第 80 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:01      字数:9321
  supplied; and to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout the
  Republic。  For; there is no doubt about it; the purest patriotism
  dies out (sic) when there is no bread to be had。  。  。  。
  Resistance to oppression  …  yes; resistance to oppression is the
  most sacred of duties; is there any oppression more terrible than
  that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly; no 。  。  。  。  Join us and '?a
  ira; ?a ira!' We cannot end our petition better than with this
  patriotic air。〃
  This supplication was written on a drum; amidst a circle of
  firearms; and with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a
  command。  …  They are well aware of it; and of their own authority
  they often confer upon themselves not only the right but also the
  title。  In Loire…et…Cher;'31' a band of from four to five thousand
  men assume the name of 〃Sovereign Power。〃 They go from one market…
  town to another; to Saint…Calais; Montdoubleau; Blois; Vend?me;
  reducing the cost of provisions; their troop increasing like a
  snowball  …  for they threaten 〃to burn the effects and set fire to
  the houses of all who are not as courageous as themselves。〃
  In this state of social disintegration; insurrection is a gangrene
  in which the healthy are infected by the morbid parts。  Mobs are
  everywhere produced and re…produced; incessantly; large and small;
  like abscesses which break out side by side; and painfully irritate
  each other and finally combine。  There are the towns against the
  rural districts and rural districts against the towns。  On the one
  hand 〃every farmer who transports anything to the market passes (at
  home) for an aristocrat;'32' and becomes the horror of his fellow…
  citizens in the village。〃 On the other hand the National Guards of
  the towns spread themselves through the rural districts and make
  raids to save themselves from death by hunger。'33'  It is admitted
  in the rural districts that each municipality has the right to
  isolate itself from the rest。  It is admitted in the towns that each
  town has the right to derive its provisions from the country。  It is
  admitted by the indigent of each commune that the commune must
  provide bread gratis or at a cheap rate。  On the strength of this
  there is a shower of stones and a fusillade; department against
  department; district against district; canton against canton; all
  fight for food; and the strongest get it and keep it for themselves。
  …  I have simply described the North; where; for the past three
  years; the crops are good。  I have omitted the South; where trade is
  interrupted on the canal of the Deux Mers; where the procureur…
  syndic of Aude has lately been massacred for trying to secure the
  passage of a convoy; where the harvest has been poor; where; in many
  places; bread costs eight sous the pound; where; in almost every
  department; a bushel of wheat is sold twice as dear as in the North!
  Strange phenomenon! and the most instructive of all; for in it we
  see down into the depths of humanity; for; as on a raft of
  shipwrecked beings without food; there is a reversion to a state of
  nature。  The light tissue of habit and of rational ideas in which
  civilization has enveloped man; is torn asunder and is floating in
  rags around him; the bare arms of the savage show themselves; and
  they are striking out。  The only guide he has for his conduct is
  that of primitive days; the startled instinct of a craving stomach。
  Henceforth that which rules in him and through him is animal
  necessity with its train of violent and narrow suggestions;
  sometimes sanguinary and sometimes grotesque。  Incompetent or
  savage; in all respects like a Negro monarch; his sole political
  expedients are either the methods of a slaughter house or the dreams
  of a carnival。  Two commissioners whom Roland; Minister of the
  Interior; sends to Lyons; are able to see within a few days the
  carnival and the slaughter…house。'34'  …  On the one hand the
  peasants; all along the road; arrest everybody; the people regard
  every traveler as an aristocrat who is running away  …  which is so
  much the worse for those who fall into their hands。  Near Autun;
  four priests who; to obey the law; are betaking themselves to the
  frontier; are put in prison 〃for their own protection;〃 they are
  taken out a quarter of an hour later; and; in spite of thirty…two of
  the mounted police; are massacred。  〃Their carriage was still
  burning as I passed; and the corpses were stretched out not far off。
