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