Some; who are shrewd; think of the more substantial and look out for
the future。 Foremost among these is Tallien; the king of robbers; but
prodigal; whose pockets; full of holes; are only filled to be at once
emptied; Javogues; who makes the most of Montbrison; Rovère; who; for
eighty thousand francs in assignats; has an estate adjudged to him
worth five hundred thousand francs in coin; Fouché; who; in Nièvre;
begins to amass the twelve or fourteen millions which he secures later
on;'144' and so many others; who were either ruined or impoverished
previous to the outbreak of the Revolution; and who are rich when it
ends: Barras with his domain of Gros Bois; André Dumont; with the
Hotel de Plouy; its magnificent furniture; and an estate worth four
hundred thousand livres; Merlin de Thionville; with his country…
houses; equipages; and domain of Mont…Valérien; and other domains;
Salicetti; Reubell; Rousselin; Chateauneuf…Randon; and the rest of the
gluttonous and corrupted members of the Directory。 Without mentioning
the taxes and confiscations of which they render no account; they
have; for their hoard; the ransoms offered underhandedly by 〃suspects〃
and their families; what is more convenient?'145' And all the more;
because the Committee of General Security; even when informed; let
things take their course: to prosecute 〃Montagnards;〃 would be 〃making
the Revolution take a step backward。〃 One is bound to humor useful
servants who have such hard work; like that of the September killings;
to do。 Irregularities; as with these September people; must be
overlooked; it is necessary to allow them a few perquisites and give
them gratuities。'146'
All this would not suffice to keep them at work if they had not been
held by an even greater attraction。 … To the common run of civilized
men; the office of Septembriseur is at first disagreeable; but; after
a little practice; especially with a tyrannical nature; which; under
cover of the theory; or under the pretext of public safety; can
satiate its despotic instincts; all repugnance subsides。 There is
keen delight in the exercise of absolute power; one is glad; every
hour; to assert one's omnipotence and prove it by some act; the most
conclusive of all acts being some act of destruction。 The more
complete; radical and prompt the destruction is; the more conscious
one is of one's strength。 However great the obstacle; one is not
disposed to recede or stand still; one breaks away all the barriers
which men call good sense; humanity; justice; and the satisfaction of
breaking them down is great。 To crush and to subdue becomes
voluptuous pleasure; to which pride gives keener relish; affording a
grateful incense of the holocaust which the despot consumes on his own
altar; at this daily sacrifice; he is both idol and priest; offering
up victims to himself that he may be conscious of his divinity。 …
Such is Saint…Just; all the more a despot because his title of
representative on mission is supported by his rank on the Committee of
Public Safety: to find natures strained to the same pitch as his; we
must leave the modern world and go back to a Caligula; or to a caliph
Hakem in Egypt in the tenth century。'147' He also; like these two
monsters; but with different formulae; regards himself as a God; or
God's vicegerent on earth; invested with absolute power through Truth
incarnated in him; the representative of a mysterious; limitless and
supreme power; known as the People; to worthily represent this power;
it is essential to have a soul of steel。'148' Such is the soul of
Saint…Just; and only that。 All other sentiments merely serve to
harden it; all the metallic agencies that compose it … sensuality;
vanity; every vice; every species of ambition; all the frantic
outbursts and melancholy vaporings of his youth … are violently
commingled and fused together in the revolutionary mold; so that his
soul may take the form and rigidity of trenchant steel。 Suppose this
an animated blade; feeling and willing in conformity with its temper
and structure; it would delight in being brandished; and would need to
strike; such is the need of Saint…Just。 Taciturn; impassible; keeping
people at a distance; as imperious as if the entire will of the people
and the majesty of transcendent reason resided in his person; he seems
to have reduced his passions to the desire of dashing everything to
atoms; and to creating dismay。 It may be said of him that; like the
conquering Tartars; he measures his self…attributed grandeur by what
he fells; no other has so extensively swept away fortunes; liberties
and lives; no other has so terrifically heightened the effect of his
deeds by laconic speech and the suddenness of the stroke。 He orders
the arrest and close confinement of all former nobles; men and women;
in the four departments; in twenty…four hours; he orders the
bourgeoisie of Strasbourg to pay over nine millions in twenty…four
