《the origins of contemporary france-4》

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livres; and orders a new trial in another form。  Next; after

Vendémiaire 13; a representative arrives at Blois and his first care

is to set the butchers free。  … About thirty knaves ruled the town

during the reign of Terror; all strangers; save four or five; 〃all

more or less befouled with crime。〃 At first; the principal

slaughterers:



* Hézine; Gidouin; and their accomplices of the neighboring districts;



*  Simon and Bonneau the ex…mayor of Blois;



* Bézard; a former soldier; convicted of peculation and of robbing

cellars which he had put under sequestration;



* Berger; an ex…monk; and then dragoon who; with pistol in hand;

forced the superior of his old convent to give up the funds of the

community;




* Giot; formerly a chief…butler of Monsieur (the King's brother);

next; a judge in the September massacres and then a quartermaster in

the Pyrenees army and a pillager in Spain; then secretary to the Melun

tribunal of which he stole the cash;  along with other nomads and

outlaws of the same stamp; most of them sots and roisterers; one an

ex…schoolmaster; another an ex…ladies hair…dresser; another an ex…

chair…bearer; all of them a vile lot; chosen by the government for its

agents; and; under new titles; resuming their old positions。  At the

head of the armed force is Gen。 Bonnard; who is accompanied by a

prostitute and who passes his time in orgies; pilfering wherever he

can; and so shameless in his thievery as to be condemned; six months

later; to three months in irons。'36'  On arriving at Blois; he

organizes 〃a paid guard; composed of all the most abject Jacobins。〃 …

Elsewhere; as here;'37' it is the full staff of the reign of Terror;

the petty potentates dethroned after Thermidor; the political

Bohemians restored to their functions。







IV。   Public Opinon。



Resistance of public opinion。  … Elections; year IV。  at Paris and in

the provinces。  … The Directory threatened by ultra Jacobins。  …

Forced amelioration of the Jacobin administration。



So; that after Vendémiaire 13; it looks as if the Jacobin band had

made the conquest of France a second time。  This; however not yet so;

for; if it has recovered its authority; it has not yet recovered the

dictatorship。  … In vain do Barras and Tallien; Dubois…Crancé; Merlin

de Douai and Marie Chénier; Delmas; Louvet; Siéyès and their corrupt

gang; the habitués of power; the despotic; unscrupulous theorists; try

to postpone indefinitely the opening of the legislative bodies; to

annul the elections; to purge the Convention; to restore for their own

advantage that total concentration of powers which; under the title of

revolutionary government; has converted France into a pachalic'38' in

the hands of the old Committee of Public Safety。'39' But the

Convention has become frightened for its own safety; at the last

moment the plot is exposed; and the blow frustrated。'40' The

Constitution; decreed; is put in operation; and a system of the law

has replaced the system of arbitrariness。  The Jacobin invasion;

through that alone; is checked and then arrested。  The nation is in a

condition to defend itself and does defend itself。  It gradually

regains lost ground; even at the center。  … At Paris; the electoral

body;'41' which is obliged to take two…thirds of its deputies from the

Convention; takes none of the regicide deputation representing Paris。

All who are chosen; Lanjuinais; Larivière; Fermon; Saladin; Boissy

d'Anglas; wished to save the King; and nearly all were proscribed

after the 31st May。  The departments show the same spirit。  The

members of the Convention for whom the provinces show a decided

preference are the most prominent of the anti…Jacobins: Thibaudeau is

re…elected by 32 electoral colleges; Pelet de la Lozére by 71; Boissy

d'Anglas by 72; Lanjuinais by 73。  As to the 250 of the new third;

these are liberals of 1789 or moderates of 1791;'42' most of them

honorable men and many of them well…informed and of real merit;

jurisconsults; officers; administrators; members of the Constitutional

Assembly or Feuillants in the Legislative Assembly; Mathieu Dumas;

