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the origins of contemporary france-2-第117章

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them;〃 he exclaims with terror; 〃they are all going to land。  My

friends; the town is in danger! 〃  …  On hearing this the crowd

becomes alarmed; and threatens the deputies; the cry of 〃To the lamp

post!〃 is heard; and; to save them; National Guards are obliged to

conduct them to prison in the center of a circle of bayonets。   …

It must be noted that these madmen are 〃at bottom the kindest people

in the world。〃 After the boarding of the ship; one of the most

ferocious; by profession a barber; seeing the long beards of these

poor priests; instantly cools down; draws forth his tools; and good…

naturedly sets to work; spending several hours in shaving them。 In

ordinary times ecclesiastics received nothing but salutations; three

years previously they were 〃respected as fathers and guides。〃 But at

the present moment the rustic; the man of the lower class; is out of

his bearings。  Forcibly and against nature; he has been made a

theologian; a politician; a police captain; a local independent

sovereign; and in such a position his head is turned。  Among these

people who seem to have lost their senses; only one; an officer of

the National Guard; remains cool; he is; besides; very polite; well…

behaved; and an agreeable talker; he comes in the evening to comfort

the prisoners and to take tea with them in prison; in fact; he is

accustomed to tragedies and; thanks to his profession; his nerves

are in repose  …  this person is the executioner。  The others; 〃whom

one would take for tigers;〃 are bewildered sheep; but they are not

the less dangerous; for; carried away by their delirium; they bear

down with their mass on whatever gives them umbrage。   …   On the

road from Paris to Lyons'79' Roland's commissioners witness this

terrible fright。  〃The people are constantly asking what our

generals and armies are doing; they have vengeful expressions

frequently on their lips。  Yes; they say; we will set out; but we

must (at first) purge the interior。〃



Something appalling is in preparation。  The seventh jacquerie is

drawing near; this one universal and final  …  at first brutal; and

then legal and systematic; undertaken and carried out on the

strength of abstract principles by leaders worthy of the means they

employ。  Nothing like it ever occurred in history; for the first

time we see brutes gone mad; operating on a grand scale and for a

long time; under the leadership of blockheads who have become

insane。



There is a certain strange malady commonly encountered in the

quarters of the poor。  A workman; over…taxed with work; in misery

and badly fed; takes to drink; he drinks more and more every day;

and liquors of the strongest kind。  After a few years his nervous

system; already weakened by spare diet; becomes over…excited and out

of balance。  An hour comes when the brain; under a sudden stroke;

ceases to direct the machine; in vain does it command; for it is no

longer obeyed; each limb; each joint; each muscle; acting separately

and for itself starts convulsively through discordant impulses。

Meanwhile the man is gay; he thinks himself a millionaire; a king;

loved and admired by everybody; he is not aware of the mischief he

is doing to himself he does not comprehend the advice given him; he

refuses the remedies offered to him; he sings and shouts for entire

days; and; above all; drinks more than ever。  …  At last his face

grows dark and his eyes become blood…shot。  Radiant visions give way

to black and monstrous phantoms; he sees nothing around him hut

menacing figures; traitors in ambush; ready to fall upon him

unawares; murderers with upraised arms ready to cut his throat;

executioners preparing torments for him; and he seems to be wading

in a pool of blood。  So he precipitates; and; in order that he

himself may not be killed; he kills。  No one is more to be dreaded;

for his delirium sustains him; his strength is prodigious; his

movements unforeseen; and he endures; without heeding them;

suffering and wounds under which a healthy man would succumb。 …

France; like such a madman; exhausted by fasting under the monarchy;

drunk by the unhealthy drug of the Social…Contract; and by countless

other adulterated or fiery beverages; is suddenly struck with

paralysis of the brain; at once she is convulsed in every limb

through the incoherent play and contradictory twitching of her

discordant organs。  At this time she has traversed the period of

joyous madness; and is about to enter upon the period of somber

delirium: behold her capable of daring; suffering; and doing all;

capable of incredible exploits and abominable barbarities; the

moment her guides; as erratic as herself; indicate an enemy or an

obstacle to her fury。





                                 THE END。



__________________________________________________________________



NOTES:



'1' Moniteur; XI。  763。  (Sitting of March 28; 1792。)  … 〃Archives

Nationales;〃 F7; 3235。  (Deliberation of the Directory of the

Department; November 29; 1791; and January 27; 1792。   …  Petition

of the Municipality of Mende and of forty…three others; November 30;

1791。)



'2' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 F7; 3198。  Minutes of the meeting of the

municipal officers of Arles; September 2; 1791。   … Letters of the

Royal Commissioners and of the National Assembly; October 24;

November 6; 14; 17; 21; and December 21; 1791。   …  The

Commissioners; to be impartial; attend in turn a mass by a nonjuring

priest and one by a priest of the opposite side。  〃The church is

full〃 with the former and always empty with the latter。



'3' 〃Mémoire〃 of M。 Mérilhon; for Froment; passim。  …  Report of M。

Alquier; p。  54。   …  De Dampmartin; I。  208。



'4' …  De Dampmartin; I。  208。They would exclaim to the catholic

peasants: 〃Allons; mes enfants; Vive le Roi!〃 (shouts of enthusiasm):

〃those wretches of democrats; let us make an example of them; and

restore the sacred rights of the throne and the altar!〃  …  〃As you

please;〃 replied the rustics in their patois; 〃but we must hold fast

to the Revolution; for there are some good things about it。〃  …  They

remain calm; refuse to march to the assistance of Uzès; and withdraw

into their mountains on the first sign of the approach of the

National Guard。



'5' This is what the author Soljenitsyne observed about his Russian

countrymen in an interview with M。 Pivot in the French television in

1998。  (SR。)



'6' Dauban; 〃La Demagogie à Paris;〃 p。598; Letter of M。 de Brissac;

August 25; 1789。



'7' Moniteur; X。 339。  (Journal de Troyes; and a letter from

Perpignan; November; 1791。)



'8' Mercure de France; No。  for September 3; 1791。  〃Let Liberty be

presented to us; and all France will kneel before her; but noble and

proud hearts will eternally resist the oppression which assumes her

sacred mask。  They will invoke liberty; but liberty without crime;

the liberty which is maintained without dungeons; without

inquisitors; without incendiaries; without brigands; without forced

oaths; without illegal coalitions; without mob outrages; that

liberty; finally; which allows no oppressor to go unpunished; and

which does not crush peaceable citizens beneath the weight of the

chains it has broken。〃



'9' Rivarol; 〃Mémoires;〃 p。367。 (Letter of M。 Servan; published in

the 〃Actes des Ap?tres。〃)



'10' The King's brother; later to become King of France under the

name of Louis XVIII。  (SR。)



'11' 〃Archives Nationa1es;〃 F7。  3257。  Official reports;

investigations; and correspondence in relation with the affair of M。

Bussy (October; 1790)。



'12' Mercure de France; May 15; 1790。  (Letter of Baron de Bois…

d'Aisy; April 29; read in the National Assembly。)  …  Moniteur; IV。

302。  Sitting of May 6。  (Official statement of the Justice of the

Peace of Vitteaux; April 28。)



'13' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 DXXIX。  4。  Letter of M。 Belin…

Chatellenot (near Asnay…le…Duc) to the President of the National

Assembly; July 1;

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