garrison, with drums beating, leaves the town, deposes its officers, +and comes back sword in hand. Each regiment is governed by a +committee of soldiers. "It is in this committee that the detention +of the lieutenant-colonel of Poitou has been twice arranged; here it +is that 'Royal-Champagne' conceived the insurrection" by which it +refused to recognize a sub-lieutenant sent to it. "Every day the +minister's cabinet is filled with soldiers who are sent as +representatives to him, and who proudly come and intimate to him the +will of their constituents." Finally, at Strasbourg, seven +regiments, each represented by three delegates, formed a military +congress. The same month, the terrible insurrection of Nancy breaks +out - three regiments in revolt, the populace with them, the +arsenal pillaged, three hours of furious fighting in the streets, +the insurgents firing from the windows of the houses and from the +cellar openings, five hundred dead among the victors, and three +thousand among the vanquished. - The following month, and for +six weeks,[41] there is another insurrection, less bloody, but more +extensive, better arranged and more obstinate, that of the whole +squadron at Brest, a mutiny of twenty thousand men, at first against +their admiral and their officers, then against the new penal code +and against the National Assembly itself. The latter, after +remonstrating in vain, is obliged not only not to take rigorous +measures, but again to revise its laws.[42] + +>From this time forth, I cannot enumerate the constant outbreaks in +the fleet and in the army. - Authorized by the minister, the +soldier goes to the club, where he is repeatedly told that his +officers, being aristocrats, are traitors. At Dunkirk, he is +additionally taught how to get rid of them. Clamors, denunciations, +insults, musket-shots - these are the natural means, and they are +put in practice: but there is another, recently discovered, by which +an energetic officer of whom they are afraid may be driven away. +Some patriotic bully is found who comes and insults him. If the +officer fights and is not killed, the municipal authorities have him +arraigned, and his chiefs send him off along with his seconds "in +order not to disturb the harmony between the soldier and the +citizen." If he declines the proposed duel, the contempt of his men +obliges him to quit the regiment. In either case he is got out of +the way.[43] - They have no scruples in relation to him. Present +or absent, a noble officer must certainly be plotting with his +emigrant companions; and on this a story is concocted. Formerly, to +prove that sacks of flour were being thrown into the river, the +soldiers alleged that these sacks were tied with blue cords (cordons +bleus). Now, to confirm the belief that an officer is conspiring +with Coblentz, it suffices to state that he rides a white horse; a +certain captain, at Strasbourg, barely escapes being cut to pieces +for this crime; "the devil could not get it out of their heads that +he was acting as a spy, and that the little grey-hound" which +accompanies him on his rides "is used to make signals. " - One +year after, at the time when the National Assembly completes its +work, M. de Lameth, M. Fréteau, and M. Alquier state before it that +Luckner, Rochambeau, and the most popular generals, "no longer are +responsible for anything." The Auvergne regiment has driven away its +officers and forms a separate society, which obeys no one. The +second battalion of Beaune is on the point of setting fire to Arras. +It is almost necessary to lay siege to Phalsbourg, whose garrison +has mutinied. Here, "disobedience to the general's orders is +formal." There "are soldiers who have to be urged to stand sentinel; +whom they dare not put in confinement for discipline; who threaten +to fire on their officers; who stray off the road, pillage +everything, and take aim at the corporal who tries to bring them +back." At Blois, a part of the regiment "has just arrived without +either clothes or arms, the soldiers having sold all on the road to +provide for their debauchery." One among them, delegated by his +companions, proposes to the Jacobins at Paris to "de-aristocratise" +the army by cashiering all the nobles. Another declares, with the +applause of the club, that "seeing how the palisades of Givet are +constructed, he is going to denounce the Minister of War at the +tribunal of the. sixth arrondissement of Paris." + +It is manifest that, for noble officers, the situation is no longer +tenable. After waiting patiently for twenty-three months, many of +them left through conscientiousness, when the National Assembly, +forcing a third oath upon them, struck out of the formula the name +of the King, their born general.[44] - Others depart at the end +of the Constituent Assembly, "because they risk being hung." A large +number resign at the end of 1791 and during the first months of +1792, in proportion as the new code and the new recruiting system +for the army develop their results.[45] In fact, on the one hand, +through the soldiers and inferior officers having a voice in the +election of their chiefs and a seat in the military courts, "there +is no longer the shadow of discipline; verdicts are given from pure +caprice; the soldier contracts the habit of despising his superiors, +of whose punishments he has no fear, and from whom he expects no +reward; the officers are paralyzed to such a degree as to become +entirely superfluous personages." On the other hand, the majority of +the National Volunteers are composed of "men bought by the communes +" and administrative bodies, worthless characters of the street- +corners, rustic vagabonds forced to march by lot or bribery,"[46] +and along with them, enthusiasts and fanatics to such an extent +that, from March, 1792, from the spot of their enlistment to the +frontier, their track is everywhere marked by pillage, robbery, +devastation, and assassinations. Naturally, on the road and at the +frontier, they denounce, drive away, imprison, or murder their +officers, and especially the nobles. 3/4 And yet, in this +extremity, numbers of noble officers, especially in the artillery +and engineer corps, persist in remaining at their posts, some +through liberal ideas, and others out of respect for their +instructions; even after the 10th of August, even after the 2nd of +September, even after the 21st of January, like their generals +Biron, Custine, de Flers, de Broglie, and de Montesquiou, with the +constant perspective of the guillotine that awaits them on leaving +the battlefield and even in the ministerial offices of Carnot. + +VII. + +Emigration and its causes. - The first laws against the emigrants. + +It is, accordingly, necessary that the officers and nobles should go +away, should go abroad; and not only they, but also their families. +"Gentlemen who have scarcely six hundred livres income set out on +foot,"[47] and there is no doubt as to the motive of their +departure. "Whoever will impartially consider the sole and +veritable causes of the emigration," says an honest man, "will find +them in anarchy. If the liberty of the individual had not been +daily threatened, if;" in the civil as in the military order of +things, "the senseless dogma, preached by the factions, that crimes +committed by the mob are the judgments of heaven, had not been put +in practice, France would have preserved three fourths of her +fugitives. Exposed for two years to ignominious dangers, to every +species of outrage, to innumerable persecutions, to the steel of the +assassin, to the firebrands of incendiaries, to the most infamous +charges, 'to the denouncement of' their corrupted domestics, to +domiciliary visits" prompted by the commonest street rumor, "to +arbitrary imprisonment by the Committee of Inquiry," deprived of +their civil rights, driven out of primary meetings, "they are held +accountable for their murmurs, and punished for a sensibility which +would touch the heart in a suffering criminal." - " Resistance is +nowhere seen; from the prince's throne to the parsonage of the +priest, the tempest has prostrated all malcontents in resignation." +Abandoned "to the restless fury of the clubs, to informers, to +intimidated officials, they find executioners on all sides where +prudence and the safety of the State have enjoined them not even to +see enemies. . . . Whoever has detested the enormities of +fanaticism and of public ferocity, whoever has awarded pity to the +victims heaped together under the ruins of so many legitimate rights +and odious abuses, whoever, finally, has dared to raise a doubt or a +complaint, has been proclaimed an enemy of the nation. After this +representation of malcontents as so many conspirators, every crime +committed against them has been legitimated in public opinion.[48] +The public conscience, formed by the factions and by that band of +political corsairs who would be the disgrace of a barbarous nation, +have considered attacks against property and towns simply as +national justice, while, more than once, the news of the murder of +an innocent person, or of a sentence which threatened him with +death, has been welcomed with shouts of joy Two systems of natural +right, two orders of justice, two standards of morality were +accordingly established; by one of these it was allowable to do +against one's fellow-creature, a reputed aristocrat, that which +would be criminal if he were a patriot. . . . Was it foreseen +that, at the end of two years, France, teeming with laws, with +magistrates, with courts, with citizen-guards, bound by solemn oaths +in the defense of order and the public safety, would still and +continually be an arena in which wild beasts would devour unarmed +men " - With all, even with old men, widows and children, it is a +crime to escape from their clutches. Without distinguishing between +those who fly to avoid becoming a prey, and those who arm to attack +the frontier, the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies alike +condemn all absentees. The Constituent Assembly[49] trebled their +real and personal taxes, and prescribed that there should be a +triple lien on their rents and dues. The Legislative Assembly +sequestrates, confiscates, and puts into the market their +possessions, real and personal, amounting to nearly fifteen hundred +millions of cash value. Let them return and place themselves under +the knives of the populace; otherwise they and their posterity shall +all