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[1] De Loménie, "Les Mirabeaus," I. 11. (Letter of the Marquis de
Mirabeau).
[2] " Archives Nationales," F7, 7171, No. 7915. Report on the
situation in Marseilles, by Miollis, commissioner of the Directory in
the department, year V. Nivôse 15. "A good many strangers from France
and Italy are attracted there by the lust of gain, a love of pleasure,
the want of work, a desire to escape from the effects of ill conduct .
. . Individuals of both sexes and of every age, with no ties of
country or kindred, with no profession, no opinions, pressed by daily
necessities that are multiplied by debauched habit, seeking to indulge
these without too much effort, the means for this being formerly found
in the many manual operations of commerce, gone astray during the
Revolution and, subsequently, scared of the dominant party, accustomed
unfortunately at that time to receiving pay for taking part in
political strife, and now reduced to living on almost gratuitous
distributions of food, to dealing in small wares, to the menial
occupations which chance rarely presents -- in short, to swindling.
Such is what the observer finds in that portion of the population of
Marseilles most in sight; eager to profit by whatever occurs, easily
won over, active through its necessities, flocking everywhere, and
appearing very numerous . . . The patriot Escalon had twenty rations a
day; Féri, the journalist, had six; etc. . . Civil officers and
district commissioners still belong, for the most part, to that class
of men which the Revolution had accustomed to live without work, to
making those who shared their principles the beneficiaries of the
nation's favors, and finally, to receiving contributions from gambling
halls and brothels. These commissioners give notice to their protégés,
even the crooks, when warrants against them are to be enforced."
[3] Blanc-Gilly, "Réveil d'alarme d'un député de Marseilles" (cited in
the Memoirs" of Barbaroux, 40, 41). Blanc-Gilly must have been
acquainted with these characters, inasmuch as he made use of them in
the August riot, 1789, and for which he was indicted. - Cf. Fabre
"Histoire de Marseilles," II. 422.
[4] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3197. Correspondence of Messrs.
Debourge, Gay, and Lafitte, commissioners sent to Provence to restore
order in accordance with an act of the National Assembly. Letter of
May 10, 1791. Letter of May 10. 1791, and passim.
[5] Mayor Martin, says Juste, was a sort of Pétion, weak and vain. --
Barbaroux, clerk of the municipality, is the principal opponent of M.
Lieutaud. - The municipal decree referred to is dated Sept. 10, 1790.
[6] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3197. Letters of three commissioners,
April 13, 17, 18, and May 10, 1791.
[7] Blanc-Gilly, "Réveil d'Alarme." Ibid., "Every time that the
national guard marched outside the city walls, the horde of homeless
brigands never failed to close up in their rear and carry devastation
wherever they went."
[8] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3197. Correspondence of the three
commissioners, letter of May 10,1791. "The municipality of Marseilles
obeys only the decrees it pleases, and for eighteen months has not
paid a cent into the city treasury.-Proclamation of April 13. -
Letters of April 13 and 18.
[9] "Archives Nationales," letter of the municipal officers of
Marseilles to the minister, June 11, 1791. -- They demand the recall
of the three commissioners, one of their arguments being as follows:
"In China, every mandarin against whom public opinion is excited is
dismissed from his place; he is regarded as an ignorant instructor,
who is incapable of gaining the love of children for their parent."
[10] "Archives Nationales," letter of the commissioners, May 25, 1791.
"It is evident, on recording the proceedings at Aix and Marseilles,
that only the accusers and the judges were guilty." -- Petition of the
prisoners, Feb. 1. "The municipality, in despair of our innocence and
not knowing how to justify its conduct, is trying to buy up witnesses.
They say openly that it is better to sacrifice one innocent man than
disgrace a whole body. Such ale the speeches of the sieur Rebecqui,
leading man, and of Madame Elliou, wife of a municipal officer, in the
house of the sieur Rousset."
[11] Letter of M. Lieutaud to the commissioners, May 11 and 18, 1791.
