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the origins of contemporary france-3-第48部分

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the majority for a long time having been subject to the same pressure

as the King。 〃If you refuse to respond to our wishes;〃 as a placard of

the 23rd of June had already informed them; 〃our hands are lifted; and

we shall strike all traitors wherever they can be found; even amongst

yourselves。〃'22'  〃Court favorites;〃 says a petition of August 6;

〃have seats in your midst。 Let their inviolability perish if the

national will must always tamely submit to that lethal power!〃  In

the Assembly the yells from the galleries are frightful; the voices of

those who speak against dethronement are overpowered; so great are the

hooting; the speakers are driven out of the tribune。'23' Sometimes the

〃Right〃 abandons the discussion and leaves the chamber。 The insolence

of the galleries goes so far that frequently almost the entire

Assembly murmurs while they applaud; the majority; in short; loudly

expresses anger at its bondage。'24'  Let it be careful!  In the

tribunes and at the approaches to the edifice; stand the Federates;

men who have a tight grip。 They will force it to vote the decisive

measure; the accusation of Lafayette; the decree under which the armed

champion of the King and the Constitution must fall。 The Girondists;

to make sure of it; exact a call of the house; in this way the names

are announced and printed; thus designating to the populace the

opponents of the measure; so that none of them are sure of getting to

their homes safe and sound。  Lafayette; however; a liberal; a

democrat; and a royalist; as devoted to the Revolution as to the Law;

is just the man; who; through his limited mental grasp; his

disconnected political conceptions; and the nobleness of his

contradictory sentiments; best represents the present opinion of the

Assembly; as well as that of France。'25'  Moreover; his popularity;

his courage; and his army are the last refuge。  The majority feels

that in giving him up they themselves are given up; and; by a vote of

400 to 224; it acquits him。  On this side; again; the strategy of

the Girondists is found erroneous。  Power slips away from them the

second time。  Neither the King nor the Assembly have consented to

restore it to them; while they can no longer leave it suspended in the

air; or defer it until a better opportunity; and keep their Jacobin

acolytes waiting。  The feeble leash restraining the revolutionary dog

breaks in their hands; the dog is free and in the street







III。



The Girondins have worked for the benefit of the Jacobins。   The

armed force sent away or disorganized。  The Federates summoned。 

Brest and Marseilles send men。   Public sessions of administrative

bodies。   Permanence of administrative bodies and of the sections。 …

…  Effect of these two measures。  The central bureau of the H?tel…

de…ville。   Origin and formation of the revolutionary Commune。



Never was better work done for another。 Every measure relied on by

them for getting power back; serves only to place it in the hands of

the mob。  On the one hand; through a series of legislative acts and

municipal ordinances; they have set aside or disbanded the army; alone

capable of repressing or intimidating it。 On the 29th of May they

dismissed the king's guard。 On the 15th of July they ordered away from

Paris all regular troops。 On the 16th of July;'26'  they select 〃 for

the formation of a body of infantry…gendarmerie; the former French…

guardsmen who served in the Revolution about the epoch of the 1st day

of June; 1789; the officers; under…officers; gunners; and soldiers who

gathered around the flag of liberty after the 12th of July of that

year;〃 that is to say; a body of recognized insurgents and deserters。

On the 6th of July; in all towns of 50;000 souls and over; they strike

down the National Guard by discharging its staff; 〃an aristocratic

corporation;〃 says a petition;'27' 〃a sort of modern feudality

composed of traitors; who seem to have formed a plan for directing

public opinion as they please。〃 Early in August;'28' they strike into

the heart of the National Guard by suppressing special companies;

grenadiers; and chasseurs; recruited amongst well…to…do…people; the

genuine elite; stripped of its uniform; reduced to equality; lost in

the mass; and now; moreover; finding its 'ranks degraded by a mixture

of interlopers; federates; and men armed with pikes。 Finally; to

complete the pell…mell; they order that the palace guard be hereafter

composed daily of citizens taken from the sixty battalions;'29' so

that the chiefs may no longer know their men nor the men their chiefs;

so that no one may place confidence in his chief; in his subordinate;

