第 26 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:01      字数:9322
  the electors; and are only stayed in their course by the arrival of
  the National Guard。
  The people not only sentence but they execute; and; as is always the
  case; blindly。  At Saint…Denis; Chatel; the mayor's lieutenant;
  whose duty it is to distribute flour; had reduced the price of bread
  at his own expense: on the 3rd of August his house is forced open at
  two o'clock in the morning; and he takes refuge in a steeple; the
  mob follow him; cut his throat and drag his head along the streets。
  Not only do the people execute; but they pardon  and with equal
  discernment。  On the 11th of August; at Versailles; as a parricide
  is about to be broken on the wheel; the crowd demand his release;
  fly at the executioner; and set the man free。'9'  Veritably this is
  sovereign power like that of the oriental sovereign who arbitrarily
  awards life or death! A woman who protests against this scandalous
  pardon is seized and comes near being hung; for the new monarch
  considers as a crime whatever is offensive to his new majesty。
  Again; he receives public and humble homage。  The Prime Minister; on
  imploring the pardon of M。 de Bezenval at the H?tel…de…Ville; in the
  presence of the electors and of the public; has put it in
  appropriate words:
  〃It is before the most unknown; the obscurest citizen of Paris that
  I prostrate myself; at whose feet I kneel。〃
  A few days before this; at Saint…Germain…en…Laye; and at Poissy; the
  deputies of the National Assembly not only kneel down in words; but
  actually; and for a long time; on the pavement in the street; and
  stretch forth their hands; weeping; to save two lives of which only
  one is granted to them。  …  Behold the monarch by these brilliant
  signs! Already do the young; who are eager imitators of all actions
  that are in fashion; ape them in miniature; during the month which
  follows the murder of Berthier and Foulon; Bailly is informed that
  the gamins in the streets are parading about with the heads of two
  cats stuck on the ends of two poles。'10'
  II。  。
  The distress of the people。  … The dearth and the lack of work。  …
  How men of executive ability are recruited。
  A pitiable monarch; whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more
  miserable than he was before! Bread is always scarce; and before the
  baker's doors the row of waiting people does not diminish。  In vain
  Bailly passes his nights with the committee on supplies; they are
  always in a state of terrible anxiety。  Every morning for two months
  there is only one or two days' supply of flour; and often; in the
  evening; there is not enough for the following morning。'11'  The
  life of the capital depends on a convoy which is ten; fifteen;
  twenty leagues off; and which may never arrive: one convoy of twenty
  carts is pillaged on the 18th of July; on the Rouen road; another;
  on the 4th of August; in the vicinity of Louviers。  Were it not for
  Salis' Swiss regiment; which; from the 14th of July to the end of
  September; marches day and night as an escort; not a boat…load of
  grain would reach Paris from Rouen。'12'  The commissaries charged
  with making purchases or with supervising the expeditions are in
  danger of their lives。  Those who are sent to provinces are seized;
  and a column of four hundred men with cannon has to be dispatched to
  deliver them。  The one who is sent to Rouen learns that he will be
  hung if he dares to enter the place。  At Mantes a mob surrounds his
  cabriolet; the people regarding whoever comes there for the purpose
  of carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with difficulty
  out of a back door and returns on foot to Paris。   From the very
  beginning; according to a universal rule; the fear of a short supply
  helps to augment the famine。  Every one lays in a stock for several
  days; on one occasion sixteen loaves of four pounds each are found
  in an old woman's garret。  The bakings; consequently; which are
  estimated according to the quantity needed for a single day; become
  inadequate; and the last of those who wait at the bakers' shops for
  bread return home empty…handed。   On the other hand the
  appropriations made by the city and the State to diminish the price
  of bread simply serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for it;
  the countrymen flock in thither; and return home loaded to their
  villages。  At Saint…Denis; bread having been reduced to two sous the
  pound; none is left for the inhabitants。  To this constant anxiety
