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reaches the Assembly; lays down its arms at the King's order; and
allows itself to be shut up in the Feuillants church。 The others are
annihilated on crossing the garden; or cut down on the Place Louis XV。
by the mounted gendarmerie。 No quarter is given。 The warfare is that
of a mob; not civilized war; but primitive war; that of barbarians。 In
the abandoned palace into which the insurgents entered five minutes
after the departure of the garrison;'93' they kill the wounded; the
two Swiss surgeons attending to them;'94' the Swiss who had not fired
a gun; and who; in the balcony on the side of the garden; 〃cast off
their cartridge…boxes; sabers; coats; and hats; and shout: 'Friends;
we are with you; we are Frenchmen; we belong to the nation!'〃'95'
They kill the Swiss; armed or unarmed; who remain at their posts in
the apartments。 They kill the Swiss gate…keepers in their boxes。 They
kill everybody in the kitchens; from the head cook down to the pot
boys。'96' The women barely escape。 Madame Campan; on her knees;
seized by the back; sees an uplifted saber about to fall on her; when
a voice from the foot of the staircase calls out: 〃What are you doing
there? The women are not to be killed!〃 〃Get up; you hussy; the nation
forgives you! 〃 To make up for this the nation helps itself and
indulges itself to its heart's content in the palace which now belongs
to it。 Some honest persons do; indeed; carry money and valuables to
the National Assembly; but others pillage and destroy all that they
can。'97' They shatter mirrors; break furniture to pieces; and throw
clocks out of the window; they shout the Marseilles hymn; which one of
the National Guards accompanies on a harpsichord;'98' and descend to
the cellars; where they gorge themselves。 〃For more than a
fortnight;〃 says an eye witness;'99' 〃one walked on fragments of
bottles。〃 In the garden; especially; 〃it might be said that they had
tried to pave the walks with broken glass。〃 Porters are seen seated
on the throne in the coronation robes; a trollop occupies the Queen's
bed; it is a carnival in which unbridled base and cruel instincts find
plenty of good forage and abundant litter。 Runaways come back after
the victory and stab the dead with their pikes。 Nicely dressed
prostitutes fooling around with naked corpses。'100' And; as the
destroyers enjoy their work; they are not disposed to be disturbed in
it。 In the courts of the Carrousel; where 1800 feet of building are
burning; the firemen try four times to extinguish the fire; 〃they are
shot at; and threatened with being pitched into the flames;〃'101'
while petitioners appear at the bar of the Assembly; and announce in a
threatening tone that the Tuileries are blazing; and shall blaze until
the dethronement becomes a law。
The poor Assembly; become Girondist through its late mutilation;
strives in vain to arrest the downhill course of things; and maintain;
as it has just sworn to do; 〃the constituted authorities〃;'102' it
strives; at least; to put Louis XVI。 in the Luxembourg palace; to
appoint a tutor for the Dauphin; to keep the ministers temporarily in
office; and to save all prisoners; and those who walk the streets。
Equally captive; and nearly as prostrate as the King himself; the
Assembly merely serves as a recording office for the popular will;
that very morning furnishing evidence of the value which the armed
commonalty attaches to its decrees。 That morning murders were
committed at its door; in contempt of its safe conduct; at eight
o'clock Suleau and three others; wrested from their guards; are cut
down under its windows。 In the afternoon; from sixty to eighty of the
unarmed Swiss still remaining in the church of the Feuillants are
taken out to be sent to the H?tel…de…ville; and massacred on the way
at the Place de Grève。 Another detachment; conducted to the section of
the Roule; is likewise disposed of in the same way。'103' Carle; at
the head of the gendarmerie; is called out of the Assembly and
assassinated on the Place Vend?me; and his head is carried about on a
pike。 The founder of the old monarchical club; M。 de Clermont…
Tonnerre; withdrawn from public life for two years past; and quietly
passing along the streets; is recognized; dragged through the gutter
and cut to pieces。 After such warnings (murder and pillage) the
