按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
being eminent intellects of the highest culture and noblest character;
embracing the greatest historical names of the French magistracy; …
Etienne Pasquier; Lefèvre d'Ormesson; Molé de Champlatreux; De
Lamoignon; de Malesherbes; … are sent to the guillotine'155' by the
judges and juries familiar to us; assassins or brutes who do not take
the trouble; or who have not the capacity; to give proper color to
their sentences。 M。 de Malesherbes exclaims; after reading his
indictment; 〃 If that were only common…sense!〃 … In effect those who
pronounce judgment are; by their own admission; 〃substantial jurymen;
good sans…culottes; natural people。〃 And such a nature! One of these;
Trenchard; an Auvergnat carpenter; portrays himself accurately in the
following note addressed to his wife before the trial comes on:
〃If you are not alone; and the companion can work; you may come; my
dear; and see the twenty…four gentlemen condemned; all of them former
presidents or councillors in the parliaments of Toulouse and Paris。 I
recommend you to bring something along with you (to eat); it will be
three hours before we finish。 I embrace you; my dear friend and
wife。〃'156'
In the same court; Lavoisier; the founder and organizer of chemistry;
the great discoverer; and condemned to death; asks for a reprieve of
his sentence for a fortnight to complete an experiment; and the
president; Coffinhal; another Auvergnat; replies;
〃The Republic has no need of savants。〃'157'
And it has no need of poets。 The first poet of the epoch; André
Chénier; the delicate and superior artist who reopens antique sources
of inspiration and starts the modern current; is guillotined; we
possess the original manuscript indictment of his examination; a
veritable master…piece of gibberish and barbarism; of which a full
copy is necessary to convey an idea of its 〃turpitudes of sense and
orthography。〃'158' The reader may there see; if he pleases; a man of
genius delivered up to brutes; coarse; angry; despotic animals; who
listen to nothing; who comprehend nothing; who do not even understand
terms in common use; who stumble through their queries; and who; to
ape intelligence; draggle their pens along in supreme stupidity。
The overthrow is complete。 France; subject to the Revolutionary
Government; resembles a human being forced to walk with his head down
and to think with his feet。
_____________________________________________________________________
Notes:
'1' Cf。 〃The Revolution;〃 book I。; ch。 3; and book III。; chs。 9 and
10。
'2' Grégoire; 〃 Memoires;〃 II。; 172。 〃About eighteen thousand
ecclesiastics are enumerated among the émigrés of the first epoch。
About eighteen thousand more took themselves off; or were sent off;
after the 2nd of September。〃
'3' Ibid。; 26。 〃The chief of the émigré bureau in the police
department (May 9; 1805) enumerates about two hundred thousand persons
reached; or affected; by the laws concerning emigration。〃 … Lally…
Tolendal; 〃Défense des Emigrés;〃 (2nd part; p。 62 and passim)。
Several thousand persons inscribed as émigrés did not leave France。
The local administration recorded them on its lists either because
they lived in another department; and could not obtain the numerous
certificates exacted by the law in proof of residence; or because
those who made up the lists treated these certificates with contempt。
It was found convenient to manufacture an émigré in order to
confiscate his possessions legally; and even to guillotine him; not
less legally; as a returned émigré。 … Message of the Directory to the
〃Five Hundred;〃 Vent?se 3; year V。: 〃According to a rough estimate;
obtained at the Ministry of Finances; the number enrolled on the
general list of émigres amounts to over one hundred and twenty
thousand; and; again; the lists from some of the departments have not
come in。〃 … Lafayette; 〃Mémoires;〃 vol。 II。; 181。 (Letters to M。 de
Maubourg; Oct。 17; 1799 (noté) Oct。 19; 1800。) According to the
report of the Minister of Police; the list of émigrés; in nine vols。;
still embraced one hundred and forty…five thousand persons;
notwithstanding that thirteen thousand were struck off by the
Directory; and twelve hundred by the consular government。
'4' Cf。 Mémoires of Louvet; Dulaure and Vaublanc。 … Mallet…Dupan;
〃Mémoires;〃 II。; 7。 〃Several; to whom I have spoken; literally made
the tour of France in various disguises; without having been able to
find an outlet; it was only after a series of romantic adventures that
they finally succeeded in gaining the Swiss frontier; the only one at
all accessible。〃 … Sauzay; V。; 210; 220; 226; 276。 (Emigration of
fifty…four inhabitants of Charquemont; setting out for Hungary。)
'5' Ibid。; vols。 IV。; V。; VI。; VII。 (On the banished priests
remaining and still continuing their ministrations; and on those who
returned to resume them。) … To obtain an idea of the situation of the
emigrés and their relations and friends; it is necessary to read the
law of Sep。15; 1794 (Brumaire 25; year III。); which renews and
generalizes previous laws; children of fourteen years and ten years
are affected by it。 It was with the greatest difficulty; even if one
did not leave France; that a person could prove that he had not
emigrated。
'6' Pandour; an 18th century Croatian foot…soldier in the Austrian
service: a robber。 (SR)
'7' Moniteur; XVIII。; 215。 (Letter of Brigadier…general Vandamme to
the convention; Ferney; Brumaire I; year II。) The reading of this
letter calls forth 〃reiterated applause。〃
'8' Sauzay; V。; 196。 (The total is five thousand two hundred。 Some
hundreds of names might be added; inasmuch as many of the village
lists are wanting。)
'9' Buchez et Roux; XXXIV。; 434。 (Trial of Fouquier…Tinville;
deposition of Therriet…Grandpré; one of the heads of the commission on
civil Police and Judicial Administration; 51st witness。)
'10' Report by Saladin; March 4; 1795。
'11' Wallon; 〃La Terreur;〃 II。; 202。
'12' Duchatelier; 〃Brest Pendant la Terreur;〃 p。 105。 … Paris;
〃Histoire de Joseph Lebon;〃 II。; 370。 … 〃Tableau des Prisons de
Toulouse;〃 by Pescayre; p。 409。 … 〃 Recueil de Pièces Authentiques
sur la Révolution à Strasbourg;〃 I。; 65。 (List of arrests after
Prairial 7; year II。) When the following arrests were made there were
already over three thousand persons confined in Strasbourg。〃 … Alfred
Lallier; 〃Les Noyades de Nantes;〃 p。90。 … Berryat Saint…Prix; p。436。
(Letter of Maignet to Couthon; Avignon; Floreal 4; year II。)
'13' Baulieu; 〃Essais;〃 V。; 283。 At the end of December; 1793;
Camille Desmoulins wrote: 〃Open the prison doors to those two hundred
thousand citizens whom you call 'suspects'!〃 … The number of prisoners
largely increased during the seven following months。 (〃Le Vieux
Cordelier;〃 No。 IV。; Frimaire 30; year II。) … Beaulieu does not state
precisely what the committee of G