The Countess De Charny - Volume II (22 page)

” In order to appreciate the real spirit of that time of sacrifice, we must look into each cottage and home, and see the grief of the household, the travail of soul in the mothers, a hundred times more terrible than that which attended the advent of their children into the world. We must see the aged women with dry eyes, but bleeding hearts, hastily gathering together the few garments their sous are to carry away with them, and the paltry earnings and peimies saved by fasting, which these patient mothers have stolen from themselves for their sons against this day of fiual agony.

” To give up their children to this war which was beginning so hopelessly! to sacrifice them in this desperate condition of afiairs! They gave way under the sorrow that oppressed them, or by a very natural reaction, relapsed into fits of madness.

” We are told that one day in August or September, a band of these furious women met Danton in the street, and showered insults and fierce vituperations upon him. They declared that he was responsible for the whole revolution, — for all the blood that had been shed, and for the death of their children, and cursed him, and besought Heaven to make him atone for it all. Danton was not surprised, and though he felt the marks of their finger-nails all over his body, he turned and looked at these poor half-demeuted women, and pitied them, for he had a kind heart. He climbed upon a post, and to console them began to address them in their own language.

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Ilis first uttorauccs were violent, ludicrous, even obscene. His hearers were astounded; his violence thoroughly disconcerted them.

” Danton was, before and above all else, a man. There was a mixture of the lion and the bull-dog, and likewise of the bull iu his composition. The sublime ugliness of his expressive face lent a sort of savage sting to his words, and the masses, who adore strength, felt that fear and sympathy in his presence, which every powerful, generative being awakens ; but beneath this rough exterior, they also perceived a heart.

” At last, the idea that this must be a brave man, after all, began to impress itself upon them, and, though the women he was haran-guing, were only vaguely conscious of the fact, he had gained a complete mastery over them, and could lead them where and how he chose. He roughly explained the object of woman’s creation, — the purpose of passion, — the object of pro-creation, and that one does not bear children for one’s self, but for one’s country. When he reached this stage, he suddenly straightened himself up, and went oa talking, but as if only to himself. His whole heart seemed to go out in words of impassioned tenderness for France, and down that strange face, deeply pitted with smallpox, rolled one big tear after another.

” The women could endure it no longer. Hiding their faces in their aprons, they ran away weeping, not for their children now, but for France.”

Oh, thou great historian we call Michelet, where art thou? At Nervi !

Oh, thou great poet we call Hugo, where art thou? On the Island of Jersey !

Portrait of Danton. Photo-Etching. — From Engraving by Bertonnier. ‘

*«»«^’ *” -_^!^g^

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CHAPTER XXIV.

THE EVE OF SEPTEMBER SECOND.

” When the country is in danger everything belongs to the country,” Danton said, on the 28th of August, in the National Assembly.

At four o’clock on the afternoon of the 29th the gétiérale was beaten. Everybody knew that this meant that the domiciliary visits were about to begin. At the first sound of the drum the aspect of the city underwent an entire change, as if touched by a magic wand. The crowded streets became deserted, and every shop was promptly closed. The gates of the city were guarded. The river was guarded. At one o’clock in the morning the inspection began. The commissioners in each section rapped at the street-door in the name of the law, and the door was opened.

Then they rapped at the door of each suite of rooms, still in the name of the law, and these, too, were opened. Unoccupied lodgings were broken open.

Two thousand muskets were seized, and three thousand persons arrested.

It was considered necessary to inspire terror, and they succeeded.

The result of this measure was a state of things that no one had dreamed of, or had calculated upon only too well.

These domiciliary visits opened the abodes of the rich to the poor. The armed denizens of the faubourgs who followed the magistrates gazed with astonishment upon the glittering splendour and luxurious equipments of mansions which were still occu])icd l)y tlieir owners, as well as of mansions whose owners were absent. From this circum-184 LA COMTESSE DE CHARNY.

stance was developed not a desire for booty, but an increase of liatred.

