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the origins of contemporary france-5-第63章

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others are submissive conscripts and who remain more or less

refractory spirits。 He does nothing to win them over。 His court is

not; like the old court; a conversational ball…room; but a hall of

inspection; the most sumptuous apartment in his vast barracks; the

civil parade is a continuation of the military parade; one finds one's

self constrained; stiff; mute and uncomfortable。'40'



He does not know how to entertain as the head of his household; how to

welcome guests and be gracious or even polite to his pretended

courtiers; he himself declares that'41' 〃they go two years without

speaking to him; and six months without seeing him; he does not like

them; their conversation displeases him。〃 When he addresses them it is

to browbeat them; his familiarities with their wives are those of the

gendarme or the pedagogue; while the little attentions he inflicts

upon them are indecorous criticisms or compliments in bad taste。 They

know that they are spied upon in their own homes and responsible for

whatever is said there; 〃the upper police is constantly hovering over

all drawing…rooms。〃'42' For every word uttered in privacy; for any

lack of compliance; every individual; man or woman; runs the risk of

exile or of being relegated to the interior at a distance of forty

leagues。'43' And the same with the resident gentry in the provinces;

they are obliged to pay court to the prefect; to be on good terms with

him; or at least attend his receptions; it is important that their

cards should be seen on his mantel piece。'44' Otherwise; let them take

heed; for it is he who reports on their conduct to the minister Fouché

or to Savary who replaced him。 In vain do they live circumspectly and

confine themselves to a private life; a refusal to accept an office is

unpardonable; there is a grudge against them if they do not employ

their local influence in behalf of the reign。'45' Accordingly; they

are; under the empire as under the republic; in law as in fact; in the

provinces as well as at Paris; privileged persons the wrong way; a

suspicious class under a special surveillance〃 and subject to

exceptional rigor。'46' In 1808;'47' Napoleon orders Fouché 〃to draw up

。 。 。 among the old and wealthy families who are not in the system 。 。

。 a list of ten in each department; and of fifty for Paris;〃 of which

the sons from sixteen to eighteen years of age shall be forced to

enter Saint…Cyr and from thence go into the army as second

lieutenants。 In 1813; still 〃in the highest classes of society;〃 and

arbitrarily selected by the prefects; he takes ten thousand other

persons; exempt or redeemed from the conscription; even the married;

even fathers of families; who; under the title of guards of honor;

become soldiers; at first to be slaughtered in his service; and next;

and in the mean time; to answer for the fidelity of their relatives。

It is the old law of hostages; a resumption of the worst proceedings

of the Directory for his account and aggravated for his profit。 …

Decidedly; the imperial Régime; for the old royalists; resembles too

much the Jacobin régime; they are about as repugnant to one as to the

other; and their aversion naturally extends to the whole of the new

society。 … As they comprehend it; they are more or less robbed and

oppressed for a quarter of a century。 In order that their hostility

may cease; the indemnity of 1825 is essential; fifty years of gradual

adaptation; the slow elimination of two or three generations of

fathers and the slow elimination of two or three generations of sons。



Nothing is so difficult as the reparation of great social wrongs。 In

this case the incomplete reparation did not prove sufficient; the

treatment which began with gentleness ended with violence; and; as a

whole; the operation only half succeeded。



IV。 Education and Medical Care。



Confiscation of collective fortunes。 … Ruin of the Hospitals and

Schools。



Other wounds are not less deep; and their cure is not less urgent; for

they cause suffering; not only to one class; but to the whole people …

that vast majority which the government strives to satisfy。 Along with

the property of the émigrés; the Revolution has confiscated that of

all local or special societies; ecclesiastic or laic; of churches and

congregations; universities and academies; schools and colleges;

asylums and hospitals; and even the property of the communes。 All

these fortunes have been swallowed up by the public treasury; which is

a bottomless pit; and are gone forever。 … Consequently; all services

thus maintained; especially charitable institutions; public worship

and education; die or languish for lack of sustenance; the State;

which has no money for itself; has none for them。 And what is worse;

it hinders private parties from taking them in charge; being Jacobin;

that is to say intolerant and partisan; it has proscribed worship;

driven nuns out of the hospitals; closed Christian schools; and; with

its vast power; it prevents others from carrying out at their own

expense the social enterprises which it no longer cares for。



And yet the needs for which this work provides have never been so

great nor so imperative。 In ten years;'48' the number of foundlings

increased from 23;000 to 62;000; it is; as the reports state; a

deluge: there are 1097 instead of 400 in Aisne; 1500 in Lot…et…

Garonne; 2035 in la Manche; 2043 in Bouches…du…Rh?ne; 2673 in

Calvados。 From 3000 to 4000 beggars are enumerated in each department

and about 300;000 in all France。'49'  As to the sick; the infirm; the

mutilated; unable to earn their living; it suffices; for an idea of

their multitude; to consider the régime to which the political doctors

have just subjected France; the Régime of fasting and bloodletting。

Two millions of Frenchmen have marched under the national flag; and

eight hundred thousand have died under it;'50' among the survivors;

how many cripples; how many with one arm and with wooden legs! All

Frenchmen have eaten dog…bread for three years and often have not had

enough of that to live on; over a million have died of starvation and

poverty; all the wealthy and well…to…do Frenchmen have been ruined and

have lived in constant fear of the guillotine; four hundred thousand

have wasted away in prisons; of the survivors; how many shattered

constitutions; how many bodies and brains disordered by an excess of

suffering and anxiety; by physical and moral wear and tear!'51'



Now; in 1800; assistance is lacking for this crowd of civil and

military invalids; the charitable establishments being no longer in a

condition to furnish it。 Under the Constituent Assembly; through the

suppression of ecclesiastical property and the abolition of octrois; a

large portion of their revenue had been cut off; that assigned to them

out of octrois and the tithes。 Under the Legislative Assembly and the

Convention; through the dispersion and persecution of nuns and monks;

they were deprived of a body of able male a
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