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undergo he opposes nothing but silence; sometimes a simple; frank;
good…hearted expression;'16' some kindly; touching complaining; which
seems like a suppressed moan。'17' But dogmatic obstinacy and
impatient ambition are willfully deaf to the most sorrowful strains!
His sincerity passes for a new false…hood。 Vergniaud; Brissot; Torné;
Condorcet; in the tribune; charge him with treachery; demand from the
Assembly the right of suspending him;'18' and give the signal to their
Jacobin auxiliaries。 At the invitation of the parent club; the
provincial branches bestir themselves; while all other instruments of
agitation belonging to the revolutionary machine are likewise put in
motion; gatherings on the public squares; homicidal announcements
on the walls; incendiary resolutions in the clubs; shouting in the
tribunes; insulting addresses and seditious deputations at the bar of
the National Assembly。'19' After the working of this system for a
month; the Girondists regard the King as subdued; and; on the 26th of
July; Guadet; and then Brissot; in the tribune; make their last
advances to him; and issue the final summons。'20' A profound
delusion! He refuses; the same as on the 20th of June: 〃Girondist
ministers; Never!〃
Since he bars one of the two doors; they will pass out at the other;
and; if the Girondists cannot rule through him; they will rule without
him。 Pétion; in the name of the Commune; appears personally and
proposes a new plan; demanding the dethronement。 〃This important
measure once passed;〃'21' he says; 〃the confidence of the nation in
the actual dynasty being very doubtful; we demand that a body of
ministers; jointly responsible; appointed by the National Assembly;
but; as the constitutional law provides; outside of itself; elected by
the open vote of freemen; be provisionally entrusted with the
executive power。〃 Through this open vote the suffrage will be easily
controlled。 This is but one more decree extorted; like so many others;
the majority for a long time having been subject to the same pressure
as the King。 〃If you refuse to respond to our wishes;〃 as a placard of
the 23rd of June had already informed them; 〃our hands are lifted; and
we shall strike all traitors wherever they can be found; even amongst
yourselves。〃'22' 〃Court favorites;〃 says a petition of August 6;
〃have seats in your midst。 Let their inviolability perish if the
national will must always tamely submit to that lethal power!〃 In
the Assembly the yells from the galleries are frightful; the voices of
those who speak against dethronement are overpowered; so great are the
hooting; the speakers are driven out of the tribune。'23' Sometimes the
〃Right〃 abandons the discussion and leaves the chamber。 The insolence
of the galleries goes so far that frequently almost the entire
Assembly murmurs while they applaud; the majority; in short; loudly
expresses anger at its bondage。'24' Let it be careful! In the
tribunes and at the approaches to the edifice; stand the Federates;
men who have a tight grip。 They will force it to vote the decisive
measure; the accusation of Lafayette; the decree under which the armed
champion of the King and the Constitution must fall。 The Girondists;
to make sure of it; exact a call of the house; in this way the names
are announced and printed; thus designating to the populace the
opponents of the measure; so that none of them are sure of getting to
their homes safe and sound。 Lafayette; however; a liberal; a
democrat; and a royalist; as devoted to the Revolution as to the Law;
is just the man; who; through his limited mental grasp; his
disconnected political conceptions; and the nobleness of his
contradictory sentiments; best represents the present opinion of the
Assembly; as well as that of France。'25' Moreover; his popularity;
his courage; and his army are the last refuge。 The majority feels
that in giving him up they themselves are given up; and; by a vote of
400 to 224; it acquits him。 On this side; again; the strategy of
the Girondists is found erroneous。 Power slips away from them the
second time。 Neither the King nor the Assembly have consented to
restore it to them; while they can no longer leave it suspended in the
air; or defer it until a better opportunity; and keep their Jacobin
acolytes waiting。 The feeble leash restraining the revolutionary dog
breaks in their hands; the dog is free and in the street
