The French Revolution, vol 3 | Page 8

longer have reason to complain of
suspicions that are found to be so well grounded." They come
accordingly, "very humbly and very penitent." Nevertheless they meet
with a rebuff, and a cold shoulder is turned on them; they are consigned
to a corner of the room, or near the doors, and are openly insulted. Thus
received, it is clear that they will keep quiet and not risk the slightest
objection. At Macon "a few aristocrats muttered to themselves, but not

one dared say No."[16] It would, indeed, be extremely imprudent. At
Montbrison, "six individuals who decline to vote," are denounced in the
procès-verbal of the Canton, while a deputy in the Convention demands
"severe measures" against them. At Nogent-sur-Seine, three
administrators, guilty of the same offense, are to be turned out of
office.[17] A few months later, the offense becomes a capital crime,
and people are to be guillotined "for having voted against the
Constitution of 1793."[18] Almost all the ill-disposed foresaw this
danger; hence, in nearly all the primary assemblies, the adoption is
unanimous, or nearly unanimous.[19] At Rouen, there are but
twenty-six adverse votes; at Caen, the center of the Girondin opposition,
fourteen; at Rheims, there are only two; at Troyes, Besançon, Limoges
and Paris, there are none at all; in fifteen departments the number of
negatives varies from five to one; not one is found in Var; this apparent
unity is most instructive. The commune of St. Donau, the only one in
France, in the remote district of Cotês-du-Nord, dares demand the
restoration of the clergy and the son of Capet for king. All the others
vote as if directed with a baton; they have understood the secret of the
plebiscite; that it is a Jacobin demonstration, not an honest vote, which
is required.[20] The operation undertaken by the local party is actually
carried out. It beats to arms around the ballot-box; it arrives in force; it
alone speaks with authority; it animates officers; it moves all the
resolutions and draws up the report of proceedings, while the
representatives on mission from Paris add to the weight of the local
authority that of the central authority. In the Macon assembly "they
address the people on each article; this speech is followed by immense
applause and redoubled shouting of Vive la République! Vive la
Constitution! Vive le Peuple Français! " Beware, ye lukewarm, who do
not join in the chorus! They are forced to vote "in a loud, intelligible
voice." They are required to shout in unison, to sign the grandiloquent
address in which the leaders testify their gratitude to the Convention,
and give their adhesion to the eminent patriots delegated by the primary
assembly to bear its report to Paris.[21]

IV.

The Delegates reach Paris. -- Precautions taken against them. --
Constraints and Seductions.
The first act of the comedy is over and the second act now begins.--
The faction has convoked the delegates of the primary assemblies to
Paris for a purpose. Like the primary assemblies, they are to serve as its
instruments for governing; they are to form the props of dictatorship,
and the object now is to restrict them to that task only. -- Indeed, it is
not certain that all will lend themselves to it. For, among the eight
thousand commissioners, some, appointed by refractory assemblies,
bring a refusal instead of an adhesion;[22] others, more numerous, are
instructed to present objections and point out omissions:[23] it is very
certain that the envoys of the Girondist departments will insist on the
release or return of their excluded representatives. And lastly, a good
many delegates who have accepted the Constitution in good faith desire
its application as soon as possible, and that the Convention should
fulfill its promise of abdication, so as to give way to a new Assembly. -
As it is important to suppress at once all these vague desires for
independence or tendencies for opposition a decree of the Convention
"authorizes the Committee of General Security to order the arrest of
'suspect' commissioners;" it is especially to look after those who,
"charged with a special mission, would hold meetings to win over their
colleagues, . . . . and engage them in proceedings contrary to their
mandate."[24] In the first place, and before they are admitted into Paris,
their Jacobinism is to be verified, like a bale in the customs-house, by
the special agents of the executive council, and especially by Stanislas
Maillard, the famous September judge, and his sixty-eight bearded
ruffians, each receiving pay at five francs a day. "On all the roads,
within a circuit of fifteen or twenty leagues of the capital," the
delegates are searched; their trunks are opened, and their letters read.
At the barriers in Paris they find "inspectors" posted by the Commune,
under the pretext of