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representative of the French people; but 〃a high functionary;〃 that is

to say; a mere employee; fortunate enough to sit in an equally good

chair alongside of the president of the Assembly; whom they style

〃president of the nation。〃'1' The Assembly; in their eyes; is sole

sovereign; 〃while the other powers;〃 says Condorcet; 〃can act

legitimately only when specially authorized by a positive law;'2' the

Assembly may do anything that is not formally prohibited to it by the

law;〃 'in other words; interpret the constitution; then change it;

take it to pieces; and do away with it。 Consequently; in defiance of

the constitution; it takes upon itself the initiation of war; and; on

rare occasions; on the King using his veto; it sets this aside; or

allows it to be set aside。'3'  In vain he rejects; as he has a legal

right to do; the decrees which sanction the persecution of unsworn

ecclesiastics; which confiscate the property of the émigrés; and which

establish a camp around Paris。 At the suggestion of the Jacobin

deputies;'4' the unsworn ecclesiastics are interned; expelled; or

imprisoned by the municipalities and Directories; the estates and

mansions of the émigrés and of their relatives are abandoned without

resistance to the jacqueries;  the camp around Paris is replaced by

the summoning of the Federates to Paris。  In short; the monarch's

sanction is eluded or dispensed with。  As to his ministers; 〃they

are merely clerks of the Legislative Body decked with a royal

leash。〃'5'  In full session they are maltreated; reviled; grossly

insulted; not merely as lackeys of bad character; but as known

criminals。 They are interrogated at the bar of the house; forbidden to

leave Paris before their accounts are examined; their papers are

overhauled; their most guarded expressions and most meritorious acts

are held to be criminal; denunciations against them are provoked;

their subordinates are incited to rebel against them;'6' committees to

watch them and calumniate them are appointed; the perspective of a

scaffold is placed before them in every relation; acts or threats of

accusation being passed against them; as well as against their agents;

on the shallowest pretexts; accompanied with such miserable

quibbling;'7' and such an evident falsification of facts and texts

that the Assembly; forced by the evidence; twice reverses its hasty

decision; and declares those innocent whom it had condemned the

evening before。'8'  Nothing is of any avail; neither their strict

fulfillment of the law; their submission to the committees of the

Assembly; nor their humble attitude before the Assembly itself; 〃they

are careful now to treat it politely and avoid the galleys。〃'9'  But

this does not suffice。  They must become Jacobins; otherwise the high

court of Orleans will be for them as for M。 Delessart; the ante…room

to the prison and the guillotine。  〃Terror and dismay;〃 says

Vergniaud; pointing with his finger to the Tuileries; 〃have often

issued in the name of despotism in ancient times from that famous

palace; let them to…day go back to it in the name of law。〃'10'



Even with a Jacobin Minister; terror and dismay are permanent。

Roland; Clavières; and Servan not only do not shield the King; but

they give him up; and; under their patronage and with their

connivance; he is more victimized; more harassed; and more vilified

than ever before。 Their partisans in the Assembly take turns in

slandering him; while Isnard proposes against him a most insolent

address。'11'  Shouts of death are uttered in front of his palace。 An

abbé or soldier is unmercifully beaten and dragged into the Tuileries

basin。  One of the gunners of the Guard reviles the queen like a fish

woman; and exclaims to her; 〃How glad I should be to clap your head on

the end of my bayonet!〃'12' They supposed that the King is brought to

heel under this double pressure of the Legislative Body and the

street; they rely on his accustomed docility; or at least; on his

proven lethargy; they think that they have converted him into what

Condorcet once demanded; a signature machine。'13'  Consequently;

without notifying him; just as if the throne were vacant; Servan; on

his own authority; proposes to the Assembly the camp outside

Paris。'14'  Roland; for his part; reads to him at a full meeting of

the council an arrogant; pedagogical remonstrance; scrutinizing his

sentiments; informing him of his duties; calling upon him to accept

the new 〃religion;〃 to sanction the decree against unsworn

ecclesiastics; that is to say; to condemn to beggary; imprisonment;