III。
The Girondins have worked for the benefit of the Jacobins。 The
armed force sent away or disorganized。 The Federates summoned。
Brest and Marseilles send men。 Public sessions of administrative
bodies。 Permanence of administrative bodies and of the sections。 …
… Effect of these two measures。 The central bureau of the H?tel…
de…ville。 Origin and formation of the revolutionary Commune。
Never was better work done for another。 Every measure relied on by
them for getting power back; serves only to place it in the hands of
the mob。 On the one hand; through a series of legislative acts and
municipal ordinances; they have set aside or disbanded the army; alone
capable of repressing or intimidating it。 On the 29th of May they
dismissed the king's guard。 On the 15th of July they ordered away from
Paris all regular troops。 On the 16th of July;'26' they select 〃 for
the formation of a body of infantry…gendarmerie; the former French…
guardsmen who served in the Revolution about the epoch of the 1st day
of June; 1789; the officers; under…officers; gunners; and soldiers who
gathered around the flag of liberty after the 12th of July of that
year;〃 that is to say; a body of recognized insurgents and deserters。
On the 6th of July; in all towns of 50;000 souls and over; they strike
down the National Guard by discharging its staff; 〃an aristocratic
corporation;〃 says a petition;'27' 〃a sort of modern feudality
composed of traitors; who seem to have formed a plan for directing
public opinion as they please。〃 Early in August;'28' they strike into
the heart of the National Guard by suppressing special companies;
grenadiers; and chasseurs; recruited amongst well…to…do…people; the
genuine elite; stripped of its uniform; reduced to equality; lost in
the mass; and now; moreover; finding its 'ranks degraded by a mixture
of interlopers; federates; and men armed with pikes。 Finally; to
complete the pell…mell; they order that the palace guard be hereafter
composed daily of citizens taken from the sixty battalions;'29' so
that the chiefs may no longer know their men nor the men their chiefs;
so that no one may place confidence in his chief; in his subordinate;
in his neighbor; or in himself; so that all the stones of the human
dike may be loosened beforehand; and the barrier crumble at the first
onslaught。 On the other hand; they have taken care to provide the
insurrection with a fighting army and an advanced guard。 By another
series of legislative acts and municipal ordinances; they authorize
the assemblage of the Federates at Paris; they allow them pay and
military lodgings;'30' they allow them to organize under a central
committee sitting at the Jacobin club; and to take their instructions
from that club。 Of these new…comers; two…thirds; genuine soldiers and
true patriots; set out for the camp at Soissons and for the frontier;
one…third of them; however; remain at Paris;'31' perhaps 2;000; the
rioters and politicians; who; feasted; entertained; indoctrinated; and
each lodged with a Jacobin; become more Jacobin than their hosts; and
incorporate themselves with the revolutionary battalions; so as to
serve the good cause with their guns。'32' Two squads; late comers;
remain separate; and are only the more formidable; both are dispatched
by the towns on the sea…cost in which; four months before this;
〃twenty…one capital acts of insurrection had occurred; all unpunished;
and several under sentence of the maritime jury。〃'33' The first;
numbering 300 men; comes from Brest;
* where the municipality; as infatuated as those of Marseilles and
Avignon; engages in armed expeditions against its neighbors; where
popular murder is tolerated;
* where M。 de la Jaille is nearly killed ;
* where the head of M。 de la Patry is borne on a pike;
* where veteran rioters compose the crews of the fleet;
* where 〃workers paid by the State; clerks; masters; non…commission
officers; converted into agitators; political stump…speakers; movers;
and critics of the administration;〃 ask only to be given roles to
perform on a more conspicuous stage。
The second troop; summoned from Marseilles by the Girondins; Rebecqui;
and Barbaroux;'34' comprises 516 men; intrepid; ferocious adventurers;
from everywhere; either Marseilles or abroad; Savoyards; Italians;
Spaniards; driven out of their country; almost all of the vilest
class; or gaining a livelihood by infamous pursuits; 〃hit…men and
their henchmen of evil haunts;〃 used t