第548章

Madame Roland rests her finger on Lyons， so familiar to her two years before； she becomes excited against "the quadruple aristocracy of the town， petty nobles， priests， heavy merchants， and limbs of the law； in short， those formerly known as honest folks， according to the insolence of the ancient régime."[87] She may now find an aristocracy of another kind there， that of the gutter. Following the example of Paris， the Lyons clubbists， led by Charlier， have arranged for a massacre on a grand scale of the evil-disposed or suspected Another ringleader， Dodieu， has drawn up a list by name of two hundred aristocrats to he hung； on the 9th of September， women with pikes， the maniacs of the suburbs， bands of "the unknown，" collected by the central club，[88] undertake to clean out the prisons. If the butchery is not equal to that of Paris， it is because the National Guard， more energetic， interferes just at the moment when a Parisian emissary， Saint-Charles， reads off a list of names in the prison of Roanne already taken from the prison register. But， in other places， it arrives too late. -- Eight officers of the Royal-Pologne regiment， in garrison at Auch， some of them having been in the service twenty and thirty years， had been compelled to resign owing to the insubordination of their men； but， at the express desire of the Minister of War， they had patriotically remained at their posts， and， in twenty days of laborious marching， they had led their regiment from Auch to Lyons. Three days after their arrival， seized at night in their beds， conducted to Pierre-Encize， pelted with stones on the way， kept in secret confinement， and with frequent and prolonged examinations， all this merely put their services and their innocence in stronger light. They are taken from the prison by the Jacobin mob；of the eight， seven are killed in the street， and four priests along with them， while the exhibition of their work by the murderers is still more brazen than at Paris. They parade the heads of the dead all night on the ends of their pikes； they carry them to the Place des Terreaux into the coffee-houses； they set them on the tables and derisively offer them beer； they then light torches， enter the Célestins theater， and， marching on the stage with their trophies， blending real and mock tragedy. -- The epilogue is both grotesque and horrible. Roland， at the bottom of the file， finds a letter from his colleague， Danton，[89] who begs him to release the officers， murdered three months ago， "for，" says Danton， "if no charge can be found against them， it would be crying injustice to keep them longer in irons." Roland's clerk makes a minute on Danton's letter： "This matter disposed of." At this I imagine the couple looking at each other in silence. Madame Roland may remember that， at the beginning of the Revolution， she herself demanded heads， especially "two illustrious heads，" and hoped "that the National Assembly would formally try them， or that some generous Decius"[90] would devote himself to "striking them down."[91] Her prayers are granted. The trial is about to begin in the regular way， and the Decius she has invoked is everywhere found throughout France.

The south-east corner remains， that Provence， described to him by Barbaroux as the last retreat of philosophy and freedom. Roland follows the Rh？ne down with his finger， and on both banks he finds， as he passes along， the usual characteristic misdeeds. - On the right bank， in Cantal and in the Gard， "the defenders of the country" fill their pockets at the expense of taxpayers designated by themselves；[92] this forced subscription is called "a voluntary gift.""Poor laborers at Nismes were taxed 50 francs， others 200， 300， 900， 1，000， under penalty of devastation and of bad treatment." -- In the country near Tarascon the volunteers， returning to the old-fashioned ways of bandits， brandish the saber over the mother's head， threaten to smother the aunt in her bed， hold the child over a deep well， and thus extort from the farmer or proprietor even as much as 4，000 or 5，000 francs. Generally the farmer keeps silent， for， in case of complaint， he is sure to have his buildings burnt and his olive trees cut down.[93] - On the left bank， in the Isère， Lieutenant-colonel Spendeler， seized by the populace of Tullins， was murdered， and then hung by his feet in a tree on the roadside；[94]-- in the Dr？me， the volunteers of Gard forced the prison at Montélimart and hacked an innocent person to death with a saber；[95] in Vaucluse， the pillaging is general and constant. With all public offices in their hands， and they alone admitted into the National Guard， the old brigands of Avignon， with the municipality for their accomplice， sweep the town and raid about the country； in town， 450，000 francs of "voluntary gifts" are handed over to the Glacière murderers by the friends and relatives of the dead； -- in the country， ransoms of 1，000 and 10，000francs are imposed on rich cultivators， to say nothing of the orgies of conquest and the pleasures of despots， money forcibly obtained in honor of innumerable liberty trees， banquets at a cost of five or six hundred francs， paid for by extorted funds， reveling of every sort and unrestrained havoc on the invaded farms；[96] in short， the abuse drunken force amusing itself with brutality and proud of its violence.