第 16 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:00      字数:9318
  note to M。 do Launay。  According to Dusaulx; he could not have had
  either the time or the means to write it。
  '50' Bailly; II。  32; 74; 88; 90; 95; 108; 117; 137; 158; 174。  〃I
  gave orders which were neither obeyed nor listened to。  。  。  。
  They gave me to understand that I was not safe。〃 (July 15th。) 〃In
  these sad times one enemy and one calumnious report sufficed to
  excite the multitude。  All who had formerly held power; all who had
  annoyed or restrained the insurrectionists; were sure of being
  arrested。〃
  '51' M。 de Lafayette; 〃Mémoires;〃 III。  264。  Letter of July 16th;
  1789。  〃I have already saved the lives of six persons whom they were
  hanging in different quarters。〃
  '52' Poujoulat。  〃Histoire de la Révolution Fran?aise;〃 p。100 (with
  supporting documents)。  Procès…verbaux of the Provincial Assembly;
  lle…de…France (1787); p。127。
  '53' For instance: 〃He is severe with his peasants。〃  〃He gives
  them no bread; and he wants them then to eat grass。〃 〃He wants them
  to eat grass like horses。〃 〃He has said that they could very well
  eat hay; and that they are no better than horses。〃  The same story
  is found in many of the contemporary jacqueries。
  '54' Bailly; II。  108。  〃The people; less enlightened and as
  imperious as despots; recognize no positive signs of good
  administration but success。〃
  '55' Bailly; II; 108; 95。  … Malouet; II; 14。
  '56' De Ferrières; I。  168。
  CHAPTER III。
  I。
  Anarchy from July 14th to October 6th; 1789。 … Destruction of the
  Government。 … To whom does real power belong?
  However bad a particular government may be; there is something still
  worse; and that is the suppression of all government。  For; it is
  owing to government that human wills form a harmony instead of
  chaos。  It serves society as the brain serves a living being。
  Incapable; inconsiderate; extravagant; engrossing; it often abuses
  its position; overstraining or misleading the body for which it
  should care; and which it should direct。  But; taking all things
  into account; whatever it may do; more good than harm is done; for
  through it the body stands erect; marches on and guides its steps。
  Without it there is no organized deliberate action; serviceable to
  the whole body。  In it alone do we find the comprehensive views;
  knowledge of the members of which it consists and of their aims; an
  idea of outward relationships; full and accurate information; in
  short; the superior intelligence which conceives what is best for
  the common interests; and adapts means to ends。  If it falters and
  is no longer obeyed; if it is forced and pushed from without by a
  violent pressure; it ceases to control public affairs; and the
  social organization retrogrades by many steps。  Through the
  dissolution of society; and the isolation of individuals; each man
  returns to his original feeble state; while power is vested in
  passing aggregates that like whirlwinds spring up from the human
  dust。   One may divine how this power; which the most competent
  find it difficult to apply properly; is exercised by bands of men
  springing out of nowhere。  It is a matter of supplies; of their
  possessions; price and distribution。  It is a matter of taxes; its
  proportion; apportionment and collection; of private property; its
  varieties; rights; and limitations It is a problem of public
  authority; its allocation and its limits; of all those delicate
  cogwheels which; working into each other; constitute the great
  economic; social; and political machine。  Each band in its own
  canton lays its rude hands on the wheels within its reach。  They
  wrench or break them haphazardly; under the impulse of the moment;
  heedless and indifferent to consequences; even when the reaction of
  to…morrow crushes them in the ruin that they cause to day。  Thus do
  unchained Negroes; each pulling and hauling his own way; undertake
  to manage a ship of which they have just obtained mastery。   In
  such a state of things white men are hardly worth more than black
  ones。  For; not only is the band; whose aim is violence; composed of
  those who are most destitute; most wildly enthusiastic; and most
  inclined to destructiveness and to license。  But also; as this band
  tumultuously carries out its violent action; each individual the
  most brutal; the most irrational; and most corrupt; descends lower
  than himself; even to the darkness; the madness; and the savagery of
  the dregs of society。  In fact; a man who in the interchange of
