第453章

There are centers of riot in all quarters， "as many robberies as there are quarter-hours， and no robbers punished； no police； overcrowded courts； more delinquents than there are prisons to hold them； nearly all the private mansions closed； the annual consumption in the faubourg St. Germain alone diminished by 250 millions； 20，000 thieves， with branded backs， idling away time in houses of bad repute， at the theaters， in the Palais-Royal， at the National Assembly， and in the coffee-houses； thousands of beggars infesting the streets， crossways， and public squares. Everywhere an image of the deepest poverty which is not calling for one's pity as it is accompanied with insolence.

Swarms of tattered vendors are offering all sorts of paper-money， issued by anybody that chose to put it in circulation， cut up into bits， sold， given， and coming back in rags， fouler than the miserable creatures who deal in it."[8] Out of 700，000 inhabitants there are 100，000 of the poor， of which 60，000 have flocked in from the departments；[9] among them are 30，000 needy artisans from the national workshops， discharged and sent home in the preceding month of June， but who， returning three months later， are again swallowed up in the great sink of vagabondage， hurling their floating mass against the crazy edifice of public authority and furnishing the forces of sedition. -- At Paris， and in the provinces， disobedience exists throughout the hierarchy. Directories countermand ministerial orders.

Here， municipalities brave the commands of their Directory； there， communities order around their mayor with a drawn sword. Elsewhere， soldiers and sailors put their officers under arrest. The accused insult the judge on the bench and force him to cancel his verdict；mobs tax or plunder wheat in the market； National Guards prevent its distribution， or seize it in the storehouses. There is no security for property， lives， or consciences. The majority of Frenchmen are deprived of their right to worship in their own faith， and of voting at the elections. There is no safety， day or night， for the élite of the nation， for ecclesiastics and the gentry， for army and navy officers， for rich merchants and large landed proprietors； no protection in the courts， no income from public funds； denunciations abound， expulsions， banishments to the interior， attacks on private houses； there is no right of free assemblage， even to enforce the law under the orders of legal authorities.[10] Opposed to this， and in contrast with it， is the privilege and immunity of a sect formed into a political corporation， "which extends its filiations over the whole kingdom， and even abroad； which has its own treasury， its committees， and its by-laws； which rules the government， which judges justice，"[11] and which， from the capital to the hamlet， usurps or directs the administration. Liberty， equality， and the majesty of the law exist nowhere， except in words. Of the three thousand decrees given birth to by the Constituent Assembly， the most lauded， those the best set off by a philosophic baptism， form a mass of stillborn abortions of which France is the burying-ground. That which really subsists underneath the false appearances of right， proclaimed and sworn to over and over again， is， on the one hand， an oppression of the upper and cultivated classes， from which all the rights of man are withdrawn， and， on the other hand， the tyranny of the fanatical and brutal rabble which assumes to itself all the rights of sovereignty.

II.

The Assembly hostile to the oppressed and favoring oppressors. --Decrees against the nobles and clergy. -- Amnesty for deserters， convicts， and bandits. -- Anarchical and leveling maxims.

In vain do the honest men of the Assembly protest against this scandal and this overthrow. The Assembly， guided and forced by the Jacobins， will only amend the law to damn the oppressed and to authorize their oppressors. -- Without making any distinction between armed assemblages at Coblentz， which it had a right to punish， and refugees， three times as numerous， old men， women and children， so many indifferent and inoffensive people， not merely nobles but plebeians，[12] who left the soil only to escape popular outrages， it confiscates the property of all emigrants and orders this to be sold.[13] Through the new restriction of the passport， those who remain are tied to their domiciles， their freedom of movement， even in the interior， being subject to the decision of each Jacobin municipality.[14] It completes their ruin by depriving them without indemnity of all income from their real estate， of all the seignorial rights which the Constituent Assembly had declared to be legitimate.[15] It abolishes， as far as it can， their history and their past， by burning in the public depots their genealogical titles.[16] -- To all unsworn ecclesiastics， two-thirds of the French clergy， it withholds bread， the small pension allowed them for food， which is the ransom of their confiscated possessions；[17] it declares them "suspected of revolt against the law and of bad intentions against the country；" it subjects them to special surveillance； it authorizes their expulsion without trial by local rulers in case of disturbances； it decrees that in such cases they shall be banished.[18] It suppresses "all secular congregations of men and women ecclesiastic or laic， even those wholly devoted to hospital service will take away from 600，000 children the means of learning to read and write."[19] It lays injunctions on their dress； it places episcopal palaces in the market for sale， also the buildings still occupied by monks and nuns.[20] It welcomes with rounds of applause a married priest who introduces his wife to the Assembly. -- Not only is the Assembly destructive but it is insulting； the authors of each decree passed by it add to its thunderbolt the rattling hail of their own abuse and slander.