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第31章

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pay his expenses; while his stinted household is kept up only by

means of a louis which is given to him weekly by his father…in…law;

who is a coffee…house keeper。  Brissot; a strolling Bohemian;

formerly employee of literary pirates; has roamed over the world for

fifteen years; without bringing back with him either from England or

America anything but a coat out at elbows and false ideas; and;

finally; Marat; a writer that has been hissed; an abortive scholar

and philosopher; a misrepresenter of his own experiences; caught by

the natural philosopher Charles in the act of committing a

scientific fraud; and fallen from the top of his inordinate ambition

to the subordinate post of doctor in the stables of the Comte

d'Artois。   At the present time; Danton; President of the

Cordeliers; can arrest any one he pleases in his district; and his

violent gestures and thundering voice secure to him; till something

better turns up; the government of his section of the city。  A word

of Marat's has just caused Major Belzunce at Caen to be

assassinated。  Desmoulins announces; with a smile of triumph; that

〃a large section of the capital regards him as one among the

principal instigators of the Revolution; and that many even go so

far as to say that he is the author of it。〃  Is it to be supposed

that; borne so high by such a sudden jerk of fortune; they wish to

put on the drag and again descend? and is it not clear that they

will aid with all their might the revolt which hoists them towards

the loftiest summits?   Moreover; the brain reels at a height like

this ; suddenly launched in the air and feeling as if everything was

tottering around them; they utter exclamations of indignation and

terror; they see plots on all sides; imagine invisible cords pulling

in an opposite direction; and they call upon the people to cut them。

With the full weight of their inexperience; incapacity; and

improvidence; of their fears; credulity; and dogmatic obstinacy;

they urge on popular attacks; and their newspaper articles or

discourses are all summed up in the following phrases:



〃Fellow…citizens; you; the people of the lower class; you who listen

to me; you have enemies in the Court and the aristocracy。  The

H?tel…de…Ville and the National Assembly are your servants。  Seize

your enemies with a strong hand; and hang them; and let your

servants know that they must quicken their steps!〃



Desmoulins styles himself 〃District…attorney of the gallows;〃'20'

and if he at all regrets the murders of Foulon and Berthier; it is

because this too expeditious judgment has allowed the proofs of

conspiracy to perish; thereby saving a number of traitors: he

himself mentions twenty of them haphazard; and little does he care

whether he makes mistakes。



 〃We are in the dark; and it is well that faithful dogs should bark;

even at all who pass by; so that there may be no fear of robbers。〃



》From this time forth Marat'21' denounces the King; the ministers;

the administration; the bench; the bar; the financial system and the

academies; all as 〃suspicious;〃 at all events the people only suffer

on their account。



 〃The Government is monopolizing grain; to make us to pay through

  the nose for a poisonous bread。〃



The Government; again; through a new conspiracy is about to blockade

Paris; so as to starve it with greater ease。  Utterances of this

kind; at such a time; are firebrands thrown upon fear and hunger to

kindle the flames of rage and cruelty。  To this frightened and

fasting crowd the agitators and newspaper writers continue to repeat

that it must act; and act alongside of the authorities; and; if need

be; against them。  In other words; We will do as we please; we are

the sole legitimate masters;



〃in a well…constituted government; the people as a body are the real

sovereign: our delegates are appointed only to execute our orders ;

what right has the clay to rebel against the potter?〃



On the strength of such principles; the tumultuous club which

occupies the Palais…Royal substitutes itself for the Assembly at

Versailles。  Has it not all the titles for this office? The Palais…

Royal 〃saved the nation〃 on the 12th and 13th of July。  The Palais…

Royal; 〃through its spokesmen and pamphlets;〃 has made everybody and

even the soldiers 〃philosophers。〃 It is the house of patriotism;

〃the rendezvous of the select among the patriotic;〃 whether

provincials or Parisians; of all who possess the right of suffrage;

and who cannot or will not exercise it in their own district。  〃It

saves time to come to the Palais…Royal。  There is no need there of

appealing to the President for the right to speak; or to wait one's

time for a couple of hours。  The orator proposes his motion; and; if

it finds supporters; mounts a chair。  If he is applauded; it is put

into proper shape。  If he is hissed; he goes away。  This was the way

of the Romans。〃 Behold the veritable National Assembly ! It is

superior to the other semi…feudal affair; encumbered with 〃six

hundred deputies of the clergy and nobility;〃 who are so many

intruders and who 〃should be sent out into the galleries。〃  Hence

the pure Assembly rules the impure Assembly; and 〃the Café Foy lays

claim to the government of France。〃



 IV。



Intervention by the popular leaders with the Government。  … Their

pressure on the Assembly。



On the 30th of July; the harlequin who led the insurrection at Rouen

having been arrested; 〃it is openly proposed at the Palais Royal'22'

to go in a body and demand his release。〃   On the 1st of August;

Thouret; whom the moderate party of the Assembly have just made

President; is obliged to resign; the Palais…Royal threatens to send

a band and murder him along with those who voted for him; and lists

of proscriptions; in which several of the deputies are inscribed;

begin to be circulated。   From this time forth; on all great

questions…the abolition of the feudal system; the suppression of

tithes; a declaration of the rights of man; the dispute about the

Chambers; the King's power of veto;'23' the pressure from without

inclines the balance: in this way the Declaration of Rights; which

is rejected in secret session by twenty…eight bureaus out of thirty;

is forced through by the tribunes in a public sitting and passed by

a majority。   Just as before the 14th of July; and to a still

greater extent; two kinds of compulsion influence the votes; and it

is always the ruling faction which employs both its hands to

throttle its opponents。  On the one hand this faction takes post on

the galleries in knots composed nearly always of the same persons;

〃five or six hundred permanent actors;〃 who yell according to

understood signals and at the word of command。'24'  Many of these

are French Guards; in civilian clothes; and who relieve each other:

previously they have asked of their favorite deputy 〃at what hour

they must come; whether all goes on well; and whether he is

satisfied with those fools of parsons (calotins) and the

aristocrats。〃 Others consist of low women under the command of

Théroigne de Méricourt; a virago courtesan; who assigns them their

positions and gives them the signal for hooting or for applause。

Publicly and in full session; on the occasion of the debate on the

veto; 〃the deputies are applauded or insulted by the galleries

according as they utter the word 'suspensive;' or the word

'indefinite。' 〃  〃Threats;〃 (says one of them) 〃circulated; I heard

them on all sides around me。〃 These threats are repeated on going

out: 〃Valets dismissed by their masters; deserters; and women in

rags;〃 threaten the refractory with the lamp post; 〃and thrust their

fists in their faces。  In the hall itself; and much more accurately

than before the 14th of July; their names are taken down; and the

lists; handed over to the populace;〃 travel to the Palais…Royal;

from where they are dispatched in correspondence and in newspapers

to the provinces。'25'  …  Thus we s

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