第 103 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:01      字数:9316
  remains unpunished。〃 In the canton of Cabrerets; the restitution of
  rents formerly collected is exacted; and the reimbursement of
  charges paid during twenty years past。  The small town of Lauzerte
  is invaded by surrounding bodies of militia; and its disarmed
  inhabitants are at the mercy of the Jacobin suburbs。  For three
  months; in the district of Figeac; 〃all the mansions of former
  nobles are sacked and burnt;〃 next the pigeon…cots are attacked;
  〃and all country…houses which have a good appearance。〃 Barefooted
  gangs 〃enter the houses of well…to…do people; physicians; lawyers;
  merchants; burst open the doors of cellars; drink the wine;〃 and
  riot like drunken victors。  In several communes these expeditions
  have become a custom; 〃a large number of individuals are found in
  them who live on rapine alone;〃 and the club sets them the example。
  For six months; in the principal town; a coterie of the National
  Guard; called the Black Band; expel all persons who are displeasing
  to them; 〃pillaging houses at will; beating to death; wounding or
  mutilating by saber…strokes; all who have been proscribed in their
  assemblies;〃 and no official or advocate dares lodge a complaint。
  Brigandage; borrowing the mask of patriotism; and patriotism
  borrowing the methods of brigandage; have combined against property
  at the same time as against the ancient régime; and; to free
  themselves from all that inspires them with fear; they seize all
  which can provide them with booty。
  And yet this is merely the outskirts of the storm; the center is
  elsewhere; around N?mes; Avignon; Arles; and Marseilles; in a
  country where; for a long time; the conflict between cities and the
  conflict between religions have kindled and accumulated malignant
  passions。'71'  Looking at the three departments of Gard; Bouches…de…
  Rh?ne and Vaucluse; one would imagine one's self in the midst of a
  war with savages。  In fact; it is a Jacobin and plebeian invasion;
  and; consequently; conquest; dispossession; and extermination;  …
  in Gard; a swarm of National Guards copy the jacquerie: the dregs of
  the Comtat come to the surface and cover Vaucluse with its scum; an
  army of six thousand from Marseilles sweeps down on Arles。  …  In
  the districts of N?mes; Sommières; Uzès; Alais; Jalais; and Saint…
  Hippolyte; title…deeds are burnt; proprietors put to ransom; and
  municipal officers threatened with death if they try to interpose;
  twenty chateaux and forty country…houses are sacked; burnt; and
  demolished。  …  The same month; Arles and Avignon;'72' given up to
  the bands of Marseilles and of the Comtat; see confiscation and
  massacres approaching。  …  Around the commandant; who has received
  the order to evacuate Aries;'73' 〃the inhabitants of all parties〃
  gather as suppliants; 〃clasping his hands; entreating him with tears
  in their eyes not to abandon them; women and children cling to his
  boots;〃 so that he does not know how to free himself without hurting
  them; on his departure twelve hundred families emigrate。  After the
  entrance of the Marseilles band we see eighteen hundred electors
  proscribed; their country…houses on the two banks of the Rhone
  pillaged; 〃as in the times of Saracen pirates;〃 a tax of 1;400;000
  livres levied on all people in good circumstances; absent or
  present; women and girls promenaded about half…naked on donkeys and
  publicly whipped。〃 〃A saber committee〃 disposes of lives; proscribes
  and executes: it is the reign of sailors; porters; and the dregs of
  the populace。  …  At Avignon;'74' it is that of simple brigands;
  incendiaries and assassins; who; six months previously; converted
  the Glacière'75' into a charnel…house。  They return in triumph and
  state that 〃this time the Glacière will be full。〃 Five hundred
  families had already sought asylum in France before the first
  massacre; now; the entire remainder of the honest bourgeoisie;
  twelve hundred persons; take to flight; and the terror is so great
  that the small neighboring towns dare not receive emigrants。  In
  fact; from this time forth; both departments throughout Vaucluse and
  Bouches…de…Rh?ne are a prey: Bands of two thousand armed men; with
  women; children; and other volunteer followers; travel from commune
  to commune to live as they please at the expense of 〃fanatics。〃 The
  well…bred people are not the only ones they despoil。  Plain
  cultivators; taxed at 10;000 livres; have sixty men billeted on