hours; ten thousand persons in Strasbourg must give up their shoes in
twenty…four hours; random and immediate discharges of musketry on the
officers of the Rhine army … such are the measures。'149' So much the
worse for the innocent; there is no time to discern who they are; 〃a
blind man hunting for a pin in a dust…heap takes the whole heap。〃'150'
… And; whatever the order; even when it cannot be executed; so much
the worse for him to whom it is given; for the captain who; directed
by the representative to establish this or that battery in a certain
time; works all night with all his forces; 〃with as many men as the
place will hold。〃'151' The battery not being ready at the hour named;
Saint…Just sends the captain to the guillotine。 … The sovereign
having once given an order it cannot be countermanded; to take back
his words would be weakening himself;'152' in the service of
omnipotence; pride is insatiable; and; to mollify it; no barbaric act
is too great。 … The same appetite is visible in Collot d'Herbois;
who; no longer on the stage; plays before the town the melo…dramatic
tyrant with all becoming ostentation。 One morning; at Lyons; he
directs the revolutionary Tribunal to arrest; examine and sentence a
youthful 〃suspect〃 before the day is over。 〃Towards six o'clock;'153'
Collot being at table enjoying an orgy with prostitutes; buffoons and
executioners; eating and drinking to choice music; one of the judges
of the Tribunal enters; after the usual formalities; he is led up to
the Representative; and informs him that the young man had been
arrested and examined; and the strictest inquiries made concerning
him; he is found irreproachable and the Court decided to set him free。
Collot; without looking at the judge; raises his voice and says to
him:
〃I ordered you to punish that young man and I want him out of the way
before night。 If the innocent are spared; too many of the guilty will
escape。 Go。〃
The music and gaiety begin again; and in an hour the young man is
shot。〃 … And so in most of the other pachalics; if any head mentally
condemned by the pacha escapes or does not fall soon enough; the
latter is indignant at the delays and forms of justice; also against
the judges and juries; often selected by himself。 Javogues writes an
insulting letter to the commission of Feurs which has dared acquit two
former nobles。 Laignelot; Lecarpentier; Michaud; Monestier; Lebon;
dismiss; recompose; or replace the commissions of Fontenoy; Saint…
Malo; and Perpignan; and the tribunals of Pau; N?mes; and Arras; whose
judgments did not please them。'154' Lebon; Bernard de Saintes;
Dartigoyte and Fouché re…arrest prisoners on the same charge; solemnly
acquitted by their own tribunals。 B?; Prieur de la Marne; and Lebon;
send judges and juries to prison that do not always vote death。'155'
Barras and Fréron dispatch; from brigade to brigade; to the
revolutionary Tribunal in Paris; the public prosecutor and president
of the revolutionary Tribunal of Marseilles; for being indulgent to
anti…revolutionaries; because; out of five hundred and twenty…eight
prisoners; they guillotined only one hundred and sixty…two。'156' … To
contradict the infallible Representative! That of itself is an
offense。 He owes it to himself to punish those who are not docile; to
re…arrest absolved delinquents; and to support cruelty with cruelty。
When for a long time someone has been imbibing a strong and nauseating
drink; not only does the palate get accustomed; but it often acquires
a taste for it; it soon wants to have it stronger; finally; it
swallows it pure; completely raw; with no admixture or condiment to
disguise its repulsiveness … Such; to certain imaginations; is the
spectacle of human gore; after getting accustomed to it they take
delight in seeing it。 Lequinio; Laignelot and Lebon invite the
executioner to dine with them;'157' Monestier; 〃with his cut…throats;
is going himself in search of prisoners in the dungeons; so that he
may accompany them to the Tribunal and overwhelm them with charges; if
they are disposed to defend themselves; after their condemnation; he
attends in uniform〃 at their execution。'158' Fouché; lorgnette in
hand; looks out of his window upon a butchery of two hundred and ten
Lyonnese。 Collot; Laporte and Fouché feast together in a large
company on the days when executions by shooting takes place; and; at
each discharge; stand up and cheer lustily; waving their hats。'159'
At Toulon; Fréron; in person; orders and sees executed; the first
grand massacre on the Champ de Mars。'160' … On the Place d'Arras; M。
de Vielfort; already tied and stretched out on the plank; awaits the
fall of the knife。 Lebon appears on the balcony of the theatre; makes
a sign to the executioner to stop; opens the newspaper; and; in a loud
voice; reads off the recent successes of the French armies; then;
turning to the condemned man; exclaims: 〃Go; wretch; and take the news
of ou
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