第727章

THE RULERS. (continued).

I. The Central Government Administration.

The administrative body at Paris. - Composition of the group out of which it was recruited. - Deterioration of this group. - Weeding-out of the Section Assemblies. - Weeding out of the popular clubs. -Pressure of the government.

To provide these local sovereigns with the subordinate lieutenants and agents which they require， we have the local Jacobin population， and we have seen the composition of the recruits，[1]

* the distressed and the perverted of every class and degree， especially the lowest， * the castaways， * envious and resentful subordinates， * small shopkeepers in debt， * the migrating， high-living workers， * barflies， * vagrants， * men of the gutters， * street-walkers，- in short， every species of "anti-social vermin，" male and female，[2] including a few honest crack-brains into which the fashionable theory had freely found its way； the rest， and by far the largest number， are veritable beasts of prey， speculating on the established order of things and adopting the revolutionary faith only because it provides food for their appetites. - In Paris， they number five or six thousand， and， after Thermidor， there is about the same number， the same appetites rallying them around the same dogma，[3]

levelers and terrorists， "some because they are poor， others because they have broken off the habit of working at their trade，" furious with "the scoundrels who own a coach house， against the rich and the hoarders of objects of prime necessity." Many of them "having soiled themselves during the Revolution， ready to do it again provided the rich rascals， monopolists and merchants can all be killed，" all "frequenters of popular clubs who think themselves philosophers， although most of them are unable to read，" at the head of them the remnant of the most notorious political bandits，* the famous post-master， Drouet， who， in the tribune at the Convention， declared himself a "brigand，"[4]

* Javogues， the robber of Montbrison and the "Nero of Ain，"* the drunkard Casset， formerly a silk-worker and later the pasha of Thionville， * Bertrand， the friend of Charlier， the ex-mayor and executioner of Lyons， * Darthé， ex-secretary of Lebon and the executioner at Arras， * Rossignol and nine other Septembriseurs of the Abbaye and the Carmelites， and， finally， the great apostle of despotic communism， * Babeuf， who， sentenced to twenty years in irons for the falsification of public contracts， and as needy as he is vicious， rambles about Paris airing his disappointed ambitions and empty pockets along with the swaggering crew who， if not striving to reach the throne by a new massacre，[5] tramp through the streets slipshod， for lack of money "to redeem a pair of boots at the shoemakers，" or to sell some snuff-box their last resource， for a morning dram.[6]

In this class we see the governing rabble fully and distinctly.

Separated from its forced adherents and the official robots who serve it as they would any other power， it stands out pure and unalloyed by any neutral influx； we recognize here the permanent residue， the deep， settled slime of the social sewer. It is to this sink of vice and ignorance that the revolutionary government betakes itself for its staff-officers and its administrative bodies.

Nowhere else could they be found. For the daily task imposed upon them， and which must be done by them， is robbery and murder； excepting the pure fanatics， who are few in number， only brutes and blackguards have the aptitudes and tastes for such business. In Paris， as in the provinces， it is from the clubs or popular associations in which they congregate， that they are sought for. - Each section of Paris contains one of these clubs， in all forty-eight， rallied around the central club in the Rue St. Honoré， forty-eight district alliances of professional rioters and brawlers， the rebels and blackguards of the social army， all the men and women incapable of devoting themselves to a regular life and useful labor，[7] especially those who， on the 31st of May and 2nd of June， had aided the Paris Commune and the "Mountain"in violating the Convention. They recognize each other by this sign that， "each would be hung in case of a counter-revolution，"[8] laying it down "as an incontestable fact that， should a single aristocrat be spared， all of them would mount the scaffold."[9] They are naturally wary and they stick together： in their clique "everything is done on the basis of good fellowship；"[10] no one is admitted except on the condition of having proved his qualifications "on the 10th of August and 31st of May."[11] And， as they have made their way into the Commune and into the revolutionary committees behind victorious leaders， they are able， through the certificates of civism which these arbitrarily grant or refuse， to exclude， not only from political life but， again， from civil life， whoever is not of their party.