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the origins of contemporary france-3-第61部分

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perilous leap; with consciences distorted like the muscles of a tight…

rope dancer。 Were it not for the Revolution; they would still grovel

in their native filth; awaiting prison or forced labor to which they

were destined。 Can one imagine their growing intoxication as they

drink deep draughts from the bottomless cup of absolute power?  For

it is absolute power which they demand and which they exercise。'23'

Raised by a special delegation above the regular authorities; they put

up with these only as subordinates; and tolerate none among them who

may become their rivals。 Consequently; they reduce the Legislative

body simply to the function of editor and herald of their decrees;

they have forced the new department electors to 〃abjure their title;〃

to confine themselves to tax assessments; while they lay their

ignorant hands daily on every other service; on the finances; the

army; supplies; the administration; justice; at the risk of breaking

the administrative wheels or of interrupting their action。



One day they summon the Minister of War before them; or; for lack of

one; his chief clerk; another day they keep the whole body of

officials in his department in arrest for two hours; under the pretext

of finding a suspected printer。'24' At one time they affix seals on

the funds devoted to extraordinary expenses; at another time they do

away with the commission on supplies; at another they meddle with the

course of justice; either to aggravate proceedings or to impede the

execution of sentences rendered。'25' There is no principle; no law; no

regulation; no verdict; no public man or establishment that is not

subject to the risk of their arbitrariness。  And; as they have laid

hands on power; they do the same with money。 Not only do they extort

from the Assembly 850;000 francs a months; with arrears from the 1st

of January; 1792; more than six millions in all; to defray the

expenses of their military police; which means to pay their bands;'26'

but again; 〃invested with the municipal scarf;〃 they seize; 〃in the

public establishment belonging to the nation; all furniture; and

whatever is of most value。〃 〃In one building alone; they carry off the

value of 100;000 crowns。〃'27' Elsewhere; in the hands of the treasurer

of the civil list; they appropriate to themselves; a box of jewels;

other precious objects; and 340; 000 francs。'28' Their commissioners

bring in from Chantilly three wagons each drawn by three horses

〃loaded with the spoils of M。 de Condé;〃 and they undertake 〃removing

the contents of the houses of the émigrés。〃'29' They confiscate in the

churches of Paris 〃the crucifixes; music…stands; bells; railings; and

every object in bronze or of iron; chandeliers; cups; vases;

reliquaries; statues; every article of plate;〃 as well 〃on the altars

as in the sacristies;〃'30' and we can imagine the enormous booty

obtained; to cart away the silver plate belonging to the single church

of Madeleine…de…la…ville required a vehicle drawn by four horses。 

Now they use all this money; so freely seized; as freely as they do

power itself。 One fills his pockets in the Tuileries without the

slightest concern; another; in the Garde…Meuble; rummages secretaries;

and carries off a wardrobe with its contents。'31'  We have already

seen that in the depositories of the Commune 〃most of the seals are

broken;〃 that enormous sums in plate; in jewels; in gold and silver

coin have disappeared。  Future inquests and accounts will charge on

the Committee of Supervision; 〃abstractions; dilapidations; and

embezzlements;〃 in short; 〃a mass of violations and breaches of

trust。〃 When one is king; one easily mistakes the money…drawer of

the State for the drawer in which one keeps one's own money。



Unfortunately; this full possession of public power and the public

funds holds only by a slender thread。 Let the evicted and outraged

majority dare; as subsequently at Lyons; Marseilles; and Toulon; to

Return to the section assemblies and revoke the false mandate which

they have arrogated to themselves through fraud and force; and; on the

instance; they again become; through the sovereign will of the people;

and by virtue of their own deed; what they really are; usurpers;

extortioners; and robbers; there is no middle course for them between

a dictatorship and the galleys。  The mind; before such an

alternative; unless extraordinarily well…balanced; loses its

equilibrium; they have no difficulty in deluding themselves with the

idea that the State is menaced in their persons; and; in postulating

the rule; that all is allowable for them; even massacre。 Has not

Bazire stated in the tribune that; against the enemies of the nation;