be beggars. - At this stroke indignation overflows, and a +bourgeois who is liberal and a foreigner, Mallet du Pan, +exclaims,[50] "What! twenty thousand families absolutely ignorant of +the Coblentz plans and of its assemblies, twenty thousand families +dispersed over the soil of Europe by the fury of clubs, by the +crimes of brigands, by constant lack of security, by the stupid and +cowardly inertia of petrified authorities, by the pillage of +estates, by the insolence of it cohort of tyrants without bread or +clothes, by assassinations and incendiarism, by the base servility +of silent ministers, by the whole series of revolutionary scourges, +- what' these twenty thousand desolate families, women and old men, +must see their inheritances become the prey of national robbery! +What! Madame Guillin, who was obliged to fly with horror from the +land where monsters have burnt her dwelling, slaughtered and eaten +her husband, and who live with impunity by the side of her home - +shall Madame Guillin see her fortune confiscated for the benefit of +the communities to which she owes her dreadful misfortunes! Shall M. +de Clarac, under penalty of the same punishment, go and restore the +ruins of his chateau, where an army of scoundrels failed to smother +him!" - So much the worse for them if they dare not come back! +They are to undergo civil death, perpetual banishment, and, in case +the ban be violated, they will be given up to the guillotine. In +the same case with them are others who, with still greater +innocence, have left the territory, magistrates, ordinary rich +people, burgesses, or peasants, Catholics, and particularly one +entire class, the nonjuring clergy, from the cardinal archbishop +down to the simple village vicar, all prosecuted, then despoiled, +then crushed by the same popular oppression and by the same +legislative oppression, each of these two persecutions exciting and +aggravating the other to such an extent that, at last, the populace +and the law, one the accomplice of the other, no longer leave a roof +nor a piece of bread, nor an hour's safety to a gentleman or to a +priest.[51] + +VIII. + +Attitude of the non-juring priests. - How they become distrusted. +- Illegal arrests by local administrations. - Violence or +complicity of the National Guards. - Outrages by the populace. - +Executive power in the south. - The sixth jacquerie. - Its two +causes. - Isolated outbreaks in the north, east, and west, - +General eruption in the south and in the center. + +The ruling passion flings itself on all obstacles, even those placed +by itself across its own track. Through a vast usurpation the +minority of non-believers, indifferent or lukewarm, has striven to +impose its ecclesiastical forms on the Catholic majority, and the +situation thereby created for the Catholic priest is such that +unless he becomes schismatic, he cannot fail to appear as an enemy. +In vain has he obeyed! He has allowed his property to be taken, he +has left his parsonage, he has given the keys of the church to his +successor, he has kept aloof; he does not transgress, either by +omission or commission, any article of any decree. In vain does he +avail himself of his legal right to abstain from taking an oath +repugnant to his conscience. This alone makes him appear to refuse +the civic oath in which the ecclesiastical oath is included, to +reject the constitution which he accepts in full minus a parasite +chapter, to conspire against the new social and political order of +things which he often approves of; and to which he almost always +submits.[52] In vain does he confine himself to his special and +recognized domain, the spiritual direction of things. Through this +alone he resists the new legislators who pretend to furnish a +spiritual guidance, for, by virtue of being orthodox, he must +believe that the priest whom they elect is excommunicated, that his +sacraments are vain; and, in his office as pastor, he must prevent +his sheep from going to drink at an impure source. In vain might he +preach to them moderation and respect. Through the mere fact that +the schism is effected, its consequences unfold them selves, and the +peasants will not always remain as patient as their pastor. They +have known him for twenty years; he has baptized them and married +them; they believe that his is the only true mass; they are not +satisfied to be obliged to attend another two or three leagues away, +and to leave the church, their church which their ancestors built, +and where from father to son they have prayed for centuries, in the +hands of a stranger, an intruder and heretic, who officiates before +almost empty benches, and whom gendarmes, with guns in their hands, +have installed. Assuredly, as he passes through the street, they +will look upon him askance: it is not surprising that the women and +children soon hoot at him, that stones are thrown at night through +his windows, that in the strongly Catholic departments, Upper and +Lower Rhine, Doubs and Jura, Lozère, Deux-Sêvres and Vendée, +Finistère, Morbihan, and Côtes-du-Nord, he is greeted with universal +desertion, and then expelled through public ill-will. It is not +surprising that his mass is interrupted and that his person is +threatened;[53] that disaffection which thus far had only reached +the upper class, descends to the popular strata; that, from one end +of France to the other, a sullen hostility prevails against the new +institutions; for now the political and social constitution is +joined to the ecclesiastical constitution like an edifice to its +spire, and, through this sharp pinnacle, seeks the storm even within +the darkening clouds of heaven. The evil all springs out of this +unskillful, gratuitous, compulsory fusion, and, consequently, from +those who effected it. + +But never will a victorious party admit that it has made a mistake. +In its eyes the nonjuring priests are alone culpable; it is +irritated against their factious conscience; and, to crush the +rebellion even in the inaccessible sanctuary of personal conviction, +there is no legal or brutal act of violence which it will not allow +itself to commit. + +Behold, accordingly, a new sport thrown open; and the game is +immensely plentiful. For it comprises not only the black or gray +robes, more than forty thousand priests, over thirty thousand nuns, +and several thousand monks, but also the devoted orthodox, that is +to say the women of the low or middle class, and, without counting +provincial nobles, a majority of the serious, steady bourgeoisie, a +majority of the peasantry-almost the whole population of several +provinces, east, west, and in the south. A name is bestowed on +them, as lately on the nobles; it is that of fanatic, which is +equivalent to aristocrat, for it also designates public enemies +likewise placed by it beyond the pale of the law. + +Little does it matter whether the law favors them, for it is +interpreted against them, arbitrarily construed and openly violated +by the partial or intimidated administrative bodies which the +Constitution has withdrawn from the control of the central authority +and subjected to the authority of popular gatherings. From the +first months of 1791, the hounding begins; the municipalities, +districts, and departments themselves often take the lead in beating +up the game. Six months later, the Legislative Assembly, by its +decree of November 29,[54] sounds the tally-ho, and, in spite of the +King's veto, the hounds on all sides dash forward. During the month +of April, 1792, forty-two departments pass against nonjuring priests +"acts which are neither prescribed nor authorized by the +Constitution," and, before the end of the Legislative Assembly, +forty-three others will have followed in their train. - Through +this series of illegal acts, without offense, without trial, non- +jurors are everywhere in France expelled from their parishes, +relegated to the principal town of the department or district, in +some places imprisoned, put on the same footing with the emigrants, +and despoiled of their property, real and personal.[55] Nothing +more is wanting against them but the general decree of deportation +which is to come as soon as the Assembly can get rid of the King. + +In the meantime, the National Guards, who have extorted the laws, +endeavor to aggravate them in their application; and there is +nothing strange in their animosity. Commerce is at a standstill, +industry languishes, the artisan and shopkeeper suffer, and, in +order to account for the universal discontent, it is attributed to +the insubordination of the priest. Were it not for his stubbornness +all would go well, since the Constitution is perfect, and he is the +only one who does not accept it. But, in not accepting it, he +attacks it. He, therefore, is the last obstacle in the way of +public happiness; he is the scapegoat, let us drive the obnoxious +creature away! And the urban militia, sometimes on its own +authority, sometimes instigated by the municipal body its +accomplice; is seen disturbing public worship, dispersing +congregations, seizing priests by the collar, pushing them by the +shoulders out of the town, and threatening them with hanging if they +dare to return. At Douay,[56] with guns in hand, they force the +directory of the department to order the closing of all the +oratories and chapels in hospitals and convents. At Caen, with +loaded guns and with a cannon, they march forth against the +neighboring parish of Verson, break into houses, gather up fifteen +persons suspected of orthodoxy - canons, merchants, artisans, +workmen, women, girls, old men, and the infirm - cut off their +hair, strike them with the but-ends of their muskets, and lead them +back to Caen fastened to the breach of the cannon; and all this +because a nonjuring priest still officiated at Verson, and many +pious persons from Caen attended his mass: Verson, consequently, is +a focal center of counter-revolutionary gatherings. Moreover, in +the houses which were broken into, the furniture was smashed, casks +stove in, and the linen, money, and plate stolen, the rabble of Caen +having joined the expedition. - Here, and everywhere, there is +nothing to do but to let this rabble have its own way; and as it +operates against the possessions, the liberty; the life, and the +sense of propriety of dangerous persons, the National Militia is +careful not to interfere with it. Consequently, the orthodox, both +priests and believers, men and women, are now at its mercy, and, +thanks to the connivance of the armed force, which refuses to +interpose, the rabble satisfy on the proscribed class its customary +instincts of cruelty, pillage, wantonness, and destructiveness. + +Whether public or private, the order of the day is always to hinder +worship, while the means employed are worthy of those who carry them +out. - Here, a nonjuring priest having had the boldness to +minister to a sick person, the house which he has just entered is +taken by assault, and the door and windows of a house occupied by +another priest are smashed.