  add that of unemployment。  Not only is there no certainty of there
  being bread at the bakers' during the coming week; but many know
  that they will not have money in the coming week with which to buy
  bread。  Now that security has disappeared and the rights of property
  are shaken; work is wanting。  The rich; deprived of their feudal
  dues; and; in addition thereto of their rents; have reduced their
  expenditure; many of them; threatened by the committee of
  investigation; exposed to domiciliary visits; and liable to be
  informed against by their servants; have emigrated。  In the month of
  September M。 Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports
  in fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants。  In the month of
  October ladies of high rank; refugees in Rome; send word that their
  domestics should be discharged and their daughters placed in
  convents。  Before the end of 1789 there are so many fugitives in
  Switzerland that a house; it is said; brings in more rent than it is
  worth as capital。  With this first emigration; which is that of the
  chief spendthrifts; the Count d'Artois; Prince de Conti; Duc de
  Bourbon; and so many others; the opulent foreigners have left; and;
  at the head of them; the Duchesse de l'Infantado; who spent 800;000
  livres a year。  There are only three Englishmen in Paris。
  It used to be a city of luxury; it was the European hot…house of
  costly and refined pleasures; but once the glass was broken then the
  delicate plants perish; their lovers leave; and there is no
  employment now for the innumerable hands which cultivated them。
  Fortunate are they who at the relief works obtain a miserable sum by
  handling a pick…axe! 〃I saw;〃 says Bailly; 〃mercers; jewellers; and
  merchants implore the favor of being employed at twenty sous the
  day。〃 Enumerate; if you can; in one or two recognized callings; the
  hands which are doing nothing:'13'  1;200 hair…dressers keep about
  6;000 journeymen; 2;000 others follow the same calling in private…
  houses; 6;000 lackeys do but little else than this work。  The body
  of tailors is composed of 2;800 masters; who have under them 5;000
  workmen。  〃Add to these the number privately employed  the
  refugees in privileged places like the abbeys of Saint…Germain and
  Saint…Marcel; the vast enclosure of the Temple; that of Saint…John
  the Lateran; and the Faubourg Saint…Antoine; and you will find at
  least 12;000 persons cutting; fitting; and sewing。〃 How many in
  these two groups are now idle! How many others are walking the
  streets; such as upholsterers; lace…makers; embroiderers; fan…
  makers; gilders; carnage…makers; binders; engravers; and all the
  other producers of Parisian nick…nacks! For those who are still at
  work how many days are lost at the doors of bakers' shops and in
  patrolling as National Guards! Gatherings are formed in spite of the
  prohibitions of the H?tel…de…Ville;'14' and the crowd openly discuss
  their miserable condition: 3;000 journeymen…tailors near the
  Colonnade; as many journeymen…shoemakers in the Place Louis XV。; the
  journeymen…hairdressers in the Champs…Elysees; 4;000 domestics
  without places on the approaches to the Louvre;  and their
  propositions are on a level with their intelligence。  Servants
  demand the expulsion from Paris of the Savoyards who enter into
  competition with them。  Journeymen…tailors demand that a day's wages
  be fixed at forty sous; and that the old…clothes dealers shall not
  be allowed to make new ones。  The journeymen…shoemakers declare that
  those who make shoes below the fixed price shall be driven out of
  the kingdom。  Each of these irritated and agitated crowds contains
  the germ of an outbreak  and; in truth; these germs are found on
  every pavement in Paris: at the relief works; which at Montmartre
  collect 17;000 paupers; in the Market; where the bakers want to hang
  the flour commissioners; and at the doors of the bakers; of whom
  two; on the 14th of September and on the 5th of October; are
  conducted to the lamp post and barely escape with their lives。  In
  this suffering; mendicant crowd; enterprising men become more
  numerous every day: they consist of deserters; and from every
  regiment; they reach Paris in bands; often 250 in one day。  There;
  〃caressed and fed to the top of their bent;〃'15' having received
  from the National Assembly 50 livres each; maintained by the King in
  the enjoyment of their advance…money; entertained by the districts;
  of which one alone incurs a debt of 14;000 livres for wine and
  sausages furnished to them; 〃they ac