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the origins of contemporary france-3-第27部分

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the forty Swiss guards of Chateauroux whom their own cantons desired

to have kept there; it permits these 〃'martyrs to Liberty 〃 to

promenade the streets of Paris in a triumphal car;'30' it admits them

to the bar of the house; and; taking a formal vote on it; extends to

them the honors of the session。'31' Finally; as if it were their

special business to let loose on the public the most ferocious and

foulest of the rabble; it amnesties Jourdan; Mainvielle; Duprat; and

Raphel; fugitive convicts; jail…birds; the condottieri of all lands

assuming the title of 〃the brave brigands of Avignon;〃 and who; for

eighteen months; have pillaged and plundered the Comtat'32'; it stops

the trial; almost over; of the Glacière butchers; it tolerates the

return of these as victors;'33' and their installation by their own

act in the places of the fugitive magistrates; allowing Avignon to be

treated as a conquered city; and; henceforth; to become their prey and

their booty。 This is a willful restoration of the vermin to the social

body; and; in this feverish body; nothing is overlooked that will

increase the fever。 The most anarchical and deleterious maxims

emanate; like miasma; from the Assembly benches。 The reduction of

things to an absolute level is adopted as a principle; 〃equality of

rights;〃 says Lamarque;'34' 〃is to be maintained only by tending

steadily to an equality of fortunes;〃 this theory is practically

applied on all sides since the proletariat is pillaging all who own

property。  〃Let the communal possessions be partitioned among the

citizens of the surrounding villages;〃 says Fran?ois de Nantes; 〃in an

inverse ratio to their fortunes; and let him who has the least

inheritance take the largest share in the divisions。〃'35' Conceive the

effect of this motion read at evening to peasants who are at this very

moment claiming their lord's forest for their commune。 M。 Corneille

prohibits any tax to be levied for the public treasury on the wages of

manual labor; because nature; and not society; gives us the 〃right to

live。〃'36' On the other hand; he confers on the public treasury the

right of taking the whole of an income; because it is society; and not

nature; which institutes public funds; hence; according to him; the

poor majority must be relieved of all taxation; and all taxes must

fall on the rich minority。 The system is well…timed and the argument

apt for convincing indigent or straitened tax…payers; namely; the

refractory majority; that its taxes are just; and that it should not

refuse to be taxed。 …



〃Under the reign of liberty;〃 says President Daverhoult;'37' 〃the

people have the right to insist not merely on subsistence; but again

on plenty and happiness。〃'38'



Accordingly; being in a state of poverty they have been betrayed。 

〃Elevated to the height achieved by the French people;〃 says another

president; 〃it looks down upon the tempests under its feet。〃'39'  The

tempest is at hand and bursts over its head。 War; like a black cloud;

rises above the horizon; overspreads the sky; thunders and wraps

France filled with explosive materials in a circle of lightening; and

it is the Assembly which; through the greatest of its mistakes; draws

down the bolt on the nation's head。









III。



War。 … …Disposition of foreign powers。 … … The King's dislikes。 

Provocation of the Girondins。  Dates and causes of the rupture。



It might have been turned aside with a little prudence。 Two principal

grievances were alleged; one by France and the other by the Empire。 

On the one hand; and very justly; France complained of the gathering

of émigré's; which the Emperor and Electors tolerated against it on

the frontier。  In the first place; however; a few thousand gentlemen;

without troops or stores; and nearly without money;'40' were hardly to

be feared; and; besides this; long before the decisive hour came these

troops were dispersed; at once by the Emperor in his own dominions;

and; fifteen days afterwards; by the Elector of Trèves in his

electorate。'41'   On the other hand; according to treaties; the

German princes; who owned estates in Alsace; made claims for the

feudal rights abolished on their French possessions and the Diet

forbade them to accept the offered indemnity。 But; as far as the Diet

is concerned; nothing was easier nor more customary than to let

negotiations drag along; there being no risk or inconvenience

attending the suit as; during the delay; the claimants remained empty…

handed。  If; now; behind the ostensible motives; the real intentions

are sought for; it is certain that; up to January; 1792; the

intentions of Austria were pacific。  The grants made to the Comte

d'Artois; in the Declaration of Pilnitz; were merely a court…

sprinkling of holy…water; the semblance of an illusory promise and

subject to a European concert of action; that is to say; annulled

beforehand by an indefinite postponement; while this pretended league

of sovereigns is at once 〃placed by the politicians in the class of

august comedies。'42'〃  Far from taking up arms against 〃New France〃 in

the name of old France; the emperor Leopold and his prime minister

Kaunitz; were delighted to see the constitution completed and accepted

by the King; it 〃got them out of an embarrassing position;〃'43'  and

Prussia as well。  In the running of governments; political advantage

is the great incentive and both powers needed all their forces in

another direction; in Poland。 One for retarding; and the other for

accelerating the division of this country; and both; when the

partition took place; to get enough for themselves and prevent Russia

from getting too much。  The sovereigns of Prussia and Austria;

