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the origins of contemporary france-4-第79部分
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representatives sent to ensure the people's welfare; Albitte and
Collot;〃 call upon the Committee of Sequestrations to deliver at their
house two hundred bottles of the best wine to be found; and five
hundred bottles more of Bordeaux red wine; first quality; for table
use。 … In three months; at the table of the representatives who
devastate la Vendée; nineteen hundred and seventy…four bottles of wine
are emptied;'106' taken from the houses of the emigrés belonging to
the town; for; 〃when one has helped to preserve a commune one has a
right to drink to the Republic。〃 Representative Bourbotte presides at
this bar; Rossignol touches his glass; an ex…jeweler and then a
September massacreur; all his life a debauchee and brigand; and now a
major…general; alongside of Rossignol; stand his adjutants; Grammont;
an old actor; and Hazard; a former priest; along with them is
Vacheron; a good républican; who ravishes women and shoots them when
they refuse to succumb;'107' in addition to these are some 〃brilliant〃
young ladies; undoubtedly brought from Paris; 〃the prettiest of whom
share their nights between Rossignol and Bourbotte;〃 whilst the others
serve their subordinates: the entire band; male and female; is installed
in a Hotel de Fontenay; where they begin by breaking the seals; so as t
o confiscate 〃for their own benefit; furniture; jewelry; dresses;
feminine trinkets and even porcelains。〃'108' Meanwhile; at Chantonney;
representative Bourdon de l'Oise drinks with General Tunck; becomes 〃
frantic〃 when tipsy; and has patriotic administrators seized in their
beds at midnight; whom he had embraced the evening before。 … Nearly
all of them; like the latter; get nasty after a few drinks; … Carrier
at Nantes; Petit…Jean at Thiers; Duquesnoy at Arras; Cusset at
Thionville; Monestier at Tarbes。 At Thionville; Cusset drinks like
a 〃Lapithe〃 and; when drunk; gives the orders of a 〃vizier;〃 which
orders are executed。'109' At Tarbes; Monestier 〃after a heavy meal
and much excited;〃 warmly harangues the court; personally examines
the prisoner; M。 de Lasalle; an old officer; whom he has condemned
to death; and signs the order to have him guillotined at once。 M。
de Lasalle is guillotined that very evening; at midnight; by torchlight。
The following morning Monestier says to the president of the court:
〃Well; we gave poor Lasalle a famous fright last night; didn't we ?〃
〃How a famous fright? He is executed !〃 Monestier is astonished … he
did not remember having issued the order。'110' … With others; wine;
besides sanguinary instincts; brings out the foulest instincts。 At
N?mes; Borie; in the uniform of a representative; along with Courbis;
the mayor; Géret; the justice and a number of prostitutes; dance the
farandole around the guillotine。 At Auch; one of the worst tyrants in
the South; Dartigoyte; always heated with liquor 〃vomited every species
of obscenity 〃 in the faces of women that came to demand justice; 〃he
compels; under penalty of imprisonment; mothers to take their daughters
to the popular club;〃 to listen to his filthy preaching; one evening; at
the theatre; probably after an orgy; he shouts at all the women between
the acts; lets loose upon them his smutty vocabulary; and; by way of
demonstration; or as a practical conclusion; ends by stripping himself
naked。'111' … This time; the genuine brute appears。 All the clothing
woven during the past centuries and with which civilization had dressed
him; the last drapery of humanity; falls to the ground。 Nothing remains
but the primitive animal; the ferocious; lewd gorilla supposed to be
tamed; but which still subsists indefinitely and which a dictatorship;
joined to drunkenness; revives in an uglier guise than in remotest times。
VIII。 Delirium。
Approach of madness。 … Loss of common…sense。 … Fabre; Gaston;
Guiter; in the army of the Eastern Pyrenees。 … Baudot; Lebas; Saint…
Just; and the predecessors and successors in the army of the Rhine。 …
Furious excitement。 … Lebon at Arras; and Carrier at Nantes。
If intoxication is needed to awaken the brute; a dictatorship suffices
to arouse the madman。 The mental equilibrium of most of these new
sovereigns is disturbed; the distance between what the man once was
and what he now is; is too great。 Formerly he was a petty lawyer;
village doctor; or schoolmaster; an unknown mover of a resolution in a
local club; and only yesterday he was one voter in the Convention out
of seven hundred and fifty。 Look at him now; the arbiter; in one of
the departments; of all fortunes and liberties; and master of five
thousand lives。 Like a pair of scales into which a disproportionate
weight has been thrown; his reason totters on the side of pride。 Some
of them regard their competency unlimited; like their powers; and
having just joined the army; claim the right of being appointed major…
generals。'112' 〃Declare officially;〃 writes Fabre to the Committee of
Public Safety;'113' 〃that; in future; generals shall be simply the
lieutenants of the delegates to the Convention。〃 Awaiting the required
declaration; they claim command and; in reality; exercise it。 〃I know
of neither generals nor privates;〃 says Gaston; a former justice of
the peace; to the officers; 〃as to the Minister; he is like a bull in
a china shop; I am in command here and must be obeyed。〃 〃What are
generals good for?〃 adds his colleague Guiter; 〃the old women in our
faubourgs know as much as they do。 Plans; formal maneuvers; tents;
camps; redoubts? All this is of no use! The only war suitable to
Frenchmen after this will be a rush with side arms。〃 To turn out of
office; guillotine; disorganize; march blindly on; waste lives
haphazard; force defeat; sometimes get killed themselves; is all they
know; and they would lose all if the effects of their incapacity and
arrogance were not redeemed by the devotion of the officers and the
enthusiasm of the soldiers。 … The same spectacle is visible at
Charleroy where; through his absurd orders; Saint…Just does his best
to compromise the army; leaving that place with the belief that he is
a great man。'114' … There is the same spectacle in Alsace; where
Lacoste; Baudot; Ruamps; Soubrany; Muhaud; Saint…Just and Lebas;
through their excessive rigor; do their best to break up the army and
then boast of it。 The revolutionary Tribunal is installed at
headquarters; soldiers are urged to denounce their officers; the
informer is promised money and secrecy; he and the accused are not
allowed to confront each other; no investigation; no papers allowed;
even to make exception to the verdict … a simple examination without
any notes; the accused arrested at eight o'clock; condemned at nine
o'clock; and shot at ten o'clock。'115'
Naturally; under such a system; no one wants to command; already;
before Saint Just's arrival; Meunier had consented to act as Major…
General only ad interim; 〃every hour of the day〃 he demanded his
removal; unable to se
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