"If I have not fallen under the assassin's dagger I owe my
preservation to your strict orders and to the good behavior of the
national guard and the regular troops . . . At the hearing of the case
today, the prosecutor on the part of the commune ventured to threaten
the court with popular opinion and its avenging fury. . . The people,
stirred up against us, and brought there, shouted, 'Let us seize
Lieutaud and take him there by force and if he will not go up the
steps, we will cut his head off!' The hall leading to the courtroom
and the stairways were filled with barefooted vagabonds."-- Letter of
Cabrol, commander of the national guard, and of the municipal officers
to the commissioners, May 21. That picket-guard of fifty men on the
great square, is it not rather the cause of a riot than the means of
preventing one? A requisition to send four national guards inside the
prison, to remain there day and night, is it not insulting citizen
soldiers, whose function it is to see that the laws are maintained,
and not to do jail duty?"
[12] Letter of M. d'Olivier, lieutenant-colonel of the Ernest
regiment, May 28. -- Extracts from the papers of the secretary to the
municipality, May 28 (Barbaroux is the clerk). - Letter of the
commissions, May 29
[13] Letter of the commissioners, June 29.
[14] Letter of M. Laroque-Dourdan, naval commander at Marseilles, Oct.
18, 1791. (in relation to the departure of the Swiss regiment).
[15] The elections are held on the 13th of November, 1791. Martin, the
former mayor, showed timidity, and Mouraille was elected in his place.
[16] "Archives Nationales." F 7 3197. Letter (printed) of the
Directory to the Minister of War, Jan. 4, 1792. -- Letter of the
municipality of Marseilles to the Directory, Jan. 4, and the
Directory's reply. - Barbaroux, "Mémoires," 19. -- Here we see the
part played by Barbaroux at Marseilles. Guadet played a similar part
at Bordeaux. This early political period is essential for a
comprehension of the Girondists.
[17] "Archives Nationales." F7, 3195. Official report of the
municipality of Aix (on the events of Feb. 26). March 1st. -- Letter
of M. Villardy, president of the directory, dated Avignon, March 10.
(He barely escaped assassination at Aix.) -- Ibid., F7,3196. Report of
the district administrators of Arles, Feb. 28 (according to private
letters from Aix and Marseilles). - Barbaroux, "Mémoires" (collection
of Berville and Barrière), 106. (Narrative of M. Watteville, major in
the Ernest regiment. Ibid., 108 (Report from M. de Barbentane,
commanding general). These two documents show the liberalism, want of
vigor, and the usual indecision of the superior authorities,
especially the military authorities - Mercure de France, March 24,
1792 (letters from Aix).
[18] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Dispatches of the new Directory
to the Minister, March 24 and April 4, 1792. "Since the departure of
the Directory, our administrative assembly is composed of only six
members, notwithstanding our repeated summons to every member of the
Council. . . Only three members of the Council consent to act with us;
the reason is a lack of pecuniary means." The new Directory,
consequently, passes a resolution to indemnify members of the Council.
This, indeed, is contrary to a royal proclamation of Jan. 15; but
"this proclamation was wrested from the King, on account of his firm
faith. You must be aware that, in a free nation, the influence of a
citizen on his government must not be estimated by his fortune; such a
principle is false, and destructive of equality of rights. We trust
that the King will consent to revoke his proclamation."
[19] Ib., Letters of Borelly, vice-president of the Directory, to the
Minister, April 10, 17, and 30, 1792. -- Letter from another
administrator, March 10. "They absolutely want us to march against
Arles, and to force us to give the order. - Ibid., F7, 3195. Letters
from Aix, March 12 and 16, addressed to M. Verdet.
[20] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter of the administrators of
the department Council to the Minister, March 10, "The Council of the
administration is surprised, sir, at the fa1se impressions given you
of the city of Marseilles; it should be regarded as the patriotic
buckler of the department . . . If the people of Paris did not wait
for orders to destroy the Bastille and begin the Revolution, can you
wonder that in this fiery climate the impatience of good citizens
should make them anticipate legal orders, and that they cannot comply
with the slow forms of justice when their personal safety and the
safety of the country is in peril?"