[57] There, the lodgings of two workmen, +who are accused of having had their infants baptized by a refractory +priest, are sacked and nearly demolished. Elsewhere, a mob refuses +to allow the body of an old curé, who had died without taking the +oath, to enter the cemetery. Farther on, a church is assaulted +during vespers, and everything is broken to pieces: on the following +day it is the turn of a neighboring church, and, in addition, a +convent of Ursuline nuns is devastated. - At Lyons, on Easter-day, +1791, as the people are leaving the six o'clock mass, a troop, armed +with whips, falls upon the women.[58] Stripped, bruised, prostrated, +with their heads in the dirt, they are not left until they are +bleeding and half-dead; one young girl is actually at the point of +death; and this sort of outrage occurs so frequently that even +ladies attending the orthodox mass in Paris dare not go out without +sewing up their garments around them in the shape of drawers. - +Naturally, to make the most of the prey offered to them, hunting +associations are formed. These exist in Montpellier, Arles, Uzès, +Alais, Nîmes, Carpentras, and in most of the towns or burgs of Gard, +Vaucluse, and l'Hérault, in greater or less number according to the +population of the city: some counting from ten to twelve, and others +from two to three hundred determined men, of every description: +among them are found "strike-hards" (tape-dur), former brigands, and +escaped convicts with the brand still on their backs. Some of them +oblige their members to wear a medal as a visible mark of +recognition; all assume the title of executive power, and declare +that they act of their own authority, and that it is necessary to +"quicken the law."[59] Their pretext is the protection of sworn +priests; and for twenty months, beginning with April, 1791, they +operate to this effect with heavy knotted dubs garnished with iron +points," without counting sabers and bayonets. Generally, their +expeditions are nocturnal. Suddenly, the houses of "citizens +suspected of a want of patriotism," of nonjuring ecclesiastics, of +the monks of the Christian school, are invaded; everything is broken +or stolen, and the owner is ordered to leave the place in twenty- +four hours: sometimes, doubtless through an excess of precaution, he +is beaten to death on the spot. Besides this, the band also works +by day in the streets, lashes the women, enters the churches saber +in hand, and drives the nonjuring priest from the altar. All of +this is done with the connivance and in the sight of the paralyzed +or complaisant authorities, by a sort of occult and complementary +government, which not only supplies what is missing in the +ecclesiastical law, but also searches the pockets of private +individuals. - At Nîmes, under the leadership of a patriotic +dancing-master, not content with "decreeing proscriptions, killing, +scourging, and often murdering," these new champions of the Gallican +Church undertake to reanimate the zeal of those liable to +contribution. A subscription having been proposed for the support +of the families of the volunteers about to depart, the executive +power takes upon itself to revise the list of offerings: it +arbitrarily taxes those who have not given, or who, in its opinion, +have given too little some "poor workmen fifty livres, others two +hundred, three hundred, nine hundred, and a thousand, under penalty +of wrecked houses and severe treatment." Elsewhere, the volunteers +of Baux and other communes near Tarascon help themselves freely, +and, "under the pretext that they are to march for the defense of +the country, levy enormous contributions on proprietors," on one +four thousand, and on another five thousand livres. In default of +payment, they carry away all the grain on one farm, even to the +reserve seed, threatening to make havoc with everything, and even to +burn, in case of complaint, so that the owners dare not say a word, +while the attorney-general of the neighboring department, afraid on +his own account, begs that his denunciation may be kept secret. - +>From the slums of the towns the jacquerie has spread into the rural +districts. This is the sixth and the most extensive seen for three +years.[60] + +Two spurs impel the peasant on. - On the one hand he is frightened +by the clash of arms, and the repeated announcements of an +approaching invasion. The clubs and the newspapers since the +declaration of Pilnitz, and the Orators in the Legislative Assembly +for four months past, have kept him alarmed with their trumpet- +blasts, and he urges on his oxen in the furrow with cries of "Woa, +Prussia!" to one, and to the other, "Gee up, Austria!" Austria and +Prussia, foreign kings and nobles in league with the emigrant +nobles, are going to return in force to re-establish the salt-tax, +the excise, feudal-dues, tithes, and to retake national property +already sold and re-sold, with the aid of the gentry who have not +left, or who have returned, and the connivance of non-juring priests +who declare the sale sacrilegious and refuse to absolve the +purchasers. - On the other hand, Holy Week is drawing near, and +for the past year qualms of conscience have disturbed the +purchasers. Up to March 24, 1791, the sales of national property +had amounted to only 180 millions; but, the Assembly having +prolonged the date of payment and facilitated further sales in +detail, the temptation proves too strong for the peasant; stockings +and buried pots are all emptied of their savings. In seven months +the peasant has bought to the amount of 1,346 millions,[61] and +finally possesses in full and complete ownership the morsel of land +which he has coveted for so many years, and sometimes an unexpected +plot, a wood, a mill, or a meadow. At the present time he has to +settle accounts with the church, and, if the pecuniary settlement is +postponed, the Catholic settlement comes on the appointed day. +According to immemorial tradition he is obliged to take the +communion at Easter,[62] his wife also, and likewise his mother; and +if he, exceptionally, does not think this of consequence, they do. +Moreover, he requires the sacraments for his old sick father, his +new-born child, and for his other child of an age to be confirmed. +Now, communion, baptism, confession, all the sacraments, to be of +good quality, must proceed from a safe source, just as is the case +with flour and coin; there is only too much counterfeit money now in +the world, and the sworn priests are daily losing credit, like the +assignats. There is no other course to pursue, consequently, but to +resort to the non-juror, who is the only one able to give valid +absolutions. And it so happens that he not only refuses this, but +be is said to be inimical to the whole new order of things. - In +this dilemma the peasant falls back upon his usual resource, the +strength of his arms; he seizes the priest by the throat, as +formerly his lord, and extorts an acquittance for his sins as +formerly for his feudal dues. At the very least he strives to +constrain the non-jurors to swear, to close their separatist +churches, and bring the entire canton to the same uniform faith. - +Occasionally also he avenges himself against the partisans of the +non-jurors, against chateaux and houses of the opulent, against the +nobles and the rich, against proprietors of every class. +Occasionally, likewise, as, since the amnesty of September, 1791, +the prisons have been emptied, as one-half of the courts are not yet +installed,[63] as there has been no police for thirty months, the +common robbers, bandits, and vagrants, who swarm about without +repression or surveillance, join the mob and fill their pockets. + +Here, in Pas-de-Calais,[64] three hundred villagers, headed by a +drummer, burst open the doors of a Carthusian convent, steal +everything, eatables, beverages, linen, furniture, and effects, +whilst, in the neighboring parish, another band operates in the same +fashion in the houses of the mayor and of the old curé, threatening +"to kill and burn all," and promising to return on the following +Sunday. - There, in Bas-Rhin, near Fort Louis, twenty houses of +the aristocrats are pillaged. - Elsewhere in Ile-et-Vilaine, +bodies of rural militia, combined, go from parish to parish, and, +increasing in numbers in consequence of their very violence until +they form bands of two thousand men. They close churches, drive +away nonjuring priests, remove clappers from the bells, eat and +drink what they please at the expense of the inhabitants, and often, +in the houses of the mayor or tax-registrar, indulge in the pleasure +of breaking everything to pieces. Should any public officer +remonstrate with them they shout, "At the aristocrat!" One of these +unlucky counselors is struck on the back with the but-end of a +musket, and two others have guns aimed at them; the chiefs of the +expedition are in no better predicament, and, according to their own +admission, if they are at the head of the mob it is to make sure +they themselves will not be pillaged or hung. The same spectacle +presents itself in Mayenne, in Orne, in Moselle, and in the +Landes.