the origins of contemporary france-5-第33章
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rest on the banks of the Seine; amidst that French people I have so
dearly loved。〃
'135' 〃Correspondance de Napoleon I。; XXII。; 119。 (Note by Napoleon;
April; 1811。) 〃There will always be at Hamburg; Bremen; and Lubeck
from 8000 to 10;000 Frenchmen; either as employees or as gendarmes; in
the custom…houses and warehouses。〃
'136' 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc); Librarie Plon;
Paris 1893。…; II。; 88; and following pages: 〃During the year 1813;
from Jan。 1 to Oct。 7; 840;000 men had already been drafted from
imperial France and they had to be furnished。〃 … Other decrees in
December; placing at the disposition of the government 300;000
conscripts for the years 1806 to 1814 inclusive。 … Another decree in
November organizing 140;000 men of the national guard in cohorts;
intended for the defense of strongholds。 … In all; 1;300;000 men
summoned in one year。 〃Never has any nation been thus asked to let
itself be voluntarily led in a mass to the slaughterhouse。 … Ibid。;
II。; 59。 Senatus…consulte; and order of council for raising 10;000
young men; exempt or redeemed from conscription; as the prefects might
choose; arbitrarily; from amongst the highest classes in society。 The
purpose was plainly 〃 to secure hostages in every family of doubtful
loyalty。 No measure created for Napoleon more irreconcilable
enemies。〃
… Cf。 De Ségur; II。; 34。 (He was charged with organizing and
commanding a division of young men。) Many were sons of Vendéans or of
Conventionalists; some torn from their wives the day after their
marriage; or from the bedside of a wife in her confinement; of a dying
father; or of a sick son; 〃some looked so feeble that they seemed
dying。〃 One half perished in the campaign of 1814。 … 〃
Correspondance;〃 letter to Clarke; Minister of War; Oct。23; 1813 (in
relation to the new levies): 〃I rely on 100;000 refractory
conscripts。〃
'137' 〃Archives nationales;〃 A F。;VI。; 1297。 (Documents 206 to 210。)
(Report to the Emperor by Count Dumas; April 10; 1810。) Besides the
170 millions of penalties 1;675;457 francs of penalty were inflicted
on 2335 individuals; 〃 abettors or accomplices。〃 … Ibid。; A F。;VI。;
1051。 (Report of Gen。 Lacoste on the department of Haute…Loire; Oct。
13; 1808。) 〃He always calculated in this department on the desertion
of one…half of the conscripts。 In most of the cantons the gendarmes
traffic with the conscription shamefully; certain conscripts pension
them to show them favors。〃 … Ibid。; A F。;VI。; 1052。 (Report by
Pelet; Jan。 12; 1812。) 〃The operation of the conscription has
improved (in the Herault); the contingents of 1811 have been
furnished。 There remained 1800 refractory; or deserters of the
previous classes; 1600 have been arrested or made to surrender by the
flying column; 200 have still to be pursued。〃 Faber; … 〃Notice
(1807) sur l'intérieur de la France;〃 p。 141: 〃Desertion; especially
on the frontiers; is occasionally frightful; 80 deserters out of 160
have sometimes been arrested。〃 … Ibid。; p。149: It has been stated in
the public journals that in 1801 the court in session at Lille had
condemned 135 refractory out of the annual conscription; and that
which holds its sittings at Ghent had condemned 70。 Now; 200
conscripts form the maximum of what an arrondissement in a department
could furnish。〃 …Ibid; p。145。 〃France resembles a vast house of
detention where everybody is suspicious of his neighbor; where each
avoids the other。 。 。 One often sees a young man with a gendarme at
his heels oftentimes; on looking closely; this young man's hands are
found tied; or he is handcuffed。〃 … Mathieu Dumas; III。; 507 (After
the battle of Dresden; in the Dresden hospitals): 〃I observed; with
sorrow; that many of these men were slightly wounded: most of them;
young conscripts just arrived in the army; had not been wounded by the
enemy's fire; but they had mutilated each other's feet and hands。
Antecedents of this kind; of equally bad augury; had already been
remarked in the campaign of 1809。〃
'138' De Ségur; III。; 474。 … Thiers; XIV。; 159。 (One month after
crossing the Niemen one hundred and fifty thousand men had dropped out
of the ranks。)
'139' Bulletin 29 (December 3; 1812)。
'140' De Pradt; Histoire de l'Ambassade de Varsovie;〃 p。219。
'141' M。 de Metternich; I。; 147。 … Fain; 〃Manuscript;〃 of 1813; II。;
26。 (Napoleon's address to his generals。) 〃What we want is a complete
triumph。 To abandon this or that province is not the question; our
political superiority and our existence depend on it。 〃 … II。; 41; 42。
(Words of Napoleon to Metternich。) 〃And it is my father…in…law who
favors such a project! And he sends you! In what attitude does he wish
to place me before the French people? He is strangely deluded if he
thinks that a mutilated throne can offer an asylum to his daughter and
grandson。 。 。 。 Ah; Metternich; how much has England given you to make
you play this part against me?〃 (This last phrase; omitted in
Metternich's narrative; is a characteristic trait; Napoleon at this
decisive moment; remains insulting and aggressive; gratuitously and
even to his own destruction。)
'142' 〃Souvenirs du feu duc de Broglie;〃 I。; 235。
'143' Ibid。; I。; 230。 Some days before Napoleon had said to M。 de
Narbonne; who told me that very evening: 〃After all; what has this
(the Russian campaign) cost me? 300;000 men; among whom; again; were
a good many Germans。〃 … 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc;
Librarie Plon; Paris 1893。 II。 110。 (Apropos of the Frankfurt basis;
and accepted by Napoleon when too late。) 〃What characterizes this
mistake is that it was committed much more against the interests of
France than against his own。 。 。 。 He sacrificed her to the
perplexities of his personal situation; to the mauvaise honte of his
own ambition; to the difficulty he finds in standing alone to a
certain extent before a nation which had done everything for him and
which could justly reproach him with having sacrificed so much
treasure and spilled so much blood on enterprises proved to have been
foolish and impracticable。〃
'144' Leonce de Lavergne; 〃Economie rurale de la France;〃 P。40。
(According to the former director of the conscription under the
Empire。)
BOOK SECOND。 FORMATION AND CHARACTER OF THE NEW STATE。
CHAPTER I。
I。 The Institution of Government。
Conditions on which the public power can act。 … Two points forgotten
by the authors of the preceding constitutions。 … Difficulty of the
undertaking and poor quality of the available materials。
Every human society requires government; that is to say an authority。
No other machinery is more useful。 But a machinery is useful only if
it is adapted to its purpose; if not it will not work; or may even
work contrary to its purpose。 Hence; during its construction; one must
first of all consider the magnitude of the work it has to do as well
as the quality of the materials one has at one's disposal。 It is very
important to know beforehand whether it will lift 100 or of 100;000
kilograms; whether the pieces fitted together will be of iron or of
steel; of sound or of unsound timber。 … But the legislators had not
taken that into consideration during the last ten years。 They had set
themselves up as theoreticians; and likewise as optimists; without
looking at the things; or else imagining the them as they wished to
have them。 In the national assemblies; as well as with the public; the
task was deemed easy and simple; whereas it was extraordinary and
immense; for the matter in hand consisted in effecting a social
revolution and in carrying on an European war。 The materials were
supposed to be excellent; as manageable as they were substantial;
while; in fact; they were very poor; being both refractory and
brittle; for these human materials consisted of the Frenchmen of 1789
and of the following years; that is to say; of exceedingly se