第299章

In fact， illegal persecution precedes legal prosecution ； the privileged person who， by the late decrees， seems merely to be brought within the pale of the common law， is， in fact； driven outside of it. The King， disarmed， is no longer able to protect him； the partial Assembly repels his complaints ； the committee of inquiry regards him as a culprit when he is simply oppressed. His income， his property， his repose， his freedom， his home， his life， that of his wife and of his children， are in the hands of an administration elected by the crowd， directed by clubs， and threatened or violated by the mob. He is debarred from the elections. The newspapers denounce him. He undergoes domiciliary visits. In hundreds of places his chateau is sacked； the assassins and incendiaries who depart from it with their hands full and steeped in blood are not prosecuted， or are shielded by an amnesty：[31] it is established by innumerable precedents that he may be run down with impunity. To prevent him from defending himself， companies of the National Guard come and seize his arms： he must become a prey， and an easy prey， like game kept back in its enclosure for an approaching hunt. -- In vain he abstains from provocation and reduces himself to the standing of a private individual. In vain does he patiently endure numerous provocations and resist only extreme violence. I have read many hundreds of investigations in the original manuscripts， and almost always I have admired the humanity of the nobles， their forbearance， their horror of bloodshed. Not only are a great many of them men of courage and all men of honor， but also， educated in the philosophy of the eighteenth century， they are mild， sensitive， and deeds of violence are repugnant to them. Military officers especially are exemplary， their great defect being their weakness： rather than fire on the crowd they surrender the forts under their command， and allow themselves to be insulted and stoned by the people. For two years，[32] "exposed to a thousand outrages， to defamation， to daily peril， persecuted by clubs and misguided soldiers，" disobeyed， menaced， put under arrest by their own men， they remain at their post to prevent the ranks from being broken up； "with stoic perseverance they put up with contempt of their authority that they may preserve its semblance， their courage is of that rarest kind which consists in remaining at the post of duty， impassive beneath both affronts and blows. -- Through a wrong of the greatest magnitude， an entire class which have no share in the favors of the Court， and which suffered as many injuries as any of the common plebeians， is confounded with the titled parasites who besiege the antechambers of Versailles. Twenty-five thousand families， "the nursery of the army and the fleet，" the elite of the agricultural proprietors， also many gentlemen who look after and turn to account the little estates on which they live， and "who have not left their homes a year in their lives，" become the pariahs of their canton.[33] After 1789， they begin to feel that their position is no longer tenable.[34]

" It is absolutely in opposition to the rights of man，" says another letter from Franche-Comté， "to find one's self in perpetual fear of having one's throat cut by scoundrels who are daily confounding liberty with license.""I never knew anything so wearying，" says another letter from Champagne， "as this anxiety about property and security. Never was there a better reason for it. A moment suffices to let loose an intractable population which thinks that it may do what it pleases， and which is carefully sustained in that error""After the sacrifices that we have made，" says a letter from Burgundy， "we could not expect such treatment. I thought that our property would be the last violated because the people owed us some return for staying at home in the country to expend among them the few resources that remain to us. . . (Now)， I beg the Assembly to repeal the decree on emigration； otherwise it may be said that people are purposely kept here to be assassinated. . . In case it should refuse to do us this justice， I should be quite as willing to have it decree an act of proscription against us， for we should not then be lulled to sleep by the protection of laws which are doubtless very wise， but which are not respected anywhere."" It is not our privileges，" say several others， "it is not our nobility that we regret； but how is the persecution to which we are abandoned to be supported？ There is no safety for us， for our property， or for our families. Wretches who are our debtors， the small farmers who rob us of our incomes， daily threaten us with the torch and the lamp post. We do not enjoy one hour of repose； not a night that we are certain to pass through without trouble. Our persons are given up to the vilest outrages， our dwellings to an inquisition of armed tyrants； we are robbed of our rentals with impunity， and our property is openly attacked. We， being now the only people to pay imposts， are unfairly taxed； in various places our entire incomes would not. suffice to pay the quota which crushes us. We can make no complaint without incurring the risk of being massacred. The tribunals and the administrative bodies， the tools of the multitude， daily sacrifice us to its attacks. Even the Government seems afraid of compromising itself by claiming the protection of the laws on our behalf. It is sufficient to be pointed out as an aristocrat to be without any security. If our peasants， in general， have shown more honesty， consideration， and attachment toward us， every bourgeois of importance， the wild members of clubs， the vilest of men who sully a uniform， consider themselves privileged to insult us， and these wretches go unpunished and are protected！ Even our religion is not free. One of our number has had his house sacked for having shown hospitality to an old curéof eighty belonging to his parish who refused to take the oath.