[65] - These, however, are but isolated irruptions, and +very mild; in the south and in the center, the plague is apparent in +an immense leprous spot, which extending from Avignon to Perigueux, +and from Aurillac to Toulouse, suddenly covers, nearly without with +any discontinuity, ten departments, Vaucluse, Ardèche, Gard, Cantal, +Corrèze, Lot, Dordogne, Gers, Haute-Garonne, and Hérault. Vast +rural masses are set in motion at the same time, on all sides and +owing to the same causes: the approach of war and the coming of +Easter. - In Cantal, at the assembly of the canton held at +Aurillac for the recruitment of the army,[66] the commander of a +village National Guard demands vengeance "against those who are not +patriots," and the report is spread that an order has come from +Paris to destroy the chateaux. Moreover, the insurgents allege that +the priests, through their refusal to take the oath, are bringing +the nation into civil war: "we are tired of not having peace on +their account; let them become good citizens, so that everybody may +go to mass." On the strength of this, the insurgents enter houses, +put the inhabitants to ransom, not only priests and former nobles, +"but also those who are suspected of being their partisans, those +who do not attend the mass of the constitutional priest," and even +poor people, artisans and tillers of the ground, whom they tax five, +ten, twenty, and forty francs, and whose cellars and bread-bins they +empty. Eighteen chateaux are pillaged, burnt, or demolished, and +among others, those of several gentlemen and ladies who have not +left the country. One of these, M. d'Humières, is an old officer of +eighty years; Madame de Peyronenc saves her son only by disguising +him as a peasant; Madame de Beauclerc, who flies across the +mountain, sees her sick child die in her arms. At Aurillac, gibbets +are set up before the principal houses; M. de Niossel, a former +lieutenant of a criminal court, put in prison for his safety, is +dragged out, and his severed head is thrown on a dunghill; M. +Collinet, just arrived from Malta, and suspected of being an +aristocrat, is ripped open, cut to pieces, and his head is carried +about on the end of a pike. Finally, when the municipal officers, +judges, and royal commissioner commence proceedings against the +assassins, they find themselves in such great danger that they are +obliged to resign or to run away. In like manner, in Haute- +Garonne,[67] it is also "against non-jurors and their followers" +that the insurrection has begun. This is promoted by the fact that +in various parishes the constitutional curé belongs to the club, and +demands the riddance of his adversaries. One of them at Saint-Jean- +Lorne, "mounted on a cart, preaches pillage to a mob of eight +hundred persons." Each band, consequently, begins by expelling +refractory priests, and by forcing their supporters to attend the +mass of the sworn priest. - ?But such success, wholly abstract and +barren, is of little advantage, and peasants in a state of revolt +are not satisfied so easily. When parishes march forth by the dozen +and devote their day to the service of the public, they must have +some compensation in wood, wheat, wine, or money,[68] and the +expense of the expedition may be defrayed by the aristocrats. Not +merely the upholders of non-jurors are aristocrats, as, for example, +an old lady here and there, "very fanatical, and who for forty years +has devoted all her income to acts of philanthropy," "but well-to-do +persons, peasants or gentlemen;" for, "by keeping their wine and +grain unsold in their cellars and barns, and by not undertaking more +work than they need, so as to deprive workmen in the country of +their means of subsistence," they design "to starve out" the poor +folk. Thus, the greater the pillage, the greater the service to the +public. According to the insurgents, it is important "to diminish +revenues enjoyed by the enemies of the nation, in order that they +may not send their revenues to Coblentz and other places out of the +kingdom." Consequently, bands of six or eight hundred or a thousand +men overrun the districts of Toulouse and Castelsarrasin. All +proprietors, aristocrats, and patriots are put under contribution. +Here, in the house of "the philanthropic but fanatical old maid, +they break open everything, destroy the furniture, taking away +eighty-two bushels of wheat and sixteen hogsheads of wine." +Elsewhere, at Roqueferrière, feudal title-deeds are burnt, and a +chateau is pillaged. Farther on, at Lasserre, thirty thousand +francs are exacted and the ready money is all carried off. Almost +everywhere the municipal officers, willingly or unwillingly, +authorize pillaging. Moreover, "they cut down provisions to a price +in assignats very much less than their current rate in silver," and +they double the price of a day's work. In the meantime, other bands +devastate the national forests, and the gendarmes, in order not to +be called aristocrats, have no idea but of paying court to the +pillagers. + +After all this, it is manifest that property no longer exists for +anybody except for paupers and robbers. - In effect, in +Dordogne,[69] under the pretext of driving away nonjuring priests, +frequently mobs gather to pillage and rob whatever comes in their +way. . . . All the grain that is found in houses with +weathercocks is sequestrated." The rustics exploit, as communal +property, all the forests, all the possessions of the emigrants; and +this operation is radical; for example, a band, on finding a new +barn of which the materials strike them as good, demolish it so as +to share with each other the tiles and timber. - In Corrèze, +fifteen thousand armed peasants, who have come to Tulle to disarm +and drive off the supporters of the non-jurors, break everything in +suspected houses, and a good deal of difficulty is found in sending +them off empty-handed. As soon as they get back home, they sack the +chateaux of Saint-Gal, Seilhac, Gourdon, Saint-Basile, and La +Rochette, besides a number of country-houses, even of absent +plebeians. They have found a quarry, and never was the removal of +property more complete. They carefully carry off, says an official +statement, all that can be carried - furniture, curtains, mirrors, +clothes-presses, pictures, wines, provisions, even floors and wooden +panels, "down to the smallest fragments of iron and wood-work," +smashing the rest, so that nothing "remains of the house but its +four walls, the roof and the staircase." In Lot, where for two years +the insurrection is permanent, the damage is much greater. During +the night between the 30th and 31st of January, "all the best houses +in Souillac" are broken open, "sacked and pillaged from top to +bottom,"[70] their owners being obliged to fly, and so many +outbreaks occur in the department, that the directory has no time to +render an account of them to the minister. Entire districts are in +revolt; as, "in each commune all the inhabitants are accomplices, +witnesses cannot be had to support a criminal prosecution, and crime +remains unpunished." In the canton of Cabrerets, the restitution of +rents formerly collected is exacted, and the reimbursement of +charges paid during twenty years past. The small town of Lauzerte +is invaded by surrounding bodies of militia, and its disarmed +inhabitants are at the mercy of the Jacobin suburbs. For three +months, in the district of Figeac, "all the mansions of former +nobles are sacked and burnt;" next the pigeon-cots are attacked, +"and all country-houses which have a good appearance." Barefooted +gangs "enter the houses of well-to-do people, physicians, lawyers, +merchants, burst open the doors of cellars, drink the wine," and +riot like drunken victors. In several communes these expeditions +have become a custom; "a large number of individuals are found in +them who live on rapine alone," and the club sets them the example. +For six months, in the principal town, a coterie of the National +Guard, called the Black Band, expel all persons who are displeasing +to them, "pillaging houses at will, beating to death, wounding or +mutilating by saber-strokes, all who have been proscribed in their +assemblies," and no official or advocate dares lodge a complaint. +Brigandage, borrowing the mask of patriotism, and patriotism +borrowing the methods of brigandage, have combined against property +at the same time as against the ancient régime, and, to free +themselves from all that inspires them with fear, they seize all +which can provide them with booty. + +And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm; the center is +elsewhere, around Nîmes, Avignon, Arles, and Marseilles, in a +country where, for a long time, the conflict between cities and the +conflict between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant +passions.[71] Looking at the three departments of Gard, Bouches-de- +Rhône and Vaucluse, one would imagine one's self in the midst of a +war with savages. In fact, it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion, +and, consequently, conquest, dispossession, and extermination, - +in Gard, a swarm of National Guards copy the jacquerie: the dregs of +the Comtat come to the surface and cover Vaucluse with its scum; an +army of six thousand from Marseilles sweeps down on Arles. - In +the districts of Nîmes, Sommières, Uzès, Alais, Jalais, and Saint- +Hippolyte, title-deeds are burnt, proprietors put to ransom, and +municipal officers threatened with death if they try to interpose; +twenty chateaux and forty country-houses are sacked, burnt, and +demolished. - The same month, Arles and Avignon,[72] given up to +the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat, see confiscation and +massacres approaching. - Around the commandant, who has received +the order to evacuate Aries,[73] "the inhabitants of all parties" +gather as suppliants, "clasping his hands, entreating him with tears +in their eyes not to abandon them; women and children cling to his +boots," so that he does not know how to free himself without hurting +them; on his departure twelve hundred families emigrate. After the +entrance of the Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors +proscribed, their country-houses on the two banks of the Rhone +pillaged, "as in the times of Saracen pirates," a tax of 1,400,000 +livres levied on all people in good circumstances, absent or +present, women and girls promenaded about half-naked on donkeys and +publicly whipped." "A saber committee" disposes of lives, proscribes +and executes: it is the reign of sailors, porters, and the dregs of +the populace. - At Avignon,[74] it is that of simple brigands, +incendiaries and assassins, who, six months previously, converted +the Glacière[75] into a charnel-house. They return in triumph and +state that "this time the Glacière will be full." Five hundred +families had already sought asylum in France before the first +massacre; now, the entire remainder of the honest bourgeoisie, +twelve hundred persons, take to flight, and the terror is so great +that the small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants. In +fact, from this time forth, both departments throughout Vaucluse and +Bouches-de-Rhône are a prey: Bands of two thousand armed men, with +women, children, and other volunteer followers, travel from commune +to commune to live as they please at the expense of "fanatics." The +well-bred people are not the only ones they despoil. Plain +cultivators, taxed at 10,000 livres, have sixty men billeted on +them; their cattle are slain and eaten before their eyes, and +everything in their houses is broken up; they are driven out of +their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed-swamps of the +Rhone, awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take +refuge in the neighboring department.