[21] "Archives Nationales." F7, 3197. Dispatches of the three
commissioners, passim, and especially those of May 11, June 10 and 19,
1791 (on affairs in Arles). "The property-owners were a long time
subject to oppression. A few of the factions maintained a reign of
terror over honest folks, who trembled in secret."
[22] Ibid., Dispatch of the commissioners, June 19: "One of the Mint
gang causes notes to be publicly distributed (addressed to the
unsworn) in these words: 'If you don't "piss-off" you will have to
deal with the gang from the Mint.'"
[23] "Archives Nationales." F7, 3198. Narration (printed) of what
occurred at Arles, June 9 and 10, 1791. -- Dispatch of M. Ripert,
royal commissioner, Aug. 5, 1791. -- F 7, 3197. Dispatch of the three
commissioners, June 19. "Since then, many of the farm laborers have
taken the same oath. It is this class of citizens which most eagerly
desires a return to order. " -- Other dispatches to the same effect,
Oct. 24 and 29, and Dec. 14, 1791. -- Cf. "The French Revolution," I.
301, 302.
[24] "Archives Nationales." F7, 3196. Dispatch of the members of the
Directory of Arles and the municipal officers to the Minister, March
3, 1792 (with a printed diatribe of the Marseilles municipality)
[25] Ibid.,F7, 3198. Dispatches of the procureur- syndic of the
department to the Minister, Aix, Sept. 14, 15, 20, and 23, 1791. The
electoral assembly declared itself permanent, the constitutional
authorities being fettered and unrecognized. -- Dispatch of the
members of the military bureau and correspondence with the Minister,
Arles, Sept.17, 1791.
[26] Ibid., Dispatch of the commandant of the Marseilles detachment to
the Directory of the department, Sept. 22, 1791: "I feel that our
proceedings are not exactly legal, but I thought it prudent to
acquiesce in the general desire of the battalion."
[27] "Archives Nationales." Official report of the municipal officers
of Arles on the insurrection of the Mint band, Sept. 2, 1791. --
Dispatch of Ripert, royal commissioner, Oct. 2 and 8. -- Letter of M.
d'Antonelle, to the Friends of the Constitution, Sept.22. "I cannot
believe in the counter-orders with which we are threatened. Such a
decision in the present crisis would be too inhuman and dangerous. Our
co-workers, who have had the courage to devote themselves to the new
law, would be deprived of their bread and shelter. . . The king's
proclamation has all the appearance of having been hastily prepared.
and every sign of having been secured unawares."
[28] De Dampmartin (an eye-witness), II. 60-70. -- " Archives
Nationales," F7, 3196. -- Dispatch of the two delegated commissioners
to the Minister, Nimes, March 25, 1792. - Letter of M. Wittgenstein to
the Directory of the Bouche-du- Rhône, April 4, 1792. -- Reply and act
passed by the Directory, April 5. -- Report of Bertin and Rebecqui to
the administrators of the department, April 3. -- Moniteur, XII. 379.
Report of the Minister of the Interior to the National Assembly, April
4.
[29] Moniteur, XII. 408 (session of May 16). Petition of M. Fossin,
deputy from Arles. -- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Petition of
the Arlesians to the Minister, June 28. -- Despatches of M. Lombard,
provisional royal commissioner, Arles, July 6 and 10. "Neither persons
nor property have been respected for three months by those who wear
the mask of patriotism."
[30] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Letter of M. Borelly, vice-
president of the Directory, to the Minister, Aix, April 30, 1792. "The
course pursued by the sieur: Bertin and Rébecqui is the cause of all
the disorders committed in these unhappy districts. . . Their sole
object is to levy contributions, as they did at Aries, to enrich
themselves and render the Comtat-Venaisson desolate."
[31] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Deposition of one of the keepers
of the sieur Coye, a proprietor at Mouriez-les-Baux, April 4. --
Petition of Peyre, notary at Maussane, April 7. -- Statement by
Manson, a resident of Mouriez-les-Baux, March 27. -- Petition of
Andrieu, March 30. - Letter of the municipality of Maussane, April 4:
"They watch for a favorable opportunity to devastate property and
especially country villas."
