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the origins of contemporary france-3-第63部分

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Boula and Truchon; presidents in succession。 In the Commune and the

sections; Panis; Sergent; Tallien; Rossignol; Chaumette; Fabre

d'Eglantine; Pache; Hassenfratz; the cobbler Simon; and the printer

Momoro。 From the National Guard;  the commanding…general; Santerre;

and the battalion commander Henriot; and; lower down; the common herd

of district demagogues; Danton's; Hébert's; or Robespierre's side

kicks; guillotined later on with their file…leaders; in brief; the

flower of the future terrorists。'63' … Today they are taking their

first steps in blood; each with their own attitude and motives:





* Chénier denounced as a member of the Sainte…Chapelle club; in danger

because he is among the suspected;'64'



* Manuel; poor; excitable; bewildered; carried away; and afterwards

shuddering at the sight of his own work;



* Santerre; a fine circumspect figure…head; who; on the 2nd of

September; under pretense of watching the baggage; climbs on the seat

of a landau standing on the street; where he remains a couple of

hours; to avoid doing his duty as commanding…general;'65'



* Panis; president of the Committee of Supervision; a good

subordinate; his born disciple and bootlicker; an admirer of

Robespierre's whom he proposes for the dictatorship; as well as of

Marat; whom he extols as a prophet;'66'



* Henriot; Hébert; and Rossignol; simple evil…doers in uniform or in

their scarves;



* Collot d'Herbois; a stage poetaster; whose theatrical imagination

delights in a combination of melodramatic horrors;'67'



* Billaud…Varennes; a former oratorian monk; irascible and gloomy; as

cool before a murder as an inquisitor at an auto…da…fé;



finally; the wily Robespierre; pushing others without committing

himself; never signing his name; giving no orders; haranguing a great

deal; always advising; showing himself everywhere; getting ready to

reign; and suddenly; at the last moment; pouncing like a cat on his

prey; and trying to slaughter his rivals; the Girondists。'68'



Up to this time; in slaughtering or having it done; it was always as

insurrectionists in the street; now; it is in places of imprisonment;

as magistrates and functionaries; according to the registers of a

lock…up; after proofs of identity and on snap judgments; by paid

executioners; in the name of public security; methodically; and in

cool blood; almost with the same regularity as subsequently under 〃the

revolutionary government。〃 September; indeed; is the beginning of it;

a summary and a model; they will not do it differently or better than

during the best days of the guillotine。  Only; as they are as yet

poorly supplied with tools; they are obliged to use pikes instead of

the guillotine; and; as decency has not entirely disappeared; the

chiefs conceal themselves behind maneuvers。  Nevertheless; we can

track them; take them in the act; and we have their signatures; they

planned commanded; and conducted the operation。  On the 30th of

August; the Commune decided that the sections should try accused

persons; and; on the 2nd  of September; five trusted sections reply to

it by resolving that the accused shall be murdered。69 The same day;

September 2; Marat takes his place on the Committee of Supervision。

The same day; September 2; Panis and Sergent sign the commissions of

〃their comrades;〃 Maillard and associates; for the Abbaye; and 〃order

them to judge;〃 that is to say; kill the prisoners。'70'  The same and

the following days; at La Force; three members of the Commune; Hébert;

Monneuse; and Rossignol; preside in turn over the assassin court。'71'

The same day; a commissar of the Committee of Supervision comes and

demands a dozen men of the Sans…Culottes section to help massacre the

priests of Saint Firmin。'72' The same day; a  commissar of the Commune

visits the different prisons during the slaughter; and finds that

〃things are going on well in all of them。〃'73' The same day; at five

o'clock in the afternoon; BillaudVarennes; deputy…attorney for the

Commune; 〃in his well…known puce…colored coat and black perruque;〃

walking over the corpses; says to the Abbaye butchers: 〃Fellow…

citizens; you are immolating your enemies; you are performing your

duty。〃  He returns during the night; highly commends them; and

confirms the  promise of the 〃agreed wages。〃 On the following any at

noon; he again returns; congratulates them more warmly; allows each

one twenty francs; and urges them to keep on。'74'  In the mean time;

Santerre; summoned to the general staff headquarters by Roland;

hypocritically deplores his voluntary inability; and persists in not

giving the orders; without which the National Guard cannot move。'75'

At the sections; the presidents; Chénier; Ceyrat; Boula; Momoro;

