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the origins of contemporary france-2-第12章

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Wine runs down into the gutter; and the scent of it fills the air;〃

it is a drinking bout: meanwhile they carry away the grain and flour

which the monks kept on hand according to law; fifty…two loads of it

being taken to the market。  Another troop comes to La Force; to

deliver those imprisoned for debt; a third breaks into the Garde

Meuble; carrying away valuable arms and armour。  Mobs assemble

before the hotel of Madame de Breteuil and the Palais…Bourbon; which

they intend to ransack; in order to punish their proprietors。  M。 de

Crosne; one of the most liberal and most respected men of Paris;

but; unfortunately for himself a lieutenant of the police; is

pursued; escaping with difficulty; and his hotel is sacked。  

During the night between the 13th and 14th of May; the baker's shops

and the wine shops are pillaged; 〃men of the vilest class; armed

with guns; pikes; and turnspits; make people open their doors and

give them something to eat and drink; as well as money and arms。〃

Vagrants; ragged men; several of them 〃almost naked;〃 and 〃most of

them armed like savages; and of hideous appearance;〃 they are 〃 such

as one does not remember to have seen in broad daylight;〃 many of

them are strangers; come from nobody knows where。'39'  It is stated

that there were 50;000 of them; and that they had taken possession

of the principal guard…houses。



During these two days and nights; says Bailly; 〃Paris ran the risk

of being pillaged; and was only saved from the marauders by the

National Guard。〃 Already; in the open street;'40' 〃these creatures

tore off women's shoes and earrings;〃 and the robbers were beginning

to have full sway。   Fortunately the militia organized itself and

the principal inhabitants and gentlemen enrolled themselves; 48;000

men are formed into battalions and companies; the bourgeoisie buy

guns of the vagabonds for three livres apiece; and sabers or pistols

for twelve sous。  At last; some of the offenders are hung on the

spot; and others disarmed; and the insurrection again becomes

political。  But; whatever its object; it remains always wild;

because it is in the hands of the mob。  Dusaulx; its panegyrist;

confesses'41' that 〃he thought he was witnessing the total

dissolution of society。〃 There is no leader; no management。  The

electors who have converted themselves into the representatives of

Paris seem to command the crowd; but it is the crowd which commands

them。  One of them; Legrand; to save the H?tel…de…Ville; has no

other resource but to send for six barrels of gun…powder; and to

declare to the assailants that he is about to blow everything into

the air。  The commandant whom they themselves have chosen; M。 de

Salles; has twenty bayonets at his breast during a quarter of an

hour; and; more than once; the whole committee is near being

massacred。  Let the reader imagine; on the premises where the

discussions are going on; and petitions are being made; 〃a concourse

of fifteen hundred men pressed by a hundred thousand others who are

forcing an entrance;〃 the wainscoting cracking; the benches upset

one over another; the enclosure of the bureau pushed back against

the president's chair; a tumult such as to bring to mind 'the day of

judgment;〃 the death…shrieks; songs; yells; and 〃people beside

themselves; for the most part not knowing where they are nor what

they want。〃  Each district is also a petty center; while the

Palais…Royal is the main center。  Propositions; 〃 accusations; and

deputations travel to and fro from one to the other; along with the

human torrent which is obstructed or rushes ahead with no other

guide than its own inclination and the chances of the way。  One wave

gathers here and another there; their strategy consisting in pushing

and in being pushed。  Yet; their entrance is effected only because

they are let in。  If they get into the Invalides it is owing to the

connivance of the soldiers。   At the Bastille; firearms are

discharged from ten in the morning to five in the evening against

walls forty feet high and thirty feet thick; and it is by chance

that one of their shots reaches an invalid on the towers。  They are

treated the same as children whom one wishes to hurt as little as

possible。  The governor; on the first summons to surrender; orders

the cannon to be withdrawn from the embrasures; he makes the

garrison swear not to fire if it is not attacked; he invites the

first of the deputations to lunch; he allows the messenger

dispatched from the H?tel…de…Ville to inspect the fortress; he

receives several discharges without returning them; and lets the

first bridge be carried without firing a shot。'42'  When; at length;

