第739章

"I repeat it， the only way to work out the Revolution in the federalized departments， and especially in this one， is to deport all the indigenous population who are able to bear arms， scatter them through the armies and put garrisons in their places， which， again， will have to be changed from time to time." - At the other extremity of the territory， in Alsace， "republican sentiments are still in the cradle； fanaticism is extreme and incredible； the spirit of the inhabitants in general is in no respect revolutionary. . . Nothing but the revolutionary army and the venerated guillotine will cure them of their conceited aristocracy. The execution of the laws depends on striking off the heads of the guilty， for nearly all the rural municipalities are composed only of the rich， of clerks of former bailiffs， almost always devoted to the ancient régime."[78]- And in the rest of France， the population， less refractory， is not more Jacobin； here where the people appear "humble and submissive" as in Lyons and Bordeaux， the inspectors report that it is wholly owing to terror；[79] there， where opinion seems enthusiastic， as at Rochefort and Grenoble， they report that it is "artificial heat."[80] At Rochefort， zeal is maintained only "by the presence of five or six Parisian Jacobins." At Grenoble， Chépy， the political agent and president of the club， writes that "he is knocked up， worn out， and exhausted， in trying to keep up public spirit and maintain it on a level with events，" but he is "conscious that， if he should leave， all would crumble." - There are none other than Moderates at Brest， at Lille， at Dunkirk； if this or that department， the Nord， for instance， hastened to accept the "Montagnard" constitution， it is only a pretense： "an infinitely small portion of the population answered for the rest."[81] - At Belfort， where "from one thousand to twelve hundred fathers of families alone are counted，" writes the agent，[82]

"one popular club of thirty or forty members， at the most， maintains and enforces the love of liberty." - In Arras， "out of three or four hundred members composing the popular club" the weeding-out of 1793has spared but "sixty-three， one tenth of whom are absent."[83] At Toulouse， "out of about fourteen hundred members" who form the club， only three or four hundred remain after the weeding-out of 1793，[84]

"mere machines， for the most part，" and "whom ten or a dozen intriguers lead as they please." - The same state of things exists elsewhere， a dozen or two determined Jacobins-twenty-two at Troyes， twenty-one at Grenoble， ten at Bordeaux， seven at Poitiers， as many at Dijon-constitute the active staff of a large town：[85] the whole number might sit around one table. - The Jacobins， straining as they do to swell their numbers， only scatter their band； careful as they are in making their selections， they only limit their number. They remain what they always have been， a small feudality of brigands superposed on conquered France.[86] If the terror they spread around multiplies their serfs， the horror they inspire diminishes their proselytes， while their minority remains insignificant because， for their collaborators， they can have only those just like themselves.

VI.

Quality of staff thus formed. - Social state of the agents. - Their unfitness and bad conduct. - The administrators in Seine-et-Marne. -Drunkenness and feasting. - Committees and Municipalities in the C？te-d'Or. - Waste and extortions. - Traffickers in favors at Bordeaux. - Seal breakers at Lyons. - Monopolizers of national possessions. - Sales of personal property. - Embezzlements and Frauds.-A procès-verbal in the office of the mayor of Strasbourg. -Sales of real-estate. - Commissioners on declarations at Toulouse. -The administrative staff and clubs of buyers in Provence. - The Revolutionary Committee of Nantes.

But when we regard the final and last set of officials of the revolutionary government closely， in the provinces as well as at Paris， we find among them we hardly anyone who is noteworthy except in vice， dishonesty and misconduct， or， at the very least， in stupidity and grossness. - First， as is indicated by their name， they all must be， and nearly all are， sans-culottes， that is to say， men who live from day to day on their daily earnings， possessing no income from capital， confined to subordinate places， to petty trading， to manual services， lodged or encamped on the lowest steps of the social ladder， and therefore requiring pay to enable them to attend to public business；[87] it is on this account that decrees and orders allow them wages of three， five， six， ten， and even eighteen francs a day. - At Grenoble， the representatives form the municipal body and the revolutionary committee， along with two health-officers， three glovers， two farmers， one tobacco-merchant， one perfumer， one grocer， one belt-maker， one innkeeper， one joiner， one shoemaker， one mason， while the official order by which they are installed， appoints "Teyssière， licoriste，" national agent.[88] - At Troyes，[89] among the men in authority we find a confectioner， a weaver， a journeyman-weaver， a hatter， a hosier， a grocer， a carpenter， a dancing-master， and a policeman， while the mayor， Gachez， formerly a private soldier in the regiment of Vexin， was， when appointed， a school-teacher in the vicinity. - At Toulouse，[90] a man named Terrain， a paté dealer， is installed as president of the administration； the revolutionary committee is presided over by Pio， a journeyman-barber； the inspiration， "the soul of the club，" is a concierge， that of the prison. - The last and most significant trait is found at Rochefort，[91] where the president of the popular club is the executioner. - If such persons form the select body of officials in the large towns， what must they be in the small ones， in the bourgs and in the villages？ " Everywhere they are of the meanest"[92]