Vaublanc; Dupont de Nemours; Siméon; Barbé…Marbois and Tron?on…

Ducoudray。  The capital; especially; chose Dambray; former general…

advocate to the Paris parliament; and Pastoret; former minister of

Louis XVI。。  Versailles sends the two celebrated lawyers who defended

the King before the Convention; Tronchet and De Séze。  … Now; previous

to the 13th Vendémiaire; two hundred members of the Convention had

already heartily sided with the Parisian electors'43' against the

terrorists。  This creates a strong opposition minority inside the

Legislative Corps which function protected by the Constitution。

Hidden behind it and behind them; the élite and the plurality of

Frenchmen wait for better days。  The Directory is obliged to act

cautiously with this large group; so well supported by public opinion;

and; accordingly; not to govern à la Turk。  So they respect; if not

the spirit; at least the letter of the law; and not to exercise a too

barefaced influence on local elections。  Hence most of the local

elections remain free; so that the nation;



* in spite of the decree excluding every relation of an émigré and

every notorious opponent of the government from present and future

offices;



* in spite of fear; lassitude and disgust;



* in spite of the small number of votes; the rarity of candidates and

the frequent refusal of the elected to serve;'44'



substantially exercises its privilege of electing its administrators

and judges according to its preferences。  Consequently; the very large

majority of new administrators in the departments; cantons and

municipalities; and the very large majority of new civil and criminal

judges and justices of the peace are; like the new third of the

Convention; highly esteemed or estimable men。  They are untainted with

excesses; still preserving their hopes of 1789; but preserved from the

outset against; or soon cured of; the revolutionary fever。  Every

decree of spoliation or persecution loses some of its force in their

hands。  Supported by the steady and manifest will of their present

constituents; we see them resisting the commissioners of the

Directory; at least protesting against their exactions and brutality;

gaining time in favor of the proscribed; dulling the point of; or

turning aside; the Jacobin sword。



Again; on the other hand; the government which holds this sword dare

not; like the Committee of Public Safety; thrust it in up to the hilt。

If wielded as before it might slip from its grasp。  The furious in its

own camp are ready to wrest it away and turn the blade against it。  It

must defend itself against the reviving clubs; against Babeuf and his

accomplices; against the desperadoes who; through a nocturnal attempt;

try to stir up the Grenelle camp: in Paris; there are four or five

thousand now ready to undertake a 〃civic St。  Bartholomew;〃 with the

old Conventionists who could not get themselves elected; at their

head; … Drouet; Amar; Vadier; Ricord; Laignelot; Chaudieu; Huguet;

Cusset; Javogues。  Alongside of them; the friends of Chalier;

Robespierre's and Marat's followers; and the disciples of Saint…Just;

Bertrand de Lyon; Buonarotti; Antonelle; Rossignol and Babeuf。  Behind

them; the bandits of the street; those 〃who gutted houses during the

Revolution;〃 peculators or Septembriseurs out of employment; in short;

the relics of the terrorist gang or of the revolutionary army。  Their

plan; true to their precedents; character and principles; consists not

only in despatching 〃the rascals who keep coaches; the moneyed men and

monopolisers;〃 all the deputies and functionaries who do not resign at

the first summons; but also; and especially; in killing 〃the General

of the Interior; his staff; the seven ministers and the five 'cocked…

hats' (panachés) of the Luxembourg;〃 that is to say; the five

Directors themselves。  Such allies are troublesome。  Undoubtedly; the

government; which considers them as its forlorn hope; and that it may

have need of them in a crisis; spares them as much as possible。'45'

It allows Drouet to escape; and lets the trial of the Babouvists drag

along; only two of them being guillotined; Babeuf and Darthé; most of

the others are acquitted or escape。  Nevertheless; for its own

salvation; it is led to separate from the fiercest Jacobins and draw

near to peaceable citizens。Through this internal discord of the

ruling faction; honest people hold on the offices they occupy on the

elections of the year IV。。  No decree comes to deprive them of their

legal arms; while; in the Legislative Corps; as in the administrations

and the tribunals; they count on carrying new positions in the

elections of the year V。





V。   Actual aim of Jacobin Activities: Power and Wealth。



Elections of year V。  … Character and sentiments of the elected。
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