[76] Thus, from the spring of +1792, if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of +indifference towards the ruling faction, if, through but one opinion +conscientiously held, he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or +of suspicion, he undergoes popular hostility, pillage, exile, and +worse besides; no matter how loyal his conduct may be, nor how loyal +he may be at heart, no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive; +it is all the same whether it be a noble, bourgeois, peasant, aged +priest, or woman; and this while public peril is yet neither great, +present, nor visible, since France is at peace with Europe, and the +government still subsists in its entirety. + + +IX. + +General state of opinion. - The three convoys of non-juring +priests on the Seine. - Psychological aspects of the Revolution. + +What will it be, then, now when the peril, already become palpable +and serious, is daily increasing, now when war has begun, when +Lafayette's army is falling back in confusion, when the Assembly +declares the country in danger, when the King is overthrown, when +Lafayette defects and goes abroad, when the soil of France is +invaded, when the frontier fortresses surrender without resistance, +when the Prussians are entering Champagne, when the insurrection in +La Vendée adds the lacerations of civil war to the threats of a +foreign war, and when the cry of treachery arises on all sides? - +Already, on the 14th of May, at Metz,[77] M. de Fiquelmont, a former +canon, seen chatting with a hussar on the Place Saint-Jacques, was +charged with tampering with people on behalf of the princes, carried +off in spite of a triple line of guards, and beaten, pierced, and +slashed with sticks, bayonets, and sabers, while the mad crowd +around the murderers uttered cries of rage: and from month to month, +in proportion as popular fears increase, popular imagination becomes +more heated and its delirium grows. - You can see this yourself by +one example. On the 31st of August, 1792,[78] eight thousand non- +juring priests, driven out of their parishes, are at Rouen, a town +less intolerant than the others, and, in conformity with the decree +which banishes them, are preparing to leave France. Two vessels +have just carried away about a hundred of them; one hundred and +twenty others are embarking for Ostend in a larger vessel. They +take nothing with them except a little money, some clothes, and one +or at most two portions of their breviary, because they intend to +return soon. Each has a regular passport, and, just at the moment +of leaving, the National Guard have made a thorough inspection so as +not to let a suspected person escape. It makes no difference. On +reaching Quilleboeuf the first two convoys are stopped. A report +has spread, indeed, that the priests are going to join the enemy and +enlist, and the people living round about jump into their boats and +surround the vessels. The priests are obliged to disembark amidst a +tempests of "yells, blasphemies, insults, and abuse:" one of them, a +white-headed old man, having fallen into the mud, the cries and +shouts redouble; if he is drowned so much the better, there will be +one less! On landing all are put in prison, on bare stones, without +straw or bread, and word is sent to Paris to know what must be done +with so many cassocks. In the meantime the third vessel, short of +provisions, has sent two priests to Quilleboeuf and to Pont-Audemer +to have twelve hundred pounds of bread baked: pointed out by the +village militia, they are chased out like wild beasts, pass the +night in a wood, and find their way back with difficulty empty- +handed. The vessel itself being signaled, is besieged. "In all the +municipalities on the banks of the river drums beat incessantly to +warn the population to be on their guard. The appearance of an +Algerian or Tripolitan corsair on the shores of the Adriatic would +cause less excitement. One of the seamen of the vessel published a +statement that the trunks of the priests transported were full of +every kind of arms." and the country people constantly imagine that +they are going to fall upon them sword and pistol in hand. For +several long days the famished convoy remains moored in the stream, +are carefully watched. Boats filled with volunteers and peasants +row around it uttering insults and threats: in the neighboring +meadows the National Guards form themselves in line of battle. +Finally, a decision is arrived at. The bravest, well armed get into +skiffs, approach the vessel cautiously, choose the most favorable +time and spot, rush on board, and take possession; and are perfectly +astonished to find neither enemies nor arms. - Nevertheless, the +priests are confined on board, and their deputies, must make their +appearance before the mayor. The latter, a former usher and good +Jacobin, being the most frightened, is the most violent. He refuses +to stamp the passports, and, seeing two priests approach, one +provided with a sword-cane and the other with an iron-pointed stick, +thinks that there is to be a sudden attack. "Here are two more of +them," he exclaims with terror; "they are all going to land. My +friends, the town is in danger! " - On hearing this the crowd +becomes alarmed, and threatens the deputies; the cry of "To the lamp +post!" is heard, and, to save them, National Guards are obliged to +conduct them to prison in the center of a circle of bayonets. - +It must be noted that these madmen are "at bottom the kindest people +in the world." After the boarding of the ship, one of the most +ferocious, by profession a barber, seeing the long beards of these +poor priests, instantly cools down, draws forth his tools, and good- +naturedly sets to work, spending several hours in shaving them. In +ordinary times ecclesiastics received nothing but salutations; three +years previously they were "respected as fathers and guides." But at +the present moment the rustic, the man of the lower class, is out of +his bearings. Forcibly and against nature, he has been made a +theologian, a politician, a police captain, a local independent +sovereign; and in such a position his head is turned. Among these +people who seem to have lost their senses, only one, an officer of +the National Guard, remains cool; he is, besides, very polite, well- +behaved, and an agreeable talker; he comes in the evening to comfort +the prisoners and to take tea with them in prison; in fact, he is +accustomed to tragedies and, thanks to his profession, his nerves +are in repose - this person is the executioner. The others, "whom +one would take for tigers," are bewildered sheep; but they are not +the less dangerous; for, carried away by their delirium, they bear +down with their mass on whatever gives them umbrage. - On the +road from Paris to Lyons[79] Roland's commissioners witness this +terrible fright. "The people are constantly asking what our +generals and armies are doing; they have vengeful expressions +frequently on their lips. Yes, they say, we will set out, but we +must (at first) purge the interior." + +Something appalling is in preparation. The seventh jacquerie is +drawing near, this one universal and final - at first brutal, and +then legal and systematic, undertaken and carried out on the +strength of abstract principles by leaders worthy of the means they +employ. Nothing like it ever occurred in history; for the first +time we see brutes gone mad, operating on a grand scale and for a +long time, under the leadership of blockheads who have become +insane. + +There is a certain strange malady commonly encountered in the +quarters of the poor. A workman, over-taxed with work, in misery +and badly fed, takes to drink; he drinks more and more every day, +and liquors of the strongest kind. After a few years his nervous +system, already weakened by spare diet, becomes over-excited and out +of balance. An hour comes when the brain, under a sudden stroke, +ceases to direct the machine; in vain does it command, for it is no +longer obeyed; each limb, each joint, each muscle, acting separately +and for itself starts convulsively through discordant impulses. +Meanwhile the man is gay; he thinks himself a millionaire, a king, +loved and admired by everybody; he is not aware of the mischief he +is doing to himself he does not comprehend the advice given him, he +refuses the remedies offered to him, he sings and shouts for entire +days, and, above all, drinks more than ever. - At last his face +grows dark and his eyes become blood-shot. Radiant visions give way +to black and monstrous phantoms; he sees nothing around him hut +menacing figures, traitors in ambush, ready to fall upon him +unawares, murderers with upraised arms ready to cut his throat, +executioners preparing torments for him; and he seems to be wading +in a pool of blood. So he precipitates, and, in order that he +himself may not be killed, he kills. No one is more to be dreaded, +for his delirium sustains him; his strength is prodigious, his +movements unforeseen, and he endures, without heeding them, +suffering and wounds under which a healthy man would succumb. - +France, like such a madman, exhausted by fasting under the monarchy, +drunk by the unhealthy drug of the Social-Contract, and by countless +other adulterated or fiery beverages, is suddenly struck with +paralysis of the brain; at once she is convulsed in every limb +through the incoherent play and contradictory twitching of her +discordant organs. At this time she has traversed the period of +joyous madness, and is about to enter upon the period of somber +delirium: behold her capable of daring, suffering, and doing all, +capable of incredible exploits and abominable barbarities, the +moment her guides, as erratic as herself, indicate an enemy or an +obstacle to her