友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!阅读过程发现任何错误请告诉我们,谢谢!! 报告错误
九色书籍 返回本书目录 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 进入书吧 加入书签

the origins of contemporary france-3-第48章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!



chairs; while similar provocations daily flow from the committee

installed in Santerre's establishment; now in the shape of displays

posted in the faubourgs; now in that of petitions circulated in the

clubs and sections; now through motions which are gotten up 〃among the

groups in the Tuileries; in the Palais…Royal; in the Place de Grève

and especially on the Place de la Bastille。〃 After the 2nd of June the

leaders founded a new club in the church of the 〃Enfants Trouvés〃

that they might have their special laboratory and thus do their work

on the spot。'31'   Like Plato's demagogues; they understand their

business。 They have discovered the cries which make the popular animal

take note; what offense offends him; what charm attracts him; and on

what road he should be made to follow。 Once drawn in and under way; he

will march blindly on; borne along by his own involuntary inspiration

and crushing with his mass all that he encounters on his path。





IV。



The 20th of June。   The programme。   The muster。   The

procession before the Assembly。   Irruption into the Chateau。  The

King in the presence of the people。



The bait has been carefully chosen and is well presented。 It takes the

form of a celebration of the anniversary of the oath of the Tennis…

court。 A tree of Liberty will be planted on the terrace of the

Feuillants and 〃petitions relating to circumstances〃 will be presented

in the Assembly and then to the King。 As a precaution; and to impose

on the ill…disposed; the petitioners provide themselves with arms and

line the approaches。'32'  A popular procession is an attractive

thing; and there are so many workers who do not know what to do with

their empty day! And; again; it is so pleasant to appear in a

patriotic opera while many; and especially women and children; want

very much to see Monsieur and Madame Veto。  The people from the

surrounding suburbs are invited;'33' the homeless prowlers and beggars

will certainly join the party; while the numerous body of Parisian

loafers; the loungers that join every spectacle can be relied on; and

the curious who; even in our time; gather by hundreds along the quays;

following a dog that has chanced to tumble into the river。 All this

forms a body which; without thinking; will follow its head。



At five o'clock in the morning on the 20th of June groups are already

formed in the faubourgs St。 Antoine and St。 Marcel; consisting of


National Guards; pikemen; gunners with their cannon; persons armed

with sabers or clubs; and women and children。   A notice; indeed;

just posted on the walls; prohibits any assemblage; and the municipal

officers appear in their scarves and command or entreat the crowd not

to break the law。'34'   But; in a working…class brain; ideas are as

tenacious as they are short…lived。  People count on a civic procession

and get up early in the morning to attend to it; the cannon have been

hitched up; the maypole tree is put on wheels and all is ready for the

ceremony; everybody takes a holiday and none are disposed to return

home。  Besides; they have only good intentions。 They know the law as

well as the city officials; they are 〃armed solely to have it observed

and respected。〃 Finally; other armed petitioners have already filed

along before the National Assembly; and; as one is as good as another;

〃the law being equal for all;〃 others must be admitted as well。  In

any event they; too; will ask permission of the National Assembly and

they go expressly。 This is the last and the best argument of all; and

to prove to the city officials that they have no desire to engage in a

riot; they request them to join the procession and march along with

them。



Meanwhile; time passes。  In a crowd irritated by delay; the most

impatient; the rudest; those most inclined to commit violence; always

lead the rest。  At the head…quarters of the Val…de…Grace'35' the

pikemen seize the cannon and drag them along; the National Guards let

things take their course; Saint…Prix and Leclerc; the officers in

command; threatened with death; have nothing to do but to yield with a

protest。  There is the same state of things in the Montreuil

section; the resistance of four out of six of the battalion officers

merely served to give full power to the instigator of the

insurrection; and henceforth Santerre becomes the sole leader of the

assembled crowd。 About half…past eleven he leaves his brewery; and;

