Everywhere the authorities are constrained to tolerate or excuse murders， pillage and arson， or， at the very least， insurrections and disobedience. For two years a mayor runs the risk of being hung on proclaiming martial law； a captain is not sure of his men on marching to protect a tax levy； a judge on the bench is threatened if he condemns the marauders who devastate the national forests. The magistrate， whose duty it is to see that the law is respected， is constantly obliged to strain the law， or allow it to be strained； if refractory， a summary blow dealt by the local Jacobins forces his legal authority to yield to their illegal dictate， so that he has to resign himself to being either their accomplice or their puppet. Such a r？le is intolerable to a man of feeling or conscience. Hence， in 1790 and 1791， nearly all the prominent and reputable men who， in 1789， had seats in the H？tels-de-villes， or held command in the National Guard， all country-gentlemen， chevaliers of St. Louis， old parliamentarians， the upper bourgeoisie and large landed-proprietors， retire into private life and renounce public functions which are no longer tenable. Instead of offering themselves to public suffrage they avoid it， and the party of order， far from electing the magistracy， no longer even finds candidates for it.
Through an excess of precaution， its natural leaders have been legally disqualified， the principal offices， especially those of deputy and minister， being interdicted beforehand to the influential men in whom we find the little common sense gained by the French people during the past two years.-In the month of June， 1779， even after the irreconcilables had parted company with the "Right，" there still remained in the Assembly about 700 members who， adhering to the constitution but determined to repress disorder， would have formed a sensible legislature had they been re-elected. All of these， except a very small group of revolutionaries， had learned something by experience， and， in the last days of their session， two serious events， the king's flight and the riot in the Champ de Mars， had made them acquainted with the defects of their machinery. With this executive instrument in their hands for three months， they see that it is racked， that things are tottering， and that they themselves are being run over by fanatics and the crowd. They accordingly attempt to put on a drag， and several even think of retracing their steps.[10]
They cut loose from the Jacobins； of the three or four hundred deputies on the club list in the Rue St. Honoré[11] but seven remain；the rest form at the Feuillants a distinct opposition club， and at their head are the first founders， Duport， the two Lameths， Barnave， the authors of the constitution， all the fathers of the new régime.[12] In the last decree of the Constituent Assembly they loudly condemn the usurpations of popular associations， and not only interdict to these all meddling in administrative or political matters， but likewise any collective petition or deputation.[13] --Here may the friends of order find candidates whose chances are good， for， during two years and more， each in his own district is the most conspicuous， the best accredited， and the most influential man there；he stands well with his electors on account of the popularity of the constitution he has made， and it is very probable that his name would rally to it a majority of votes.-The Jacobins， however， have foreseen this danger： Four months earlier，[14] with the aid of the Court， which never missed an opportunity to ruin itself and everything else，[15] they made the most of the grudges of the conservatives and the wearyness of the Assembly. Tired and disgusted， in a fit of mistaken selflessness， the Assembly， through enthusiasm and taken by surprise， passes an act declaring all its members ineligible for election to the next Assembly dismissing in advance the leaders of the gentlemen's party.
III.
The friends of order deprived of the right of free assemblage. --Violent treatment of their clubs in Paris and the provinces. -- Legal prevention of conservative associations.