accordingly; did not have any idea of saving Louis XVI; nor of

conducting the émigrés  back; nor of conquering French provinces。 If

anything was to be expected from them on account of personal ill…will;

there was no fear of their armed intervention。  In France it is not

the King who urges a rupture; he knows too well that the hazards of

war will place him and his dependents in mortal danger。 Secretly as

well as publicly; in writing to the émigrés; his wishes are to bring

them back or to restrain them。  In his private correspondence he asks

of the European powers not physical but moral aid; the external

support of a congress which will permit moderate men; the partisans of

order; all owners of property; to raise their heads and rally around

the throne and the laws against anarchy。 In his ministerial

correspondence every precaution is taken not to touch off or let

someone touch off an explosion。 At the critical moment of the

discussion'44' he entreats the deputies; through M。 Delessart; his

Minister of Foreign Affairs; to weigh their words and especially not

to send a demand containing a 〃dead line。〃  He resists; as far as his

passive nature allows him; to the very last。 On being forced to

declare war he requires beforehand the signed advice of all his

ministers。 He does not utter the fatal words; until he; 〃with tears in

his eyes〃 and in the most dire straits; is dragged on by an Assembly

qualifying all caution as treason and which has just dispatched M。

Delessart to appear; under a capital charge; before the supreme court

at Orléans。



It is the Assembly then which launches the disabled ship on the

roaring abysses of an unknown sea; without a rudder and leaking at

every seam。 It alone slips the cable which held it in port and which

the foreign powers neither dared nor desired to sever。 Here; again;

the Girondists are the leaders and hold the axe; since the last of

October they have grasped it and struck repeated blows。'45'   As an

exception; the extreme Jacobins; Couthon; Collot d'Herbois; Danton;

Robespierre; do not side with them。 Robespierre; who at first proposed

to confine the Emperor 〃within the circle of Popilius;〃'46' fears the

placing of too great a power in the King's hands; and; growing

mistrustful; preaches distrust。  But the great mass of the party;

led by clamorous public opinion; impels on the timid marching in

front。  Of the many things of which knowledge is necessary to conduct

successfully such a complex and delicate affair; they know nothing。

They are ignorant about cabinets; courts; populations; treaties;

precedents; timely forms and requisite style。 Their guide and

counselor in foreign relations is Brissot whose pre…eminence is based

on their ignorance and who; exalted into a statesman; becomes for a

few months the most conspicuous figure in Europe。'47'  To whatever

extent a European calamity may be attributed to any one man; this one

is to be attributed to him。 It is this wretch; born in a pastry…cook's

shop; brought up in an attorney's office; formerly a police agent at

150 francs per month; once in league with scandal…mongers and black…

mailers;'48' a penny…a…liner; busybody; and meddler; who; with the

half…information of a nomad; scraps of newspaper ideas and reading…

room lore;'49' added to his scribblings as a writer and his club

declamation; directs the destinies of France and starts a war in

Europe which is to destroy six millions of lives。 In the attic where

his wife is washing his shirts; he enjoys rebuking rulers and; on the

20th of October; in the tribune;'50' he begins by insulting thirty

foreign sovereigns。 Such keen; intense enjoyment is the stuff on which

the new fanaticism daily feeds itself。 Madame Roland herself delights;

with evident complacency; in it; something which can be seen in the

two famous letters in which; with a supercilious tone; she first

instructs the King and next the Pope。'51'  Brissot; at bottom; regards

himself as a Louis XIV; and expressly invites the Jacobins to imitate

the haughty ways of the Great Monarch。'52'   To the tactlessness of

the intruder; and the touchiness of the parvenu; we can add the

rigidity of the sectarian。 The Jacobins; in the name of abstract

rights; den
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