  Their driver was still in durance; and it was it vain that I
  solicited his release。〃  …  On the other hand; at Lyons; the power
  has fallen into the hands of the degraded women of the streets。
  〃They seized the central club; constituted themselves commissaries
  of police; signed notices as such; and paid visits of inspection to
  store…houses;〃 they drew up a tariff of provisions; 〃from bread and
  meat up to common peaches; and peaches of fine quality。〃 They
  announced that 〃whoever dared to dispute it would be considered a
  traitor to the country; an adherent of the civil list; and
  prosecuted as such。〃 All this is published; proclaimed and applied
  by 〃female commissaries of police;〃 themselves the dregs of the
  lowest sinks of corruption。  Respectable housewives and workwomen
  had nothing to do with it; nor 〃working…people of any class。〃 The
  sole actors of this administrative parody are 〃 scamps; a few
  bullies of houses of ill…fame; and a portion of the dregs of the
  female sex。〃  …  To this end comes the dictatorship of instinct;
  yonder let loose on the highway in a massacre of priests; and here;
  in the second city of France; in the government of strumpets。
  III。
  Egotism of the tax…payer。 … Issoudun in 1790。  …  Rebellion against
  taxation。  …  Indirect taxes in 1789 and 1790。  …  Abolition of the
  salt tax; excise; and octrois。  …  Direct taxation in 1789 and 1790。
  …  Delay and insufficiency of the returns。  …  New levies in 1791
  and 1792。  …  Delays; partiality; and concealment in preparing the
  rolls。  …  Insufficiency of; and the delay in; the returns。  …
  Payment in assignats。… The tax…payer relieves himself of one…half。
  …  Devastation of the forests。  …  Division of the communal
  property。
  The fear of starvation is only the sharper form of a more general
  passion; which is the desire of possession and the determination not
  to give anything up。  No popular instinct; had been longer; more
  rudely; more universally offended under the ancient régime; and
  there is none which gushes out more readily under constraint; none
  which requires a higher or broader public barrier; or one more
  entirely constructed of solid blocks; to keep it in check。  Hence it
  is that this passion from the commencement breaks down or engulfs
  the slight and low boundaries; the tottering embankments of
  crumbling earth between which the Constitution pretends to confine
  it。  …  The first flood sweeps away the pecuniary claims of the
  State; of the clergy; and of the noblesse。  The people regard them
  as abolished; or; at least; they consider their debts discharged。
  Their idea; in relation to this; is formed and fixed; for them it is
  that which constitutes the Revolution。  The people have no longer a
  creditor; they are determined to have none; they will pay nobody;
  and first of all; they will make no further payment to the State。
  On the 14th of July; 1790; the day of the Federation; the population
  of Issoudun; in Touraine; solemnly convoked for the purpose; had
  just taken the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace; social
  harmony; and respect for the law for evermore。'35' Here; probably;
  as elsewhere; arrangements had been made for an stirring ceremonial;
  there were young girls dressed in white; and learned and
  impressionable magistrates were to pronounce philosophical
  harangues。  All at once they discover that the people gathered on
  the public square are provided with clubs; scythes; and axes; and
  that the National Guard will not prevent their use; on the contrary;
  the Guard itself is composed almost wholly of wine growers and
  others interested in the suppression of the duties on wine; of
  coopers; innkeepers; workmen; carters of casks; and others of the
  same stamp; all rough fellows who have their own way of interpreting
  the Social Contract。  The whole mass of decrees; acts; and
  rhetorical flourishes which are dispatched to them from Paris; or
  which emanate from the new authorities; are not worth a halfpenny
  tax maintained on each bottle of wine。  There are to be no more
  excise duties; they will only take the civic oath on this express
  condition; and that very evening they hang; in effigy; their two
  deputies; who 〃had not supported their interests〃 in the National
  Assembly。  A few months later; of all the National Guard called upon
  to protect the clerks; only the commandant and two officers respond
  to the summons。  If a docile taxpayer happens to be found; he is not
  allowed to pay the dues; this seems a defection and almost
  tr