and transportation'15' 70;000 priests and nuns guilty of orthodoxy;

and authorize the camp around Paris; which means; to put his throne;

his person; and his family at the mercy of 20;000 madmen; chosen by

the clubs and other assemblages expressly to do him harm;'16' in

short; to discard at once his conscience and his common sense。 

Strange enough; the royal will this time remains staunch; not only

does the King refuse; but he dismisses his ministers。 So much the

worse for him; for sign he must; cost what it will; if he insists on

remaining athwart their path; they will march over him。  Not because

he is dangerous; and thinks of abandoning his legal immobility。  Up to

the 10th of August; through a dread of action; and not to kindle a

civil war; he rejects all plans leading to an open rupture。  Up to the

very last day he resigns himself even when his personal safety and

that of his family is at stake; to constitutional law and public

common sense。 Before dismissing Roland and Servan; he desires to

furnish some striking proof of his pacific intentions by sanctioning

the dissolution of his guard and disarming himself not only for attack

but for defense; henceforth he sits at home and awaits the

insurrection with which he is daily menaced; he resigns himself to

everything; except drawing his sword; his attitude is that of a

Christian in the amphitheatre。'17'   The proposition of a camp

outside Paris; however; draws out a protest from 8;000 Paris National

Guards。 Lafayette denounces to the Assembly the usurpations of the

Jacobins; the faction sees that its reign is threatened by this

reawakening and union of the friends of order。 A blow must be struck。

This has been in preparation for a month past; and to renew the days

of October 5th and 6th; the materials are not lacking。





II。



The floating and poor population of Paris。   Disposition of the

workers。  Effect of poverty and want of work。   Effect of Jacobin

preaching。  The revolutionary army。 … Quality of its recruits  

Its first review。  Its actual effective force。







Paris always has its interloping; floating population。 A hundred

thousand of the needy; one…third of these from the departments;

〃beggars by race;〃 those whom Rétif de la Bretonne had already seen

pass his door; Rue de Bièvre; on the 13th of July; 1789; on their way

to join their fellows on the suburb of St。 Antoine;'18' along with

them 〃those frightful raftsmen;〃 pilots and dock…hands; born and

brought up in the forests of the Nièvre and the Yonne; veritable

savages accustomed to wielding the pick and the ax; behaving like

cannibals when the opportunity offers;'19' and who will be found

foremost in the ranks when the September days come。 Alongside these

stride their female companions 〃barge…women who; embittered by toil;

live for the moment only;〃 and who; three months earlier; pillaged the

grocer…shops。'20'  All this 〃is a frightful crowd which; every time it

stirs; seems to declare that the last day of the rich and well…to…do

has come; tomorrow it is our turn; to…morrow we shall sleep on

eiderdown。〃   Still more alarming is the attitude of the steady

workmen; especially in the suburbs。 And first of all; if bread is not

as expensive as on the 5th of October; the misery is worse。 The

production of articles of luxury has been at a standstill for three

years; and the unemployed artisan has consumed his small savings。

Since the ruin of St。 Domingo and the pillaging of grocers' shops

colonial products are dear; the carpenter; the mason; the locksmith;

the market…porter; no longer has his early cup of coffee;'21' while

they grumble every morning at the thought of their patriotism being

rewarded by an increase of deprivation。



But more than all this they are now Jacobins; and after nearly three

years of preaching; the dogma of popular sovereignty has taken deep

root in their empty brains。 〃In these groups;〃 writes a police

commissioner; 〃the Constitution is held to be useless and the people

alone are the law。 The citizens of Paris on the public square think

themselves the people; populus;  what we call the universality of

citizens。〃'22'  It is of no use to tell them that; alongside of

Paris; there is a France。 Danton has shown them that the capital 〃 is

composed of citizens belonging one way or another to the eighty…three

departments; that is has a

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