友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!
合租小说网 返回本书目录 加入书签 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 『收藏到我的浏览器』

the origins of contemporary france-3-第28部分

快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部! 如果本书没有阅读完,想下次继续接着阅读,可使用上方 "收藏到我的浏览器" 功能 和 "加入书签" 功能!



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

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

rights; deny historic rights; they impose from above; and by force;

that truth of which they are the apostles; and allow themselves every

provocation which they prohibit to others。



〃Let us tell Europe;〃 cries Isnard;'53' 〃that ten millions of

Frenchmen; armed with the sword; with the pen; with reason; with

eloquence; might; if provoked; change the face of the world and make

tyrants tremble on their thrones of clay。〃



〃Wherever a throne exists;〃 says Hérault de Séchelles; 〃there is an

enemy。〃'54'



 〃An honest peace between tyranny and liberty;〃 says Brissot; 〃is

impossible。  Our Constitution is an eternal anathema to absolute

monarchs 。 。 。  It places them on trial; it pronounces judgment on

them; it seems to say to each: to…morrow thou have ceased to be or

shalt be king only through the people。 。 。 War is now a national

benefit; and not to have war is the only calamity to be dreaded。〃 '55'



 〃 Tell the king;〃 says Gensonné; 〃that the war is a must; that public

opinion demands it; that the safety of the empire makes it a law。〃'56'



 〃The state we are in;〃 concludes Vergniaud; 〃is a veritable state of

destruction that may lead us to disgrace and death。 So then to arms!

to arms! Citizens; freemen; defend your liberty; confirm the hopes of

that of the human race。 。 。 Lose not the advantage of your position。

Attack now that there is every sign of complete success。 。 。 The

spirits of past generations seem to me crowding into this temple to

conjure you; in the name of the evils which slavery had compelled them

to endure; to protect the future generations whose destinies are in

your hands!  Let this prayer be granted! Be for the future a new

Providence! Ally yourselves with eternal justice!〃'57'



Among the Marseilles speakers there is no longer any room for serious

discussion。  Brissot; in reply to the claim made by the Emperor on

behalf of the princes' property in Alsatia; replies that 〃the

sovereignty of the people is not bound by the treaties of

tyrants。〃'58'  As to the gatherings of the émigrés; the Emperor having

yielded on this point; he will yield on the others。'59'  Let him

formally renounce all combinations against France。



 〃I want war on the 10th of February;〃 says Brissot; 〃unless we have

received his renunciation。〃



No explanations; it is satisfaction we want; 〃to require satisfaction

is to put the Emperor at our mercy。〃'60'  The Assembly; so eager to

start the quarrel; usurps the King's right to take the first step and

formally declares war; fixing the date。'61'  The die is now cast。



 〃They want war;〃 says the Emperor; 〃and they shall have it。〃



Austria immediately forms an alliance with Prussia; threatened; like

herself; with revolutionary propaganda。'62'  By sounding the alarm

belles the Jacobins; masters of the Assembly; have succeeded in

bringing about that 〃monstrous alliance;〃 and; from day to day; this

alarm sounds the louder。 One year more; thanks to this policy; and

France will have all Europe for an enemy and as its only friend; the

Regency of Algiers; whose internal system of government is about the

same as her own。







IV。



Secret motives of the leaders。  Their control compromised by peace。

 Discontent of the rich and cultivated class。  Formation and

increase of the party of order。  The King and this party reconciled。



Behind their carmagnoles'63'  we can detect a design which they will

avow later on。



 〃We were always obstructed by the Constitution;〃 Brissot is to say;

〃and nothing but war could destroy the Constitution。〃'64'



Diplomatic wrongs; consequently; of which they make parade; are simply

pretexts; if they urge war it is for the purpose of overthrowing the

legal order of things which annoys them; their real object is the

conquests of power; a second internal revolution; the application of

their system and a final state of equality。 Concealed behind them is

the most politic and absolute of theorists; a man 〃whose great art is

the attainment of his ends without showing himself; the preparation of

others for far…sighted views of which they have no suspicion; and that

of speaking but little in public and acting in secret。〃'65' This man

is Sieyès; 〃the leader of everything without seeming to lead

anything。〃'66'  As infatuated as Rousseau with his own speculations;

