[177] Mallet du Pan, II. 52. (March 8, 1794). - The titular general of the revolutionary army was Ronsin. "Previous to the Revolution he was a seedy author earning his living and reputation by working for the boulevard stalls. . . One day a person informed him that his staff 'was behaving very badly, acting tyrannically in the most outrageous manner at the theaters and everywhere else, striking women and tearing their bonnets to pieces. Your men commit rape, pillage, and massacre."To which he replied; 'Well, what shall I do? I know that they are a lot of ruffians as well as you do; but those are the follows I need for my revolutionary army. Find me honest people, if you can, that will do that business.'" (Prudhomme, "Crimes de la Révolution," V.
130.)
[178] Buchez et Roux, XXIX. 152.
[179] Beaulieu, "Essais sur la Révolution," V. 200.
[180] Schmidt, II. 85. Report of Dutard, June 24 (on the review of the previous evening) 2A sort of low-class artisan who seemed to me to have been a soldier. . . Apparently he had associated only with disorderly men; I am sure that he would be found fond of gaming, wine, women, and everything that denotes a bad character."[181] Charlotte de Corday d'Armont, 1768 to 1793. Young French girl who knifed Marat in his bath. Adherent of the Revolution, she considered Marat as being responsible for the elimination of the Girondists and the establishment of the terror. She was guillotined.
(SR.)
[182] Lauvergne, "Histoire de la Révolution dans le département du Var," 176. At Toulon "the spirit of counter-revolution was nothing else than the sentiment of self-preservation." It was the same thing at Lyons. (Nolhac, "Souvenir de trois année de la Révolution à Lyon,"p. 14.)[183] Gouverneur Morris, II. 395. Letter of Jan. 21, 1794. "Admitting what has been asserted by persons in a situation to know the truth and deeply interested to prove the contrary, it is an undoubted truth that ninety-nine-hundredths are opposed to all ideas of a dismemberment, and will fight to prevent it.
[184] Mallet du Pan, II. 44.
[185] Carnot, Lazare, Nicolas, 1753-1823, military engineer and mathematician, member of the committee of public safety, organized the armies of the republic and their offensive tactics. (SR).
[186] Among other documents, the following letter will show the quality of these recruits, especially of the recruits of 1791, who were much the best men. (Letter from the municipal officers of Dorat, December 28, 1792, "Archives Nationales," F7, 3275.) "The commune of Dorat is made up of three classes of citizens: The richest class, composed of persons confirmed in the prejudices of the ancient régime, has been disarmed. The second, composed of well-to-do people, fills the administrative positions. It is against them that the fury of the turbulent is aimed; but those of this class who could make resistance have gone to fight the enemy abroad. The third class, and the most numerous, is made up in part of the seditious and in part of laborers, who, not daring to mix in the revolt, content themselves with coveting the tax on grain." - Toulongeon, "Histoire de France depuis la Révolution," IV. 94. "Do not degrade a nation by ascribing base motives to it and a servile fear. Every one, on the contrary, felt himself infused by an exalted instinct for the public welfare." -Gouvion Saint-Cyr, "Mémoires," I. 56: A young man would have blushed to remain at home when the independence of the nation was threatened.
Each one quitted his studies or his profession.
[187] Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, 26. "The manifesto of Brunswick assigns to France more than a hundred battalions, which, within three weeks, were raised, armed, and put in the field."[188] In respect of these sentiments, cf. Gouvion Saint-Cyr, "Mémoires, and Fervel, "Campagnes de la Révolution Fran?aise dans les Pyrénées orientales."[189] Stendhal, Memoires sur Napoléon.
[190] Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, "Memoires," p.43. "Patriotism made up for everything; it alone gave us victory; it supplied our most pressing needs."The French Revolution, Volume 3The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 4by Hippolyte A. Taine