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the origins of contemporary france-3-第76部分

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〃for fear that they may congregate under the German eagle〃; so that;

made rebellious and declared traitors in spite of themselves; they may

still remain in their pens subject to the knife。  As the exportation

of specie is prohibited; those who have procured the necessary coin

are robbed of it on the frontier; while others; who fly at all

hazards; tracked like wild boars; or run down like hares; escape like

the bishop of Barral; athwart bayonets; or like the abbé Guillon;

athwart sabers; when they are not struck down; like the abbé Pescheur;

by the blows of a gun…stock。'82'



It is soon dawn。 The files are too numerous and too large; Roland

finds that; out of eighty…three; he can examine but fifty; he must

hasten on; leaving the East; his eyes again turn to the South。  On

this side; too; there are strange sights。  On the 2nd  of September;

at Chalons…sur…Marne'83'; M。 Chanlaire; an octogenarian and deaf; is

returning; with his prayer…book under his arm; from the Mall; to which

he resorted daily to read his prayers。  A number of Parisian

volunteers who meet him; seeing that he looks like a devotee; order

him to shout; 〃Vive la Liberté〃  Unable to understand them; he makes

no reply。 They then seize him by the ears; and; not marching fast

enough; they drag him along; his old ears give way; and; excited by

seeing blood; they cut off his ears and nose; and thus; the poor old

man dripping with blood; they reach the H?tel…de…Ville。  At this sight

a notary; posted there as sentinel; and who is a man of feeling; is

horror…stricken and escapes; while the other National Guards hasten to

shut the iron gates。  The Parisians; still dragging along their

captive; go to the district and then to the department bureau 〃to

denounce aristocrats〃; on the way they continue to strike the

tottering old man; who falls down; they then decapitate him; place

pieces of his body on pikes; and parade these about。  Meanwhile; in

this same town; twenty…two gentlemen; at Beaune; forty priests and

nobles; at Dijon; eighty…three heads of families; locked up as

suspected without evidence or examination; and confined at their own

expense two months under pikes; ask themselves every morning whether

the populace and the volunteers; who shout death cries through the

streets; mean to release them in the same way as in Paris。'84'  A

trifle is sufficient to provoke a murder。  On the 19th of August; at

Auxerre as the National Guard is marching along; three citizens; after

having taken the civic oath; 〃left the ranks;〃 and; on being called

back; 〃to make them fall in;〃 one; either impatient or in ill…humor;

〃replied with an indecent gesture〃。 The populace; taking it as an

insult; instantly rush at them; and shoving aside the municipal body

and the National Guards; wound one and kill the other two。'85'  A

fortnight after; in the same town; several young ecclesiastics are

massacred; and 〃the corpse of one of them remains three days on a

manure heap; the relatives not being allowed to bury it。〃  About the

same date; in a village of sabot makers; five leagues from Autun; four

ecclesiastics provided with passports; among them a bishop and his two

grand…vicars; are arrested; then examined; robbed; and murdered by the

peasantry。 Below Autun; especially in the district of Roanne; the

villagers burn the rent…rolls of national property; the volunteers put

property…owners to ransom; both; apart from each other or together;

give themselves up 〃to every excess and to every sort of iniquity

against those whom they suspect of incivism under pretense of

religious opinions。〃'86' However preoccupied or upset Roland's mind

may be by the philosophic generalities with which it is filled; he has

long inspected manufactures in this country; the name of every place

is familiar to him; objects and forms are this time clearly defined to

his arid imagination; and he begins to see things through and beyond

mere words。



Madame Roland rests her finger on Lyons; so familiar to her two years

before; she becomes excited against 〃the quadruple aristocracy of the

town; petty nobles; priests; heavy merchants; and limbs of the law; in

short; those formerly known as honest folks; according to the

insolence of the ancient régime。〃'87' She may now find an aristocracy

of another kind there; that of the gutter。 Following the example of

Paris; the Lyons clubbists; led by Charlier; have arranged for a

massacre on a grand scale of the evil…disposed or suspected Another

ringleader; Dodieu; has drawn up a list by name of two hundred

aristocrats to he hung; on the 9th of September; women with pikes; the

maniacs of the suburbs; bands of 〃the unknown;〃 collected by the

central club;'88' undertake to clean out the prisons。  If the butchery

is not equal to that of Paris; it is because the National Guard; more

energetic; interferes just at the moment when a Parisian emissary;