but as unscrupulous and as clear…sighted as Macchiavelli in the

selection of practical means; he was; is; and will be; in decisive

moments; the consulting counsel of radical democracy。



〃His pride tolerates no superiority。 He causes nobility to be

abolished because he is not a noble; because he does not possess all

he will destroy all。 His fundamental doctrine for the consolidation of

the Revolution is; that it is indispensable to change religion and to

change the dynasty。〃



Now; had peace been maintained all this was impossible; moreover the

ascendance of the party was compromised。   Entire classes that had

adhered to the party when it launched insurrection against the

privileged; broke loose from it now that insurrection was directed

against them; among thoughtful men and among those with property; most

were disgusted with anarchy; and likewise disgusted with the abettors

of it。 Many administrators; magistrates and functionaries recently

elected; loudly complained of their authority being subject to the

mob。 Many cultivators; manufacturers and merchants have become

silently exasperated at the fruits of their labor and economy being

surrendered at discretion to robbers and the indigent。 It was hard for

the flour…dealers of Etampes not to dare send away their wheat; to be

obliged to supply customers at night; to tremble in their own houses;

and to know that if they went out…doors they risked their lives。'67'

It was hard for wholesale grocers in Paris to see their warehouses

invaded; their windows smashed; their bags of coffee and boxes of

sugar valued at a low price; parceled out and carried away by old hags

or taken gratis by scamps who ran off and sold them at the other end

of the street。'68' It was hard in all places for the families of the

old bourgeoisie; for the formerly prominent men in each town and

village; for the eminent in each art; profession or trade; for

reputable and well…to…do people; in short; for the majority of men who

had a good roof over their heads and a good coat on their backs; to

undergo the illegal domination of a crowd led by a few hundred or

dozens of stump…speakers and firebrands。  Already; in the beginning

of 1792; this dissatisfaction was so great as to be denounced in the

tribune and in the press。 Isnard'69' railed against 〃that multitude of

large property…holders; those opulent merchants; those haughty;

wealthy personages who; advantageously placed in the social

amphitheater; are unwilling to have their seats changed。〃 The

bourgeoisie;〃 wrote Pétion;'70' 〃that numerous class free of any

anxiety; is separating itself from the people; it considers itself

above them; 。 。 。 they are the sole object of its distrust。 It is

everywhere haunted by the one idea that the revolution is a war

between those who have and those who have not。〃  It abstains;

indeed; from the elections; it keeps away from patriotic clubs; it

demands the restoration of order and the reign of law; it rallies to

itself 〃the multitude of conservative; timid people; for whom

tranquility is the prime necessity;〃 and especially; which is still

more serious; it charges the disturbances upon their veritable

authors。  With suppressed indignation and a mass of undisputed

evidence; André Chénier; a man of feeling; starts up in the midst of

the silent crowd and openly tears off the mask from the Jacobins。'71'

He brings into full light the daily sophism by which a mob; 〃some

hundreds of idlers gathered in a garden or at a theater; are

impudently called the people。〃 He portrays those 〃three or four

thousand usurpers of national sovereignty whom their orators and

writers daily intoxicate with grosser incense than any adulation

offered to the worst of despots;〃 those assemblies where 〃an

infinitely small number of French appears large; because they are

united and yell;〃 that Paris club from which honest; industrious;

intelligent people had withdrawn one by one to give place to

intriguers in debt; to persons of tarnished reputations; to the

hypocrites of patriotism; to the lovers of uproar; to abortive

talents; to corrupted intellects; to outcasts of every kind and degree

who; unable to manage their own business; indemnify themselves by

managing that of the public。 He shows how; around the central factory

and its twelve hundred branches of insurrection; the twelve hundred

affiliated clubs; which; 〃holding each other's hands; form a sort of

electric chain around all France〃 and giving it a shock at every touch

from the center; their confederation; installed and enthroned; is not

only as a State within the State; but rather as a sovereign State in a

vassal State; summoning their administrative bodies to their bar;

judicial verdicts set aside through their intervention; private

individuals searched; assessed and condemned through their verdicts。

All this constitutes a steady; systematic defense of insubordination

and revolt; as; 〃under the name  of hoarding and monopoly; commerce

and industry are described as misdemeanors;〃 property is unsettled and

every rich man rendered suspicious; 〃talent and integrity silenced。〃

In short; a public conspiracy made against society in the very name of

society; 〃while the sacred symbol of liberty is made use of as a seal〃

to exempt a few tyrants from punishment。 Such a protest said aloud

what most Frenchmen muttered to themselves; and from month to month;

graver excesses exited greater censure。



〃Anarchy 
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
快捷操作: 按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页 按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页 按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!