第825章

Contrast this with this the small， powerful， triumphant group of Jacobins which， having understood how to place themselves in the good places， is determined to stay there at any cost. - About ten o'clock in the morning，[152] Cambacérès， president of the Committee of Public Safety， is seen entering its hall in the Pavillon de l'Egalité. He is a large， cautious and shrewd personage who will， later on， become arch-chancellor of the Empire and famous for his epicurean inventions and other peculiar tastes revived from antiquity. Scarcely seated， he orders an ample pat-au-feu to be placed on the chimney hearth and， on the table， "fine wine and fine white bread； three articles，" says a guest， " not to be found elsewhere in all Paris." Between twelve and two o'clock， his colleagues enter the room in turn， take a plate of soup and a slice of meat， swallow some wine， and then proceed， each to his bureau， to receive his coterie， giving this one an office and compelling another to pay up， looking all the time after his own special interests. At this moment， especially， towards the close of the Convention， there are no public interests， all interests being private and personal. - In the mean time， the deputy in charge of provisions， Roux de la Haute Marne， an unfrocked Benedictine， formerly a terrorist in the provinces， subsequently the protégé and employee of Fouché， with whom he is to be associated in the police department， keeps the throng of women in check which daily resorts to the Tuileries to beg for bread. He is well adapted for this duty， being tall， chubby， ornamental， and with vigorous lungs. He has taken his office in the right place， in the attic of the palace， at the top of long， narrow and steep stairs， so that the line of women stretching up between the two walls， piled one above the other， necessarily becomes immovable. With the exception of the two or three at the front， no one has her hands free to grab the haranguer by the throat and close the oratorical stop-cock. He can spout his tirades accordingly with impunity， and for an indefinite time. On one occasion， his sonorous jabber rattles away uninterruptedly from the top to the bottom of the staircase， from nine o'clock in the morning to five o'clock in the afternoon. Under such a voluble shower， his hearers become weary and end by going home. - About nine or ten o'clock in the evening， the Committee of Public Safety reassembles， but not to discuss business.

Danton and La Révellière preach in vain； each is too egoistic and too worn-out； they let the rein slacken on Cambacérès. As to him， he would rather keep quiet and drag the cart no longer； but there are two things necessary which he must provide for on pain of death. - "It will not do，" says he in plaintive tones， "to keep on printing the assignats at night which we want for the next day. If that lasts， ma foi， we run the risk of being strung up at a lantern. . .Go and find Hourier-Eloi， as he has charge of the finances， and tell him that we entreat him to keep us a-going for a fortnight or eighteen days longer， when the executive Directory will come in and do what it pleases." " But food - shall we have enough for to-morrow？

"Aha， I don't know - I'll send for our colleague Roux， who will post us on that point." Roux enters， the official spokesman， the fat， jovial tamer of the popular dog. "Well， Roux， how do we stand about supplying Paris with food？" "The supply， citizen President， is just as abundant as ever， two ounces per head， - at least for most of the sections." "Go to the devil with your abundant supply！ You'll have our heads off！ " All remain silent， for this possible dénouement sets them to thinking. Then， one of them exclaims： "President， are there any refreshments provided for us？ After working so hard for so many days we need something to strengthen us ！" "Why， yes ； there is a good calf's-tongue， a large turbot， a large piece of pie and some other things." They cheer up， begin to eat and drink champagne， and indulge in drolleries. About eleven or twelve o'clock the members of other Committees come in； signatures are affixed to their various decrees， on trust， without reading them over. They， in their turn， sit down at the table and the conclave of sovereign bellies digests without giving itself further trouble about the millions of stomachs that are empty.

_______________________________________________________________________-Notes：

[1] On the other more complicated functions， such as the maintenance of roads， canals， harbors， public buildings， lighting， cleanliness， hygiene， superior secondary and primary education， hospitals， and other asylums， highway security， the suppression of robbery and kindred crimes， the destruction of wolves， etc.， see Rocquam， "Etat de la France au 18 Brumaire，" and the "Statistiques des Departements，"published by the prefets， from years IX. to XIII. - These branches of the service were almost entirely overthrown； the reader will see the practical results of their suppression in the documents referred to.

[2] "St. John de Crêvec？ur，" by Robert de Crêvec？ur， p.216. (Letter of Mdlle. de Gouves， July， 1800.) "We are negotiating for the payment of， at least， the arrearages since 1789 on the Arras property." (M.

de Gouves and his sisters had not emigrated， and yet they had had no income from their property for ten years.)[3] Cf. "The Revolution，" vol. I.， 254-261， 311-352； vol. II.， 234-272.

[4] Cf. "The Revolution，" II.， 273-276.

[5] Buchez et Roux， XXII.， 178. (Speech by Robespierre in the Convention， December 2， 1792.) - Mallet-Dupan， "Mémoires." I.， 400.