Saint…Charles; reads off a list of names in the prison of Roanne

already taken from the prison register。  But; in other places; it

arrives too late。   Eight officers of the Royal…Pologne regiment; in

garrison at Auch; some of them having been in the service twenty and

thirty years; had been compelled to resign owing to the

insubordination of their men; but; at the express desire of the

Minister of War; they had patriotically remained at their posts; and;

in twenty days of laborious marching; they had led their regiment from

Auch to Lyons。  Three days after their arrival; seized at night in

their beds; conducted to Pierre…Encize; pelted with stones on the way;

kept in secret confinement; and with frequent and prolonged

examinations; all this merely put their services and their innocence

in stronger light。  They are taken from the prison by the Jacobin mob;

of the eight; seven are killed in the street; and four priests along

with them; while the exhibition of their work by the murderers is

still more brazen than at Paris。 They parade the heads of the dead all

night on the ends of their pikes; they carry them to the Place des

Terreaux into the coffee…houses; they set them on the tables and

derisively offer them beer; they then light torches; enter the

Célestins theater; and; marching on the stage with their trophies;

blending real and mock tragedy。  The epilogue is both grotesque and

horrible。  Roland; at the bottom of the file; finds a letter from his

colleague; Danton;'89' who begs him to release the officers; murdered

three months ago; 〃for;〃 says Danton; 〃if no charge can be found

against them; it would be crying injustice to keep them longer in

irons。〃  Roland's clerk makes a minute on Danton's letter: 〃This

matter disposed of。〃 At this I imagine the couple looking at each

other in silence。  Madame Roland may remember that; at the beginning

of the Revolution; she herself demanded heads; especially 〃two

illustrious heads;〃 and hoped 〃that the National Assembly would

formally try them; or that some generous Decius〃'90' would devote

himself to 〃striking them down。〃'91' Her prayers are granted。 The

trial is about to begin in the regular way; and the Decius she has

invoked is everywhere found throughout France。



The south…east corner remains; that Provence; described to him by

Barbaroux as the last retreat of philosophy and freedom。 Roland

follows the Rh?ne down with his finger; and on both banks he finds; as

he passes along; the usual characteristic misdeeds。 …  On the right

bank; in Cantal and in the Gard; 〃the defenders of the country〃 fill

their pockets at the expense of taxpayers designated by

themselves;'92' this forced subscription is called 〃a voluntary gift。〃

〃Poor laborers at Nismes were taxed 50 francs; others 200; 300; 900;

1;000; under penalty of devastation and of bad treatment。〃  In the

country near Tarascon the volunteers; returning to the old…fashioned

ways of bandits; brandish the saber over the mother's head; threaten

to smother the aunt in her bed; hold the child over a deep well; and

thus extort from the farmer or proprietor even as much as 4;000 or

5;000 francs。 Generally the farmer keeps silent; for; in case of

complaint; he is sure to have his buildings burnt and his olive trees

cut down。'93' …  On the left bank; in the Isère; Lieutenant…colonel

Spendeler; seized by the populace of Tullins; was murdered; and then

hung by his feet in a tree on the roadside;'94'  in the Dr?me; the

volunteers of Gard forced the prison at Montélimart and hacked an

innocent person to death with a saber;'95' in Vaucluse; the pillaging

is general and constant。  With all public offices in their hands; and

they alone admitted into the National Guard; the old brigands of

Avignon; with the municipality for their accomplice; sweep the town

and raid about the country; in town; 450;000 francs of 〃voluntary

gifts〃 are handed over to the Glacière murderers by the friends and

relatives of the dead;  in the country; ransoms of 1;000 and 10;000

francs are imposed on rich cultivators; to say nothing of the orgies

of conquest and the pleasures of despots; money forcibly obtained in

honor of innumerable liberty trees; banquets at a cost of five or six

hundred francs; paid for by extorted funds; reveling of every sort and

unrestrained havoc on the invaded farms;'96' in short; the abuse

drunken force amusing itself with brutality and proud of its violence。



Following this long line of murders and robbery; the Minister reaches

Marseilles; and I imagine him stopping at this city some…what

dumbfounded。  Not that he is in any way astonished at widespread

murders; undoubtedly he has had received information of them from Aix;

Aubagne; Apt; Brignolles; and Eyguières; while there are a series of

them at Marseilles; one in July; two in August; and two in

September;'97' but this he must be used to。  What disturbs him here is

to see the national bond dissolving; he sees departments breaking

away; new; distinct; independent; complete governments f
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