Collot d'Herbois; dispatch or take their victims back under pikes。 At

the Commune; the council…general votes 12;000 francs; to be taken from

the dead; to defray the expenses of the operation。'76' In the

Committee of Supervision; Marat sends off dispatches to spread murder

through the departments。  It is evident that the leaders and their

subordinates are unanimous; each at his post and in the service he

performs; through the spontaneous co…operation of the whole party; the

command from above meets the impulse from below;'77' both unite in a

common murderous  disposition; the work being done with the more

precision in proportion to its being easily done。  Jailers have

received orders to open the prison doors; and give themselves no

concern。 Through an excess of precaution; the knives and forks of the

prisoners have been taken away from them。'78'  One by one; on their

names being called; they will march out like oxen in a slaughter…

house; while about twenty butchers to each prison; from to two to

three hundred in all;'79' will suffice to do the work。







V。  Abasement and Stupor。



Common workers。  Their numbers。  Their condition。  Their

sentiments。 Effect of murder on the murderers。   Their

degradation。  Their insensibility。



Two kinds of men make up the recruits; and it is especially on their

crude brains that we have to admire the effect of the revolutionary

dogma。



First; there are the Federates of the South; lusty fellows; former

soldiers or old bandits; deserters; bohemians; and scoundrels of all

lands and from every source; who; after finishing their work at

Marseilles and Avignon; have come to Paris to begin over again。

〃Triple nom de Dieu!〃 exclaims one of them; 〃I didn't come a hundred

and eighty leagues to restrain myself from sticking a hundred and

eighty heads on the end of my pike!〃'80' Accordingly; they form in

themselves a special; permanent; resident body; allowing no one to

divert them from their adopted occupation。  〃They turn a deaf ear to

the excitements of spurious patriotism〃;'81' they are not going to be

sent off to the frontier。 Their post is at the capital; they have

sworn 〃to defend liberty〃; neither before nor after September make

them deviate from this end。 When; after having drawn money on every

treasury and under every pretext; they at last consent to leave Paris;

it is only on the condition that they return to Marseilles。 Their

operations are limited to the interior of France; and only against

political adversaries。  But their zeal in this field is only the

greater; it is their band which; first of all; takes the twenty…four

priests from the town hall; and; on the way; begins the massacre with

their own hands。'82'



Then there are the 〃enragés〃 of the Paris proletariat; a few of them

clerks or shopkeepers; most of them artisans of all the trades;

locksmiths; masons; butchers; wheelwrights; tailors; shoemakers;

waggoners; especially dockers working in the harbor; market…porters;

and; above all; journeymen and apprentices of all kinds; in short;

manual workers on the bottom of the social ladder。'83'  Among these we

find beasts of prey; murderers by instinct; or simple robbers。'84'

Others who; like one of the disciples of Abbé Sicard; whom he loves

and venerates; confess that they never stirred except under

constraint。'85'  Others are simple machines; who let themselves be

driven: for instance the local forwarding agent; a good sort of man;

but who; dragged along; plied with liquor; and then made crazy; kills

twenty priests for his share; and dies at the end of the month; still

drinking; unable to sleep; frothing at the mouth and trembling in

every limb。'86'  And finally the few; who; with good intentions; are

carried away by the bloody whirlwind; and; struck by the grace of

Revolution; become converted to the religion of murder。 One of them a

certain Grapin; deputized by his section to save two prisoners; seats

himself alongside of Maillard; sits in judgment at his side during

sixty…three hours; and demands a certificate from him。'87' The

majority; however; entertain the same opinions as the cook; who; after

taking the Bastille; finding himself on the spot and having cut off M。

de Launay's head; regards it as a 〃patriotic〃 action; and deems

himself worthy of a 〃medal for having destroyed a monster。〃 These

people are not common criminals; but well…disposed persons living in

the vicinity; who; seeing a public service established in their

neighborhood;'88' issue from their homes to give a hand; their degree

of  probity is about the same as we find nowadays among people of the

same condition in life。



At the outset; especially; no one considers filling his pockets。 At

the Abbaye prison; they come honorably and place on the table in the

room of the civil committee the purses and jewels of the dead。'89'  If

they appropriate anything to themselves; it is shoes to cover their

naked feet; and then only after asking permission。 As to pay; all

rough work deserves it; and; moreover; between them and their

recruiters; the answer is obvious。 With nothing but their own hands to

rely on; they cannot work for nothing;'90'  a
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