fury. + + + THE END. + +__________________________________________________________________ + +NOTES: + +[1] Moniteur, XI. 763. (Sitting of March 28, 1792.) - "Archives +Nationales," F7, 3235. (Deliberation of the Directory of the +Department, November 29, 1791, and January 27, 1792. - Petition +of the Municipality of Mende and of forty-three others, November 30, +1791.) + +[2] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3198. Minutes of the meeting of the +municipal officers of Arles, September 2, 1791. - Letters of the +Royal Commissioners and of the National Assembly, October 24, +November 6, 14, 17, 21, and December 21, 1791. - The +Commissioners, to be impartial, attend in turn a mass by a nonjuring +priest and one by a priest of the opposite side. "The church is +full" with the former and always empty with the latter. + +[3] "Mémoire" of M. Mérilhon, for Froment, passim. - Report of M. +Alquier, p. 54. - De Dampmartin, I. 208. + +[4] - De Dampmartin, I. 208.They would exclaim to the catholic +peasants: "Allons, mes enfants, Vive le Roi!" (shouts of enthusiasm): +"those wretches of democrats, let us make an example of them, and +restore the sacred rights of the throne and the altar!" - "As you +please," replied the rustics in their patois, "but we must hold fast +to the Revolution, for there are some good things about it." - They +remain calm, refuse to march to the assistance of Uzès, and withdraw +into their mountains on the first sign of the approach of the +National Guard. + +[5] This is what the author Soljenitsyne observed about his Russian +countrymen in an interview with M. Pivot in the French television in +1998. (SR.) + +[6] Dauban, "La Demagogie à Paris," p.598; Letter of M. de Brissac, +August 25, 1789. + +[7] Moniteur, X. 339. (Journal de Troyes, and a letter from +Perpignan, November, 1791.) + +[8] Mercure de France, No. for September 3, 1791. "Let Liberty be +presented to us, and all France will kneel before her; but noble and +proud hearts will eternally resist the oppression which assumes her +sacred mask. They will invoke liberty, but liberty without crime, +the liberty which is maintained without dungeons, without +inquisitors, without incendiaries, without brigands, without forced +oaths, without illegal coalitions, without mob outrages; that +liberty, finally, which allows no oppressor to go unpunished, and +which does not crush peaceable citizens beneath the weight of the +chains it has broken." + +[9] Rivarol, "Mémoires," p.367. (Letter of M. Servan, published in +the "Actes des Apôtres.") + +[10] The King's brother, later to become King of France under the +name of Louis XVIII. (SR.) + +[11] "Archives Nationa1es," F7. 3257. Official reports, +investigations, and correspondence in relation with the affair of M. +Bussy (October, 1790). + +[12] Mercure de France, May 15, 1790. (Letter of Baron de Bois- +d'Aisy, April 29, read in the National Assembly.) - Moniteur, IV. +302. Sitting of May 6. (Official statement of the Justice of the +Peace of Vitteaux, April 28.) + +[13] "Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letter of M. Belin- +Chatellenot (near Asnay-le-Duc) to the President of the National +Assembly, July 1, 1791. "In the realm of liberty we live under the +most cruel tyranny, and in a state of the most complete anarchy, +while the administrative bodies and the police, still in their +infancy, seem to act only in fear and trembling. . . . So far, +in all crimes, they are more concerned with extenuating the facts, +than in punishing the offense. The result is that the guilty have +had no other restraint on them than a few gentle phrases like this: +Dear brothers and friends, you are in the wrong, be careful," etc. +- Ibid. , F7, 3229. Letter of the Directory of the Department of +Marne, July 13, 1791. (Searches by the National Guard in chateaux +and the disarming of formerly privileged persons.) "None of our +injunctions were obeyed." For example, there is breakage and +violence in the residence of M. Guinaumont at Merry, the gun, shot +and powder of the game-keeper even are carried off. "M. de +Guinaumont is without the means of defending himself against a mad +dog or any other savage brute that might come into his woods or into +his courtyard." The Mayor of Merry, with the National Guard, under +compulsion, tells them in vain that they are breaking the law. - +Petition of Madame d'Ambly, wife of the deputy, June 28, 1791. Not +having the guns which she had already given up, she is made to pay +150 francs. + +[14] Archives Nationales," DXXIX. 4. Letters of the Administrators +of the Department of Rhône-et-Loire, July 6, 1791. (M. Vilet is one +of the signers.) - Mercure de France, October 8, 1791. + +[15] Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by Mallet du +Pan. "The details of the picture I have just sketched were all +furnished me by Madame Dumoutet herself." I am "authorized by her +signature to guarantee the accuracy of this narrative." + +[16] Mercure de France, August 20, 1791, the article by Mallet du +Pan. "The proceedings instituted at Lyons confirmed this banquet of +cannibals." + +[17] The letter of the Department ends with this either naïve or +ironical expression: "You have now only one conquest to make, that +of making the people obey and submit to the law." + +[18] "Archives Nationales," P7, 3,200. See documents relating to +the affair of November 5, 1792, and the events which preceded it or +followed it, and among others "Lettres du Directoire et du +Procureur-syndic du Departement;" "Pétition et Mémoire pour les +Déténus;" "Lettres d'un Témoin," M. de Morant. - Moniteur, X. +356. "Minutes of the meeting de la Municipalité de Caen" and of the +"Directoire du Departement," XI.1264, 206. "Rapport de Guadet," and +documents of the trial. - "Archives Nationales," ibid. . - +"Lettres de M. Cahier," Minister of the Interior, January 26, 1792, +of M. C. D. de Pontécoulant, President of the Department +Directory, February 3, 1792. - Proclamation by the Directory. + +[19] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of September 26, 1791. +- Letter found on one of the arrested gentlemen. "A cowardly +bourgeoisie, directors in cellars, a clubbist (Jacobin) +municipality, waging the most illegal war against us." + +[20] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the Attorney- +General of Bayeux, May 14, 1792, and of the Directory of Bayeux, May +21, 1792. - At Bayeux, likewise; the refugees are denounced and in +peril. According to their verified statements they scarcely +amounted to one hundred. "Several nonjuring priests, indeed, are +found among them. (But) the rest, for the most part, consist of the +heads of families who are known to reside habitually in neighboring +districts, and who have been forced to leave their homes after +having been, or fearing to become, victims of religious intolerance +or of the threats of factions and of brigands." + +[21] Lenin has probably read this during his studies in Paris and +maybe been confirmed in his plan to create a new elite, an elite he +eventually began to make use of from 1917 and onwards, an elite +which continues to rule Russia and a great part of the world today. +(SR.) + +[22] Mercure de France, June 4, 1790 (letter from Cahors, May 17, +and an Act of the Municipality, May 10, 1790). + +[23] "Archives Nationales," F7,, 1223. Letter of count Louis de +Beaumont, November 9, 1791. His letter, in a very moderate tone, +thus end: "You must admit, sir, that it is very disagreeable and +even incredible, that the Municipal Officers should be the +originators of the disorders which occur in this town." + +[24] Mercure de France, January 7, 1792. M. Granchier de Riom +petitions the Directory of his Department in relation to the +purchase of the cemetery, where his father had been interred four +years before; his object is to prevent it from being dug up, which +was decreed, and to preserve the family vault. He at the same time +wishes to buy the church of Saint-Paul, in order to insure the +continuance of the masses in behalf of his father's soul. The +Directory replies (December 5, 1791): "considering that the motives +which have determined the petitioner in his declaration are a +pretense of good feeling under which there is hidden an illusion +powerless to pervert a sound mind, the Directory decides that the +application of the sieur Granchier cannot be granted." + +[25] De Ferrières, II. 268 (April 19, 1791). + +[26] De Montlosier, II. 307, 309, 312. + +[27] Moniteur, VI. 556. Letter of M d'Aymar, commodore, November 18, +1790. + +[28] Mercure de France, May 28, and June 16, 1791 (letters from +Cahors and Castelnau, May 18). + +[29] Mercure de France, number of May 28, 1791. At the festival of +the Federation, M. de Massy would not order his cavalry to put their +chapeaux on the points of their swords, which was a difficult +maneuver. He was accused of treason to the nation on account of +this, and obliged to leave Tulle for several months. - " Archives +Nationales," F7, 3204. Extract from the minutes of the tribunal of +Tulle, May 10, 1791. + +[30] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, "Minutes of the meeting des +Officiers Municipaux de Brest," June 23, 1791. + +[31] "Mémoires de Cuvier" ("Eloges Historiques," by Flourens), I, +177. Cuvier, who was then in Havre (1788), had pursued the higher +studies in a German administrative school. "M. de Surville," he +says, an officer in the Artuis regiment, has one of the must refined +minds and most amiable characters I ever encountered. There were a +good many of this sort among his comrades, and I am always +astonished how such men could vegetate in the obscure ranks of an +infantry regiment." + +[32] De Dampmartin, I. 133. At the beginning of the year 1790, +"inferior officers said: 'We ought to demand something, for we have +at least as many grievances as our troopers,' " - M. de la +Rochejacquelein, after his great success in La Vendée, said: "I hope +that the King, when once he is restored, will give me a regiment." +He aspired to nothing more ("Mémoires de Madame de la +Rochejacquelein"). - Cf. "Un Officier royaliste au Service de la +Republique," by M. de Bezancenet, in the letters and biography of +General de Dommartin killed in the expedition to Egypt. + +[33] Correspondence of MM. de Thiard, de Caraman, de Miran, de +Bercheny, etc., above cited, passim. - Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, May 5, 1780: "The town of Vannes has an