  them; their cattle are slain and eaten before their eyes; and
  everything in their houses is broken up; they are driven out of
  their lodgings and wander as fugitives in the reed…swamps of the
  Rhone; awaiting a moment of respite to cross the river and take
  refuge in the neighboring department。'76'  Thus; from the spring of
  1792; if any citizen is suspected of unfriendliness or even of
  indifference towards the ruling faction; if; through but one opinion
  conscientiously held; he risks the vague possibility of mistrust or
  of suspicion; he undergoes popular hostility; pillage; exile; and
  worse besides; no matter how loyal his conduct may be; nor how loyal
  he may be at heart; no matter that he is disarmed and inoffensive;
  it is all the same whether it be a noble; bourgeois; peasant; aged
  priest; or woman; and this while public peril is yet neither great;
  present; nor visible; since France is at peace with Europe; and the
  government still subsists in its entirety。
  IX。
  General state of opinion。  …  The three convoys of non…juring
  priests on the Seine。  …  Psychological aspects of the Revolution。
  What will it be; then; now when the peril; already become palpable
  and serious; is daily increasing; now when war has begun; when
  Lafayette's army is falling back in confusion; when the Assembly
  declares the country in danger; when the King is overthrown; when
  Lafayette defects and goes abroad; when the soil of France is
  invaded; when the frontier fortresses surrender without resistance;
  when the Prussians are entering Champagne; when the insurrection in
  La Vendée adds the lacerations of civil war to the threats of a
  foreign war; and when the cry of treachery arises on all sides?  …
  Already; on the 14th of May; at Metz;'77' M。 de Fiquelmont; a former
  canon; seen chatting with a hussar on the Place Saint…Jacques; was
  charged with tampering with people on behalf of the princes; carried
  off in spite of a triple line of guards; and beaten; pierced; and
  slashed with sticks; bayonets; and sabers; while the mad crowd
  around the murderers uttered cries of rage: and from month to month;
  in proportion as popular fears increase; popular imagination becomes
  more heated and its delirium grows。  …  You can see this yourself by
  one example。  On the 31st of August; 1792;'78' eight thousand non…
  juring priests; driven out of their parishes; are at Rouen; a town
  less intolerant than the others; and; in conformity with the decree
  which banishes them; are preparing to leave France。  Two vessels
  have just carried away about a hundred of them; one hundred and
  twenty others are embarking for Ostend in a larger vessel。  They
  take nothing with them except a little money; some clothes; and one
  or at most two portions of their breviary; because they intend to
  return soon。  Each has a regular passport; and; just at the moment
  of leaving; the National Guard have made a thorough inspection so as
  not to let a suspected person escape。  It makes no difference。  On
  reaching Quilleboeuf the first two convoys are stopped。  A report
  has spread; indeed; that the priests are going to join the enemy and
  enlist; and the people living round about jump into their boats and
  surround the vessels。  The priests are obliged to disembark amidst a
  tempests of 〃yells; blasphemies; insults; and abuse:〃 one of them; a
  white…headed old man; having fallen into the mud; the cries and
  shouts redouble; if he is drowned so much the better; there will be
  one less! On landing all are put in prison; on bare stones; without
  straw or bread; and word is sent to Paris to know what must be done
  with so many cassocks。  In the meantime the third vessel; short of
  provisions; has sent two priests to Quilleboeuf and to Pont…Audemer
  to have twelve hundred pounds of bread baked: pointed out by the
  village militia; they are chased out like wild beasts; pass the
  night in a wood; and find their way back with difficulty empty…
  handed。  The vessel itself being signaled; is besieged。  〃In all the
  municipalities on the banks of the river drums beat incessantly to
  warn the population to be on their guard。  The appearance of an
  Algerian or Tripolitan corsair on the shores of the Adriatic would
  cause less excitement。  One of the seamen of the vessel published a
  statement that the trunks of the priests transported were full of
  every kind of arms。〃 and the country people constantly imagine that
  they are going to fall upon them sword and pistol in hand。  For
  several long days the famished convoy remains moored in the stream