So little thieving was done that Beaumarchais, who was in prison at the time, states that a woman plucked a rose in his magnificent gardens on the Saint Antoine Boulevard, and that the people wanted to throw her in the water for the offence.

And take notice that at the same time the Commune was voting to punish money-lenders with death.

So we see the Commune was already usurping the functions of the Assembly, and ordaining capital punishment. It also arrogated to itself the right to pardon. It ordered, too, that a list of the prisoners confined therein should be affixed to the door of each prison. This was clearly an appeal to hatred and revenge, for each person could note the number of the cell in which his special enemy was incarcerated.

The Assembly realised whither all this was tending, and saw that it would be obliged to stain its hands with blood in spite of itself. Who was bringing this about? Its enemy, the Commune.

A pretext only was wanting for this antagonism to lead to an open quarrel between the two ruling powers, and this was speedily furnished by a fresh exploit on the part of the Commune.

On August 29th the Commune summoned to its bar Girey Dupre, one of the boldest, because one of the youngest of the Girondists. This was done on account of an article that had appeared in the columns of his journal.

Not having time to flee to the Assembly, Girey Dupre took refuge in the office of the Secretary of War, Huguenin. The President of the Commune gave orders that the office be surrounded and the Girondist editor be taken by force.

The Girondists were still in the majority in the Assembly, and they in turn promptly summoned Huguenin to the bar of the Assembly to answer for the insult offered to one of the representatives of the people.

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Huguenin paid no attention to the summons, however, so on August 30th the Assembly passed a decree dissolving the Communal Council; and, strange to say, this decree of the Assembly derived its strongest support from the general horror of theft.

A member of the Council, or a man who claimed to be such, had stolen a small silver cannon, a gift to Louis XIV. when a child, from the city of Paris.

Cambon, who had been appointed guardian of the public property, heard of this theft, and summoned the accused to the bar of the Assembly. The man did not deny the charge, nor did he offer any excuse, but contented himself with saying that as the valuable toy was likely to be stolen he thought it might as well be in his possession as anywhere else.

The tyranny of the Commune, too, had been obnoxious to many persons, among them Louvet, a very free-sjooken and courageous man, and the president of the Rue des Lombards section, who publicly declared that the Council of the Commune had been guilty of gross usurpation.

Finding themselves thus supported in the stand they had taken, the deputies voted that, as Huguenin would not come to the bar of the Assembly of his own accord, he should be brought there by force, and that a new council must be elected by the sections within twenty-four hours.

This measure passed the Assembly at live o’clock on the afternoon of August 30th.

Let us count the hours now, for we are rapidly nearing the massacre of September 2d.

Though this action was scarcely logical, the Assembly declared that the Commune had rendered the country some valuable service even though its immediate dissolution was thus decreed; for, to tell the truth, the Assembly still felt considerable fear of this formidable foe.

Ornandum, tollendum! was Cicero’s comment in relation toOctavius Cœsar. The Commune followed the example of OctaviuR. Tliough it allowed itself to be thus praised, it would not allow itself to be driven away.

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Two hours after the passage of this decree Tallien, the petty scribbler who boasted of being Dauton’s factotum, and who was secretary of the Commune, proposed to the Themes section to march upon the Lombard section.

This meant civil war, indeed, — not a war of the people against the king, or of the lower classes against the higher, or of plebeians against aristocrats, but of section against section, and citizen against citizen.

Meanwhile Marat and Kobespierre lifted up their voices, — the latter as a member of the Commune , the for-mer as a looker-on.

Marat demanded the massacre of the National Assembly. That was of no consequence, however. It was nothing unusual to hear him make such startling proposals.

Robespierre, the cautious, wily Robespierre, urged that the Commune take up arms not only for defence but for attack. He must have felt that the Commune was very powerful or he would not have dared to make such a suggestion.

And it was, for that very night. Secretary Tallien repaired to the Assembly with three thousand men armed with pikes.