authoritative style +which begins to displease me. It wants the King to furnish drum- +sticks. The first log of wood would provide these, with greater +ease and promptness." + +[34] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3248, March 16, 1791. At Douai, +Nicolon, a grain-dealer, is hung because the municipal authorities +did not care to proclaim martial law. The commandant, M. de la +Noue, had not the right of ordering his men to move, and the murder +took place before his eyes. + +[35] The last named, especially, died with heroic meekness (Mercure +de France, June 18, 1791). - Sitting of June 9, speeches by two +officers of the regiment of Port-au-Prince, one of them an eye- +witness. + +[36] "De Dampmartin," II. 214. Desertion is very great, even in +ordinary times, supplying foreign armies with "a fourth of their +effective men." - Towards the end of 1789, Dubois de Crancé, an +old musketeer and one of the future "men of the mountain," stated to +the National Assembly that the old system of recruiting supplied the +army with "men without home or occupation, who often became soldiers +to avoid civil penalties" (Moniteur, II. 376, 381, sitting of +December 12, 1789). + +[37] "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, Correspondence of M. de +Thiard, September 4 and 7, 1789, November 20, 1789, April 28, and +May 29, 1790. "The spirit of insubordination which begins to show +itself in the Bassigny regiment is an epidemic disease which is +insensibly spreading among all the troops. . . . The troops are +all in a state of gangrene, while all the municipalities oppose the +orders they receive concerning the movements of troops." + +[38] "Archives Nationales," H,1453. Correspondence of M. de +Bercheny, July 12, 1790. + +[39] "Mémoire Justificatif" (by Grégoire), on behalf of two +soldiers, Emery and Delisle. - De Bouillé, "Mémoires." - De +Dampmartin, I.128, 144. - "Archives Nationales," KK, 1105, +Correspondence of M. de Thiard, July 2 and 9, 1790. - Moniteur, +sittings of September 3 and June 4, 1790. + +[40] De Bouillé, p. 127. - Moniteur, sitting of August 6, 1790, +and that of May 27, 1790. - Full details in authentic documents +of the affair at Nancy, passim. - Report of M. Emmery, August 16, +1790, and other documents in Buchez and Roux, VII. 59-162. - De +Bezancenet, p.35. Letters of M. de Dommartin (Metz, August 4, +1790). "The Federation there passed off quietly, only, a short time +after, some soldiers of a regiment took it into their heads to +divide the (military) fund, and at once placed sentinels at the door +of the officer having charge of the chest, compelling him to open it +(désacquer). Another regiment has since put all its officers under +arrest. A third has mutinied, and wanted to take all its horses to +the market-place and sell them. . . . Everywhere the soldiers are +heard to say that if they want money they know where to find it." + +[41] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, letters of the Royal +Commissioners, September 27, October 1, 4, 8, 11, 1790. the +commencement of the Revolution, had most to do with the +insurrections in the interior. "What means can four commissioners +employ to convince 20,000 men, most of whom are seduced by the real +enemies of the public welfare? In consequence of the replacing of +the men the crews are, for the most part, composed of those who are +almost ignorant of the sea, who know nothing of the rules of +subordination, and who, at the commencement of the Revolution, had +most to do with the insurrections in the interior." + +[42] Mercure de France. October 2, 1790. Letter of the Admiral, M. +d'Albert de Rioms, September 16. The soldiers of the Majestueux +have refused to drill, and the sailors of the Patriote to obey. - +"I wished to ascertain beforehand if they had any complaint to make +against their captain? - No. - If they complained of myself? - +No. - If they had any complaints to make against their officers ? +- No. - It is the revolt of one class against another class; +their sole cry is 'Vive la Nation et les Aristocrates à la +lanterne!' The mob have set up a gibbet before the house of M. de +Marigny, major-general of marines; he has handed in his resignation. +M. d'Albert tenders his resignation." - Ibid, June 18, 1791 +(letter from Dunkirk, June 3). + +[43] De Dampmartin, I. 222, 219. Mercure de France, September 3, +1791. (Sitting of August 23.) - Cf. Moniteur (same date). "The +Ancient Régime," p.377. + +[44] Marshal Marmont, "Mémoires," I. 24. "The sentiment I +entertained for the person of the King is difficult to define. . . +(It was) a sentiment of devotion of an almost religious character, a +profound respect as if due to a being of a superior order. At this +time the word king possessed a magic power in all pure and upright +hearts which nothing had changed. This delicate sentiment . . . +still existed in the mass of the nation, especially among the well- +born, who, sufficiently remote from power, were rather impressed by +its brilliancy than by its imperfections." De Bezancenet, 27. +Letter of M. de Dommartin, August 24, 1790. "We have just renewed +our oath. I hardly know what it all means. I, a soldier, know only +my King; in reality I obey two masters, who, we are told, will +secure my happiness and that of my brethren, if they agree +together." + +[45] De Dampmartin, I. 179. See the details of his resignation +(III. 185) after June 20, 1792. - Mercure de France, April 14, +1792. Letter from the officers of the battalion of the Royal +chasseurs of Provence (March 9). They are confined to their +barracks by their soldiers, who refuse to obey their orders, and +they declare that, on this account, they abandon the service and +leave France. + +[46] Rousset, "Les Volontaires de 1791 à 1794, p. 106. Letter of +M. de Biron to the minister (August, 1792); p.225, letter of Vezu, +commander of the 3rd battalion of Paris, to the army of the north +(July 24, 1793). - "A Residence in France from 1792 to 1795" +(September, 1792. Arras). See notes at the end of vol. II. for +the details of these violent proceedings. + +[47] Mercure de France, March 5, June 4, September 3, October 22, +1791. (Articles by Mallet du Pan. - Ibid. , April 14, 1792. More +than six hundred naval officers resigned after the mutiny of the +squadron at Brest. "Twenty-two grave revolts in the ports on +shipboard remained unpunished, and several of them through the +decisions of the naval jury." "There is no instance of any +insurrection, in the ports or on shipboard, or any outrage upon a +naval officer, having been punished. . . . It is not necessary +to seek elsewhere for the causes of the abandonment of the service +by naval officers. According to their letters all offer their lives +to France, but refuse to command those who will not obey." + +[48] This was done by Hitler against the Jews and by the Communists +against their "enemy" the bourgeois. (SR.) + +[49] Duvergier, "Decrees of August 1-6, 1791; February 9-11, 1792; +March 30 to April 8, 1792; July 24-28, 1792; March 28 to April 5, +1793." - Report by Roland, January 6, 1793. He estimates this +property at 4,800 millions, of which 1,800 millions must he de- +ducted for the creditors of the emigrants; 3,000 millions remain. +Now, at this date, the assignats are at a discount of 55 per cent. +from their nominal figure. + +[50] Mercure de France,, February 18, 1792. + +[51] Already Tacitus noted some 2000 years ago that, "It is part of +human nature to hate the man you have hurt." (SR.) + +[52] Cf. on this general attitude of the clergy, Sauzay, V. I. +and the whole of V. II. - Mercure de France, September 10, 1791: +"No impartial man will fail to see that, in the midst of this +oppression, amidst so many fanatical charges of which the reproach +of fanaticism and revolt is the pretext, not one act of resistance +has yet been manifest. Informers and municipal bodies, governed by +clubs, have caused a large number of non-jurors to be cast into +dungeons. All have come out of them, or groan there untried, and no +tribunal has found any of them guilty." - Report of M. Cahier, +Minister of the Interior, February 18, 1792. He declares that "he +had no knowledge of any priest being convicted by the courts as a +disturber of the public peace, although several had been accused." +- Moniteur May 6, 1792. (Report of Français de Nantes) "Not one +has been punished for thirty months." + +[53] On these spontaneous brutal acts of the Catholic peasants, cf. +"Archives Nationales," F7, 3236 (Lozère, July-November, 1791). +Deliberation of the district of Florac, July 6, 1791, and the +official statement of the commissioner of the department on the +disturbances in Espagnac. On the 5th of July, Richard, a +constitutional curé, calls upon the municipality to proceed to his +installation. "The ceremony could not take place, owing to the +hooting, of the women and children, and the threats of various +persons who exclaimed: 'Kill him! strangle him, he is a Protestant, +is married, and has children;' and owing to the impossibility of +entering the church, the doors of which were obstructed by the large +number of women standing in front of them:"- On the 6th of July, he +is installed, but with difficulty. "Inside the church a crowd of +women uttered loud cries and bemoaned the removal of their old curé +On returning, in the streets, a large number of women, unsettled by +the sight of the constitutional cure, turned their faces aside . . +. and contented themselves with uttering disjointed words . - +without doing anything more than cover their faces with their +bonnets, casting themselves on the ground." - July 15. The clerk +will no longer serve at the mass nor ring the bells; the curé, +Richard, attempting to ring them himself, the people threaten him +with ill-treatment if he runs the risk. - September 8, 1791. +Letter from the curé of Fau, district of Saint-Chély. "That night I +was on the brink of death through a troop of bandits who took my +parsonage away from me, after having broken in the doors and +windows." - December 30, 1791. Another curé who goes to take +possession of his parsonage is assailed with stones by sixty women, +and thus pursued beyond the limits of the parish . - August 5, +1791. Petition of the constitutional bishop of Mende and his four +vicars. "Not a day passes that we are not insulted in the +performance of our duties. We cannot take a step without +encountering hooting. If we go out we are threatened with cowardly +assassination, and with being beaten with clubs."