第736章

The administrative staff in the provinces. - Jacobinism less in the departmental towns than in Paris. - Less in the country than in the towns. - The Revolutionary Committees in the small communes. -Municipal bodies lukewarm in the villages. - Jacobins too numerous in bourgs and small towns. - Unreliable or hampered as agents when belonging to the administrative bodies of large or moderate-sized towns. - Deficiency of locally recruited staff.

Had the laws of March 21 and September 5， 1793， been strictly enforced， there would， instead of 21，500 have been 45，000 of these revolutionary committees. They would have been composed of 540，000members costing the public 591 millions per year.[56] This would have made the regular administrative body， already twice as numerous and twice as costly as under the ancient régime， an extra corps expending， "simply in surveillance，" one hundred millions more than the entire taxation of the country， the greatness of which had excited the people against the ancient régime. - Happily， the poisonous and monstrous fungal growth was only able to achieve half its intended size； neither the Jacobin seed nor the bad atmosphere it required to make it spread could be found anywhere. "The people of the provinces，" says a contemporary，[57] "are not up to the level of the Revolution； it opposes old habits and customs and the resistance of inertia to innovations which it does not understand." "The plowman is an estimable man，" writes a missionary representative， " but he is generally a poor patriot."[58] Actually， there is on the one hand， less of human sediment in the departmental towns than in the great Parisian sink， and， on the other hand， the rural population， preserved from intellectual miasmas， better resists social epidemics than the urban population. Less infested with vicious adventurers， less fruitful in disordered intellects， the provinces supply a corps of inquisitors and terrorists with greater difficulty.

And first， in the thousands of communes which have less than five hundred inhabitants，[59] in many other villages of greater population， but scattered[60] and purely agricultural， especially in those in which patois is spoken， there is a scarcity of suitable subjects for a revolutionary committee. People make use of their hands too much；horny hands do not write every day； nobody desires to take up a pen， especially to keep a register that may be preserved and some day or other prove compromising. It is already a difficult matter to recruit a municipal council， to find a mayor， the two additional municipal officers， and the national agent which the law requires； in the small communes， these are the only agents of the revolutionary government， and I fancy that， in most cases， their Jacobin fervor is moderate.

Municipal officer， national agent or mayor， the real peasant of that day belongs to no party， neither royalist nor republican；[61] his ideas are rare， too transient and too sluggish， to enable him to form a political opinion. All he comprehends of the Revolution is that which nettles him， or that which he sees every day around him， with his own eyes； to him '93 and '94 are and will remain "the time of bad paper (money) and great fright，" and nothing more.[62] Patient in his habits.， he submits to the new as he did to the ancient régime， bearing the load put on his shoulders， and stooping down for fear of a heavier one. He is often mayor or national agent in spite of himself；he has been obliged to take the place and would gladly throw the burden off. For， as times go， it is onerous； if he executes decrees and orders， he is certain to make enemies； if he does not execute them， he is sure to be imprisoned； he had better remain， or go back home "Gros-Jean，" as he was before. But he has no choice； the appointment being once made and confirmed， he cannot decline， nor resign， under penalty of being a "suspect；" he must be the hammer in order not to become the anvil. Whether he is a wine-grower， miller， ploughman or quarry-man， he acts reluctantly， "submitting a petition for resignation，" as soon as the Terror diminishes， on the ground that "he writes badly，" that "he knows nothing whatever about law and is unable to enforce it；" that "he has to support himself with his own hands；" that "he has a family to provide for， and is obliged to drive his own cart" or vehicle； in short， entreating that he "may be relieved of his charge."[63] - These involuntary recruits are evidently nothing more than common laborers； if they drag along the revolutionary cart they do it like their horses， because they are pressed into the service.