〃all means are fair justifiable? Has not another deputy; Jean Debry;

proposed the formation of a body of 1;200 volunteers; who 〃will

sacrifice themselves;〃 as formerly the assassins of the Old Man of the

Mountain; in 〃attacking tyrants; hand to hand; individually;〃 as well

as generals?'32' Have we not seen Merlin de Thionville insisting that

〃the wives and children of the émigrés should be kept as hostages;〃

and declared responsible; or; in other words; ready for slaughter if

their relatives continue their attacks?'33'



That is all that is left to do; since all the other measures have

proved insufficient。  In vain has the Commune decreed the arrest of

journalists belonging to the opposite party; and distributed their

printing machinery amongst patriotic printers。'34' In vain has it

declared the members of the Sainte…Chapelle club; the National Guards

who have sworn allegiance to Lafayette; the signers of the petition of

8;000; and of that of 20;000; disqualified for any service

whatever。'35'  In vain has it multiplied domiciliary visits; even to

the residence and carriages of the Venetian ambassador。  In vain;

through insulting and repeated examinations; does it keep at its bar;

under the hootings and death…cries of its tribunes; the most honorable

and most illustrious men; Lavoisier; Dupont de Nemours; the eminent

surgeon Desault; the most harmless and most refined ladies; Madame de

Tourzel; Mademoiselle de Tourzel; and the Princesse de Lamballe。'36'

In vain; after a profusion of arrests during twenty days; it envelopes

all Paris inside one cast of its net for a nocturnal search'37'during

which;



1。 the barriers are closed and doubly guarded;



2。 sentinels are on the quays and boats stationed on the Seine to

prevent escape by water;



3。 the city is divided beforehand into circumscriptions; and for each

section; a list of suspected persons;



4。 the circulation of vehicles is stopped;



5。 every citizen is ordered to stay at home;



6。 the silence of death reigns after six o'clock in the evening; and

then;



7。  in each street; a patrol of sixty pikemen; seven hundred squads of

sans…culottes; all working at the same time; and with their usual

brutality;



8。 doors are burst in with pile drivers;



9。 wardrobes are picked by locksmiths;



10。 walls are sounded by masons;



11。 cellars are searched even to digging in the ground;



12。 papers are seized;



13。 arms are confiscated;



14。 three thousand persons are arrested and led off;'38' priests; old

men; the infirm; the sick。



The action lasts from ten in the evening to five o'clock in the

morning; the same as in a city taken by assault; the screams of women

rudely treated; the cries of prisoners compelled to march; the oaths

of the guards; cursing and drinking at each grog…shop; never was there

such an universal; methodical execution; so well calculated to

suppress all inclination for resistance in the silence of general

stupefaction。



And yet; at this very moment; there are those who act in good faith in

the sections and in the Assembly; and who rebel at being under such

masters。 A deputation from the Lombards section; and another from the

Corn…market; come to the Assembly and protest against the Commune's

usurpations。'39'  Choudieu; the Montagnard; denounces its blatant

corrupt practices。  Cambon; a stern financier; will no longer consent

to have his accounts tampered with by thieving tricksters。'40' The

Assembly at last seems to have recovered itself。 It extends its

protection to Géray; the journalist; against whom the new pashas had

issued a warrant; it summons to its own bar the signers of the

warrant; and orders them to confine themselves in future to the exact

limits of the law which they transgress。  Better still; it dissolves

the interloping Council; and substitutes for it ninety…six delegates;

to be elected by the sections in twenty…four hours。  And; even still

better; it orders an account to be rendered within two days of the

objects it has seized; and the return of all gold or silver articles

to the Treasury。  Quashed; and summoned to disgorge their booty; the

autocrats of the H?tel…de…ville come in vain to the Assembly in force

on the following day'41' to extort from it a repeal of its decrees;

the Assembly; in spite of their threats and those of their satellites;

stands its ground。  So much the worse for the stubborn; if they are

not disposed to regard the flash of the saber; they will feel its

sharp edge and point。 The Commune; on the motion of Manuel; decides

that; so long as public danger continues; they will stay where they

are; it adopts an address by Robespierre to 〃restore sovereign power

to the people;〃 which means to fill the streets with armed bands;'42'

it collects together its brigands by giving them the ownership of all

that they stole on the 10th of August。'43' The session; prolonged into

the night; does not terminate until one o'clock in the morning。 Sunday

has come and there is no time to lose; for; in a few hours; the

sections; by virtue of the decree of the National Assembly; and

following the example of the Temple section the evening before; may

revoke the pretended representatives at the
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