- F7, 3235 (Bas- +Rhin, letter from the Directory of the Department, April 9, 1792): +"Ten out of eleven, at least, of the Catholics refuse to recognize +sworn priests." + +[54] Duvergier, decrees (not sanctioned) of November 29 and May 27, +1792. - Decree of August 26, 1792, after the fall of the throne. +- Moniteur, XII. 200 (sitting of April 23, 1793). Report of the +Minister of the Interior. + +[55] Lallier, "Le District de Machecoul," p.261, 263. - "Archives +Nationales," F7, 3234. Demand of the prosecuting attorney of the +commune of Tonneins (December 21, 1791) for the arrest or expulsion +of eight priests "at the slightest act of internal or external +hostility." - Ibid., F7, 3264. Act of the Council-general of +Corrèze (July 16, 17, 18, 1792) to place in arrest all nonjuring +priests. - Between these two dates, act, of various kinds and of +increasing severity are found in nearly all the departments against +the non-jurors. + +[56] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Official statement by the +directory of the department, March 18, 1791, with all the documents +in relation thereto. - F7, 3200. Letter of the Directory of +Calvados, June 13, 1792, with the interrogations. The damages are +estimated at 15,000 livres. + +[57] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3234. An Act of the Directory of +Lot, February 24, 1792, on the disturbances at Marmande. - F7, +3239, official statement of the municipal body of Rheims, November +5, 6, 7, 1791. The two workmen are a harness-maker and a wool- +carder. The priest who administered the baptism is put in prison as +a disturber of the public peace. - F7, 3219. Letter of the royal +commissioner at the tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 5, 1792. - +F7, 3203. Letter of the directory of the district of La Rochelle, +June 1, 1792. "The armed force, a witness of these crimes and +summoned to arrest these persons in the act, refused to obey." + +[58] Memorandum by Camille Jourdan (Sainte-Beuve, "Causeries du +Lundi," XII. 250). The guard refuses to give any assistance, +coming too late and merely "to witness the disorder, never to +repress it." + +[59] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Letters of the curé of Uzès, +January 29, 1792; of the curé of Alais, April 5, 1792; of the +administrators of Gard, July28, 1792; of the prosecuting attorney , +M. Griolet, July 2, 1792 ; of Castanet, former gendarme, August 25, +1792; of M. Griolet, September 28, 1792. - Ibid. , F7, 3223. +Petition by M.M. Thueri and Devès in the name of the oppressed of +Montpellier, November 17, 1791; letter of the same to the minister, +October28, 1791; letter of M. Dupin, prosecuting attorney , August +23, 1791; Act of the Department, August 9, 1791; Petition of the +inhabitants of Courmonterral, August 25, 1791 + +[60] Moniteur, XII. 16, sitting of April 1, 1792. Speech by M. +Laureau. "Behold the provinces in flames, insurrection in nineteen +departments, and revolt everywhere declaring itself . . . The +only liberty is that of brigandage; we have no taxation, no order, +no government." Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. "More than twenty +departments are now participating in the horrors of anarchy and in a +more or less destructive insurrection." + +[61] Moniteur, XII. 30. Speech by M. Caillasson. The total amount +of property sold up to November 1, 1791, is 1,526 millions; the +remainder for sale amounts to 669 millions. + +[62] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. Letter of the Directory of +Ille-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792. "The National Guards of the +district purposely expel all nonjuring priests, who have not been +replaced, under the pretext of the trouble they would not fail to +cause at Easter." + +[63] Moniteur, XI. 420. (Sitting of February 18, 1792.) Report by +M. Cahier, Minister of the Interior. + +[64] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3250. Deposition of the municipal +officers of Gosnay and Hesdiguel (district of Béthune), May 18, +1792. Six parishes took part in this expedition; the mayor's wife +had a rope around her neck, and came near being hung. - Moniteur, +XII, 154, April 15, 1792. - "Archives Nationales," F7, 3225. +Letter of the Directory of Ile-et-Vilaine, March 24, 1792, and +official statement of the commissioners for the district of Vitré; +letter of the same directory, April 21, 1792, and report of the +commissioners sent to Acigné, April 6. + +[65] Moniteur, XII. 200. Report of M. Cahier, April 23, 1792. The +directories of these four departments refuse to cancel their illegal +acts, alleging that "their armed National Guards pursue refractory +priests." + +[66] Mercure de France, April 7, 1792. Letters written from +Aurillac. - "Archives Nationales," F7, 3202. - Letter of the +directory of the district of Aurillac, March 27, 1792 (with seven +official statements); of the directory of the district of Saint- +Flour, March 19 (with the report of its commissioners); of M. +Duranthon, minister of justice, April 22; petition of M. Lorus, +municipal officer of Aurillac. - Letter of M. Duranthon, June 9, +1792. "I am just informed by the royal commissioner of the district +of Saint-Flour that, since the departure of the troops, the +magistrates dare no longer exercise their functions in the midst of +the brigands who surround them." + +[67] "Archives Nationales," F7,, 3219. Letters of M. Niel, +administrator of the department of Haute-Garonne, February 27, 1792; +of M. Sainfal, March 4; of the directory of the department, March 1; +of the royal commissioner, tribunal of Castelsarrasin, March 13. + +[68] The following are some examples of these rustic desires: + +At Lunel, 4000 peasants and village National Guards strive to enter, +to hang the aristocrats. Their wives are along with them, leading +their donkeys with "baskets which they hope to carry away full." +("Archives Nationales," F7, 3523. Letter of the municipal body of +Lunel, November 4, 1791.) + +At Uzès it is with great difficulty that they can rid themselves of +the peasants who came in to drive out the Catholic royalists. In +vain "were they given plenty to eat and to drink;" they go away "in +bad humor, especially the women who led the mules and asses to carry +away the booty, and who had not anticipated returning home with +empty hands." (De Dampmartin, I. 195.) + +In relation to the siege of Nantes by the Vendéans: "An old woman +said to me, 'Oh, yes, I was there, at the siege. My sister and +myself had brought along our sacks. We counted on entering at least +as far as the Rue de la Casserie'" (the street of jeweler's shops). +(Michelet, V 211.) + +[69] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3209. Letters of the royal +commissioner at the tribunal of Mucidan, March 7, 1792; of the +public prosecutor of the district of Sarlat, January. 1792. - +Ibid. , F7, 3204. Letters of the administrators of the district of +Tulle, April 15, 1792; of the directory of the department, April 18; +petition of Jacques Labruc and his wife, with official statement of +the justice of the peace, April 24. "All these acts of violence +were committed under the eyes of the municipal authorities. They +took no steps to prevent them, although they had notice given them +in time." + +[70] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letters of M. Brisson, +commissioner of the naval classes of Souillac, February 2, 1792; of +the directory of the department, March 14, 1792. - Petition of +the brothers Barrié (with supporting documents), October 11, 1791. +- Letter of the prosecuting attorney of the department, April 4, +1792. Report of the commissioners sent to the district of Figeac, +January 5, 1792. Letter of the administrators of the department, +May 27, 1792. + +[71] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3217. Official reports of the +commissioners of the department of Gard, April 1, 2, 3, and 6, 1792, +and letter of April 6. One land-owner is taxed 100,000 francs. - +Ibid., F7, 3223. Letter of M Dupin, prosecuting attorney of +l'Hérault, February 17 and 26, 1792. "At the chateau of Pignan, +Madame de Lostanges has not one complete piece of furniture left. +The cause of these disturbances is religious passion. Five or six +nonjuring priests had retreated to the chateau," - Moniteur, +sitting of April 16, 1792. Letter from the directory of the +department of Gard. - De Dampmartin, II, 85. At Uzès, fifty or +sixty men in masks invade the ducal chateau at ten o'clock in the +evening, set fire to the archives, and the chateau is burnt. + +[72] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Official statements of Augier +and Fabre, administrators of the Bouches-de-Rhône, sent to Avignon, +May 11, 1792. (The reappearance of Jourdan, Mainvielle, and the +assassins of La Glacière took place April 29.) + +[73] De Dampmartin, II. 63. Portalis, "Il est temps de parler" +(pamphlet), passim. "Archives Nationales," F7, 7090. Memorandum of +the commissioners of the municipal administration of Arles, year +IV., Nivôse 22. + +[74] Mercure de France, May 19, 1792. (Sitting of May 4.). +Petition of forty inhabitants of Avignon at the bar of the +Legislative Assembly. - "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter +of the royal commissioners at the tribunal of Apt, March 15, 1792; +official report of the municipality, March 22; Letters of the +Directory of Apt, March 23 and 28, 1792. + +[75] Large cellar where the ice collected during the winter was kept +for later use. (SR.) + +[76] "Archives Nationales," ibid. Letter of Amiel, president of the +bureau of conciliation at Avignon, October 28, 1792, and other +letters to the minister Roland. - F7, 3217, Letter of the Justice +of the Peace at Roque-Maure, October 31, 1792. + +[77] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3246. Official report of the +municipality of Metz (with supporting documents), May 15, 1792. + +[78] "Mémoires de l'Abbé Baton," one of the priests of the third +convoy (a bishop is appointed from Séez), p. 233. + +[79] "Archives Nationales" F7, 3225. Letter of citizen Bonnemant, +commissioner to minister Roland, September 11, 1792. + + + + + +End of The French Revolution, Volume 1. + diff --git a/old/02ocf10.zip b/old/02ocf10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..768a3b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/02ocf10.zip |