his local counselors are chosen for him， and the directors of his conscience；[87] they rate him soundly on the choice of his agents or of his lodgings；[88] they force dismissals on him， appointments， arrests， executions； they spur him on in the path of terror and suffering. - Around him are paid emissaries，[89] while others watch him gratis and constantly write to the Committees of Public Safety and General Security， often to denounce him， always to report on his conduct， to judge his measures and to provoke the measures which he does not take.[90]
Whatever he may have done or may do， he cannot turn his eyes toward Paris without seeing danger ahead， a mortal danger which， on the Committee， in the Convention， at the Jacobin Club， increases or will increase against him， like a tempest. - Briez， who， in Valenciennes under siege， showed courage， and whom the Convention had just applauded and added to the Committee of Public Safety， hears himself reproached for being still alive： "He who was at Valenciennes when the enemy took it will never reply to this question - are you dead？"[91]
He has nothing to do now but to declare himself incompetent， decline the honor mistakenly conferred on him by the Convention， and disappear. - Dubois-Crancé took Lyons， and， as pay for this immense service， he is stricken off the roll of the Jacobin Club； because he did not take it quick enough， he is accused of treachery； two days after the capitulation， the Committee of Public Safety withdraw his powers； three days after the capitulation， the Committee of Public Safety has him arrested and sent to Paris under escort.[92] - If such men after such services are thus treated， what is to become of the others？ After the mission of young Julien， then Carrier at Nantes， Ysabeau and Tallien at Bordeaux， feel their heads shake on their shoulders； after the mission of Robespierre jr. in the East and South， Barras， Fréron and Bernard de Saintes believe themselves lost.[93] Fouché， Rovère， Javogue， and how many others， compromised by the faction， Hébertists or Dantonists， of which they are， or were belonging. Sure of perishing if their patrons on the Committee succumb； not sure of living if their patrons keep their place； not knowing whether their heads will not be exchanged for others；restricted to the narrowest， the most rigorous and most constant orthodoxy； guilty and condemned should their orthodoxy of to-day become the heterodoxy of to-morrow. All of them menaced， at first the hundred and eighty autocrats who， before the concentration of the revolutionary government， ruled for eight months boundlessly in the provinces； next， and above all， the fifty hard-fisted "Montagnards，"unscrupulous fanatics or authoritarian high livers， who， at this moment， tread human flesh under foot and spread out in arbitrariness like wild boars in a forest， or wallow in scandal， like swine in a mud-pool.
There is no refuge for them， other than temporary， and temporary refuge only in zealous and tried obedience， such as the Committee demands proof of， that is to say， through rigor. - "The Committees so wanted it，" says later on Maignet， the arsonist of Bédouin； "The Committees did everything. . . . . Circumstances controlled me.
. . . . The patriotic agents conjured me not to give way. . . .
. I did not fully carry out the most imperative orders."[94] Similarly， the great exterminator of Nantes， Carrier， when urged to spare the rebels who surrendered of their own accord：
"Do you want me to be guillotined？ It is not in my power to save those people."[95]
And another time：
"I have my orders； I must observe them； I do not want to have my head cut off！"Under penalty of death， the representative on mission is a Terrorist， like his colleagues in the Convention and on the Committee of Public Safety， but with a much more serious disturbance of his nervous and his moral system； for he does not operate like them on paper， at a distance， against categories of abstract， anonymous and vague beings；his work is not merely an effort of the intellect， but also of the senses and the imagination. If he belongs to the region， like Lecarpentier， Barras， Lebon， Javogue， Couthon， André Dumont and many others， he is well acquainted with the families he proscribes； names to him are not merely so many letters strung together， but they recall personal souvenirs and evoke living forms. At all events， he is the spectator， artisan and beneficiary of his own dictatorship； the silver-plate and money he confiscates passes under his eye， through his hands； he sees the "suspects" he incarcerates march before him； he is in the court-room on the rendering of the sentence of death；frequently， the guillotine he has supplied with heads works under his windows； he sleeps in the mansion of an emigré he makes requisitions for the furniture， linen and wine belonging to the decapitated and the imprisoned，[96] lies in their beds， drinks their wine and revels with plenty of company at their expense， and in their place. In the same way as a bandit chief who neither kills nor robs with his own hands， but has murder and robbery committed in his presence， by which he substantially profits， not by proxy， but personally， through the well-directed blows ordered by him. - To this degree， and in such proximity to physical action， omnipotence is a noxious atmosphere which no state of health can resist. Restored to the conditions which poisoned man in barbarous times or countries， he is again attacked by moral maladies from which he was thenceforth believed to be exempt； he retrogrades even to the strange corruptions of the Orient and the Middle Ages； forgotten leprosies， apparently extinct， with exotic pestilences to which civilized lands seemed closed， reappear in his soul with their issues and tumors.
VII. Brutal Instincts.
Eruption of brutal instincts. - Duquesnoy at Metz. - Dumont at Amiens. - Drunkards. - Cusset， Bourbotte， Moustier， Bourdon de l'Oise， Dartigoyte.