[32] "Archives Nationales," Claim of the national guard presented to
the district administrators of Tarascon by the national guard of
Château-Renard, April 6. -- Petition of Juliat d'Eyguières, district
administrator of Tarascon, April 2 (in relation to a requisition of
30,000 francs by Camoïn on the commune of Eyguières). -- Letter of M.
Borelly, April 30. "Bertin and Rébecqui have openly protected the
infamous Camoïn, and have set him free. " - Moniteur, XII. 408.
Petition of M. Fossin, deputy from Arles.
[33] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Dispatch of M. Mérard, royal
commissioner at the district court of Apt, Apt, March 15, 1792 (with
official report of the Apt municipality and debates of the district,
March 13). -- Letter of M. Guillebert, syndic-attorney of the district
March 5.. (He has fled. ) -- Dispatches of the district Directory,
March 23 and 28. "It must not be supposed for a moment that either the
court or the juge-de-paix will take the least notice of this
circumstance. One step in this direction would, in a week, bring
10,000 men on our hands."
[34] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3195. Letter of the district
Directory of Apt, March 28. "On the 26th of March 600 armed men,
belonging to the communes of Apt, Viens, Rustrel, etc. betook
themselves to St.-Martin-de-Castillon and, under the pretense of
restoring order, taxed the inhabitants, lodging and feeding themselves
at their charge" -- The expeditions extend even to the neighboring
departments, one of them March 23, going to Sault, near Forcalquier,
in the Upper-Alps.
[35] Ib., F7, 3195. On the demand of a number of petitioning soldiers
who went to Aries on the 22d of March, 1792, the department
administration passes an act (September, 1793) granting them each
forty-five francs indemnity. There are 1,916 of them, which makes
86,200 francs "assessed on the goods and property of individuals for
the authors, abettors, and those guilty of the disturbances occasioned
by the party of Chiffonists in the commune of Arles." The municipality
of Aries designates fifty-one individuals, who pay the 86,200 livres,
plus 2,785 francs exchange, and 300 francs for the cost of sojourn and
delays. -- Petition of the ransomed, Nov.21, 1792.
[36] Ib., F7, 3165. Official report of the Directory on the events
which occurred in Aix, April 27, 28, and 29, 1792.
[37] Michelet, "Histoire de la Révolution Française," III.56
(according to the narratives of aged peasants). -- Mercure de France,
April 30, 1791 (letter from an inhabitant of the Comtat). -- All
public dues put together (octrois and interest on the debt) did not go
beyond 800,000 francs for 126,684 inhabitants. On the contrary, united
with France, it would pay 3,793,000 francs. -- André, "Histoire de la
Révolution Avignonaise," I. 61. -- The Comtat possessed representative
institutions, an armed general assembly, composed of three bishops,
the elected representative of the nobility, and thirteen consuls of
the leading towns. -- Mercure de France, Oct. 15, 1791 (letter from
an inhabitant of the Comtat). -- There were no bodies of militia in
the Comtat; the privileges of nobles were of little account. Nobody
had the exclusive right to hunt or fish, while people without property
could own guns and hunt anywhere.
[38] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3272. Letter of M. Pelet de la Lozère,
prefect of Vaucluse; to the Minister, year VIII. Germinal 30. - Ibid.,
DXXIV. 3. Letter of M. Mulot, one of the mediating commissioners, to
the Minister, Oct. 10, 1791. "What a country you have sent me to! It
is the land of duplicity. Italianism has struck its roots deep here,
and I fear that they are very hardy."
[39] The details of these occurrences may be found in André and in
Soulier, "Histoire de la Révolution Avignonaise." The murder of their
seven principal opponents, gentlemen, priests and artisans, took place
June 11, 1790. -- "Archives Nationales," DXXIV. 3. The starting-point
of the riots is the hostility of the Jansenist Camus, deputy to the
Constituent Assembly. Several letters, the first from April, 1790, may
be found in this file, addressed to him from the leading Jacobins of
Avignon, Mainvielle, Raphel, Richard, and the rest, and among others
the following (3uly, 1790): "Do not abandon your work, we entreat you.
