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the origins of contemporary france-3-第69章

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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; to docile; and

too honest to go and lord it over their magistrates in the H?tel…de…

ville; or regard themselves in their various sections as the sovereign

people。 Moreover; they are disgusted with all this bawling。 Lastly;

the streets of Paris; especially at night; are not safe; owing to so

much outdoor politics; there is a great increase of caning and of

knocking down。 Accordingly; for a long time; they do not attend at the

clubs; nor are they seen in the galleries of the National Assembly;

nor will they be seen again at the sessions of the municipality; nor

at the meetings of the sections。  Nothing; on the other hand; is

more attractive to the idle tipplers of the cafés; to bar…room

oracles; loungers; and talkers; living in furnished rooms;'40' to the

parasites and refractory of the social army; to all who have left the

social structures and unable to get back again; who want to tear

things to pieces; and; for lack of a private career; establish one for

themselves in public。 Permanent sessions; even at night; are not too

long either for them; or for lazy Federates; for disordered

intellects; and for the small troop of genuine fanatics。 Here they are

either performers or claqueurs; an uproar not being offensive to them;

because they create it。 They relieve each other; so as to be always on

hand in sufficient number; or compensate for a deficiency by

usurpations and brutality。  The section of the Théatre…Fran?ais; for

instance; in contempt of the law; removes the distinction between

active and passive citizens; by granting to all residents in its

circumscription the right to be present at its meetings and the right

to vote。 Other sections'41' admit to their sittings all well…disposed

spectators; all women; children; and the nomads; all agitators; and

the agitated; who; as at the National Assembly; applaud or hoot at the

word of command。 In the sections not disposed to be at the mercy of an

anonymous public; the same herd of frantic characters make a racket at

the doors; and insult the electors who pass through them。  Thanks to

this itinerant throng of co…operating intruders; the Jacobin

extremists rule the sections the same as the Assembly; in the sections

as in the Assembly; they drive away or silence the moderates; and when

the hall becomes half empty or dumb; their motion is passed。 Hawked

about in the vicinity; the motion is even carried off; in a few days

it makes the tour of Paris; and returns to the Assembly as an

authentic and unanimous expression of popular will。'42'



At present; to ensure the execution of this counterfeit will; it

requires a central committee; and through a masterpiece of delusion;

Pétion; the Girondist mayor; is the one who undertakes to lodge;

sanction; and organize the committee。 On the 17th day of July;'43' he

establishes in the offices belonging to the Commune; 〃a central bureau

of correspondence between the sections。〃 To this a duly e
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