Others， less numerous， ranging from six hundred down to two hundred men， hold Moulins， Grenoble， Besan？on， Belfort， Bourg， Dijon， Strasbourg， Toulouse， Auch and Nantes.3147When， on March 27， 1794， the Committee of Public Safety， threatened by Hébert， has them disbanded for being Hébertists， in any of them are to remain at least as a nucleus， under various forms and names， either as kept by the local administration under the title of "paid guards，"[148] or as disbanded soldiers， loitering about and doing nothing， getting themselves assigned posts of rank in the National Guard of their town on account of their exploits； in this way they keep themselves in service， which is indispensable， for it is through these that the régime is established and lasts. "The revolutionary army，[149] say the orders and decrees promulgated， "is intended to repress anti-revolutionaries， to execute， whenever it is found necessary， revolutionary laws and measures for public safety，" that is to say， "to guard those who are shut up， arrest 'suspects，' demolish chateaux， pull down belfries， ransack vestries for gold and silver objects， seize fine horses and carriages，" and especially " to seek for private stores and monopolies，" in short， to exercise manual constraint and strike every one on the spot with physical terror. - We readily see what sort of soldiers the revolutionary army is composed of.
Naturally， as it is recruited by voluntary enlistment， and all candidates have passed the purifying scrutiny of the clubs， it comprises none but ultra-Jacobins. Naturally， the pay being forty sous a day， it comprises none but the very lowest class. Naturally， as the work is as loathsome as it is atrocious， it comprises but few others[150] than those out of employment and reduced to an enlistment to get a living， "hairdressers without customers， lackeys without places， vagabonds， wretches unable to earn a living by honest labor，""thick and hard hitters" who have acquired the habit of bullying， knocking down and keeping honest folks under their pikes， a gang of confirmed scoundrels making public brigandage a cloak for private brigandage， inhabitants of the slums glad to bring down their former superiors into the mud， and themselves take precedence and strut about in order to prove by their arrogance and self-display that they， in their turn， are princes. - "Take a horse， the nation pays for it！"[151] said the sans-culottes of Bordeaux to their comrades in the street， who， "in a splendid procession，" of three carriages， each drawn by six horses， escorted by a body on horseback， behind， in front， and each side， conducting Riouffe and two other "suspects" to the Réole prison. The commander of the squad who guards prisoners on the way to Paris， and who "starves them along the road to speculate on them，" is an ex-cook of Agen， having become a gendarme； he makes them travel forty leagues extra， "purposely to glorify himself，" and "let all Agen see that he has government money to spend， and that he can put citizens in irons." Accordingly， in Agen， "he keeps constantly and needlessly inspecting the vehicle，" winking at the spectators， "more triumphant than if he had made a dozen Austrians prisoners and brought them along himself." At last， to show the crowd in the street the importance of his capture， he summons two blacksmiths to come out and rivet， on the legs of each prisoner， a cross-bar cannon-ball weighing eighty pounds.[152] The more display these henchmen make of their brutality， the greater they think themselves. At Belfort， a patriot of the club dies， and a civic interment takes place； a detachment of the revolutionary army joins the procession； the men are armed with axes； on reaching the cemetery， the better to celebrate the funeral， "they cut down all the crosses (over the graves) and make a bonfire of them， while the carmagnole ends this ever memorable day."[153] -Sometimes the scene， theatrical and played by the light of flambeaux， makes the actors think that they have performed an extraordinary and meritorious action， "that they have saved the country." "This very night，" writes the agent at Bordeaux，[154] nearly three thousand men have been engaged in an important undertaking， with the members of the Revolutionary Committee and of the municipality at the head of it.
They visited every wholesale dealer's store in town and in the Faubourg des Chartrons， taking possession of their letter-books， sealing up their desks， arresting the merchants and putting them in the Seminiare. . . . Woe to the guilty ！ " - If the prompt confinement of an entire class of individuals is a fine thing for a town， the seizure of a whole town itself is still more imposing.
Leaving Marseilles with a small army，[155] commanded by two sans-culottes， they surround Martigne and enter it as if it were a mill.
The catch is superb； in this town of five thousand souls there are only seventeen patriots； the rest are Federalists or Moderates. Hence a general disarmament and domiciliary visits. The conquerors depart， carrying off every able-bodied boy， "five hundred lads subject to the conscription， and leave in the town a company of sans-culottes to enforce obedience." It is certain that obedience will be maintained and that the garrison， joined to the seventeen patriots， will do as they like with their conquest.