You, sir, were the first to inspire us with a desire to be free and to
demand our right to unite with a generous nation, from which we have
been severed by fraud."-- As to the political means and enticements,
these are always the same. Cf., for instance, this letter of a
protégé, in Avignon, of Camus, addressed to him July 13, 1791: "I have
just obtained from the commune the use of a room inside the Palace,
where I can carry on my tavern business . . My fortune is based on
your kindness . . . what a distance between you and myself!"
[40] "Archives Nationales," DXXIV. 3. Report on the events of Oct.10,
1791. -- Ibid., F7, 3197. Letter of the three commissioners to the
municipality of Avignon, April 21, and to the Minister, May 14, 1791.
"The deputies of Orange certify that there were at least 500 French
deserters in the Avignon army. " -- In the same reports, May 21 and
June 8: "It is not to be admitted that enrolled brigands should
establish in a small territory, surrounded by France on all sides, the
most dangerous school of brigandage that ever disgraced or preyed upon
this human species. " -- Letter of M. Villardy, president of the
Directory of the Bouches-du-Rhône May 21. "More than two millions of
the national property is exposed to pillage and total destruction by
the new Mandrins who devastate this unfortunate country. " -- Letter
of Méglé, recruiting sergeant of the La Mark regiment, arrested along
with two of his comrades. "The corps of Mandrins which arrested us
set us at liberty. . . We were arrested because we refused to join
them, and on our refusal we were daily threatened with the gallows."
[41] Mortimer-Ternaux, I. 379 (note on Jourdan, by Faure, deputy). --
Barbaroux, "Mémoires"(Ed. Dauban), 392. "After the death of Patrix a
general had to be elected. Nobody wanted the place in an army that had
just shown so great a lack of discipline. Jourdan arose and declared
that as far as he was concerned, he was ready to accept the position.
No reply was made. He nominated himself, and asked the soldiers if
they wanted him for general. A drunkard is likely to please other
drunkards; they applauded him, and he was thus proclaimed."
[42] After a famous brigand in Dauphiny, named Mandrin.-TR. [Mandrin,
(Louis) (Saint Étienne-de- Saint-Geoirs, Isère, 1724 - Valence,
1755). French smuggler who, after 1750, was active over an enormous
territory with the support of the population; hunted down by the army,
caught, condemned to death to be broken alive on the wheel. See also
Taine's explanation in Ancient Régime page 356 app. (SR).]
[43] Cf. André, passim, and Soulier, passim. - Mercure de France,
June 4, 1791. -- "Archives Nationales," F7, 3197. Letter of Madame de
Gabrielli, March 14, 1791. (Her house is pillaged Jan. 10, and she and
her maid escape by the roof.) -- Report of the municipal officers of
Tarascon, May 22. "The troop which has entered the district pillages
everything it can lay its hands on." -- Letter of the syndic-attorney
of Orange, May 22. "Last Wednesday, a little girl ten years of age, on
her way from Châteauneuf to Courtheson, was violated by one on of
them, and the poor child is almost dead. " -- Dispatch of the three
commissioners to the Minister, May 21. "It is now fully proved by men
who are perfectly reliable that the pretended patriots, said to have
acted so gloriously at Sarrians, are cannibals equally execrated both
at Avignon and Carpentras."
[44] "Archives Nationales," letter of the Directory of the Bouches-du-
Rhône, May 21, 1791. -- Deliberations of the Avignon municipality,
associated with the notables and the military committee, May 15: "The
enormous expense attending the pay and food for the detachments . .
.forced contributions. . . What is most revolting is that those who
are charged with the duty arbitrarily tax the inhabitants, according
as they arc deemed bad or good patriots. . . The municipality, the
military committee, and the club of the Friends of the Constitution
dared to make a protest; the proscription against them is their reward
for their attachment to the French constitution.
[45] Letter of M. Boulet, formerly physician in the French military
hospitals and member of the electoral assembly, May 21.
