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the origins of contemporary france-2-第13章

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hung; when a head; stuck on a pike; was presented to me to look at;

while at。  the same moment I was told that it was that of M。 de

Launay;〃 the governor。  …  The latter; on going out; had received

the cut of a sword on his right shoulder; n reaching the Rue Saint…

Antoine 〃everybody pulled his hair out and struck him。〃 Under the

arcade of Saint…Jean he was already 〃severely wounded。〃 Around him;

some said; 〃his head ought to be struck off;〃 others; 〃let him be

hung;〃 and others; 〃he ought to be tied to a horse's tail。〃 Then; in

despair; and wishing to put an end to his torments; he cried out;

〃Kill me;〃 and; in struggling; kicked one of the men who held him in

the lower abdomen。  On the instant he is pierced with bayonets;

dragged in the gutter; and; striking his corpse; they exclaim; 〃He's

a scurvy wretch (galeux) and a monster who has betrayed us; the

nation demands his head to exhibit to the public;〃 and the man who

was kicked is asked to cut it off。    This man; an unemployed

cook; a simpleton who 〃went to the Bastille to see what was going

on;〃 thinks that as it is the general opinion; the act is patriotic;

and even believes that he 〃deserves a medal for destroying a

monster。〃 Taking a saber which is lent to him; he strikes the bare

neck; but the dull saber not doing its work; he takes a small black…

handled knife from his pocket; and; 〃as in his capacity of cook he

knows how to cut meat;〃 he finishes the operation successfully。

Then; placing the head on the end of a three…pronged pitchfork; and

accompanied by over two hundred armed men; 〃not counting the mob;〃

he marches along; and; in the Rue Saint…Honoré; he has two

inscriptions attached to the head; to indicate without mistake whose

head it is。   They grow merry over it: after filing alongside of

the Palais…Royal; the procession arrives at the Pont…Neuf; where;

before the statue of Henry IV。; they bow the head three times;

saying; 〃Salute thy master ! 〃  This is the last joke: it is to be

found in every triumph; and inside the butcher; we find the rogue。





VII。



Murders of Foulon and Berthier。



Meanwhile; at the Palais…Royal; other buffoons; who with the levity

of gossips sport with lives as freely as with words; have drawn u。

During the night between the 13th and 14th of July; a list of

proscriptions; copies of which are hawked about。  Care is taken to

address one of them to each of the persons designated; the Comte

d'Artois; Marshal de Broglie; the Prince de Lambesc; Baron de

Bezenval; MM。 de Breteuil; Foulon; Berthier; Maury; d'Espréménil;

Lefèvre d'Amécourt; and others besides。'48'  A reward is promised to

whoever will bring their heads to the Café de Caveau。  Here are

names for the unchained multitude; all that now is necessary is that

some band should encounter a man who is denounced; he will go as far

as the lamppost at the street corner; but not beyond it。  …

Throughout the day of the 14th; this improvised tribunal holds a

permanent session; and follows up its decisions with its actions。

M。 de Flesselles; provost of the merchants and president of the

electors at the H?tel…de…Ville; having shown himself somewhat

lukewarm;'49' the Palais…Royal declares him a traitor and sends him

off to be hung。  On the way a young man fells him with a pistol…

shot; others fall upon his body; while his head; borne upon a pike;

goes to join that of M。 de Launay。   Equally deadly accusations

and of equally speedy execution float in the air and from every

direction。  〃On the slightest pretext;〃 says an elector; 〃they

denounced to us those whom they thought opposed to the Revolution;

which already signified the same as enemies of the State。  Without

any investigation; there was only talk of the seizure of their

persons; the ruin of their homes; and the razing of their houses。

One young man exclaimed: 'Follow me at once; let us start off at

once to Bezenval's!'〃   Their brains are so frightened; and their

minds so distrustful; that at every step in the streets 〃one's name

has to be given; one's profession declared; one's residence; and

one's intentions 。  。  。。  One can neither enter nor leave Paris

without being suspected of treason。〃 The Prince de Montbarrey;

advocate of the new ideas; and his wife; are stopped in their

carriage at the barrier; and are on the point of being cut to

pieces。  A deputy of the nobles; on his way to the National

Assembly; is seized in his cab and conducted to the Place de Grève;

the corpse of M。 de Launay is shown to him; and he is told that he

is to be treated in the same fashion。  …  Every life hangs by a

thread; and; on the following days; when the King had sent away his

troops; dismissed his Ministers; recalled Necker; and granted

everything; the danger remains just as great。  The multitude;

abandoned to the revolutionaries and to itself; continues the same

bloody antics; while the municipal chiefs'50' whom it has elected;

