To excite a revolt there， requires the insane demands of Parisian despotism just as it requires the brutal persistence of religious persecution to render the province of la Vendée insurgent. Without the prolonged oppression that weighs down consciences， and the danger to life always imminent， no city or province would have attempted secession. Even under this government of inquisitors and butchers no community， save those of Lyons and La Vendée， makes any sustained effort to break up the State， withdraw from it and live by itself. The national sheaf has been too strongly bound together by secular centralization. One's country exists； and when that country is in danger， when the armed stranger attacks the frontier， one follows the flag-bearer， whoever he may be， whether usurper， adventurer， blackguard， or cut-throat， provided only that he marches in the van and holds the banner with a firm hand.[183] To tear that flag from him， to contest his pretended right， to expel him and replace him by another， would be a complete destruction of the common weal. Brave men sacrifice their own repugnance for the sake of the common good； in order to serve France， they serve her unworthy government. In the committee of war， the engineering and staff officers who give their days to the study of military maps， think of nothing else than of knowing it thoroughly； one of them， d'Arcon， "managed the raising of the siege of Dunkirk， and of the blockade of Maubeuge；[184] nobody excels him in penetration， in practical knowledge， in quick perception and in imagination； it is a spirit of flame， a brain compact of resources. I speak of him， says Mallet du Pan， "from an intimate acquaintance of ten years. He is no more a revolutionnaire than I am."Carnot[185] does even more than this： he gives up his honor when， with his colleagues on the Committee of Public Safety， Billaud-Varennes， Couthon， Saint-Just， Robespierre， he puts his name to decrees which are assassinations. A similar devotion brings recruits into the armies by hundreds of thousands， bourgeois[186] and peasants， from the volunteers of 1791 to the levies of 1793； and the latter class fight not only for France， but also， and more than all， for the Revolution.
For， now that the sword is drawn， the mutual and growing exasperation leaves only the extreme parties in the field. Since the 10th of August， and more especially since the 21st of January， it has no longer been a question how to deal with the ancient regime， of cutting away its dead portions or its troublesome thorns， of accommodating it to modern requirements， of establishing civil equality， a limited monarchy， a parliamentary government. The question is how to escape conquest by armed force to avert the military executions of Brunswick，[187] the vengeance of the proscribed émigrés， the restoration and the aggravation of the old feudal and fiscal order of things. Both through their traditions and their experience， the mass of the country people hate this ancient order， and with all the accumulated hatred which an unceasing and secular spoliation has caused. Irrespective of costs， the rural masses will never again suffer the tax-collector among them， nor the excise man in the cellar， nor the fiscal agent on the frontier. For them the ancient regime is nothing more than these things； and， in fact， they have paid no taxes， or scarcely any， since the beginning of the Revolution. On this matter the people's idea is fixed， positive， unalterable； and as soon as they perceive in the distant future the possible re-establishment of the taille， the tithe， and the seignorial rights， they choose their side；they will fight to the death. -- As to the artisans and lesser bourgeois， their spur is the magnificent prospect of careers， to which the doors are thrown open， of unbounded advancement， of promotion offered to merit； more than all， their illusions are still intact.
Camped out there， facing the enemy， those noble ideals， which in the hands of the Parisian demagogues had turned into sanguinary harlots， remain pure and virginal in the minds of the soldiers and their officers. Liberty， equality， the rights of man， the reign of reason --all these vague and sublime images moved before their eyes when they climbed the escarpment of Jemmapes under a storm of grapeshot， or when they wintered， with naked feet， among the snows of the Vosges. These ideas， in descending from heaven to earth， were not dishonored and distorted under their feet， they did not see them transformed in their hands to frightful caricatures. These men are not pillars of clubs， nor brawlers in the sections， nor the inquisitors of a committee， nor hired informers， nor providers for the scaffold. Apart from the sabbath revolutionaire， brought back to earth by their danger， and having understood the inequality of talents and the need for discipline， they do the work of men； they suffer， they fast， they face bullets， they are conscious of their generosity and their sacrifices；they are heroes， and they look upon themselves as liberators.[188]
They are proud of this. According to an astute observer[189] who knew their survivors，"many of them believed that the French alone were reasonable beings.
. . In our eyes the people in the rest of Europe， who were fighting to keep their chains， were only pitiable imbeciles or knaves sold to the despots who were attacking us. Pitt and Cobourg seemed to us the chiefs of these knaves and the personification of all the treachery and stupidity in the world. . . In 1794 our inmost， serious sentiment was wholly contained in this idea： to be useful to our country； all other things， our clothes， our food， advancement， were poor ephemeral details. As society did not exist， there was no such thing for us as social success， that leading element in the character of our nation.