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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois + Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Illinois Benedictine College". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned by Charles Keller with +OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + + + + + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVOLUTION +BY +GUSTAVE LE BON + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION. THE REVISION OF HISTORY +PART I + +THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS + + +BOOK I + +GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REVOLUTIONS + +CHAPTER I. SCIENTIFIC AND POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS +1. Classification of Revolutions +2. Scientific Revolutions +3. Political Revolutions +4. The results of Political Revolutions + +CHAPTER II. RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS +1. The importance of the study of Religious Revolutions in + respect of the comprehension of the great Political + Revolutions +2. The beginnings of the Reformation and its first + disciples +3. Rational value of the doctrines of the Reformation +4. Propagation of the Reformation +5. Conflict between different religious beliefs. The + impossibility of tolerance +6. The results of Religious Revolutions + +CHAPTER III. THE ACTION OF GOVERNMENTS IN REVOLUTIONS +1. The feeble resistance of Governments in time of + Revolution +2. How the resistance of Governments may overcome + Revolution +3. Revolutions effected by Governments. Examples: China, + Turkey, &c +4. Social elements which survive the changes of Government + after Revolution + +CHAPTER IV. THE PART PLAYED BY THE PEOPLE IN REVOLUTIONS +1. The stability and malleability Of the national mind +2. How the People regards Revolution +3. The supposed part of the People during Revolution +4. The popular entity and its constituent elements + +BOOK II + +THE FORMS OF MENTALITY PREVALENT DURING REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER I. INDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS OF CHARACTER IN TIME OF + REVOLUTION +1. Transformations of Personality +2. Elements of character predominant in time of Revolution + +CHAPTER II. THE MYSTIC MENTALITY AND THE JACOBIN MENTALITY +1. Classification of mentalities predominant in time of + Revolution +2. The Mystic Mentality +3. The Jacobin Mentality + +CHAPTER III. THE REVOLUTIONARY AND CRIMINAL MENTALITIES +1. The Revolutionary Mentality +2. The Criminal Mentality + +CHAPTER IV. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS +1. General characteristics of the crowd +2. How the stability of the racial mind limits the + oscillations of the mind of the crowd +3. The role of the leader in Revolutionary Movements + +CHAPTER V. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSEMBLIES +1. Psychological characteristics of the great Revolutionary + Assemblies +2. The Psychology of the Revolutionary Clubs +3. A suggested explanation of the progressive exaggeration + of sentiments in assemblies + +PART II + +BOOK I + +THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER 1. THE OPINIONS OF HISTORIANS CONCERNING THE FRENCH + REVOLUTION +1. The Historians of the Revolution +2. The theory of Fatalism in respect of the Revolution +3. The hesitation of recent Historians of the Revolution +4. Impartiality in History + +CHAPTER II. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE ANCIEN REGIME +1. The Absolute Monarchy and the Basis of the Ancien Regime +2. The inconveniences of the Ancien Regime +3. Life under the Ancien Regime +4. Evolution of Monarchical feeling during the Revolution + +CHAPTER III. MENTAL ANARCHY AT THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTION + AND THE INFLUENCE ATTRIBUTED TO THE PHILOSOPHERS +1. Origin and Propagation of Revolutionary Ideas +2. The supposed influence of the Philosophers of the + eighteenth century upon the Genesis of the Revolution. + Their dislike of Democracy +3. The philosophical ideas of the Bourgeoisie at the time of + the Revolution + +CHAPTER IV. PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLUSIONS RESPECTING THE FRENCH + REVOLUTION +1. Illusions respecting Primitive Man, the return to the + State of Nature, and the Psychology of the People +2. Illusions respecting the possibility of separating Man + from his Past and the power of Transformation attributed + to the Law +3. Illusions respecting the Theoretical Value of the great + Revolutionary Principles + +BOOK II + +THE RATIONAL, AFFECTIVE, MYSTIC, AND COLLECTIVE INFLUENCES ACTIVE +DURING THE REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER I. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY +1. Psychological influences active during the French +Revolution +2. Dissolution of the Ancien Regime. The assembling of + the States General +3. The constituent Assembly + +CHAPTER II. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY +1. Political events during the life of the Legislative + Assembly +2. Mental characteristics of the Legislative Assembly + +CHAPTER III. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CONVENTION +1. The Legend of the Convention +2. Results of the triumph of the Jacobin Religion +3. Mental characteristics of the Convention + +CHAPTER IV. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CONVENTION +1. The activity of the Clubs and the Commune during the + Convention +2. The Government of France during the Convention: the + Terror +3. The End of the Convention. The Beginnings of the + Directory + +CHAPTER V. INSTANCES OF REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE +1. Psychological Causes of Revolutionary Violence +2. The Revolutionary Tribunals +3. The Terror in the Provinces + +CHAPTER VI. THE ARMIES OF THE REVOLUTION +1. The Revolutionary Assemblies and the Armies +2. The Struggle of Europe against the Revolution +3. Psychological and Military Factors which determined the + success of the Revolutionary Armies + +CHAPTER VII. PSYCHOLOGY OF THE LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION + +1. Mentality of the men of the Revolution. The respective + influence of violent and feeble characters +2. Psychology of the Commissaries or Representatives + ``on Mission'' +3. Danton and Robespierre +4. Fouquier-Tinville, Marat, Billaud-Varenne, &c. +5. The destiny of those Members of the Convention who + survived the Revolution + +BOOK III + +THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ANCESTRAL INFLUENCES AND REVOLUTIONARY +PRINCIPLES + +CHAPTER I. THE LAST CONVULSIONS OF ANARCHY. THE DIRECTORY +1. Psychology of the Directory +2. Despotic Government of the Directory. Recrudescence of + the Terror +3. The Advent of Bonaparte +4. Causes of the Duration of the Revolution + +CHAPTER II. THE RESTORATION OF ORDER. THE CONSULAR REPUBLIC +1. How the work of the Revolution was confirmed by the + Consulate +2. The re-organisation of France by the Consulate +3. Psychological elements which determined the success of + the work of the Consulate + +CHAPTER III. POLITICAL RESULTS OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN +TRADITIONS AND THE REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES DURING THE +LAST CENTURY +1. The psychological causes of the continued Revolutionary + Movements to which France has been subject +2. Summary of a century's Revolutionary Movements in France + + +PART III + +THE RECENT EVOLUTION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES + +CHAPTER I. THE PROGRESS OF DEMOCRATIC BELIEFS SINCE THE + REVOLUTION +1. Gradual propagation of Democratic Ideas after the + Revolution +2. The unequal influence of the three fundamental principles + of the Revolution +3. The Democracy of the ``Intellectuals'' and Popular + Democracy +4. Natural Inequalities and Democratic Equalisation + +CHAPTER II. THE RESULTS OF DEMOCRATIC EVOLUTION +1. The influence upon social evolution of theories of no + rational value +2. The Jacobin Spirit and the Mentality created by + Democratic Beliefs +3. Universal Suffrage and its representatives +4. The craving for Reforms +5. Social distinctions in Democracies and Democratic Ideas + in various countries + +CHAPTER III. THE NEW FORMS OF DEMOCRATIC BELIEF +1. The conflict between Capital and Labour +2. The evolution of the Working Classes and the Syndicalist + Movement +3. Why certain modern Democratic Governments are gradually + being transformed into Governments by Administrative + Castes + +CONCLUSIONS + + + + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVOLUTION + +INTRODUCTION + +THE REVISION OF HISTORY + +The present age is not merely an epoch of discovery; it is also a +period of revision of the various elements of knowledge. Having +recognised that there are no phenomena of which the first cause +is still accessible, science has resumed the examination of her +ancient certitudes, and has proved their fragility. To-day she +sees her ancient principles vanishing one by one. Mechanics is +losing its axioms, and matter, formerly the eternal substratum of +the worlds, becomes a simple aggregate of ephemeral forces in +transitory condensation. + +Despite its conjectural side, by virtue of which it to some +extent escapes the severest form of criticism, history has not +been free from this universal revision. There is no longer a +single one of its phases of which we can say that it is certainly +known. What appeared to be definitely acquired is now once more +put in question. + +Among the events whose study seemed completed was the French +Revolution. Analysed by several generations of writers, one +might suppose it to be perfectly elucidated. What new thing can +be said of it, except in modification of some of its details? + +And yet its most positive defenders are beginning to hesitate in +their judgments. Ancient evidence proves to be far from +impeccable. The faith in dogmas once held sacred is shaken. The +latest literature of the Revolution betrays these uncertainties. +Having related, men are more and more chary of drawing +conclusions. + +Not only are the heroes of this great drama discussed without +indulgence, but thinkers are asking whether the new dispensation +which followed the ancien regime would not have established +itself naturally, without violence, in the course of progressive +civilisation. The results obtained no longer seem in +correspondence either with their immediate cost or with the +remoter consequences which the Revolution evoked from the +possibilities of history. + +Several causes have led to the revision of this tragic period. +Time has calmed passions, numerous documents have gradually +emerged from the archives, and the historian is learning to +interpret them independently. + +But it is perhaps modern psychology that has most effectually +influenced our ideas, by enabling us more surely to read men and +the motives of their conduct. + +Among those of its discoveries which are henceforth applicable to +history we must mention, above all, a more profound understanding +of ancestral influences, the laws which rule the actions of the +crowd, data relating to the disaggregation of personality, mental +contagion, the unconscious formation of beliefs, and the +distinction between the various forms of logic. + +To tell the truth, these applications of science, which are +utilised in this book, have not been so utilised hitherto. +Historians have generally stopped short at the study of +documents, and even that study is sufficient to excite the doubts +of which I have spoken. + + +The great events which shape the destinies of peoples-- +revolutions, for example, and the outbreak of religious beliefs-- +are sometimes so difficult to explain that one must limit oneself +to a mere statement. + +From the time of my first historical researches I have been +struck by the impenetrable aspect of certain essential phenomena, +those relating to the genesis of beliefs especially; I felt +convinced that something fundamental was lacking that was +essential to their interpretation. Reason having said all it +could say, nothing more could be expected of it, and other means +must be sought of comprehending what had not been elucidated. + +For a long time these important questions remained obscure to me. +Extended travel, devoted to the study of the remnants of vanished +civilisations, had not done much to throw light upon them. + +Reflecting upon it continually, I was forced to recognise that +the problem was composed of a series of other problems, which I +should have to study separately. This I did for a period of +twenty years, presenting the results of my researches in a +succession of volumes. + +One of the first was devoted to the study of the psychological +laws of the evolution of peoples. Having shown that the +historic races--that is, the races formed by the hazards of +history--finally acquired psychological characteristics as stable +as their anatomical characteristics, I attempted to explain how a +people transforms its institutions, its languages, and its arts. +I explained in the same work why it was that individual +personalities, under the influence of sudden variations of +environment, might be entirely disaggregated. + +But besides the fixed collectivities formed by the peoples, there +are mobile and transitory collectivities known as crowds. Now +these crowds or mobs, by the aid of which the great movements of +history are accomplished, have characteristics absolutely +different from those of the individuals who compose them. What +are these characteristics, and how are they evolved? This new +problem was examined in The Psychology of the Crowd. + +Only after these studies did I begin to perceive certain +influences which had escaped me. + +But this was not all. Among the most important factors of +history one was preponderant--the factor of beliefs. How are +these beliefs born, and are they really rational and voluntary, +as was long taught? Are they not rather unconscious and +independent of all reason? A difficult question, which I dealt +with in my last book, Opinions and Beliefs. + +So long as psychology regards beliefs as voluntary and rational +they will remain inexplicable. Having proved that they are +usually irrational and always involuntary, I was able to propound +the solution of this important problem; how it was that beliefs +which no reason could justify were admitted without +difficulty by the most enlightened spirits of all ages. + +The solution of the historical difficulties which had so long +been sought was thenceforth obvious. I arrived at the conclusion +that beside the rational logic which conditions thought, and was +formerly regarded as our sole guide, there exist very different +forms of logic: affective logic, collective logic, and mystic +logic, which usually overrule the reason and engender the +generative impulses of our conduct. + +This fact well established, it seemed to me evident that if a +great number of historical events are often uncomprehended, it is +because we seek to interpret them in the light of a logic which +in reality has very little influence upon their genesis. + + +All these researches, which are here summed up in a few lines, +demanded long years for their accomplishment. Despairing of +completing them, I abandoned them more than once to return to +those labours of the laboratory in which one is always sure of +skirting the truth and of acquiring fragments at least of +certitude. + +But while it is very interesting to explore the world of material +phenomena, it is still more so to decipher men, for which reason +I have always been led back to psychology. + +Certain principles deduced from my researches appearing likely to +prove fruitful, I resolved to apply them to the study of concrete +instances, and was thus led to deal with the Psychology of +Revolutions--notably that of the French Revolution. + +Proceeding in the analysis of our great Revolution, the +greater part of the opinions determined by the reading of books +deserted me one by one, although I had considered them +unshakable. + +To explain this period we must consider it as a whole, as many +historians have done. It is composed of phenomena simultaneous +but independent of one another. + +Each of its phases reveals events engendered by psychological +laws working with the regularity of clockwork. The actors in +this great drama seem to move like the characters of a previously +determined drama. Each says what he must say, acts as he is +bound to act. + +To be sure, the actors in the revolutionary drama differed from +those of a written drama in that they had not studied their +parts, but these were dictated by invisible forces. + +Precisely because they were subjected to the inevitable +progression of logics incomprehensible to them we see them as +greatly astonished by the events of which they were the heroes as +are we ourselves. Never did they suspect the invisible powers +which forced them to act. They were the masters neither of their +fury nor their weakness. They spoke in the name of reason, +pretending to be guided by reason, but in reality it was by no +means reason that impelled them. + +``The decisions for which we are so greatly reproached,'' wrote +Billaud-Varenne, ``were more often than otherwise not intended or +desired by us two days or even one day beforehand: the crisis +alone evoked them.'' + +Not that we must consider the events of the Revolution as +dominated by an imperious fatality. The readers of our works +will know that we recognise in the man of superior qualities the +role of averting fatalities. But he can dissociate himself +only from a few of such, and is often powerless before the +sequence of events which even at their origin could scarcely be +ruled. The scientist knows how to destroy the microbe before it +has time to act, but he knows himself powerless to prevent the +evolution of the resulting malady. + + +When any question gives rise to violently contradictory opinions +we may be sure that it belongs to the province of beliefs and not +to that of knowledge. + +We have shown in a preceding work that belief, of unconscious +origin and independent of all reason, can never be influenced by +reason. + +The Revolution, the work of believers, has seldom been judged by +any but believers. Execrated by some and praised by others, it +has remained one of those dogmas which are accepted or rejected +as a whole, without the intervention of rational logic. + +Although in its beginnings a religious or political revolution +may very well be supported by rational elements, it is developed +only by the aid of mystic and affective elements which are +absolutely foreign to reason. + +The historians who have judged the events of the French +Revolution in the name of rational logic could not comprehend +them, since this form of logic did not dictate them. As the +actors of these events themselves understood them but ill, we +shall not be far from the truth in saying that our +Revolution was a phenomenon equally misunderstood by those +who caused it and by those who have described it. At no period +of history did men so little grasp the present, so greatly ignore +the past, and so poorly divine the future. + + +. . . The power of the Revolution did not reside in the +principles--which for that matter were anything but novel--which +it sought to propagate, nor in the institutions which it sought +to found. The people cares very little for institutions and even +less for doctrines. That the Revolution was potent indeed, that +it made France accept the violence, the murders, the ruin and the +horror of a frightful civil war, that finally it defended itself +victoriously against a Europe in arms, was due to the fact that +it had founded not a new system of government but a new religion. + +Now history shows us how irresistible is the might of a strong +belief. Invincible Rome herself had to bow before the armies of +nomad shepherds illuminated by the faith of Mahommed. For the +same reason the kings of Europe could not resist the +tatterdemalion soldiers of the Convention. Like all apostles, +they were ready to immolate themselves in the sole end of +propagating their beliefs, which according to their dream were to +renew the world. + +The religion thus founded had the force of other religions, if +not their duration. Yet it did not perish without leaving +indelible traces, and its influence is active still. + + +We shall not consider the Revolution as a clean sweep in +history, as its apostles believed it. We know that to +demonstrate their intention of creating a world distinct from the +old they initiated a new era and professed to break entirely with +all vestiges of the past. + +But the past never dies. It is even more truly within us than +without us. Against their will the reformers of the Revolution +remained saturated with the past, and could only continue, under +other names, the traditions of the monarchy, even exaggerating +the autocracy and centralisation of the old system. Tocqueville +had no difficulty in proving that the Revolution did little but +overturn that which was about to fall. + +If in reality the Revolution destroyed but little it favoured the +fruition of certain ideas which continued thenceforth to develop. + +The fraternity and liberty which it proclaimed never greatly +seduced the peoples, but equality became their gospel: the pivot +of socialism and of the entire evolution of modern democratic +ideas. We may therefore say that the Revolution did not end with +the advent of the Empire, nor with the successive restorations +which followed it. Secretly or in the light of day it has slowly +unrolled itself and still affects men's minds. + + +The study of the French Revolution to which a great part of this +book is devoted will perhaps deprive the reader of more than one +illusion, by proving to him that the books which recount the +history of the Revolution contain in reality a mass of legends +very remote from reality. + +These legends will doubtless retain more life than history +itself. Do not regret this too greatly. It may interest a few +philosophers to know the truth, but the peoples will always +prefer dreams. Synthetising their ideal, such dreams will always +constitute powerful motives of action. One would lose courage +were it not sustained by false ideas, said Fontenelle. Joan of +Arc, the Giants of the Convention, the Imperial epic--all these +dazzling images of the past will always remain sources of hope in +the gloomy hours that follow defeat. They form part of that +patrimony of illusions left us by our fathers, whose power is +often greater than that of reality. The dream, the ideal, the +legend--in a word, the unreal--it is that which shapes history. + + +PART I + +THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ELEMENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS + + + +BOOK I + +GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REVOLUTIONS + +CHAPTER I + +SCIENTIFIC AND POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS + +1. Classification of Revolutions. + +We generally apply the term revolution to sudden political +changes, but the expression may be employed to denote all sudden +transformations, or transformations apparently sudden, whether of +beliefs, ideas, or doctrines. + +We have considered elsewhere the part played by the rational, +affective, and mystic factors in the genesis of the opinions and +beliefs which determine conduct. We need not therefore return to +the subject here. + +A revolution may finally become a belief, but it often commences +under the action of perfectly rational motives: the suppression +of crying abuses, of a detested despotic government, or an +unpopular sovereign, &c. + +Although the origin of a revolution may be perfectly rational, we +must not forget that the reasons invoked in preparing for it do +not influence the crowd until they have been transformed +into sentiments. Rational logic can point to the abuses to be +destroyed, but to move the multitude its hopes must be awakened. +This can only be effected by the action of the affective and +mystic elements which give man the power to act. At the time of +the French Revolution, for example, rational logic, in the hands +of the philosophers, demonstrated the inconveniences of the +ancien regime, and excited the desire to change it. Mystic +logic inspired belief in the virtues of a society created in all +its members according to certain principles. Affective logic +unchained the passions confined by the bonds of ages and led to +the worst excesses. Collective logic ruled the clubs and the +Assemblies and impelled their members to actions which neither +rational nor affective nor mystic logic would ever have caused +them to commit. + +Whatever its origin, a revolution is not productive of results +until it has sunk into the soul of the multitude. Then events +acquire special forms resulting from the peculiar psychology of +crowds. Popular movements for this reason have characteristics +so pronounced that the description of one will enable us to +comprehend the others. + +The multitude is, therefore, the agent of a revolution; but not +its point of departure. The crowd represents an amorphous being +which can do nothing, and will nothing, without a head to lead +it. It will quickly exceed the impulse once received, but it +never creates it. + +The sudden political revolutions which strike the historian most +forcibly are often the least important. The great revolutions +are those of manners and thought. Changing the name of a +government does not transform the mentality of a people. To +overthrow the institutions of a people is not to re-shape its +soul. + +The true revolutions, those which transform the destinies of the +peoples, are most frequently accomplished so slowly that the +historians can hardly point to their beginnings. The term +evolution is, therefore, far more appropriate than revolution. + +The various elements we have enumerated as entering into the +genesis of the majority of revolutions will not suffice to +classify them. Considering only the designed object, we will +divide them into scientific revolutions, political revolutions, +and religious revolutions. + +2. Scientific Revolutions. + + +Scientific revolutions are by far the most important. Although +they attract but little attention, they are often fraught with +remote consequences, such as are not engendered by political +revolutions. We will therefore put them first, although we +cannot study them here. + +For instance, if our conceptions of the universe have profoundly +changed since the time of the Revolution, it is because +astronomical discoveries and the application of experimental +methods have revolutionised them, by demonstrating that +phenomena, instead of being conditioned by the caprices of the +gods, are ruled by invariable laws. + +Such revolutions are fittingly spoken of as evolution, on account +of their slowness. But there are others which, although of the +same order, deserve the name of revolution by reason of their +rapidity: we may instance the theories of Darwin, +overthrowing the whole science of biology in a few years; the +discoveries of Pasteur, which revolutionised medicine during the +lifetime of their author; and the theory of the dissociation of +matter, proving that the atom, formerly supposed to be eternal, +is not immune from the laws which condemn all the elements of the +universe to decline and perish. + +These scientific revolutions in the domain of ideas are purely +intellectual. Our sentiments and beliefs do not affect them. +Men submit to them without discussing them. Their results being +controllable by experience, they escape all criticism. + + +3. Political Revolutions. + + +Beneath and very remote from these scientific revolutions, which +generate the progress of civilisations, are the religious and +political revolutions, which have no kinship with them. While +scientific revolutions derive solely from rational elements, +political and religious beliefs are sustained almost exclusively +by affective and mystic factors. Reason plays only a feeble part +in their genesis. + +I insisted at some length in my book Opinions and Beliefs on +the affective and mystic origin of beliefs, showing that a +political or religious belief constitutes an act of faith +elaborated in unconsciousness, over which, in spite of all +appearances, reason has no hold. I also showed that belief often +reaches such a degree of intensity that nothing can be opposed to +it. The man hypnotised by his faith becomes an Apostle, ready to +sacrifice his interests, his happiness, and even his life for the +triumph of his faith. The absurdity of his belief matters +little; for him it is a burning reality. Certitudes of mystic +origin possess the marvellous power of entire domination over +thought, and can only be affected by time. + +By the very fact that it is regarded as an absolute truth a +belief necessarily becomes intolerant. This explains the +violence, hatred, and persecution which were the habitual +accompaniments of the great political and religious revolutions, +notably of the Reformation and the French Revolution. + +Certain periods of French history remain incomprehensible if we +forget the affective and mystic origin of beliefs, their +necessary intolerance, the impossibility of reconciling them when +they come into mutual contact, and, finally, the power conferred +by mystic beliefs upon the sentiments which place themselves at +their service. + +The foregoing conceptions are too novel as yet to have modified +the mentality of the historians. They will continue to attempt +to explain, by means of rational logic, a host of phenomena which +are foreign to it. + +Events such as the Reformation, which overwhelmed France for a +period of fifty years, were in no wise determined by rational +influences. Yet rational influences are always invoked in +explanation, even in the most recent works. Thus, in the +General History of Messrs. Lavisse and Rambaud, we read the +following explanation of the Reformation:-- + +``It was a spontaneous movement, born here and there amidst the +people, from the reading of the Gospels and the free individual +reflections which were suggested to simple persons by an +extremely pious conscience and a very bold reasoning power.'' + +Contrary to the assertion of these historians, we may say with +certainty, in the first place, that such movements are never +spontaneous, and secondly, that reason takes no part in their +elaboration. + +The force of the political and religious beliefs which have moved +the world resides precisely in the fact that, being born of +affective and mystic elements, they are neither created nor +directed by reason. + +Political or religious beliefs have a common origin and obey the +same laws. They are formed not with the aid of reason, but more +often contrary to all reason. Buddhism, Islamism, the +Reformation, Jacobinism, Socialism, &c., seem very different +forms of thought. Yet they have identical affective and mystic +bases, and obey a logic that has no affinity with rational logic. + +Political revolutions may result from beliefs established in the +minds of men, but many other causes produce them. The word +discontent sums them up. As soon as discontent is generalised a +party is formed which often becomes strong enough to struggle +against the Government. + +Discontent must generally have been accumulating for a long time +in order to produce its effects. For this reason a revolution +does not always represent a phenomenon in process of termination +followed by another which is commencing but rather a continuous +phenomenon, having somewhat accelerated its evolution. All the +modern revolutions, however, have been abrupt movements, +entailing the instantaneous overthrow of governments. Such, for +example, were the Brazilian, Portuguese, Turkish, and Chinese +revolutions. + +To the contrary of what might be supposed, the very conservative +peoples are addicted to the most violent revolutions. Being +conservative, they are not able to evolve slowly, or to adapt +themselves to variations of environment, so that when the +discrepancy becomes too extreme they are bound to adapt +themselves suddenly. This sudden evolution constitutes a +revolution. + +Peoples able to adapt themselves progressively do not always +escape revolution. It was only by means of a revolution that the +English, in 1688, were able to terminate the struggle which had +dragged on for a century between the monarchy, which sought to +make itself absolute, and the nation, which claimed the right to +govern itself through the medium of its representatives. + +The great revolutions have usually commenced from the top, not +from the bottom; but once the people is unchained it is to the +people that revolution owes its might. + +It is obvious that revolutions have never taken place, and will +never take place, save with the aid of an important fraction of +the army. Royalty did not disappear in France on the day when +Louis XVI. was guillotined, but at the precise moment when his +mutinous troops refused to defend him. + +It is more particularly by mental contagion that armies become +disaffected, being indifferent enough at heart to the established +order of things. As soon as the coalition of a few officers had +succeeded in overthrowing the Turkish Government the Greek +officers thought to imitate them and to change their government, +although there was no analogy between the two regimes. + +A military movement may overthrow a government--and in the +Spanish republics the Government is hardly ever destroyed by any +other means--but if the revolution is to be productive of great +results it must always be based upon general discontent and +general hopes. + +Unless it is universal and excessive, discontent alone is not +sufficient to bring about a revolution. It is easy to lead a +handful of men to pillage, destroy, and massacre, but to raise a +whole people, or any great portion of that people, calls for the +continuous or repeated action of leaders. These exaggerate the +discontent; they persuade the discontented that the government is +the sole cause of all the trouble, especially of the prevailing +dearth, and assure men that the new system proposed by them will +engender an age of felicity. These ideas germinate, propagating +themselves by suggestion and contagion, and the moment arrives +when the revolution is ripe. + +In this fashion the Christian Revolution and the French +Revolution were prepared. That the latter was effected in a few +years, while the first required many, was due to the fact that +the French Revolution promptly had an armed force at its +disposal, while Christianity was long in winning material power. +In the beginning its only adepts were the lowly, the poor, and +the slaves, filled with enthusiasm by the prospect of seeing +their miserable life transformed into an eternity of delight. By +a phenomenon of contagion from below, of which history affords us +more than one example, the doctrine finally invaded the upper +strata of the nation, but it was a long time before an +emperor considered the new faith sufficiently widespread to be +adopted as the official religion. + + +4. The Results of Political Revolutions. + + +When a political party is triumphant it naturally seeks to +organise society in accordance with its interests. The +organisation will differ accordingly as the revolution has been +effected by the soldiers, the Radicals, or the Conservatives, &c. + +The new laws and institutions will depend on the interests of the +triumphant party and of the classes which have assisted it--the +clergy for instance. + +If the revolution has triumphed only after a violent struggle, as +was the case with the French Revolution, the victors will reject +at one sweep the whole arsenal of the old law. The supporters of +the fallen regime will be persecuted, exiled, or exterminated. + +The maximum of violence in these persecutions is attained when +the triumphant party is defending a belief in addition to its +material interests. Then the conquered need hope for no pity. +Thus may be explained the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, the +autodafes of the Inquisition, the executions of the +Convention, and the recent laws against the religious +congregations in France. + +The absolute power which is assumed by the victors leads them +sometimes to extreme measures, such as the Convention's decree +that gold was to be replaced by paper, that goods were to be sold +at determined prices, &c. Very soon it runs up against a wall of +unavoidable necessities, which turn opinion against its tyranny, +and finally leave it defenceless before attack, as befell at the +end of the French Revolution. The same thing happened +recently to a Socialist Australian ministry composed almost +exclusively of working-men. It enacted laws so absurd, and +accorded such privileges to the trade unions, that public opinion +rebelled against it so unanimously that in three months it was +overthrown. + +But the cases we have considered are exceptional. The majority +of revolutions have been accomplished in order to place a new +sovereign in power. Now this sovereign knows very well that the +first condition of maintaining his power consists in not too +exclusively favouring a single class, but in seeking to +conciliate all. To do this he will establish a sort of +equilibrium between them, so as not to be dominated by any one of +these classes. To allow one class to become predominant is to +condemn himself presently to accept that class as his master. +This law is one of the most certain of political psychology. The +kings of France understood it very well when they struggled so +energetically against the encroachments first of the nobility and +then of the clergy. If they had not done so their fate would +have been that of the German Emperors of the Middle Ages, who, +excommunicated by the Pope, were reduced, like Henry IV. at +Canossa, to make a pilgrimage and humbly to sue for the Pope's +forgiveness. + +This same law has continually been verified during the course of +history. When at the end of the Roman Empire the military caste +became preponderant, the emperors depended entirely upon their +soldiers, who appointed and deposed them at will. + +It was therefore a great advantage for France that she was so +long governed by a monarch almost absolute, supposed to +hold his power by divine right, and surrounded therefore by a +considerable prestige. Without such an authority he could have +controlled neither the feudal nobility, nor the clergy, nor the +parliaments. If Poland, towards the end of the sixteenth +century, had also possessed an absolute and respected monarchy, +she would not have descended the path of decadence which led to +her disappearance from the map of Europe. + +We have shewn in this chapter that political revolutions may be +accompanied by important social transformations. We shall soon +see how slight are these transformations compared to those +produced by religious revolutions. + + + +CHAPTER II + +RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS + +1. The importance of the study of Religious Revolutions in +respect of the comprehension of the great Political Revolutions. + + +A portion of this work will be devoted to the French Revolution. +It was full of acts of violence which naturally had their +psychological causes. + +These exceptional events will always fill us with astonishment, +and we even feel them to be inexplicable. They become +comprehensible, however, if we consider that the French +Revolution, constituting a new religion, was bound to obey the +laws which condition the propagation of all beliefs. Its fury +and its hecatombs will then become intelligible. + +In studying the history of a great religious revolution, that of +the Reformation, we shall see that a number of psychological +elements which figured therein were equally active during the +French Revolution. In both we observe the insignificant bearing +of the rational value of a belief upon its propagation, the +inefficacy of persecution, the impossibility of tolerance between +contrary beliefs, and the violence and the desperate struggles +resulting from the conflict of different faiths. We also observe +the exploitation of a belief by interests quite independent +of that belief. Finally we see that it is impossible to modify +the convictions of men without also modifying their existence. + +These phenomena verified, we shall see plainly why the gospel of +the Revolution was propagated by the same methods as all the +religious gospels, notably that of Calvin. It could not have +been propagated otherwise. + +But although there are close analogies between the genesis of a +religious revolution, such as the Reformation, and that of a +great political revolution like our own, their remote +consequences are very different, which explains the difference of +duration which they display. In religious revolutions no +experience can reveal to the faithful that they are deceived, +since they would have to go to heaven to make the discovery. In +political revolutions experience quickly demonstrates the error +of a false doctrine and forces men to abandon it. + +Thus at the end of the Directory the application of Jacobin +beliefs had led France to such a degree of ruin, poverty, and +despair that the wildest Jacobins themselves had to renounce +their system. Nothing survived of their theories except a few +principles which cannot be verified by experience, such as the +universal happiness which equality should bestow upon humanity. + + +2. The beginnings of the Reformation and its first disciples. + + +The Reformation was finally to exercise a profound influence upon +the sentiments and moral ideas of a great proportion of mankind. +Modest in its beginnings, it was at first a simple struggle +against the abuses of the clergy, and, from a practical point of +view, a return to the prescriptions of the Gospel. It never +constituted, as has been claimed, an aspiration towards freedom +of thought. Calvin was as intolerant as Robespierre, and all the +theorists of the age considered that the religion of subjects +must be that of the prince who governed them. Indeed in every +country where the Reformation was established the sovereign +replaced the Pope of Rome, with the same rights and the same +powers. + +In France, in default of publicity and means of communication, +the new faith spread slowly enough at first. It was about 1520 +that Luther recruited a few adepts, and only towards 1535 was the +new belief sufficiently widespread for men to consider it +necessary to burn its disciples. + +In conformity with a well-known psychological law, these +executions merely favoured the propagation of the Reformation. +Its first followers included priests and magistrates, but were +principally obscure artisans. Their conversion was effected +almost exclusively by mental contagion and suggestion. + +As soon as a new belief extends itself, we see grouped round it +many persons who are indifferent to the belief, but who find in +it a pretext or opportunity for gratifying their passions or +their greed. This phenomenon was observed at the time of the +Reformation in many countries, notably in Germany and in England. + +Luther having taught that the clergy had no need of wealth, the +German lords found many merits in a faith which enabled them to +seize upon the goods of the Church. Henry VIII. enriched +himself by a similar operation. Sovereigns who were often +molested by the Pope could as a rule only look favourably upon a +doctrine which added religious powers to their political powers +and made each of them a Pope. Far from diminishing the +absolutism of rulers, the Reformation only exaggerated it. + + +3. Rational value of the doctrines of the Reformation. + + +The Reformation overturned all Europe, and came near to ruining +France, of which it made a battle-field for a period of fifty +years. Never did a cause so insignificant from the rational +point of view produce such great results. + +Here is one of the innumerable proofs of the fact that beliefs +are propagated independently of all reason. The theological +doctrines which aroused men's passions so violently, and notably +those of Calvin, are not even worthy of examination in the light +of rational logic. + +Greatly concerned about his salvation, having an excessive fear +of the devil, which his confessor was unable to allay, Luther +sought the surest means of pleasing God that he might avoid Hell. + +Having commenced by denying the Pope the right to sell +indulgences, he presently entirely denied his authority, and that +of the Church, condemned religious ceremonies, confession, and +the worship of the saints, and declared that Christians should +have no rules of conduct other than the Bible. He also +considered that no one could be saved without the grace of God. + +This last theory, known as that of predestination, was in Luther +rather uncertain, but was stated precisely by Calvin, who made it +the very foundation of a doctrine to which the majority of +Protestants are still subservient. According to him: ``From +all eternity God has predestined certain men to be burned and +others to be saved.'' Why this monstrous iniquity? Simply +because ``it is the will of God.'' + +Thus according to Calvin, who for that matter merely developed +certain assertions of St. Augustine, an all-powerful God would +amuse Himself by creating living beings simply in order to burn +them during all eternity, without paying any heed to their acts +or merits. It is marvellous that such revolting insanity could +for such a length of time subjugate so many minds--marvellous +that it does so still.[1] + + + +[1] The doctrine of predestination is still taught in Protestant +catechisms, as is proved by the following passage extracted from +the last edition of an official catechism for which I sent to +Edinburgh: + +``By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some +men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and +others foreordained to everlasting death. + +``These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are +particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so +certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or +diminished. + +``Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before +the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal +and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure +of His will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of +His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or +good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing +in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; +and all to the praise of his glorious grace. + +``As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the +eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the +means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in +Adam, are redeemed by Christ; are effectually called unto faith +in Christ by His spirit working in due season; are justified, +adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto +salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually +called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect +only.'' + + + +The psychology of Calvin is not without affinity with that of +Robespierre. Like the latter, the master of the pure truth, he +sent to death those who would not accept his doctrines. God, he +stated, wishes ``that one should put aside all humanity when it +is a question of striving for his glory.'' + +The case of Calvin and his disciples shows that matters which +rationally are the most contradictory become perfectly reconciled +in minds which are hypnotised by a belief. In the eyes of +rational logic, it seems impossible to base a morality upon the +theory of predestination, since whatever they do men are sure of +being either saved or damned. However, Calvin had no difficulty +in erecting a most severe morality upon this totally illogical +basis. Considering themselves the elect of God, his disciples +were so swollen by pride and the sense of their own dignity that +they felt obliged to serve as models in their conduct. + + +4. Propagation of the Reformation. + + +The new faith was propagated not by speech, still less by process +of reasoning, but by the mechanism described in our preceding +work: that is, by the influence of affirmation, repetition, +mental contagion, and prestige. At a much later date +revolutionary ideas were spread over France in the same fashion. + +Persecution, as we have already remarked, only favoured this +propagation. Each execution led to fresh conversions, as was +seen in the early years of the Christian Church. Anne Dubourg, +Parliamentary councillor, condemned to be burned alive, marched +to the stake exhorting the crowd to be converted. ``His +constancy,'' says a witness, ``made more Protestants among the +young men of the colleges than the books of Calvin.'' + +To prevent the condemned from speaking to the people their +tongues were cut out before they were burned. The horror of +their sufferings was increased by attaching the victims to an +iron chain, which enabled the executioners to plunge them into +the fire and withdraw them several times in succession. + +But nothing induced the Protestants to retract, even the offer of +an amnesty after they had felt the fire. + +In 1535 Francis I., forsaking his previous tolerance, ordered six +fires to be lighted simultaneously in Paris. The Convention, as +we know, limited itself to a single guillotine in the same city. +It is probable that the sufferings of the victims were not very +excruciating; the insensibility of the Christian martyrs had +already been remarked. Believers are hypnotised by their faith, +and we know to-day that certain forms of hypnotism engender +complete insensibility. + +The new faith progressed rapidly. In 1560 there were two +thousand reformed churches in France, and many great lords, at +first indifferent enough, adhered to the new doctrine. + + +5. Conflict between different religious beliefs--Impossibility +of Tolerance. + + +I have already stated that intolerance is always an accompaniment +of powerful religious beliefs. Political and religious +revolutions furnish us with numerous proofs of this fact, and +show us also that the mutual intolerance of sectaries of the same +religion is always much greater than that of the defenders +of remote and alien faiths, such as Islamism and Christianity. +In fact, if we consider the faiths for whose sake France was so +long rent asunder, we shall find that they did not differ on any +but accessory points. Catholics and Protestants adored exactly +the same God, and only differed in their manner of adoring Him. +If reason had played the smallest part in the elaboration of +their belief, it could easily have proved to them that it must be +quite indifferent to God whether He sees men adore Him in this +fashion or in that. + +Reason being powerless to affect the brain of the convinced, +Protestants and Catholics continued their ferocious conflicts. +All the efforts of their sovereigns to reconcile them were in +vain. Catherine de Medicis, seeing the party of the Reformed +Church increasing day by day in spite of persecution, and +attracting a considerable number of nobles and magistrates, +thought to disarm them by convoking at Poissy, in 1561, an +assembly of bishops and pastors with the object of fusing the two +doctrines. Such an enterprise indicated that the queen, despite +her subtlety, knew nothing of the laws of mystic logic. Not in +all history can one cite an example of a belief destroyed or +reduced by means of refutation. Catherine did not even know that +although toleration is with difficulty possible between +individuals, it is impossible between collectivities. Her +attempt failed completely. The assembled theologians hurled +texts and insults at one another's heads, but no one was moved. +Catherine thought to succeed better in 1562 by promulgating an +edict according Protestants the right to unite in the public +celebration of their cult. + +This tolerance, very admirable from a philosophical point of +view, but not at all wise from the political standpoint, had no +other result beyond exasperating both parties. In the Midi, +where the Protestants were strongest, they persecuted the +Catholics, sought to convert them by violence, cut their throats +if they did not succeed, and sacked their cathedrals. In the +regions where the Catholics were more numerous the Reformers +suffered like persecutions. + +Such hostilities as these inevitably engendered civil war. Thus +arose the so-called religious wars, which so long spilled the +blood of France. The cities were ravaged, the inhabitants +massacred, and the struggle rapidly assumed that special quality +of ferocity peculiar to religious or political conflicts, which, +at a later date, was to reappear in the wars of La Vendee. + +Old men, women, and children, all were exterminated. A certain +Baron d'Oppede, first president of the Parliament of Aix, had +already set an example by killing 3,000 persons in the space of +ten days, with refinements of cruelty, and destroying three +cities and twenty-two villages. Montluc, a worthy forerunner of +Carrier, had the Calvinists thrown living into the wells until +these were full. The Protestants were no more humane. They did +not spare even the Catholic churches, and treated the tombs and +statues just as the delegates of the Convention were to treat the +royal tombs of Saint Denis. + +Under the influence of these conflicts France was progressively +disintegrated, and at the end of the reign of Henri III. was +parcelled out into veritable little confederated municipal +republics, forming so many sovereign states. The royal power was +vanishing. The States of Blois claimed to dictate their wishes +to Henri III., who had fled from his capital. In 1577 the +traveller Lippomano, who traversed France, saw important cities-- +Orleans, Tours, Blois, Poitiers--entirely devastated, the +cathedrals and churches in ruins, and the tombs shattered. This +was almost the state of France at the end of the Directory. + +Among the events of this epoch, that which has left the darkest +memory, although it was not perhaps the most murderous, was the +massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, ordered, according to the +historians, by Catherine de Medicis and Charles IX. + +One does not require a very profound knowledge of psychology to +realise that no sovereign could have ordered such an event. St. +Bartholomew's Day was not a royal but a popular crime. Catherine +de Medicis, believing her existence and that of the king +threatened by a plot directed by four or five Protestant leaders +then in Paris, sent men to kill them in their houses, according +to the summary fashion of the time. The massacre which followed +is very well explained by M. Battifol in the following terms:-- + +``At the report of what was afoot the rumour immediately ran +through Paris that the Huguenots were being massacred; Catholic +gentlemen, soldiers of the guard, archers, men of the people, in +short all Paris, rushed into the streets, arms in hand, in order +to participate in the execution, and the general massacre +commenced, to the sound of ferocious cries of `The +Huguenots! Kill, kill!' They were struck down, they were +drowned, they were hanged. All that were known as heretics were +so served. Two thousand persons were killed in Paris.'' + +By contagion, the people of the provinces imitated those of +Paris, and six to eight thousand Protestants were slain. + +When time had somewhat cooled religious passions, all the +historians, even the Catholics, spoke of St. Bartholomew's Day +with indignation. They thus showed how difficult it is for the +mentality of one epoch to understand that of another. + +Far from being criticised, St. Bartholomew's Day provoked an +indescribable enthusiasm throughout the whole of Catholic Europe. + +Philip II. was delirious with joy when he heard the news, and the +King of France received more congratulations than if he had won a +great battle. + +But it was Pope Gregory XIII. above all who manifested the +keenest satisfaction. He had a medal struck to commemorate the +happy event,[2] ordered joy-fires to be lit and cannon fired, +celebrated several masses, and sent for the painter Vasari to +depict on the walls of the Vatican the principal scenes of +carnage. Further, he sent to the King of France an ambassador +instructed to felicitate that monarch upon his fine action. It +is historical details of this kind that enable us to comprehend +the mind of the believer. The Jacobins of the Terror had a +mentality very like that of Gregory XIII. + + + +[2] The medal must have been distributed pretty widely, for the +cabinet of medals at the Bibliotheque Nationale possesses +three examples: one in gold, one in silver, and one in copper. +This medal, reproduced by Bonnani in his Numism. Pontific. +(vol. i. p. 336), represents on one side Gregory XIII., and on +the other an angel striking Huguenots with a sword. The exergue +is Ugonotorum strages, that is, Massacre of the Huguenots. +(The word strages may be translated by carnage or massacre, a +sense which it possesses in Cicero and Livy; or again by +disaster, ruin, a sense attributed to it in Virgil and Tacitus.) + + + +Naturally the Protestants were not indifferent to such a +hecatomb, and they made such progress that in 1576 Henri III. was +reduced to granting them, by the Edict of Beaulieu, entire +liberty of worship, eight strong places, and, in the Parliaments, +Chambers composed half of Catholics and half of Huguenots. + +These forced concessions did not lead to peace. A Catholic +League was created, having the Duke of Guise at its head, and the +conflict continued. But it could not last for ever. We know how +Henri IV. put an end to it, at least for a time, by his +abjuration in 1593, and by the Edict of Nantes. + +The struggle was quieted but not terminated. Under Louis XIII. +the Protestants were still restless, and in 1627 Richelieu was +obliged to besiege La Rochelle, where 15,000 Protestants +perished. Afterwards, possessing more political than religious +feeling, the famous Cardinal proved extremely tolerant toward the +Reformers. + +This tolerance could not last. Contrary beliefs cannot come into +contact without seeking to annihilate each other, as soon as one +feels capable of dominating the other. Under Louis XIV. the +Protestants had become by far the weaker, and were forced to +renounce the struggle and live at peace. Their number was then +about 1,200,000, and they possessed more than 600 churches, +served by about 700 pastors. The presence of these +heretics on French soil was intolerable to the Catholic clergy, +who endeavoured to persecute them in various ways. As these +persecutions had little result, Louis XIV. resorted to +dragonnading them in 1685, when many individuals perished, but +without further result. Under the pressure of the clergy, +notably of Bossuett, the Edict of Nantes was revoked, and the +Protestants were forced to accept conversion or to leave France. +This disastrous emigration lasted a long time, and is said to +have cost France 400,000 inhabitants, men of notable energy, +since they had the courage to listen to their conscience rather +than their interests. + + +6. The results of Religious Revolutions. + + +If religious revolutions were judged only by the gloomy story of +the Reformation, we should be forced to regard them as highly +disastrous. But all have not played a like part, the civilising +influence of certain among them being considerable. + +By giving a people moral unity they greatly increase its material +power. We see this notably when a new faith, brought by +Mohammed, transforms the petty and impotent tribes of Arabia into +a formidable nation. + +Such a new religious belief does not merely render a people +homogeneous. It attains a result that no philosophy, no code +ever attained: it sensibly transforms what is almost +unchangeable, the sentiments of a race. + +We see this at the period when the most powerful religious +revolution recorded by history overthrew paganism to substitute a +God who came from the plains of Galilee. The new ideal demanded +the renunciation of all the joys of existence in order to +acquire the eternal happiness of heaven. No doubt such an ideal +was readily accepted by the poor, the enslaved, the disinherited +who were deprived of all the joys of life here below, to whom an +enchanting future was offered in exchange for a life without +hope. But the austere existence so easily embraced by the poor +was also embraced by the rich. In this above all was the power +of the new faith manifested. + +Not only did the Christian revolution transform manners: it also +exercised, for a space of two thousand years, a preponderating +influence over civilisation. Directly a religious faith triumphs +all the elements of civilisation naturally adapt themselves to +it, so that civilisation is rapidly transformed. Writers, +artists and philosophers merely symbolise, in their works, the +ideas of the new faith. + +When any religious or political faith whatsoever has triumphed, +not only is reason powerless to affect it, but it even finds +motives which impel it to interpret and so justify the faith in +question, and to strive to impose it upon others. There were +probably as many theologians and orators in the time of Moloch, +to prove the utility of human sacrifices, as there were at other +periods to glorify the Inquisition, the massacre of St. +Bartholomew, and the hecatombs of the Terror. + +We must not hope to see peoples possessed by strong beliefs +readily achieve tolerance. The only people who attained to +toleration in the ancient world were the polytheists. The +nations which practise toleration at the present time are those +that might well be termed polytheistical, since, as in England +and America, they are divided into innumerable sects. +Under identical names they really adore very different deities. + +The multiplicity of beliefs which results in such toleration +finally results also in weakness. We therefore come to a +psychological problem not hitherto resolved: how to possess a +faith at once powerful and tolerant. + +The foregoing brief explanation reveals the large part played by +religious revolutions and the power of beliefs. Despite their +slight rational value they shape history, and prevent the peoples +from remaining a mass of individuals without cohesion or +strength. Man has needed them at all times to orientate his +thought and guide his conduct. No philosophy has as yet +succeeded in replacing them. