In the prisons of Nantes， 3000 out 13，000 prisoners die of typhoid fever and of the rot in two months.[19] 400 priests[20] confined on a vessel between decks， in the roadstead of Aix， stowed on top of each other， wasted with hunger， eaten up by vermin， suffocated for lack of air， half-frozen， beaten， mocked at， and constantly threatened with death， suffer still more than Negroes in a slave-hold； for， through interest in his freight， the captain of the slaver tries to keep his human consignment in good health， whilst， through revolutionary fanaticism， the crew of the Aix vessel detests its cargo of "black-frocks" and would gladly send them to the bottom. - According to this system， which， up to Thermidor 9， grows worse and worse， imprisonment becomes a torture， oftentimes mortal， slower and more painful than the guillotine， and to such an extent that， to escape it， Champfort opens his veins and Condorcet swallows poison.[21]The third expedient consists of murder， with or without trial. - 178 tribunals， of which 40 are ambulatory， pronounce in every part of the territory sentences of death which are immediately executed on the spot.[22] Between April 6， 1793， and Thermidor 9， year II.， (July 27th， 1794) that of Paris has 2，625 persons guillotined，[23] while the provincial judges do as much work as the Paris judges. In the small town of Orange alone， they guillotine 331 persons. In the single town of Arras they have 299 men and 93 women guillotined. At Nantes， the revolutionary tribunals and military committees have， on the average， 100 persons a day guillotined， or shot， in all 1，971. In the city of Lyons the revolutionary committee admit 1，684， while Cadillot， one of Robespierre's correspondents， advises him of 6，000.[24] - The statement of these murders is not complete， but 17，000 have been enumerated，[25] "most of them effected without any formality， evidence or direct charge，" among others the murder of "more than 1200 women， several of whom were octogenarians and infirm；"[26] particularly the murder of 60 women or young girls， condemned to death， say the warrants， for having attended the services of unsworn priests， or for having neglected the services of a sworn priest.
"The accused， ranged in order， were condemned at sight. Hundreds of death-sentences took about a minute per head. Children of seven， five and four years of age， were tried. A father was condemned for the son， and the son for the father. A dog was sentenced to death. Aparrot was brought forward as a witness. Numbers of accused persons whose sentences could not be written out were executed."At Angers， the sentences of over four hundred men and three hundred and sixty women， executed for the purpose of relieving the prisons， were mentioned on the registers simply by the letters S or G (shot or guillotined).[27] At Paris， as in the provinces， the slightest pretext[28] served to constitute a crime. The daughter of the celebrated painter， Joseph Vernet，[29] was guillotined for being a "receiver，" for having kept fifty pounds of candles in her house， distributed among the employees of La Muette by the liquidators of the civil list. Young de Maillé，[30] aged sixteen years， was guillotined as a conspirator， "for having thrown a rotten herring in the face of his jailer， who had served it to him to eat." Madame de Puy-Verin was guillotined as "guilty" because she had not taken away from her deaf， blind and senile husband a bag of card-counters， marked with the royal effigy. - In default of any pretext，[31] there was the supposition of a conspiracy； blank lists were given to paid emissaries， who undertook to search the various prisons and select the requisite number of heads； they wrote names down on them according to their fancy， and these provided the batches for the guillotine.
"As for myself，" said the juryman Vilate， "I am never embarrassed. Iam always convinced. In a revolution， all who appear before this tribunal ought to be condemned." -At Marseilles， the Brutus Commission，[32] "sentencing without public prosecutor or jurymen， sent to the prisons for those it wished to put to death. After having demanded their names， professions and wealth they were sent down to a cart standing at the door of the Palais de Justice； the judges then stepped out on the balcony and pronounced the death-sentence." The same proceedings took place at Cambrai， Arras， Nantes， Le Mans， Bordeaux， N？mes， Lyons， Strasbourg， and elsewhere. -Evidently， the judicial comedy is simply a parade； they make use of it as one of the respectable means， among others less respectable， to exterminate people whose opinions are not what they should be， or who belong to the proscribed classes；[33] Samson， at Paris， and his colleagues in the provinces， the execution-platoons of Lyons and Nantes， are simply the collaborators of murderers properly so called， while legal massacres complete other massacres pure and simple.
Of this latter description， the fusillades of Toulon come first， where the number of those who are shot largely surpasses one thousand；[34]
next the great drownings of Nantes， in which 4，800 men， women and children perished，[35] the other drownings， for which no figures may be given；[36] then the countless popular murders committed in France between July 14， 1789， and August 10， 1792； the massacre of one 1，300prisoners in Paris， in September， 1792； the long train of assassinations which， in July， August and September， 1789， extends over the entire territory； finally， the dispatch of the prisoners， either shot or sabered， without trial at Lyons and in the West. Even excepting those who had died fighting or who， taken with arms in their hands， were shot down or sabered on the spot， there were 10，000persons slaughtered without trial in the province of Anjou alone：[37]