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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