followed by cannon; the flag; and the truck which bears the poplar

tree; he places himself at the head of the procession 〃consisting of

about fifteen hundred persons including the bystanders。〃'36'  Like a

snowball; however; the troop grows as it marches along until; on

reaching the National Assembly; Santerre has behind him from seven to

eight thousand persons。'37'   Guadet and Vergniaud move that the

petitioners be introduced; their spokesman; Huguenin; in a bombastic

and threatening address; denounces the ministry; the King; the accused

at Orleans; the deputies of the 〃Right;〃 demands 〃blood;〃 and informs

the Assembly that the people 〃resolute〃 is ready to take the law in

their own hands。'38' Then; with drums beating and bands playing; the

crowd defiles for more than an hour through the chamber under the eyes

of Santerre and Saint…Huruge: here and there a few files of the

National Guard pass mingled with the throng and lost in 〃the moving

forest of pikes〃; all the rest is pure rabble; 〃hideous faces;〃'39'

says a deputy; on which poverty and loose living have left their

marks; ragamuffins; men 〃without coats;〃 in their shirt…sleeves; armed

in all sorts of ways; with chisels and shoe…knives fastened on sticks;

one with a saw on a pole ten feet long; women and children; some of

them brandishing a saber。'40'  In the middle of this procession; an

old pair of breeches 'culottes' borne on a pike with this motto:

Vivent les Sans…Culottes! and; on a pitch…fork; the heart of a calf

with this inscription: C?ur d'aristocrate; both significant emblems of

the grim humor the imaginations of rag…dealers or butchers might come

up with for a political carnival。  This; indeed; it is; they have

been drinking and many are drunk。'41'  A parade is not enough; they

want also to amuse themselves: traversing the hall they sing ?a ira

and dance in the intervals。 They at the same time show their civism by

shouting  Vive les patriotes! A bas le Veto! They fraternise; as they

pass along; with the good deputies of the 〃Left〃; they jeer those of

the 〃Right〃 and shake their fists at them; one of these; known by his

tall stature; is told that his business will be settled for him the

first opportunity。'42' Thus do they flaunt their collaborators to the

Assembly; everyone prepared and willing to act; even against the

Assembly itself。  And yet; with the exception of an iron…railing

pushed in by the crowd and an irruption on to the terrace of the

〃Feuillants;〃 no act of violence was committed。 The Paris population;

except when in a rage; is rather voluble and curious than ferocious;

besides; thus far; no one had offered any resistance。  The crowd is

now sated with shouting and parading; many of them yawn with boredom

and weariness;'43' at four o'clock they have stood on their legs for

ten or twelve hours。 The human stream issuing from the Assembly and

emptying itself into the Carrousel remains stagnant there and seems

ready to return to its usual channels。  This is not what the leaders

had intended。 Santerre; on arriving with Saint…Huruge; cries out to

his men; 〃Why didn't you enter the chateau?  You must go in  that is

what we came here for。〃'44'  A lieutenant of the Val…de…Grace gunners

shouts:  〃We have forced open the Carrousel; we must force open the

chateau too! This is the first time the Val…de…Grace gunners march 

they are not j。。。。 f。。。。  Come; follow me; my men; on to the

enemy!'45' … 〃Meanwhile; outside the gate; some of the municipal

officers selected by Pétion amongst the most revolutionary members of

the council; overcome resistance by their speeches and commands。

'After all;〃 says one of them; named Mouchet; 〃the right of petition

is sacred。〃  〃 Open the gate!〃 shout Sergent and Boucher…René;

〃nobody has a right to shut it。  Every citizen has a right to go

through it!〃'46'  A gunner raises the latch; the gate opens and the

court fills in the winkling of an eye;'47' the crowd rushes under the

archway and up the grand stairway with such impetuosity that a cannon

borne along by hand reaches the third room on the first story before

it stops。 The doors crack under the blows of axes and; in the large

hall of the Oeil de B?uf; the multitude find themselves face to face

with the King。



In such circumstances the representatives of public authority; the

directories; the municipalities; the military chiefs; and; on the 6th

of October; the King himself; have all thus far yielded; they have

either yielded or perished。 Santerre; certain of the issue;
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!