“The Commune, and the Commune alone,” he said, “has elevated the members of the Assembly to the dignity of representatives of a free people. The Commune carried into execution the decree against refractory priests, and arrested men upon whom no one else dared lay a finger; and befo]-e many days the Commune will rid the land of their presence.”

So in the presence of the Assembly that had voted to dissolve it the Commune thus boldly intimated its intention of inaugurating a reign of terror.

We must do the Assembly the justice to say that its indignation was thoroughly aroused. Manuel, the municipal attorney, saw that the Commune was going too far. He had Tallien arrested, and demanded that Huguenin should apologise to the Assembly.

THE EVE OF SEPTEMBEE SECOND. 187

But in spite of all this, he foresaw what was soon to occur. And now hear what this pedant did, — this pedant with his small brain but honest heart.

Beaumarchais, a personal enemy of Manuel, was in the the Abbaye prison. Beaumarchais was a great wit and jester, and many of his keenest shafts of satire had been aimed at Manuel. The idea occurred to Manuel that if Beaumarchais was slain with the other prisoners his mur-der might be attributed to a mean desire for revenge on his, Manuel’s, part, so he ran to the Abbaye and called for Beaumarchais. The prisoner, on seeing him, began to offer some excuse to the victim of his raillery.

“This is no question of journalism or literary criticism,” Manuel exclaimed. ” There is the open door. Save yourself to-day if you don’t want your throat cut to-morrow.”

The author of ” Figaro ” needed no second bidding. He slipped through the open door and disappeared.

Suppose he had hissed Collot d’Herbois, the actor, instead of criticising Manuel, the author ! In that case, you see , Beaumarchais would have been a dead man.

The thirty-first of August arrived, the day which was to decide between the Assembly and the Commune, or, in other words, between moderation and terror.

The Commune was determined to maintain its position at any cost. The Assembly was willing to give place to a new Assembly.

The three powerful factions involved in this contest were the’Assembly, the Commune, and the Jacobins, though the Jacobins and Communists might now be justly regarded as belonging to one party.

Marat and Hébert were both doing their best to arouse ])ublic wrath and increase the desire for revenge. V>ut neither of them went so far as Robespierre, who, being desirous of regaining his former popularity, — he had advised peace when all France was clamouring for war, — far surpassed the most sensational novel in the absurdity of his assertions, even declaring that a powerful ])arty had offered the French throne to the Duke of Brunswick.

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Now, most assuredly, tlie Jacobins did not want Brunswick for a ruler; neither did the Communists. Were the Girondists then the powerful party that desired Brunswick? Surely nothing could be more ridiculous than to suppose that the Girondists would declare war upon Prussia and Austria, and then offer a throne to the commander of their opponents’ armies? And the men Robespierre accused of this absurdity were Roland, Yergniaud, Clavières, Servan, Gensonne, Guadetand Barbaroux, — the staunchest patriots, and, at the same time, the most honest men in France.

But there are times when a man like Robespierre will say anything; and, worse still, there are times when people will believe anything. This was the case on August 31st.

At five o’clock, on the afternoon of the 30th, as we have said before, the Assembly voted for the dissolution of the Communal Council, and this same decree stipulated that a new election should be held in the different sections within twenty-four hours; but jNIarat’s outcries, Hebert’s threats, and Robespierre’s slanders exerted such an influence that the sections dared not vote for a new council, and excused themselves by declaring that the decree had never been officially announced.

About noon, on August 31st, the Assembly was notified that the decree of the previous day was not likely to be obeyed. This would necessitate a resort to force; and what was the result likely to be in that event?

The Commune had a strong hold upon Santerre, through Panis, his brother-in-law; and Panis, it will be remembered, was the ardent admirer of Robespierre, who once proposed to Barbaroux and Rebecqui the appointment of a dictator, and gave them to understand that no one was so well fitted to occupy that exalted position as the incorruptible Robespierre.