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the origins of contemporary france-3-第8章

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condemn and execute him? No thinking person can ask such a question。

The nation is everything in itself; its power is that which the whole

human kind would have if but one nation; one single government

governed the globe。 Who would dare then dispute the power of humanity?

It is this indisputable power that a nation has; to hang even an

innocent man; felt by the ancient Greeks; which led them to exile

Aristoteles and put Phocion to death。 'Oh truth; unrecognized by our

contemporaries; what evil has arisen through forgetting it!'〃



'23' Moniteur; XI。 46。 Speech by Isnard in the Assembly; Jan。 5; 1792。

〃The people are now conscious of their dignity。 They know; according

to the constitution; that every Frenchman's motto is: 'Live free; the

equal of all; and one of the common sovereignty。'〃 Guillon de

Montléon; I。 445。 Speech by Chalier; in the Lyons Central Club; March

21; 1793。 〃Know that you are kings; and more than kings。 Do you not

feel sovereignty circulating in your veins?〃



'24' Moniteur; V。 136。 (Celebration of the Federation; July 14; 1790。)



'25' Albert Babeau; 〃Histoire de Troyes pendant la Révolution;〃 I。 436

(April 10; 1790)。



'26' Mortimer…Ternaux; 〃Histoire de la Terreur;〃 I。 353。 (Pétion's own

narrative of this journey。) This pert blockhead cannot even spell: he

writes aselle for aisselle; etc。  He is convinced that Madame

Elizabeth; the king's sister; wants to seduce him; and that she makes

advances to him: 〃If we had been alone; I believe that she would have

fallen into my arms; and let the impulses of nature have their way。〃

He makes a display of virtue however; and becomes only the more

supercilious as he talks with the king; the young dauphin; and the

ladies he is fetching back。



'27' The 〃Mémoires de Madame Roland〃 is a masterpiece of that conceit

supposed to be so careflilly concealed as not to be visible and never

off its stilts。 〃I am beautiful; I am affectionate; I am sensitive; I

inspire love; I reciprocate; I remain virtuous; my mind is superior;

and my courage indomitable。 I am philosopher; statesman; and writer;

worthy of the highest success;〃 is constantly in her mind; and always

perceptible in her phraseology。 Real modesty never shows itself。 On

the contrary; many indecorous things are said and done by her from

bravado; and to set herself above her sex。 Cf。 the 〃Memoirs of Mirs。

Hutchinson;〃 which present a great contrast。 Madame Roland wrote: 〃I

see no part in society which suits me but that of Providence。〃 The

same presumption shines out in others; with less refined pretensions。

The deputy Rouyer addresses the following letter; found among the

papers of the iron wardrobe; to the king; 〃I have compared; examined;

and foreseen everything。 All I ask to carry out my noble purposes; is

that direction of forces; which the law confers on you。 I am aware of

and brave the danger; weakness defers to this; while genius overcomes

it I have turned my attention to all the courts of Europe; and am sure

that I can force peace on them。〃  Robert; an obscure pamphleteer;

asks Dumouriez to make him ambassador to Constantinople; while Louvet;

the author of 〃Faublas;〃 declares in his memoirs that liberty perished

in 1792; because he was not appointed Minister of Justice。



'28' Moniteur; p。 189。 Speech by Collot d'Herbois; on the mitraillades

at Lyons。 〃We too; possess sensibility! The Jacobins have every

virtue; they are compassionate; humane; and generous。 These virtues;

however; are reserved for patriots; who are their brethren; but never

for aristocrats。〃  Meillan; 〃Mémoires;〃 p。 4。  〃Robespierre was one

day eulogizing a man named Desfieux; well known for his lack of

integrity; and whom he finally sacrificed。 'But; I said to him; your

man Desfieux is known to be a rascal。' … 'No matter;' he replied; 'he

is a good patriot。' … 'But he is a fraudulent bankrupt。'…'He is a good

patriot。'  'But he is a thief。' …'He is a good patriot。' I could not

get more than these three words out of him。〃







CHAPTER II。



I。



Formation of the party。  Its recruits  These are rare in the upper

class and amongst the masses。  They are numerous in the low

bourgeois class and in the upper stratum of the people。  The

position and education which enroll a man in the party。



PERSONALITIES like these are found in all classes of society; no

situation or position in life protects one from wild Utopia or frantic

ambition。 We find among the Jacobins a Barras and a Chateauneuf…

Randon; two nobles of the oldest families; Condorcet; a marquis;

mathematician; philosopher and member of two renowned academies;

