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the origins of contemporary france-2-第111章

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representatives to him; and who proudly come and intimate to him the

will of their constituents。〃 Finally; at Strasbourg; seven

regiments; each represented by three delegates; formed a military

congress。  The same month; the terrible insurrection of Nancy breaks

out  …   three regiments in revolt; the populace with them; the

arsenal pillaged; three hours of furious fighting in the streets;

the insurgents firing from the windows of the houses and from the

cellar openings; five hundred dead among the victors; and three

thousand among the vanquished。   …   The following month; and for

six weeks;'41' there is another insurrection; less bloody; but more

extensive; better arranged and more obstinate; that of the whole

squadron at Brest; a mutiny of twenty thousand men; at first against

their admiral and their officers; then against the new penal code

and against the National Assembly itself。  The latter; after

remonstrating in vain; is obliged not only not to take rigorous

measures; but again to revise its laws。'42'



》From this time forth; I cannot enumerate the constant outbreaks in

the fleet and in the army。   …   Authorized by the minister; the

soldier goes to the club; where he is repeatedly told that his

officers; being aristocrats; are traitors。  At Dunkirk; he is

additionally taught how to get rid of them。 Clamors; denunciations;

insults; musket…shots  …   these are the natural means; and they are

put in practice: but there is another; recently discovered; by which

an energetic officer of whom they are afraid may be driven away。

Some patriotic bully is found who comes and insults him。 If the

officer fights and is not killed; the municipal authorities have him

arraigned; and his chiefs send him off along with his seconds 〃in

order not to disturb the harmony between the soldier and the

citizen。〃 If he declines the proposed duel; the contempt of his men

obliges him to quit the regiment。  In either case he is got out of

the way。'43'  …   They have no scruples in relation to him。 Present

or absent; a noble officer must certainly be plotting with his

emigrant companions; and on this a story is concocted。  Formerly; to

prove that sacks of flour were being thrown into the river; the

soldiers alleged that these sacks were tied with blue cords (cordons

bleus)。  Now; to confirm the belief that an officer is conspiring

with Coblentz; it suffices to state that he rides a white horse; a

certain captain; at Strasbourg; barely escapes being cut to pieces

for this crime; 〃the devil could not get it out of their heads that

he was acting as a spy; and that the little grey…hound〃 which

accompanies him on his rides 〃is used to make signals。  〃  …   One

year after; at the time when the National Assembly completes its

work; M。 de Lameth; M。 Fréteau; and M。 Alquier state before it that

Luckner; Rochambeau; and the most popular generals; 〃no longer are

responsible for anything。〃 The Auvergne regiment has driven away its

officers and forms a separate society; which obeys no one。  The

second battalion of Beaune is on the point of setting fire to Arras。

It is almost necessary to lay siege to Phalsbourg; whose garrison

has mutinied。  Here; 〃disobedience to the general's orders is

formal。〃 There 〃are soldiers who have to be urged to stand sentinel;

whom they dare not put in confinement for discipline; who threaten

to fire on their officers; who stray off the road; pillage

everything; and take aim at the corporal who tries to bring them

back。〃 At Blois; a part of the regiment 〃has just arrived without

either clothes or arms; the soldiers having sold all on the road to

provide for their debauchery。〃 One among them; delegated by his

companions; proposes to the Jacobins at Paris to 〃de…aristocratise〃

the army by cashiering all the nobles。  Another declares; with the

applause of the club; that 〃seeing how the palisades of Givet are

constructed; he is going to denounce the Minister of War at the

tribunal of the。  sixth arrondissement of Paris。〃



It is manifest that; for noble officers; the situation is no longer

tenable。  After waiting patiently for twenty…three months; many of

them left through conscientiousness; when the National Assembly;

forcing a third oath upon them; struck out of the formula the name

of the King; their born general。'44'  …   Others depart at the end

of the Constituent Assembly; 〃because they risk being hung。〃 A large

number resign at the end of 1791 and during the first months of

1792; in proportion as the new code and the new recruiting system

for the army develop their results。'45' In fact; on the one hand;

through the soldiers and inferior officers having a voice in the

election of their chiefs and a seat in the military courts; 〃there

is no longer the shadow of discipline; verdicts are given from pure

caprice; the soldier contracts the habit of despising his superiors;

of whose punishments he has no fear; and from whom he expects no

reward; the officers are paralyzed to such a degree as to become

entirely superfluous personages。〃 On the other hand; the majority of

the National Volunteers are composed of 〃men bought by the communes

〃 and administrative bodies; worthless characters of the street…

corners; rustic vagabonds forced to march by lot or bribery;〃'46'

and along with them; enthusiasts and fanatics to such an extent

that; from March; 1792; from the spot of their enlistment to the

frontier; their track is everywhere marked by pillage; robbery;

devastation; and assassinations。  Naturally; on the road and at the

frontier; they denounce; drive away; imprison; or murder their

officers; and especially the nobles。  3/4 And yet; in this

extremity; numbers of noble officers; especially in the artillery

and engineer corps; persist in remaining at their posts; some

through liberal ideas; and others out of respect for their

instructions; even after the 10th of August; even after the 2nd of

September; even after the 21st of January; like their generals

Biron; Custine; de Flers; de Broglie; and de Montesquiou; with the

constant perspective of the guillotine that awaits them on leaving

the battlefield and even in the ministerial offices of Carnot。



VII。



Emigration and its causes。  …  The first laws against the emigrants。



It is; accordingly; necessary that the officers and nobles should go

away; should go abroad; and not only they; but also their families。

〃Gentlemen who have scarcely six hundred livres income set out on

foot;〃'47' and there is no doubt as to the motive of their

departure。  〃Whoever will impartially consider the sole and

veritable causes of the emigration;〃 says an honest man; 〃will find

them in anarchy。  If the liberty of the individual had not been

daily threatened; if;〃 in the civil as in the military order of

things; 〃the senseless dogma; preached by the factions; that crimes

committed by the mob are the judgments of heaven; had not been put

in practice; France would have preserved three fourths of her

fugitives。  Exposed for two years to ignominious dangers; to every

species of outrage; to innumerable persecutions; to the steel of the

assassin; to the firebrands of incendiaries; to the most infamous

charges; 'to the denouncement of' their corrupted domestics; to

domiciliary visits〃 prompted by the commonest street rumor; 〃to

arbitrary imprisonment by the Committee of Inquiry;〃 deprived of

their civil rights; driven out of primary meetings; 〃they are held

accountable for their murmurs; and punished for a sensibility which

would touch the heart in a suffering criminal。〃  …  〃 Resistance is

nowhere seen; from the prince's throne to the parsonage of the

priest; the tempest has prostrated all malcontents in resignation。〃

Abandoned 〃to the restless fury of the clubs; to informers; to

intimidated officials; they find executioners on all sides where

prudence and the safety of the State have enjoined them not even to

see enemies。  。  。  。  Whoever has detested th

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