Assembly can only obey; and; as usual; conceal its submission beneath
sonorous words。 If the dictatorial committee; self…imposed at the
H?tel…de…ville; still condescends to keep it alive; it is owing to a
new investiture;'104' and by declaring to it that it must not meddle
with its doings now or in the future。 Let it confine itself to its
function; that of rendering decrees made by the faction。 Accordingly;
like fruit falling from a tree vigorously shaken; these decrees rattle
down; one after another; into the hands that await them;'105'
1。 the suspension of the King;
2。 the convoking of a national convention;
3。 electors and the eligible exempted from all property
qualifications;
4。 an indemnity for displaced electors;
5。 the term of Assemblies left to the decision of the electors;'106'
6。 the removal and arrest of the late ministers;
7。 the re…appointment of Servan; Clavières and Roland;
8。 Danton as Minister of Justice;
9。 the recognition of the usurping Commune;
10。 Santerre confirmed in his new rank;
11。 the municipalities empowered to look after general safety;
12。 the arrest of suspicious persons confided to all well…disposed
citizens;'107'
13。 domiciliary visits prescribed for the discovery of arms and
ammunition;'108'
14。 all the justices of Paris to be re…elected by those within their
jurisdiction;
15。 all officers of the gendarmerie subject to re…election by their
soldiers;'109'
16。 thirty sous per diem for the Marseilles troops from the day of
their arrival;
17。 a court…martial against the Swiss;
18。 a tribunal for the dispatch of justice against the vanquished of
August 10; and a quantity of other decrees of a still more important
bearing:
19。 the suspension of the commissioners appointed to enforce the
execution of the law in civil and criminal courts;'110'
20。 the release of all persons accused or condemned for military
insubordination; for press offenses and pillaging of grain;'111'
21。 the partition of communal possessions;'112'
22。 the confiscation and sale of property belonging to émigrés;'113'
23。 the relegation of their fathers; mothers; wives and children into
the interior;
24。 the banishment or transportation of unsworn ecclesiastics;'114'
25。 the establishment of easy divorce at two months' notice and on
demand of one of the parties;'115'
in short; every measure is taken which tend to disturb property; break
up the family; persecute conscience; suspend the law; pervert justice;
and rehabilitate crime。 laws are promulgated to deliver:
* the judicial system;
* the full control of the nation;
* the selection of the members of the future omnipotent Assembly;
* in short; the entire government;
to an autocratic; violent minority; which; having risked all to grab
the dictatorship; dares all to keep it。'116'
VIII。
State of Paris in the Interregnum。 The mass of the population。
Subaltern Jacobins。 The Jacobin leaders。
Let us stop a moment to contemplate this great city and its new
rulers。 From afar; Paris seems a club of 700;000 fanatics;
vociferating and deliberating on the public squares; near by; it is
nothing of the sort。 The slime; on rising from the bottom; has become
the surface; and given its color to the stream; but the human stream
flows in its ordinary channel; and; under this turbid exterior;
remains about the same as it was before。 It is a city of people like
ourselves; governed; busy; and fond of amusement。 To the great
majority; even in revolutionary times; private life; too complex and
absorbing; leaves but an insignificant corner for public affairs。
Through routine and through necessity; manufacturing; display of
wares; selling; purchasing; keeping accounts; trades; and professions;
continue as usual。 The clerk goes to his office; the workman to his
shop; the artisan to his loft; the merchant to his warehouse; the
professional to his cabinet; and the official to his duty;'117' they
are devoted; first of all; to their pursuits; to their daily bread; to
the discharge of their obligations; to their own advancement; to their
families; and to their pleasures; to provide for these things the day
is not too long。 Politics only briefly distract them; and then rather
out of curiosity; like a play one applauds or hisses in his seat
without stepping upon the stage。 〃The declaration that the country
is in danger;〃 says many eye witnesses;'118' 〃has made no change