There were still many men of talent among them， but with no experience； they even lacked that which we had obtained. Our patriot deputies， in great part， were aware of their errors； the novices were not， they were ready to begin all over again."Moreover， they have their own political bent， for nearly all of them are upstarts of the new régime. We find in their ranks 264 department administrators， 109 district administrators， 125 justices and prosecuting-attorneys， 68 mayors and town officers， besides about twenty officers of the National Guard， constitutional bishops and curés. The whole amounting to 566 of the elected functionaries， who， for the past twenty months， have carried on the government under the direction of their electors. We have seen how this was done and under what conditions， with what compliances and with what complicity， with what deference to clamorous opinion， with what docility in the presence of rioters， with what submission to the orders of the mob， with what a deluge of sentimental phrases and commonplace abstractions. Sent to Paris as deputies， through the choice or toleration of the clubs， they bear along with them their politics and their rhetoric. The result is an assemblage of narrow， perverted， hasty， inflated and feeble minds； at each daily session， twenty word-mills turn to no purpose， the greatest of public powers at once becoming a manufactory of nonsense， a school of extravagancies， and a theatre for declamation.
II.
Degree and quality of their intelligence and Culture.
Is it possible that serious men could have listened to such weird nonsense until the bitter end？
"I am a tiller of the soil，"[10] says one deputy， "I now dare speak of the antique nobility of my plow. A yoke of oxen once constituted the pure， incorruptible legal worthies before whom my good ancestors executed their contracts， the authenticity of which， far better recorded on the soil than on flimsy parchment， is protected from any species of revolution whatever."Is it conceivable that the reporter of a law， that is about to exile or imprison forty thousand priests， should employ in an argument such silly bombast as the following？[11]
"I have seen in the rural districts the hymeneal torch diffusing only pale and somber rays， or， transformed into the flambeaux of furies， the hideous skeleton of superstition seated even on the nuptial couch， placed between nature and the wedded， and arresting， etc. . . . Oh Rome， art thou satisfied？ Art thou then like Saturn， to whom fresh holocausts were daily imperative？ . . . Depart， ye creators of discord！ The soil of liberty is weary of bearing you. Would ye breathe the atmosphere of the Aventine mount？ The national ship is already prepared for you. I hear on the shore the impatient cries of the crew； I see the breezes of liberty swelling its sails. Like Telemachus， ye will go forth on the waters to seek your father； but never will you have to dread the Sicilian rocks， nor the seductions of a Eucharis."Courtesies of pedants， rhetorical personifications， and the invective of maniacs is the prevailing tone. The same defect characterizes the best speeches， namely， an overexcited brain， a passion for high-sounding terms， the constant use of stilts and an incapacity for seeing things as they are and of so describing them. Men of talent， Isnard， Guadet， Vergniaud himself， are carried away by hollow sonorous phrases like a ship with too much canvas for its ballast. Their minds are stimulated by souvenirs of their school lessons， the modern world revealing itself to them only through their Latin reminiscences. --Fran？ois de Nantes is exasperated at the pope "who holds in servitude the posterity of Cato and of Sc？vola." -- Isnard proposes to follow the example of the Roman senate which， to allay discord at home， got up an outside war： between old Rome and France of 1792， indeed， there is a striking resemblance. -- Roux insists that the Emperor (of Austria) should give satisfaction before the 1st of March； "in a case like this the Roman people would have fixed the term of delay； why shouldn't the French people fix one？ . . ." "The circle of Popilius"should be drawn around those petty， hesitating German princes. When money is needed to establish camps around Paris and the large towns， Lasource proposes to dispose of the national forests and is amazed at any objection to the measure. "C？sar's soldiers，" he exclaims， "believing that an ancient forest in Gaul was sacred， dared not lay the axe to it； are we to share their superstitious respect？"[12] ---Add to this collegiate lore the philosophic dregs deposited in all minds by the great sophist then in vogue. Larivière reads in the tribune[13] that page of the "Contrat Social，" where Rousseau declares that the sovereign may banish members "of an unsocial religion，" and punish with death "one who， having publicly recognized the dogmas of civil religion， acts as if he did not believe in them." On which， another hissing parrot， M. Filassier， exclaims， "I put J. J.
Rousseau's proposition into the form of a motion and demand a vote on it." -- In like manner it is proposed to grant very young girls the right of marrying in spite of their parents by stating， according to the "Nouvelle Héloise""that a girl thirteen or fourteen years old begins to sigh for the union which nature dictates. She struggles between passion and duty， so that， if she triumphs， she becomes a martyr， something that is rare in nature. It may happen that a young person prefers the serene shame of defeat to a wearisome eight year long struggle."Divorce is inaugurated to "preserve in matrimony that happy peace of mind which renders the sentiments livelier."[14] Henceforth this will no longer be a chain but "the acquittance of an agreeable debt which every citizen owes to his country. . . Divorce is the protecting spirit of marriage."[15]