he does fire; it is at the last extremity; to defend the second

bridge; and after having notified the assailants that he is going to

do so。  In short; his forbearance and patience are excessive; in

conformity with the humanity of the times。  The people; in turn; are

infatuated with the novel sensations of attack and resistance; with

the smell of gunpowder; with the excitement of the contest; all they

can think of doing is to rush against the mass of stone; their

expedients being on a level with their tactics。  A brewer fancies

that he can set fire to this block of masonry by pumping over it

spikenard and poppy…seed oil mixed with phosphorus。  A young

carpenter; who has some archaeological notions; proposes to

construct a catapult。  Some of them think that they have seized the

governor's daughter; and want to burn her in order to make the

father surrender。  Others set fire to a projecting mass of buildings

filled with straw; and thus close up the passage。  〃The Bastille was

not taken by main force;〃 says the brave Elie; one of the

combatants; 〃it surrendered before even it was attacked;〃'43' by

capitulation; on the promise that no harm should be done to anybody。

The garrison; being perfectly secure; had no longer the heart to

fire on human beings while themselves risking nothing;'44' and; on

the other hand; they were unnerved by the sight of the immense

crowd。  Eight or nine hundred men only'45' were concerned in the

attack; most of them workmen or shopkeepers belonging to the

faubourg; tailors; wheelwrights; mercers and wine…dealers; mixed

with the French Guards。  The Place de la Bastille; however; and all

the streets in the vicinity; were crowded with the curious who came

to witness the sight; 〃among them;〃 says a witness;'46' 〃were a

number of fashionable women of very good appearance; who had left

their carriages at some distance。〃 To the hundred and twenty men of

the garrison looking down from their parapets it seemed as though

all Paris had come out against them。  It is they; also; who lower

the drawbridge an introduce the enemy: everybody has lost his head;

the besieged as well as the besiegers; the latter more completely

because they are intoxicated with the sense of victory。  Scarcely

have they entered when they begin the work of destruction; and the

latest arrivals shoot at random those that come earlier; 〃each one

fires without heeding where or on whom his shot tells。〃 Sudden

omnipotence and the liberty to kill are a wine too strong for human

nature; giddiness is the result; men see red; and their frenzy ends

in ferocity。



For the peculiarity of a popular insurrection is that nobody obeys

anybody; the bad passions are free as well as the generous ones;

heroes are unable to restrain assassins。  Elie; who is the first to

enter the fortress; Cholat; Hulin; the brave fellows who are in

advance; the French Guards who are cognizant of the laws of war; try

to keep their word of honor; but the crowd pressing on behind them

know not whom to strike; and they strike at random。  They spare the

Swiss soldiers who have fired at them; and who; in their blue

smocks; seem to them to be prisoners; on the other hand; by way of

compensation; they fall furiously on the invalides who opened the

gates to them; the man who prevented the governor from blowing up

the fortress has his wrist severed by the blow of a saber; is twice

pierced with a sword and is hung; and the hand which had saved one

of the districts of Paris is promenaded through the streets in

triumph。  The officers are dragged along and five of them are

killed; with three soldiers; on the spot; or on the way。  During the

long hours of firing; the murderous instinct has become aroused; and

the wish to kill; changed into a fixed idea; spreads afar among the

crowd which has hitherto remained inactive。  It is convinced by its

own clamor; a hue and cry is all that it now needs; the moment one

strikes; all want to strike。  〃Those who had no arms;〃 says an

officer; 〃threw stones at me;'47' the women ground their teeth and

shook their fists at me。  Two of my men had already been

assassinated behind me。  I finally got to within some hundreds of

paces of the H?tel…de…Ville; amidst a general cry that I should be

hung; when a head; stuck on a pike; was
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