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the origins of contemporary france-4-第41章

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everyone;〃'25' he says; 〃the patriotic tax…contribution of one…quarter

of all income will produce; at the very least; 4;860 millions; and

perhaps twice that sum。〃 With this sum M。 Necker may raise five

hundred thousand men; which he calculates on for the subjugation of

France。  … Since the taking of the Bastille; 〃the municipality's waste

alone amount to two hundred millions。  The sums pocketed by Bailly are

estimated at more than two millions; what 'Mottié' (Lafayette) has

taken for the past two years is incalculable。〃'26' … On the 15th of

November; 1791; the gathering of emigrés comprises 〃at least 120;000

former gentlemen and drilled partisans and soldiers; not counting the

forces of the German princes about to join them。〃'27' … Consequently;

as with his brethren in Bicêtre; (a lunatic asylum); he raves

incessantly on the horrible and the foul: the procession of terrible

or disgusting phantoms has begun。'28'  According to him; the scholars

who do not choose to admire him are fools; charlatans and plagiarists。

Laplace and Monge are even 〃automatons;〃 so many calculating machines;

Lavoisier; 〃reputed father of every discovery causing a sensation in

the world; has not an idea of his own;〃 he steals from others without

comprehending them; and 〃changes his system as he changes his shoes。〃

Fourcroy; his disciple and horn…blower; is of still thinner stuff。

All are scamps: 〃I could cite a hundred instances of dishonesty by the

Academicians of Paris; a hundred breaches of trust;〃 twelve thousand

francs were entrusted to them for the purpose of ascertaining how to

direct balloons; and 〃they divided it among themselves; squandering it

at the Rapée; the opera and in brothels。〃'29' … In the political

world; where debates are battles; it is still worse。  Marat's

publication 〃The Friend of the people〃 has merely rascals for

adversaries。  Praise of Lafayette's courage and disinterestedness; how

absurd If he went to America it was because he was jilted; 〃cast off

by a Messalina;〃 he maintained a park of artillery there as 〃powder…

monkeys look after ammunition…wagons; 〃 these are his only exploits;

besides; he is a thief。  Bailly is also a thief; and Mabuet a 〃clown。〃

Necker has conceived the 〃horrible project of starving and poisoning

the people; he has drawn on himself for all eternity the execration of

Frenchmen and the detestation of mankind。〃 … What is the Constituent

Assembly but a set of 〃low; rampant; mean; stupid fellows?〃 …

〃Infamous legislators; vile scoundrels; monsters athirst for gold and

blood; you traffic with the monarch; with our fortunes; with our

rights; with our liberties; with our lives! 〃 … 〃 The second

legislative corps is no less rotten than the first one。〃 … In the

Convention; Roland; 〃the officious Gilles and the forger Pasquin; is

the infamous head of the monopolizers。〃 〃 Isnard is a juggler; Buzot a

Tartuffe; Vergniaud a police spy。〃'30' … When a madman sees everywhere

around him; on the floor; on the walls; on the ceiling; toads;

scorpions; spiders; swarms of crawling; loathsome vermin; he thinks

only of crushing them; and the disease enters on its last stage: after

the ambitious delirium; the mania for persecution and the settled

nightmare; comes the homicidal mania。



With Marat; this broke out at the very beginning of the Revolution。

The disease was innate; he was inoculated with it beforehand。  He had

contracted it in good earnest; on principle; never was there a plainer

case of deliberate insanity。  … On the one hand; having derived the

rights of man from physical necessities; he concluded; 〃that society

owes to those among its members who have no property; and whose labor

scarcely suffices for their support; an assured subsistence; the

wherewithal to feed; lodge and clothe oneself suitably; provision for

attendance in sickness and when old age comes on; and for bringing up

children。  Those who wallow in wealth must (then) supply the wants of

those who lack the necessaries of life。〃 Otherwise; 〃the honest

citizen whom society abandons to poverty and despair; reverts back to

the state of nature and the right of forcibly claiming advantages

which were only alienated by him to procure greater ones。  All

authority which is opposed to this is tyrannical; and the judge who

condemns a man to death (through it) is simply a cowardly

assassin。〃'31'