Gobel; bishop of Lydda and suffragan to the bishop of Bale; Hérault de

Séchellles; a protégé of the Queen's and attorney…general to the Paris

parliament; Lepelletier de St。 Fargeau; chief…justice and one of the

richest land…owners in France; Charles de Hesse; major…general; born

in the royal family; and; last of all; a prince of the blood and

fourth personage in the realm; the Duke of Orleans。  But; with the

exception of these rare deserters; neither the hereditary aristocracy

nor the upper magistracy; nor the highest of the middle class; none of

the land…owners who live on their estates; or the leaders of

industrial and commercial enterprises; no one belonging to the

administration; none of those; in general; who are or deserve to  be

considered social authorities; furnish the party with recruits。 All

have too much at stake in  the political establishment; shattered as

it is; to wish its entire demolition。 Their political experience;

brief as it is; enables them to see at once that a habitable house is

not built by merely tracing a plan of it on paper according the

theorems of school geometry。  On the other hand; among the ordinary

rural population the ideology finds; unless it can be changed into a

legend; no listeners。  Share croppers; small holders and farmers

looking after their own plots of ground; peasants and craftsmen who

work too hard to think and whose minds never range beyond a village

horizon; busy only with that which brings in their daily bread; find

abstract doctrines unintelligible; should the dogmas of the new

catechism arrest their attention the same thing happens as with the

old one; they do not understand them; that mental faculty by which an

abstraction is reached is not yet formed in them。 On being taken to a

political club they fall asleep; they open their eyes only when some

one announces that tithes and feudal privileges are to be restored;

they can be depended on for nothing more than a brawl and a jacquerie;

later on; when their grain comes to be taxed or is taken; they prove

as unruly under the republic as under the monarchy。



The believers in this theory come from other quarters; from the two

extremes of the lower stratum of the middle class and the upper

stratum of the low class。 Again; in these two contiguous groups; which

merge into each other; those must be left out who; absorbed in their

daily occupations or professions; have no time or thought to give to

public matters; who have reached a fair position in the social

hierarchy and are not disposed to run risks; almost all of them well…

established; steady…going; mature; married folks who have sown their

wild oats and whom experience in life has rendered distrustful of

themselves and of theories。 Overweening conceit is; most of the time;

only average in the average human being; so speculative ideas will

with most people only obtain a loose; transient and feeble hold。

Moreover; in this society which; for many centuries consists of people

accustomed to being ruled; the hereditary spirit is bourgeois that is

to say; used to discipline; fond of order; peaceable and even timid。

 There remains a minority; a very small one;'1' innovating and

restless。 This consisted; on the one hand; of people who were

discontented with their calling or profession; because they were of

secondary or subaltern rank in it。'2' Some were debutantes not fully

employed and others aspirants for careers not yet entered upon。 Then;

on the other hand; there were the men of unstable character and all

those who were uprooted by the immense upheaval of things: in the

Church; through the suppression of convents and through schism; in the

judiciary; in the administration; in the financial departments; in the

army; and in various private and public careers; through the

reorganization of institutions; through the novelty of fresh resources

and occupations; and through the disturbance caused by the changed

relationships of patrons and clients。 Many who; in ordinary times;

would otherwise remain quiet; become in this way nomadic and

extravagant in politics。 Among the foremost of these are found those

who; through a classical education; can take in an abstract

proposition and deduce its consequences; but who; for lack of special

preparation for it; and confined to the narrow circl
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