Bailly; Mayor of Paris; and Lafayette; commandant of the National

Guard; are obliged to use cunning; to implore; to throw themselves

between the multitude and the unfortunates whom they wish to

destroy。



On the 15th of July; in the night; a woman disguised as a man is

arrested in the court of the H?tel…de…Ville; and so maltreated that

she faints away; Bailly; in order to save her; is obliged to feign

anger against her and have her sent immediately to prison。  From the

14th to the 22nd of July; Lafayette; at the risk of his life; saves

with his own hand seventeen persons in different quarters。'51'  On

the 22nd of July; upon the denunciations which multiply around Paris

like trains of gunpowder; two administrators of high rank; M。

Foulon; Councillor of State; and M。 Berthier; his son…in…law; are

arrested; one near Fontainebleau; and the other near Compiègne。  M。

Foulon; a strict master;'52' but intelligent and useful; expended

sixty thousand francs the previous winter on his estate in giving

employment to the poor。  M。 Berthier; an industrious and capable

man; had officially surveyed and valued Ile…de…France; to equalize

the taxes; and had reduced the overcharged quotas first one…eighth

and then a quarter。  But both of these gentlemen have arranged the

details of the camp against which Paris has risen; both are publicly

proscribed for eight days previously by the Palais…Royal; and; with

a people frightened by disorder; exasperated by hunger; and

stupefied by suspicion; an accused person is a guilty one。   With

regard to Foulon; as with Réveillon; a story is made up; coined in

the same mint; a sort of currency for popular circulation; and which

the people itself manufactures by casting into one tragic expression

the sum of its sufferings and rankling memories:'53' 〃He said that

we were worth no more than his horses; and that if we had no bread

we had only to eat grass。〃  The old man of seventy…four is brought

to Paris; with a truss of hay on his head; a collar of thistles

around his neck; and his mouth stuffed with hay。  In vain does the

electoral bureau order his imprisonment that he may be saved; the

crowd yells out: 〃Sentenced and hung!〃 and; authoritatively;

appoints the judges。  In vain does Lafayette insist and entreat

three times that the judgment be regularly rendered; and that the

accused be sent to the Abbaye。  A new wave of people comes up; and

one man; 〃well dressed;〃 cries out: 〃What is the need of a sentence

for a man who has been condemned for thirty years?〃 Foulon is

carried off; dragged across the square; and hung to the lamp post。

The cord breaks twice; and twice he falls upon the pavement。  Re…

hung with a fresh cord and then cut down; his head is severed from

his body and placed on the end of a pike。'54'  Meanwhile; Berthier;

sent away from Compiègne by the municipality; afraid to keep him in

his prison where he was constantly menaced; arrives in a cabriolet

under escort。  The people carry placards around him filled with

opprobrious epithets; in changing horses they threw hard black bread

into the carriage; exclaiming; 〃There; wretch; see the bread you

made us eat!〃 On reaching the church of Saint…Merry; a fearful storm

of insults burst forth against him。  He is called a monopolist;

〃although he had never bought or sold a grain of wheat。〃 In the eyes

of the multitude; who has to explain the evil as caused by some

evil…doer; he is the author of the famine。  Conducted to the Abbaye;

his escort is dispersed and he is pushed over to the lamp post。

Then; seeing that all is lost; he snatches a gun from one of his

murderers and bravely defends himself。  A soldier of the 〃Royal

Croats〃 gives him a cut with his saber across the stomach; and

another tears out his heart。  As the cook; who had cut off the head

of M。 de Launay; happens to be on the spot; they hand him the heart

to carry while the soldiers take the head; and both go to the H?tel…

de…Ville to show their trophies to M。 de Lafayette。  On their retur
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