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第44章

the origins of contemporary france-2-第44章

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gutter by the rabble ; the brutality of the populace always

exercises a material ascendancy over finely strung nerves。   On the

12th of July; 1791;'46' the call of the house decreed against the

absentees proves that one hundred and thirty…two deputies no longer

appear in their places。   Eleven days before; among those who take

no further part in the proceedings。   Thus; before the completion of

the Constitution; the whole of the opposition; more than four

hundred members; over one…third of the Assembly; is reduced to

flight or to silence。   By dint of oppression; the revolutionary

party has got rid of all resistance; while the violence which gave

to it ascendancy in the streets; now gives to it equal ascendance

within the walls of Parliament。







 IV。



 Refusal to supply the ministry … Effects of this mistake …

Misconception of the situation … The committee of investigation …

Constant alarms … Effects of ignorance and fear on the work of the

Constituent Assembly。



 Generally in an omnipotent assembly; when a party takes the lead

and forms a majority; it furnishes the Ministry; and this fact

suffices to give; or to bring back to it; some glimpse of common

sense。   For its leaders; with the Government in their own hands;

become responsible for it; and when they propose or pass a law; they

are obliged to anticipate its effect。   Rarely will a Secretary of

War or of the Navy adopt a military code which goes to establish

permanent disobedience in the army or in the navy。   Rarely will a

Secretary of the Treasury propose an expenditure for which there is

not a sufficient revenue; or a system of taxation that provides no

returns。   Placed where full information can be procured; daily

advised of every details; surrounded by skillful counselors and

expert clerks; the chiefs of the majority; who thus become heads of

the administration; immediately drop theory for practice; and the

fumes of political speculation must be pretty dense in their minds

if they exclude the multiplied rays of light which experience

constantly sheds upon them。   Let the most stubborn of theorists

take his stand at the helm of a ship; and; whatever be the obstinacy

of his principles or his prejudices; he will never; unless he is

blind or led by the blind; persist in steering always to the right

or always to the left。   Just so after the flight to Varennes; when

the Assembly; in full possession of the executive power; directly

controls the Ministry; it comes to recognize for itself that its

constitutional machine will not work; except in the way of

destruction; and it is the principal revolutionaries; Barnave;

Duport; the Lameths; Chapelier; and Thouret;'47' who undertake to

make alterations in the mechanisms so as to lessen its friction。

But this source of knowledge and reason; however; to which they are

momentarily induced to draw; in spite of themselves and too late;

has been turned off by themselves from the very beginning。   On the

6th of November; 1789; in deference to principle and in dread of

corruption; the Assembly had declared that none of its members

should hold ministerial office。   We see it in consequence deprived

of all the instruction which comes from direct contact with affairs;

surrendered without any counterpoise to the seductions of theory;

reduced by its own decision to become a mere academy of legislation

only。



 Nay; still worse; through another effect of the same error; it

condemns itself by its own act to constant fits of panic。   For;

having allowed the power which it was not willing to assume to slip

into indifferent or suspect hands; it is always uneasy; and all its

decrees bear an uniform stamp; not only of the willful ignorance

within which it confines itself; but also of the exaggerated or

chimerical fears in which its life is passed。  …   Imagine a ship

conveying a company of lawyers; literary men; and other passengers;

who; supported by a mutinous and poorly fed crew; take full command;

but refuse to select one of their own number for a pilot or for the

officer of the watch。   The former captain continues to nominate

them; through very shame; and because he is a good sort of man; his

title is left to him; and he is retained for the transmission of

orders。   If these orders are absurd; so much the worse for him; if

he resists them; a fresh mutiny forces him to yield; and even when

they cannot be executed; he has to answer for their being carried

out。   In the meantime; in a room between decks; far away from the

helm and the compass; our club of amateurs discuss the equilibrium

of floating bodies; decree a new system of navigation; have the

ballast thrown overboard; crowd on all sail; and are astonished to

find that the ship heels over on its side。   The officer of the

watch and the pilot must; evidently; have managed the maneuver

badly。   They are accordingly dismissed and others put in their

place; while the ship heels over farther yet and begins to leak in

every joint。   Enough: it is the fault of the captain and the old

staff of officers; They are not well…disposed; for a beautiful

system of navigation like this ought to work well; and if it fails

to do so; it is because some one interferes with it。   It is

positively certain that some of those people belonging to the former

régime must be traitors; who would rather have the ship go down than

submit; they are public enemies and monsters。   They must be seized;

disarmed; put under surveillance; and punished。  …   Such is the

reasoning of the Assembly。   Evidently; to reassure it; a message

from the Minister of the Interior chosen by the Assembly; to the

lieutenant of police whom he had appointed; to come to his office

every morning; would be all that was necessary。   But it is deprived

of this simple resource by its own act; and has no other expedient

than to appoint a committee of investigation to discover crimes of

〃treason against the nation。〃'48'  What could be more vague than

such a term? What could be more mischievous than such an

institution?   Renewed every month; deprived of special agents;

composed of credulous and inexperienced deputies; this committee;

set to perform the work of a Lenoir or a Fouché; makes up for its

incapacity by violence; and its proceedings anticipate those of the

Jacobine inquisition。'49'  Alarmist and suspicious; it encourages

accusations; and; for lack of plots to discover; it invents them。

Inclinations; in its eyes; stand for actions; and floating projects

become accomplished outrages。   On the denunciation of a domestic

who has listened at a door; on the gossip of a washerwoman who has

found a scrap of paper in a dressing…gown; on the false

interpretation of a letter; on vague indications which it completes

and patches together by the strength of its imagination; it forges a

coup d'état; makes examinations; domiciliary visits; nocturnal

surprises and arrests;'50' it exaggerates; blackens; and comes in

public session to denounce the whole affair to the National

Assembly。   First comes the plot of the Breton nobles to deliver

Brest to the English;'51' then the plot for hiring brigands to

destroy the crops; then the plot of 14th of July to burn Paris; then

the plot of Favras to murder Lafayette; Necker; and Bailly; then the

plot of Augeard to carry off the King; and many others; week after

week; not counting those which swarm in the brains of the

journalists; and which Desmoulins; Fréron; and Marat reveal with a

flourish of trumpets in each of their publications。



 〃All these alarms are cried daily in the streets like cabbages and

turnips; the good people of Paris inhaling them along with the

pestilential vapors of our mud。〃'52'



 。。。。。。。。。。。。。。Now; in this aspect; as well as in a good many others; the

Assembly is the people; satisfied that it is in danger;'53' it makes

laws as the former make their insurrections; and protects itself by

strokes of legislation as t

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