[46] "Archives Nationales," DXXIv. 16-23, No.3. Narrative of what took
place yesterday, August 21, in the town of Avignon. -- Letters by the
mayor, Richard, and two others, Aug. 21. -- Letter to the president of
the National Assembly, Aug.22 (with five signatures, in the name of
200 families that had taken refuge in the Ile de la Bartelasse).
[47] "Archives Nationales," DXXIV. 3. -- Letter of M. Laverne, for M.
Canonge, keeper of the Mont-de-Piété. (The electoral assembly of
Vaucluse and the juge-de-paix had forbidden him to give this box
into any other hands.) -- Letters of M. Mulot, mediating commissioner,
Gentilly les Sorgues, Oct. 14, 15, 16, 1791. -- Letter of M. Laverne,
mayor, and the municipal officers, Avignon, Jan. 6, 1792. -- Statement
of events occurring at Avignon, Oct. 16, 17, and 18 (without a
signature, but written at once on the spot). -- Official rapport of
the provisional administrators of Avignon, Oct. 16. -- Certified copy
of the notice found posted in Avignon in different places this day,
Oct. 16 (probably written by one of the women of the lower class and
showing what the popular feeling was). -- A letter written to M.
Mulot, Oct. 13' already contains this phrase: "Finally, even if they
delay stopping their robberies and pillage, misery and the miserable
will still remain " -- Testimony of Joseph Sauton, a chasseur in the
paid guard of Avignon, Oct. 17 (an eye-witness of what passed at the
Cordeliers).
[48] André. II.62. Deposition of la Ratapiole. -- Death of the girl
Ayme and of Mesdames Niel et Crouzet. -- De Dampmartin, II. 2.
[49] "Archives Nationales," DXXIV, 3. Report on the events of Oct.
16: "Two sworn priests were killed, which proves that a counter-
revolution had nothing to do with it, . . Six of the municipal
officers were assassinated. They had been elected according to the
terms of the decree; they were the fruit of the popular will at the
outbreak of the Revolution; they were accordingly patriots." --
Buchez et Roux, XII. 420.-- Official report of the Commune of Avignon,
on the events of Oct. 16.
[50] "Archives Nationales," DXXIV. 3. Dispatch of the civil
Commissioners deputized by France (Messrs. Beauregard, Lecesne, and
Champion) to the Minister Jan. 8, 1792. (A long and admirable letter,
in which the difference between the two parties is exhibited,
supported by facts, in refutation of the calumnies of Duprat. The
oppressed party is composed not of royalists, but of
Constitutionalists.)
[51] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3177. Dispatches of the three
commissioners, April 27, May 4, 18, and 21.
[52] Three hundred and thirty-five witnesses testified during the
trial. -- De Dampmartin, I.266. Entry of the French army into Avignon,
Nov. 16, 1791: "All who were rich, except a very small number, had
taken flight or perished. The best houses were all empty or closed." -
- Elections for a new municipality were held Nov.26, 1791. Out of
2,287 active citizens Mayor Levieux de Laverne obtains 2,227 votes,
while the municipal officer lowest on the list 1,800. All are
Constitutionalists and conservatives.
[53] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3196. Official report of Augier and
Fabre, administrators of the Bouches-du-Rhône, Avignon, May 11, 1792.
-- Moniteur, XII. 313. Report of the Minister of Justice, May 5. --
XII. 324. Petition of forty inhabitants of Avignon, May 7. -- XII 334.
Official report of Pinet, commissioner of the Drôme, sent to Avignon.
-- XII. 354 Report of M. Chassaignac and other papers, May 10.-- XI.
741 Letter of the civil commissioners, also of the Avignon
municipality, March 23.
