the origins of contemporary france-2-第11章
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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 return
to the Palais…Royal; and while they are seated at table in a tavern;
the people demand these two remains。 They throw them out of the
window and finish their supper; whilst the heart is marched about
below in a bouquet of white carnations。 Such are the spectacles
which this garden presents where; a year before; 〃good society in
full dress〃 came on leaving the Opera to chat; often until two
o'clock in the morning; under the mild light of the moon; listening
now to the violin of Saint…Georges; and now to the charming voice of
Garat。
VIII。
Paris in the hands of the people。
Henceforth it is clear that no one is safe: neither the new militia
nor the new authorities suffice to enforce respect for the law。
〃They did not dare;〃 says Bailly;'55' 〃oppose the people who; eight
days before this; had taken the Bastille。〃 In vain; after the
last two murders; do Bailly and Lafayette indignantly threaten to
withdraw; they are forced to remain; their protection; such as it
is; is all that is left; and; if the National Guard is unable to
prevent every murder; it prevents some of them。 People live as they
can under the constant expectation of fresh popular violence。 〃To
every impartial man;〃 says Malouet; 〃the Terror dates from the 14th
of July〃。 … On the 17th; before setting out for Paris; the King
attends communion and makes his will in anticipation of
assassination。 From the 16th to the 18th; twenty personages of high
rank; among others most of those on whose heads a price is set by
the Palais…Royal; leave France: The Count d'Artois; Marshal de
Broglie; the Princes de Condé; de Conti; de Lambesc; de Vaudemont;
the Countess de Polignac; and the Duchesses de Polignac and de
Guiche。 The day following the two murders; M。 de Crosne; M。
Doumer; M。 Sureau; the most zealous and most valuable members of the
committee on subsistence; all those appointed to make purchases and
to take care of the storehouses; conceal themselves or fly。 On the
eve of the two murders; the notaries of Paris; being menaced with a
riot; had to advance 45;000 francs which were promised to the
workmen of the Faubourg Saint…Antoine; while the public treasury;
almost empty; is drained of 30;000 livres per day to diminish the
cost of bread。 Persons and possessions; great and small; private
individuals and public functionaries; the Government itself; all is
in the hands of the mob。 〃From this moment;〃 says a deputy;'56'
〃liberty did not exist even in the National Assembly 。 。 。 France
stood dumb before thirty factious persons。 The Assembly became in
their hands a passive instrument; which they forced to serve them in
the execution of their projects。〃 They themselves do not lead;
although they seem to lead。 The great brute; which has taken the
bit in its mouth; holds on to it; and it's plunging becomes more
violent。 Not only do both spurs which maddened it; I mean the
desire for innovation and the daily scarcity of food; continue to
prick it on。 But also the political hornets which; increasing by
thousands; buzz around its ears。 And the license in which it revels
for the first time; joined to the applause lavished upon it; urges
it forward more violently each day。 The insurrection is glorified。
Not one of the assassins is sought out。 It is against the
conspiracy of Ministers that the Assembly institutes an inquiry。
Rewards are bestowed upon the conquerors of the Bastille; it is
declared that they have saved France。 All honors are awarded to the
people…to their good sense; their magnanimity; and their justice。
Adoration is paid to this new sovereign: he is publicly and
officially told; in the Assembly and by the press; that he possesses
every virtue; all rights and all powers。 If he spills blood it is
inadvertently; on provocation; and always with an infallible
instinct。 Moreover; says a deputy; 〃this blood