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the origins of contemporary france-3-第43部分

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society can count on other faithfuls。  〃Brière; wine…dealer; Nicolas;

a sapper in the 'Enfants Trouvés' battalion; Gonor; claiming to be one

of the victors of the Bastille;〃'27' Rossignol; an old soldier and

afterwards a journeyman…jeweler; who; after presiding at the massacres

of La Force; is to become an improvised general and display his

incapacity; debauchery; and thievery throughout La Vendée。 〃There are

yet more of them;〃 Huguenin undoubtedly; a ruined ex…lawyer;

afterwards carabineer; then a deserter; next a barrier…clerk; now

serving as spokesman for the Faubourg St。 Honoré and finally president

of the September commune; there was also; doubtless; St。 Huruge alias

Père Adam;  the great barker of the Palais…Royal; a marquis fallen

into the gutter; drinking with and dressing like a common porter;

always flourishing an enormous club and followed by the riffraff。'28'

 These are all the leaders。 The Jacobins of the municipality and of

the Assembly confine their support of the enterprise to conniving at

it and to giving it their encouragement。'29'  It is better for the

insurrection to seem spontaneous。 Through caution or shyness the

Girondins; Pétion; Manual and Danton himself; keep in the background …

…  there is not reason for their coming forward。   The rest;

affiliated with the people and lost in the crowd; are better qualified

to fabricate the story which their flock will like。 This tale; adapted

to the crowd's intellectual limits; form and activity; is both simple

and somber; such as children like; or rather a melodrama taken from an

alien stage in which the good appear on one side; and the wicked on

the other with an ogre or tyrant in the center; some infamous traitor

who is sure to be unmasked at the end of the piece and punished

according to his deserts; the whole grandiloquent terms and; as a

finale; winding up with a grand chorus。 In the raw brain of an over…

excited workman politics find their way only in the shape of rough…

hewn; highly…colored imagery; such as is furnished by the

Marseillaise; the Carmagnole; and the ?a ira。 The requisite motto is

adapted to his use; through this misshapen magnifying glass the most

gracious figure appears under a diabolical aspect。 Louis XVI。 is

represented here 〃as a monster using his power and treasure to oppose

the regeneration of the French。 A new Charles IX。; he desires to bring

on France death and desolation。 Be gone; cruel man; your crimes must

end! Damiens was less guilty than thou art! He was punished with the

most horrible torture for having tried to rid France of a monster;

while you; attempting twenty…five million times more; are allowed full

immunity!'30'  Let us trample under our feet this simulacra of royalty

! Tremble tyrants; Sc?volas are still amongst you!〃



All this is pronounced; declaimed or rather shouted; publicly; in full

daylight; under the King's windows; by stump…speakers mounted on

chairs; while similar provocations daily flow from the committee

installed in Santerre's establishment; now in the shape of displays

posted in the faubourgs; now in that of petitions circulated in the

clubs and sections; now through motions which are gotten up 〃among the

groups in the Tuileries; in the Palais…Royal; in the Place de Grève

and especially on the Place de la Bastille。〃 After the 2nd of June the

leaders founded a new club in the church of the 〃Enfants Trouvés〃

that they might have their special laboratory and thus do their work

on the spot。'31'   Like Plato's demagogues; they understand their

business。 They have discovered the cries which make the popular animal

take note; what offense offends him; what charm attracts him; and on

what road he should be made to follow。 Once drawn in and under way; he

will march blindly on; borne along by his own involuntary inspiration

and crushing with his mass all that he encounters on his path。





IV。



The 20th of June。   The programme。   The muster。   The

procession before the Assembly。   Irruption into the Chateau。  The

King in the presence of the people。



The bait has been carefully chosen and is well presented。 It takes the

form of a celebration of the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis…

court。 A tree of Liberty will be planted on the terrace of the

Feuillants and 〃petitions relating to circumstances〃 will be presented

in the Assembly and then to the King。 As a precaution; and to impose

on the ill…disposed; the petitioners provide themselves with arms and

line the approaches。'32'  A popular procession is an attractive

thing; and there are so many workers who do not know what to do with

their empty day! And; again; it is so pleasant to appear in a

patriotic opera while many; and especially women and children; want

very much to see Monsieur and Madame Veto。  The people from the

surrounding suburbs are invited;'33' the homeless prowlers and beggars

will certainly join the party; while the numerous body of Parisian

loafers; the loungers that join every spectacle can be relied on; and

the curious who; even in our time; gather by hundreds along the quays;

