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the origins of contemporary france-2-第97章

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and burnt; together with two others alongside of it。  Taking refuge

in a cellar he still keeps on firing。  Bundles of lighted straw are

thrown in at the air…holes。  Almost suffocated; he springs out;

kills his first assailant with a shot from one pistol; and himself

with another。  His head is cut off with that of his servant。  The

guardsman is made to kiss the two heads; and; on his demanding a

glass of water; they fill his mouth with the blood which drops from

the severed head of his brother。  The victorious gang then set out

for Cahors; with the two heads stuck on bayonets; and the guardsman

in a cart。  It comes to a halt before a house in which a literary

circle meets; suspected by the Jacobin club。  The wounded man is

made to descend from the cart and is hung: his body is riddled with

balls; and everything the house contains is broken up; 〃the

furniture is thrown out of the windows; and the house pulled down。〃

…  Every popular execution is of this character; at once prompt and

complete; similar to those of an Oriental monarch who; on the

instant; without inquiry or trial; avenges his offended majesty;

and。  for every offense; knows no other punishment than death。  At

Tulle; M。 de Massy;'29' lieutenant of the 〃Royal Navarre;〃 having

struck a man that insulted him; is seized in the house in which he

took refuge; and; in spite of the three administrative bodies; is at

once massacred。  …  At Brest; two anti…revolutionary caricatures

having been drawn with charcoal on the walls of the military coffee…

house; the excited crowd lay the blame of it on the officers; one of

these; M。 Patry; takes it upon himself; and; on the point of being

torn to pieces; attempts to kill himself。  He is disarmed; but; when

the municipal authorities come to his assistance; they find him

〃already dead through an infinite number of wounds;〃 and his head is

borne about on the end of a pike。'30'  …



VI。



Conduct of officers。 … Their self…sacrifice。… Disposition of the

soldiery。 … Military outbreaks。…  Spread and increase of

insubordination。 … Resignation of the officers。



Much better would it be to live under an Eastern king; for he is not

found everywhere; nor always furious and mad; like the populace。

Nowhere are the nobles safe; neither in public nor in private life;

neither in the country nor in the towns; neither associated together

nor separate。  Popular hostility hangs over them like a dark and

threatening cloud from one end of the territory to the other; and the

tempest bursts upon them in a continuous storm of vexations; outrages;

calumnies; robberies; and acts of violence; here; there; and almost

daily; bloody thunderbolts fall haphazard on the most inoffensive

heads; on an old man asleep; on a Knight of Saint…Louis taking a

walk; on a family at prayers in a church。  But; in this aristocracy;

crushed down in some places and attacked everywhere; the thunderbolt

finds one predestined group which attracts it and on which it constantly

falls; and that is the corps of officers。



VI。



Conduct of the officers。  …  Their self…sacrifice。  …  Disposition

of the soldiery。  …  Military outbreaks。  …  Spread and increase of

insubordination。  …  Resignation of the officers。



With the exception of a few fops; frequenters of drawing…rooms; and

the court favorites who have reached a high rank through the

intrigues of the antechamber; it was in this group; especially in

the medium ranks; that true moral nobility was then found。  Nowhere

in France was there so much tried; substantial merit。  A man of

genius; who associated with them in his youth; rendered them this

homage: many among them are men possessing 〃 the most amiable

characters and minds of the highest order。〃'31' Indeed; for most of

them; military service was not a career of ambition; but an

obligation of birth。  It was the rule in each noble family for the

eldest son to enter the army; and advancement was of but little

consequence。  He discharged the debt of his rank; this sufficed for

him; and; after twenty or thirty years of service; the order of

Saint…Louis; and sometimes a meager pension; were all he had a right

to expect。  Amongst nine or ten thousand officers; the great

majority coming from the lower and poorer class of provincial

nobles; body…guards; lieutenants; captains; majors; lieutenant…

colonels; and even colonels; have no other pretension。  Satisfied

with favors'32' restricted to their subordinate rank; they leave the

highest grades of the service to the heirs of the great families; to

the courtiers or to the parvenus at Versailles; and content

themselves with remaining the guardians of public order; and the

brave defenders of the State。  Under this system; when the heart is

not depraved it becomes exalted; it is made a point of honor to

serve without compensation; there is nothing but the public welfare

in view; and all the more because; at this moment; it is the

absorbing topic of all minds and of all literature。  Nowhere has

practical philosophy; that which consists in a spirit of abnegation;