in his neighbor; or in himself; so that all the stones of the human

dike may be loosened beforehand; and the barrier crumble at the first

onslaught。   On the other hand; they have taken care to provide the

insurrection with a fighting army and an advanced guard。 By another

series of legislative acts and municipal ordinances; they authorize

the assemblage of the Federates at Paris; they allow them pay and

military lodgings;'30' they allow them to organize under a central

committee sitting at the Jacobin club; and to take their instructions

from that club。 Of these new…comers; two…thirds; genuine soldiers and

true patriots; set out for the camp at Soissons and for the frontier;

one…third of them; however; remain at Paris;'31' perhaps 2;000; the

rioters and politicians; who; feasted; entertained; indoctrinated; and

each lodged with a Jacobin; become more Jacobin than their hosts; and

incorporate themselves with the revolutionary battalions; so as to

serve the good cause with their guns。'32'  Two squads; late comers;

remain separate; and are only the more formidable; both are dispatched

by the towns on the sea…cost in which; four months before this;

〃twenty…one capital acts of insurrection had occurred; all unpunished;

and several under sentence of the maritime jury。〃'33'  The first;

numbering 300 men; comes from Brest;



* where the municipality; as infatuated as those of Marseilles and

Avignon; engages in armed expeditions against its neighbors; where

popular murder is tolerated;



* where M。 de la Jaille is nearly killed ;



* where the head of M。 de la Patry is borne on a pike;



* where veteran rioters compose the crews of the fleet;



* where 〃workers paid by the State; clerks; masters; non…commission

officers; converted into agitators; political stump…speakers; movers;

and critics of the administration;〃 ask only to be given roles to

perform on a more conspicuous stage。



The second troop; summoned from Marseilles by the Girondins; Rebecqui;

and Barbaroux;'34' comprises 516 men; intrepid; ferocious adventurers;

from everywhere; either Marseilles or abroad; Savoyards; Italians;

Spaniards; driven out of their country; almost all of the vilest

class; or gaining a livelihood by infamous pursuits; 〃hit…men and

their henchmen of evil haunts;〃 used to blood; quick to strike; good

cut…throats; picked men out of the bands that had marched on Aix;

Arles; and Avignon; the froth of that froth which; for three years; in

the Comtat and in the Bouches…du…Rh?ne; boiled over the useless

barriers of the law。   The very day they reach Paris they show what

they can do。'35'  Welcomed with great pomp by the Jacobins and by

Santerre; they are conducted; for a purpose; to the Champs…Elysées;

into a tavern; near the restaurant in which the grenadiers of the

Filles St。 Thomas; bankers; brokers; leading men; well…known for their

attachment to a monarchical constitution; were dining in a body; as

announced several days in advance。 The mob which had formed a convoy

for the Marseilles battalion; gathers before the restaurant; shouts;

throws mud; and then lets fly a volley of stones ; the grenadiers draw

their sabers。 Forthwith a shout is heard just in front of them; à nous

les Marseillais! upon which the gang jump out of the windows with true

southern agility; clamber across the ditches; fall upon the grenadiers

with their swords; kill one and wound fifteen。  No début could be

more brilliant。 The party at last possesses men of action;'36' and

they must be kept within reach! Men who do such good work; and so

expeditiously; must be well posted near the Tuileries。 The mayor;

consequently; on the night of the 8th of August; without informing the

commanding general; solely on his own authority; orders them to leave

their barracks in the Rue Blanche and take up their quarters; with

their arms and cannon; in the barracks belonging to the

Cordeliers。'37'



Such is the military force in the hands of the Jacobin masses; nothing

remains but to place the civil power in their hands also; and; as the

first gift of this kind was made to them by the Girondins; they will

not fail to make them the second one。   On the 1st of July; they

decree that the sessions of administrative bodies should thenceforth

be public; this is submitting municipalities; district; and department

councils; as well as the National Assembly itself; to the clamor; the

outrages; the menaces; the rule of their audiences; which in these

bodies as in the National Assembly; will always be Jacobin。'38' On the

11th of July; on declaring the country in danger;'39' they render the

sessions permanent; first of the administrative bodies; and next of

the forty…eight sections of Paris; which is a surrender of the

administrative bodies  and the forty…eight sections of Paris to the

Jacobin minority; which minority; through its zeal and being ever

present; knows how to convert itself into a majority。    Let us

trace the consequences of this; and see the selection which is thus

effected by the double decree。 Those who attend these meetings; day

and night; are not the steady; busy people。 In the first place; they

are too busy in their own counting…rooms; shops and factories to lose

so much time。 In the next place; they are too sensible;
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