[54] "The French Revolution," vol. I . pp. 344-352, on the sixth
jacquerie, everywhere managed by the Jacobins. Two or three traits
show its spirit and course of action. ("Archives Nationales," F7,
3202. Letter of the Directory of the district of Aurillac, March 27,
1792, with official reports.) "On the 20th of March, about forty
brigands, calling themselves patriots and friends of the constitution,
force honest and worthy but very poor citizens in nine or ten of the
houses of Capelle-Viscamp to give them money, generally five francs
each person, and sometimes ten, twenty, and forty francs." Others tear
down or pillage the châteaux of Rouesque, Rode, Marcolès, and Vitrac
and drag the municipal officers along with them. "We, the mayor and
municipal officers of the parish of Vitrac, held a meeting yesterday,
March 22, following the example of our neighboring parishes on the
occasion of the demolition of the châteaux. We marched at the head of
our national guard and that of Salvetat to the said châteaux. We began
by hoisting the national flag and to demolish . . . The national guard
of Boisset, eating and drinking without stint, entered the château and
behaved in the most brutal manner; for whatever they found in their
way, whether clocks, mirrors, doors, closets, and finally documents,
all were made way with. They even sent off forty of the men to a
patriotic village in the vicinity. They forced the inmates of every
house to give them money, and those who refused were threatened with
death." Besides this the national guard of Boisset carried off the
furniture of the château. -- There is something burlesque in the
conflicts of the municipalities with the Jacobin expeditions (letter
of the municipal officers of Cottines to the Directory of St. Louis,
March 26). "We are very glad to inform you that there is a crowd in
our parish, amongst which are many belonging to neighboring parishes;
and that they have visited the house of sieur Tossy and a sum of
money of which we do not know the amount is demanded, and that they
will not leave without that sum so that they cam have something to
live on, these people being assembled solely to maintain the
constitution and give greater éclat to the law."
[55] Mercure de France, numbers for Jan. 1 and 14, 1792 (articles by
Mallet du Pan). - " Archives Nationales," F7, 3185, 3186. Letter of
the president of the district of Laon (Aisne) to the Minister, Feb. 8,
1792: "With respect to the nobles and priests, any mention of them as
trying to sow discord among us indicates a desire to spread fear. All
they ask is tranquility and the regular payment of their pensions." --
De Dampmartin, II. 63 (on the evacuation of Arles, April, 1792). On
the illegal approach of the Marseilles army, M. de Dampmartin,
military commander, orders the Arlesians to rise in a body. Nobody
comes forward. Wives hide away their husbands' guns in the night. Only
one hundred volunteers are found to act with the regular troops.
[56] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3224. Speech of M. Saint-Amans,
vice-president of the Directory of Lot-et-Garonne, to the mayor of
Tonneins, April 20 and the letter of the syndic-attorney-general to M.
Roland, minister, April 22: "According to the principles of the mayor
of Tonneins, all resistance to him is aristocratic, his doctrine being
that all property-owners are aristocrats. You can readily perceive,
sir, that he is not one of them." -- Dubois, formerly a
Benedictine and now a Protestant minister. -- Act of the Directory
against the municipality of Tonneins, April 13. The latter appeals to
the Legislative Assembly. The mayor and one of the municipal
counselors appear in its name (May 19) at the bar of the Assembly.
[57] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3198. Letter of M. Debourges, one of
the three commissioners sent by the National Assembly and the king,
Nov. 2, 1791 (apropos of the Marseilles club). "This club has quite
recently obtained from the Directory of the department, on the most
contemptible allegation, an order requiring of M. de Coincy,
lieutenant-general at Toulon, to send the admirable Ernest regiment
out of Marseilles, and M. de Coincy has yielded."
[58] For instance (Guillon de Montléon, "Mémoires pour servir à
l'histoire de Lyon," I. 109), the general in command of the national
guard of this large town in 1792 is Juillard, a poor silk-weaver of
the faubourg of the Grande Côte, a former soldier.
[59] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3215, affair of Plabennec (very
curious, showing the tyrannical spirit of the Jacobins and the good
disposition at bottom of the Catholic peasantry) -- The commune of
Brest dispatches against that of Plabennec 400 men, with two cannon
and commissioners chosen by the club. -- Many documents, among them:
Petition of 150 active citizens of Brest, May 16, 1791. Deliberations
of the council-general and commune of Brest, May 17. Letter of the
Directory of the district, May 17 (very eloquent). Deliberations of
the municipality of Plabennec, May 20. Letter of the municipality of
Brest to the minister, May 21. Deliberations of the department
Directory, June 13.
