Appointed an officer in the sixth battalion of Aube， he behaved in such a manner in Vendée that， on his return， " his brethren in arms"broke up the banner presented to him， "declaring him unworthy of such an honor， because he cowardly fled before the enemy." Nevertheless， after a short plunge， he came back to the surface and， thanks to his civil compeers， was reinstated in his administrative functions； during the Terror， he was intimate with all the Terrorists， being one of the important men of Troyes. - The mayor of the town， Gachez， an old soldier and ex-schoolmaster， is of the same stuff as this baker's apprentice. He， likewise， was a Vendéan hero； only， he was unable to distinguish himself as much as he liked， for， after enlisting， he failed to march； having pocketed the bounty of three hundred livres， he discovered that he had infirmities and， getting himself invalidated， he served the nation in a civil capacity. "His own partisans admit that he is a drunkard and that he has committed forgery." Some months after Thermidor he is sentenced to eight years imprisonment and put in the pillory for this crime. Hence， "almost the entire commune is against him； the women in the streets jeer him， and the eight sections meet together to request his withdrawal." But Representative B？ reports that he is every way entitled to remain， being a true Jacobin， an admirable terrorist and "the only sans-culotte mayor which the commune of Troyes has to be proud of."[100]
It would be awarding too much honor to men of this stamp， to suppose that they had convictions or principles； they were governed by animosities and especially by their appetites，[101] to satiate which they[102] made the most of their offices. - At Troyes， "all provisions and foodstuffs are drawn upon to supply the table of the twenty-four" sans-culottes[103] to whom B？ entrusted the duty of weeding-out the popular club； before the organization of "this regenerating nucleus" the revolutionary committee， presided over by Rousselin， the civil commissioner， carried on its "gluttony" in the Petit-Louvre tavern， "passing nights bozing" and in the preparation of lists of suspects.[104] In the neighboring provinces of Dijon， Beaune， Semur and Aignayle-Duc， the heads of the municipality and of the club always meet in taverns and bars. At Dijon， we see "the ten or twelve Hercules of patriotism traversing the town， each with a chalice under his arm："[105] this is their drinking-cup； each has to bring his own to the Montagnard inn； there， they imbibe copiously， frequently， and between two glasses of wine "declare who are outlaws." At Aignay-le-Duc， a small town with only half a dozen patriots "the majority of whom can scarcely write， most of them poor， burdened with families， and living without doing anything， never quit the bars， where， night and day， they revel；" their chief， a financial ex-procureur， now "concierge， archivist， secretary and president of the popular club，"holds municipal council in the tavern. "Should they go out it was to chase female aristocrats，" and one of them declares "that if the half of Aignay were slaughtered the other half would be all the better for it." - There is nothing like drinking to excite ferocity to the highest pitch. At Strasbourg the sixty mustachioed propagandist lodged in the college in which they are settled fixtures， have a cook provided for them by the town， and they revel day and night "on the choice provisions put in requisition，" "on wines destined to the defenders of the country."[106] It is， undoubtedly， when coming out from one of these orgies that they proceed， sword in hand， to the popular club，[107] vote and force others to vote "death to all prisoners confined in the Seminary to the number of seven hundred， of every age and of both sexes， without any preliminary trial." For a man to become a good cut-throat， he must first get intoxicated；[108] such was the course pursued in Paris by those who did the work in September： the revolutionary government being an organized， prolonged and permanent Septembrisade， most of its agents are obliged to drink hard.[109] - For the same reasons when the opportunity， as well as the temptation， to steal， presents itself， they steal. - At first， during six months， and up to the decree assigning them pay， the revolutionary committees "take their pay themselves；"[110] they then add to their legal salary of three and five francs a day about what they please：