第476章

"In China， every mandarin against whom public opinion is excited is dismissed from his place； he is regarded as an ignorant instructor， who is incapable of gaining the love of children for their parent."[10] "Archives Nationales，" letter of the commissioners， May 25， 1791.

"It is evident， on recording the proceedings at Aix and Marseilles， that only the accusers and the judges were guilty." -- Petition of the prisoners， Feb. 1. "The municipality， in despair of our innocence and not knowing how to justify its conduct， is trying to buy up witnesses.

They say openly that it is better to sacrifice one innocent man than disgrace a whole body. Such ale the speeches of the sieur Rebecqui， leading man， and of Madame Elliou， wife of a municipal officer， in the house of the sieur Rousset."[11] Letter of M. Lieutaud to the commissioners， May 11 and 18， 1791.

"If I have not fallen under the assassin's dagger I owe my preservation to your strict orders and to the good behavior of the national guard and the regular troops . . . At the hearing of the case today， the prosecutor on the part of the commune ventured to threaten the court with popular opinion and its avenging fury. . . The people， stirred up against us， and brought there， shouted， 'Let us seize Lieutaud and take him there by force and if he will not go up the steps， we will cut his head off！' The hall leading to the courtroom and the stairways were filled with barefooted vagabonds."-- Letter of Cabrol， commander of the national guard， and of the municipal officers to the commissioners， May 21. That picket-guard of fifty men on the great square， is it not rather the cause of a riot than the means of preventing one？ A requisition to send four national guards inside the prison， to remain there day and night， is it not insulting citizen soldiers， whose function it is to see that the laws are maintained， and not to do jail duty？"[12] Letter of M. d'Olivier， lieutenant-colonel of the Ernest regiment， May 28. -- Extracts from the papers of the secretary to the municipality， May 28 (Barbaroux is the clerk). - Letter of the commissions， May 29[13] Letter of the commissioners， June 29.

[14] Letter of M. Laroque-Dourdan， naval commander at Marseilles， Oct.

18， 1791. (in relation to the departure of the Swiss regiment).

[15] The elections are held on the 13th of November， 1791. Martin， the former mayor， showed timidity， and Mouraille was elected in his place.

[16] "Archives Nationales." F 7 3197. Letter (printed) of the Directory to the Minister of War， Jan. 4， 1792. -- Letter of the municipality of Marseilles to the Directory， Jan. 4， and the Directory's reply. - Barbaroux， "Mémoires，" 19. -- Here we see the part played by Barbaroux at Marseilles. Guadet played a similar part at Bordeaux. This early political period is essential for a comprehension of the Girondists.

[17] "Archives Nationales." F7， 3195. Official report of the municipality of Aix (on the events of Feb. 26). March 1st. -- Letter of M. Villardy， president of the directory， dated Avignon， March 10.

(He barely escaped assassination at Aix.) -- Ibid.， F7，3196. Report of the district administrators of Arles， Feb. 28 (according to private letters from Aix and Marseilles). - Barbaroux， "Mémoires" (collection of Berville and Barrière)， 106. (Narrative of M. Watteville， major in the Ernest regiment. Ibid.， 108 (Report from M. de Barbentane， commanding general). These two documents show the liberalism， want of vigor， and the usual indecision of the superior authorities， especially the military authorities - Mercure de France， March 24， 1792 (letters from Aix).

[18] "Archives Nationales，" F7， 3196. Dispatches of the new Directory to the Minister， March 24 and April 4， 1792. "Since the departure of the Directory， our administrative assembly is composed of only six members， notwithstanding our repeated summons to every member of the Council. . . Only three members of the Council consent to act with us；the reason is a lack of pecuniary means." The new Directory， consequently， passes a resolution to indemnify members of the Council.

This， indeed， is contrary to a royal proclamation of Jan. 15； but "this proclamation was wrested from the King， on account of his firm faith. You must be aware that， in a free nation， the influence of a citizen on his government must not be estimated by his fortune； such a principle is false， and destructive of equality of rights. We trust that the King will consent to revoke his proclamation."[19] Ib.， Letters of Borelly， vice-president of the Directory， to the Minister， April 10， 17， and 30， 1792. -- Letter from another administrator， March 10. "They absolutely want us to march against Arles， and to force us to give the order. - Ibid.， F7， 3195. Letters from Aix， March 12 and 16， addressed to M. Verdet.