more deeply penetrated than among this unrecognized nobility。  Under

a polished; brilliant; and sometimes frivolous exterior; they have a

serious soul ; the old sentiment of honor is converted into one of

patriotism。 Set to execute the laws; with force in hand to maintain

peace through fear; they feel the importance of their mission; and;

for two years; fulfill its duties with extraordinary moderation;

gentleness; and patience; not only at the risk of their lives; but

amidst great and multiplied humiliations; through the sacrifice of

their authority and self…esteem; through the subjection of their

intelligent will to the dictation and incapacity of the masters

imposed upon them。 For a noble officer to respond to the

requisitions of an extemporized bourgeois municipal body;'33' to

subordinate his competence; courage; and prudence to the blunders

and alarms of five or six inexperienced; frightened; and timid

attorneys; to place his energy and daring at the service of their

presumption; feebleness; and lack of decision; even when their

orders or refusal of orders are manifestly absurd or injurious; even

when they are opposed to the previous instructions of his general or

of his minister; even when they end in the plundering of a market;

the burning of a chateau; the assassination of an innocent person;

even when they impose upon him the obligation of witnessing crime

with his sword sheathed and arms folded;'34'  …   this is a hard

task。  It is hard for the noble officer to see independent; popular;

and bourgeois troops organized in the face of his own troops; rivals

and even hostile; in any case ten times as numerous and no less

exacting than sensitive  …   hard to be expected to show them

deference and extend civilities to them; to surrender to them posts;

arsenals; and citadels; to treat their chiefs as equals; however

ignorant or unworthy; and whatever they may be  …   here a lawyer;

there a Capuchin; elsewhere a brewer or a shoemaker; most generally

some demagogue; and; in many a town or village; some deserter or

soldier drummed out of his regiment for bad conduct; perhaps one of

the noble's own men; a scamp whom he has formerly discharged with

the yellow cartridge; telling him to go and be hung elsewhere。  It

is hard for the noble officer to be publicly and daily calumniated

on account of his rank and title; to be characterized as a traitor

at the club and in the newspapers; to be designated by name as an

object of popular suspicion and fury; to be hooted at in the streets

and in the theater; to submit to the disobedience of his men; to be

denounced; insulted; arrested; fleeced; hunted down and slaughtered

by them and by the populace; to see before him a cruel; ignoble; and

unavenged death  …   that of M。 de Launay; murdered at Paris  …

that of M。 de Belzunce; murdered at Caen  …   that of M。 de

Beausset; murdered at Marseilles  …   that of M。 de Voisins;

murdered at Valence …  that of M。 de Rully; murdered at Bastia; or

that of M。 de Rochetailler; murdered at Port…au…Prince。'35'  All

this is endured by the officers among the nobles。  Not one of the

municipalities; even Jacobin; can find any pretext which will

warrant the charge of disobeying orders。  Through tact and deference

they avoid all conflict with the National Guards。  Never do they

give provocation; and; even when insulted; rarely defend themselves。

Their gravest faults consist of imprudent conversations; vivacious

expressions and witticisms。  Like good watch…dogs amongst a

frightened herd which trample them under foot; or pierce them with

their horns; they allow themselves to be pierced and trampled on

without biting; and would remain at their post to the end were they

not driven away from it。



All to no purpose: doubly suspicious as members of a proscribed

class; and as heads of the army; it is against them that public
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