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ACTION OF GOVERNMENTS IN REVOLUTIONS + +1. The feeble resistance of Governments in time of Revolution. + +Many modern nations--France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland, +Japan, Turkey, Portugal, &c.--have known revolutions within the +last century. These were usually characterised by their +instantaneous quality and the facility with which the governments +attacked were overthrown. + +The instantaneous nature of these revolutions is explained by the +rapidity of mental contagion due to modern methods of publicity. +The slight resistance of the governments attacked is more +surprising. It implies a total inability to comprehend and +foresee created by a blind confidence in their own strength. + +The facility with which governments fall is not however a new +phenomenon. It has been proved more than once, not only in +autocratic systems, which are always overturned by palace +conspiracies, but also in governments perfectly instructed in the +state of public opinion by the press and their own agents. + +Among these instantaneous downfalls one of the most striking was +that which followed the Ordinances of Charles X. This monarch +was, as we know, overthrown in four days. His minister +Polignac had taken no measures of defence, and the king was so +confident of the tranquillity of Paris that he had gone hunting. +The army was not in the least hostile, as in the reign of Louis +XVI., but the troops, badly officered, disbanded before the +attacks of a few insurgents. + +The overthrow of Louis-Philippe was still more typical, since it +did not result from any arbitrary action on the part of the +sovereign. This monarch was not surrounded by the hatred which +finally surrounded Charles X., and his fall was the result of an +insignificant riot which could easily have been repressed. + +Historians, who can hardly comprehend how a solidly constituted +government, supported by an imposing army, can be overthrown by a +few rioters, naturally attributed the fall of Louis-Philippe to +deep-seated causes. In reality the incapacity of the generals +entrusted with his defence was the real cause of his fall. + +This case is one of the most instructive that could be cited, and +is worthy of a moment's consideration. It has been perfectly +investigated by General Bonnal, in the light of the notes of an +eye-witness, General Elchingen. Thirty-six thousand troops were +then in Paris, but the weakness and incapacity of their officers +made it impossible to use them. Contradictory orders were given, +and finally the troops were forbidden to fire on the people, who, +moreover--and nothing could have been more dangerous--were +permitted to mingle with the troops. The riot succeeded without +fighting and forced the king to abdicate. + +Applying to the preceding case our knowledge of the +psychology of crowds, General Bonnal shows how easily the riot +which overthrew Louis-Philippe could have been controlled. He +proves, notably, that if the commanding officers had not +completely lost their heads quite a small body of troops could +have prevented the insurgents from invading the Chamber of +Deputies. This last, composed of monarchists, would certainly +have proclaimed the Count of Paris under the regency of his +mother. + +Similar phenomena were observable in the revolutions of Spain and +Portugal. + +These facts show the role of petty accessory circumstances +in great events, and prove that one must not speak too readily of +the general laws of history. Without the riot which overthrew +Louis-Philippe, we should probably have seen neither the Republic +of 1848, nor the Second Empire, nor Sedan, nor the invasion, nor +the loss of Alsace. + +In the revolutions of which I have just been speaking the army +was of no assistance to the government, but did not turn against +it. It sometimes happens otherwise. It is often the army which +effects the revolution, as in Turkey and Portugal. The +innumerable revolutions of the Latin republics of America are +effected by the army. + +When a revolution is effected by an army the new rulers naturally +fall under its domination. I have already recalled the fact that +this was the case at the end of the Roman Empire, when the +emperors were made and unmade by the soldiery. + +The same thing has sometimes been witnessed in modern times. The +following extract from a newspaper, with reference to the +Greek revolution, shows what becomes of a government dominated by +its army:-- + +``One day it was announced that eighty officers of the navy would +send in their resignations if the government did not dismiss the +leaders of whom they complained. Another time it was the +agricultural labourers on a farm (metairie) belonging to the +Crown Prince who demanded the partition of the soil among them. +The navy protested against the promotion promised to Colonel +Zorbas. Colonel Zorbas, after a week of discussion with +Lieutenant Typaldos, treated with the President of the Council as +one power with another. During this time the Federation of the +corporations abused the officers of the navy. A deputy demanded +that these officers and their families should be treated as +brigands. When Commander Miaoulis fired on the rebels, the +sailors, who first of all had obeyed Typaldos, returned to duty. +This is no longer the harmonious Greece of Pericles and +Themistocles. It is a hideous camp of Agramant.'' + +A revolution cannot be effected without the assistance or at +least the neutrality of the army, but it often happens that the +movement commences without it. This was the case with the +revolutions of 1830 and 1848, and that of 1870, which overthrew +the Empire after the humiliation of France by the surrender of +Sedan. + +The majority of revolutions take place in the capitals, and by +means of contagion spread through the country; but this is not a +constant rule. We know that during the French Revolution La +Vendee, Brittany, and the Midi revolted spontaneously against +Paris. + + +2. How the resistance of Governments may overcome Revolution. + + +In the greater number of the revolutions enumerated above, we +have seen governments perish by their weakness. As soon as they +were touched they fell. + +The Russian Revolution proved that a government which defends +itself energetically may finally triumph. + +Never was revolution more menacing to the government. After the +disasters suffered in the Orient, and the severities of a too +oppressive autocratic regime, all classes of society, including a +portion of the army and the fleet, had revolted. The railways, +posts, and telegraph services had struck, so that communications +between the various portions of the vast empire were interrupted. + +The rural class itself, forming the majority of the nation, began +to feel the influence of the revolutionary propaganda. The lot +of the peasants was wretched. They were obliged, by the system +of the mir, to cultivate soil which they could not acquire. The +government resolved immediately to conciliate this large class of +peasants by turning them into proprietors. Special laws forced +the landlords to sell the peasants a portion of their lands, and +banks intended to lend the buyers the necessary purchase-money +were created. The sums lent were to be repaid by small annuities +deducted from the product of the sale of the crops. + +Assured of the neutrality of the peasants, the government could +contend with the fanatics who were burning the towns, throwing +bombs among the crowds, and waging a merciless warfare. All +those who could be taken were killed. Such extermination is the +only method discovered since the beginning of the world by which +a society can be protected against the rebels who wish to destroy +it. + +The victorious government understood moreover the necessity of +satisfying the legitimate claims of the enlightened portion of +the nation. It created a parliament instructed to prepare laws +and control expenditure. + +The history of the Russian Revolution shows us how a government, +all of whose natural supports have crumbled in succession, can, +with wisdom and firmness, triumph over the most formidable +obstacles. It has been very justly said that governments are not +overthrown, but that they commit suicide. + + +3. Revolutions effected by Governments.--Examples: +China, Turkey, &c. + + +Governments almost invariably fight revolutions; they hardly ever +create them. Representing the needs of the moment and general +opinion, they follow the reformers timidly; they do not precede +them. Sometimes, however, certain governments have attempted +those sudden reforms which we know as revolutions. The stability +or instability of the national mind decrees the success or +failure of such attempts. + +They succeed when the people on whom the government seeks to +impose new institutions is composed of semi-barbarous tribes, +without fixed laws, without solid traditions; that is to say, +without a settled national mind. Such was the condition of +Russia in the days of Peter the Great. We know how he sought to +Europeanise the semi-Asiatic populations by means of force. + +Japan is another example of a revolution effected by a +government, but it was her machinery, not her mind that was +reformed. + +It needs a very powerful autocrat, seconded by a man of genius, +to succeed, even partially, in such a task. More often than not +the reformer finds that the whole people rises up against him. +Then, to the contrary of what befalls in an ordinary revolution, +the autocrat is revolutionary and the people is conservative. +But an attentive study will soon show you that the peoples are +always extremely conservative. + +Failure is the rule with these attempts. Whether effected by the +upper classes or the lower, revolutions do not change the souls +of peoples that have been a long time established. They only +change those things that are worn by time and ready to fall. + +China is at the present time making a very interesting but +impossible experiment, in seeking, by means of the government, +suddenly to renew the institutions of the country. The +revolution which overturned the dynasty of her ancient sovereigns +was the indirect consequence of the discontent provoked by +reforms which the government had sought to impose with a view to +ameliorating the condition of China. The suppression of opium +and gaming, the reform of the army, and the creation of schools, +involved an increase of taxation which, as well as the reforms +themselves, greatly indisposed the general opinion. + +A few cultured Chinese educated in the schools of Europe profited +by this discontent to raise the people and proclaim a republic, +an institution of which the Chinese could have had no conception. + +It surely cannot long survive, for the impulse which has given +birth to it is not a movement of progress, but of reaction. The +word republic, to the Chinaman intellectualised by his European +education, is simply synonymous with the rejection of the yoke of +laws, rules, and long-established restraints. Cutting off his +pigtail, covering his head with a cap, and calling himself a +Republican, the young Chinaman thinks to give the rein to all his +instincts. This is more or less the idea of a republic that a +large part of the French people entertained at the time of the +great Revolution. + +China will soon discover the fate that awaits a society deprived +of the armour slowly wrought by the past. After a few years of +bloody anarchy it will be necessary to establish a power whose +tyranny will inevitably be far severer than that which was +overthrown. Science has not yet discovered the magic ring +capable of saving a society without discipline. There is no need +to impose discipline when it has become hereditary, but when the +primitive instincts have been allowed to destroy the barriers +painfully erected by slow ancestral labours, they cannot be +reconstituted save by an energetic tyranny. + +As a proof of these assertions we may instance an experiment +analogous to that undertaken by China; that recently attempted by +Turkey. A few years ago young men instructed in European schools +and full of good intentions succeeded, with the aid of a +number of officers, in overthrowing a Sultan whose tyranny seemed +insupportable. Having acquired our robust Latin faith in the +magic power of formulae, they thought they could establish the +representative system in a country half-civilised, profoundly +divided by religious hatred, and peopled by divers races. + +The attempt has not prospered hitherto. The authors of the +reformation had to learn that despite their liberalism they were +forced to govern by methods very like those employed by the +government overthrown. They could neither prevent summary +executions nor wholesale massacres of Christians, nor could they +remedy a single abuse. + +It would be unjust to reproach them. What in truth could they +have done to change a people whose traditions have been fixed so +long, whose religious passions are so intense, and whose +Mohammedans, although in the minority, legitimately claim to +govern the sacred city of their faith according to their code? +How prevent Islam from remaining the State religion in a country +where civil law and religious law are not yet plainly separated, +and where faith in the Koran is the only tie by which the idea of +nationality can be maintained? + +It was difficult to destroy such a state of affairs, so that we +were bound to see the re-establishment of an autocratic +organisation with an appearance of constitutionalism--that is to +say, practically the old system once again. Such attempts afford +a good example of the fact that a people cannot choose its +institutions until it has transformed its mind. + + +4. Social elements which survive the changes of Government after +Revolution. + + +What we shall say later on as to the stable foundation of the +national soul will enable us to appreciate the force of systems +of government that have been long established, such as ancient +monarchies. A monarch may easily be overthrown by conspirators, +but these latter are powerless against the principles which the +monarch represents. Napoleon at his fall was replaced not by his +natural heir, but by the heir of kings. The latter incarnated an +ancient principle, while the son of the Emperor personified ideas +that were as yet imperfectly established in men's minds. + +For the same reason a minister, however able, however great the +services he has rendered to his country, can very rarely +overthrow his Sovereign. Bismarck himself could not have done +so. This great minister had single-handed created the unity of +Germany, yet his master had only to touch him with his finger and +he vanished. A man is as nothing before a principle supported by +opinion. + +But even when, for various reasons, the principle incarnated by a +government is annihilated with that government, as happened at +the time of the French Revolution, all the elements of social +organisation do not perish at the same time. + +If we knew nothing of France but the disturbances of the last +hundred years and more we might suppose the country to live in a +state of profound anarchy. Now her economic, industrial, and +even her political life manifests, on the contrary, a continuity +that seems to be independent of all revolutions and governments. + +The fact is that beside the great events of which history treats +are the little facts of daily life which the books neglect to +tell. They are ruled by imperious necessities which halt for no +man. Their total mass forms the real framework of the life of +the people. + +While the study of great events shows us that the nominal +government of France has been frequently changed in the space of +a century, an examination of the little daily events will prove, +on the contrary, that her real government has been little +altered. + +Who in truth are the real rulers of a people? Kings and +ministers, no doubt, in the great crises of national life, but +they play no part whatever in the little realities which make up +the life of every day. The real directing forces of a country +are the administrations, composed of impersonal elements which +are never affected by the changes of government. Conservative of +traditions, they are anonymous and lasting, and constitute an +occult power before which all others must eventually bow. Their +action has even increased to such a degree that, as we shall +presently show, there is a danger that they may form an anonymous +State more powerful than the official State. France has thus +come to be governed by heads of departments and government +clerks. The more we study the history of revolutions the more we +discover that they change practically nothing but the label. To +create a revolution is easy, but to change the soul of a people +is difficult indeed. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PART PLAYED BY THE PEOPLE IN REVOLUTIONS + +1. The stability and malleability of the national mind. + +The knowledge of a people at any given moment of its history +involves an understanding of its environment and above all of its +past. Theoretically one may deny that past, as did the men of +the Revolution, as many men of the present day have done, but its +influence remains indestructible. + +In the past, built up by slow accumulations of centuries, was +formed the aggregation of thoughts, sentiments, traditions, and +prejudices constituting the national mind which makes the +strength of a race. Without it no progress is possible. Each +generation would necessitate a fresh beginning. + +The aggregate composing the soul of a people is solidly +established only if it possesses a certain rigidity, but this +rigidity must not pass a certain limit, or there would be no such +thing as malleability. + +Without rigidity the ancestral soul would have no fixity, and +without malleability it could not adapt itself to the changes of +environment resulting from the progress of civilization. + +Excessive malleability of the national mind impels a people to +incessant revolutions. Excess of rigidity leads it to +decadence. Living species, like the races of humanity, disappear +when, too fixedly established by a long past, they become +incapable of adapting themselves to new conditions of existence. + +Few peoples have succeeded in effecting a just equilibrium +between these two contrary qualities of stability and +malleability. The Romans in antiquity and the English in modern +times may be cited among those who have best attained it. + +The peoples whose mind is most fixed and established often effect +the most violent revolutions. Not having succeeded in evolving +progressively, in adapting themselves to changes of environment, +they are forced to adapt themselves violently when such +adaptation becomes indispensable. + +Stability is only acquired very slowly. The history of a race is +above all the story of its long efforts to establish its mind. +So long as it has not succeeded it forms a horde of barbarians +without cohesion and strength. After the invasions of the end of +the Roman Empire France took several centuries to form a national +soul. + +She finally achieved one; but in the course of centuries this +soul finally became too rigid. With a little more malleability, +the ancient monarchy would have been slowly transformed as it was +elsewhere, and we should have avoided, together with the +Revolution and its consequences, the heavy task of remaking a +national soul. + +The preceding considerations show us the part of race in the +genesis of revolutions, and explain why the same revolutions will +produce such different effects in different countries; why, for +example, the ideas of the French Revolution, welcomed with +such enthusiasm by some peoples, were rejected by others. + +Certainly England, although a very stable country, has suffered +two revolutions and slain a king; but the mould of her mental +armour was at once stable enough to retain the acquisitions of +the past and malleable enough to modify them only within the +necessary limits. Never did England dream, as did the men of the +French Revolution, of destroying the ancestral heritage in order +to erect a new society in the name of reason. + +``While the Frenchman,'' writes M. A. Sorel, ``despised his +government, detested his clergy, hated the nobility, and revolted +against the laws, the Englishman was proud of his religion, his +constitution, his aristocracy, his House of Lords. These were +like so many towers of the formidable Bastille in which he +entrenched himself, under the British standard, to judge Europe +and cover her with contempt. He admitted that the command was +disputed inside the fort, but no stranger must approach.'' + +The influence of race in the destiny of the peoples appears +plainly in the history of the perpetual revolutions of the +Spanish republics of South America. Composed of half-castes, +that is to say, of individuals whose diverse heredities have +dissociated their ancestral characteristics, these populations +have no national soul and therefore no stability. A people of +half-castes is always ungovernable. + +If we would learn more of the differences of political capacity +which the racial factor creates we must examine the same nation +as governed by two races successively. + +The event is not rare in history. It has been manifested in a +striking manner of late in Cuba and the Philippines, which passed +suddenly from the rule of Spain to that of the United States. + +We know in what anarchy and poverty Cuba existed under Spanish +rule; we know, too, to what a degree of prosperity the island was +brought in a few years when it fell into the hands of the United +States. + +The same experience was repeated in the Philippines, which for +centuries had been governed by Spain. Finally the country was no +more than a vast jungle, the home of epidemics of every kind, +where a miserable population vegetated without commerce or +industry. After a few years of American rule the country was +entirely transformed: malaria, yellow fever, plague and cholera +had entirely disappeared. The swamps were drained; the country +was covered with railways, factories and schools. In thirteen +years the mortality was reduced by two-thirds. + +It is to such examples that we must refer the theorist who has +not yet grasped the profound significance of the word race, and +how far the ancestral soul of a people rules over its destiny. + + +2. How the people regards Revolution. + + +The part of the people has been the same in all revolutions. It +is never the people that conceives them nor directs them. Its +activity is released by means of leaders. + +Only when the direct interests of the people are involved do we +see, as recently in Champagne, any fraction of the people rising +spontaneously. A movement thus localised constitutes a mere +riot. + +Revolution is easy when the leaders are very influential. Of +this Portugal and Brazil have recently furnished proofs. But new +ideas penetrate the people very slowly indeed. Generally it +accepts a revolution without knowing why, and when by chance it +does succeed in understanding why, the revolution is over long +ago. + +The people will create a revolution because it is persuaded to do +so, but it does not understand very much of the ideas of its +leaders; it interprets them in its own fashion, and this fashion +is by no means that of the true authors of the revolution. The +French Revolution furnished a striking example of this fact. + +The Revolution of 1789 had as its real object the substitution of +the power of the nobility by that of the bourgeoisie; that is, +an old elite which had become incapable was to be replaced +by a new elite which did possess capacity. + +There was little question of the people in this first phase of +the Revolution. The sovereignty of the people was proclaimed, +but it amounted only to the right of electing its +representatives. + +Extremely illiterate, not hoping, like the middle classes, to +ascend the social scale, not in any way feeling itself the equal +of the nobles, and not aspiring ever to become their equal, the +people had views and interests very different to those of the +upper classes of society. + +The struggles of the assembly with the royal power led it to call +for the intervention of the people in these struggles. It +intervened more and more, and the bourgeois revolution rapidly +became a popular revolution. + +An idea having no force of its own, and acting only by virtue of +possessing an affective and mystic substratum which supports it, +the theoretical ideas of the bourgeoisie, before they could act +on the people, had to be transformed into a new and very definite +faith, springing from obvious practical interests. + +This transformation was rapidly effected when the people heard +the men envisaged by it as the Government assuring it that it was +the equal of its former masters. It began to regard itself as a +victim, and proceeded to pillage, burn, and massacre, imagining +that in so doing it was exercising a right. + +The great strength of the revolutionary principles was that they +gave a free course to the instincts of primitive barbarity which +had been restrained by the secular and inhibitory action of +environment, tradition, and law. + +All the social bonds that formerly contained the multitude were +day by day dissolving, so that it conceived a notion of unlimited +power, and the joy of seeing its ancient masters ferreted out and +despoiled. Having become the sovereign people, were not all +things permissible to it? + +The motto of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, a true manifestation +of hope and faith at the beginning of the Revolution, soon merely +served to cover a legal justification of the sentiments of +jealousy, cupidity, and hatred of superiors, the true motives of +crowds unrestrained by discipline. This is why the Revolution so +soon ended in disorder, violence, and anarchy. + +From the moment when the Revolution descended from the middle to +the lower classes of society, it ceased to be a domination of the +instinctive by the rational, and became, on the contrary, +the effort of the instinctive to overpower the rational. + +This legal triumph of the atavistic instincts was terrible. The +whole effort of societies an effort indispensable to their +continued existence--had always been to restrain, thanks to the +power of tradition, customs, and codes, certain natural instincts +which man has inherited from his primitive animality. It is +possible to dominate them--and the more a people does overcome +them the more civilised it is--but they cannot be destroyed. The +influence of various exciting causes will readily result in their +reappearance. + +This is why the liberation of popular passions is so dangerous. +The torrent, once escaped from its bed, does not return until it +has spread devastation far and wide. ``Woe to him who stirs up +the dregs of a nation,'' said Rivarol at the beginning of the +Revolution. ``There is no age of enlightenment for the +populace.'' + + +3. The supposed Part of the People during Revolution. + + +The laws of the psychology of crowds show us that the people +never acts without leaders, and that although it plays a +considerable part in revolutions by following and exaggerating +the impulses received, it never directs its own movements. + +In all political revolutions we discover the action of leaders. +They do not create the ideas which serve as the basis of +revolutions, but they utilise them as a means of action. Ideas, +leaders, armies, and crowds constitute four elements which all +have their part to play in revolutions. + +The crowd, roused by the leaders, acts especially by means of its +mass. Its action is comparable to that of the shell which +perforates an armour-plate by the momentum of a force it did not +create. Rarely does the crowd understand anything of the +revolutions accomplished with its assistance. It obediently +follows its leaders without even trying to find out what they +want. It overthrew Charles X. because of his Ordinances without +having any idea of the contents of the latter, and would have +been greatly embarrassed had it been asked at a later date why it +overthrew Louis-Philippe. + +Deceived by appearances, many authors, from Michelet to Aulard, +have supposed that the people effected our great Revolution. + +``The principal actor,'' said Michelet, ``is the people.'' + +``It is an error to say,'' writes M. Aulard, ``that the French +Revolution was effected by a few distinguished people or a few +heroes. . . . I believe that in the whole history of the period +included between 1789 and 1799 not a single person stands out who +led or shaped events: neither Louis XVI. nor Mirabeau nor Danton +nor Robespierre. Must we say that it was the French people that +was the real hero of the French Revolution? Yes--provided we see +the French people not as a multitude but as a number of organised +groups.'' + +And in a recent work M. A. Cochin insists on this conception of +popular action. + +``And here is the wonder: Michelet is right. In proportion as +we know them better the facts seem to consecrate the fiction: +this crowd, without chiefs and without laws, the very image of +chaos, did for five years govern and command, speak and act, with +a precision, a consistency, and an entirety that were +marvellous. Anarchy gave lessons in order and discipline to the +defeated party of order . . . twenty-five millions of men, spread +over an area of 30,000 square leagues, acted as one.'' + +Certainly if this simultaneous conduct of the people had been +spontaneous, as the author supposes, it would have been +marvellous. M. Aulard himself understands very well the +impossibilities of such a phenomenon, for he is careful, in +speaking of the people, to say that he is speaking of groups, and +that these groups may have been guided by leaders:-- + +``And what, then, cemented the national unity? Who saved this +nation, attacked by the king and rent by civil war? Was it +Danton? Was it Robespierre? Was it Carnot? Certainly these +individual men were of service: but unity was in fact maintained +and independence assured by the grouping of the French into +communes and popular societies--people's clubs. It was the +municipal and Jacobin organisation of France that forced the +coalition of Europe to retreat. But in each group, if we look +more closely, there were two or three individuals more capable +than the rest, who, whether leaders or led, executed decisions +and had the appearance of leaders, but who (if, for instance, we +read the proceedings of the people's clubs) seem to us to have +drawn their strength far more from their group than from +themselves. + +M. Aulard's mistake consists in supposing that all these groups +were derived ``from a spontaneous movement of fraternity and +reason.'' France at that time was covered with thousands of +little clubs, receiving a single impulsion from the great +Jacobin Club of Paris, and obeying it with perfect docility. +This is what reality teaches us, though the illusions of the +Jacobins do not permit them to accept the fact.[3] + + + +[3] In the historical manuals which M. Aulard has prepared for +the use of classes in collaboration with M. Debidour the +role attributed to the people as an entity is even more +marked. We see it intervening continually and spontaneously; +here are a few examples:-- + +The ``Day'' of June the 20th: ``The king dismissed the +Girondist members. The people of Paris, indignant, rose +spontaneously and invaded the Tuileries.'' + +The ``Day'' of August 10th: ``The Legislative Assembly dared +not overthrow it; it was the people of Paris, aided by the +Federals of the Departments, who effected this revolution at the +price of its blood.'' + +The conflict of the Girondists and the Mountain: ``This +discord in the face of the enemy was dangerous. The people put +an end to it on the days of the 31st of May and the 2nd of June, +1793, when it forced the Convention to expel the leaders of the +Gironde from its midst and to decree their arrest.'' + + + +4. The Popular Entity and its Constituent Elements. + + +In order to answer to certain theoretical conceptions the people +was erected into a mystic entity, endowed with all the powers and +all the virtues, incessantly praised by the politicians, and +overwhelmed with flattery. We shall see what we are to make of +this conception of the part played by the people in the French +Revolution. + +To the Jacobins of this epoch, as to those of our own days, this +popular entity constitutes a superior personality possessing the +attributes, peculiar to divinities, of never having to answer for +its actions and never making a mistake. Its wishes must be +humbly acceded. The people may kill, burn, ravage, commit the +most frightful cruelties, glorify its hero to-day and throw him +into the gutter to-morrow; it is all one; the politicians will +not cease to vaunt its virtues, its high wisdom, and to bow to +its every decision.[4] + + + +[4] These pretensions do at least seem to be growing untenable to +the more advanced republicans. + +``The rage with the socialists'' writes M. Clemenceau, ``is to +endow with all the virtues, as though by a superhuman reason, the +crowd whose reason cannot be much to boast of.'' The famous +statesman might say more correctly that reason not only cannot be +prominent in the crowd but is practically nonexistent. + + + + +Now in what does this entity really consist, this mysterious +fetich which revolutionists have revered for more than a century? + +It may be decomposed into two distinct categories. The first +includes the peasants, traders, and workers of all sorts who need +tranquillity and order that they may exercise their calling. +This people forms the majority, but a majority which never caused +a revolution. Living in laborious silence, it is ignored by the +historians. + +The second category, which plays a capital part in all national +disturbances, consists of a subversive social residue dominated +by a criminal mentality. Degenerates of alcoholism and poverty, +thieves, beggars, destitute ``casuals,'' indifferent workers +without employment--these constitute the dangerous bulk of the +armies of insurrection. + +The fear of punishment prevents many of them from becoming +criminals at ordinary times, but they do become criminals as soon +as they can exercise their evil instincts without danger. + +To this sinister substratum are due the massacres which stain all +revolutions. + +It was this class which, guided by its leaders, continually +invaded the great revolutionary Assemblies. These regiments of +disorder had no other ideal than that of massacre, pillage, and +incendiarism. Their indifference to theories and principles was +complete. + +To the elements recruited from the lowest dregs of the populace +are added, by way of contagion, a host of idle and indifferent +persons who are simply drawn into the movement. They shout +because there are men shouting, and revolt because there is a +revolt, without having the vaguest idea of the cause of shouting +or revolution. The suggestive power of their environment +absolutely hypnotises them, and impels them to action. + +These noisy and maleficent crowds, the kernel of all +insurrections, from antiquity to our own times, are the only +crowds known to the orator. To the orator they are the sovereign +people. As a matter of fact this sovereign people is principally +composed of the lower populace of whom Thiers said:-- + +``Since the time when Tacitus saw it applaud the crimes of the +emperors the vile populace has not changed. These barbarians who +swarm at the bottom of societies are always ready to stain the +people with every crime, at the beck of every power, and to the +dishonour of every cause.'' + +At no period of history was the role of the lowest elements +of the population exercised in such a lasting fashion as in the +French Revolution. + +The massacres began as soon as the beast was unchained--that is, +from 1789, long before the Convention. They were carried +out with all possible refinements of cruelty. During the killing +of September the prisoners were slowly chopped to bits by sabre- +cuts in order to prolong their agonies and amuse the spectators, +who experienced the greatest delight before the spectacle of the +convulsions of the victims and their shrieks of agony. + +Similar scenes were observed all over France, even in the early +days of the Revolution, although the foreign war did not excuse +them then, nor any other pretext. + +From March to September a whole series of burnings, killings, and +pillagings drenched all France in blood. Taine cites one hundred +and twenty such cases. Rouen, Lyons, Strasbourg, &c., fell into +the power of the populace. + +The Mayor of Troyes, his eyes destroyed by blows of scissors, was +murdered after hours of suffering. The Colonel of Dragoons +Belzuce was cut to pieces while living. In many places the +hearts of the victims were torn out and carried about the cities +on the point of a pike. + +Such is the behaviour of the base populace so soon as imprudent +hands have broken the network of constraints which binds its +ancestral savagery. It meets with every indulgence because it is +in the interests of the politicians to flatter it. But let us +for a moment suppose the thousands of beings who constitute it +condensed into one single being. The personality thus formed +would appear as a cruel and narrow and abominable monster, more +horrible than the bloodiest tyrants of history. + +This impulsive and ferocious people has always been easily +dominated so soon as a strong power has opposed it. If its +violence is unlimited, so is its servility. All the despotisms +have had it for their servant. The Caesars are certain of +being acclaimed by it, whether they are named Caligula, Nero, +Marat, Robespierre, or Boulanger. + +Beside these destructive hordes whose action during revolution is +capital, there exists, as we have already remarked, the mass of +the true people, which asks only the right to labour. It +sometimes benefits by revolutions, but never causes them. The +revolutionary theorists know little of it and distrust it, aware +of its traditional and conservative basis. The resistant nucleus +of a country, it makes the strength and continuity of the latter. + +Extremely docile through fear, easily influenced by its leaders, +it will momentarily commit every excess while under their +influence, but the ancestral inertia of the race will soon take +charge again, which is the reason why it so quickly tires of +revolution. Its traditional soul quickly incites it to oppose +itself to anarchy when the latter goes too far. At such times it +seeks the leader who will restore order. + +This people, resigned and peaceable, has evidently no very lofty +nor complicated political conceptions. Its governmental ideal is +always very simple, is something very like dictatorship. This is +why, from the times of the Greeks to our own, dictatorship has +always followed anarchy. It followed it after the first +Revolution, when Bonaparte was acclaimed, and again when, despite +opposition, four successive plebiscites raised Louis Napoleon to +the head of the republic, ratified his coup d'etat, +re-established the Empire, and in 1870, before the war, approved +of his rule. + +Doubtless in these last instances the people was deceived. But +without the revolutionary conspiracies which led to disorder, it +would not have been impelled to seek the means of escape +therefrom. + +The facts recalled in this chapter must not be forgotten if we +wish fully to comprehend the various roles of the people +during revolution. Its action is considerable, but very unlike +that imagined by the legends whose repetition alone constitutes +their vitality. + + + +BOOK II + +THE FORMS OF MENTALITY PREVALENT DURING REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER I + +INDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS OF CHARACTER IN TIME OF REVOLUTION + +1. Transformations of Personality. + +I have dwelt at length elsewhere upon a certain theory of +character, without which it is absolutely impossible to +understand divers transformations or inconsistencies of conduct +which occur at certain moments, notably in time of revolution. +Here are the principal points of this theory: + +Every individual possesses, besides his habitual mentality, +which, when the environment does not alter, is almost constant, +various possibilities of character which may be evoked by passing +events. + +The people who surround us are the creatures of certain +circumstances, but not of all circumstances. Our ego consists of +the association of innumerable cellular egos, the residues of +ancestral personalities. By their combination they form an +equilibrium which is fairly permanent when the social environment +does not vary. As soon as this environment is considerably +modified, as in time of insurrection, this equilibrium is broken, +and the dissociated elements constitute, by a fresh aggregation, +a new personality, which is manifested by ideas, feelings, and +actions very different from those formerly observed in the same +individual. Thus it is that during the Terror we see honest +bourgeois and peaceful magistrates who were noted for their +kindness turned into bloodthirsty fanatics. + +Under the influence of environment the old personality may +therefore give place to one entirely new. For this reason the +actors in great religious and political crises often seem of a +different essence to ourselves; yet they do not differ from us; +the repetition of the same events would bring back the same men. + +Napoleon perfectly understood these possibilities of character +when he said, in Saint Helena:-- + +``It is because I know just how great a part chance plays in our +political decisions, that I have always been without prejudices, +and very indulgent as to the part men have taken during our +disturbances. . . . In time of revolution one can only say what +one has done; it would not be wise to say that one could not have +done otherwise. . . . Men are difficult to understand if we want +to be just. . . . Do they know themselves? Do they account for +themselves very clearly? There are virtues and vices of +circumstance.'' + +When the normal personality has been disaggregated under the +influence of certain events, how does the new personality form +itself? By several means, the most active of which is the +acquisition of a strong belief. This orientates all the elements +of the understanding, as the magnet collects into regular +curves the filings of a magnetic metal. + +Thus were formed the personalities observed in times of great +crises: the Crusades, the Reformation, the Revolution notably. + +At normal times the environment varies little, so that as a rule +we see only a single personality in the individuals that surround +us. Sometimes, however, it happens that we observe several, +which in certain circumstances may replace one another. + +These personalities may be contradictory and even inimical. This +phenomenon, exceptional under normal conditions, is considerably +accentuated in certain pathological conditions. Morbid +psychology has recorded several examples of multiple personality +in a single subject, such as the cases cited by Morton Prince and +Pierre Janet. + +In all these variations of personality it is not the intelligence +which is modified, but the feelings, whose association forms the +character. + + +2. Elements of Character Predominant in Time of Revolution. + + +During revolution we see several sentiments developed which are +commonly repressed, but to which the destruction of social +constraints gives a free vent. + +These constraints, consisting of the law, morality, and +tradition, are not always completely broken. Some survive the +upheaval and serve to some extent to damp the explosion of +dangerous sentiments. + +The most powerful of these restraints is the soul of the race. +This determines a manner of seeing, feeling, and willing +common to the majority of the individuals of the same people; it +constitutes a hereditary custom, and nothing is more powerful +than the ties of custom. + +This racial influence limits the variations of a people and +determines its destiny within certain limits in spite of all +superficial changes. + +For example, to take only the instances of history, it would seem +that the mentality of France must have varied enormously during a +single century. In a few years it passed from the Revolution to +Caesarism, returned to the monarchy, effected another +Revolution, and then summoned a new Caesar. In reality only +the outsides of things had changed. + +We cannot insist further here on the limits of national +variability, but must now consider the influence of certain +affective elements, whose development during revolution +contributes to modify individual or collective personalities. In +particular I will mention hatred, fear, ambition, jealousy or +envy, vanity, and enthusiasm. We observe their influence during +several of the upheavals of history, notably during the course of +the French Revolution, which will furnish us with most of our +examples. + +Hatred.--The hatred of persons, institutions, and things which +animated the men of the Revolution is one of these affective +phenomena which are the more striking the more one studies their +psychology. They detested, not only their enemies, but the +members of their own party. ``If one were to accept +unreservedly,'' said a recent writer, ``the judgments which they +expressed of one another, we should have to conclude that they +were all traitors and boasters, all incapable and corrupt, +all assassins or tyrants.'' We know with what hatred, scarcely +appeased by the death of their enemies, men persecuted the +Girondists, Dantonists, Hebertists, Robespierrists, &c. + +One of the chief causes of this feeling resided in the fact that +these furious sectaries, being apostles in possession of the +absolute verity, were unable, like all believers, to tolerate the +sight of infidels. A mystic or sentimental certitude is always +accompanied by the need of forcing itself on others, is never +convinced, and does not shrink from wholesale slaughter when it +has the power to commit it. + +If the hatreds that divided the men of the Revolution had been of +rational origin they would not have lasted long, but, arising +from affective and mystic factors, men could neither forget nor +forgive. Their sources being identical in the different parties, +they manifested themselves on every hand with identical violence. + +It has been proved, by means of documents, that the Girondists +were no less sanguinary than the Montagnards. They were the +first to declare, with Petion, that the vanquished parties +should perish. They also, according to M. Aulard, attempted to +justify the massacres of September. The Terror must not be +considered simply as a means of defence, but as the general +process of destruction to which triumphant believers have always +treated their detested enemies. Men who can put up with the +greatest divergence of ideas cannot tolerate differences of +belief. + +In religious or political warfare the vanquished can hope for no +quarter. From Sulla, who cut the throats of two hundred senators +and five or six thousand Romans, to the men who suppressed the +Commune, and shot down more than twenty thousand after +their victory, this bloody law has never failed. Proved over and +over again in the past, it will doubtless be so in the future. + +The hatreds of the Revolution did not arise entirely from +divergence of belief. Other sentiments--envy, ambition, and +self-love--also engendered them. The rivalry of individuals +aspiring to power led the chiefs of the various groups in +succession to the scaffold. + +We must remember, moreover, that the need of division and the +hatred resulting therefrom seem to be constituent elements of the +Latin mind. They cost our Gaulish ancestors their independence, +and had already struck Caesar. + +``No city,'' he said, ``but was divided into two factions; no +canton, no village, no house in which the spirit of party did not +breathe. It was very rarely that a year went by without a city +taking up arms to attack or repulse its neighbours.'' + +As man has only recently entered upon the age of knowledge, and +has always hitherto been guided by sentiments and beliefs, we may +conceive the vast importance of hatred as a factor of his +history. + +Commandant Colin, professor at the College of War, remarks in the +following terms on the importance of this feeling during certain +wars:-- + +``In war more than at any other time there is no better inspiring +force than hatred; it was hatred that made Blucher victorious +over Napoleon. Analyse the most wonderful manoeuvres, the most +decisive operations, and if they are not the work of an +exceptional man, a Frederick or a Napoleon, you will find they +are inspired by passion more than by calculation. What +would the war of 1870 have been without the hatred which we bore +the Germans?'' + +The writer might have added that the intense hatred of the +Japanese for the Russians, who had so humiliated them, might be +classed among the causes of their success. The Russian soldiers, +ignorant of the very existence of the Japanese, had no animosity +against them, which was one of the reasons of their failure. + +There was assuredly a good deal of talk of fraternity at the time +of the Revolution, and there is even more to-day. Pacificism, +humanitarianism, and solidarity have become catchwords of the +advanced parties, but we know how profound are the hatreds +concealed beneath these terms, and what dangers overhang our +modern society. + +Fear.--Fear plays almost as large a part in revolutions as +hatred. During the French Revolution there were many examples of +great individual courage and many exhibitions of collective +cowardice. + +Facing the scaffold, the men of the Convention were always brave +in the extreme; but before the threats of the rioters who invaded +the Assembly they constantly exhibited an excessive +pusillanimity, obeying the most absurd injunctions, as we shall +see if we re-read the history of the revolutionary Assemblies. + +All the forms of fear were observed at this period. One of the +most widespread was the fear of appearing moderate. Members of +the Assemblies, public prosecutors, representatives ``on +mission,'' judges of the revolutionary tribunals, &c., all sought +to appear more advanced than their rivals. Fear was one of the +principal elements of the crimes committed at this period. +If by some miracle it could have been eliminated from the +revolutionary Assemblies, their conduct would have been quite +other than it was, and the Revolution itself would have taken a +very different direction. + +Ambition, Envy, Vanity, &c.