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the origins of contemporary france-2-第27章

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of which one alone incurs a debt of 14;000 livres for wine and

sausages furnished to them; 〃they accustom themselves to greater

expense;〃 to greater license; and are followed by their companions。

〃During the night of the 31st of July the French Guards on duty at

Versailles abandon the custody of the King and betake themselves to

Paris; without their officers; but with their arms and baggage;〃

that 〃they may take part in the cheer which the city of Paris

extends to their regiment。〃 At the beginning of September; 16;000

deserters of this stamp are counted。'16'  Now; among those who

commit murder these are in the first rank; and this is not

surprising when we take the least account of their antecedents;

education; and habits。  It was a soldier of the 〃Royal Croat〃 who

tore out the heart of Berthier。  They were three soldiers of the

regiment of Provence who forced the house of Chatel at Saint…Denis;

and dragged his head through the streets。  It is Swiss soldiers who;

at Passy; knock down the commissioners of police with their guns。

Their headquarters are at the Palais…Royal; amongst women whose

instruments they are; and amongst agitators from whom they receive

the word of command。  Henceforth; all depends on this word; and we

have only to contemplate the new popular leaders to know what it

will be。





III。



The new popular leaders。… Their ascendancy 。… Their education。  …

Their sentiments。… Their situation。  … Their councils。  … Their

denunciations。  …



Administrators and members of district assemblies; agitators of

barracks; coffee…houses; clubs and public thoroughfares; writers of

pamphlets; penny…a…liners are multiplying as fast as buzzing insects

are hatched on a sultry night。  After the 14th of July thousands of

jobs have become available for released ambitions; 〃attorneys;

notaries' clerks; artists; merchants; shopkeepers; comedians and

especially advocates;'17' each wants to be either an officer; a

director; a councillor; or a minister of the new reign; while

journals; which are established by dozens;'18' form a permanent

tribune; where speakers come to court the people to their personal

advantage。〃 Philosophy; fallen into such hands; seems to parody

itself; and nothing equals its emptiness; unless it be its

mischievousness and success。  Lawyers; in the sixty assembly

districts; roll out the high…sounding dogmas of the revolutionary

catechism。  This or that one; passing from the question of a party

wall to the constitution of empires; becomes the improvised

legislator; so much the more inexhaustible and the more applauded as

his flow of words; showered upon his hearers; proves to them that

every capacity and every right are naturally and legitimately

theirs。



 〃When that man opened his mouth;〃 says a cold…blooded witness; 〃we

were sure of being inundated with quotations and maxims; often

apropos of street lamp posts; or of the stall of a herb…dealer。  His

stentorian voice made the vaults ring; and after he had spoken for

two hours; and his breath was completely exhausted; the admiring and

enthusiastic shouts which greeted him amounted almost to frenzy。

Thus the orator fancied himself a Mirabeau; while the spectators

imagined themselves the Constituent Assembly; deciding the fate of

France。〃



The journals and pamphlets are written in the same style。  Every

brain is filled with the fumes of conceit and of big words; the

leader of the crowd is he who raves the most; and he guides the wild

enthusiasm which he increases。



Let us consider the most popular of these chiefs ; they are the

green or the dry fruit of literature; and of the bar。  The newspaper

is the stall which every morning offers them for sale; and if they

suit the overexcited public it is simply owing to their acid or

bitter flavor。  Their empty; unpracticed minds are wholly void of

political conceptions; they have no capacity or practical

experience。  Desmoulins is twenty…nine years of age; Loustalot

twenty…seven; and their intellectual ballast consists of college

reminiscences; souvenirs of the law schools; and the common…places

picked up in the houses of Raynal and his associates。  As to Brissot

and Marat; who are ostentatious humanitarians; their knowledge of

France and of foreign countries consists in what they have seen

through the dormer windows of their garrets; and through utopian

spectacles。  In minds like these; empty or led astray; the Contrat…

Social could not fail to become a gospel; for it reduces political

science to a strict application of an elementary axiom which

relieves them of all study; and hands society over to the caprice of

the people; or; in other words; delivers it into their own hands。  …

… Hence they demolish all that remains of social institutions; and

push on equalization until everything is brought down to the same

level。



 〃With my principles;〃 writes Desmoulins;'19' 〃is associated the

satisfaction of putting myself where I belong; of showing my

strength to those who have despised me; of lowering to my level all

whom fortune has placed above me: my motto is that of all honest

people: 'No superiors!'〃



Thus; under the great name of Liberty; each vain spirit seeks its

revenge and finds its nourishment。  What is sweeter and more natural

than to justify passion by theory; to be factious in the belief that

this is patriotism; and to cloak the interests of ambition with the

interests of humanity?



Let us picture to ourselves these directors of public opinion as

they were three months earlier: Desmoulins; a briefless barrister;

living in furnished lodgings with petty debts; and on a few louis

extracted from his relations。  Loustalot; still more unknown; was

admitted the previous year to the Parliament of Bordeaux; and has

landed at Paris in search of a career。  Danton; another second…rate

lawyer; coming out of a hovel in Champagne; borrowed the money to

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 f
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