following a dog that has chanced to tumble into the river。 All this

forms a body which; without thinking; will follow its head。



At five o'clock in the morning on the 20th of June groups are already

formed in the faubourgs St。 Antoine and St。 Marcel; consisting of


National Guards; pikemen; gunners with their cannon; persons armed

with sabers or clubs; and women and children。   A notice; indeed;

just posted on the walls; prohibits any assemblage; and the municipal

officers appear in their scarves and command or entreat the crowd not

to break the law。'34'   But; in a working…class brain; ideas are as

tenacious as they are short…lived。  People count on a civic procession

and get up early in the morning to attend to it; the cannon have been

hitched up; the maypole tree is put on wheels and all is ready for the

ceremony; everybody takes a holiday and none are disposed to return

home。  Besides; they have only good intentions。 They know the law as

well as the city officials; they are 〃armed solely to have it observed

and respected。〃 Finally; other armed petitioners have already filed

along before the National Assembly; and; as one is as good as another;

〃the law being equal for all;〃 others must be admitted as well。  In

any event they; too; will ask permission of the National Assembly and

they go expressly。 This is the last and the best argument of all; and

to prove to the city officials that they have no desire to engage in a

riot; they request them to join the procession and march along with

them。



Meanwhile; time passes。  In a crowd irritated by delay; the most

impatient; the rudest; those most inclined to commit violence; always

lead the rest。  At the head…quarters of the Val…de…Grace'35' the

pikemen seize the cannon and drag them along; the National Guards let

things take their course; Saint…Prix and Leclerc; the officers in

command; threatened with death; have nothing to do but to yield with a

protest。  There is the same state of things in the Montreuil

section; the resistance of four out of six of the battalion officers

merely served to give full power to the instigator of the

insurrection; and henceforth Santerre becomes the sole leader of the

assembled crowd。 About half…past eleven he leaves his brewery; and;

followed by cannon; the flag; and the truck which bears the poplar

tree; he places himself at the head of the procession 〃consisting of

about fifteen hundred persons including the bystanders。〃'36'  Like a

snowball; however; the troop grows as it marches along until; on

reaching the National Assembly; Santerre has behind him from seven to

eight thousand persons。'37'   Guadet and Vergniaud move that the

petitioners be introduced; their spokesman; Huguenin; in a bombastic

and threatening address; denounces the ministry; the King; the accused

at Orleans; the deputies of the 〃Right;〃 demands 〃blood;〃 and informs

the Assembly that the people 〃resolute〃 is ready to take the law in

their own hands。'38' Then; with drums beating and bands playing; the

crowd defiles for more than an hour through the chamber under the eyes

of Santerre and Saint…Huruge: here and there a few files of the

National Guard pass mingled with the throng and lost in 〃the moving

forest of pikes〃; all the rest is pure rabble; 〃hideous faces;〃'39'

says a deputy; on which poverty and loose living have left their

marks; ragamuffins; men 〃without coats;〃 in their shirt…sleeves; armed

in all sorts of ways; with chisels and shoe…knives fastened on sticks;

one with a saw on a pole ten feet long; women and children; some of

them brandishing a saber。'40'  In the middle of this procession; an

old pair of breeches 'culottes' borne on a pike with this motto:

Vivent les Sans…Culottes! and; on a pitch…fork; the heart of a calf

with this inscription: C?ur d'aristocrate; both significant emblems of

the grim humor the imaginations of rag…dealers or butchers might come

up with for a political carnival。  This; indeed; it is; they have

been drinking and many are drunk。'41'  A parade is not enough; they

want also to amuse themselves: traversing the hall they sing ?a ira

and dance in the intervals。 They at the same time show their civism by

shouting  Vive les patriotes! A bas le Veto! They fraternise; as they

pass along; with the good deputies of the 〃Left〃; they jeer those of

the 〃Right〃 and shake their fists at them; one of these; known by his

tall stature; is told that his business will be settled for him the

first opportunity。'42' Thus do they flaunt their collaborators to the

Assembly; everyone prepared and willing to act; even against the

Assembly itself。  And yet; with the exception of an iron…railing

pushed in by the crowd and an irruption on to the terrace of the

〃Feuillants;〃 no act of violence was committed。 The Paris population;

except when in a rage; is rather volubl
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