--In normal times the influence of +these various affective elements is forcibly contained by social +necessities. Ambition, for instance, is necessarily limited in a +hierarchical form of society. Although the soldier does +sometimes become a general, it is only after a long term of +service. In time of revolution, on the other hand, there is no +need to wait. Every one may reach the upper ranks almost +immediately, so that all ambitions are violently aroused. The +humblest man believes himself fitted for the highest employments, +and by this very fact his vanity grows out of all measure. + +All the passions being more or less aroused, including ambition +and vanity, we see the development of jealousy and envy of those +who have succeeded more quickly than others. + +The effect of jealousy, always important in times of revolution, +was especially so during the great French Revolution. Jealousy +of the nobility constituted one of its most important factors. +The middle classes had increased in capacity and wealth, to the +point of surpassing the nobility. Although they mingled with the +nobles more and more, they felt, none the less, that they were +held at a distance, and this they keenly resented. This frame of +mind had unconsciously made the bourgeoisie keen supporters of +the philosophic doctrine of equality. + +Wounded self-love and jealousy were thus the causes of +hatreds that we can scarcely conceive today, when the social +influence of the nobility is so small. Many members of the +Convention--Carrier, Marat, and others--remembered with anger +that they had once occupied subordinate positions in the +establishments of great nobles. Mme. Roland was never able to +forget that, when she and her mother were invited to the house of +a great lady under the ancien regime, they had been sent to +dine in the servants' quarters. + +The philosopher Rivarol has very well described in the following +passage, already cited by Taine, the influence of wounded self- +love and jealousy upon the revolutionary hatreds:-- + +``It is not,'' he writes, ``the taxes, nor the lettres de +cachet, nor any of the other abuses of authority; it is not the +sins of the intendants, nor the long and ruinous delays of +justice, that has most angered the nation; it is the prejudices +of the nobility for which it has exhibited the greatest hatred. +What proves this clearly is the fact that it is the bourgeois, +the men of letters, the men of money, in fact all those who are +jealous of the nobility, who have raised the poorer inhabitants +of the cities against them, and the peasants in the country +districts.'' + +This very true statement partly justifies the saying of Napoleon: + +``Vanity made the Revolution; liberty was only the pretext.'' + +Enthusiasm.--The enthusiasm of the founders of the Revolution +equalled that of the apostles of the faith of Mohammed. And it +was really a religion that the bourgeois of the first Assembly +thought to found. They thought to have destroyed an old +world, and to have built a new one upon its ruins. Never +did illusion more seductive fire the hearts of men. Equality and +fraternity, proclaimed by the new dogmas, were to bring the reign +of eternal happiness to all the peoples. Man had broken for ever +with a past of barbarity and darkness. The regenerated world +would in future be illuminated by the lucid radiance of pure +reason. On all hands the most brilliant oratorical formulae +saluted the expected dawn. + +That this enthusiasm was so soon replaced by violence was due to +the fact that the awakening was speedy and terrible. One can +readily conceive the indignant fury with which the apostles of +the Revolution attacked the daily obstacles opposed to the +realisation of their dreams. They had sought to reject the past, +to forget tradition, to make man over again. But the past +reappeared incessantly, and men refused to change. The +reformers, checked in their onward march, would not give in. +They sought to impose by force a dictatorship which speedily made +men regret the system abolished, and finally led to its return. + +It is to be remarked that although the enthusiasm of the first +days did not last in the revolutionary Assemblies, it survived +very much longer in the armies, and constituted their chief +strength. To tell the truth, the armies of the Revolution were +republican long before France became so, and remained republican +long after France had ceased to be so. + +The variations of character considered in this chapter, being +conditioned by certain common aspirations and identical changes +of environment, finally became concrete in a small number +of fairly homogeneous mentalities. Speaking only of the more +characteristic, we may refer them to four types: the Jacobin, +mystic, revolutionary, and criminal mentalities. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MYSTIC MENTALITY AND THE JACOBIN MENTALITY + +1. Classification of Mentalities predominant in Time of +Revolution. + +The classifications without which the study of the sciences is +impossible must necessarily establish the discontinuous in the +continuous, and for that reason are to a certain extent +artificial. But they are necessary, since the continuous is only +accessible in the form of the discontinuous. + +To create broad distinctions between the various mentalities +observable in time of revolution, as we are about to do, is +obviously to separate elements which encroach upon one another, +which are fused or superimposed. We must resign ourselves to +losing a little in exactitude in order to gain in lucidity. The +fundamental types enumerated at the end of the preceding chapter, +and which we are about to describe, synthetise groups which would +escape analysis were we to attempt to study them in all their +complexity. + +We have shown that man is influenced by different logics, which +under normal conditions exist in juxtaposition, without mutually +influencing one another. Under the action of various events they +enter into mutual conflict, and the irreducible differences +which divide them are visibly manifested, involving considerable +individual and social upheavals. + +Mystic logic, which we shall presently consider as it appears in +the Jacobin mind, plays a very important part. But it is not +alone in its action. The other forms of logic--affective logic, +collective logic, and rational logic--may predominate according +to circumstances. + + +2. The Mystic Mentality. + + +Leaving aside for the moment the influence of affective, +rational, and collective logic, we will occupy ourselves solely +with the considerable part played by the mystic elements which +have prevailed in so many revolutions, and notably in the French +Revolution. + +The chief characteristic of the mystic temperament consists in +the attribution of a mysterious power to superior beings or +forces, which are incarnated in the form of idols, fetiches, +words, or formulae. + +The mystic spirit is at the bottom of all the religious and most +political beliefs. These latter would often vanish could we +deprive them of the mystic elements which are their chief +support. + +Grafted on the sentiments and passionate impulses which it +directs, mystic logic constitutes the might of the great popular +movements. Men who would be by no means ready to allow +themselves to be killed for the best of reasons will readily +sacrifice their lives to a mystic ideal which has become an +object of adoration. + +The principles of the Revolution speedily inspired a wave of +mystic enthusiasm analogous to those provoked by the various +religious beliefs which had preceded it. All they did was to +change the orientation of a mental ancestry which the +centuries had solidified. + +So there is nothing astonishing in the savage zeal of the men of +the Convention. Their mystic mentality was the same as that of +the Protestants at the time of the Reformation. The principal +heroes of the Terror--Couthon, Saint-Just, Robespierre, &c.--were +Apostles. Like Polyeuctes, destroying the altars of the false +gods to propagate his faith, they dreamed of converting the +globe. Their enthusiasm spilled itself over the earth. +Persuaded that their magnificent formulae were sufficient to +overturn thrones, they did not hesitate to declare war upon +kings. And as a strong faith is always superior to a doubtful +faith, they victoriously faced all Europe. + +The mystic spirit of the leaders of the Revolution was betrayed +in the least details of their public life. Robespierre, +convinced that he was supported by the Almighty, assured his +hearers in a speech that the Supreme Being had ``decreed the +Republic since the beginning of time.'' In his quality of High +Pontiff of a State religion he made the Convention vote a decree +declaring that ``the French People recognises the existence of +the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.'' At the +festival of this Supreme Being, seated on a kind of throne, he +preached a lengthy sermon. + +The Jacobin Club, directed by Robespierre, finally assumed all +the functions of a council. There Maximilien proclaimed ``the +idea of a Great Being who watches over oppressed innocence and +who punishes triumphant crime.'' + +All the heretics who criticised the Jacobin orthodoxy were +excommunicated--that is, were sent to the Revolutionary Tribunal, +which they left only for the scaffold. + +The mystic mentality of which Robespierre was the most celebrated +representative did not die with him. Men of identical mentality +are to be found among the French politicians of to-day. The old +religious beliefs no longer rule their minds, but they are the +creatures of political creeds which they would very soon force on +others, as did Robespierre, if they had the chance of so doing. +Always ready to kill if killing would spread their faith, the +mystics of all ages have employed the same means of persuasion as +soon as they have become the masters. + +It is therefore quite natural that Robespierre should still have +many admirers. Minds moulded like his are to be met with in +their thousands. His conceptions were not guillotined with him. +Old as humanity, they will only disappear with the last believer. + +This mystic aspect of all revolutions has escaped the majority of +the historians. They will persist for a long time yet in trying +to explain by means of rational logic a host of phenomena which +have nothing to do with reason. I have already cited a passage +from the history of MM. Lavisse and Rambaud, in which the +Reformation is explained as ``the result of the free individual +reflections suggested to simple folk by an extremely pious +conscience, and a bold and courageous reason.'' + +Such movements are never comprehended by those who imagine that +their origin is rational. Political or religious, the beliefs +which have moved the world possess a common origin and +follow the same laws. They are formed, not by the reason, but +more often contrary to reason. Buddhism, Christianity, Islamism, +the Reformation, sorcery, Jacobinism, socialism, spiritualism, +&c., seem very different forms of belief, but they have, I +repeat, identical mystic and affective bases, and obey forms of +logic which have no affinity with rational logic. Their might +resides precisely in the fact that reason has as little power to +create them as to transform them. + +The mystic mentality of our modern political apostles is strongly +marked in an article dealing with one of our recent ministers, +which I cite from a leading journal: + +``One may ask into what category does M. A----fall? Could we +say, for instance, that he belongs to the group of unbelievers? +Far from it! Certainly M. A---- has not adopted any positive +faith; certainly he curses Rome and Geneva, rejecting all the +traditional dogmas and all the known Churches. But if he makes a +clean sweep it is in order to found his own Church on the ground +so cleared, a Church more dogmatic than all the rest; and his own +inquisition, whose brutal intolerance would have no reason to +envy the most notorious of Torquemadas. + +`` `We cannot,' he says, `allow such a thing as scholastic +neutrality. We demand lay instruction in all its plenitude, and +are consequently the enemies of educational liberty.' If he does +not suggest erecting the stake and the pyre, it is only on +account of the evolution of manners, which he is forced to take +into account to a certain extent, whether he will or no. But, +not being able to commit men to the torture, he invokes the +secular arm to condemn their doctrines to death. This is exactly +the point of view of the great inquisitors. It is the same +attack upon thought. This freethinker has so free a spirit that +every philosophy he does not accept appears to him, not only +ridiculous and grotesque, but criminal. He flatters himself that +he alone is in possession of the absolute truth. Of this he is +so entirely sure that everyone who contradicts him seems to him +an execrable monster and a public enemy. He does not suspect for +a moment that after all his personal views are only hypotheses, +and that he is all the more laughable for claiming a Divine right +for them precisely because they deny divinity. Or, at least, +they profess to do so; but they re-establish it in another shape, +which immediately makes one regret the old. M. A---- is a +sectary of the goddess Reason, of whom he has made a Moloch, an +oppressive deity hungry for sacrifice. No more liberty of +thought for any one except for himself and his friends; such is +the free thought of M. A----. The outlook is truly attractive. +But perhaps too many idols have been cast down during the last +few centuries for men to bow before this one.'' + +We must hope for the sake of liberty that these gloomy fanatics +will never finally become our masters. + +Given the silent power of reason over mystic beliefs, it is quite +useless to seek to discuss, as is so often done, the rational +value of revolutionary or political ideas. Only their influence +can interest us. It matters little that the theories of the +supposed equality of men, the original goodness of mankind, the +possibility of re-making society by means of laws, have +been given the lie by observation and experience. These empty +illusions must be counted among the most potent motives of action +that humanity has known. + + +3. The Jacobin Mentality. + + +Although the term ``Jacobin mentality'' does not really belong to +any true classification, I employ it here because it sums up a +clearly defined combination which constitutes a veritable +psychological species. + +This mentality dominates the men of the French Revolution, but is +not peculiar to them, as it still represents one of the most +active elements in our politics. + +The mystic mentality which we have already considered is an +essential factor of the Jacobin mind, but it is not in itself +enough to constitute that mind. Other elements, which we shall +now examine, must be added. + +The Jacobins do not in the least suspect their mysticism. On the +contrary, they profess to be guided solely by pure reason. +During the Revolution they invoked reason incessantly, and +considered it as their only guide to conduct. + +The majority of historians have adopted this rationalist +conception of the Jacobin mind, and Taine fell into the same +error. It is in the abuse of rationalism that he seeks the +origin of a great proportion of the acts of the Jacobins. The +pages in which he has dealt with the subject contain many truths, +however, and as they are in other ways very remarkable, I +reproduce the most important passages here:-- + +``Neither exaggerated self-love nor dogmatic reasoning is +rare in the human species. In all countries these two roots of +the Jacobin spirit subsist, secret and indestructible. . . . At +twenty years of age, when a young man is entering into the world, +his reason is stimulated simultaneously with his pride. In the +first place, whatever society he may move in, it is contemptible +to pure reason, for it has not been constructed by a philosophic +legislator according to a principle, but successive generations +have arranged it according to their multiple and ever-changing +needs. It is not the work of logic, but of history, and the +young reasoner shrugs his shoulders at the sight of this old +building, whose site is arbitrary, whose architecture is +incoherent, and whose inconveniences are obvious. . . . The +majority of young people, above all those who have their way to +make, are more or less Jacobin on leaving college. . . . +Jacobinism is born of social decomposition just as mushrooms are +born of a fermenting soil. Consider the authentic monuments of +its thought--the speeches of Robespierre and Saint-Just, the +debates of the Legislative Assembly and the Convention, the +harangues, addresses, and reports of Girondists and Montagnards. +Never did men speak so much to say so little; the empty verbiage +and swollen emphasis swamp any truth there may be beneath their +monotony and their turgidity. The Jacobin is full of respect for +the phantoms of his reasoning brain; in his eyes they are more +real than living men, and their suffrage is the only suffrage he +recognises--he will march onward in all sincerity at the head of +a procession of imaginary followers. The millions of +metaphysical wills which he has created in the image of his own +will sustain him by their unanimous assent, and he will +project outwards, like a chorus of triumph and acclamation, the +inward echo of his own voice.'' + +While admiring Taine's description, I think he has not exactly +grasped the psychology of the Jacobin. + +The mind of the true Jacobin, at the time of the Revolution as +now, was composed of elements which we must analyse if we are to +understand its function. + +This analysis will show in the first place that the Jacobin is +not a rationalist, but a believer. Far from building his belief +on reason, he moulds reason to his belief, and although his +speeches are steeped in rationalism he employs it very little in +his thoughts and his conduct. + +A Jacobin who reasoned as much as he is accused of reasoning +would be sometimes accessible to the voice of reason. Now, +observation proves, from the time of the Revolution to our own +days, that the Jacobin is never influenced by reasoning, however +just, and it is precisely here that his strength resides. + +And why is he not accessible to reason? Simply because his +vision of things, always extremely limited, does not permit of +his resisting the powerful and passionate impulses which guide +him. + +These two elements, feeble reason and strong passions, would not +of themselves constitute the Jacobin mind. There is another. + +Passion supports convictions, but hardly ever creates them. Now, +the true Jacobin has forcible convictions. What is to sustain +them? Here the mystic elements whose action we have already +studied come into play. The Jacobin is a mystic who has +replaced the old divinities by new gods. Imbued with the power +of words and formulae, he attributes to these a mysterious +power. To serve these exigent divinities he does not shrink from +the most violent measures. The laws voted by our modern Jacobins +furnish a proof of this fact. + +The Jacobin mentality is found especially in narrow and +passionate characters. It implies, in fact, a narrow and rigid +mind, inaccessible to all criticism and to all considerations but +those of faith. + +The mystic and affective elements which dominate the mind of the +Jacobin condemn him to an extreme simplicity. Grasping only the +superficial relations of things, nothing prevents him from taking +for realities the chimerical images which are born of his +imagination. The sequence of phenomena and their results escape +him. He never raises his eyes from his dream. + +As we may see, it is not by the development of his logical reason +that the Jacobin exceeds. He possesses very little logic of this +kind, and therefore he often becomes dangerous. Where a superior +man would hesitate or halt the Jacobin, who has placed his feeble +reason at the service of his impulses, goes forward with +certainty. + +So that although the Jacobin is a great reasoner, this does not +mean that he is in the least guided by reason. When he imagines +he is being led by reason it is really his passions and his +mysticism that lead him. Like all those who are convinced and +hemmed in by the walls of faith, he can never escape therefrom. + +A true aggressive theologian, he is astonishingly like the +disciples of Calvin described in a previous chapter. Hypnotised +by their faith, nothing could deter them from their object. All +those who contradicted their articles of faith were considered +worthy of death. They too seemed to be powerful reasoners. +Ignorant, like the Jacobins, of the secret forces that led them, +they believed that reason was their sole guide, while in reality +they were the slaves of mysticism and passion. + +The truly rationalistic Jacobin would be incomprehensible, and +would merely make reason despair. The passionate and mystical +Jacobin is, on the contrary, easily intelligible. + +With these three elements--a very weak reasoning power, very +strong passions, and an intense mysticism--we have the true +psychological components of the mind of the Jacobin. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE REVOLUTIONARY AND CRIMINAL MENTALITIES + +1. The Revolutionary Mentality. + +We have just seen that the mystic elements are one of the +components of the Jacobin mentality. We shall now see that they +enter into another form of mentality which is also clearly +defined, the revolutionary mentality. + +In all ages societies have contained a certain number of restless +spirits, unstable and discontented, ready to rebel against any +established order of affairs. They are actuated by the mere love +of revolt, and if some magic power could realise all their +desires they would simply revolt again. + +This special mentality often results from a faulty adaptation of +the individual to his surroundings, or from an excess of +mysticism, but it may also be merely a question of temperament or +arise from pathological disturbances. + +The need of revolt presents very different degrees of intensity, +from simple discontent expressed in words directed against men +and things to the need of destroying them. Sometimes the +individual turns upon himself the revolutionary frenzy that he +cannot otherwise exercise. Russia is full of these madmen, +who, not content with committing arson or throwing bombs at +hazard into the crowd, finally mutilate themselves, like the +Skopzis and other analogous sects. + +These perpetual rebels are generally highly suggestible beings, +whose mystic mentality is obsessed by fixed ideas. Despite the +apparent energy indicated by their actions they are really weak +characters, and are incapable of mastering themselves +sufficiently to resist the impulses that rule them. The mystic +spirit which animates them furnishes pretexts for their violence, +and enables them to regard themselves as great reformers. + +In normal times the rebels which every society contains are +restrained by the laws, by their environment--in short, by all +the usual social constraints, and therefore remain undetected. +But as soon as a time of disturbance begins these constraints +grow weaker, and the rebel can give a free reign to his +instincts. He then becomes the accredited leader of a movement. +The motive of the revolution matters little to him; he will give +his life indifferently for the red flag or the white, or for the +liberation of a country which he has heard vaguely mentioned. + +The revolutionary spirit is not always pushed to the extremes +which render it dangerous. When, instead of deriving from +affective or mystic impulses, it has an intellectual origin, it +may become a source of progress. It is thanks to those spirits +who are sufficiently independent to be intellectually +revolutionary that a civilisation is able to escape from the yoke +of tradition and habit when this becomes too heavy. The +sciences, arts, and industries especially have progressed by +the aid of such men. Galileo, Lavoisier, Darwin, and Pasteur +were such revolutionaries. + +Although it is not necessary that a nation should possess any +large number of such spirits, it is very necessary that it should +possess some. Without them men would still be living in caves. + +The revolutionary audacity which results in discoveries implies +very rare faculties. It necessitates notably an independence of +mind sufficient to escape from the influence of current opinions, +and a judgement that can grasp, under superficial analogies, the +hidden realities. This form of revolutionary spirit is creative, +while that examined above is destructive. + +The revolutionary mentality may, therefore, be compared to +certain physiological states in the life of the individual which +are normally useful, but which, when exaggerated, take a +pathological form which is always hurtful. + + +2. The Criminal Mentality. + + +All the civilised societies inevitably drag behind them a residue +of degenerates, of the unadapted, of persons affected by various +taints. Vagabonds, beggars, fugitives from justice, thieves, +assassins, and starving creatures that live from day to day, may +constitute the criminal population of the great cities. In +ordinary times these waste products of civilisation are more or +less restrained by the police. During revolution nothing +restrains them, and they can easily gratify their instincts to +murder and plunder. In the dregs of society the revolutionaries +of all times are sure of finding recruits. Eager only to kill +and to plunder, little matters to them the cause they are +sworn to defend. If the chances of murder and pillage are better +in the party attacked, they will promptly change their colours. + +To these criminals, properly so called, the incurable plague of +all societies, we must add the class of semi-criminals. +Wrongdoers on occasion, they never rebel so long as the fear of +the established order restrains them, but as soon as it weakens +they enrol themselves in the army of revolution. + +These two categories--habitual and occasional criminals--form an +army of disorder which is fit for nothing but the creation of +disorder. All the revolutionaries, all the founders of religious +or political leagues, have constantly counted on their support. + +We have already stated that this population, with its criminal +mentality, exercised a considerable influence during the French +Revolution. It always figured in the front rank of the riots +which occurred almost daily. Certain historians have spoken with +respect and emotion of the way in which the sovereign people +enforced its will upon the Convention, invading the hall armed +with pikes, the points of which were sometimes decorated with +newly severed heads. If we analyse the elements composing the +pretended delegations of the sovereign people, we shall find +that, apart from a small number of simple souls who submitted to +the impulses of the leaders, the mass was almost entirely formed +of the bandits of whom I have been speaking. To them were due +the innumerable murders of which the massacres of September and +the killing of the Princesse de Lamballe were merely typical. + +They terrorised all the great Assemblies, from the Constituent +Assembly to the Convention, and for ten years they helped to +ravage France. If by some miracle this army of criminals could +have been eliminated, the progress of the Revolution would have +been very different. They stained it with blood from its dawn to +its decline. Reason could do nothing with them but they could do +much against reason. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF REVOLUTIONARY CROWDS + +1. General Characteristics of the Crowd. + +Whatever their origin, revolutions do not produce their full +effects until they have penetrated the soul of the multitude. +They therefore represent a consequence of the psychology of +crowds. + +Although I have studied collective psychology at length in +another volume, I must here recall its principal laws. + +Man, as part of a multitude, is a very different being from the +same man as an isolated individual. His conscious individuality +vanishes in the unconscious personality of the crowd. + +Material contact is not absolutely necessary to produce in the +individual the mentality of the crowd. Common passions and +sentiments, provoked by certain events, are often sufficient to +create it. + +The collective mind, momentarily formed, represents a very +special kind of aggregate. Its chief peculiarity is that it is +entirely dominated by unconscious elements, and is subject to a +peculiar collective logic. + +Among the other characteristics of crowds, we must note their +infinite credulity and exaggerated sensibility, their short- +sightedness, and their incapacity to respond to the influences of +reason. Affirmation, contagion, repetition, and prestige +constitute almost the only means of persuading them. Reality and +experience have no effect upon them. The multitude will admit +anything; nothing is impossible in the eyes of the crowd. + +By reason of the extreme sensibility of crowds, their sentiments, +good or bad, are always exaggerated. This exaggeration increases +still further in times of revolution. The least excitement will +then lead the multitude to act with the utmost fury. Their +credulity, so great even in the normal state, is still further +increased; the most improbable statements are accepted. Arthur +Young relates that when he visited the springs near Clermont, at +the time of the French Revolution, his guide was stopped by the +people, who were persuaded that he had come by order of the Queen +to mine and blow up the town. The most horrible tales concerning +the Royal Family were circulated, depicting it as a nest of +ghouls and vampires. + +These various characteristics show that man in the crowd descends +to a very low degree in the scale of civilisation. He becomes a +savage, with all a savage's faults and qualities, with all his +momentary violence, enthusiasm, and heroism. In the intellectual +domain a crowd is always inferior to the isolated unit. In the +moral and sentimental domain it may be his superior. A crowd +will commit a crime as readily as an act of abnegation. + +Personal characteristics vanish in the crowd, which exerts an +extraordinary influence upon the individuals which form it. The +miser becomes generous, the sceptic a believer, the honest +man a criminal, the coward a hero. Examples of such +transformations abounded during the great Revolution. + +As part of a jury or a parliament, the collective man renders +verdicts or passes laws of which he would never have dreamed in +his isolated condition. + +One of the most notable consequences of the influence of a +collectivity upon the individuals who compose it is the +unification of their sentiments and wills. This psychological +unity confers a remarkable force upon crowds. + +The formation of such a mental unity results chiefly from the +fact that in a crowd gestures and actions are extremely +contagious. Acclamations of hatred, fury, or love are +immediately approved and repeated. + +What is the origin of these common sentiments, this common will? +They are propagated by contagion, but a point of departure is +necessary before this contagion can take effect. Without a +leader the crowd is an amorphous entity incapable of action. + +A knowledge of the laws relating to the psychology of crowds is +indispensable to the interpretation of the elements of our +Revolution, and to a comprehension of the conduct of +revolutionary assemblies, and the singular transformations of the +individuals who form part of them. Pushed by the unconscious +forces of the collective soul, they more often than not say what +they did not intend, and vote what they would not have wished to +vote. + +Although the laws of collective psychology have sometimes been +divined instinctively by superior statesmen, the majority of +Governments have not understood and do not understand +them. It is because they do not understand them that so many of +them have fallen so easily. When we see the facility with which +certain Governments were overthrown by an insignificant riot--as +happened in the case of the monarchy of Louis-Philippe--the +dangers of an ignorance of collective psychology are evident. +The marshal in command of the troops in 1848, which were more +than sufficient to defend the king, certainly did not understand +that the moment he allowed the crowd to mingle with the troops +the latter, paralysed by suggestion and contagion, would cease to +do their duty. Neither did he know that as the multitude is +extremely sensible to prestige it needs a great display of force +to impress it, and that such a display will at once suppress +hostile demonstrations. He was equally ignorant of the fact that +all gatherings should be dispersed immediately. All these things +have been taught by experience, but in 1848 these lessons had not +been grasped. At the time of the great Revolution the psychology +of crowds was even less understood. + + +2. How the Stability of the Racial Mind limits the Oscillations +of the Mind of the Crowd. + + +A people can in a sense be likened to a crowd. It possesses +certain characteristics, but the oscillations of these +characteristics are limited by the soul or mind of the race. The +mind of the race has a fixity unknown to the transitory mind of +the crowd. + +When a people possesses an ancestral soul established by a long +past the soul of the crowd is always dominated thereby. + +A people differs from a crowd also in that it is composed of a +collection of groups, each having different interests and +passions. In a crowd properly so-called--a popular assembly, for +example--there are unities which may belong to very different +social categories. + +A people sometimes seems as mobile as a crowd, but we must not +forget that behind its mobility, its enthusiasms, its violence +and destructiveness, the extremely tenacious and conservative +instincts of the racial mind persist. The history of the +Revolution and the century which has followed shows how the +conservative spirit finally overcomes the spirit of destruction. +More than one system of government which the people has shattered +has been restored by the people. + +It is not as easy to work upon the mind of the people--that is, +the mind of the race--as on the mind of a crowd. The means of +action are indirect and slower (journals, conferences, speeches, +books, &c.). The elements of persuasion always come under the +headings already given: affirmation, repetition, prestige, and +contagion. + +Mental contagion may affect a whole people instantaneously, but +more often it operates slowly, creeping from group to group. +Thus was the Reformation propagated in France. + +A people is far less excitable than a crowd; but certain events-- +national insults, threats of invasion, &c.--may arouse it +instantly. Such a phenomenon was observed on several occasions +during the Revolution, notably at the time of the insolent +manifesto issued by the Duke of Brunswick. The Duke knew little +indeed of the psychology of the French race when he +proffered his threats. Not only did he considerably prejudice +the cause of Louis XVI.; but he also damaged his own, since his +intervention raised from the soil an army eager to fight him. + +This sudden explosion of feeling throughout a whole race has been +observed in all nations. Napoleon did not understand the power +of such explosions when he invaded Spain and Russia. One may +easily disaggregate the facile mind of a crowd, but one can do +nothing before the permanent soul of a race. Certainly the +Russian peasant is a very indifferent being, gross and narrow by +nature, yet at the first news of invasion he was transformed. +One may judge of this fact on reading a letter written by +Elizabeth, wife of the Emperor Alexander I. + +``From the moment when Napoleon had crossed our frontiers it was +as though an electric spark had spread through all Russia; and if +the immensity of its area had made it possible for the news to +penetrate simultaneously to every corner of the Empire a cry of +indignation would have arisen so terrible that I believe it would +have resounded to the ends of the earth. As Napoleon advances +this feeling is growing yet stronger. Old men who have lost all +or nearly all their goods are saying: `We shall find a way of +living. Anything is preferable to a shameful peace.' Women all +of whose kin are in the army regard the dangers they are running +as secondary, and fear nothing but peace. Happily this peace, +which would be the death-warrant of Russia, will not be +negotiated; the Emperor does not conceive of such an idea, and +even if he would he could not. This is the heroic side of our +position.'' + +The Empress describes to her mother the two following traits, +which give some idea of the degree of resistance of which the +soul of the Russian is capable:-- + +``The Frenchmen had caught some unhappy peasants in Moscow, whom +they thought to force to serve in their ranks, and in order that +they should not be able to escape they branded their hands as one +brands horses in the stud. One of them asked what this mark +meant; he was told it signified that he was a French soldier. +`What! I am a soldier of the Emperor of the French!' he said. +And immediately he took his hatchet, cut off his hand, and threw +it at the feet of those present, saying, `Take it--there's your +mark!' + +``At Moscow, too, the French had taken a score of peasants of +whom they wished to make an example in order to frighten the +villagers, who were picking off the French foraging parties and +were making war as well as the detachments of regular troops. +They ranged them against a wall and read their sentence in +Russian. They waited for them to beg for mercy: instead of that +they took farewell of one another and made their sign of the +cross. The French fired on the first of them; they waited for +the rest to beg for pardon in their terror, and to promise to +change their conduct. They fired on the second, and on the +third, and so on all the twenty, without a single one having +attempted to implore the clemency of the enemy. Napoleon has +not once had the pleasure of profaning this word in Russia.'' + +Among the characteristics of the popular mind we must mention +that in all peoples and all ages it has been saturated +with mysticism. The people will always be convinced that +superior beings--divinities, Governments, or great men--have the +power to change things at will. This mystic side produces an +intense need of adoration. The people must have a fetich, either +a man or a doctrine. This is why, when threatened with anarchy, +it calls for a Messiah to save it. + +Like the crowd, but more slowly, the people readily passes from +adoration to hatred. A man may be the hero of the people at one +period, and finally earn its curses. These variations of popular +opinion concerning political personalities may be observed in all +times. The history of Cromwell furnishes us with a very curious +example.[5] + + +[5] After having overthrown a dynasty and refused a crown he was +buried like a king among kings. Two years later his body was +torn from the tomb, and his head, cut off by the executioner, was +exposed above the gate of the House of Parliament. A little +while ago a statue was raised to him. The old anarchist turned +autocrat now figures in the gallery of demigods. + + + +4. The Role of the Leader in Revolutionary Movements. + + +All the varieties of crowds--homogeneous and heterogeneous, +assemblies, peoples, clubs, &c.--are, as we have often repeated, +aggregates incapable of unity and action so long as they find no +master to lead them. + +I have shown elsewhere, making use of certain physiological +experiments, that the unconscious collective mind of the crowd +seems bound up with the mind of the leader. The latter gives it +a single will and imposes absolute obedience. + +The leader acts especially through suggestion. His success +depends on his fashion of provoking this suggestion. Many +experiments have shown to what point a collectivity may be +subjected to suggestion.[6] + + +[6] Among the numerous experiments made to prove this fact one of +the most remarkable was performed on the pupils of his class by +Professor Glosson and published in the Revue Scientifique for +October 28, 1899. + +``I prepared a bottle filled with distilled water carefully +wrapped in cotton and packed in a box. After several other +experiments I stated that I wished to measure the rapidity with +which an odour would diffuse itself through the air, and asked +those present to raise their hands the moment they perceived the +odour. . . . I took out the bottle and poured the water on the +cotton, turning my head away during the operation, then took up a +stop-watch and awaited the result. . . . I explained that I was +absolutely sure that no one present had ever smelt the odour of +the chemical composition I had spilt. . . . At the end of +fifteen seconds the majority of those in front had held up their +hands, and in forty seconds the odour had reached the back of the +hall by fairly regular waves. About three-quarters of those +present declared that they perceived the odour. A larger number +would doubtless have succumbed to suggestion, if at the end of a +minute I had not been forced to stop the experiment, some of +those in the front rows being unpleasantly affected by the odour, +and wishing to leave the hall.'' + + + +According to the suggestions of the leaders, the multitude will +be calm, furious, criminal, or heroic. These various suggestions +may sometimes appear to present a rational aspect, but they will +only appear to be reasonable. A crowd is in reality inaccessible +to reason; the only ideas capable of influencing it will always +be sentiments evoked in the form of images. + +The history of the Revolution shows on every page how easily the +multitude follows the most contradictory impulses given by +its different leaders. We see it applaud just as vigorously at +the triumph of the Girondists, the Hebertists, the Dantonists, +and the Terrorists as at their successive downfalls. One may be +quite sure, also, that the crowd understood nothing of these +events. + +At a distance one can only confusedly perceive the part played by +the leaders, for they commonly work in the shade. To grasp this +clearly we must study them in contemporary events. We shall then +see how readily the leader can provoke the most violent popular +movements. We are not thinking here of the strikes of the +postmen or railway men, in which the discontent of the employees +might intervene, but of events in which the crowd was not in the +least interested. Such, for example, was the popular rising +provoked by a few Socialist leaders amidst the Parisian populace +on the morrow of the execution of Ferrer, in Spain. The French +crowd had never heard of Ferrer. In Spain his execution was +almost unnoticed. In Paris the incitements of a few leaders +sufficed to hurl a regular popular army upon the Spanish Embassy, +with the intention of burning it. Part of the garrison had to be +employed to protect it. Energetically repulsed, the assailants +contented themselves with sacking a few shops and building some +barricades. + +At the same time, the leaders gave another proof of their +influence. Finally understanding that the burning of a foreign +embassy might be extremely dangerous, they ordered a pacific +demonstration for the following day, and were as faithfully +obeyed as if they had ordered the most violent riot. No +example could better show the importance of leaders and the +submission of the crowd + +The historians who, from Michelet to M. Aulard, have represented +the revolutionary crowd as having acted on its own initiative, +without leaders, do not comprehend its psychology. + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSEMBLIES + +1. Psychological Characteristics of the great Revolutionary +Assemblies. + +A great political assembly, a parliament for example, is a crowd, +but a crowd which sometimes fails in effectual action on account +of the contrary sentiments of the hostile groups composing it. + +The presence of these groups, actuated by different interests, +must make us consider an assembly as formed of superimposed and +heterogeneous crowds, each obeying its particular leaders. The +law of the mental unity of crowds is manifested only in each +group, and it is only as a result of exceptional circumstances +that the different groups act with a single intention. + +Each group in an assembly represents a single being. The +individuals contributing to the formation of this being are no +longer themselves, and will unhesitatingly vote against their +convictions and their wishes. On the eve of the day when Louis +XVI. was to be condemned Vergniaud protested with indignation +against the suggestion that he should vote for his death; but he +did so vote on the following day. + +The action of a group consists chiefly in fortifying hesitating +opinions. All feeble individual convictions become confirmed +upon becoming collective. + +Leaders of great repute or unusual violence can sometimes, by +acting on all the groups of an assembly, make them a single +crowd. The majority of the members of the Convention enacted +measures entirely contrary to their opinions under the influence +of a very small number of such leaders. + +Collectivities have always given way before active sectaries. +The history of the revolutionary Assemblies shows how +pusillanimous they were, despite the boldness of their language +respecting kings, before the leaders of the popular riots. The +invasion of a band of energumens commanded by an imperious leader +was enough to make them vote then and there the most absurd and +contradictory measures. + +An assembly, having the characteristics of a crowd, will, like a +crowd, be extreme in its sentiments. Excessive in its violence, +it will be excessive in its cowardice. In general it will be +insolent to the weak and servile before the strong. + +We remember the fearful humility of the Parliament when the +youthful Louis XIV. entered, whip in hand, to pronounce his brief +speech. We know with what increasing impertinence the +Constituent Assembly treated Louis XVI. as it felt that he was +becoming defenceless. Finally, we recall the terror of the +Convention under the reign of Robespierre. + +This characteristic of assemblies being a general law, the +convocation of an assembly by a sovereign when his power is +failing must be regarded as a gross error in psychology. The +assembling of the States General cost the life of Louis +XVI. It all but lost Henry III. his throne, when, obliged to +leave Paris, he had the unhappy idea of assembling the Estates at +Blois. Conscious of the weakness of the king, the Estates at +once spoke as masters of the situation, modifying taxes, +dismissing officials, and claiming that their decisions should +have the force of law. + +This progressive exaggeration of sentiments was plainly +demonstrated in all the assemblies of the Revolution. The +Constituent Assembly, at first extremely respectful toward the +royal authority and its prerogatives, finally proclaimed itself a +sovereign Assembly, and treated Louis XVI as a mere official. +The Convention, after relatively moderate beginnings, ended with +a preliminary form of the Terror, when judgments were still +surrounded by certain legal guarantees: then, quickly increasing +its powers, it enacted a law depriving all accused persons of the +right of defence, permitting their condemnation upon the mere +suspicion of being suspect. Yielding more and more to its +sanguinary frenzy, it finally decimated itself. Girondists, +Hebertists, Dantonists, and Robespierrists successively ended +their careers at the hands of the executioner. + +This exaggeration of the sentiments of assemblies explains why +they were always so little able to control their own destinies +and why they so often arrived at conclusions exactly contrary to +the ends proposed. Catholic and royalist, the Constituent +Assembly, instead of the constitutional monarchy it wished to +establish and the religion it wished to defend, rapidly led +France to a violent republic and the persecution of the clergy. + +Political assemblies are composed, as we have seen, of +heterogeneous groups, but they have sometimes been formed of +homogeneous groups, as, for instance, certain of the clubs, which +played so enormous a part during the Revolution, and whose +psychology deserves a special examination. + + +2. The Psychology of the Revolutionary Clubs. + + +Small assemblies of men possessing the same opinions, the same +beliefs, and the same interests, which eliminate all dissentient +voices, differ from the great assemblies by the unity of their +sentiments and therefore their wills. Such were the communes, +the religious congregations, the corporations, and the clubs +during the Revolution, the secret societies during the first half +of the nineteenth century, and the Freemasons and syndicalists of +to-day. + +The points of difference between a heterogeneous assembly and a +homogeneous club must be thoroughly grasped if we are to +comprehend the progress of the French Revolution. Until the +Directory and especially during the Convention the Revolution was +directed by the clubs. + +Despite the unity of will due to the absence of dissident parties +the clubs obey the laws of the psychology of crowds. They are +consequently subjugated by leaders. This we see especially in +the Jacobin Club, which was dominated by Robespierre. + +The function of the leader of a club, a homogeneous crowd, is far +more difficult than that of a leader of a heterogeneous crowd. +The latter may easily be led by harping on a small number of +strings, but in a homogeneous group like a club, whose +sentiments and interests are identical, the leader must +know how to humour them and is often himself led. + +Part of the strength of homogeneous agglomerations resides in +their anonymity. We know that during the Commune of 1871 a few +anonymous orders sufficed to effect the burning of the finest +monuments of Paris: the Hotel de Ville, the Tuileries, the +Cour des Comptes, the buildings of the Legion of Honour, &c. A +brief order from the anonymous committees, ``Burn Finances, burn +Tuileries,'' &c., was immediately executed. An unlooked-for +chance only saved the Louvre and its collections. We know too +what religious attention is in our days accorded to the most +absurd injunctions of the anonymous leaders of the trades unions. + +The clubs of Paris and the insurrectionary Commune were not less +scrupulously obeyed at the time of the Revolution. An order +emanating from these was sufficient to hurl upon the Assembly a +popular army which dictated its wishes. + +Summing up the history of the Convention in another chapter, we +shall see how frequent were these irruptions, and with what +servility the Assembly, which according to the legends was so +powerful bowed itself before the most imperative injunctions of a +handful of rioters. Instructed by experience, the Directory +closed the clubs and put an end to the invasion of the populace +by energetically shooting them down. + +The Convention had early grasped the superiority of homogeneous +groups over heterogeneous assemblies in matters of government, +which is why it subdivided itself into committees composed each +of a limited number of individuals. These committees--of +Public Safety, of Finance, &c.