[60] Mortimer-Ternaux, II. 376 (session of the Directory of the Pas-
du-Calais, July 4, 1792). The petition, signed by 127 inhabitants of
Arras, is presented to the Directory by Robespierre the younger and
Geoffroy. The administrators are treated as impostors, conspirators,
etc., while the president, listening to these refinements, says to
his colleagues: "Gentlemen, let us sit down; we can attend to insults
sitting as well as standing."
[61] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter of M. Valéry, syndic-
attorney of the department, April 4, 1792.
[62] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3220. Extract from the deliberations
of the department Directory and letter to the king, Jan.28, 1792. --
Letter of M. Lafiteau, president of the Directory, Jan. 30. (The mob
is composed of from five to six hundred persons. The president is
wounded on the forehead by a sword-cut and obliged to leave the town.)
Feb. 20, following this, a deputy of the department denounces the
Directory as unpatriotic.
[63] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3223. Letter of M. de Riolle, colonel
of the gendarmerie, Jan. 19, 1792. -- "One hundred members of the club
Friends of Liberty" come and request the brigadier's discharge. On the
following day, after a meeting of the same club, "four hundred persons
move to the barracks to send off or exterminate the brigadier."
[64] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of M. Sainfal, Toulouse,
March 4, 1792. -- Letter of the department Directory, March 14.
[65] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3229. Letter of M. de Narbonne,
minister, to his colleague M. Cahier, Feb. 3, 1792. -- "The
municipality of Auch has persuaded the under-officers and soldiers of
the 1st battalion that their chiefs were making preparation to
withdraw." -- The same with the municipality and club of the
Navarreins. "All the officers except three have been obliged to leave
and send in their resignations." - F7, 3225. The same to the same,
March 8. -- The municipality of Rennes orders the arrest of Col. de
Savignac, and four other officers. Mercure de France, Feb. 18, 1792.
De Dampmartin, I. 230; II. 70 (affairs of Landau, Lauterbourg, and
Avignon).
[66] "'The French Revolution," I. 344 and following pages. Many other
facts could be added to those cited in this volume. - "Archives
Nationales," F7, 3219. Letter of M. Neil, administrator of Haute-
Garonne, Feb. 27, 1792. "The constitutional priests and the club of
the canton of Montestruc suggested to the inhabitants that all the
abettors of unsworn priests and of aristocrats should be put to ransom
and laid under contribution." - Cf. 7, 3193, (Aveyron), F7, 3271
(Tarn), etc.
[67] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3200. Letter of the syndic-attorney of
Bayeux, May 14, 1792, and letter of the Bayeux Directory, May 21. "The
dubs should be schools of patriotism; they have become the terror of
it. If this scandalous struggle against the law and legitimate
authority does not soon cease liberty, a constitution, and safeguards
for the French people will no longer exist"
[68] "Archives Nationales," F7, 3253. Letter, of the Directory of the
Bas-Rhin, April 26, 1792, and of Dietrich, Mayor of Strasbourg, May 8.
(The Strasbourg club had publicly invited the citizens to take up
arms, "to vigorously pursue priests and administrators." ) -- Letter
of the Besançon club to M. Dietrich, May 3. "If the constitution
depended on the patriotism or the perfidy of a few magistrates in one
department, like that of the Bas-Rhin, for instance, we might pay you
some attention, and all the freemen of the empire would then stoop to
crush you. " -- Therefore the Jacobin clubs of the Upper and Lower
Rhine send three deputies to the Paris club.
[69] Moniteur, XII. 558, May 19, 1792. "Letter addressed through
patriotic journalists to all clubs of the Friends of the Constitution
by the patriotic central society, formed at Clermont-Ferrand." (there
is the same centralization between Lyons and Bordeaux.)
[70] " Archives Nationales," F7, 3198. Report of Commissioners Bertin
and Rebecqui, April 3, 1792. -- Cf. Dumouriez, book II. ch. V. The
club at Nantes wants to send commissioners to inspect the foundries of
the Ile d'Indrette.
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