Thus do the innumerable riots which the dearth excites; find

justification; and; as the dearth is permanent; the daily riot is

legitimate。  … On the other hand; having laid down the principle of

popular sovereignty he deduces from this; 〃the sacred right of

constituents to dismiss their delegates; 〃 to seize them by the throat

if they prevaricate; to keep them in the right path by fear; and wring

their necks should they attempt to vote wrong or govern badly。  Now;

they are always subject to this temptation。



 〃If there is one eternal truth of which it is important to convince

man; it is that the mortal enemy of the people; the most to be dreaded

by them; is the Government。〃 〃Any minister who remains more than 2

days in office; once the ministry is able to plot against the country

is 'suspect。' 〃'32' … Bestir yourselves; then; ye unfortunates in town

and country; workmen without work; street stragglers without fuel or

shelter sleeping under bridges; prowlers along the highways; beggars;

tattered vagabonds; cripples and tramps; and seize your faithless

representatives! … On July 14th and October 5th and 6th; 〃the people

had the right not only to execute some of the conspirators in military

fashion; but to immolate them all; to put to the sword the entire body

of royal satellites leagued together for our destruction; the whole

herd of traitors to the country; of every condition and degree。〃'33'

Never go to the Assembly; 〃without filling your pockets with stones

and throwing them at the impudent scoundrels who preach monarchical

maxims;〃 〃I recommend to you no other precaution but that of telling

their neighbors to look out。〃'34' … 〃We do not demand the resignation

of the ministers…we demand their heads。  We demand the heads of all

the cabinet officials in the Assembly; your mayor's; your general's;

the heads of most of the staff…officers; of most of the municipal

council; of the principal agents of the executive power in the

kingdom。  〃 … Of what use are half…way measures; like the sack of the

hotel de Castries?'35'



 〃Avenge yourselves wisely! Death! Death! is the sole penalty for

traitors raging to destroy you It is the only one that strikes terror

into them。  Follow the example of your implacable enemies! Keep always

armed; so that they may not escape through the delays of the law! Stab

them on the spot or blow their brains out! 〃 … 〃 Twenty…four millions

of men shout in unison: If the black; gangrened; archi…gangrened

officials dare pass a bill reducing and reorganizing the army;

citizens; then you build eight hundred scaffolds in the Tuileries

garden and hang on them every traitor to his country … that infamous

Riquetti; Comte de Mirabeau; at the head of them … and; at the same

time; erect in the middle of the fountain basin a big pile of logs to

roast the ministers and their tools!〃'36' … Could 〃the Friend of the

People〃 rally around him two thousand men determined 〃to save the

country; he would go and tear the heart out of that infernal Mottié in

the very midst of his battalions of slaves; he would go and burn the

monarch and his imps in his palace; impale the deputies on their

benches; and bury them beneath the flaming ruins of their den。〃'37'…

On the first cannon shot being fired on the frontier;



 〃it is indispensable that the people should close the gates of the

towns and unhesitatingly make way with every priest; public

functionary and anti…revolutionary; known instigators and their

accomplices。〃 … 〃 It would be wise for the people's magistrates to

keep constantly manufacturing large quantities of strong; sharp;

short…bladed; double…edged knives; so as to arm each citizen known as

a friend of his country。  Now; the art of fighting with these terrible

weapons consists in this: Use the left arm as buckler; and cover it up

to the arm…pit with a sleeve quilted with some woollen stuff; filled

with rags and hair; and then rush on the enemy; the right hand

wielding the knife。〃'38' … Let us use these knives as soon as

possible; for 〃what means are now remaining for us to put an end to

the problems which overwhelm us? I repeat it; no other but executions

by the people。〃'39' … The Throne is at last down; but 〃be careful not

to give way to false pity! 。  。  。  。  No quarter! I advise you to

decimate the anti…revolutionary members of the municipality; of the

justices of the peace; of the members of the departments and of the

National Assembly。〃'40' … At the outset; a few lives would have

sufficed: 〃five hundred heads ought to have fallen when the Bastille

was taken; and all
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