--formed small sovereign assemblies +in the midst of the larger Assembly. Their power was held in +check only by that of the clubs. + +The preceding considerations show the power of groups over the +wills of the members composing them. If the group is +homogeneous, this action is considerable; if it is heterogeneous, +it is less considerable but may still become important, either +because the more powerful groups of an assembly will dominate +those whose cohesion is weaker or because certain contagious +sentiments will often extend themselves to all the members of an +assembly. + +A memorable example of this influence of groups occurred at the +time of the Revolution, when, on the night of the 4th of August, +the nobles voted, on the proposition of one of their members, the +abandonment of feudal privileges. Yet we know that the +Revolution resulted in part from the refusal of the clergy and +the nobles to renounce their privileges. Why did they refuse to +renounce them at first? Simply because men in a crowd do not act +as the same men singly. Individually no member of the nobility +would ever have abandoned his rights. + +Of this influence of assemblies upon their members Napoleon at +St. Helena cited some curious examples: ``Nothing was more +common than to meet with men at this period quite unlike the +reputation that their acts and words would seem to justify. For +instance, one might have supposed Monge to be a terrible fellow; +when war was decided upon he mounted the tribune of the Jacobins +and declared that he would give his two daughters to the two +first soldiers to be wounded by the enemy. He wanted the +nobles to be killed, &c. Now, Monge was the most gentle and +feeble of men, and wouldn't have had a chicken killed if he had +had to do it with his own hands, or even to have it done in his +presence.'' + + +3. A Suggested Explanation of the Progressive Exaggeration of +Sentiments in Assemblies. + + +If collective sentiments were susceptible of exact quantitative +measurement, we might translate them by a curve which, after a +first gradual ascent, runs upward with extreme rapidity and then +falls almost vertically. The equation of this curve might be +called the equation of the variations of collective sentiments +subjected to a constant excitation. + +It is not always easy to explain the acceleration of certain +sentiments under the influence of a constant exciting cause. +Perhaps, however, one may say that if the laws of psychology are +comparable to those of mechanics, a cause of invariable +dimensions acting in a continuous fashion will rapidly increase +the intensity of a sentiment. We know, for example, that a force +which is constant in dimension and direction, such as gravity +acting upon a mass, will cause an accelerated movement. The +speed of a free object falling in space under the influence of +gravity will be about 32 feet during the first second, 64 feet +during the next, 96 feet during the next, &c. It would be easy, +were the moving body allowed to fall from a sufficient height, to +give it a velocity sufficient to perforate a plate of steel. + +But although this explanation is applicable to the acceleration +of a sentiment subjected to a constant exciting cause, it +does not tell us why the effects of acceleration finally and +suddenly cease. Such a fall is only comprehensible if we bring +in physiological factors--that is, if we remember that pleasure, +like pain, cannot exceed certain limits, and that all sensations, +when too violent, result in the paralysis of sensation. Our +organism can only support a certain maximum of joy, pain, or +effort, and it cannot support that maximum for long together. +The hand which grasps a dynamometer soon exhausts its effort, and +is obliged suddenly to let go. + +The study of the causes of the rapid disappearance of certain +groups of sentiments in assemblies will remind us of the fact +that beside the party which is predominant by means of its +strength or prestige there are others whose sentiments, +restrained by this force or prestige, have not reached their full +development. Some chance circumstance may somewhat weaken the +prevailing party, when immediately the suppressed sentiments of +the adverse parties may become preponderant. The Mountain +learned this lesson after Thermidor. + +All analogies that we may seek to establish between the laws of +material phenomena and those which condition the evolution of +affective and mystic factors are evidently extremely rough. They +must be so until the mechanism of the cerebral functions is +better understood than it is to-day. + + + + +PART II + +THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + + +BOOK I + +THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER I + +THE OPINIONS OF HISTORIANS CONCERNING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + +1. The Historians of the Revolution. + +The most contradictory opinions have been expressed respecting +the French Revolution, and although only a century separates us +from the period in question it seems impossible as yet to judge +it calmly. For de Maistre it was ``a satanic piece of work,'' +and ``never was the action of the spirit of darkness so evidently +manifested.'' For the modern Jacobins it has regenerated the +human race. + +Foreigners who live in France still regard it as a subject to be +avoided in conversation. + +``Everywhere,'' writes Barrett Wendell, ``this memory and these +traditions are still endowed with such vitality that few persons +are capable of considering them dispassionately. They still +excite both enthusiasm and resentment; they are still regarded +with a loyal and ardent spirit of partisanship. The better you +come to understand France the more clearly you see that even to- +day no study of the Revolution strikes any Frenchman as +having been impartial.'' + +This observation is perfectly correct. To be interpretable with +equity, the events of the past must no longer be productive of +results and must not touch the religious or political beliefs +whose inevitable intolerance I have denoted. + +We must not therefore be surprised that historians express very +different ideas respecting the Revolution. For a long time to +come some will still see in it one of the most sinister events of +history, while to others it will remain one of the most glorious. + +All writers on the subject have believed that they have related +its course with impartiality, but in general they have merely +supported contradictory theories of peculiar simplicity. The +documents being innumerable and contradictory, their conscious or +unconscious choice has readily enabled them to justify their +respective theories. + +The older historians of the Revolution--Thiers, Quinet, and, +despite his talent, Michelet himself, are somewhat eclipsed to- +day. Their doctrines were by no means complicated; a historic +fatalism prevails generally in their work. Thiers regarded the +Revolution as the result of several centuries of absolute +monarchy, and the Terror as the necessary consequence of foreign +invasion. Quinet described the excesses of 1793 as the result of +a long-continued despotism, but declared that the tyranny of the +Convention was unnecessary, and hampered the work of the +Revolution. Michelet saw in this last merely the work of the +people, whom he blindly admired, and commenced the glorification +continued by other historians. + +The former reputation of all these historians has been to a great +extent effaced by that of Taine. Although equally impassioned, +he threw a brilliant light upon the revolutionary period, and it +will doubtless be long before his work is superseded. + +Work so important is bound to show faults. Taine is admirable in +the representation of facts and persons, but he attempts to judge +by the standard of rational logic events which were not dictated +by reason, and which, therefore, he cannot interpret. His +psychology, excellent when it is merely descriptive, is very weak +as soon as it becomes explanatory. To affirm that Robespierre +was a pedantic ``swotter'' is not to reveal the causes of his +absolute power over the Convention, at a time when he had spent +several months in decimating it with perfect impunity. It has +very justly been said of Taine that he saw well and understood +little. + +Despite these restrictions his work is highly remarkable and has +not been equalled. We may judge of his immense influence by the +exasperation which he causes among the faithful defenders of +Jacobin orthodoxy, of which M. Aulard, professor at the Sorbonne, +is to-day the high priest. The latter has devoted two years to +writing a pamphlet against Taine, every line of which is steeped +in passion. All this time spent in rectifying a few material +errors which are not really significant has only resulted in the +perpetration of the very same errors. + +Reviewing his work, M. A. Cochin shows that M. Aulard has at +least on every other occasion been deceived by his quotations, +whereas Taine erred far more rarely. The same historian shows +also that we must not trust M. Aulard's sources. + +``These sources--proceedings, pamphlets, journals, and the +speeches and writings of patriots--are precisely the authentic +publications of patriotism, edited by patriots, and edited, as a +rule, for the benefit of the public. He ought to have seen in +all this simply the special pleading of the defendant: he had, +before his eyes, a ready-made history of the Revolution, which +presents, side by side with each of the acts of the `People,' +from the massacres of September to the law of Prairial, a ready- +made explanation according to the republican system of defence.'' + +Perhaps the fairest criticism that one can make of the work of +Taine is that it was left incomplete. He studied more especially +the role of the populace and its leaders during the +revolutionary period. This inspired him with pages vibrating +with an indignation which we can still admire, but several +important aspects of the Revolution escaped him. + +Whatever one may think of the Revolution, an irreducible +difference will always exist between historians of the school of +Taine and those of the school of M. Aulard. The latter regards +the sovereign people as admirable, while the former shows us that +when abandoned to its instincts and liberated from all social +restraint it relapses into primitive savagery. The conception of +M. Aulard, entirely contrary to the lessons of the psychology of +crowds, is none the less a religious dogma in the eyes of modern +Jacobins. They write of the Revolution according to the methods +of believers, and take for learned works the arguments of virtual +theologians. + +2. The Theory of Fatalism in respect of the Revolution. + + +Advocates and detractors of the Revolution often admit the +fatality of revolutionary events. This theory is well +synthetised in the following passage from the History of the +Revolution, by Emile Olivier:-- + +``No man could oppose it. The blame belongs neither to those who +perished nor to those who survived; there was no individual force +capable of changing the elements and of foreseeing the events +which were born of the nature of things and circumstances.'' + +Taine himself inclines to this idea:-- + +``At the moment when the States General were opened the course of +ideas and events was not only determined but even visible. Each +generation unwittingly bears within itself its future and its +past; from the latter its destinies might have been foretold long +before the issue.'' + +Other modern authors, who profess no more indulgence for the +violence of the revolutionaries than did Taine, are equally +convinced of this fatality. M. Sorel, after recalling the saying +of Bossuet concerning the revolutions of antiquity: ``Everything +is surprising if we only consider particular causes, and yet +everything goes forward in regular sequence,'' expresses an +intention which he very imperfectly realises: ``to show in the +Revolution, which seems to some the subversion and to others the +regeneration of the old European world, the natural and necessary +result of the history of Europe, and to show, moreover, that this +revolution had no result--not even the most unexpected--that did +not ensue from this history, and was not explained by the +precedents of the ancien regime.'' + +Guizot also had formerly attempted to prove that our Revolution, +which he quite wrongly compared to that of England, was perfectly +natural and effected no innovations:-- + +``Far from having broken with the natural course of events in +Europe, neither the English revolution nor our own did, intended, +or said anything that had not been said, intended, and done a +hundred years before its outbreak. + +`` . . . Whether we regard the general doctrines of the two +revolutions or the application made of them--whether we deal with +the government of the State or with the civil legislation, with +property or with persons, with liberty or with power, we shall +find nothing of which the invention can be attributed to them, +nothing that will not be encountered elsewhere, or that was not +at least originated in times which we qualify as normal.'' + +All these assertions merely recall the banal law that a +phenomenon is simply the consequence of previous phenomena. Such +very general propositions do not teach us much. + +We must not try to explain too many events by the principle of +fatality adopted by so many historians. I have elsewhere +discussed the significance of such fatalities, and have shown +that the whole effort of civilisation consists in trying to +escape therefrom. Certainly history is full of necessities, but +it is also full of contingent facts which were, and might not +have been. Napoleon himself, on St. Helena, enumerated six +circumstances which might have checked his prodigious career. He +related, notably, that on taking a bath at Auxonne, in 1786, he +only escaped death by the fortuitous presence of a sandbank. If +Bonaparte had died, then we may admit that another general would +have arisen, and might have become dictator. But what would have +become of the Imperial epic and its consequences without +the man of genius who led our victorious armies into all the +capitals of Europe? + +It is permissible to consider the Revolution as being partly a +necessity, but it was above all--which is what the fatalistic +writers already cited do not show us--a permanent struggle +between theorists who were imbued with a new ideal, and the +economic, social, and political laws which ruled mankind, and +which they did not understand. Not understanding them, they +sought in vain to direct the course of events, were exasperated +at their failure, and finally committed every species of +violence. They decreed that the paper money known as assignats +should be accepted as the equivalent of gold, and all their +threats could not prevent the fictitious value of such money +falling almost to nothing. They decreed the law of the maximum, +and it merely increased the evils it was intended to remedy. +Robespierre declared before the Convention ``that all the sans- +culottes will be paid at the expense of the public treasury, +which will be fed by the rich,'' and in spite of requisitions and +the guillotine the treasury remained empty. + +Having broken all human restraints, the men of the Revolution +finally discovered that a society cannot live without them; but +when they sought to create them anew they saw that even the +strongest society, though supported by the fear of the +guillotine, could not replace the discipline which the past had +slowly built up in the minds of men. As for understanding the +evolution of society, or judging men's hearts and minds, or +foreseeing the consequences of the laws they enacted, they +scarcely attempted to do so. + +The events of the Revolution did not ensue from +irreducible necessities. They were far more the consequence of +Jacobin principles than of circumstances, and might have been +quite other than they were. Would the Revolution have followed +the same path if Louis XVI. had been better advised, or if the +Constituent Assembly had been less cowardly in times of popular +insurrection? The theory of revolutionary fatality is only +useful to justify violence by presenting it as inevitable. + +Whether we are dealing with science or with history we must +beware of the ignorance which takes shelter under the shibboleth +of fatalism Nature was formerly full of a host of fatalities +which science is slowly contriving to avoid. The function of the +superior man is, as I have shown elsewhere, to avert such +fatalities. + + +3. The Hesitations of recent Historians of the Revolution. + + +The historians whose ideas we have examined in the preceding +chapter were extremely positive in their special pleading. +Confined within the limits of belief, they did not attempt to +penetrate the domain of knowledge. A monarchical writer was +violently hostile to the Revolution, and a liberal writer was its +violent apologist. + +At the present time we can see the commencement of a movement +which will surely lead to the study of the Revolution as one of +those scientific phenomena into which the opinions and beliefs of +a writer enter so little that the reader does not even suspect +them. + +This period has not yet come into being; we are still in the +period of doubt. The liberal writers who used to be so positive +are now so no longer. One may judge of this new state of +mind by the following extracts from recent authors:-- + +M. Hanotaux, having vaunted the utility of the Revolution, asks +whether its results were not bought too dearly, and adds:-- + +``History hesitates, and will, for a long time yet, hesitate to +answer.'' + +M. Madelin is equally dubious in the book he has recently +published:-- + +``I have never felt sufficient authority to form, even in my +inmost conscience, a categorical judgment on so complex a +phenomenon as the French Revolution. To-day I find it even more +difficult to form a brief judgement. Causes, facts, and +consequences seem to me to be still extremely debatable +subjects.'' + +One may obtain a still better idea of the transformation of the +old ideas concerning the Revolution by perusing the latest +writings of its official defenders. While they professed +formerly to justify every act of violence by representing it as a +simple act of defence, they now confine themselves to pleading +extenuating circumstances. I find a striking proof of this new +frame of mind in the history of France for the use of schools, +published by MM. Aulard and Debidour. Concerning the Terror we +read the following lines:-- + +``Blood flowed in waves; there were acts of injustice and crimes +which were useless from the point of view of national defence, +and odious. But men had lost their heads in the tempest, and, +harassed by a thousand dangers, the patriots struck out in their +rage.'' + +We shall see in another part of this work that the first of the +two authors whom I have cited is, in spite of his +uncompromising Jacobinism, by no means indulgent toward the men +formerly qualified as the ``Giants of the Convention.'' + +The judgments of foreigners upon our Revolution are usually +distinctly severe, and we cannot be surprised when we remember +how Europe suffered during the twenty years of upheaval in +France. + +The Germans in particular have been most severe. Their opinion +is summed up in the following lines by M. Faguet:-- + +``Let us say it courageously and patriotically, for patriotism +consists above all in telling the truth to one's own country: +Germany sees in France, with regard to the past, a people who, +with the great words `liberty' and `fraternity' in its mouth, +oppressed, trampled, murdered, pillaged, and fleeced her for +fifteen years; and with regard to the present, a people who, with +the same words on its banners, is organising a despotic, +oppressive, mischievous, and ruinous democracy, which none would +seek to imitate. This is what Germany may well see in France; +and this, according to her books and journals, is, we may assure +ourselves, what she does see.'' + +For the rest, whatever the worth of the verdicts pronounced upon +the French Revolution, we may be certain that the writers of the +future will consider it as an event as passionately interesting +as it is instructive. + +A Government bloodthirsty enough to guillotine old men of eighty +years, young girls, and little children: which covered France +with ruins, and yet succeeded in repulsing Europe in arms; an +archduchess of Austria, Queen of France, dying on the +scaffold, and a few years later another archduchess, her +relative, replacing her on the same throne and marrying a sub- +lieutenant, turned Emperor--here are tragedies unique in human +history. The psychologists, above all, will derive lessons from +a history hitherto so little studied by them. No doubt they will +finally discover that psychology can make no progress until it +renounces chimerical theories and laboratory experiments in order +to study the events and the men who surround us.[7] + + + +[7] This advice is far from being banal. The psychologists of +the day pay very little attention to the world about them, and +are even surprised that any one should study it. I have come +across an interesting proof of this indifferent frame of mind in +a review of one of my books which appeared in the Revue +philosophique and was inspired by the editor of the review. The +author reproaches me with ``exploring the world and the +newspapers rather than books.'' + +I most gladly accept this reproach. The manifold facts of the +journals and the realities of the world are far more instructive +than philosophical lucubrations such as the Revue is stuffed +with. + +Philosophers are beginning to see the puerility of such +reproaches. It was certainly of the forty volumes of this +fastidious publication that Mr. William James was thinking when +he wrote that all these dissertations simply represented ``a +string of facts clumsily observed and a few quarrelsome +discussions.'' Although he is the author of the best known +treatise on psychology extant, the eminent thinker realises ``the +fragility of a science that oozes metaphysical criticism at every +joint.'' For more than twenty years I have tried to interest +psychologists in the study of realities, but the stream of +university metaphysics is hardly yet turned aside, although it +has lost its former force + + + +4. Impartiality in History. + + +Impartiality has always been considered as the most essential +quality of the historian. All historians since Tacitus have +assured us that they are impartial. + +In reality the writer sees events as the painter sees a +landscape--that is, through his own temperament; through his +character and the mind of the race. + +A number of artists, placed before the same landscape, would +necessarily interpret it in as many different fashions. Some +would lay stress upon details neglected by others. Each +reproduction would thus be a personal work--that is to say, would +be interpreted by a certain form of sensibility. + +It is the same with the writer. We can no more speak of the +impartiality of the historian than we can speak of the +impartiality of the painter. + +Certainly the historian may confine himself to the reproduction +of documents, and this is the present tendency. But these +documents, for periods as near us as the Revolution, are so +abundant that a man's whole life would not suffice to go through +them. Therefore the historian must make a choice. + +Consciously sometimes, but more often unconsciously, the author +will select the material which best corresponds with his +political, moral, and social opinions. + +It is therefore impossible, unless he contents himself with +simple chronologies summing up each event with a few words and a +date, to produce a truly impartial volume of history. No author +could be impartial; and it is not to be regretted. The claim to +impartiality, so common to-day, results in those flat, gloomy, +and prodigiously wearisome works which render the comprehension +of a period completely impossible. + +Should the historian, under a pretext of impartiality, abstain +from judging men--that is, from speaking in tones of admiration +or reprobation? + +This question, I admit, allows of two very different solutions, +each of which is perfectly correct, according to the point of +view assumed--that of the moralist or that of the psychologist. + +The moralist must think exclusively of the interest of society, +and must judge men only according to that interest. By the very +fact that it exists and wishes to continue to exist a society is +obliged to admit a certain number of rules, to have an +indestructible standard of good and evil, and consequently to +create very definite distinctions between vice and virtue. It +thus finally creates average types, to which the man of the +period approaches more or less closely, and from which he cannot +depart very widely without peril to society. + +It is by such similar types and the rules derived from social +necessities that the moralist must judge the men of the past. +Praising those which were useful and blaming the rest, he thus +helps to form the moral types which are indispensable to the +progress of civilisation and which may serve others as models. +Poets such as Corneille, for example, create heroes superior to +the majority of men, and possibly inimitable; but they thereby +help greatly to stimulate our efforts. The example of heroes +must always be set before a people in order to ennoble its mind. + +Such is the moralist's point of view. That of the psychologist +would be quite different. While a society has no right to be +tolerant, because its first duty is to live, the psychologist may +remain indifferent. Considering things as a scientist, he no +longer asks their utilitarian value, but seeks merely to explain +them. + +His situation is that of the observer before any phenomenon. It +is obviously difficult to read in cold blood that Carrier ordered +his victims to be buried up to the neck so that they might then +be blinded and subjected to horrible torments. Yet if we wish to +comprehend such acts we must be no more indignant than the +naturalist before the spider slowly devouring a fly. As soon as +the reason is moved it is no longer reason, and can explain +nothing. + +The functions of the historian and the psychologist are not, as +we see, identical, but of both we may demand the endeavour, by a +wise interpretation of the facts, to discover, under the visible +evidences, the invisible forces which determine them. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE ANCIEN REGIME + +1. The Absolute Monarchy and the Bases of the Ancien Regime. + +Many historians assure us that the Revolution was directed +against the autocracy of the monarchy. In reality the kings of +France had ceased to be absolute monarchs long before its +outbreak. + +Only very late in history--not until the reign of Louis XIV.--did +they finally obtain incontestable power. All the preceding +sovereigns, even the most powerful, such as Francis I., for +example, had to sustain a constant struggle either against the +seigneurs, or the clergy, or the parliaments, and they did not +always win. Francis himself had not sufficient power to protect +his most intimate friends against the Sorbonne and the +Parliament. His friend and councillor Berquin, having offended +the Sorbonne, was arrested upon the order of the latter body. +The king ordered his release, which was refused. He was obliged +to send archers to remove him from the Conciergerie, and could +find no other means of protecting him than that of keeping him +beside him in the Louvre. The Sorbonne by no means considered +itself beaten. Profiting by the king's absence, it +arrested Berquin again and had him tried by Parliament. +Condemned at ten in the morning, he was burned alive at noon. + +Built up very gradually, the power of the kings of France was not +absolute until the time of Louis XIV. It then rapidly declined, +and it would be truly difficult to speak of the absolutism of +Louis XVI. + +This pretended master was the slave of his court, his ministers, +the clergy, and the nobles. He did what they forced him to do +and rarely what he wished. Perhaps no Frenchman was so little +free as the king. + +The great power of the monarchy resided originally in the Divine +origin which was attributed to it, and in the traditions which +had accumulated during the ages. These formed the real social +framework of the country. + +The true cause of the disappearance of the ancien regime was +simply the weakening of the traditions which served as its +foundations. When after repeated criticism it could find no more +defenders, the ancien regime crumbled like a building whose +foundations have been destroyed. + + +2. The Inconveniences of the Ancien Regime + + +A long-established system of government will always finally seem +acceptable to the people governed. Habit masks its +inconveniences, which appear only when men begin to think. Then +they ask how they could ever have supported them. The truly +unhappy man is the man who believes himself miserable. + +It was precisely this belief which was gaining ground at the time +of the Revolution, under the influence of the writers whose work +we shall presently study. Then the imperfections of the +ancien regime stared all men in the face. They were +numerous; it is enough to mention a few. + +Despite the apparent authority of the central power, the kingdom, +formed by the successive conquest of independent provinces, was +divided into territories each of which had its own laws and +customs, and each of which paid different imposts. Internal +customs-houses separated them. The unity of France was thus +somewhat artificial. It represented an aggregate of various +countries which the repeated efforts of the kings, including +Louis XIV., had not succeeded in wholly unifying. The most +useful effect of the Revolution was this very unification. + +To such material divisions were added social divisions +constituted by different classes--nobles, clergy, and the Third +Estate, whose rigid barriers could only with the utmost +difficulty be crossed. + +Regarding the division of the classes as one of its sources of +power, the ancien regime had rigorously maintained that +division. This became the principal cause of the hatreds which +the system inspired. Much of the violence of the triumphant +bourgeoisie represented vengeance for a long past of disdain +and oppression. The wounds of self-love are the most difficult +of all to forget. The Third Estate had suffered many such +wounds. At a meeting of the States General in 1614, at which its +representatives were obliged to remain bareheaded on their knees, +one member of the Third Estate having dared to say that the three +orders were like three brothers, the spokesman of the nobles +replied ``that there was no fraternity between it and the Third; +that the nobles did not wish the children of cobblers and +tanners to call them their brothers.'' + +Despite the march of enlightenment the nobles and the clergy +obstinately preserved their privileges and their demands, no +longer justifiable now that these classes had ceased to render +services. + +Kept from the exercise of public functions by the royal power, +which distrusted them, and progressively replaced by a +bourgeoisie which was more and more learned and capable, the +social role of nobility and clergy was only an empty show. +This point has been luminously expounded by Taine:-- + +``Since the nobility, having lost its special capacity, and the +Third Estate, having acquired general capacity, were now on a +level in respect of education and aptitudes, the inequality which +divided them had become hurtful and useless. Instituted by +custom, it was no longer ratified by the consciousness, and the +Third Estate was with reason angered by privileges which nothing +justified, neither the capacity of the nobles nor the incapacity +of the bourgeoisie.'' + +By reason of the rigidity of castes established by a long past we +cannot see what could have persuaded the nobles and the clergy to +renounce their privileges. Certainly they did finally abandon +them one memorable evening, when events forced them to do so; but +then it was too late, and the Revolution, unchained, was pursuing +its course. + +It is certain that modern progress would successively have +established all that the Revolution effected--the equality of +citizens before the law, the suppression of the privileges of +birth, &c. Despite the conservative spirit of the Latins, these +things would have been won, as they were by the majority +of the peoples. We might in this manner have been saved twenty +years of warfare and devastation; but we must have had a +different mental constitution, and, above all, different +statesmen. + +The profound hostility of the bourgeoisie against the classes +maintained above it by tradition was one of the great factors of +the Revolution, and perfectly explains why, after its triumph, +the first class despoiled the vanquished of their wealth. They +behaved as conquerors--like William the Conqueror, who, after the +conquest of England, distributed the soil among his soldiers. + +But although the bourgeoisie detested the nobility they had no +hatred for royalty, and did not regard it as revocable. The +maladdress of the king and his appeals to foreign powers only +very gradually made him unpopular. + +The first Assembly never dreamed of founding a republic. +Extremely royalist, in fact, it thought simply to substitute a +constitutional for an absolute monarchy. Only the consciousness +of its increasing power exasperated it against the resistance of +the king; but it dared not overthrow him. + + +3. Life under the Ancien Regime. + + +It is difficult to form a very clear idea of life under the +ancien regime, and, above all, of the real situation of the +peasants. + +The writers who defend the Revolution as theologians defend +religious dogmas draw such gloomy pictures of the existence of +the peasants under the ancien regime that we ask ourselves +how it was that all these unhappy creatures had not died +of hunger long before. A good example of this style of writing +may be found in a book by M. A. Rambaud, formerly professor at +the Sorbonne, published under the title History of the French +Revolution. One notices especially an engraving bearing the +legend, Poverty of Peasants under Louis XIV. In the foreground +a man is fighting some dogs for some bones, which for that matter +are already quite fleshless. Beside him a wretched fellow is +twisting himself and compressing his stomach. Farther back a +woman lying on the ground is eating grass. At the back of the +landscape figures of which one cannot say whether they are +corpses or persons starving are also stretched on the soil. As +an example of the administration of the ancien regime the +same author assures us that ``a place in the police cost 300 +livres and brought in 400,000.'' Such figures surely indicate a +great disinterestedness on the part of those who sold such +productive employment! He also informs us ``that it cost only +120 livres to get people arrested,'' and that ``under Louis XV. +more than 150,000 lettres de cachet were distributed.'' + +The majority of books dealing with the Revolution are conceived +with as little impartiality and critical spirit, which is one +reason why this period is really so little known to us. + +Certainly there is no lack of documents, but they are absolutely +contradictory. To the celebrated description of La Bruyere we +may oppose the enthusiastic picture drawn by the English +traveller Young of the prosperous condition of the peasants of +some of the French provinces. + +Were they really crushed by taxation, and did they, as has been +stated, pay four-fifths of their revenue instead of a fifth as +to-day? Impossible to say with certainty. One capital fact, +however, seems to prove that under the ancien regime the +situation of the inhabitants of the rural districts could not +have been so very wretched, since it seems established that more +than a third of the soil had been bought by peasants. + +We are better informed as to the financial system. It was very +oppressive and extremely complicated. The budgets usually showed +deficits, and the imposts of all kinds were raised by tyrannical +farmers-general. At the very moment of the Revolution this +condition of the finances became the cause of universal +discontent, which is expressed in the cahiers of the States +General. Let us remark that these cahiers did not represent a +previous state of affairs, but an actual condition due to a +crisis of poverty produced by the bad harvest of 1788 and the +hard winter of 1789. What would these cahiers have told us had +they been written ten years earlier? + +Despite these unfavourable circumstances the cahiers contained +no revolutionary ideas. The most advanced merely asked that +taxes should be imposed only with the consent of the States +General and paid by all alike. The same cahiers sometimes +expressed a wish that the power of the king should be limited by +a Constitution defining his rights and those of the nation. If +these wishes had been granted a constitutional monarchy could +very easily have been substituted for the absolute monarchy, and +the Revolution would probably have been avoided. + +Unhappily, the nobility and the clergy were too strong and Louis +XVI. too weak for such a solution to be possible. + +Moreover, it would have been rendered extremely difficult by the +demands of the bourgeoisie, who claimed to substitute themselves +for the nobles, and were the real authors of the Revolution. The +movement started by the middle classes rapidly exceeded their +hopes, needs, and aspirations. They had claimed equality for +their own profit, but the people also demanded equality. The +Revolution thus finally became the popular government which it +was not and had no intention of becoming at the outset. + + +4. Evolution of Monarchical Feeling during the Revolution. + + +Despite the slow evolution of the affective elements, it is +certain that during the Revolution the sentiments, not of the +people only, but also of the revolutionary Assemblies with regard +to the monarchy, underwent a very rapid change. Between the +moment when the legislators of the first Assembly surrounded +Louis XVI. with respect and the moment when his head was cut off +a very few years had elapsed. + +These changes, superficial rather than profound, were in reality +a mere transposition of sentiments of the same order. The love +which the men of this period professed for the king was +transferred to the new Government which had inherited his power. +The mechanism of such a transfer may easily be demonstrated. + +Under the ancien regime, the sovereign, holding his power by +Divine right, was for this reason invested with a kind of +supernatural power. His people looked up to him from every +corner of the country. + +This mystic belief in the absolute power of royalty was shattered +only when repeated experience proved that the power attributed to +the adored being was fictitious. He then lost his prestige. +Now, when prestige is lost the crowd will not forgive the fallen +idol for deluding them, and seek anew the idol without which they +cannot exist. + +From the outset of the Revolution numerous facts, which were +daily repeated, revealed to the most fervent believers the fact +that royalty no longer possessed any power, and that there were +other powers capable, not only of contending with royalty, but +possessed of superior force. + +What, for instance, was thought of the royal power by the +multitudes who saw the king held in check by the Assembly, and +incapable, in the heart of Paris, of defending his strongest +fortress against the attacks of armed bands? + +The royal weakness thus being obvious, the power of the Assembly +was increasing. Now, in the eyes of the crowd weakness has no +prestige; it turns always to force. + +In the Assemblies feeling was very fluid, but did not evolve very +rapidly, for which reason the monarchical faith survived the +taking of the Bastille the flight of the king, and his +understanding with foreign sovereigns. + +The royalist faith was still so powerful that the Parisian riots +and the events which led to the execution of Louis XVI. were not +enough finally to destroy, in the provinces, the species +of secular piety which enveloped the old monarchy.[8] + + + +[8] As an instance of the depth of this hereditary love of the +people for its kings, Michelet relates the following fact, which +occurred in the reign of Louis XV.: ``When it was known in Paris +that Louis XV., who had left for the army, was detained ill at +Metz, it was night. People got up and ran tumultuously hither +and thither without knowing where they were going; the churches +were opened in the middle of the night . . . people assembled at +every cross-road, jostling and questioning one another without +knowing what they were after. In several churches the priest who +was reciting the prayer for the king's health was stopped by his +tears, and the people replied by sobs and cries. . . . The +courier who brought the news of his convalescence was embraced +and almost stifled; people kissed his horse, and led him in +triumph. . . . Every street resounded with a cry of joy: `The +king is healed.' '' + + + + +It persisted in a great part of France during the whole of the +Revolution, and was the origin of the royalist conspiracies and +insurrections in various departments which the Convention had +such trouble to suppress. The royalist faith had disappeared in +Paris, where the weakness of the king was too plainly visible; +but in the provinces the royal power, representing God on earth, +still retained its prestige. + +The royalist sentiments of the people must have been deeply +rooted to survive the guillotine. The royalist movements +persisted, indeed, during the whole of the Revolution, and were +accentuated under the Directory, when forty-nine departments sent +royalist deputies to Paris, which provoked the Directory to the +coup d'etat of Fructidor. + +This monarchical-feeling, with difficulty repressed by the +Revolution, contributed to the success of Bonaparte when he came +to occupy the throne of the ancient kings, and in great measure +to re-establish the ancien regime. + + + +CHAPTER III + +MENTAL ANARCHY AT THE TIME OF THE REVOLUTION AND THE INFLUENCE +ATTRIBUTED TO THE PHILOSOPHERS + +1. Origin and Propagation of Revolutionary Ideas. + +The outward life of men in every age is moulded upon an inward +life consisting of a framework of traditions, sentiments, and +moral influences which direct their conduct and maintain certain +fundamental notions which they accept without discussion. + +Let the resistance of this social framework weaken, and ideas +which could have had no force before will germinate and develop. +Certain theories whose success was enormous at the time of the +Revolution would have encountered an impregnable wall two +centuries earlier. + +The aim of these considerations is to recall to the reader the +fact that the outward events of revolutions are always a +consequence of invisible transformations which have slowly gone +forward in men's minds. Any profound study of a revolution +necessitates a study of the mental soil upon which the ideas that +direct its course have to germinate. + +Generally slow in the extreme, the evolution of ideas is often +invisible for a whole generation. Its extent can only be grasped +by comparing the mental condition of the same social +classes at the two extremities of the curve which the mind has +followed. To realise the different conceptions of royalty +entertained by educated men under Louis XIV. and Louis XVI., we +must compare the political theories of Bossuet and Turgot. + +Bossuet expressed the general conceptions of his time concerning +the absolute monarchy when he based the authority of a Government +upon the will of God, ``sole judge of the actions of kings, +always irresponsible before men.'' Religious faith was then as +strong as the monarchical faith from which it seemed inseparable, +and no philosopher could have shaken it. + +The writings of the reforming ministers of Louis XVI., those of +Turgot, for instance, are animated by quite another spirit. Of +the Divine right of kings there is hardly a word, and the rights +of the peoples begin to be clearly defined. + +Many events had contributed to prepare for such an evolution-- +unfortunate wars, famines, imposts, general poverty at the end of +the reign of Louis XV., &c. Slowly destroyed, respect for +monarchical authority was replaced by a mental revolt which was +ready to manifest itself as soon as occasion should arise. + +When once the mental framework commences to crumble the end comes +rapidly. This is why at the time of the Revolution ideas were so +quickly propagated which were by no means new, but which until +then had exerted no influence, as they had not fallen on fruitful +ground. + +Yet the ideas which were then so attractive and effectual had +often been expressed. For a long time they had inspired the +politics of England. Two thousand years earlier the Greek and +Latin authors had written in defence of liberty, had +cursed tyrants, and proclaimed the rights of popular sovereignty. + +The middle classes who effected the Revolution, although, like +their fathers, they had learned all these things in text-books, +were not in any degree moved by them, because the moment when +such ideas could move them had not arrived. How should the +people have been impressed by them at a time when all men were +accustomed to regard all hierarchies as natural necessities? + +The actual influence of the philosophers in the genesis of the +Revolution was not that which was attributed to them. They +revealed nothing new, but they developed the critical spirit +which no dogma can resist once the way is prepared for its +downfall. + +Under the influence of this developing critical spirit things +which were no longer very greatly respected came to be respected +less and less. When tradition and prestige had disappeared the +social edifice suddenly fell. + +This progressive disaggregation finally descended to the people, +but was not commenced by the people. The people follows +examples, but never sets them. + +The philosophers, who could not have exerted any influence over +the people, did exert a great influence over the enlightened +portion of the nation. The unemployed nobility, who had long +been ousted from their old functions, and who were consequently +inclined to be censorious, followed their leadership. Incapable +of foresight, the nobles were the first to break with the +traditions that were their only raison d'etre. As steeped +in humanitarianism and rationalism as the bourgeoisie of to- +day, they continually sapped their own privileges by their +criticisms. As to-day, the most ardent reformers were found +among the favourites of fortune. The aristocracy encouraged +dissertations on the social contract, the rights of man, and the +equality of citizens. At the theatre it applauded plays which +criticised privileges, the arbitrariness and the incapacity of +men in high places, and abuses of all kinds. + +As soon as men lose confidence in the foundations of the mental +framework which guides their conduct they feel at first uneasy +and then discontented. All classes felt their old motives of +action gradually disappearing. Things that had seemed sacred for +centuries were now sacred no longer. + +The censorious spirit of the nobility and of the writers of the +day would not have sufficed to move the heavy load of tradition, +but that its action was added to that of other powerful +influences. We have already stated, in citing Bossuet, that +under the ancien regime the religious and civil governments, +widely separated in our days, were intimately connected. To +injure one was inevitably to injure the other. Now, even before +the monarchical idea was shaken the force of religious tradition +was greatly diminished among cultivated men. The constant +progress of knowledge had sent an increasing number of minds from +theology to science by opposing the truth observed to the truth +revealed. + +This mental evolution, although as yet very vague, was sufficient +to show that the traditions which for so many centuries had +guided men had not the value which had been attributed to them, +and that it would soon be necessary to replace them. + +But where discover the new elements which might; take the place +of tradition? Where seek the magic ring which would raise a new +social edifice on the remains of that which no longer contented +men? + +Men were agreed in attributing to reason the power that tradition +and the gods seemed to have lost. How could its force be +doubted? Its discoveries having been innumerable, was it not +legitimate to suppose that by applying it to the construction of +societies it would entirely transform them? Its possible +function increased very rapidly in the thoughts of the more +enlightened, in proportion as tradition seemed more and more to +be distrusted. + +The sovereign power attributed to reason must be regarded as the +culminating idea which not only engendered the Revolution but +governed it throughout. During the whole Revolution men gave +themselves up to the most persevering efforts to break with the +past, and to erect society upon a new plan dictated by logic. + +Slowly filtering downward, the rationalistic theories of the +philosophers meant to the people simply that all the things which +had been regarded as worthy of respect were now no longer worthy. + +Men being declared equal, the old masters need no longer be +obeyed. + +The multitude easily succeeded in ceasing to respect what the +upper classes themselves no longer respected. When the barrier +of respect was down the Revolution was accomplished. + +The first result of this new mentality was a general +insubordination. Mme. Vigee Lebrun relates that on the +promenade at Longchamps men of the people leaped on the +footboards of the carriages, saying, ``Next year you will be +behind and we shall be inside.'' + +The populace was not alone in manifesting insubordination and +discontent. These sentiments were general on the eve of the +Revolution. ``The lesser clergy,'' says Taine, ``are hostile to +the prelates; the provincial gentry to the nobility of the court; +the vassals to the seigneurs; the peasants to the townsmen,'' &c. + +This state of mind, which had been communicated from the nobles +and clergy to the people, also invaded the army. At the moment +the States General were opened Necker said: ``We are not sure of +the troops.'' The officers were becoming humanitarian and +philosophical. The soldiers, recruited from the lowest class of +the population, did not philosophise, but they no longer obeyed. + +In their feeble minds the ideas of equality meant simply the +suppression of all leaders and masters, and therefore of all +obedience. In 1790 more than twenty regiments threatened their +officers, and sometimes, as at Nancy, threw them into prison. + +The mental anarchy which, after spreading through all the classes +of society, finally invaded the army was the principal cause of +the disappearance of the ancien regime. ``It was the +defection of the army affected by the ideas of the Third +Estate,'' wrote Rivarol, ``that destroyed royalty.'' + + +2. The supposed Influence of the Philosophers of the Eighteenth +Century upon the Genesis of the Revolution--Their dislike of +Democracy. + + +Although the philosophers who have been supposed the inspirers of +the French Revolution did attack certain privileges and +abuses, we must not for that reason regard them as partisans of +popular government. Democracy, whose role in Greek history +was familiar to them, was generally highly antipathetic to them. +They were not ignorant of the destruction and violence which are +its invariable accompaniments, and knew that in the time of +Aristotle it was already defined as ``a State in which +everything, even the law, depends on the multitude set up as a +tyrant and governed by a few declamatory speakers.'' + +Pierre Bayle, the true forerunner of Voltaire, recalled in the +following terms the consequences of popular government in +Athens:-- + +``If one considers this history, which displays at great length +the tumult of the assemblies, the factions dividing the city, the +seditious disturbing it, the most illustrious subjects +persecuted, exiled, and punished by death at the will of a +violent windbag, one would conclude that this people, which so +prided itself on its liberty, was really the slave of a small +number of caballers, whom they called demagogues, and who made it +turn now in this direction, now in that, as their passions +changed, almost as the sea heaps the waves now one way, now +another, according to the winds which trouble it. You will seek +in vain in Macedonia, which was a monarchy, for as many examples +of tyranny as Athenian history will afford.'' + +Montesquieu had no greater admiration for the democracy. Having +described the three forms of government--republican, monarchical, +and despotic--he shows very clearly what popular government may +lead to:-- + +``Men were free with laws; men would fain be free without +them; what was a maxim is called severity; what was order is +called hindrance. Formerly the welfare of individuals +constituted the public wealth, but now the public wealth becomes +the patrimony of individuals. The republic is spoil, and its +strength is merely the power of a few citizens and the licence of +all.'' + +``. . . Little petty tyrants spring up who have all the vices of +a single tyrant. Very soon what is left of liberty becomes +untenable; a single tyrant arises, and the people loses all, even +the advantages of corruption. + +``Democracy has therefore two extremes to avoid; the extreme of +the spirit of equality leads to the despotism of a single person, +as the despotism of a single person leads to conquest.'' + +The ideal of Montesquieu was the English constitutional +government, which prevented the monarchy from degenerating into +despotism. Otherwise the influence of this philosopher at the +moment of the Revolution was very slight. + +As for the Encyclopaedists, to whom such a considerable +role is attributed, they hardly dealt with politics, +excepting d'Holbach, a liberal monarchist like Voltaire and +Diderot. They wrote chiefly in defence of individual liberty, +opposing the encroachments of the Church, at that time extremely +intolerant and inimical to philosophers. Being neither +Socialists nor democrats, the Revolution could not utilise any of +their principles. + +Voltaire himself was by no means a partisan of democracy. + +``Democracy,'' he said, ``seems only to suit a very small +country, and even then it must be fortunately situated. +Little as it may be, it will make many mistakes, because it will +be composed of men. Discord will prevail there as in a convent +full of monks; but there will be no St. Bartholomew's day, no +Irish massacres, no Sicilian Vespers, no Inquisition, no +condemnation to the galleys for having taken water from the sea +without paying for it; unless we suppose this republic to be +composed of devils in a corner of hell.'' + +All these men who are supposed to have inspired the Revolution +had opinions which were far from subversive, and it is really +difficult to see that they had any real influence on the +development of the revolutionary movement. Rousseau was one of +the very few democratic philosophers of his age, which is why his +Contrat Social became the Bible of the men of the Terror. It +seemed to furnish the rational justification necessary to excuse +the acts deriving from unconscious mystic and affective impulses +which no philosophy had inspired. + +To be quite truthful, the democratic instincts of Rousseau were +by no means above suspicion. He himself considered that his +projects for social reorganisation, based upon popular +sovereignty, could be applied only to a very small State; and +when the Poles asked him for a draft democratic Constitution he +advised them to choose a hereditary monarch. + +Among the theories of Rousseau that relating to the perfection of +the primitive social state had a great success. He asserted, +together with various writers of his time, that primitive mankind +was perfect; it was corrupted only by society. By modifying +society by means of good laws one might bring back the +happiness of the early world. Ignorant of all psychology, he +believed that men were the same throughout time and space and +that they could all be ruled by the same laws and institutions. +This was then the general belief. ``The vices and virtues of the +people,'' wrote Helvetius, ``are always a necessary effect of its +legislation. . . . How can we doubt that virtue is in the case +of all peoples the result of the wisdom, more or less perfect, of +the administration?'' + +There could be no greater mistake. + + +3. The Philosophical Ideas of the Bourgeoisie at the Time of +the Revolution. + + +It is by no means easy to say just what were the social and +political conceptions of a Frenchman of the middle classes at the +moment of the Revolution. They might be reduced to a few +formulae concerning fraternity, equality, and popular +government, summed up in the celebrated Declaration of the Rights +of Man, of which we shall have occasion to quote a few passages. + +The philosophers of the eighteenth century do not seem to have +been very highly rated by the men of the Revolution. Rarely are +they quoted in the speeches of the time. Hypnotised by their +classical memories of Greece and Rome, the new legislators re- +read their Plato and their Plutarch. They wished to revive the +constitution of Sparta, with its manners, its frugal habits, and +its laws. + +Lycurgus, Solon, Miltiades, Manlius Torquatus, Brutus, Mucius +Scaevola, even the fabulous Minos himself, became as familiar +in the tribune as in the theatre, and the public went crazy over +them. The shades of the heroes of antiquity hovered over +the revolutionary assemblies. Posterity alone has replaced them +by the shades of the philosophers of the eighteenth century. + +We shall see that in reality the men of this period, generally +represented as bold innovators guided by subtle philosophers, +professed to effect no innovations whatever, but to return to a +past long buried in the mists of history, and which, moreover, +they scarcely ever in the least understood. + +The more reasonable, who did not go so far back for their models, +aimed merely at adopting the English constitutional system, of +which Montesquieu and Voltaire had sung the praises, and which +all nations were finally to imitate without violent crises. + +Their ambitions were confined to a desire to perfect the existing +monarchy, not to overthrow it. But in time of revolution men +often take a very different path from that they propose to take. +At the time of the convocation of the States General no one would +ever have supposed that a revolution of peaceful bourgeoisie +and men of letters would rapidly be transformed into one of the +most sanguinary dictatorships of history. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +PSYCHOLOGICAL ILLUSIONS RESPECTING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION + +1. Illusions respecting Primitive Man, the Return to a State of +Nature, and the Psychology of the People. + +We have already repeated, and shall again repeat, that the errors +of a doctrine do not hinder its propagation, so that all we have +to consider here is its influence upon men's minds. + +But although the criticism of erroneous doctrines is seldom of +practical utility, it is extremely interesting from a +psychological point of view. The philosopher who wishes to +understand the working of men's minds should always carefully +consider the illusions which they live with. Never, perhaps, in +the course of history have these illusions appeared so profound +and so numerous as during the Revolution. + +One of the most prominent was the singular conception of the +nature of our first ancestors and primitive societies. +Anthropology not having as yet revealed the conditions of our +remoter forbears, men supposed, being influenced by the legends +of the Bible, that man had issued perfect from the hands of the +Creator. The first societies were models which were afterwards +ruined by civilisation, but to which mankind must return. +The return to the state of nature was very soon the general cry. +``The fundamental principle of all morality, of which I have +treated in my writings,'' said Rousseau, ``is that man is a being +naturally good, loving justice and order.'' + +Modern science, by determining, from the surviving remnants, the +conditions of life of our first ancestors, has long ago shown the +error of this doctrine. Primitive man has become an ignorant and +ferocious brute, as ignorant as the modern savage of goodness, +morality, and pity. Governed only by his instinctive impulses, +he throws himself on his prey when hunger drives him from his +cave, and falls upon his enemy the moment he is aroused by +hatred. Reason, not being born, could have no hold over his +instincts. + +The aim of civilisation, contrary to all revolutionary beliefs, +has been not to return to the state of nature but to escape from +it. It was precisely because the Jacobins led mankind back to +the primitive condition by destroying all the social restraints +without which no civilisation can exist that they transformed a +political society into a barbarian horde. + +The ideas of these theorists concerning the nature of man were +about as valuable as those of a Roman general concerning the +power of omens. Yet their influence as motives of action was +considerable. The Convention was always inspired by such ideas. + +The errors concerning our primitive ancestors were excusable +enough, since before modern discoveries had shown us the real +conditions of their existence these were absolutely unknown. But +the absolute ignorance of human psychology displayed by the men +of the Revolution is far less easy to understand. + +It would really seem as though the philosophers and writers of +the eighteenth century must have been totally deficient in the +smallest faculty of observation. They lived amidst their +contemporaries without seeing them and without understanding +them. Above all, they had not a suspicion of the true nature of +the popular mind. The man of the people always appeared to them +in the likeness of the chimerical model created by their dreams. +As ignorant of psychology as of the teachings of history, they +considered the plebeian man as naturally good, affectionate, +grateful, and always ready to listen to reason. + +The speeches delivered by members of the Assembly show how +profound were these illusions. When the peasants began to burn +the chateaux they were greatly astonished, and addressed +them in sentimental harangues, praying them to cease, in order +not to ``give pain to their good king,'' and adjured them ``to +surprise him by their virtues.'' + + +2. Illusions respecting the Possibility of separating Man from +his Past and the Power of Transformation attributed to the Law. + + +One of the principles which served as a foundation for the +revolutionary institutions was that man may readily be cut off +from his past, and that a society may be re-made in all its parts +by means of institutions. Persuaded in the light of reason that, +except for the primitive ages which were to serve as models, the +past represented an inheritance of errors and superstitions, the +legislators of the day resolved to break entirely with that past. + +The better to emphasise their intention, they founded a +new era, transformed the calendar, and changed the names of the +months and seasons. + +Supposing all men to be alike, they thought they could legislate +for the human race. Condorcet imagined that he was expressing an +evident truth when he said: ``A good law must be good for all +men, just as a geometrical proposition is true for all.'' + +The theorists of the Revolution never perceived, behind the world +of visible things, the secret springs which moved them. A +century of biological progress was needed to show how grievous +were their mistakes, and how wholly a being of whatever species +depends on its past. + +With the influence of the past, the reformers of the Revolution +were always clashing, without ever understanding it. They wanted +to annihilate it, but were annihilated by it instead. + +The faith of law-makers in the absolute power of laws and +institutions, rudely shaken by the end of the Revolution, was +absolute at its outbreak. Gregoire said from the tribune of +the Constituent Assembly, without provoking the least +astonishment: ``We could if we would change religion, but we do +not want to.'' We know that they did want to later, and we know +how miserably their attempt failed. + +Yet the Jacobins had in their hands all the elements of success. +Thanks to the completest of tyrannies, all obstacles were +removed, and the laws which it pleased them to impose were always +accepted. After ten years of violence, of destruction and +burning and pillage and massacre and general upheaval, +their impotence was revealed so startlingly that they fell into +universal reprobation. The dictator then invoked by the whole of +France was obliged to re-establish the greater part of that which +had been destroyed. + +The attempt of the Jacobins to re-fashion society in the name of +pure reason constitutes an experiment of the highest interest. +Probably mankind will never have occasion to repeat it on so vast +a scale. + +Although the lesson was a terrible one, it does not seem to have +been sufficient for a considerable class of minds, since even in +our days we hear Socialists propose to rebuild society from top +to bottom according to their chimerical plans. + + +3. Illusions respecting the Theoretical Value of the great +Revolutionary Principles. + +The fundamental principles on which the Revolution was based in +order to create a new dispensation are contained in the +Declarations of Rights which were formulated successively in +1789, 1793, and 1795. All three Declarations agree in +proclaiming that ``the principle of sovereignty resides in the +nation.'' + +For the rest, the three Declarations differ on several points, +notably in the matter of equality. That of 1789 simply states +(Article 1): ``Men are born and remain free and having equal +rights.'' That of 1793 goes farther, and assures us (Article 3): + +``All men are equal by nature.'' That of 1795 is more modest and +says (Article 3): ``Equality consists in the law being the same +for all.'' Besides this, having mentioned rights, the third +Declaration considers it useful to speak of duties. Its +morality is simply that of the Gospel. Article 2 says: ``All +the duties of a man and a citizen derive from these two +principles engraved on all hearts by nature: do not do unto +others that which you would not they should do unto you; do +constantly unto others the good you would wish to receive from +them.'' + +The essential portions of these proclamations, the only portions +which have really survived, were those relating to equality and +popular sovereignty. + +Despite the weakness of its rational meaning, the part played by +the Republican device, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, was +considerable. + +This magic formula, which is still left engraven on many of our +walls until it shall be engraven on our hearts, has really +possessed the supernatural power attributed to certain words by +the old sorcerers. + +Thanks to the new hopes excited by its promises, its power of +expansion was considerable. Thousands of men lost their lives +for it. Even in our days, when a revolution breaks out in any +part of the world, the same formula is always invoked. + +Its choice was happy in the extreme. It belongs to the category +of indefinite dream-evoking sentences, which every one is free to +interpret according to his own desires, hatreds, and hopes. In +matters of faith the real sense of words matters very little; it +is the meaning attached to them that makes their importance. + +Of the three principles of the revolutionary device, equality was +most fruitful of consequences. We shall see in another part of +this book that it is almost the only one which still +survives, and is still productive of effects. + +It was certainly not the Revolution that introduced the idea of +equality into the world. Without going back even to the Greek +republics, we may remark that the theory of equality was taught +in the clearest fashion by Christianity and Islamism. All men, +subjects of the one God, were equal before Him, and judged solely +according to their merits. The dogma of the equality of souls +before God was an essential dogma with Mohammedans as well as +with Christians. + +But to proclaim a principle is not enough to secure its +observation. The Christian Church soon renounced its theoretical +equality, and the men of the Revolution only remembered it in +their speeches. + +The sense of the term ``equality'' varies according to the +persons using it. It often conceals sentiments very contrary to +its real sense, and then represents the imperious need of having +no one above one, joined to the no less lively desire to feel +above others. With the Jacobins of the Revolution, as with those +of our days, the word ``equality'' simply involves a jealous +hatred of all superiority. To efface superiority, such men +pretend to unify manners, customs, and situations. All +despotisms but that exercised by themselves seem odious. + +Not being able to avoid the natural inequalities, they deny them. + +The second Declaration of Rights, that of 1793, affirms, contrary +to the evidence, that ``all men are equal by nature.'' + +It would seem that in many of the men of the Revolution +the ardent desire for equality merely concealed an intense need +of inequalities. Napoleon was obliged to re-establish titles of +nobility and decorations for their benefit. Having shown that it +was among the most rabid revolutionists that he found the most +docile instruments of domination, Taine continues:-- + +``Suddenly, through all their preaching of liberty and equality, +appeared their authoritative instincts, their need of commanding, +even as subordinates, and also, in most cases, an appetite for +money or for pleasure. Between the delegate of the Committee of +Public Safety and the minister, prefect, or subprefect of the +Empire the difference is small: it is the same man under the two +costumes, first en carmagnole, then in the braided coat.'' + +The dogma of equality had as its first consequence the +proclamation of popular sovereignty by the bourgeoisie. This +sovereignty remained otherwise highly theoretical during the +whole Revolution. + +The principle of authority was the lasting legacy of the +Revolution. The two terms ``liberty'' and ``fraternity'' which +accompany it in the republican device had never much influence. +We may even say that they had none during the Revolution and the +Empire, but merely served to decorate men's speeches. + +Their influence was hardly more considerable later. Fraternity +was never practised and the peoples have never cared much for +liberty. To-day our working-men have completely surrendered it +to their unions. + +To sum up: although the Republican motto has been little +applied it has exerted a very great influence. Of the French +Revolution practically nothing has remained in the popular mind +but the three celebrated words which sum up its gospel, and which +its armies spread over Europe. + + + +BOOK II + +THE RATIONAL, AFFECTIVE, MYSTIC, AND COLLECTIVE INFLUENCES ACTIVE +DURING THE REVOLUTION + +CHAPTER I + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY + +1. Psychological Influences active during the French Revolution. + +The genesis of the French Revolution, as well as its duration, +was conditioned by elements of a rational, affective, mystic, and +collective nature, each category of which was ruled by a +different logic. It is, as I have said, because they have not +been able to dissociate the respective influences of these +factors that so many historians have interpreted this period so +indifferently + +The rational element usually invoked as an explanation exerted in +reality but a very slight influence. It prepared the way for the +Revolution, but maintained it only at the outset, while it was +still exclusively middle-class. Its action was manifested by +many measures of the time, such as the proposals to reform the +taxes, the suppression of the privileges of a useless nobility, +&c. + +As soon as the Revolution reached the people, the influence of +the rational elements speedily vanished before that of the +affective and collective elements. As for the mystic elements, +the foundation of the revolutionary faith, they made the army +fanatical and propagated the new belief throughout the world. + +We shall see these various elements as they appeared in events +and in the psychology of individuals. Perhaps the most important +was the mystic element. The Revolution cannot be clearly +comprehended--we cannot repeat it too often--unless it is +considered as the formation of a religious belief. What I have +said elsewhere of all beliefs applies equally to the Revolution. +Referring, for instance, to the chapter on the Reformation, the +reader will see that it presents more than one analogy with the +Revolution. + +Having wasted so much time in demonstrating the slight rational +value of beliefs, the philosophers are to-day beginning to +understand their function better. They have been forced to admit +that these are the only factors which possess an influence +sufficient to transform all the elements of a civilisation. + +They impose themselves on men apart from reason and have the +power to polarise men's thoughts and feelings in one direction. +Pure reason had never such a power, for men were never +impassioned by reason. + +The religious form rapidly assumed by the Revolution explains its +power of expansion and the prestige which it possessed and has +retained. + +Few historians have understood that this great monument ought to +be regarded as the foundation of a new religion. The penetrating +mind of Tocqueville, I believe, was the first to perceive as +much. + +``The French Revolution,'' he wrote, ``was a political revolution +which operated in the manner of and assumed something of the +aspect of a religious revolution. See by what regular and +characteristic traits it finally resembled the latter: not only +did it spread itself far and wide like a religious revolution, +but, like the latter, it spread itself by means of preaching and +propaganda. A political revolution which inspires proselytes, +which is preached as passionately to foreigners as it is +accomplished at home: consider what a novel spectacle was this.'' + +The religious side of the Revolution being granted, the +accompanying fury and devastation are easily explained. History +shows us that such are always the accompaniments of the birth of +religions. The Revolution was therefore certain to provoke the +violence and intolerance the triumphant deities demand from their +adepts. It overturned all Europe for twenty years, ruined +France, caused the death of millions of men, and cost the country +several invasions: but it is as a rule only at the cost of such +catastrophes that a people can change its beliefs. + +Although the mystic element is always the foundation of beliefs, +certain affective and rational elements are quickly added +thereto. A belief thus serves to group sentiments and passions +and interests which belong to the affective domain. Reason then +envelops the whole, seeking to justify events in which, however, +it played no part whatever. + +At the moment of the Revolution every one, according to his +aspirations, dressed the new belief in a different rational +vesture. The peoples saw in it only the suppression of the +religious and political despotisms and hierarchies under +which they had so often suffered. Writers like Goethe and +thinkers like Kant imagined that they saw in it the triumph of +reason. Foreigners like Humboldt came to France ``to breathe the +air of liberty and to assist at the obsequies of despotism.'' + +These intellectual illusions did not last long. The evolution of +the drama soon revealed the true foundations of the dream. + + +2. Dissolution of the Ancien Regime. The assembling of the +States General. + + +Before they are realised in action, revolutions are sketched out +in men's thoughts. Prepared by the causes already studied, the +French Revolution commenced in reality with the reign of Louis +XVI. More discontented and censorious every day, the middle +classes added claim to claim. Everybody was calling for reform. + +Louis XVI. thoroughly understood the utility of reform, but he +was too weak to impose it on the clergy and the nobility. He +could not even retain his reforming ministers, Malesherbes and +Turgot. What with famines and increased taxation, the poverty of +all classes increased, and the huge pensions drawn by the Court +formed a shocking contrast to the general distress. + +The notables convoked to attempt to remedy the financial +situation refused a system of equal taxation, and granted only +insignificant reforms which the Parliament did not even consent +to register. It had to be dissolved. The provincial Parliaments +made common cause with that of Paris, and were also dissolved. +But they led opinion, and in all parts of France promoted +the demand for a meeting of the States General, which had not +been convoked for nearly two hundred years. + +The decision was taken: 5,000,000 Frenchmen, of whom 100,000 +were ecclesiastics and 150,000 nobles, sent their +representatives. There were in all 1,200 deputies, of whom 578 +were of the Third Estate, consisting chiefly of magistrates, +advocates, and physicians. Of the 300 deputies of the clergy, +200, of plebeian origin, threw in their lot with the Third Estate +against the nobility and clergy. + +From the first sessions a psychological conflict broke out +between the deputies of different social conditions and +(therefore) different mentalities. The magnificent costumes of +the privileged deputies contrasted in a humiliating fashion with +the sombre fashions of the Third Estate. + +At the first session the members of the nobility and the clergy + were covered, according to the prerogatives of their class, +before the king. Those of the Third Estate wished to imitate +them, but the privileged members protested. On the following day +more protests of wounded self-love were heard. The deputies of +the Third Estate invited those of the nobility and the clergy who +were sitting in separate halls to join them for the verification +of their powers. The nobles refused. The negotiations lasted +more than a month. Finally, the deputies of the Third Estate, on +the proposition of the Abbe Sieyes, considering that +they represented 95 per cent. of the nation, declared themselves +constituted as a National Assembly. From that moment the +Revolution pursued its course. + + +3. The Constituent Assembly. + + +The power of a political assembly resides, above all, in the +weakness of its adversaries. Astonished by the slight resistance +encountered, and carried away by the ascendancy of a handful of +orators, the Constituent Assembly, from its earliest sessions, +spoke and acted as a sovereign body. Notably it arrogated to +itself the power of decreeing imposts, a serious encroachment +upon the prerogatives of the royal power. + +The resistance of Louis XVI. was feeble enough. He simply had +the hall in which the States assembled closed. The deputies then +met in the hall of the tennis-court, and took the oath that they +would not separate until the Constitution of the kingdom was an +established fact. + +The majority of the deputies of the clergy went with them. The +king revoked the decision of the Assembly, and ordered the +deputies to retire. The Marquis de Dreux-Breze, the Grand +Master of Ceremonies, having invited them to obey the order of +the sovereign, the President of the Assembly declared ``that the +nation assembled cannot receive orders,'' and Mirabeau replied to +the envoy of the sovereign that, being united by the will of the +people, the Assembly would only withdraw at the point of the +bayonet. Again the king gave way. + +On the 9th of June the meeting of deputies took the title of the +Constituent Assembly. For the first time in centuries the king +was forced to recognise the existence of a new power, formerly +ignored--that of the people, represented by its elected +representatives. The absolute monarchy was no more. + +Feeling himself more and more seriously threatened, Louis XVI. +summoned to Versailles a number of regiments composed of foreign +mercenaries. The Assembly demanded the withdrawal of the troops. + +The king refused, and dismissed Necker, replacing him by the +Marshal de Broglie, reputed to be an extremely authoritative +person. + +But the Assembly had able supporters. Camille Desmoulins and +others harangued the crowd in all directions, calling it to the +defence of liberty. They sounded the tocsin, organised a militia +of 12,000 men, took muskets and cannon from the Invalides, and on +the 14th of July the armed bands marched upon the Bastille. The +fortress, barely defended, capitulated in a few hours. Seven +prisoners were found within it, of whom one was an idiot and four +were accused of forgery. + +The Bastille, the prison of many victims of arbitrary power, +symbolised the royal power to many minds; but the people who +demolished it had not suffered by it. Scarcely any but members +of the nobility were imprisoned there. + +The influence exercised by the taking of this fortress has +continued to our days. Serious historians like M. Rambaud assure +us that ``the taking of the Bastille is a culminating fact in the +history, not of France only but of all Europe, and inaugurates a +new epoch in the history of the world.'' + +Such credulity is a little excessive. The importance of the +event lay simply in the psychological fact that for the first +time the people received an obvious proof of the weakness of an +authority which had lately been formidable. + +When the principle of authority is injured in the public mind it +dissolves very rapidly. What might not one demand of a king who +could not defend his principal fortress against popular attacks? +The master regarded as all-powerful had ceased to be so. + +The taking of the Bastille was the beginning of one of those +phenomena of mental contagion which abound in the history of the +Revolution. The foreign mercenary troops, although they could +scarcely be interested in the movement, began to show symptoms of +mutiny. Louis XVI. was reduced to accepting their disbandment. +He recalled Necker, went to the Hotel de Ville, sanctioned by +his presence the accomplished facts, and accepted from La +Fayette, commandant of the National Guard, the new cockade of +red, white, and blue which allied the colours of Paris to those +of the king. + +Although the riot which ended in the taking of the Bastille can +by no means be regarded as ``a culminating fact in history,'' it +does mark the precise moment of the commencement of popular +government. The armed people thenceforth intervened daily in the +deliberations of the revolutionary Assemblies, and seriously +influenced their conduct. + +This intervention of the people in conformity with the dogma of +its sovereignty has provoked the respectful admiration of many +historians of the Revolution. Even a superficial study of the +psychology of crowds would speedily have shown them that the +mystic entity which they call the people was merely translating +the will of a few leaders. It is not correct to say that the +people took the Bastille, attacked the Tuileries, invaded the +Convention, &c., but that certain leaders--generally by +means of the clubs--united armed bands of the populace, which +they led against the Bastille, the Tuileries, &c. During the +Revolution the same crowds attacked or defended the most contrary +parties, according to the leaders who happened to be at their +heads. A crowd never has any opinion but that of its leaders. + +Example constituting one of the most potent forms of suggestion, +the taking of the Bastille was inevitably followed by the +destruction of other fortresses. Many chateaux were regarded as +so many little Bastilles, and in order to imitate the Parisians +who had destroyed theirs the peasants began to burn them. They +did so with the greater fury because the seigneurial homes +contained the titles of feudal dues. It was a species of +Jacquerie. + +The Constituent Assembly, so proud and haughty towards the king, +was, like all the revolutionary assemblies which followed it, +extremely pusillanimous before the people. + +Hoping to put an end to the disorders of the night of August 4th, +it voted, on the proposition of a member of the nobility, the +Comte de Noailles, the abolition of seigneurial rights. Although +this measure suppressed at one stroke the privileges of the +nobles, it was voted with tears and embracings. Such accesses of +sentimental enthusiasm are readily explained when we recall how +contagious emotion is in a crowd, above all in an assembly +oppressed by fear. + +If the renunciation of their rights had been effected by the +nobility a few years earlier, the Revolution would doubtless have +been avoided, but it was now too late. To give way only when one +is forced to do so merely increases the demands of those +to whom one yields. In politics one should always look ahead and +give way long before one is forced to do so. + +Louis XVI. hesitated for two months to ratify the decisions voted +by the Assembly on the night of the 4th of August. He had +retired to Versailles. The leaders sent thither a band of 7,000 +or 8,000 men and women of the people, assuring them that the +royal residence contained great stores of bread. The railings of +the palace were forced, some of the bodyguard were killed, and +the king and all his family were led back to Paris in the midst +of a shrieking crowd, many of whom bore on the ends of their +pikes the heads of the soldiers massacred. The dreadful journey +lasted six hours. These events constituted what are known as the +``days'' of October. + +The popular power increased, and in reality the king, like the +whole assembly, was henceforth in the hands of the people--that +is, at the mercy of the clubs and their leaders. This popular +power was to prevail for nearly ten years, and the Revolution was +to be almost entirely its work. + +While proclaiming that the people constituted the only sovereign, +the Assembly was greatly embarrassed by riots which went far +beyond its theoretical expectations. It had supposed that order +would be restored while it fabricated a Constitution destined to +assure the eternal happiness of mankind. + +We know that during the whole duration of the Revolution one of +the chief occupations of the assemblies was to make, unmake, and +remake Constitutions. The theorists attributed to them then, as +they do to-day, the power of transforming society; the +Assembly, therefore, could not neglect its task. In the meantime +it published a solemn Declaration of the Rights of Man which +summarised its principles. + +The Constitution, proclamations, declarations, and speeches had +not the slightest effect on the popular movements, nor on the +dissentients who daily increased in number in the heart of the +Assembly. The latter became more and more subjected to the +ascendancy of the advanced party, which was supported by the +clubs. Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and later Marat and +Hebert, violently excited the populace by their harangues and +their journals. The Assembly was rapidly going down the slope +that leads to extremes. + +During all these disorders the finances of the country were not +improving. Finally convinced that philanthropic speeches would +not alter their lamentable condition, and seeing that bankruptcy +threatened, the Assembly decreed, on the 2nd of November, 1789, +the confiscation of the goods of the Church. Their revenues, +consisting of the tithes collected from the faithful, amounted to +some L8,000,000, and their value was estimated at about +L120,000,000. They were divided among some hundreds of +prelates, Court abbes, &c., who owned a quarter of all France. +These goods, henceforth entitled is ``national domains,'' formed +the guarantee of the assignats, the first issue of which was +for 400,000,000 francs (L16,000,000 sterling). The public +accepted them at the outset, but they multiplied so under the +Directory and the Convention, which issued 45,000,000,000 francs +in this form (L1,800,000,000 sterling), that an assignat of +100 livres was finally worth only a few halfpence. + +Stimulated by his advisers, the feeble Louis attempted in +vain to struggle against the decrees of the Assembly by refusing +to sanction them. + +Under the influence of the daily suggestions of the leaders and +the power of mental contagion the revolutionary movement was +spreading everywhere independently of the Assembly and often even +against it. + +In the towns and villages revolutionary municipalities were +instituted, protected by the local National Guards. Those of +neighbouring towns commenced to make mutual arrangements to +defend themselves should need arise. Thus federations were +formed, which were soon rolled into one; this sent 14,000 +National Guards to Paris, who assembled on the Champ-de-Mars on +the 14th of July, 1790. There the king swore to maintain the +Constitution decreed by the National Assembly. + +Despite this vain oath it became more evident every day that no +agreement was possible between the hereditary principles of the +monarchy and those proclaimed by the Assembly. + +Feeling himself completely powerless, the king thought only of +flight. Arrested at Varennes and brought back a prisoner to +Paris, he was shut up in the Tuileries. The Assembly, although +still extremely royalist, suspended him from power, and decided +to assume the sole charge of the government. + +Never did sovereign find himself in a position so difficult as +that of Louis at the time of his flight. The genius of a +Richelieu would hardly have extricated him. The only element of +defence on which he could have relied had from the beginning +absolutely failed him. + +During the whole duration of the Constituent Assembly the +immense majority of Frenchmen and of the Assembly remained +royalist, so that had the sovereign accepted a liberal monarchy +he could perhaps have remained in power. It would seem that +Louis had little to promise in order to come to an agreement with +the Assembly. + +Little, perhaps, but with his structure of mind that little was +strictly impossible. All the shades of his forbears would have +risen up in front of him had he consented to modify the mechanism +of the monarchy inherited from so many ancestors. And even had +he attempted to do so, the opposition of his family, the clergy, +the nobles, and the Court could never have been surmounted. The +ancient castes on which the monarchy rested, the nobility and the +clergy, were then almost as powerful as the monarch himself. +Every time it seemed as though he might yield to the injunctions +of the Assembly it was because he was constrained to do so by +force, and to attempt to gain time. His appeals to alien Powers +represented the resolution of a desperate man who had seen all +his natural defences fail him. + +He, and especially the queen, entertained the strangest illusions +as to the possible assistance of Austria, for centuries the rival +of France. If Austria indolently consented to come to his aid, +it was only in the hope of receiving a great reward. Mercy gave +him to understand that the payment expected consisted of Alsace, +the Alps, and Navarre. + +The leaders of the clubs, finding the Assembly too royalist, sent +the people against it. A petition was signed, inviting the +Assembly to convoke a new constituent power to proceed to the +trial of Louis XVI. + +Monarchical in spite of all, and finding that the Revolution was +assuming a character far too demagogic, the Assembly resolved to +defend itself against the actions of the people. A battalion of +the National Guard, commanded by La Fayette, was sent to the +Champ-de-Mars, where the crowd was assembled, to disperse it. +Fifty of those present were killed. + +The Assembly did not long persist in its feeble resistance. +Extremely fearful of the people, it increased its arrogance +towards the king, depriving him every day of some part of his +prerogatives and authority. He was now scarcely more than a mere +official obliged to execute the wishes of others. + +The Assembly had imagined that it would be able to exercise the +authority of which it had deprived the king, but such a task was +infinitely above its resources. A power so divided is always +weak. ``I know nothing more terrible,'' said Mirabeau, ``than +the sovereign authority of six hundred persons.'' + +Having flattered itself that it could combine in itself all the +powers of the State, and exercise them as Louis XVI. had done, +the Assembly very soon exercised none whatever. + +As its authority failed anarchy increased. The popular leaders +continually stirred up the people. Riot and insurrection became +the sole power. Every day the Assembly was invaded by rowdy and +imperious delegations which operated by means of threats and +demands. + +All these popular movements, which the Assembly, under the stress +of fear, invariably obeyed, had nothing spontaneous about them. +They simply represented the manifestations of new powers--the +clubs and the Commune--which had been set up beside the +Assembly. + +The most powerful of these clubs was the Jacobin, which had +quickly created more than five hundred branches in the country, +all of which were under the orders of the central body. Its +influence remained preponderant during the whole duration of the +Revolution. It was the master of the Assembly, and then of +France, its only rival the insurrectionary Commune, whose power +was exercised only in Paris. + +The weakness of the national Assembly and all its failures had +made it extremely unpopular. It became conscious of this, and, +feeling that it was every day more powerless, decided to hasten +the creation of the new Constitution in order that it might +dissolve. Its last action, which was tactless enough, was to +decree that no member of the Constituent Assembly should be +elected to the Legislative Assembly. The members of the latter +were thus deprived of the experience acquired by their +predecessors. + +The Constitution was completed on the 3rd of September, 1791, and +accepted on the 13th by the king, to whom the Assembly had +restored his powers. + +This Constitution organised a representative Government, +delegating the legislative power to deputies elected by the +people, and the executive power to the king, whose right of veto +over the decrees of the Assembly was recognised. New +departmental divisions were substituted for the old provinces. +The imposts were abolished, and replaced by direct and indirect +taxes, which are still in force. + +The Assembly, which had just altered the territorial divisions +and overthrown all the old social organisation, thought +itself powerful enough to transform the religious organisation of +the country also. It claimed notably that the members of the +clergy should be elected by the people, and should be thus +withdrawn from the influence of their supreme head, the Pope. + +This civil constitution of the clergy was the origin of religious +struggles and persecutions which lasted until the days of the +Consulate. Two-thirds of the priests refused the oath demanded +of them. + +During the three years which represented the life of the +Constituent Assembly the Revolution had produced considerable +results. The principal result was perhaps the beginning of the +transference to the Third Estate of the riches of the privileged +classes. In this way while interests were created to be defended +fervent adherents were raised up to the new regime. A +Revolution supported by the gratification of acquired appetites +is bound to be powerful. The Third Estate, which had supplanted +the nobles, and the peasants, who had bought the national +domains, would readily understand that the restoration of the +ancien regime would despoil them of all their advantages. +The energetic defence of the Revolution was merely the defence of +their own fortunes. + +This is why we see, during part of the Revolution, nearly half +the departments vainly rising against the despotism that crushed +them. The Republicans triumphed over all opposition. They were +extremely powerful in that they had to defend, not only a new +ideal, but new material interests. We shall see that the +influence of these two factors lasted during the whole of the +Revolution, and contributed powerfully to the establishment of +the Empire. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY + +1. Political Events during the Life of the Legislative Assembly. + +Before examining the mental characteristics of the Legislative +Assembly let us briefly sum up the considerable political events +which marked its short year's life. They naturally played an +important part in respect of its psychological manifestations. + +Extremely monarchical, the Legislative Assembly had no more idea +than its predecessor of destroying the monarchy. The king +appeared to it to be slightly suspect, but it still hoped to be +able to retain him on the throne. + +Unhappily for him, Louis was incessantly begging for intervention +from abroad. Shut up in the Tuileries, defended only by his +Swiss Guards, the timid sovereign was drifting among contrary +influences. He subsidised journals intended to modify public +opinion, but the obscure ``penny-a-liners'' who edited them knew +nothing of acting on the mind of the crowd. Their only means of +persuasion was to menace with the gallows all the partisans of +the Revolution, and to predict the invasion of France by an army +which would rescue the king. + +Royalty no longer counted on anything but the foreign +Courts. The nobles were emigrating. Prussia, Austria, and +Russia were threatening France with a war of invasion. The Court +favoured their lead. To the coalition of the three kings against +France the Jacobin Club proposed to oppose a league of peoples. +The Girondists were then, with the Jacobins, at the head of the +revolutionary movement. They incited the masses to arm +themselves--600,000 volunteers were equipped. The Court accepted +a Girondist minister. Dominated by him, Louis XVI. was obliged +to propose to the Assembly a war against Austria. It was +immediately agreed to. + +In declaring war the king was not sincere. The queen revealed +the French plans of campaign and the secret deliberations of the +Council to the Austrians. + +The beginnings of the struggle were disastrous. Several columns +of troops, attacked by panic, disbanded. Stimulated by the +clubs, and persuaded--justly, for that matter--that the king was +conspiring with the enemies of France, the population of the +faubourgs rose in insurrection. Its leaders, the Jacobins, and +above all Danton, sent to the Tuileries on the 20th of June a +petition threatening the king with revocation. It then invaded +the Tuileries, heaping invectives on the sovereign. + +Fatality impelled Louis toward his tragic destiny. While the +threats of the Jacobins against royalty had roused many of the +departments to indignation, it was learned that a Prussian army +had arrived on the frontiers of Lorraine. + +The hope of the king and queen respecting the help to be obtained +from abroad was highly chimerical. Marie-Antoinette +suffered from an absolute illusion as to the psychology of the +Austrian and the French peoples. Seeing France terrorised by a +few energumens, she supposed that it would be equally easy to +terrify the Parisians, and by means of threats to lead them back +under the king's authority. Inspired by her, Fersen undertook to +publish the manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick, threatening Paris +with ``total subversion if the royal family were molested.'' + +The effect produced was diametrically opposite to that intended. +The manifesto aroused indignation against the monarch, who was +regarded as an accomplice, and increased his unpopularity. From +that day he was marked for the scaffold. + +Carried away by Danton, the delegates of the sections installed +themselves at the Hotel de Ville as an insurrectionary +Commune, which arrested the commandant of the National Guard, who +was devoted to the king, sounded the tocsin, equipped the +National Guard, and on the 10th of August hurled them, with the +populace, against the Tuileries. The regiments called in by +Louis disbanded themselves. Soon none were left to defend him +but his Swiss and a few gentlemen. Nearly all were killed. Left +alone, the king took refuge with the Assembly. The crowds +demanded his denouncement. The Legislative Assembly decreed his +suspension and left a future Assembly, the Convention, to decide +upon his fate. + + +2. Mental Characteristics of the Legislative Assembly. + + +The Legislative Assembly, formed of new men, presented quite a +special interest from the psychological point of view. +Few assemblies have offered in such a degree the characteristics +of the political collectivity. + +It comprised seven hundred and fifty deputies, divided into pure +royalists, constitutional royalists, republicans, Girondists, and +Montagnards. Advocates and men of letters formed the majority. +It also contained, but in smaller numbers, superior officers, +priests, and a very few scientists. + +The philosophical conceptions of the members of this Assembly +seem rudimentary enough. Many were imbued with Rousseau's idea +of a return to a state of nature. But all, like their +predecessors, were dominated more especially by recollections of +Greek and Latin antiquity. Cato, Brutus, Gracchus, Plutarch, +Marcus Aurelius, and Plato, continually evoked, furnished the +images of their speech. When the orator wished to insult Louis +XVI. he called him Caligula. + +In hoping to destroy tradition they were revolutionaries, but in +claiming to return to a remote past they showed themselves +extremely reactionary. + +For the rest, all these theories had very little influence on +their conduct. Reason was continually figuring in their +speeches, but never in their actions. These were always +dominated by those affective and mystic elements whose potency we +have so often demonstrated. + +The psychological characteristics of the Legislative Assembly +were those of the Constituent Assembly, but were greatly +accentuated. They may be summed up in four words: +impressionability, mobility, timidity, and weakness. + +This mobility and impressionability are revealed in the constant +variability of their conduct. One day they exchange noisy +invective and blows. On the following day we see them ``throwing +themselves into one another's arms with torrents of tears.'' +They eagerly applaud an address demanding the punishment of those +who have petitioned for the king's dethronement, and the same day +accord the honours of the session to a delegation which has come +to demand his downfall. + +The pusillanimity and weakness of the Assembly in the face of +threats was extreme. Although royalist it voted the suspension +of the king, and on the demand of the Commune delivered him, with +his family, to be imprisoned in the Temple, + +Thanks to its weakness, it was as incapable as the Constituent +Assembly of exercising any power, and allowed itself to be +dominated by the Commune and the clubs, which were directed by +such influential leaders as Hebert, Tallien, Rossignol, Marat, +Robespierre, &c. + +Until Thermidor, 1794, the insurrectionary Commune constituted +the chief power in the State, and behaved precisely as if it had +been charged with the government of Paris. + +It was the Commune that demanded the imprisonment of Louis XVI. +in the tower of the Temple, when the Assembly wished to imprison +him in the palace of the Luxembourg. It was the Commune again +that filled the prisons with suspects, and then ordered them to +be killed. + +We know with what refinements of cruelty a handful of some 150 +bandits, paid at the rate of 24 livres a day, and directed by a +few members of the Commune, exterminated some 1,200 persons in +four days. This crime was known as the massacre of September. +The mayor of Paris, Petion, received the band of assassins with +respect, and gave them drink. A few Girondists protested +somewhat, but the Jacobins were silent. + +The terrorised Assembly affected at first to ignore the +massacres, which were encouraged by several of its more +influential deputies, notably Couthon and Billaud-Varenne. When +at last it decided to condemn them it was without attempting to +prevent their continuation. + +Conscious of its impotence, the Legislative Assembly dissolved +itself a fortnight later in order to give way to the Convention. + +Its work was obviously disastrous, not in intention but in fact. +Royalist, it abandoned the monarchy; humanitarian, it allowed the +massacres of September; pacific, it pushed France into a +formidable war, thus showing that a weak Government always ends +by bringing ruin upon its country. + +The history of the two previous revolutionary Assemblies proves +once more to what point events carry within them their inevitable +consequences. They constitute a train of necessities of which we +can sometimes choose the first, but which then evolve without +consulting us. We are free to make a decision, but powerless to +avert its consequences. + +The first measures of the Constituent Assembly were rational and +voluntary, but the results which followed were beyond all will or +reason or foresight. + +Which of the men of 1789 would have ventured to desire or predict +the death of Louis XVI., the wars of La Vendee, the Terror, the +permanent guillotine and the final anarchy, or the ensuing return +to tradition and order, guided by the iron hand of a soldier? + +In the development of events which ensued from the early actions +of the revolutionary Assemblies the most striking, perhaps, was +the rise and development of the government of the crowd--of mob +rule. + +Behind the facts which we have been considering--the taking of +the Bastille, the invasion of Versailles, the massacres of +September, the attack on the Tuileries, the murder of the Swiss +Guards, and the downfall and imprisonment of the king--we can +readily perceive the laws affecting the psychology of crowds and +their leaders. + +We shall now see that the power of the multitude will +progressively increase, overcome all other powers, and finally +replace them. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CONVENTION + +1. The Legend of the Convention. + +The history of the Convention is not merely fertile in +psychological documents. It also shows how powerless the +witnesses of any period and even their immediate successors are +to form an exact idea of the events which they have witnessed, +and the men who have surrounded them. + +More than a century has elapsed since the Revolution, and men are +only just beginning to form judgments concerning this period +which, if still often doubtful enough, are slightly more accurate +than of old. + +This happens, not only because new documents are being drawn from +the archives, but because the legends which enveloped that +sanguinary period in a magical cloud are gradually vanishing with +the passage of time. + +Perhaps the most tenacious legend of all was that which until +formerly used to surround the personages to whom our fathers +applied the glorious epithet, ``the Giants of the Convention.'' + +The struggles of the Convention against France in insurrection +and Europe in arms produced such an impression that the heroes of +this formidable struggle seemed to belong to a race of supermen +or Titans. + +The epithet ``giant'' seemed justified so long as the events of +the period were confused and massed together. Regarded as +connected when it was simply simultaneous, the work of the armies +was confounded with that of the Convention. The glory of the +first recoiled upon the second, and served as an excuse for the +hecatombs of the Terror, the ferocity of the civil war, and the +devastation of France. + +Under the penetrating scrutiny of modern criticism, the +heterogeneous mass of events has been slowly disentangled. The +armies of the Republic have retained their old prestige, but we +have been forced to recognise that the men of the Convention, +absorbed entirely by their intestine conflicts, had very little +to do with their victories. At the most two or three members of +the committees of the Assembly were concerned with the armies, +and the fact that they were victorious was due, apart from their +numbers and the talents of their young generals, to the +enthusiasm with which a new faith had inspired them. + +In a later chapter, devoted to the revolutionary armies, we shall +see how they conquered Europe in arms. They set out inspired by +the ideas of liberty and equality which constituted the new +gospel, and once on the frontiers, which were to keep them so +long, they retained a special mentality, very different from that +of the Government, which they first knew nothing of and +afterwards despised. + +Having no part whatever in their victories, the men of the +Convention contented themselves with legislating at hazard +according to the injunctions of the leaders who directed them, +and who claimed to be regenerating France by means of the +guillotine. + +But it was thanks to these valiant armies that the history of the +Convention was transformed into an apotheosis which affected +several generations with a religious respect which even to-day is +hardly extinct. + +Studying in detail the psychology of the ``Giants'' of the +Convention, we find their magnitude shrink very rapidly. They +were in general extremely mediocre. Their most fervent +defenders, such as M. Aulard, are obliged to admit as much. + +This is how M. Aulard puts it in his History of the French +Revolution:-- + +``It has been said that the generation which from 1789 to 1799 +did such great and terrible things was a generation of giants, +or, to put it more plainly, that it was a generation more +distinguished than that which preceded it or that which followed. + +This is a retrospective illusion. The citizens who formed the +municipal and Jacobin or nationalist groups by which the +Revolution was effected do not seem to have been superior, either +in enlightenment or in talents, to the Frenchmen of the time of +Louis XV. or of Louis Philippe. Were those exceptionally gifted +whose names history has retained because they appeared on the +stage of Paris, or because they were the most brilliant orators +of the various revolutionary Assemblies? Mirabeau, up to a +certain point, deserved the title of genius; but as to the rest-- +Robespierre, Danton, Vergniaud--had they truly more talent, for +example, than our modern orators? In 1793, in the time of the +supposed `giants,' Mme. Roland wrote in her memoirs: `France was +as though drained of men; their dearth during this revolution is +truly surprising; there have scarcely been any but pigmies.' '' + +If after considering the men of the Convention individually we +consider them in a body, we may say that they did not shine +either by intelligence or by virtue or by courage. Never did a +body of men manifest such pusillanimity. They had no courage +save in their speeches or in respect of remote dangers. This +Assembly, so proud and threatening in its speech when addressing +royalty, was perhaps the most timid and docile political +collectivity that the world has ever known. We see it slavishly +obedient to the orders of the clubs and the Commune, trembling +before the popular delegations which invaded it daily, and +obeying the injunctions of the rioters to the point of handing +over to them its most brilliant members. The Convention affords +the world a melancholy spectacle, voting, at the popular behest, +laws so absurd that it is obliged to annul them as soon as the +rioters have quitted the hall. + +Few Assemblies have given proof of such weakness. When we wish +to show how low a popular Government can fall we have only to +point to the Convention. + + +2. Results of the Triumph of the Jacobin Religion + + +Among the causes that gave the Convention its special +physiognomy, one of the most important was the definite +establishment of a revolutionary religion. A dogma which was at +first in process of formation was at last finally erected. + +This dogma was composed of an aggregate of somewhat inconsistent +elements. Nature, the rights of man, liberty, equality, the +social contract, hatred of tyrants, and popular sovereignty +formed the articles of a gospel which, to its disciples, was +above discussion. The new truths had found apostles who were +certain of their power, and who finally, like believers all the +world over, sought to impose them by force. No heed should be +taken of the opinion of unbelievers; they all deserved to be +exterminated. + +The hatred of heretics having been always, as we have seen, in +respect of the Reformation, an irreducible characteristic of +great beliefs, we can readily comprehend the intolerance of the +Jacobin religion. + +The history of the Reformation proves also that the conflict +between two allied beliefs is very bitter. We must not, +therefore, be astonished that in the Convention the Jacobins +fought furiously against the other republicans, whose faith +hardly differed from their own. + +The propaganda of the new apostles was very energetic. To +convert the provinces they sent thither zealous disciples +escorted by guillotines. The inquisitors of the new faith would +have no paltering with error. As Robespierre said, ``The +republic is the destruction of everything that is opposed to +it.'' What matter that the country refused to be regenerated? +It should be regenerated despite itself. ``We will make a +cemetery of France,'' said Carrier, ``rather than fail to +regenerate it in our own way.'' + +The Jacobin policy derived from the new faith was very simple. +It consisted in a sort of equalitarian Socialism, directed by a +dictatorship which would brook no opposition. + +Of practical ideas consistent with the economic necessities and +the true nature of man, the theorists who ruled France would have +nothing to say. Speech and the guillotine sufficed them. Their +speeches were childish. ``Never a fact,'' says Taine, ``nothing +but abstractions, strings of sentences about Nature, reason, the +people, tyrants, liberty: like so many puffed-out balloons +uselessly jostling in space. If we did not know that it all +ended in practical and dreadful results, we should think they +were games of logic, school exercises, academical demonstrations, +ideological combinations.'' + +The theories of the Jacobins amounted practically to an absolute +tyranny. To them it seemed evident that a sovereign State must +be obeyed without discussion by citizens rendered equal as to +conditions and fortune. + +The power with which they invested themselves was far greater +than that of the monarchs who had preceded them. They fixed the +prices of merchandise and arrogated the right to dispose of the +life and property of citizens. + +Their confidence in the regenerative virtues of the revolutionary +faith was such that after having declared war upon kings they +declared war upon the gods. A calendar was established from +which the saints were banished. They created a new divinity, +Reason, whose worship was celebrated in Notre-Dame, with +ceremonies which were in many ways identical with those of the +Catholic faith, upon the altar of the ``late Holy Virgin.'' This +cult lasted until Robespierre substituted a personal religion of +which he constituted himself the high priest. + +The sole masters of France, the Jacobins and their +disciples were able to plunder the country with impunity, +although they were never in the majority anywhere. + +Their numbers are not easy to determine exactly. We know only +that they were very small. Taine valued them at 5,000 in Paris, +among 700,000 inhabitants; in Besancon 300 among 300,000; and +in all France about 300,000. + +``A small feudality of brigands, set over a conquered France,'' +according to the words of the same author, they were able, in +spite of their small numbers, to dominate the country, and this +for several reasons. In the first place, their faith gave them a +considerable strength. Then, because they represented the +Government, and for centuries the French had obeyed those who +were in command. Finally, because it was believed that to +overthrow them would be to bring back the ancien regime, +which was greatly dreaded by the numerous purchasers of the +national domains. Their tyranny must have grown frightful indeed +to force so many departments to rise against them. + +The first factor of their power was very important. In the +conflict between powerful faiths and weak faiths victory never +falls to the latter. A powerful faith creates strong wills, +which will always overpower weak wills. That the Jacobins +themselves did finally perish was because their accumulated +violence had bound together thousands of weak wills whose united +weight overbalanced their own strong wills. + +It is true that the Girondists, whom the Jacobins persecuted with +so much hatred, had also well-established beliefs, but in the +struggle which ensued their education told against them, +together with their respect for certain traditions and the rights +of others, scruples which did not in the least trouble their +adversaries. + +``The majority of the sentiments of the Girondists,'' writes +Emile Ollivier, ``were delicate and generous; those of the +Jacobin mob were low, gross, and brutal. The name of Vergniaud, +compared with that of the `divine' Marat, measures a gulf which +nothing could span.'' + +Dominating the Convention at the outset by the superiority of +their talents and their eloquence, the Girondists soon fell under +the domination of the Montagnards--worthless energumens, who +carried little weight, but were always active, and who knew how +to excite the passions of the populace. It was violence and not +talent that impressed the Assemblies. + + +3. Mental Characteristics of the Convention. + + +Beside the characteristics common to all assemblies there are +some created by influences of environment and circumstances, +which give any particular assembly of men a special physiognomy. +Most of the characteristics observable in the Constituent and +Legislative Assemblies reappeared, in an exaggerated form, in the +Convention. + +This Assembly comprised about seven hundred and fifty deputies, +of whom rather more than a third had sat in the Constituent or +the Legislative Assembly. By terrorising the population the +Jacobins contrived to triumph at the elections. The majority of +the electors, six millions out of seven, preferred to abstain +from voting. + +As to the professions, the Assembly contained a large number of +lawyers, advocates, notaries, bailiffs, ex-magistrates, and a few +literary men. + +The mentality of the Convention was not homogeneous. Now, an +assembly composed of individuals of widely different characters +soon splits up into a number of groups. The Convention very +early contained three--the Gironde, the Mountain, and the Plain. +The constitutional monarchists had almost disappeared. + +The Gironde and the Mountain, extreme parties, consisted of about +a hundred members apiece, who successively became leaders. In +the Mountain were the most advanced members: Couthon, Herault +de Sechelles, Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Marat, Collot +d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, Barras, Saint-Just, Fouche, +Tallien, Carrier, Robespierre, &c. In the Gironde were Brissot, +Petion, Condorcet, Vergniaud, &c. + +The five hundred other members of the Assembly--that is, the +great majority--constituted what was known as the Plain. + +This latter formed a floating mass, silent, undecided, and timid; +ready to follow every impulse and to be carried away by the +excitement of the moment. It gave ear indifferently to the +stronger of the two preceding groups. After obeying the Gironde +for some time it allowed itself to be led away by the Mountain, +when the latter triumphed over its enemy. This was a natural +consequence of the law already stated, by which the weak +invariably fall under the dominion of the stronger wills. + +The influence of great manipulators of men was displayed +in a high degree during the Convention. It was constantly led by +a violent minority of narrow minds, whose intense convictions +lent them great strength. + +A brutal and audacious minority will always lead a fearful and +irresolute majority. This explains the constant tendency toward +extremes to be observed in all revolutionary assemblies. The +history of the Convention verifies once more the law of +acceleration studied in another chapter. + +The men of the Convention were thus bound to pass from moderation +to greater and greater violence. Finally they decimated +themselves. Of the 180 Girondists who at the outset led the +Convention 140 were killed or fled, and finally the most +fanatical of the Terrorists, Robespierre, reigned alone over a +terrified crowd of servile representatives. + +Yet it was among the five hundred members of the majority, +uncertain and floating as it was, that the intelligence and +experience were to be found. The technical committees to whom +the useful work of the Convention was due were recruited from the +Plain. + +More or less indifferent to politics, the members of the Plain +were chiefly anxious that no one should pay particular attention +to them. Shut up in their committees, they showed themselves as +little as possible in the Assembly, which explains why the +sessions of the Convention contained barely a third of the +deputies. + +Unhappily, as often happens, these intelligent and honest men +were completely devoid of character, and the fear which always +dominated them made them vote for the worst of the +measures introduced by their dreaded masters. + +The men of the Plain voted for everything they were ordered to +vote for--the creation of the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror, +&c. It was with their assistance that the Mountain crushed the +Gironde, and Robespierre destroyed the Hebertists and +Dantonists. Like all weak people, they followed the strong. The +gentle philanthropists who composed the Plain, and constituted +the majority of the Assembly, contributed, by their +pusillanimity, to bring about the frightful excesses of the +Convention. + +The psychological note always prevailing in the Convention was a +horrible fear. It was more especially through fear that men cut +off one another's heads, in the doubtful hope of keeping their +own on their shoulders. + +Such a fear was, of course, very comprehensible. The unhappy +deputies deliberated amid the hootings and vociferations of the +tribunes. At every moment veritable savages, armed with pikes, +invaded the Assembly, and the majority of the members no longer +dared to attend the sessions. When by chance they did go it was +only to vote in silence according to the orders of the Mountain, +which was only a third as numerous. + +The fear which dominated the latter, although less visible, was +just as profound. Men destroyed their enemies, not only because +they were shallow fanatics, but because they were convinced that +their own existence was threatened. The judges of the +revolutionary Tribunals trembled no less. They would have +willingly acquitted Danton, and the widow of Camille +Desmoulins, and many others. They dared not. + +But it was above all when Robespierre became the sole master that +the phantom of fear oppressed the Assembly. It has truly been +said that a glance from the master made his colleagues shrink +with fear. On their faces one read ``the pallor of fear and the +abandon of despair.'' + +All feared Robespierre and Robespierre feared all. It was +because he feared conspiracies against him that he cut off men's +heads, and it was also through fear that others allowed him to do +so. + +The memoirs of members of the Convention show plainly what a +horrible memory they retained of this gloomy period. Questioned +twenty years later, says Taine, on the true aim and the intimate +thoughts of the Committee of Public Safety, Barrere replied:-- + +``We had only one feeling, that of self-preservation; only one +desire, that of preserving our lives, which each of us believed +to be threatened. You had your neighbour's head cut off so that +your neighbour should not have you yourself guillotined.'' + +The history of the Convention constitutes one of the most +striking examples that could be given of the influence of leaders +and of fear upon an assembly. