第439章

Such is the pressure under which voting takes place in France during the summer and fall of 1791. Domiciliary visits[30] and disarmament everywhere force nobles and ecclesiastics， landed proprietors and people of culture， to abandon their homes， to seek refuge in the large towns and to emigrate，[31] or， at least， confine themselves strictly to private life， to abstain from all propaganda， from every candidature， and from all voting. It would be madness to be seen in so many cantons where searches end in a riot； in Burgundy and the Lyonnais， where castles are sacked， where aged gentlemen are mauled and left for dead， where M. de Guillin has just been assassinated and cut to pieces； at Marseilles， where conservative party leaders are imprisoned， where a regiment of Swiss guards under arms scarcely suffices to enforce the verdict of the court which sets them at liberty， where， if any indiscreet person opposes Jacobin resolutions his mouth is closed by being notified that he will be buried alive； at Toulon， where the Jacobins shoot down all conservatives and the regular troops， where M. de Beaucaire， captain in the navy， is killed by a shot in the back， where the club， supported by the needy， by sailors， by navvies， and "vagabond peddlers，" maintains a dictatorship by right of conquest； at Brest， at Tulle， at Cahors， where at this very moment gentlemen and officers are massacred in the street. It is not surprising that honest people turn away from the ballot-box as from a center of cut-throats. -- Nevertheless， let them come if they like； it will be easy to get rid of them. At Aix， the assessor whose duty it is to read the electors' names is informed that "the names should be called out by an unsullied mouth， that， being an aristocrat and fanatical， he could neither speak nor vote，" and， without further ceremony， they put him out of the room.[32] The process is an admirable one for converting a minority into a majority and yet here is another， still more effective. -- At Dax， the Feuillants， taking the title of "Friends of the French Constitution，" have split up with the Jacobins，[33] and， moreover， they insist on excluding from the National Guard "foreigners without property or position，" the passive citizens who are admitted into it in spite of the law， who usurp the right of voting and who "daily affront tranquil inhabitants."Consequently， on election day， in the church where the primary meeting is held， two of the Feuillants， Laurède， formerly collector of the vingtièmes，， and Brunache， a glazier， propose to exclude an intruder， a servant on wages. The Jacobins at once rush forward. Laurède is pressed back on the holy-water basin and wounded on the head； on trying to escape he is seized by the hair， thrown down， pierced in the arm with a bayonet， put in prison， and Brunache along with him. Eight days afterwards， at the second meeting none are present but Jacobins；naturally， "they are all elected". They form the new municipality， which， notwithstanding the orders of the department， not only refuses to liberate the two prisoners， but throws them into a dungeon. -- At Montpellier， the delay in the operation is greater， but it is only the more complete. The votes are deposited， the ballot-boxes closed and sealed up and the conservatives obtain a majority. Thereupon the Jacobin club， with the Society of the "iron-clubs，" calling itself the Executive power， betake themselves in force to the sectional meetings， burn one of the ballots， use firearms and kill two men. To restore order the municipality stations each company of the National Guard at its captain's door， The moderates among them naturally obey orders， but the violent party do not. They overrun the town， numbering about 2，000 inhabitants， enter the houses， kill three men in the street or in their domiciles， and force the administrative body to suspend its electoral assemblies. In addition to this they require the disarmament "of the aristocrats，" and this not being done soon enough， they kill an artisan who is walking in the street with his mother， cut off his head， bear it aloft in triumph， and suspend it in front of his dwelling. The authorities are now convinced and accordingly decree a disarmament， and the victors parade the streets in a body. In exuberance or as a precaution， they fire， as they pass along， at the windows of suspected houses and happen to kill an additional man and woman. During the three following days six hundred families emigrate， while the authorities report that everything is going on well， and that order is restored. "The elections，" they say， "are now proceeding in the quietest manner since the ill-intentioned voluntarily keeping away from them， a large number having left the town. "[34] A void is created around the ballot-box and this is called the unanimity of voters. -- The effect of such assassinations is great and only a few are required； especially when they go unpunished， which is always the case. Henceforth all that the Jacobins have to do is to threaten； people no longer resist them for they know that it costs too much to face them down. They do not care to attend electoral meetings where they meet insult and danger； they acknowledge defeat at the start. Have not the Jacobins irresistible arguments， without taking blows into account？ At Paris，[35] Marat in three successive numbers of his paper has just denounced by name "the rascals and thieves" who canvass for electoral nominations， not the nobles and priests but ordinary citizens， lawyers， architects， physicians， jewellers， stationers， printers， upholsterers and other artisans， each name being given in full with the professions， addresses and one of the following qualifications， "hypocrite (tartufe)， immoral， dishonest， bankrupt， informer， usurer， cheat，" not to mention others that I cannot write down. It must be noted that this slanderous list may become a proscriptive list， and that in every town and village in France similar lists are constantly drawn up and circulated by the local dub， which enables us to judge whether the struggle between it and its adversaries is a fair one.-As to rural electors， it has suitable means for persuading them， especially in the innumerable cantons ravaged or threatened by the jacqueries， (country-riots) or， for example， in Corrèze， where "the whole department is smattered with insurrections and devastation's， and where nobody talks of anything but of hanging the officers who serve papers."[36]