  blows; would resist the excitement of murder; and not use his
  strength like a savage; must be familiar with arms。  He must be
  accustomed to danger; be cool…blooded; alive to the sentiment of
  honor; and above all; sensitive to that stern military code which;
  to the imagination of the soldier; ever holds out to him the
  provost's gibbet to which he is sure to rise; should he strike one
  blow too many。  Should all these restraints; inward as well as
  outward; be wanting; the man plunges into insurrection。  He is a
  novice in the acts of violence; which he carries out。  He has no
  fear of the law; because he abolishes it。  The action begun carries
  him further than he intended to go。  Peril and resistance exasperate
  his anger。  He catches the fever from contact with those who are
  fevered; and follows robbers who have become his comrades。'1'  Add
  to this the clamors; the drunkenness; the spectacle of destruction;
  the nervous tremor of the body strained beyond its powers of
  endurance; and we can comprehend how; from the peasant; the laborer;
  and the bourgeois; pacified and tamed by an old civilization; we see
  all of a sudden spring forth the barbarian。  Or still worse; the
  primitive animal; the grinning; sanguinary; wanton baboon; who
  giggles while he slays; and gambols over the ruin he has
  accomplished。  Such is the actual government to which France is
  given up; and after eighteen months' experience; the best qualified;
  most judicious and profoundest observer of the Revolution will find
  nothing to compare it to but the invasion of the Roman Empire in the
  fourth century。'2' 〃The Huns; the Heruli; the Vandals; and the Goths
  will come neither from the north nor from the Black Sea; they are in
  our very midst。〃
  II。
  The provinces。  …  Destruction of old Authorities。  …  Inadequacy of
  new Authorities
  When in a building the principal beam gives way; cracks follow and
  multiply; and the secondary joists fall in one by one for lack of
  the prop; which supported them。  In a similar manner the authority
  of the King being broken; all the powers; which he delegated; fall
  to the ground。'3'  Intendants; parliaments; military commands; grand
  provosts; administrative; judicial; and police functionaries in
  every province; and of every branch of the service; who maintain
  order and protect property; taught by the murder of M。 de Launey;
  the imprisonment of M。 de Besenval; the flight of Marshal de
  Broglie; the assassinations of Foullon and Bertier; know what it
  costs should they try to perform their duties。  Should it be
  forgotten local insurrections intervene; and keep them in mind of
  it。
  The officer in command in Burgundy is a prisoner at Dijon; with a
  guard at his door; and he is not allowed to speak with any one
  without permission; and without the presence of witnesses。'4'  The
  Commandant of Caen is besieged in the old palace and capitulates。
  The Commandant of Bordeaux surrenders Chateau…Trompette with its
  guns and equipment。  The Commandant at Metz; who remains firm;
  suffers the insults and the orders of the populace。  The Commandant
  of Brittany wanders about his province 〃like a vagabond;〃 while at
  Rennes his people; furniture; and plate are kept as pledges。  As
  soon as he sets foot in Normandy he is surrounded; and a sentinel is
  placed at his door。   The Intendant of Besan?on takes to flight;
  that of Rouen sees his dwelling sacked from top to bottom; and
  escapes amid the shouts of a mob demanding his head。  …  At Rennes;
  the Dean of the Parliament is arrested; maltreated; kept in his room
  with a guard over him; and then; although ill; sent out of the town
  under an escort。   At Strasbourg 〃thirty…six houses of magistrates
  are marked for pillage。〃'5'   At Besan?on; the President of the
  Parliament is constrained to let out of prison the insurgents
  arrested in a late out…break; and to publicly burn the whole of the
  papers belonging to the prosecution。  …  In Alsace; since the
  beginning of the troubles; the provosts were obliged to fly; the
  bailiffs and manorial judges hid themselves; the forest…inspectors
  ran away; and the houses of the guards were demolished。  One man;
  sixty years of age; is outrageously beaten and marched about the
  village; the people; meanwhile; pulling out his hair; nothing
  remains of his dwelling but the walls and a portion of the roof。
  All his furniture and effects are broken up; burnt or stolen。  He is
  forced to sign; along with his wife; an a