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CONVENTION + +1. The activity of the Clubs and the Commune during the +Convention. + +During the whole of its existence the Convention was governed by +the leaders of the clubs and of the Commune. + +We have already seen what was their influence on the preceding +Assemblies. It became overwhelming during the Convention. The +history of this latter is in reality that of the clubs and the +Commune which dominated it. They enslaved, not only the +Convention, but also all France. Numerous little provincial +clubs, directed by that of the capital, supervised magistrates, +denounced suspects, and undertook the execution of all the +revolutionary orders. + +When the clubs or the Commune had decided upon certain measures +they had them voted by the Assembly then and there. If the +Assembly resisted, they sent their armed delegations thither-- +that is, armed bands recruited from the scum of the populace. +They conveyed injunctions which were always slavishly obeyed. +The Commune was so sure of its strength that it even demanded of +the Convention the immediate expulsion of deputies who displeased +it. + +While the Convention was composed generally of educated +men, the members of the Commune and the clubs comprised a +majority of small shopkeepers, labourers, and artisans, incapable +of personal opinions, and always guided by their leaders--Danton, +Camille Desmoulins, Robespierre, &c. + +Of the two powers, clubs and insurrectionary Commune, the latter +exercised the greater influence in Paris, because it had made for +itself a revolutionary army. It held under its orders forty- +eight committees of National Guards, who asked nothing more than +to kill, sack, and, above all, plunder. + +The tyranny with which the Commune crushed Paris was frightful. +For example, it delegated to a certain cobbler, Chalandon by +name, the right of surveillance over a portion of the capital--a +right implying the power to send to the Revolutionary Tribunal, +and therefore to the guillotine, all those whom he suspected. +Certain streets were thus almost depopulated by him. + +The Convention struggled feebly against the Commune at the +outset, but did not prolong its resistance. The culminating +point of the conflict occurred when the Convention wished to +arrest Hebert, the friend of the Commune, and the latter sent +armed bands who threatened the Assembly and demanded the +expulsion of the Girondists who had provoked the measure. Upon +the Convention refusing the Commune besieged it on June 2, 1798, +by means of its revolutionary army, which was under the orders of +Hanriot. Terrified, the Assembly gave up twenty-seven of its +members. The Commune immediately sent a delegation ironically to +felicitate it upon its obedience. + +After the fall of the Girondists the Convention submitted itself +completely to the injunctions of the omnipotent Commune. The +latter decreed the levy of a revolutionary army, to be +accompanied by a tribunal and a guillotine, which was to traverse +the whole of France in order to execute suspects. + +Only towards the end of its existence, after the fall of +Robespierre, did the Convention contrive to escape from the yoke +of the Jacobins and the Commune. It closed the Jacobin club and +guillotined its leading members. + +Despite such sanctions the leaders still continued to excite the +populace and hurl it against the Convention. In Germinal and +Prairial it underwent regular sieges. Armed delegations even +succeeded in forcing the Convention to vote the re-establishment +of the Commune and the convocation of a new Assembly, a measure +which the Convention hastened to annul the moment the insurgents +had withdrawn. Ashamed of its fear, it sent for regiments which +disarmed the faubourgs and made nearly ten thousand arrests. +Twenty-six leaders of the movement were put to death, and six +deputies who were concerned in the riot were guillotined. + +But the Convention did not resist to any purpose. When it was no +longer led by the clubs and the Commune it obeyed the Committee +of Public Safety and voted its decrees without discussion. + +``The Convention,'' writes H. Williams, ``which spoke of nothing +less than having all the princes and kings of Europe brought to +its feet loaded with chains, was made prisoner in its own +sanctuary by a handful of mercenaries.'' + + +2. The Government of France during the Convention--The Terror. + + +As soon as it assembled in 1792 the Convention began by decreeing +the abolition of royalty, and in spite of the hesitation of a +great number of its members, who knew that the provinces were +royalist, it proclaimed the Republic. + +Intimately persuaded that such a proclamation would transform the +civilised world, it instituted a new era and a new calendar. The +year I. of this era marked the dawn of a world in which reason +alone was to reign. It was inaugurated by the trial of Louis +XVI., a measure which was ordered by the Commune, but which the +majority of the Convention did not desire. + +At its outset, in fact, the Convention was governed by its +relatively moderate elements, the Girondists. The president and +the secretaries had been chosen among the best known of this +party. Robespierre, who was later to become the absolute master +of the Convention, possessed so little influence at this time +that he obtained only six votes for the presidency, while +Petion received two hundred and thirty-five. + +The Montagnards had at first only a very slight influence. Their +power was of later growth. When they were in power there was no +longer room in the Convention for moderate members. + +Despite their minority the Montagnards found a way to force the +Assembly to bring Louis to trial. This was at once a victory +over the Girondists, the condemnation of all kings, and a final +divorce between the old order and the new. + +To bring about the trial they manoeuvred very skilfully, +bombarding the Convention with petitions from the provinces, and +sending a deputation from the insurrectional Commune of Paris, +which demanded a trial. + +According to a characteristic common to the Assemblies of the +Revolution, that of yielding to threats and always doing the +contrary of what they wished, the men of the Convention dared not +resist. The trial was decided upon. + +The Girondists, who individually would not have wished for the +death of the king, voted for it out of fear once they were +assembled. Hoping to save his own head, the Duc d'Orleans, +Louis' cousin, voted with them. If, on mounting the scaffold on +January 21, 1793, Louis had had that vision of the future which +we attribute to the gods, he would have seen following him, one +by one, the greater number of the Girondists whose weakness had +been unable to defend him. + +Regarded only from the purely utilitarian point of view, the +execution of the king was one of the mistakes of the Revolution. +It engendered civil war and armed Europe against France. In the +Convention itself his death gave rise to intestine struggles, +which finally led to the triumph of the Montagnards and the +expulsion of the Girondists. + +The measures passed under the influence of the Montagnards +finally became so despotic that sixty departments, comprising the +West and the South, revolted. The insurrection, which was headed +by many of the expelled deputies, would perhaps have succeeded +had not the compromising assistance of the royalists caused men +to fear the return of the ancien regime. At Toulon, in fact, the +insurgents acclaimed Louis XVII. + +The civil war thus begun lasted during the greater part of the +life of the Revolution. It was fought with the utmost savagery. +Old men, women, children, all were massacred, and villages and +crops were burned. In the Vendee alone the number of the killed +was reckoned at something between half a million and a million. + +Civil war was soon followed by foreign war. The Jacobins thought +to remedy all these ills by creating a new Constitution. It was +always a tradition with all the revolutionary assemblies to +believe in the magic virtues of formula. In France this +conviction has never been affected by the failure of experiments. + +``A robust faith,'' writes one of the great admirers of the +Revolution, M. Rambaud, ``sustained the Convention in this +labour; it believed firmly that when it had formulated in a law +the principles of the Revolution its enemies would be confounded, +or, still better, converted, and that the advent of justice would +disarm the insurgents.'' + +During its lifetime the Convention drafted two Constitutions-- +that of 1793, or the year I., and that of 1795, or the year III. +The first was never applied, an absolute dictatorship very soon +replacing it; the second created the Directory. + +The Convention contained a large number of lawyers and men of +affairs, who promptly comprehended the impossibility of +government by means of a large Assembly. They soon divided the +Convention into small committees, each of which had an +independent existence--business committees, committees of +legislation, finance, agriculture, arts, &c. These committees +prepared the laws which the Assembly usually voted with its eyes +closed. + +Thanks to them, the work of the Convention was not purely +destructive. They drafted many very useful measures, creating +important colleges, establishing the metric system, &c. The +majority of the members of the Assembly, as we have already seen, +took refuge in these committees in order to evade the political +conflict which would have endangered their heads. + +Above the business committees, which had nothing to do with +politics, was the Committee of Public Safety, instituted in +April, 1793, and composed of nine members. Directed at first by +Danton, and in the July of the same year by Robespierre, it +gradually absorbed all the powers of government, including that +of giving orders to ministers and generals. Carnot directed the +operations of the war, Cambon the finances, and Saint-Just and +Collot-d'Herbois the general policy. + +Although the laws voted by the technical committees were often +very wise, and constituted the lasting work of the Convention, +those which the Assembly voted in a body under the threats of the +delegations which invaded it were manifestly ridiculous. + +Among these laws, which were not greatly in the interests of the +public or of the Convention itself, were the law of the maximum, +voted in September, 1793, which pretended to fix the price of +provisions, and which merely established a continual dearth; the +destruction of the royal tombs at Saint-Denis; the trial +of the queen, the systematic devastation of the Vendee by +fire, the establishment of the Revolutionary Tribunal, &c. + +The Terror was the chief means of government during the +Convention. Commencing in September, 1793, it reigned for six +months--that is, until the death of Robespierre. Vainly did +certain Jacobins-- Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Herault de +Sechelles, &c.--propose that clemency should be given a trial. +The only result of this proposition was that its authors were +sent to the scaffold. It was merely the lassitude of the public +that finally put an end to this shameful period. + +The successive struggles of the various parties in the Convention +and its tendency towards extremes eliminated one by one the men +of importance who had once played their part therein. Finally it +fell under the exclusive domination of Robespierre. While the +Convention was disorganising and ravaging France, the armies were +winning brilliant victories. They had seized the left bank of +the Rhine, Belgium, and Holland. The treaty of Basle ratified +these conquests. + +We have already mentioned, and we shall return to the matter +again, that the work of the armies must be considered absolutely +apart from that of the Convention. Contemporaries understood +this perfectly, but to-day it is often forgotten. + +When the Convention was dissolved, in 1795, after lasting for +three years, it was regarded with universal distrust. The +perpetual plaything of popular caprice, it had not succeeded in +pacifying France, but had plunged her into anarchy. The +general opinion respecting the Convention is well summed up in a +letter written in July, 1799, by the Swedish charge +d'affaires, Baron Drinkmann: ``I venture to hope that no people +will ever be governed by the will of more cruel and imbecile +scoundrels than those that have ruled France since the beginning +of her new liberty.'' + + +3. The End of the Convention. The Beginnings of the Directory. + + +At the end of its existence, the Convention, always trusting to +the power of formulae, drafted a new Constitution, that of the +year III., intended to replace that of 1793, which had never been +put into execution. The legislative power was to be shared by a +so-called Council of Ancients composed of 150 members, and a +council of deputies numbering 500. The executive power was +confided to a Directory of five members, who were appointed by +the Ancients upon nomination by the Five Hundred, and renewed +every year by the election of one of their number. It was +specified that two-thirds of the members of the new Assembly +should be chosen from among the deputies of the Convention. This +prudent measure was not very efficacious, as only ten departments +remained faithful to the Jacobins. + +To avoid the election of royalists, the Convention had decided to +banish all emigres in perpetuity. + +The announcement of this Constitution did not produce the +anticipated effect upon the public. It had no effect upon the +popular riots, which continued. One of the most important was +that which threatened the Convention on the 5th of October, 1795. + +The leaders hurled a veritable army upon the Assembly. +Before such provocation, the Convention finally decided to defend +itself, and sent for troops, entrusting the command to Barras. + +Bonaparte, who was then beginning to emerge from obscurity, was +entrusted with the task of repression. With such a leader action +was swift and energetic. Vigorously pounded with ball near the +church at St. Roch, the insurgents fled, leaving some hundreds of +dead on the spot. + +This action, which displayed a firmness to which the Convention +was little habituated, was only due to the celerity of the +military operations, for while these were being carried out the +insurgents had sent delegates to the Assembly, which, as usual, +showed itself quite ready to yield to them. + +The repression of this riot constituted the last important act of +the Convention. On the 26th of October, 1795, it declared its +mission terminated, and gave way to the Directory. + +We have already laid stress upon some of the psychological +lessons furnished by the government of the Convention. One of +the most striking of these is the impotence of violence to +dominate men's minds in permanence. + +Never did any Government possess such formidable means of action, +yet in spite of the permanent guillotine, despite the delegates +sent with the guillotine into the provinces, despite its +Draconian laws, the Convention had to struggle perpetually +against riots, insurrections, and conspiracies. The cities, the +departments, and the faubourgs of Paris were continually rising +in revolt, although heads were falling by the thousand. + +This Assembly, which thought itself sovereign, fought against the +invincible forces which were fixed in men's minds, and which +material constraint was powerless to overcome. Of these hidden +motive forces it never understood the power, and it struggled +against them in vain. In the end the invisible forces triumphed. + + + +CHAPTER V + +INSTANCES OF REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE + +1. Psychological Causes of Revolutionary Violence. + +We have shown in the course of the preceding chapters that the +revolutionary theories constituted a new faith. + +Humanitarian and sentimental, they exalted liberty and +fraternity. But, as in many religions, we can observe a complete +contradiction between doctrine and action. In practice no +liberty was tolerated, and fraternity was quickly replaced by +frenzied massacres. + +This opposition between principles and conduct results from the +intolerance which accompanies all beliefs. A religion may be +steeped in humanitarianism and forbearance, but its sectaries +will always want to impose it on others by force, so that +violence is the inevitable result. + +The cruelties of the Revolution were thus the inherent results of +the propagation of the new dogmas. The Inquisition, the +religious wars of France, St. Bartholomew's Day, the revocation +of the Edict of Nantes, the ``Dragonnades,'' the persecution of +the Jansenists, &c., belonged to the same family as the Terror +and derived from the same psychological sources. + +Louis XIV. was not a cruel king, yet under the impulse of +his faith he drove hundreds of thousands of Protestants out of +France, after first shooting down a considerable number and +sending others to the galleys. + +The methods of persuasion adopted by all believers are by no +means a consequence of their fear of the dissentient opposition. +Protestants and Jansenists were anything but dangerous under +Louis XIV. Intolerance arises above all from the indignation +experienced by a mind which is convinced that it possesses the +most dazzling verities against the men who deny those truths, and +who are surely not acting in good faith. How can one support +error when one has the necessary strength to wipe it out? + +Thus have reasoned the believers of all ages. Thus reasoned +Louis XIV. and the men of the Terror. These latter also were +convinced that they were in possession of absolute truths, which +they believed to be obvious, and whose triumph was certain to +regenerate humanity. Could they be more tolerant toward their +adversaries than the Church and the kings of France had been +toward heretics? + +We are forced to believe that terror is a method which all +believers regard as a necessity, since from the beginning of the +ages religious codes have always been based upon terror. To +force men to observe their prescriptions, believers have sought +to terrify them with threats of an eternal hell of torments. + +The apostles of the Jacobin belief behaved as their fathers had +done, and employed the same methods. If similar events occurred +again we should see identical actions repeated. If a new +belief--Socialism, for example--were to triumph to-morrow, it +would be led to employ methods of propaganda like those of +the Inquisition and the Terror. + +But were we to regard the Jacobin Terror solely as the result of +a religious movement, we should not completely apprehend it. +Around a triumphant religious belief, as we saw in the case of +the Reformation, gather a host of individual interests which are +dependent on that belief. The Terror was directed by a few +fanatical apostles, but beside this small number of ardent +proselytes, whose narrow minds dreamed of regenerating the world, +were great numbers of men who lived only to enrich themselves. +They rallied readily around the first victorious leader who +promised to enable them to enjoy the results of their pillage. + +``The Terrorists of the Revolution,'' writes Albert Sorel, +``resorted to the Terror because they wished to remain in power, +and were incapable of doing so by other means. They employed it +for their own salvation, and after the event they stated that +their motive was the salvation of the State. Before it became a +system it was a means of government, and the system was only +invented to justify the means.'' + +We may thus fully agree with the following verdict on the Terror, +written by Emile Ollivier in his work on the Revolution: ``The +Terror was above all a Jacquerie, a regularised pillage, the +vastest enterprise of theft that any association of criminals has +ever organised.'' + + +2. The Revolutionary Tribunals. + + +The Revolutionary Tribunals constituted the principal means of +action of the Terror. Besides that of Paris, created at the +instigation of Danton, and which a year afterwards sent +its founder to the guillotine, France was covered with +such tribunals. + +``One hundred and seventy-eight tribunals,'' says Taine, ``of +which 40 were perambulant, pronounced death sentences in all +parts of the country, which were carried out instantly on the +spot. Between the 16th of April, 1793, and the 9th of Thermidor +in the year II. that of Paris guillotined 2,625 persons, and the +provincial judges worked as hard as those of Paris. In the +little town of Orange alone 331 persons were guillotined. In the +city of Arras 299 men and 93 women were guillotined. . . . In +the city of Lyons alone the revolutionary commissioner admitted +to 1,684 executions. . . . The total number of these murders has +been put at 17,000, among whom were 1,200 women, of whom a number +were octogenarians.'' + +Although the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris claimed only 2,625 +victims, it must not be forgotten that all the suspects had +already been summarily massacred during the ``days'' of +September. + +The Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris, a mere instrument of the +Committee of Public Safety, limited itself in reality, as +Fouquier-Tinville justly remarked during his trial, to executing +its orders. It surrounded itself at first with a few legal forms +which did not long survive. Interrogatory, defence, witnesses-- +all were finally suppressed. Moral proof--that is, mere +suspicion--sufficed to procure condemnation. The president +usually contented himself with putting a vague question to the +accused. To work more rapidly still, Fouquier-Tinville proposed +to have the guillotine installed on the same premises as the +Tribunal. + +This Tribunal sent indiscriminately to the scaffold all the +accused persons arrested by reason of party hatred, and very +soon, in the hands of Robespierre, it constituted an instrument +of the bloodiest tyranny. When Danton, one of its founders, +became its victim, he justly asked pardon of God and men, before +mounting the scaffold for having assisted to create such a +Tribunal. + +Nothing found mercy before it: neither the genius of Lavoisier, +nor the gentleness of Lucile Desmoulins, nor the merit of +Malesherbes. ``So much talent,'' said Benjamin Constant, +``massacred by the most cowardly and brutish of men!'' + +To find any excuse for the Revolutionary Tribunal, we must return +to our conception of the religious mentality of the Jacobins, who +founded and directed it. It was a piece of work comparable in +its spirit and its aim to the Inquisition. The men who furnished +its victims--Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon--believed +themselves the benefactors of the human race in suppressing all +infidels, the enemies of the faith that was to regenerate the +earth. + +The executions during the Terror did not affect the members of +the aristocracy only, since 4,000 peasants and 3,000 working-men +were guillotined. + +Given the emotion produced in Paris in our days by a capital +execution, one might suppose that the execution of so many +persons at one time would produce a very great emotion. But +habit had so dulled sensibility that people paid but little +attention to the matter at last. Mothers would take their +children to see people guillotined as to-day they take them to +the marionette theatre. + +The daily spectacle of executions made the men of the time +very indifferent to death. All mounted the scaffold with perfect +tranquillity, the Girondists singing the Marseillaise as they +climbed the steps. + +This resignation resulted from the law of habitude, which very +rapidly dulls emotion. To judge by the fact that royalist +risings were taking place daily, the prospect of the guillotine +no longer terrified men. Things happened as though the Terror +terrorised no one. Terror is an efficacious psychological +process so long as it does not last. The real terror resides far +more in threats than in their realisation. + + +3. The Terror in the Provinces. + + +The executions of the Revolutionary Tribunals in the provinces +represented only a portion of the massacres effected in the +departments during the Terror. The revolutionary army, composed +of vagabonds and brigands, marched through France killing and +pillaging. Its method of procedure is well indicated by the +following passage from Taine:-- + +``At Bedouin, a town of 2,000 inhabitants, where unknown hands +had cut down the tree of liberty, 433 houses were demolished or +fired, 16 persons were guillotined, and 47 shot down; all the +other inhabitants were expelled and reduced to living as +vagabonds in the mountains, and to taking shelter in caverns +which they hollowed out of the earth.'' + +The fate of the wretches sent before the Revolutionary Tribunals +was no better. The first mockery of trial was quickly +suppressed. At Nantes, Carrier drowned and shot down according +to his fancy nearly 5,000 persons--men, women, and children. + +The details of these massacres figured in the Moniteur +after the reaction of Thermidor. I cite a few lines:-- + +``I saw,'' says Thomas, ``after the taking of Noirmoutier, men +and women and old people burned alive . . . women violated, girls +of fourteen and fifteen, and massacred afterward, and tender +babes thrown from bayonet to bayonet; children who were taken +from beside their mothers stretched out on the ground.'' + +In the same number we read a deposition by one Julien, relating +how Carrier forced his victims to dig their graves and to allow +themselves to be buried alive. The issue of October 15, 1794, +contained a report by Merlin de Thionville proving that the +captain of the vessel le Destin had received orders to embark +forty-one victims to be drowned--``among them a blind man of 78, +twelve women, twelve girls, and fourteen children, of whom ten +were from 10 to 6 and five at the breast.'' + +In the course of Carrier's trial (Moniteur, December 30, 1794) +it was proved that he ``had given orders to drown and shoot women +and children, and had ordered General Haxo to exterminate all the +inhabitants of La Vendee and to burn down their dwellings.'' + +Carrier, like all wholesale murderers, took an intense joy in +seeing his victims suffer. ``In the department in which I hunted +the priests,'' he said, ``I have never laughed so much or +experienced such pleasure as in watching their dying grimaces'' +(Moniteur, December 22, 1794). + +Carrier was tried to satisfy the reaction of Thermidor. But +the massacres of Nantes were repeated in many other towns. +Fouche slew more than 2,000 persons at Lyons, and so many were +killed at Toulon that the population fell from 29,000 to 7,000 in +a few months. + +We must say in defence of Carrier, Freron, Fouche and all +these sinister persons, that they were incessantly stimulated by +the Committee of Public Safety. Carrier gave proof of this +during his trial. + +``I admit,'' said he (Moniteur, December 24, 1794), ``that 150 +or 200 prisoners were shot every day, but it was by order of the +commission. I informed the Convention that the brigands were +being shot down by hundreds, and it applauded this letter, and +ordered its insertion in the Bulletin. What were these deputies +doing then who are so furious against me now? They were +applauding. Why did they still keep me `on mission'? Because I +was then the saviour of the country, and now I am a bloodthirsty +man.'' + +Unhappily for him, Carrier did not know, as he remarked in the +same speech, that only seven or eight persons led the Convention. + +But the terrorised Assembly approved of all that these seven or +eight ordered, so that they could say nothing in reply to +Carrier's argument. He certainly deserved to be guillotined, but +the whole Convention deserved to be guillotined with him, since +it had approved of the massacres. + +The defence of Carrier, justified by the letters of the +Committee, by which the representatives ``on mission'' were +incessantly stimulated, shows that the violence of the Terror +resulted from a system, and not, as has sometimes been claimed, +from the initiative of a few individuals. + +The thirst for destruction during the Terror was by no means +assuaged by the destruction of human beings only; there was an +even greater destruction of inanimate things. The true believer +is always an iconoclast. Once in power, he destroys with equal +zeal the enemies of his faith and the images, temples, and +symbols which recall the faith attacked. + +We know that the first action of the Emperor Theodosius when +converted to the Christian religion was to break down the +majority of the temples which for six thousand years had been +built beside the Nile. We must not, therefore, be surprised to +see the leaders of the Revolution attacking the monuments and +works of art which for them were the vestiges of an abhorred +past. + +Statues, manuscripts, stained glass windows, and plate were +frenziedly broken. When Fouche, the future Duke of Otranto +under Napoleon, and minister under Louis XVIII., was sent as +commissary of the Convention to the Nievre, he ordered the +demolition of all the towers of the chateaux and the +belfries of the churches ``because they wounded equality.'' + +Revolutionary vandalism expended itself even on the tomb. +Following a report read by Barrere to the Convention, the +magnificent royal tombs at Saint-Denis, among which was the +admirable mausoleum of Henri II., by Germain Pilon, were smashed +to pieces, the coffins emptied, and the body of Turenne sent to +the Museum as a curiosity, after one of the keepers had extracted +the teeth in order to sell them as curiosities. The moustache +and beard of Henri IV. were also torn out. + +It is impossible to witness such comparatively enlightened +men consenting to the destruction of the artistic patriotism of +France without a feeling of sadness. To excuse them, we must +remember that intense beliefs give rise to the worst excesses, +and also that the Convention, almost daily invaded by rioters, +always yielded to the popular will. + +This glowing record of devastation proves, not only the power of +fanaticism: it shows us what becomes of men who are liberated +from all social restraints, and of the country which falls into +their hands. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE ARMIES OF THE REVOLUTION + +1. The Revolutionary Assemblies and the Armies. + +If nothing were known of the revolutionary Assemblies, and +notably of the Convention, beyond their internal dissensions, +their weakness, and their acts of violence, their memory would +indeed be a gloomy one. + +But even for its enemies this bloodstained epoch must always +retain an undeniable glory, thanks to the success of its armies. +When the Convention dissolved France was already the greater by +Belgium and the territories on the left bank of the Rhine. + +Regarding the Convention as a whole, it seems equitable to credit +it with the victories of the armies of France, but if we analyse +this whole in order to study each of its elements separately +their independence will at once be obvious. It is at once +apparent that the Convention had a very small share in the +military events of the time. The armies on the frontier and the +revolutionary Assemblies in Paris formed two separate worlds, +which had very little influence over one another, and which +regarded matters in a very different light. + +We have seen that the Convention was a weak Government, which +changed its ideas daily, according to popular impulse; it was +really an example of the profoundest anarchy. It directed +nothing, but was itself continually directed; how, then, could it +have commanded armies? + +Completely absorbed in its intestine quarrels, the Assembly had +abandoned all military questions to a special committee, which +was directed almost single-handed by Carnot, and whose real +function was to furnish the troops with provisions and +ammunition. The merit of Carnot consisted in the fact that +besides directing over 752,000 men at the disposal of France, +upon points which were strategically valuable, he also advised +the generals of the armies to take the offensive, and to preserve +a strict discipline. + +The sole share of the Assembly in the defence of the country was +the decree of the general levy. In the face of the numerous +enemies then threatening France, no Government could have avoided +such a measure. For some little time, too, the Assembly had sent +representatives to the armies instructed to decapitate certain +generals, but this policy was soon abandoned. + +As a matter of fact the military activities of the Assembly were +always extremely slight. The armies, thanks to their numbers, +their enthusiasm, and the tactics devised by their youthful +generals, achieved their victories unaided. They fought and +conquered independently of the Convention. + + +2. The Struggle of Europe against the Revolution. + + +Before enumerating the various psychological factors which +contributed to the successes of the revolutionary armies, it will +be useful briefly to recall the origin and the development of the +war against Europe. + +At the commencement of the Revolution the foreign sovereigns +regarded with satisfaction the difficulties of the French +monarchy, which they had long regarded as a rival power. The +King of Prussia, believing France to be greatly enfeebled, +thought to enrich himself at her expense, so he proposed to the +Emperor of Austria to help Louis on condition of receiving +Flanders and Alsace as an indemnity. The two sovereigns signed +an alliance against France in February, 1792. The French +anticipated attack by declaring war upon Austria, under the +influence of the Girondists. The French army was at the outset +subjected to several checks. The allies penetrated into +Champagne, and came within 130 miles of Paris. Dumouriez' +victory at Valmy forced them to retire. + +Although 300 French and 200 Prussians only were killed in this +battle, it had very significant results. The fact that an army +reputed invincible had been forced to retreat gave boldness to +the young revolutionary troops, and everywhere they took the +offensive. In a few weeks the soldiers of Valmy had chased the +Austrians out of Belgium, where they were welcomed as liberators. + +But it was under the Convention that the war assumed such +importance. At the beginning of 1793 the Assembly declared that +Belgium was united to France. From this resulted a conflict with +England which lasted for twenty-two years. + +Assembled at Antwerp in April, 1793, the representatives of +England, Prussia, and Austria resolved to dismember France. The +Prussians were to seize Alsace and Lorraine; the Austrians, +Flanders and Artois; the English, Dunkirk. The Austrian +ambassador proposed to crush the Revolution by terror, +``by exterminating practically the whole of the party directing +the nation.'' In the face of such declarations France had +perforce to conquer or to perish. + +During this first coalition, between 1793 and 1797, France had to +fight on all her frontiers, from the Pyrenees to the north. + +At the outset she lost her former conquests, and suffered several +reverses. The Spaniards took Perpignan and Bayonne; the English, +Toulon; and the Austrians, Valenciennes. It was then that the +Convention, towards the end of 1793, ordered a general levy of +all Frenchmen between the ages of eighteen and forty, and +succeeded in sending to the frontiers a total of some 750,000 +men. The old regiments of the royal army were combined with +battalions of volunteers and conscripts. + +The allies were repulsed, and Maubeuge was relieved after the +victory of Wattigny, which was gained by Jourdan. Hoche rescued +Lorraine. France took the offensive, reconquering Belgium and +the left bank of the Rhine. Jourdan defeated the Austrians at +Fleurus, drove them back upon the Rhine, and occupied Cologne and +Coblentz. Holland was invaded. The allied sovereigns resigned +themselves to suing for peace, and recognised the French +conquests. + +The successes of the French were favoured by the fact that the +enemy never put their whole heart into the affair, as they were +preoccupied by the partition of Poland, which they effected in +1793-5. Each Power wished to be on the spot in order to obtain +more territory. This motive had already caused the King +of Prussia to retire after the battle of Valmy in 1792. + +The hesitations of the allies and their mutual distrust were +extremely advantageous to the French. Had the Austrians marched +upon Paris in the summer of 1793, ``we should,'' said General +Thiebault, ``have lost a hundred times for one. They alone +saved us, by giving us time to make soldiers, officers, and +generals.'' + +After the treaty of Basle, France had no important adversaries on +the Continent, save the Austrians. It was then that the +Directory attacked Austria in Italy. Bonaparte was entrusted +with the charge of this campaign. After a year of fighting, from +April, 1796, to April, 1797, he forced the last enemies of France +to demand peace. + + +3. Psychological and Military Factors which determined the +Success of the Revolutionary Armies. + + +To realise the causes of the success of the revolutionary armies +we must remember the prodigious enthusiasm, endurance, and +abnegation of these ragged and often barefoot troops. Thoroughly +steeped in revolutionary principles, they felt that they were the +apostles of a new religion, which was destined to regenerate the +world. + +The history of the armies of the Revolution recalls that of the +nomads of Arabia, who, excited to fanaticism by the ideals of +Mohammed, were transformed into formidable armies which rapidly +conquered a portion of the old Roman world. An analogous faith +endowed the Republican soldiers with a heroism and intrepidity +which never failed them, and which no reverse could shake +When the Convention gave place to the Directory they had +liberated the country, and had carried a war of invasion into the +enemy's territory. At this period the soldiers were the only +true Republicans left in France. + +Faith is contagious, and the Revolution was regarded as a new +era, so that several of the nations invaded, oppressed by the +absolutism of their monarchs, welcomed the invaders as +liberators. The inhabitants of Savoy ran out to meet the troops. + +At Mayence the crowd welcomed them with enthusiasm planted trees +of liberty, and formed a Convention in imitation of that of +Paris. + +So long as the armies of the Revolution had to deal with peoples +bent under the yoke of absolute monarchy, and having no personal +ideal to defend, their success was relatively easy. But when +they entered into conflict with peoples who had an ideal as +strong as their own victory became far more difficult. + +The new ideal of liberty and equality was capable of seducing +peoples who had no precise convictions, and were suffering from +the despotism of their masters, but it was naturally powerless +against those who possessed a potent ideal of their own which had +been long established in their minds. For this reason Bretons +and Vendeeans, whose religious and monarchical sentiments were +extremely powerful, successfully struggled for years against the +armies of the Republic. + +In March, 1793, the insurrections of the Vendee and Brittany +had spread to ten departments. The Vendeeans in Poitou +and the Chouans in Brittany put 80,000 men in the field. + +The conflicts between contrary ideals--that is, between beliefs +in which reason can play no part--are always pitiless, and the +struggle with the Vendee immediately assumed the ferocious +savagery always observable in religious wars. It lasted until +the end of 1795, when Hoche finally ``pacified'' the country. +This pacification was the simple result of the practical +extermination of its defenders. + +``After two years of civil war,'' writes Molinari, ``the +Vendee was no more than a hideous heap of ruins. About +900,000 individuals--men, women, children, and aged people--had +perished, and the small number of those who had escaped massacre +could scarcely find food or shelter. The fields were devastated, +the hedges and walls destroyed, and the houses burned.'' + +Besides their faith, which so often rendered them invincible, the +soldiers of the Revolution had usually the advantage of being led +by remarkable generals, full of ardour and formed on the battle- +field. + +The majority of the former leaders of the army, being nobles, had +emigrated so that a new body of officers had to be organised. +The result was that those gifted with innate military aptitudes +had a chance of showing them, and passed through all the grades +of rank in a few months. Hoche, for instance, a corporal in +1789, was a general of division and commander of an army at the +age of twenty-five. The extreme youth of these leaders resulted +in a spirit of aggression to which the armies opposed to them +were not accustomed. Selected only according to merit, +and hampered by no traditions, no routine, they quickly succeeded +in working out a tactics suited to the new necessities. + +Of soldiers without experience opposed to seasoned professional +troops, drilled and trained according to the methods in use +everywhere since the Seven Years' War, one could not expect +complicated manoeuvres. + +Attacks were delivered simply by great masses of troops. Thanks +to the numbers of the men at the disposal of their generals, the +considerable gaps provoked by this efficacious but barbarous +procedure could be rapidly filled. + +Deep masses of men attacked the enemy with the bayonet, and +quickly routed men accustomed to methods which were more careful +of the lives of soldiers. The slow rate of fire in those days +rendered the French tactics relatively easy of employment. It +triumphed, but at the cost of enormous losses. It has been +calculated that between 1792 and 1800 the French army left more +than a third of its effective force on the battle-field (700,000 +men out of 2,000,000). + +Examining events from a psychological point of view, we shall +continue to elicit the consequences from the facts on which they +are consequent. + +A study of the revolutionary crowds in Paris and in the armies +presents very different but readily interpreted pictures. + +We have proved that crowds, unable to reason, obey simply their +impulses, which are always changing, but we have also seen that +they are readily capable of heroism, that their altruism is often +highly developed, and that it is easy to find thousands of +men ready to give their lives for a belief. + +Psychological characteristics so diverse must naturally, +according to the circumstances, lead to dissimilar and even +absolutely contradictory actions. The history of the Convention +and its armies proves as much. It shows us crowds composed of +similar elements acting so differently in Paris and on the +frontiers that one can hardly believe the same people can be in +question. + +In Paris the crowds were disorderly, violent, murderous, and so +changeable in their demands as to make all government impossible. + +In the armies the picture was entirely different. The same +multitudes of unaccustomed men, restrained by the orderly +elements of a laborious peasant population, standardised by +military discipline, and inspired by contagious enthusiasm, +heroically supported privations, disdained perils, and +contributed to form that fabulous strain which triumphed over the +most redoubtable troops in Europe. + +These facts are among those which should always be invoked to +show the force of discipline. It transforms men. Liberated from +its influence, peoples and armies become barbarian hordes. + +This truth is daily and increasingly forgotten. Ignoring the +fundamental laws of collective logic, we give way more and more +to shifting popular impulses, instead of learning to direct them. + +The multitude must be shown the road to follow; it is not for +them to choose it. