Gorsas， seized in Paris on the 8th of October， is guillotined the same day. Birotteau， seized at Bordeaux， on the 24th of October， mounts the scaffold within twenty-four hours. The others， tracked like wolves， wandering in disguise from one hiding-place to another， and most of them arrested in turn， have only choice of several kinds of death. Cambon is killed in defending himself. Lidon， after having defended himself， blows out his brains， Condorcet takes poison in the guard-room of Bourg-la-Reine. Roland kills himself with his sword on the highway. Clavière stabs himself in prison. Rébecqui is found drowned in the harbor of Marseilles， and Pétion and Buzon half eaten by wolves on a moor of Saint-Emilion. Valady is executed at Périgueux， Dechézeau at Rochefort， Grangeneuve， Guadet， Salle and Barbaroux at Bordeaux， Coustard， Cussy， Rabout-Saint-étienne， Bernard， Masuyer， and Lebrun at Paris. Even those who resigned in January， 1793， Kersaint and Manuel， atone with their lives for the crime of having sided with the "Right" and， of course， Madame Roland， who is taken for the leader of the party， is one of the first to be guillotined.[109] - Of the one-hundred and eighty Girondins who led the Convention， one hundred and forty have perished or are in prison， or fled under sentence of death. After such a curtailment and such an example the remaining deputies cannot be otherwise than docile；[110]
neither in the central nor in the local government will the "Mountain"encounter resistance； its despotism is practically established， and all that remains is to proclaim this in legal form.
XI.
Institutions of the Revolutionary Government. - Its principle， objects， proceedings， tools and structure. - The Committee of Public Safety. - Subordination of the Convention and ministry. - The use of the Committee of General Security and the Revolutionary Tribunal. -Administrative centralization. - Representatives on Mission， National Agents and Revolutionary Committees. - Law of Lése-majesty. -Restoration and Aggravation of the institutions of the old monarchy.
After the 2nd of August， on motion of Bazire， the Convention decrees "that France is in revolution until its independence is recognized."which means[111] that the period of hypocritical phrases has come to an end， that the Constitution was merely a signboard for a fair， and that the charlatans who had made use of it no longer need it， that it is to be put away in the store containing other advertising material， that individual， local and parliamentary liberties are abolished， that the government is arbitrary and absolute， that no institution， law， dogma， or precedent affords any guarantee for it against the rights of the people， that property and lives are wholly at its mercy， that there are no longer any rights of man. - Six weeks later， when， through the protest of the forty-five and the arrest of the seventy-three， obedience to the Convention is assured， all this is boldly and officially announced in the tribune. "Under the present circumstances of the Republic，" says St. Just， "the Constitution cannot be implemented as this would enable attacks on liberty to take place because it would lack the violent measures necessary to repress these." We are no longer to govern "according to maxims of natural peace and justice； these maxims are only valid among the friends of liberty；" but they are not applicable between patriots and the malevolent. The latter are "outside our sovereignty，" are lawless， excluded from the social pact， slaves in rebellion， to be punished or imprisoned， and， amongst the malevolent must be placed "the indifferent[112]". - "You are to punish whoever is passive in the Republic and does nothing for it；" for his passivity is treason and ranks him among other public enemies. Now， between the people and its enemies， there is nothing in common but the sword； steel must control those who cannot be ruled "by justice"； the monarchical and neutral majority must be repressed (comprimé)；"The Republic will be founded only when the sans-culottes，[113] the sole representatives of the nation， the only citizens， "shall rule by right of conquest."[114]
The meaning of this is more than clear. The régime of which St. Just presents the plan， is that by which every oligarchy of invaders installs and maintains itself over a subjugated nation. Through this régime， in Greece， ten thousand Spartans， after the Dorian invasion， mastered three hundred thousand helots and périocques； through this régime， in England， sixty thousand Normans， after the battle of Hastings， mastered two million Saxons； through this régime in Ireland， since the battle of the Boyne， two hundred thousand English Protestants have mastered a million of Catholic Irish； through this régime， the three hundred thousand Jacobins of France will master the seven or eight millions of Girondins， Feuillants， Royalists or Indifferents.