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +PSYCHOLOGY OF THE LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION + + +1. Mentality of the Men of the Revolution. The respective +Influence of Violent and Feeble Characters. + +Men judge with their intelligence, and are guided by their +characters. To understand a man fully one must separate these +two elements. + +During the great periods of activity--and the revolutionary +movements naturally belong to such periods--character always +takes the first rank. + +Having in several chapters described the various mentalities +which predominate in times of disturbance, we need not return to +the subject now. They constitute general types which are +naturally modified by each man's inherited and acquired +personality. + +We have seen what an important part was played by the mystic +element in the Jacobin mentality, and the ferocious fanaticism to +which it led the sectaries of the new faith. + +We have also seen that all the members of the Assemblies were not +fanatics. These latter were even in the minority, since in the +most sanguinary of the revolutionary assemblies the great +majority was composed of timid and moderate men of neutral +character. Before Thermidor the members of this group +voted from fear with the violent and after Thermidor with the +moderate deputies. + +In time of revolution, as at other times, these neutral +characters, obeying the most contrary impulses, are always the +most numerous. They are also as dangerous in reality as the +violent characters. The force of the latter is supported by the +weakness of the former. + +In all revolutions, and in particularly in the French Revolution, +we observe a small minority of narrow but decided minds which +imperiously dominate an immense majority of men who are often +very intelligent but are lacking in character + +Besides the fanatical apostles and the feeble characters, a +revolution always produces individuals who merely think how to +profit thereby. These were numerous during the French +Revolution. Their aim was simply to utilise circumstances so as +to enrich themselves. Such were Barras, Tallien, Fouche, +Barrere, and many more. Their politics consisted simply in +serving the strong against the weak. + +From the outset of the Revolution these ``arrivists,'' as one +would call them to-day, were numerous. Camille Desmoulins wrote +in 1792: ``Our Revolution has its roots only in the egotism and +self-love of each individual, of the combination of which the +general interest is composed.'' + +If we add to these indications the observations contained in +another chapter concerning the various forms of mentality to be +observed in times of political upheaval, we shall obtain a +general idea of the character of the men of the Revolution. We +shall now apply the principles already expounded to the +most remarkable personages of the revolutionary period. + + +2. Psychology of the Commissaries or Representatives ``on +Mission.'' + + +In Paris the conduct of the members of the Convention was always +directed, restrained, or excited by the action of their +colleagues, and that of their environment. + +To judge them properly we should observe them when left to +themselves and uncontrolled, when they possessed full liberty. +Such were the representatives who were sent ``on mission'' into +the departments by the Convention. + +The power of these delegates was absolute. No censure +embarrassed them. Functionaries and magistrates had perforce to +obey them. + +A representative ``on mission'' ``requisitions,'' sequestrates, +or confiscates as seems good to him; taxes, imprisons, deports, +or decapitates as he thinks fit, and in his own district he is a +''pasha.'' + +Regarding themselves as ``pashas,'' they displayed themselves +``drawn in carriages with six horses, surrounded by guards; +sitting at sumptuous tables with thirty covers, eating to the +sound of music, with a following of players, courtezans, and +mercenaries. . . .'' At Lyons ``the solemn appearance of Collot +d'Herbois is like that of the Grand Turk. No one can come into +his presence without three repeated requests; a string of +apartments precedes his reception-room, and no one approaches +nearer than fifteen paces.'' + +One can picture the immense vanity of these dictators as +they solemnly entered the towns, surrounded by guards, men whose +gesture was enough to cause heads to fall. + +Petty lawyers without clients, doctors without patients, +unfrocked clergymen, obscure attorneys, who had formerly known +the most colourless of lives, were suddenly made the equals of +the most powerful tyrants of history. Guillotining, drowning, +shooting without mercy, at the hazard of their fancy, they were +raised from their former humble condition to the level of the +most celebrated potentates. + +Never did Nero or Heliogabalus surpass in tyranny the +representatives of the Convention. Laws and customs always +restrained the former to a certain extent. Nothing restrained +the commissaries. + +``Fouche,'' writes Taine, ``lorgnette in hand, watched the +butchery of 210 inhabitants of Lyons from his window. Collot, +Laporte, and Fouche feasted on days of execution (fusillades), +and at the sound of each discharge sprang up with cries of joy, +waving their hats.'' + +Among the representatives ``on mission'' who exhibit this +murderous mentality we may cite as a type the ex-cure Lebon, +who, having become possessed of supreme power, ravaged Arras and +Cambrai. His example, with that of Carrier, contributes to show +what man can become when he escapes from the yoke of law and +tradition. The cruelty of the ferocious commissary was +complicated by Sadism; the scaffold was raised under his windows, +so that he, his wife, and his helpers could rejoice in the +carnage. At the foot of the guillotine a drinking-booth was +established where the sans-culottes could come to drink. +To amuse them the executioner would group on the pavement, in +ridiculous attitudes, the naked bodies of the decapitated. + +``The reading of the two volumes of his trial, printed at Amiens +in 1795, may be counted as a nightmare. During twenty sessions +the survivors of the hecatombs of Arras and Cambrai passed +through the ancient hall of the bailiwick at Amiens, where the +ex-member of the Convention was tried. What these phantoms in +mourning related is unheard of. Entire streets dispeopled; +nonagenarians and girls of sixteen decapitated after a mockery of +a trial; death buffeted, insulted, adorned, rejoiced in; +executions to music; battalions of children recruited to guard +the scaffold; the debauchery, the cynicism, the refinements of an +insane satrap; a romance by Sade turned epic; it seems, as we +watch the unpacking of these horrors, that a whole country, long +terrorised, is at last disgorging its terror and revenging itself +for its cowardice by overwhelming the wretch there, the scapegoat +of an abhorred and vanished system.'' + +The only defence of the ex-clergyman was that he had obeyed +orders. The facts with which he was reproached had long been +known, and the Convention had in no wise blamed him for them. + +I have already spoken of the vanity of the deputies ``on +mission,'' who were suddenly endowed with a power greater than +that of the most powerful despots; but this vanity is not enough +to explain their ferocity. + +That arose from other sources. Apostles of a severe faith, the +delegates of the Convention, like the inquisitors of the Holy +Office, could feel, can have felt, no pity for their victims. +Freed, moreover, from all the bonds of tradition and law, +they could give rein to the most savage instincts that primitive +animality has left in us. + +Civilisation restrains these instincts, but they never die. The +need to kill which makes the hunter is a permanent proof of this. + +M. Cunisset-Carnot has expressed in the following lines the grip +of this hereditary tendency, which, in the pursuit of the most +harmless game, re-awakens the barbarian in every hunter:-- + +``The pleasure of killing for killing's sake is, one may say, +universal; it is the basis of the hunting instinct, for it must +be admitted that at present, in civilised countries, the need to +live no longer counts for anything in its propagation. In +reality we are continuing an action which was imperiously imposed +upon our savage ancestors by the harsh necessities of existence, +during which they had either to kill or die of hunger, while to- +day there is no longer any legitimate excuse for it. But so it +is, and we can do nothing; probably we shall never break the +chains of a slavery which has bound us for so long. We cannot +prevent ourselves from feeling an intense, often passionate, +pleasure in shedding the blood of animals towards whom, when the +love of the chase possesses us, we lose all feeling of pity. The +gentlest and prettiest creatures, the song-birds, the charm of +our springtime, fall to our guns or are choked in our snares, and +not a shudder of pity troubles our pleasure at seeing them +terrified, bleeding, writhing in the horrible suffering we +inflict on them, seeking to flee on their poor broken paws or +desperately beating their wings, which can no longer support +them. . . . The excuse is the impulse of that imperious +atavism which the best of us have not the strength to resist.'' + +At ordinary times this singular atavism, restrained by fear of +the laws, can only be exercised on animals. When codes are no +longer operative it immediately applies itself to man, which is +why so many terrorists took an intense pleasure in killing. +Carrier's remark concerning the joy he felt in contemplating the +faces of his victims during their torment is very typical. In +many civilised men ferocity is a restrained instinct, but it is +by no means eliminated. + + +3. Danton and Robespierre. + + +Danton and Robespierre represented the two principal personages +of the Revolution. I shall say little of the former: his +psychology, besides being simple, is familiar. A club orator +firstly, impulsive and violent, he showed himself always ready to +excite the people. Cruel only in his speeches, he often +regretted their effects. From the outset he shone in the first +rank, while his future rival, Robespierre, was vegetating almost +in the lowest. + +At one given moment Danton became the soul of the Revolution, but +he was deficient in tenacity and fixity of conduct. Moreover, he +was needy, while Robespierre was not. The continuous fanaticism +of the latter defeated the intermittent efforts of the former. +Nevertheless, it was an amazing spectacle to see so powerful a +tribune sent to the scaffold by his pale, venemous enemy and +mediocre rival. + +Robespierre, the most influential man of the Revolution and the +most frequently studied, is yet the least explicable. It is +difficult to understand the prodigious influence which +gave him the power of life and death, not only over the enemies +of the Revolution but also over colleagues who could not have +been considered as enemies of the existing Government. + +We certainly cannot explain the matter by saying with Taine that +Robespierre was a pedant lost in abstractions, nor by asserting +with the Michelet that he succeeded on account of his principles, +nor by repeating with his contemporary Williams that ``one of the +secrets of his government was to take men marked by opprobrium or +soiled with crime as stepping-stones to his ambition.'' + +It is impossible to regard his eloquence as the cause of his +success. His eyes protected by goggles, he painfully read his +speeches, which were composed of cold and indefinite +abstractions. The Assembly contained orators who possessed an +immensely superior talent, such as Danton and the Girondists; yet +it was Robespierre who destroyed them. + +We have really no acceptable explanation of the ascendancy which +the dictator finally obtained. Without influence in the National +Assembly, he gradually became the master of the Convention and of +the Jacobins. ``When he reached the Committee of Public Safety +he was already,'' said Billaud-Varennes, ``the most important +person in France.'' + +``His history,'' writes Michelet, ``is prodigious, far more +marvellous than that of Bonaparte. The threads, the wheels, the +preparation of forces, are far less visible. It is an honest +man, an austere but pious figure, of middling talents, that +shoots up one morning, borne upward by I know not what cataclysm. +There is nothing like it in the Arabian Nights. And in a moment +he goes higher than the throne. He is set upon the altar. +Astonishing story!'' + +Certainly circumstances helped him considerably. People turned +to him as to the master of whom all felt the need. But then he +was already there, and what we wish to discover is the cause of +his rapid ascent. I would willingly suppose in him the existence +of a species of personal fascination which escapes us to-day. +His successes with women might be quoted in support of this +theory. On the days when he speaks ``the passages are choked +with women . . . there are seven or eight hundred in the +tribunes, and with what transports they applaud! At the +Jacobins, when he speaks there are sobs and cries of emotion, and +men stamp as though they would bring the hall down.'' A young +widow, Mme. de Chalabre, possessed of sixteen hundred pounds a +year, sends him burning love-letters and is eager to marry him. + +We cannot seek in his character for the causes of his popularity. +A hypochondriac by temperament, of mediocre intelligence, +incapable of grasping realities, confined to abstractions, crafty +and dissimulating, his prevailing note was an excessive pride +which increased until his last day. High priest of a new faith, +he believed himself sent on earth by God to establish the +reign of virtue. He received writings stating ``that he +was the Messiah whom the Eternal Being had promised to reform +the world.'' + +Full of literary pretensions, he laboriously polished his +speeches. His profound jealousy of other orators or men of +letters, such as Camille Desmoulins, caused their death. + +``Those who were particularly the objects of the tyrant's rage,'' +writes the author already cited, ``were the men of letters. With +regard to them the jealousy of a colleague was mingled with the +fury of the oppressor; for the hatred with which he persecuted +them was caused less by their resistance to his despotism than by +their talents, which eclipsed his.'' + +The contempt of the dictator for his colleagues was immense and +almost unconcealed. Giving audience to Barras at the hour of his +toilet, he finished shaving, spitting in the direction of his +colleague as though he did not exist, and disdaining to reply to +his questions. + +He regarded the bourgeoisie and the deputies with the same +hateful disdain. Only the multitude found grace in his eyes. +``When the sovereign people exercises its power,'' he said, ``we +can only bow before it. In all it does all is virtue and truth, +and no excess, error, or crime is possible.'' + +Robespierre suffered from the persecution mania. That he had +others' heads cut off was not only because he had a mission as an +apostle, but because he believed himself hemmed in by enemies and +conspirators. ``Great as was the cowardice of his colleagues +where he was concerned,'' writes M. Sorel, ``the fear he had of +them was still greater.'' + +His dictatorship, absolute during five months, is a striking +example of the power of certain leaders. We can understand that +a tyrant backed by an army can easily destroy whom he pleases, +but that a single man should succeed in sending to death a large +number of his equals is a thing that is not easily explained. + +The power of Robespierre was so absolute that he was able to send +to the Tribunal, and therefore to the scaffold, the most eminent +deputies: Desmoulins, Hebert, Danton, and many another. The +brilliant Girondists melted away before him. He attacked even +the terrible Commune, guillotined its leaders, and replaced it by +a new Commune obedient to his orders. + +In order to rid himself more quickly of the men who displeased +him he induced the Convention to enact the law of Prairial, which +permitted the execution of mere suspects, and by means of which +he had 1,373 heads cut off in Paris in forty-nine days. His +colleagues, the victims of an insane terror, no longer slept at +home; scarcely a hundred deputies were present at sessions. +David said: ``I do not believe twenty of us members of the +Mountain will be left.'' + +It was his very excess of confidence in his own powers and in the +cowardice of the Convention that lost Robespierre his life. +Having attempted to make them vote a measure which would permit +deputies to be sent before the Revolutionary Tribunal, which +meant the scaffold, without the authorisation of the Assembly, on +an order from the governing Committee, several Montagnards +conspired with some members of the Plain to overthrow him. +Tallien, knowing himself marked down for early execution, and +having therefore nothing to lose, accused him loudly of tyranny. +Robespierre wished to defend himself by reading a speech which he +had long had in hand, but he learned to his cost that although it +is possible to destroy men in the name of logic it is not +possible to lead an assembly by means of logic. The +shouts of the conspirators drowned his voice; the cry ``Down with +the tyrant!'' quickly repeated, thanks to mental contagion, by +many of the members present, was enough to complete his downfall. +Without losing a moment the Assembly decreed his accusation. + +The Commune having wished to save him, the Assembly outlawed him. +Struck by this magic formula, he was definitely lost. + +``This cry of outlawry,'' writes Williams, ``at this period +produced the same effect on a Frenchman as the cry of pestilence; +the outlaw became civilly excommunicated, and it was as though +men believed that they would be contaminated passing through the +air which he had breathed. Such was the effect it produced upon +the gunners who had trained their cannon against the Convention. +Without receiving further orders, merely on hearing that the +Commune was `outside the law,' they immediately turned their +batteries about.'' + +Robespierre and all his band--Saint-Just, the president of the +Revolutionary Tribunal, the mayor of the Commune, &c.,--were +guillotined on the 10th of Thermidor to the number of twenty-one. + +Their execution was followed on the morrow by a fresh batch of +seventy Jacobins, and on the next day by thirteen. The Terror, +which had lasted ten months, was at an end. + +The downfall of the Jacobin edifice in Thermidor is one of the +most curious psychological events of the revolutionary period. +None of the Montagnards who had worked for the downfall of +Robespierre had for a moment dreamed that it would mark the end +of the Terror. + +Tallien, Barras, Fouche, &c., overthrew Robespierre as he had +overthrown Hebert, Danton, the Girondists, and many others. +But when the acclamations of the crowd told them that the death +of Robespierre was regarded as having put an end to the Terror +they acted as though such had been their intention. They were +the more obliged to do so in that the Plain--that is, the great +majority of the Assembly--which had allowed itself to be +decimated by Robespierre, now rebelled furiously against the +system it had so long acclaimed even while it abhorred it. +Nothing is more terrible than a body of men who have been afraid +and are afraid no longer. The Plain revenged itself for being +terrorised by the Mountain, and terrorised that body in turn. + +The servility of the colleagues of Robespierre in the Convention +was by no means based upon any feeling of sympathy for him. The +dictator filled them with an unspeakable alarm, but beneath the +marks of admiration and enthusiasm which they lavished on him out +of fear was concealed an intense hatred. We can gather as much +by reading the reports of various deputies inserted in the +Moniteur of August 11, 15, and 29, 1794, and notably that on +``the conspiracy of the triumvirs, Robespierre, Couthon, and +Saint-Just.'' Never did slaves heap such invectives on a fallen +master. + +We learn that ``these monsters had for some time been renewing +the most horrible prescriptions of Marius and Sulla.'' +Robespierre is represented as a most frightful scoundrel; we are +assured that ``like Caligula, he would soon have asked the French +people to worship his horse . . . He sought security in +the execution of all who aroused his slightest suspicion.'' + +These reports forget to add that the power of Robespierre +obtained no support, as did that of the Marius and Sulla to whom +they allude, from a powerful army, but merely from the repeated +adhesion of the members of the Convention. Without their +extreme timidity the power of the dictator could not have lasted +a single day. + +Robespierre was one of the most odious tyrants of history, but he +is distinguished from all others in that he made himself a tyrant +without soldiers. + +We may sum up his doctrines by saying that he was the most +perfect incarnation, save perhaps Saint-Just, of the Jacobin +faith, in all its narrow logic, its intense mysticism, and its +inflexible rigidity. He has admirers even to-day. M. Hamel +describes him as ``the martyr of Thermidor.'' There has been +some talk of erecting a monument to him. I would willingly +subscribe to such a purpose, feeling that it is useful to +preserve proofs of the blindness of the crowd, and of the +extraordinary docility of which an assembly is capable when the +leader knows how to handle it. His statue would recall the +passionate cries of admiration and enthusiasm with which the +Convention acclaimed the most threatening measures of the +dictator, on the very eve of the day when it was about to cast +him down. + + +4. Fouquier-Tinville, Marat, Billaud-Varenne, &c. + + +I shall devote a paragraph to certain revolutionists who were +famous for the development of their most sanguinary instincts. +Their ferocity was complicated by other sentiments, by +fear and hatred, which could but fortify it. + +Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor of the Revolutionary +Tribunal, was one of those who have left the most sinister +memories. This magistrate, formerly reputed for his kindness, +and who became the bloodthirsty creature whose memory evokes such +repulsion, has already served me as an example in other works, +when I have wished to show the transformation of certain natures +in time of revolution. + +Needy in the extreme at the moment of the fall of the monarchy, +he had everything to hope from a social upheaval and nothing to +lose. He was one of those men whom a period of disorder will +always find ready to sustain it. + +The Convention abandoned its powers to him. He had to pronounce +upon the fate of nearly two thousand accused, among whom were +Marie-Antoinette, the Girondists, Danton, Hebert, &c. He had +all the suspects brought before him executed, and did not scruple +to betray his former protectors. As soon as one of them fell +into his power--Camille Desmoulins, Danton, or another--he would +plead against him. + +Fouquier-Tinville had a very inferior mind, which the Revolution +brought to the top. Under normal conditions, hedged about by +professional rules, his destiny would have been that of a +peaceable and obscure magistrate. This was precisely the lot of +his deputy, or substitute, at the Tribunal, Gilbert-Liendon. +``He should,'' writes M. Durel, ``have inspired the same horror +as his colleague, yet he completed his career in the upper ranks +of the Imperial magistracy.'' + +One of the great benefits of an organised society is that it does +restrain these dangerous characters, whom nothing but social +restraints can hold. + +Fouquier-Tinville died without understanding why he was +condemned, and from the revolutionary point of view his +condemnation was not justifiable. Had he not merely zealously +executed the orders of his superiors? It is impossible to class +him with the representatives who were sent into the provinces, +who could not be supervised. The delegates of the Convention +examined all his sentences and approved of them up to the last. +If his cruelty and his summary fashion of trying the prisoners +before him had not been encouraged by his chiefs, he could not +have remained in power. In condemning Fouquier-Tinville, the +Convention condemned its own frightful system of government. It +understood this fact, and sent to the scaffold a number of +Terrorists whom Fouquier-Tinville had merely served as a faithful +agent. + +Beside Fouquier-Tinville we may set Dumas, who presided over the +Revolutionary Tribunal, and who also displayed an excessive +cruelty, which was whetted by an intense fear. He never went out +without two loaded pistols, barricaded himself in his house, and +only spoke to visitors through a wicket. His distrust of +everybody, including his own wife, was absolute. He even +imprisoned the latter, and was about to have her executed when +Thermidor arrived. + +Among the men whom the Convention brought to light, Billaud- +Varenne was one of the wildest and, most brutal. He may be +regarded as a perfect type of bestial ferocity. + +``In these hours of fruitful anger and heroic anguish he +remained calm, acquitting himself methodically of his task--and +it was a frightful task: he appeared officially at the massacres +of the Abbaye, congratulated the assassins, and promised them +money; upon which he went home as if he had merely been taking a +walk. We see him as president of the Jacobin Club, president of +the Convention, and member of the Committee of Public Safety; he +drags the Girondists to the scaffold: he drags the queen thither, +and his former patron, Danton, said of him, `Billaud has a dagger +under his tongue.' He approves of the cannonades at Lyons, the +drownings at Nantes, the massacres at Arras; he organises the +pitiless commission of Orange; he is concerned in the laws of +Prairial; he eggs on Fouquier-Tinville; on all decrees of death +is his name, often the first; he signs before his colleagues; he +is without pity, without emotion, without enthusiasm; when others +are frightened, hesitate, and draw back, he goes his way, +speaking in turgid sentences, `shaking his lion's mane'--for to +make his cold and impassive face more in harmony with the +exuberance that surrounds him he now decks himself in a yellow +wig which would make one laugh were it on any but the sinister +head of Billaud-Varenne. When Robespierre, Saint-Just, and +Couthon are threatened in turn, he deserts them and goes over to +the enemy, and pushes them under the knife. . . . Why? What is +his aim? No one knows; he is not in any way ambitious; he +desires neither power nor money.'' + +I do not think it would be difficult to answer why. The thirst +for blood, of which we have already spoken, and which is very +common among certain criminals, perfectly explains the +conduct of Billaud-Varennes. Bandits of this type kill for the +sake of killing, as sportsmen shoot game--for the very pleasure +of exercising their taste for destruction. In ordinary times men +endowed with these homicidal tendencies refrain, generally from +fear of the policeman and the scaffold. When they are able to +give them free vent nothing can stop them. Such was the case +with Billaud-Varenne and many others. + +The psychology of Marat is rather more complicated, not only +because his craving for murder was combined with other elements-- +wounded self-love, ambition, mystic beliefs, &c.--but also +because we must regard him as a semi-lunatic, affected by +megalomania, and haunted by fixed ideas. + +Before the Revolution he had advanced great scientific +pretensions, but no one attached much importance to his +maunderings. Dreaming of place and honour, he had only obtained +a very subordinate situation in the household of a great noble. +The Revolution opened up an unhoped-for future. Swollen with +hatred of the old social system which had not recognised his +merits, he put himself at the head of the most violent section of +the people. Having publicly glorified the massacres of +September, he founded a journal which denounced everybody and +clamoured incessantly for executions. + +Speaking continually of the interests of the people, Marat became +their idol. The majority of his colleagues heartily despised +him. Had he escaped the knife of Charlotte Corday, he certainly +would not have escaped that of the guillotine. + + +5. The Destiny of those Members of the Convention who survived +the Revolution. + + +Beside the members of the Convention whose psychology presents +particular characteristics there were others--Barras, Fouche, +Tallien, Merlin de Thionville, &c.--completely devoid of +principles or belief, who only sought to enrich themselves. + +They sought to build up enormous fortunes out of the public +misery. In ordinary times they would have been qualified as +simple scoundrels, but in periods of revolution all standards +of vice and virtue seem to disappear. + +Although a few Jacobins remained fanatics, the majority renounced +their convictions as soon as they had obtained riches, and became +the faithful courtiers of Napoleon. Cambaceres, who, on +addressing Louis XVI. in prison, called him Louis Capet, under +the Empire required his friends to call him ``Highness'' in +public and ``Monseigneur'' in private, thus displaying the +envious feeling which accompanied the craving for equality in +many of the Jacobins. + +``The majority of the Jacobins,'' writes M. Madelin ``were +greatly enriched, and like Chabot, Bazire, Merlin, Barras, +Boursault, Tallien, Barrere, &c., possessed chateaux and +estates. Those who were not wealthy as yet were soon to become +so. . . In the Committee of the year III. alone the staff of the +Thermidorian party comprised a future prince, 13 future counts, 5 +future barons, 7 future senators of the Empire, and 6 future +Councillors of State, and beside them in the Convention there +were, between the future Duke of Otranto to the future Count +Regnault, no less than 50 democrats who fifteen years +later possessed titles, coats of arms, plumes, carriages, +endowments, entailed estates, hotels, and chateaux. +Fouche died worth L600,000.'' + +The privileges of the ancien regime which had been so +bitterly decried were thus very soon re-established for the +benefit of the bourgeoisie. To arrive at this result it was +necessary to ruin France, to burn entire provinces, to multiply +suffering, to plunge innumerable families into despair, to +overturn Europe, and to destroy men by the hundred thousand on +the field of battle. + +In closing this chapter we will recall what we have already said +concerning the possibility of judging the men of this period. + +Although the moralist is forced to deal severely with certain +individuals, because he judges them by the types which society +must respect if it is to succeed in maintaining itself, the +psychologist is not in the same case. His aim is to understand, +and criticism vanishes before a complete comprehension. + +The human mind is a very fragile mechanism, and the marionettes +which dance upon the stage of history are rarely able to resist +the imperious forces which impel them. Heredity, environment, +and circumstances are imperious masters. No one can say with +certainty what would have been his conduct in the place of the +men whose actions he endeavours to interpret. + + + +BOOK III + +THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ANCESTRAL INFLUENCES AND REVOLUTIONARY +PRINCIPLES + +CHAPTER I + +THE LAST CONVULSIONS OF ANARCHY--THE DIRECTORY + +1. The Psychology of the Directory. + +As the various revolutionary assemblies were composed in part of +the same men, one might suppose that their psychology would be +very similar. + +At ordinary periods this would have been so, for a constant +environment means constancy of character. But when circumstances +change as rapidly as they did under the Revolution, character +must perforce transform itself to adapt itself thereto. Such was +the case with the Directory. + +The Directory comprised several distinct assemblies: two large +chambers, consisting of different categories of deputies, and one +very small chamber, which consisted of the five Directors. + +The two larger Assemblies remind one strongly of the Convention +by their weakness. They were no longer forced to obey popular +riots, as these were energetically prevented by the Directors, +but they yielded without discussion to the dictatorial +injunctions of the latter. + +The first deputies to be elected were mostly moderates. Everyone +was weary of the Jacobin tyranny. The new Assembly dreamed of +rebuilding the ruins with which France was covered, and +establishing a liberal government without violence. + +But by one of those fatalities which were a law of the +Revolution, and which prove that the course of events is often +superior to men's wills, these deputies, like their predecessors, +may be said always to have done the contrary of what they wished +to do. They hoped to be moderate, and they were violent; they +wanted to eliminate the influence of the Jacobins, and they +allowed themselves to be led by them; they thought to repair the +ruins of the country and they succeeded only in adding others to +them; they aspired to religious peace, and they finally +persecuted and massacred the priests with greater rigour than +during the Terror. + +The psychology of the little assembly formed by the five +Directors was very different from that of the Chamber of +Deputies. Encountering fresh difficulties daily, the directors +were forced to resolve them, while the large Assemblies, without +contact with realities, had only their aspirations. + +The prevailing thought of the Directors was very simple. Highly +indifferent to principles, they wished above all to remain the +masters of France. To attain that result they did not shrink +from resorting to the most illegitimate measures, even annulling +the elections of a great number of the departments when these +embarrassed them. + +Feeling themselves incapable of reorganising France, they left +her to herself. By their despotism they contrived to dominate +her, but they never governed her. Now, what France needed more +than anything at this juncture was to be governed. + +The convention has left behind it the reputation of a strong +Government, and the Directory that of a weak Government. The +contrary is true: it was the Directory that was the strong +Government. + +Psychologically we may readily explain the difference between the +Government of the Directory and that of the preceding Assemblies +by recalling the fact that a gathering of six hundred to seven +hundred persons may well suffer from waves of contagious +enthusiasm, as on the night of the 4th of August, or even +impulses of energetic will-power, such as that which launched +defiance against the kings of Europe. But such impulses are too +ephemeral to possess any great force. A committee of five +members, easily dominated by the will of one, is far more +susceptible of continuous resolution--that is, of perseverance in +a settled line of conduct. + +The Government of the Directory proved to be always incapable of +governing, but it never lacked a strong will. Nothing +restraining it, neither respect for law nor consideration for the +citizens, nor love of the public welfare, it was able to impose +upon France a despotism more crushing than that of any Government +since the beginning of the Revolution, not excepting the Terror. + +Although it utilised methods analogous to those of the +Convention, and ruled France in the most tyrannical manner, the +Directory, no more than the Convention, was never the master of +France. + +This fact, which I have already noted, proves once more the +impotence of material constraint to dominate moral forces. It +cannot be too often repeated that the true guide of mankind is +the moral scaffolding erected by his ancestors. + +Accustomed to live in an organised society, supported by codes +and respected traditions, we can with difficulty represent to +ourselves the condition of a nation deprived of such a basis. As +a general thing we only see the irksome side of our environment, +too readily forgetting that society can exist only on condition +of imposing certain restraints, and that laws, manners, and +custom constitute a check upon the natural instincts of barbarism +which never entirely perishes. + +The history of the Convention and the Directory which followed it +shows plainly to what degree disorder may overcome a nation +deprived of its ancient structure, and having for guide only the +artificial combinations of an insufficient reason. + + +2. Despotic Government of the Directory. Recrudescence of the +Terror. + + +With the object of diverting attention, occupying the army, and +obtaining resources by the pillage of neighbouring countries, the +Directors decided to resume the wars of conquest which had +succeeded under the Convention. + +These continued during the life time of the Directory. The +armies won a rich booty, especially in Italy. + +Some of the invaded populations were so simple as to suppose that +these invasions were undertaken in their interest. They were not +long in discovering that all military operations were +accompanied by crushing taxes and the pillage of churches, public +treasuries, &c. + +The final consequence of this policy of conquest was the +formation of a new coalition against France, which lasted until +1801. + +Indifferent to the state of the country and incapable of +reorganising it, the Directors were principally concerned in +struggling against an incessant series of conspiracies in order +to keep in power. + +This task was enough to occupy their leisure, for the political +parties had not disarmed. Anarchy had reached such a point that +all were calling for a hand powerful enough to restore order. +Everyone felt, the Directors included, that the republican system +could not last much longer. + +Some dreamed of re-establishing royalty, others the Terrorist +system, while others waited for a general. Only the purchasers +of the national property feared a change of Government. + +The unpopularity of the Directory increased daily, and when in +May, 1797, the third part of the Assembly had to be renewed, the +majority of those elected were hostile to the system. + +The Directors were not embarrassed by a little thing like that. +They annulled the elections in 49 departments; 154 of the new +deputies were invalidated and expelled, 53 condemned to +deportation. Among these latter figured the most illustrious +names of the Revolution: Portalis, Carnot, Tronson du Coudray, +&c. + +To intimidate the electors, military commissions condemned to +death, rather at random, 160 persons, and sent to Guiana 330, of +whom half speedily died. The emigres and priests who +had returned to France were violently expelled. This was known +as the coup d'etat of Fructidor. + +This coup, which struck more especially at the moderates, was +not the only one of its kind; another quickly followed. The +Directors, finding the Jacobin deputies too numerous, annulled +the elections of sixty of them. + +The preceding facts displayed the tyrannical temper of the +Directors, but this appeared even more plainly in the details of +their measures. The new masters of France also proved to be as +bloodthirsty as the most ferocious deputies of the Terror. + +The guillotine was not re-established as a permanency, but +replaced by deportation under conditions which left the victims +little chance of survival. Sent to Rochefort in cages of iron +bars, exposed to all the severities of the weather, they were +then packed into boats. + +``Between the decks of the Decade and the Bayonnaise,'' +says Taine, ``the miserable prisoners, suffocated by the lack of +air and the torrid heat, bullied and fleeced, died of hunger or +asphyxia, and Guiana completed the work of the voyage: of 193 +taken thither by the Decade 39 were left alive at the end of +twenty-two months; of 120 taken by the Bayonnaise 1 remained. + +Observing everywhere a Catholic renascence, and imagining that +the clergy were conspiring against them, the Directors deported +or sent to the galleys in one year 1,448 priests, to say nothing +of a large number who were summarily executed. The Terror was in +reality completely re-established. + +The autocratic despotism of the Directory was exercised in all +the branches of the administration, notably the finances. Thus, +having need of six hundred million francs, it forced the +deputies, always docile, to vote a progressive impost, which +yielded, however, only twelve millions. Being presently in the +same condition, it decreed a forced loan of a hundred millions, +which resulted in the closing of workshops, the stoppage of +business, and the dismissal of domestics. It was only at the +price of absolute ruin that forty millions could be obtained. + +To assure itself of domination in the provinces the Directory +caused a so-called law of hostages to be passed, according to +which a list of hostages, responsible for all offences, was drawn +up in each commune. + +It is easy to understand what hatred such a system provoked. At +the end of 1799 fourteen departments were in revolt and forty-six +were ready to rise. If the Directory had lasted the dissolution +of society would have been complete. + +For that matter, this dissolution was far advanced. Finances, +administration, everything was crumbling. The receipts of the +Treasury, consisting of depreciated assignats fallen to a +hundredth part of their original value, were negligible. Holders +of Government stock and officers could no longer obtain payment. + +France at this time gave travellers the impression of a country +ravaged by war and abandoned by its inhabitants. The broken +bridges and dykes and ruined buildings made all traffic +impossible. The roads, long deserted, were infested by brigands. + +Certain departments could only be crossed at the price of buying +a safe-conduct from the leaders of these bands. Industry +and commerce were annihilated. In Lyons 13,000 workshops and +mills out of 15,000 had been forced to close. Lille, Havre, +Bordeaux, Lyons, Marseilles, &c., were like dead cities. Poverty +and famine were general. + +The moral disorganisation was no less terrible. Luxury and the +craving for pleasure, costly dinners, jewels, and extravagant +households were the appanage of a new society composed entirely +of stock-jobbers, army contractors, and shady financiers enriched +by pillage. They gave Paris that superficial aspect of luxury +and gaiety which has deluded so many historians of this period, +because the insolent prodigality displayed covered the general +misery. + +The chronicles of the Directory as told in books help to show us +of what lies the web of history is woven. The theatre has lately +got hold of this period, of which the fashions are still +imitated. It has left the memory of a joyous period of re-birth +after the gloomy drama of the Terror. In reality the drama of +the Directory was hardly an improvement on the Terror and was +quite as sanguinary. Finally, it inspired such loathing that the +Directors, feeling that it could not last, sought themselves for +the dictator capable of replacing it and also of protecting them. + + +3. The Advent of Bonaparte. + + +We have seen that at the end of the Directory the anarchy and +disorganisation were such that every one was desperately calling +for the man of energy capable of re-establishing order. As early +as 1795 a number of deputies had thought for a moment of re- +establishing royalty. Louis XVIII., having been tactless +enough to declare that he would restore the ancien regime in +its entirety, return all property to its original owners, and +punish the men of the Revolution, was immediately thrown over. +The senseless expedition of Quiberon finally alienated the +supporters of the future sovereign. The royalists gave a proof +during the whole of the Revolution of an incapacity and a +narrowness of mind which justified most of the measures taken +against them. + +The monarchy being impossible, it was necessary to find a +general. Only one existed whose name carried weight--Bonaparte. +The campaign in Italy had just made him famous. Having crossed +the Alps, he had marched from victory to victory, penetrated to +Milan and Venice, and everywhere obtained important war +contributions. He then made towards Vienna, and was only twenty- +five leagues from its gates when the Emperor of Austria decided +to sue for peace. + +But great as was his renown, the young general did not consider +it sufficient. To increase it he persuaded the Directory that +the power of England could be shaken by an invasion of Egypt, and +in May, 1798, he embarked at Toulon. + +This need of increasing his prestige arose from a very sound +psychological conception which he clearly expounded at St. +Helena:-- + +``The most influential and enlightened generals had long been +pressing the general of Italy to take steps to place himself at +the head of the Republic. He refused; he was not yet strong +enough to walk quite alone. He had ideas upon the art of +governing and upon what was necessary to a great nation +which were so different from those of the men of the +Revolution and the assemblies that, not being able to act alone, +he feared to compromise his character. He determined to set out +for Egypt, but resolved to reappear if circumstances should arise +to render his presence useful or necessary.'' + +Bonaparte did not stay long in Egypt. Recalled by his friends, +he landed at Frejus, and the announcement of his return provoked +universal enthusiasm. There were illuminations everywhere. +France collaborated in advance in the coup d'etat prepared +by two Directors and the principal ministers. The plot was +organised in three weeks. Its execution on the 18th of Brumaire +was accomplished with the greatest ease. + +All parties experienced the greatest delight at being rid of the +sinister gangs who had so long oppressed and exploited the +country. The French were doubtless about to enter upon a +despotic system of government, but it could not be so intolerable +as that which had been endured for so many years. + +The history of the coup d'etat of Brumaire justifies all +that we have already said of the impossibility of forming exact +judgments of events which apparently are fully understood and +attested by no matter how many witnesses. + +We know what ideas people had thirty years ago concerning the +coup of Brumaire. It was regarded as a crime committed by the +ambition of a man who was supported by his army. As a matter of +fact the army played no part whatever in the affair. The little +body of men who expelled the few recalcitrant deputies were not +soldiers even, but the gendarmes of the Assembly itself. The +true author of the coup d'etat was the Government itself, with +the complicity of all France. + + +4. Causes of the Duration of the Revolution. + + +If we limit the Revolution to the time necessary for the conquest +of its fundamental principles--equality before the law, free +access to public functions, popular sovereignty, control of +expenditures, &c.--we may say that it lasted only a few months. +Towards the middle of 1789 all this was accomplished, and during +the years that followed nothing was added to it, yet the +Revolution lasted much longer. + +Confining the duration to the dates admitted by the official +historians, we see it persisting until the advent of Bonaparte, a +space of some ten years. + +Why did this period of disorganisation and violence follow the +establishment of the new principles? We need not seek the cause +in the foreign war, which might on several occasions have been +terminated, thanks to the divisions of the allies and the +constant victories of the French; neither must we look for it in +the sympathy of Frenchmen for the revolutionary Government. +Never was rule more cordially hated and despised than that of the +Assemblies. By its revolts as well as by its repeated votes a +great part of the nation displayed the horror with which it +regarded the system. + +This last point, the aversion of France for the revolutionary +regime, so long misunderstood, has been well displayed by +recent historians. The author of the last book published on the +Revolution, M. Madelin, has well summarised their opinion in the +following words:-- + +``As early as 1793 a party by no means numerous had seized upon +France, the Revolution, and the Republic. Now, three-quarters of +France longed for the Revolution to be checked, or rather +delivered from its odious exploiters; but these held the unhappy +country by a thousand means. . . . As the Terror was essential +to them if they were to rule, they struck at whomsoever seemed at +any given moment to be opposed to the Terror, were they the best +servants of the Revolution.'' + +Up to the end of the Directory the government was exercised by +Jacobins, who merely desired to retain, along with the supreme +power, the riches they had accumulated by murder and pillage, and +were ready to surrender France to any one who would guarantee +them free possession of these. That they negotiated the coup +d'etat of Brumaire with Napoleon was simply to the fact that +they had not been able to realise their wishes with regard to +Louis XVIII. + +But how explain the fact that a Government so tyrannical and so +dishonoured was able to survive for so many years? + +It was not merely because the revolutionary religion still +survived in men's minds, nor because it was forced on them by +means of persecution and bloodshed, but especially, as I have +already stated, on account of the great interest which a large +portion of the population had in maintaining it. + +This point is fundamental. If the Revolution had remained a +theoretical religion, it would probably have been of short +duration. But the belief which had just been founded very +quickly emerged from the domain of pure theory. + +The Revolution did not confine itself to despoiling the monarchy, +the nobility, and the clergy of their powers of government. In +throwing into the hands of the bourgeoisie and the large +numbers of peasantry the wealth and the employments of the old +privileged classes it had at the same stroke turned them into +obstinate supporters of the revolutionary system. All those who +had acquired the property of which the nobles and clergy had been +despoiled had obtained lands and chateaux at low prices, and +were terrified lest the restoration of the monarchy should force +them to make general restitution. + +It was largely for these reasons that a Government which, at any +normal period, would never have been endured, was able to survive +until a master should re-establish order, while promising to +maintain not only the moral but also the material conquests of +the Revolution. Bonaparte realised these anxieties, and was +promptly and enthusiastically welcomed. Material conquests which +were still contestable and theoretical principles which were +still fragile were by him incorporated in institutions and the +laws. It is an error to say that the Revolution terminated with +his advent. Far from destroying it, he ratified and consolidated +it. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RESTORATION OF ORDER. THE CONSULAR REPUBLIC + +1. How the Work of the Revolution was Confirmed by the +Consulate. + +The history of the Consulate is as rich as the preceding period +in psychological material. In the first place it shows us that +the work of a powerful individual is superior to that of a +collectivity. Bonaparte immediately replaced the bloody anarchy +in which the Republic had for ten years been writhing by a period +of order. That which none of the four Assemblies of the +Revolution had been able to realise, despite the most violent +oppression, a single man accomplished in a very short space of +time. + +His authority immediately put an end to all the Parisian +insurrections and the attempts at monarchical resistance, and re- +established the moral unity of France, so profoundly divided by +intense hatreds. Bonaparte replaced an unorganised collective +despotism by a perfectly organised individual despotism. +Everyone gained thereby, for his tyranny was infinitely less +heavy than that which had been endured for ten long years. We +must suppose, moreover, that it was unwelcome to very few, as it +was very soon accepted with immense enthusiasm. + +We know better to-day than to repeat with the old historians that +Bonaparte overthrew the Republic. On the contrary, he retained +of it all that could be retained, and never would have been +retained without him, by establishing all the practicable work of +the Revolution--the abolition of privileges, equality before the +law, &c.--in institutions and codes of law. The Consular +Government continued, moreover, to call itself the Republic. + +It is infinitely probable that without the Consulate a +monarchical restoration would have terminated the Directory, and +would have wiped out the greater part of the work of the +Revolution. Let us suppose Bonaparte erased from history. No +one, I think, will imagine that the Directory could have survived +the universal weariness of its rule. It would certainly have +been overturned by the royalist conspiracies which were breaking +out daily, and Louis XVIII. would probably have ascended the +throne. Certainly he was to mount it sixteen years later, but +during this interval Bonaparte gave such force to the principles +of the Revolution, by establishing them in laws and customs, that +the restored sovereign dared not touch them, nor restore the +property of the returned emigres. + +Matters would have been very different had Louis XVIII. +immediately followed the Directory. He would have brought with +him all the absolutism of the ancien regime, and fresh +revolutions would have been necessary to abolish it. We know +that a mere attempt to return to the past overthrew Charles X. + +It would be a little ingenuous to complain of the tyranny +of Bonaparte. Under the ancien regime Frenchmen had +supported every species of tyranny, and the Republic had created +a despotism even heavier than that of the monarchy. Despotism +was then a normal condition, which aroused no protest save when +it was accompanied by disorder. + +A constant law of the psychology of crowds shows them as creating +anarchy, and then seeking the master who will enable them to +emerge therefrom. Bonaparte was this master. + + +2. The Reorganisation of France by the Consulate. + + +Upon assuming power Bonaparte undertook a colossal task. All was +in ruins; all was to be rebuilt. On the morrow of the coup of +Brumaire he drafted, almost single-handed, the Constitution +destined to give him the absolute power which was to enable him +to reorganise the country and to prevail over the factions. In a +month it was completed. + +This Constitution, known as that of the year VIII., survived, +with slight modifications, until the end of his reign. The +executive power was the attribute of three Consuls, two of whom +possessed a consultative voice only. The first Consul, +Bonaparte, was therefore sole master of France. He appointed +ministers, councillors of state, ambassadors, magistrates, and +other officials, and decided upon peace or war. The legislative +power was his also, since only he could initiate the laws, which +were subsequently submitted to three Assemblies--the Council of +State, the Tribunate, and the Legislative Corps. A fourth +Assembly, the Senate, acted effectually as the guardian of +the Constitution. + +Despotic as he was and became, Bonaparte always called the other +Consuls about him before proceeding with the most trivial +measure. The Legislative Corps did not exercise much influence +during his reign, but he signed no decrees of any kind without +first discussing them with the Council of State. This Council, +composed of the most enlightened and learned men of France, +prepared laws, which were then presented to the Legislative +Corps, which could criticise them very freely, since voting was +secret. Presided over by Bonaparte, the Council of State was a +kind of sovereign tribunal, judging even the actions of +ministers.[9] + + + +[9] Napoleon naturally often overruled the Council of State, but +by no means always did so. In one instance, reported in the +Memorial de Sainte-Helene, he was the only one of his own +opinion, and accepted that of the majority in the following +terms: ``Gentlemen, matters are decided here by majority, and +being alone, I must give way; but I declare that in my conscience +I yield only to form. You have reduced me to silence, but in no +way convinced me.'' + +Another day the Emperor, interrupted three times in the +expression of his opinion, addressed himself to the speaker who +had just interrupted him: ``Sir, I have not yet finished; I beg +you to allow me to continue. After all, it seems to me that +every one has a perfect right to express his opinion here.'' + +``The Emperor, contrary to the accepted opinion, was so far from +absolute, and so easy with his Council of State, that he often +resumed a discussion, or even annulled a decision, because one of +the members of the Council had since, in private, given him fresh +reasons, or had urged that the Emperor's personal opinion had +influenced the majority.'' + + + + +The new master had great confidence in this Council, as it was +composed more particularly of eminent jurists, each of whom dealt +with his own speciality. He was too good a psychologist not to +entertain the greatest suspicion of large and incompetent +assemblies of popular origin, whose disastrous results had been +obvious to him during the whole of the Revolution. + +Wishing to govern for the people, but never with its assistance, +Bonaparte accorded it no part in the government, reserving to it +only the right of voting, once for all, for or against the +adoption of the new Constitution. He only in rare instances had +recourse to universal suffrage. The members of the Legislative +Corps recruited themselves, and were not elected by the people. + +In creating a Constitution intended solely to fortify his own +power, the First Consul had no illusion that it would serve to +restore the country. Consequently, while he was drafting it he +also undertook the enormous task of the administrative, judicial, +and financial reorganisation of France. The various powers were +centralised in Paris. Each department was directed by a prefect, +assisted by a consul-general; the arrondissement by a sub- +prefect, assisted by a council; the commune by a mayor, assisted +by a municipal council. All were appointed by the ministers, and +not by election, as under the Republic. + +This system, which created the omnipotent State and a powerful +centralisation, was retained by all subsequent Governments and is +preserved to-day. Centralisation being, in spite of its +drawbacks, the only means of avoiding local tyrannies in a +country profoundly divided within itself, has always been +maintained. + +This organisation, based on a profound knowledge of the soul of +the French people, immediately restored that tranquillity and +order which had for so long been unknown. + +To complete the mental pacification of the country, the political +exiles were recalled and the churches restored to the faithful. + +Continuing to rebuild the social edifice, Bonaparte busied +himself also with the drafting of a code, the greater part of +which consisted of customs borrowed from the ancien regime. +It was, as has been said, a sort of transition or compromise +between the old law and the new. + +Considering the enormous task accomplished by the First Consul in +so short a time, we realise that he had need, before all, of a +Constitution according him absolute power. If all the measures +by which he restored France had been submitted to assemblies of +attorneys, he could never have extricated the country from the +disorder into which it had fallen. + +The Constitution of the year VIII. obviously transformed the +Republic into a monarchy at least as absolute as the ``Divine +right'' monarchy of Louis XIV. Being the only Constitution +adapted to the needs of the moment, it represented a +psychological necessity. + + +3. Psychological Elements which determined the Success of the +Work of the Consulate. + + +All the external forces which act upon men--economic, historical, +geographical, &c.--may be finally translated into psychological +forces. These psychological forces a ruler must understand in +order to govern. The Revolutionary Assemblies were completely +ignorant of them; Bonaparte knew how to employ them. + +The various Assemblies, the Convention notably, were composed of +conflicting parties. Napoleon understood that to dominate them +he must not belong to any one of these parties. Very well aware +that the value of a country is disseminated among the superior +intelligences of the various parties, he tried to utilise them +all. His agents of government--ministers, priests, magistrates, +&c.--were taken indifferently from among the Liberals, Royalists, +Jacobites, &c., having regard only to their capacities. + +While accepting the assistance of men of the ancien regime, +Bonaparte took care to make it understood that he intended to +maintain the fundamental principles of the Revolution. +Nevertheless many Royalists rallied round the new Government. + +One of the most remarkable feats of the Consulate, from the +psychological point of view, was the restoration of religious +peace. France was far more divided by religious disagreement +than by political differences. The systematic destruction of a +portion of the Vendee had almost completely terminated the +struggle by force of arms, but without pacifying men's minds. As +only one man, and he the head of Christianity, could assist in +this pacification, Bonaparte did not hesitate to treat with him. +His concordat was the work of a real psychologist, who knew that +moral forces do not use violence, and the great danger of +persecuting such. While conciliating the clergy he contrived to +place them under his own domination. The bishops were to +be appointed and remunerated by the State, so that he would still +be master. + +The religious policy of Napoleon had a bearing which escapes our +modern Jacobins. Blinded by their narrow fanaticism, they do not +understand that to detach the Church from the Government is to +create a state within the State, so that they are liable to find +themselves opposed by a formidable caste, directed by a master +outside France, and necessarily hostile to France. To give one's +enemies a liberty they did not possess is extremely dangerous. +Never would Napoleon, nor any of the sovereigns who preceded him, +have consented to make the clergy independent of the State, as +they have become to-day. + +The difficulties of Bonaparte the First Consul were far greater +than those he had to surmount after his coronation. Only a +profound knowledge of men enabled him to triumph over them. The +future master was far from being the master as yet. Many +departments were still in insurrection. Brigandage persisted, +and the Midi was ravaged by the struggles of partisans. +Bonaparte, as Consul, had to conciliate and handle Talleyrand, +Fouche, and a number of generals who thought themselves his +equal. Even his brothers conspired against his power. Napoleon, +as Emperor, had no hostile party to face, but as Consul he +had to combat all the parties and to hold the balance equal among +them. This must indeed have been a difficult task, since during +the last century very few Governments have succeeded in +accomplishing it. + +The success of such an undertaking demanded an extremely subtle +mixture of finesse, firmness, and diplomacy. Not feeling +himself powerful enough as yet, Bonaparte the Consul made a rule, +according to his own expression, ``of governing men as the +greater number wish to be governed.'' As Emperor he often +managed to govern them according to his own ideal. + +We have travelled a long way since the time when historians, in +their singular blindness, and great poets, who possessed more +talent than psychology, would hold forth in indignant accents +against the coup d'etat of Brumaire. What profound +illusions underlay the assertion that ``France lay fair in +Messidor's great sun''! And other illusions no less profound +underlay such verdicts as that of Victor Hugo concerning this +period. We have seen that the ``Crime of Brumaire'' had as an +enthusiastic accomplice, not only the Government itself but the +whole of France, which it delivered from anarchy. + +One may wonder how intelligent men could so misjudge a period of +history which is nevertheless so clear. It was doubtless because +they saw events through their own convictions, and we know what +transformations the truth may suffer for the man who is +imprisoned in the valleys of belief. The most luminous facts are +obscured, and the history of events is the history of his dreams. + +The psychologist who desires to understand the period which we +have so briefly sketched can only do so if, being attached to no +party, he stands clear of the passions which are the soul of +parties. He will never dream of recriminating a past which was +dictated by such imperious necessities. Certainly Napoleon has +cost France dear: his epic was terminated by two invasions, and +there was yet to be a third, whose consequences are felt +even to-day, when the prestige which he exerted even from the +tomb set upon the throne the inheritor of his name. + +All these events are narrowly connected in their origin. They +represent the price of that capital phenomenon in the evolution +of a people, a change of ideal. Man can never make the attempt +to break suddenly with his ancestors without profoundly affecting +the course of his own history. + + + +CHAPTER III + +POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN TRADITIONS AND +REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES DURING THE LAST CENTURY + +1. The Psychological Causes of the continued Revolutionary +Movements to which France has been subject. + +In examining, in a subsequent chapter, the evolution of +revolutionary ideas during the last century, we shall see that +during more than fifty years they very slowly spread through the +various strata of society. + +During the whole of this period the great majority of the people +and the bourgeoisie rejected them, and their diffusion was +effected only by a very limited number of apostles. But their +influence, thanks principally to the faults of Governments, was +sufficient to provoke several revolutions. We shall examine +these briefly when we have examined the psychological influences +which gave them birth. + +The history of our political upheavals during the last century is +enough to prove, even if we did not yet realise the fact, that +men are governed by their mentalities far more than by the +institutions which their rulers endeavour to force upon them. + +The successive revolutions which France has suffered have been +the consequences of struggles between two portions of the +nation whose mentalities are different. One is religious and +monarchical and is dominated by long ancestral influences; the +other is subjected to the same influences, but gives them a +revolutionary form. + +From the commencement of the Revolution the struggle between +contrary mentalities was plainly manifested. We have seen that +in spite of the most frightful repression insurrections and +conspiracies lasted until the end of the Directory. They proved +that the traditions of the past had left profound roots in the +popular soul. At a certain moment sixty departments were in +revolt against the new Government, and were only repressed by +repeated massacres on a vast scale. + +To establish some sort of compromise between the ancien +regime and the new ideals was the most difficult of the +problems which Bonaparte had to resolve. He had to discover +institutions which would suit the two mentalities into which +France was divided. He succeeded, as we have seen, by +conciliatory measures, and also by dressing very ancient things +in new names. + +His reign was one of those rare periods of French history during +which the mental unity of France was complete. + +This unity could not outlive him. On the morrow of his fall all +the old parties reappeared, and have survived until the present +day. Some attach themselves to traditional influences; others +violently reject them. + +If this long conflict had been between believers and the +indifferent, it could not have lasted, for indifference is +always tolerant; but the struggle was really between two +different beliefs. The lay Church very soon assumed a religious +aspect, and its pretended rationalism has become, especially in +recent years, a barely attenuated form of the narrowest clerical +spirit. Now, we have shown that no conciliation is possible +between dissimilar religious beliefs. The clericals when in +power could not therefore show themselves more tolerant towards +freethinkers than these latter are to-day toward the clericals. + +These divisions, determined by differences of belief, were +complicated by the addition of the political conceptions derived +from those beliefs. + +Many simple souls have for long believed that the real history of +France began with the year I. of the Republic. This rudimentary +conception is at last dying out. Even the most rigid +revolutionaries renounce it,[10] and are quite willing to +recognise that the past was something better than an epoch of +black barbarism dominated by low superstitions. + + + +[10] We may judge of the recent evolution of ideas upon this +point by the following passage from a speech by M. Jaures, +delivered in the Chamber of Deputies: ``The greatness of to-day +is built of the efforts of past centuries. France is not +contained in a day nor in an epoch, but in the succession of all +days, all periods, all her twilights and all her dawns.'' + + + + +The religious origin of most of the political beliefs held in +France inspires their adepts with an inextinguishable hatred +which always strikes foreigners with amazement. + +``Nothing is more obvious, nothing is more certain,'' writes Mr. +Barret-Wendell, in his book on France, ``than this fact: that not +only have the royalists, revolutionaries, and Bonapartists +always been mortally opposed to one another, but that, owing to +the passionate ardour of the French character, they have always +entertained a profound intellectual horror for one another. Men +who believe themselves in possession of the truth cannot refrain +from affirming that those who do not think with them are +instruments of error. + +``Each party will gravely inform you that the advocates of the +adverse cause are afflicted by a dense stupidity or are +consciously dishonest. Yet when you meet these latter, who will +say exactly the same things as their detractors, you cannot but +recognise, in all good faith, that they are neither stupid nor +dishonest.'' + +This reciprocal execration of the believers of each party has +always facilitated the overthrow of Governments and ministers in +France. The parties in the minority will never refuse to ally +themselves against the triumphant party. We know that a great +number of revolutionary Socialists have been elected to the +present Chamber only by the aid of the monarchists, who are still +as unintelligent as they were at the time of the Revolution. + +Our religious and political differences do not constitute the +only cause of dissension in France. They are held by men +possessing that particular mentality which I have already +described under the name of the revolutionary mentality. We have +seen that each period always presents a certain number of +individuals ready to revolt against the established order of +things, whatever that may be, even though it may realise all +their desires. + +The intolerance of the parties in France, and their desire to +seize upon power, are further favoured by the conviction, so +prevalent under the Revolution, that societies can be remade by +means of laws. The modern State, whatever its leader, has +inherited in the eyes of the multitudes and their leaders the +mystic power attributed to the ancient kings, when these latter +were regarded as an incarnation of the Divine will. Not only the +people is inspired by this confidence in the power of Government; +all our legislators entertain it also.[11] + + + +[11] After the publication of an article of mine concerning +legislative illusions, I received from one of our most eminent +politicians, M. Boudenot the senator, a letter from which I +extract the following passage: ``Twenty years passed in the +Chamber and the Senate have shown me how right you are. How many +times I have heard my colleagues say: `The Government ought to +prevent this, order that,' &c. What would you have? there are +fourteen centuries of monarchical atavism in our blood.'' + + + + +Legislating always, politicians never realise that as +institutions are effects, and not causes, they have no virtue in +themselves. Heirs to the great revolutionary illusion, they do +not see that man is created by a past whose foundations we are +powerless to reshape. + +The conflict between the principles dividing France, which has +lasted more than a century, will doubtless continue for a long +time yet, and no one can foresee what fresh upheavals it may +engender. No doubt if before our era the Athenians could have +divined that their social dissensions would have led to the +enslavement of Greece, they would have renounced them; but how +could they have foreseen as much? M. Guiraud justly writes: ``A +generation of men very rarely realises the task which it +is accomplishing. It is preparing for the future; but this +future is often the contrary of what it wishes.'' + + +2. Summary of a Century's Revolutionary Movement in France. + + +The psychological causes of the revolutionary movements which +France has seen during the past century having been explained, it +will now suffice to present a summary picture of these successive +revolutions. + +The sovereigns in coalition having defeated Napoleon, they +reduced France to her former limits, and placed Louis XVIII., the +only possible sovereign, on the throne. + +By a special charter the new king accepted the position of a +constitutional monarch under a representative system of +government. He recognised all the conquests of the Revolution: +the civil Code, equality before the law, liberty of worship, +irrevocability of the sale of national property, &c. The right +of suffrage, however, was limited to those paying a certain +amount in taxes. + +This liberal Constitution was opposed by the ultra-royalists. +Returned emigres, they wanted the restitution of the national +property, and the re-establishment of their ancient privileges. + +Fearing that such a reaction might cause a new revolution, Louis +XVIII. was reduced to dissolving the Chamber. The election +having returned moderate deputies, he was able to continue to +govern with the same principles, understanding very well that any +attempt to govern the French by the ancien regime would be +enough to provoke a general rebellion. + +Unfortunately, his death, in 1824, placed Charles X., formerly +Comte d'Artois, on the throne. Extremely narrow, incapable of +understanding the new world which surrounded him, and boasting +that he had not modified his ideas since 1789, he prepared a +series of reactionary laws--a law by which an indemnity of forty +millions sterling was to be paid to emigres; a law of sacrilege; +and laws establishing the rights of primogeniture, the +preponderance of the clergy, &c. + +The majority of the deputies showing themselves daily more +opposed to his projects, in 1830 he enacted Ordinances dissolving +the Chamber, suppressing the liberty of the Press, and preparing +for the restoration of the ancien regime. + +The effect was immediate. This autocratic action provoked a +coalition of the leaders of all parties. Republicans, +Bonapartists, Liberals, Royalists--all united in order to raise +the Parisian populace. Four days after the publication of the +Ordinances the insurgents were masters of the capital, and +Charles X. fled to England. + +The leaders of the movement--Thiers, Casimir-Perier, La Fayette, +&c.--summoned to Paris Louis-Philippe, of whose existence the +people were scarcely aware, and declared him king of the French. + +Between the indifference of the people and the hostility of the +nobles, who had remained faithful to the legitimate dynasty, the +new king relied chiefly upon the bourgeoisie. An electoral law +having reduced the electors to less than 200,000, this class +played an exclusive part in the government. + +The situation of the sovereign was not easy. He had to struggle +simultaneously against the legitimist supporters of Henry +V. the grandson of Charles X., and the Bonapartists, who +recognised as their head Louis-Napoleon, the Emperor's nephew, +and finally against the republicans. + +By means of their secret societies, analogous to the clubs of the +Revolution, the latter provoked numerous riots at various +intervals between 1830 and 1840, but these were easily repressed. + +The clericals and legitimists, on their side, did not cease their +intrigues. The Duchess de Berry, the mother of Henry V., tried +in vain to raise the Vendee. As to the clergy, their demands +finally made them so intolerable that an insurrection broke out, +in the course of which the palace of the archbishop of Paris was +sacked. + +The republicans as a party were not very dangerous, as the +Chamber sided with the king in the struggle against them. The +minister Guizot, who advocated a strong central power, declared +that two things were indispensable to government--``reason and +cannon.'' The famous statesman was surely somewhat deluded as to +the necessity or efficacy of reason. + +Despite this strong central power, which in reality was not +strong, the republicans, and above all the Socialists, continued +to agitate. One of the most influential, Louis Blanc, claimed +that it was the duty of the Government to procure work for every +citizen. The Catholic party, led by Lacordaire and Montalembert, +united with the Socialists--as to-day in Belgium--to oppose the +Government. + +A campaign in favour of electoral reform ended in 1848 in a fresh +riot, which unexpectedly overthrew Louis-Philippe. + +His fall was far less justifiable than that of Charles X. There +was little with which he could be reproached. Doubtless he was +suspicious of universal suffrage, but the French Revolution had +more than once been quite suspicious of it. Louis-Philippe not +being, like the Directory, an absolute ruler, could not, as the +latter had done, annul unfavourable elections. + +A provisional Government was installed in the Hotel de Ville, +to replace the fallen monarchy. It proclaimed the Republic, +established universal suffrage, and decreed that the people +should proceed to the election of a National Assembly of nine +hundred members. + +From the first days of its existence the new Government found +itself the victim of socialistic manoeuvres and riots. + +The psychological phenomena observed during the first Revolution +were now to be witnessed again. Clubs were formed, whose leaders +sent the people from time to time against the Assembly, for +reasons which were generally quite devoid of common sense--for +example, to force the Government to support an insurrection in +Poland, &c. + +In the hope of satisfying the Socialists, every day more noisy +and exigent, the Assembly organised national workshops, in which +the workers were occupied in various forms of labour. In these +100,000 men cost the State more than L40,000 weekly. Their +claim to receive pay without working for it forced the Assembly +to close the workshops. + +This measure was the origin of a formidable insurrection, 50,000 +workers revolting. The Assembly, terrified, confided all +the executive powers to General Cavaignac. There was a four-days +battle with the insurgents, during which three generals and the +Archbishop of Paris were killed; 3,000 prisoners were deported by +the Assembly to Algeria, and revolutionary Socialism was +annihilated for a space of fifty years. + +These events brought Government stock down from 116 to 50 francs. +Business was at a standstill. The peasants, who thought +themselves threatened by the Socialists, and the bourgeois, +whose taxes the Assembly had increased by half, turned against +the Republic, and when Louis-Napoleon promised to re-establish +order he found himself welcomed with enthusiasm. A candidate for +the position of President of the Republic, who according to the +new Constitution must be elected by the whole body of citizens, +he was chosen by 5,500,000 votes. + +Very soon at odds with the Chamber, the prince decided on a coup +d'etat. The Assembly was dissolved; 30,000 persons were +arrested, 10,000 deported, and a hundred deputies were exiled. + +This coup d'etat, although summary, was very favourably +received, for when submitted to a plebiscite it received +7,500,000 votes out of 8,000,000. + +On the 2nd of November, 1852, Napoleon had himself named Emperor +by an even greater majority: The horror which the generality of +Frenchmen felt for demagogues and Socialists had restored the +Empire. + +In the first part of its existence it constituted an absolute +Government, and during the latter half a liberal Government. +After eighteen years of rule the Emperor was overthrown by the +revolution of the 4th of September, 1870, after the capitulation +of Sedan. + +Since that time revolutionary movements have been rare; the only +one of importance was the revolution of March, 1871, which +resulted in the burning of many of the monuments of Paris and the +execution of about 20,000 insurgents. + +After the war of 1870 the electors, who, amid so many disasters, +did not know which way to turn, sent a great number of Orleanist +and legitimist deputies to the Constituent Assembly. Unable to +agree upon the establishment of a monarchy, they appointed M. +Thiers President of the Republic, later replacing him by Marshal +MacMahon. In 1876 the new elections, like all those that have +followed, sent a majority of republicans to the Chamber. + +The various assemblies which have succeeded to this have always +been divided into numerous parties, which have provoked +innumerable changes of ministry. + +However, thanks to the equilibrium resulting from this division +of parties, we have for forty years enjoyed comparative quiet. +Four Presidents of the Republic have been overthrown without +revolution, and the riots that have occurred, such as those of +Champagne and the Midi, have not had serious consequences. + +A great popular movement, in 1888, did nearly overthrow the +Republic for the benefit of General Boulanger, but it has +survived and triumphed over the attacks of all parties. + +Various reasons contribute to the maintenance of the present +Republic. In the first place, of the conflicting factions +none is strong enough to crush the rest. In the second place, +the head of the State being purely decorative, and possessing no +power, it is impossible to attribute to him the evils from which +the country may suffer, and to feel sure that matters would be +different were he overthrown. Finally, as the supreme power is +distributed among thousands of hands, responsibilities are so +disseminated that it would be difficult to know where to begin. +A tyrant can be overthrown, but what can be done against a host +of little anonymous tyrannies? + +If we wished to sum up in a word the great transformations which +have been effected in France by a century of riots and +revolutions, we might say that individual tyranny, which was weak +and therefore easily overthrown, has been replaced by collective +tyrannies, which are very strong and difficult to destroy. To a +people avid of equality and habituated to hold its Governments +responsible for every event individual tyranny seemed +insupportable, while a collective tyranny is readily endured, +although generally much more severe. + +The extension of the tyranny of the State has therefore been the +final result of all our revolutions, and the common +characteristic of all systems of government which we have known +in France. This form of tyranny may be regarded as a racial +ideal, since successive upheavals of France have only fortified +it. Statism is the real political system of the Latin peoples, +and the only system that receives all suffrages. The other forms +of government--republic, monarchy, empire--represent empty +labels, powerless shadows. + + +PART III + +THE RECENT EVOLUTION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES + + +CHAPTER I + +THE PROGRESS OF DEMOCRATIC BELIEFS SINCE THE REVOLUTION + +1. Gradual Propagation of Democratic Ideas after the Revolution. + +Ideas which are firmly established, incrusted, as it were, in +men's minds, continue to act for several generations. Those +which resulted from the French Revolution were, like others, +subject to this law. + +Although the life of the Revolution as a Government was short, +the influence of its principles was, on the contrary, very long- +lived. Becoming a form of religious belief, they profoundly +modified the orientation of the sentiments and ideas of several +generations. + +Despite a few intervals, the French Revolution has continued up +to the present, and still survives. The role of Napoleon +was not confined to overturning the world, changing the map of +Europe, and remaking the exploits of Alexander. The new rights +of the people, created by the Revolution and established by its +institutions, have exercised a profound influence. The military +work of the conqueror was soon dissolved, but the revolutionary +principles which he contributed to propagate have survived him. + +The various restorations which followed the Empire caused men at +first to become somewhat forgetful of the principles of the +Revolution. For fifty years this propagation was far from rapid. +One might almost have supposed that the people had forgotten +them. Only a small number of theorists maintained their +influence. Heirs to the ``simplicist'' spirit of the Jacobins, +believing, like them, that societies can be remade from top to +bottom by the laws, and persuaded that the Empire had only +interrupted the task of revolution, they wished to resume it. + +While waiting until they could recommence, they attempted to +spread the principles of the Revolution by means of their +writings. Faithful imitators of the men of the Revolution, they +never stopped to ask if their schemes for reform were in +conformity with human nature. They too were erecting a +chimerical society for an ideal man, and were persuaded that the +application of their dreams would regenerate the human species. + +Deprived of all constructive power, the theorists of all the ages +have always been very ready to destroy. Napoleon at St. Helena +stated that ``if there existed a monarchy of granite the +idealists and theorists would manage to reduce it to powder.'' + +Among the galaxy of dreamers such as Saint-Simon, Fourier, Pierre +Leroux, Louis Blanc, Quinet, &c., we find that only Auguste Comte +understood that a transformation of manners and ideas must +precede political reorganisation. + +Far from favouring the diffusion of democratic ideas, the +projects of reform of the theorists of this period merely impeded +their progress. Communistic Socialism, which several of +them professed would restore the Revolution, finally alarmed the +bourgeoisie and even the working-classes. We have already seen +that the fear of their ideas was one of the principal causes of +the restoration of the Empire. + +If none of the chimerical lucubrations of the writers of the +first half of the nineteenth century deserve to be discussed, it +is none the less interesting to examine them in order to observe +the part played by religious and moral ideas which to-day are +regarded with contempt. Persuaded that a new society could not, +any more than the societies of old, be built up without religious +and moral beliefs, the reformers were always endeavouring to +found such beliefs. + +But on what could they be based? Evidently on reason. By means +of reason men create complicated machines: why not therefore a +religion and a morality, things which are apparently so simple? +Not one of them suspected the fact that no religious or moral +belief ever had rational logic as its basis. Auguste Comte saw +no more clearly. We know that he founded a so-called positivist +religion, which still has a few followers. Scientists were to +form a clergy directed by a new Pope, who was to replace the +Catholic Pope. + +All these conceptions--political, religious, or moral--had, I +repeat, no other results for a long time than to turn the +multitude away from democratic principles. + +If these principles did finally become widespread, it was not on +account of the theorists, but because new conditions of life had +arisen. Thanks to the discoveries of science, industry developed +and led to the erection of immense factories. Economic +necessities increasingly dominated the wills of Governments and +the people and finally created a favourable soil for the +extension of Socialism, and above all of Syndicalism, the modern +forms of democratic ideas. + + +2. The Unequal Influence of the Three Fundamental Principles of +the Revolution. + + +The heritage of the Revolution is summed up in its entirety in +the one phrase--Liberty, equality, and Fraternity. The +principle of equality, as we have seen, has exerted a powerful +influence, but the two others did not share its lot. + +Although the sense of these terms seems clear enough, they were +comprehended in very different fashions according to men and +times. We know that the various interpretation of the same words +by persons of different mentality has been one of the most +frequent causes of the conflicts of history. + +To the member of the Convention liberty signified merely the +exercise of its unlimited despotism. To a young modern +``intellectual'' the same word means a general release from +everything irksome: tradition, law, superiority, &c. To the +modern Jacobin liberty consists especially in the right to +persecute his adversaries. + +Although political orators still occasionally mention liberty in +their speeches, they have generally ceased to evoke fraternity. +It is the conflict of the different classes and not their +alliance that they teach to-day. Never did a more profound +hatred divide the various strata of society and the political +parties which lead them. + +But while liberty has become very doubtful and fraternity has +completely vanished, the principle of equality has grown +unchecked. It has been supreme in all the political upheavals of +which France has been the stage during the last century, and has +reached such a development that our political and social life, +our laws, manners, and customs are at least in theory based on +this principle. It constitutes the real legacy of the +Revolution. The craving for equality, not only before the law, +but in position and fortune, is the very pivot of the last +product of democracy: Socialism. This craving is so powerful +that it is spreading in all directions, although in contradiction +with all biological and economic laws. It is a new phase of the +interrupted struggle of the sentiments against reason, in which +reason so rarely triumphs. + + +2. The Democracy of the ``Intellectuals'' and Popular Democracy. + + +All ideas that have hitherto caused an upheaval of the world of +men have been subject to two laws: they evolve slowly, and they +completely change their sense according to the mentalities in +which they find reception. + +A doctrine may be compared to a living being. It subsists only +by process of transformation. The books are necessarily silent +upon these variations, so that the phase of things which they +establish belongs only to the past. They do not reflect the +image of the living, but of the dead. The written statement of a +doctrine often represents the most negligible side of that +doctrine. + +I have shown in another work how institutions, arts, and +languages are modified in passing from one people to another, and +how the laws of these transformations differ from the truth as +stated in books. I allude to this matter now merely to show why, +in examining the subject of democratic ideas, we occupy ourselves +so little with the text of doctrines, and seek only for the +psychological elements of which they constitute the vestment, and +the reactions which they provoke in the various categories of men +who have accepted them. + +Modified rapidly by men of different mentalities, the original +theory is soon no more than a label which denotes something quite +unlike itself. + +Applicable to religious beliefs, these principles are equally so +to political beliefs. When a man speaks of democracy, for +example, must we inquire what this word means to various peoples, +and also whether in the same people there is not a great +difference between the democracy of the ``intellectuals'' and +popular democracy. + +In confining ourselves now to the consideration of this latter +point we shall readily perceive that the democratic ideas to be +found in books and journals are purely the theories of literary +people, of which the people know nothing, and by the application +of which they would have nothing to gain. Although the working- +man possesses the theoretical right of passing the barriers which +separate him from the upper classes by a whole series of +competitions and examinations, his chance of reaching them is in +reality extremely slight. + +The democracy of the lettered classes has no other object than to +set up a selection which shall recruit the directing classes +exclusively from themselves. I should have nothing to say +against this if the selection were real. It would then +constitute the application of the maxim of Napoleon: ``The true +method of government is to employ the aristocracy, but under the +forms of democracy.'' + +Unhappily the democracy of the ``intellectuals'' would simply +lead to the substitution of the Divine right of kings by the +Divine right of a petty oligarchy, which is too often narrow and +tyrannical. Liberty cannot be created by replacing a tyranny. + +Popular democracy by no means aims at manufacturing rulers. +Dominated entirely by the spirit of equality and the desire to +ameliorate the lot of the workers, it rejects the idea of +fraternity, and exhibits no anxiety in respect of liberty. No +government is conceivable to popular democracy except in the form +of an autocracy. We see this, not only in history, which shows +us that since the Revolution all despotic Governments have been +vigorously acclaimed, but also in the autocratic fashion in which +the workers' trades unions are conducted. + +This profound distinction between the democracy of the lettered +classes and popular democracy is far more obvious to the workers +than to the intellectuals. In their mentalities there is nothing +in common; the two classes do not speak the same language. The +syndicalists emphatically assert to-day that no alliance could +possibly exist between them and the politicians of the +bourgeoisie. This assertion is strictly true. + +It was always so, and this, no doubt, is why popular +democracy, from Plato's to our own times, has never been defended +by the great thinkers. + +This fact has greatly struck Emile Faguet. ``Almost all the +thinkers of the nineteenth century,'' he says, ``were not +democrats. When I was writing my Politiques et moralistes du +XIXe siecle this was my despair. I could not find one who had +been a democrat; yet I was extremely anxious to find one so that +I could give the democratic doctrine as formulated by him.'' + +The eminent writer might certainly have found plenty of +professional politicians, but these latter rarely belong to the +category of thinkers. + + +2. Natural Inequalities and Democratic Equalisation. + + +The difficulty of reconciling democratic equalisation with +natural inequalities constitutes one of the most difficult +problems of the present hour. We know what are the desires of +democracy. Let us see what Nature replies to these demands. + +The democratic ideas which have so often shaken the world from +the heroic ages of Greece to modern times are always clashing +with natural inequalities. Some observers have held, with +Helvetius, that the inequality between men is created by +education. + +As a matter of fact, Nature does not know such a thing as +equality. She distributes unevenly genius, beauty, health, +vigour, intelligence, and all the qualities which confer on their +possessors a superiority over their fellows. + +No theory can alter these discrepancies, so that democratic +doctrines will remain confined to words until the laws of +heredity consent to unify the capacities of men. + +Can we suppose that societies will ever succeed in establishing +artificially the equality refused by Nature? + +A few theorists have believed for a long time that education +might effect a general levelling. Many years of experience have +shown the depth of this illusion. + +It would not, however, be impossible for a triumphant Socialism +to establish equality for a time by rigorously eliminating all +superior individuals. One can easily foresee what would become +of a people that had suppressed its best individuals while +surrounded by other nations progressing by means of their best +individuals. + +Not only does Nature not know equality, but since the beginning +of the ages she has always realised progress by means of +successive differentiations--that is to say, by increasing +inequalities. These alone could raise the obscure cell of the +early geological periods to the superior beings whose inventions +were to change the face of the earth. + +The same phenomenon is to be observed in societies. The forms of +democracy which select the better elements of the popular classes +finally result in the creation of an intellectual aristocracy, a +result the contrary of the dream of the pure theorists, to beat +down the superior elements of society to the level of the +inferior elements. + +On the side of natural law, which is hostile to theories of +equality, are the conditions of modern progress. Science and +industry demand more and more considerable intellectual +efforts, so that mental inequalities and the differences of +social condition which spring from them cannot but become +accentuated. + +We therefore observe this striking phenomenon: as laws and +institutions seek to level individuals the progress of +civilisation tends still further to differentiate them. From the +peasant to the feudal baron the intellectual difference was not +great, but from the working-man to the engineer it is immense and +is increasing daily. + +Capacity being the principal factor of progress, the capable of +each class rise while the mediocre remain stationary or sink. +What could laws do in the face of such inevitable necessities? + +In vain do the incapable pretend that, representing number, they +also represent force. Deprived of the superior brains by whose +researches all workers profit, they would speedily sink into +poverty and anarchy. + +The capital role of the elect in modern civilisation seems +too obvious to need pointing out. In the case of civilised +nations and barbarian peoples, which contain similar averages of +mediocrities, the superiority of the former arises solely from +the superior minds which they contain. The United States have +understood this so thoroughly that they forbid the immigration of +Chinese workers, whose capacity is identical with that of +American workers, and who, working for lower wages, tend to +create a formidable competition with the latter. Despite these +evidences we see the antagonism between the multitude and the +elect increasing day by day. At no period were the elect more +necessary, yet never were they supported with such difficulty. + +One of the most solid foundations of Socialism is an intense +hatred of the elect. Its adepts always forget that scientific, +artistic, and industrial progress, which creates the strength of +a country and the prosperity of millions of workers, is due +solely to a small number of superior brains. + +If the worker makes three times as much to-day as he did a +hundred years ago, and enjoys commodities then unknown to great +nobles, he owes it entirely to the elect. + +Suppose that by some miracle Socialism had been universally +accepted a century ago. Risk, speculation, initiative--in a +word, all the stimulants of human activity--being suppressed, no +progress would have been possible, and the worker would have +remained as poor as he was. Men would merely have established +that equality in poverty desired by the jealousy and envy of a +host of mediocre minds. Humanity will never renounce the +progress of civilisation to satisfy so low an ideal. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RESULTS OF DEMOCRATIC EVOLUTION + +1. The Influence upon Social Evolution of Theories of no +Rational Value. + +We have seen that natural laws do not agree with the aspirations +of democracy. We know, also, that such a statement has never +affected doctrines already in men's minds. The man led by a +belief never troubles about its real value. + +The philosopher who studies a belief must obviously discuss its +rational content, but he is more concerned with its influences +upon the general mind. + +Applied to the interpretation of all the great beliefs of +history, the importance of this distinction is at once evident. +Jupiter, Moloch, Vishnu, Allah, and so many other divinities, +were, no doubt, from the rational point of view, mere illusions, +yet their effect upon the life of the peoples has been +considerable. + +The same distinction is applicable to the beliefs which prevailed +during the Middle Ages. Equally illusory, they nevertheless +exercised as profound an influence as if they had corresponded +with realities. + +If any one doubts this, let him compare the domination of the +Roman Empire and that of the Church of Rome. The first was +perfectly real and tangible, and implied no illusion. The +second, while its foundations were entirely chimerical, was fully +as powerful. Thanks to it, during the long night of the Middle +Ages, semi-barbarous peoples acquired those social bonds and +restraints and that national soul without which there is no +civilisation. + +The power possessed by the Church proves, again, that the power +of certain illusions is sufficiently great to create, at least +momentarily, sentiments as contrary to the interests of the +individual as they are to that of society--such as the love of +the monastic life, the desire for martyrdom, the crusades, the +religious wars, &c. + +The application to democratic and socialistic ideas of the +preceding considerations shows that it matters little that these +ideas have no defensible basis. They impress and influence men's +minds, and that is sufficient. Their results may be disastrous +in the extreme, but we cannot prevent them. + +The apostles of the new doctrines are quite wrong in taking so +much trouble to find a rational basis for their aspirations. +They would be far more convincing were they to confine themselves +to making affirmations and awakening hopes. Their real strength +resides in the religious mentality which is inherent in the heart +of man, and which during the ages has only changed its object. + +Later on we shall consider from a philosophical point of view +various consequences of the democratic evolution whose course we +see accelerating. We may say in respect of the Church in the +Middle Ages that it had the power of profoundly influencing the +mentality of men. Examining certain results of the +democratic doctrines, we shall see that the power of these is no +less than that of the Church. + + +2. The Jacobin Spirit and the Mentality created by Democratic +Beliefs. + + +Existing generations have inherited, not only the revolutionary +principles but also the special mentality which achieves their +success. + +Describing this mentality when we were examining the Jacobin +spirit, we saw that it always endeavours to impose by force +illusions which it regards as the truth. The Jacobin spirit has +finally become so general in France and in other Latin countries +that it has affected all political parties, even the most +conservative. The bourgeoisie is strongly affected by it, and +the people still more so. + +This increase of the Jacobin spirit has resulted in the fact that +political conceptions, institutions, and laws tend to impose +themselves by force. Syndicalism, peaceful enough in other +countries, immediately assumed in France an uncompromising and +anarchical aspect, which betrayed itself in the shape of riots, +sabotage, and incendiarism. + +Not to be repressed by timid Governments, the Jacobin spirit +produces melancholy ravages in minds of mediocre capacity. At a +recent congress of railway men a third of the delegates voted +approval of sabotage, and one of the secretaries of the +Congress began his speech by saying: ``I send all saboteurs my +fraternal greeting and all my admiration.'' + +This general mentality engenders an increasing anarchy. That +France is not in a permanent state of anarchy is, as I have +already remarked, due to the fact that the parties by which she +is divided produce something like equilibrium. They are animated +by a mortal hatred for one another, but none of them is strong +enough to enslave its rivals. + +This Jacobin intolerance is spreading to such an extent that the +rulers themselves employ without scruple the most revolutionary +tactics with regard to their enemies, violently persecuting any +party that offers the least resistance, and even despoiling it of +its property. Our rulers to-day behave as the ancient conquerors +used; the vanquished have nothing to hope from the victors. + +Far from being peculiar to the lower orders, intolerance is +equally prominent among the ruling classes. Michelet remarked +long ago that the violence of the cultivated classes is often +greater than that of the people. It is true that they do not +break the street lamps, but they are ready enough to cause heads +to be broken. The worst violence of the revolution was the work +of cultivated bourgeoisie--professors, lawyers, &c., possessors +of that classical education which is supposed to soften the +manners. It has not done so in these days, any more than it did +of old. One can make sure of this by reading the advanced +journals, whose contributors and editors are recruited chiefly +from among the professors of the University. + +Their books are as violent as their articles, and one wonders how +such favourites of fortune can have secreted such stores of +hatred. + +One would find it hard to credit them did they assure us that +they were consumed by an intense passion for altruism. One +might more readily admit that apart from a narrow religious +mentality the hope of being remarked by the mighty ones of the +day, or of creating a profitable popularity, is the only +possible explanation of the violence recommended in their +written propaganda. + +I have already, in one of my preceding works, cited some passages +from a book written by a professor at the College of France, in +which the author incites the people to seize upon the riches of +the bourgeoisie, whom he furiously abuses, and have arrived at +the conclusion that a new revolution would readily find among the +authors of such books the Marats, Robespierres, and Carriers whom +it might require. + +The Jacobin religion--above all in its Socialist form--has all +the power of the ancient faiths over feeble minds Blinded by +their faith, they believe that reason is their guide, but are +really actuated solely by their passions and their dreams. + +The evolution of democratic ideas has thus produced not only the +political results already mentioned, but also a considerable +effect upon the mentality of modern men. + +If the ancient dogmas have long ago exhausted their power, the +theories of democracy are far from having lost theirs, and we see +their consequences increasing daily. One of the chief results +has been the general hatred of superiority. + +This hatred of whatever passes the average in social fortune or +intelligence is to-day general in all classes, from the working- +classes to the upper strata of the bourgeoisie. The results +are envy, detraction, and a love of attack, of raillery, of +persecution, and a habit of attributing all actions to low +motives, of refusing to believe in probity, disinterestedness, +and intelligence. + +Conversation, among the people as among the most cultivated +Frenchmen, is stamped with the craze for abasing and abusing +everything and everyone. Even the greatest of the dead do not +escape this tendency. Never were so many books written to +depreciate the merit of famous men, men who were formerly +regarded as the most precious patrimony of their country. + +Envy and hatred seem from all time to have been inseparable from +democratic theories, but the spread of these sentiments has never +been so great as to-day. It strikes all observers. + +``There is a low demagogic instinct,'' writes M. Bourdeau, +``without any moral inspiration, which dreams of pulling humanity +down to the lowest level, and for which any superiority, even of +culture, is an offence to society. . . it is the sentiment of +ignoble equality which animated the Jacobin butchers when they +struck off the head of a Lavoisier or a Chenier. + +This hatred of superiority, the most prominent element in the +modern progress of Socialism, is not the only characteristic of +the new spirit created by democratic ideas. + +Other consequences, although indirect, are not less profound. +Such, for example, are the progress of ``statism,'' the +diminution of the power of the bourgeoisie, the increasing +activity of financiers, the conflict of the classes, the +vanishing of the old social constraints, and the degradation +of morality. + +All these effects are displayed in a general insubordination and +anarchy. The son revolts against the father, the employee +against his patron, the soldier against his officers. +Discontent, hatred, and envy reign throughout. + +A social movement which continues is necessarily like a machine +in movement which accelerates its motion. We shall therefore +find that the results of this mentality will become yet more +important. It is betrayed from time to time by incidents whose +gravity is daily increasing--railway strikes, postmen's strikes, +explosions on board ironclads, &c. A propos of the destruction +of the Liberte, which cost more than two million pounds and +slew two hundred men in the space of a minute, an ex-Minister of +Marine, M. de Lanessan, expresses himself as follows:-- + +''The evil that is gnawing at our fleet is the same as that which +is devouring our army, our public administrations, our +parliamentary system, our governmental system, and the whole +fabric of our society. This evil is anarchy--that is to say, +such a disorder of minds and things that nothing is done as +reason would dictate, and no one behaves as his professional or +moral duty should require him to behave.'' + +On the subject of the catastrophe of the Liberte, which +followed that of the Iena, M. Felix Roussel said, in a +speech delivered as president of the municipal council of +Paris:-- + +``The causes of the evil are not peculiar to our day. The evil +is more general, and bears a triple name: irresponsibility, +indiscipline, and anarchy.'' + +These quotations, which state facts with which everyone is +familiar, show that the staunchest upholders of the republican +system themselves recognise the progress of social +disorganisation.[12] Everyone sees it, while he is conscious of +his own impotence to change anything. It results, in fact, from +mental influences whose power is greater than that of our wills. + + + +[12] This disorder is the same in all the Government departments +Interesting examples will be found in a report of M. Dausset to +the Municipal Council:-- + +``The service of the public highways, which ought above all to be +noted for its rapid execution, is, on the contrary, the very type +of red-tape, bureaucratic, and ink-slinging administration, +possessing men and money and wasting both in tasks which are +often useless, for lack of order, initiative, and method--in a +word, of organisation. + +Speaking then of the directors of departments, each of whom works +as he pleases, and after his own fashion, he adds:-- + +``These important persons completely ignore one another; they +prepare and execute their plans without knowing anything of what +their neighbours are doing; there is no one above them to group +and co-ordinate their work.'' This is why a road is often torn +up, repaired, and then torn up again a few days later, because +the departments dealing with the supply of water, gas, +electricity, and the sewers are mutually jealous, and never +attempt to work together. This anarchy and indiscipline +naturally cost enormous sums of money, and a private firm which +operated in this manner would soon find itself bankrupt. + + + +3. Universal Suffrage and its Representatives. + + +Among the dogmas of democracy perhaps the most fundamental of all +and the most attractive is that of universal suffrage. It gives +the masses the idea of equality, since for a moment at least rich +and poor, learned and ignorant, are equal before the electoral +urn. The minister elbows the least of his servants, and during +this brief moment the power of one is as great as the others. + +All Governments, including that of the Revolution, have feared +universal suffrage. At a first glance, indeed, the objections +which suggests themselves are numerous. The idea that the +multitude could usefully choose the men capable of governing, +that individuals of indifferent morality, feeble knowledge, and +narrow minds should possess, by the sole fact of number, a +certain talent for judging the candidate proposed for its +selection is surely a shocking one. + +From a rational point of view the suffrage of numbers is to a +certain extent justified if we think with Pascal. + +``Plurality is the best way, because it is visible and has +strength to make itself obeyed; it is, however, the advice of the +less able.'' + +As universal suffrage cannot in our times be replaced by any +other institution, we must accept it and try to adapt it. It is +accordingly useless to protest against it or to repeat with the +queen Marie Caroline, at the time of her struggle with Napoleon: +``Nothing is more dreadful than to govern men in this enlightened +century, when every cobbler reasons and criticises the +Government.'' + +To tell the truth, the objections are not always as great as they +appear. The laws of the psychology of crowds being admitted, it +is very doubtful whether a limited suffrage would give a much +better choice of men than that obtained by universal suffrage. + +These same psychological laws also show us that so-called +universal suffrage is in reality a pure fiction. The crowd, save +in very rare cases, has no opinion but that of its leaders. +Universal suffrage really represents the most limited of +suffrages. + +There justly resides its real danger. Universal suffrage is made +dangerous by the fact that the leaders who are its masters are +the creatures of little local committees analogous to the clubs +of the Revolution. The leader who canvasses for a mandate is +chosen by them. + +Once nominated, he exercises an absolute local power, on +condition of satisfying the interests of his committees. Before +this necessity the general interest of the country disappears +almost totally from the mind of the elected representative. + +Naturally the committees, having need of docile servants, do not +choose for this task individuals gifted with a lofty intelligence +nor, above all, with a very high morality. They must have men +without character, without social position, and always docile. + +By reason of these necessities the servility of the deputy in +respect of these little groups which patronise him, and without +which he would be no one, is absolute. He will speak and vote +just as his committee tells him. His political ideal may be +expressed in a few words: it is to obey, that he may retain his +post. + +Sometimes, rarely indeed, and only when by name or position or +wealth he has a great prestige, a superior character may impose +himself upon the popular vote by overcoming the tyranny of the +impudent minorities which constitute the local committees. + +Democratic countries like France are only apparently governed by +universal suffrage. For this reason is it that so many measures +are passed which do not interest the people and which the people +never demanded. Such were the purchase of the Western railways, +the laws respecting congregations, &c. These absurd +manifestations merely translated the demands of fanatical local +committees, and were imposed upon deputies whom they had chosen. + +We may judge of the influence of these committees when we see +moderate deputies forced to patronise the anarchical +destroyers of arsenals, to ally themselves with anti-militarists, +and, in a word, to obey the most atrocious demands in order to +ensure re-election. The will of the lowest elements of democracy +has thus created among the elected representatives manners and a +morality which we can but recognise are of the lowest. The +politician is the man in public employment, and as Nietzsche +says:-- + +``Where public employment begins there begins also the clamour of +the great comedians and the buzzing of venomous flies. . . . The +comedian always believes in that which makes him obtain his best +effects, in that which impels the people to believe in him. To- +morrow he will have a new faith, and the day after to-morrow yet +another. . . . All that is great has its being far from public +employment and glory.'' + + +4. The Craving for Reforms. + + +The craze for reforms imposed suddenly by means of decrees is one +of the most disastrous conceptions of the Jacobin spirit, one of +the formidable legacies left by the Revolution. It is among the +principal factors of all the incessant political upheavals of the +last century in France. + +One of the psychological causes of this intense thirst for +reforms arises from the difficulty of determining the real causes +of the evils complained of. The need of explanation creates +fictitious causes of the simplest nature. Therefore the remedies +also appear simple. + +For forty years we have incessantly been passing reforms, each of +which is a little revolution in itself. In spite of all these, +or rather because of them, the French have evolved almost +as little as any race in Europe. + +The slowness of our actual evolution may be seen if we compare +the principal elements of our social life--commerce, industry, +&c.--with those of other nations. The progress of other +nations--of the Germans especially--then appears enormous, while +our own has been very slow. + +Our administrative, industrial, and commercial organisation is +considerably out of date, and is no longer equal to our new +needs. Our industry is not prospering; our marine is declining. +Even in our own colonies we cannot compete with foreign +countries, despite the enormous pecuniary subventions accorded by +the State. M. Cruppi, an ex-Minister of Commerce, has insisted +on this melancholy decline in a recent book. Falling into the +usual errors, he believed it easy to remedy this inferiority by +new laws. + +All politicians share the same opinion, which is why we progress +so slowly. Each party is persuaded that by means of reforms all +evils could be remedied. This conviction results in struggles +such as have made France the most divided country in the world +and the most subject to anarchy. + +No one yet seems to understand that individuals and their +methods, not regulations, make the value of a people. The +efficacious reforms are not the revolutionary reforms but the +trifling ameliorations of every day accumulated in course of +time. The great social changes, like the great geological +changes, are effected by the daily addition of minute causes. +The economic history of Germany during the last forty +years proves in a striking manner the truth of this law. + +Many important events which seem to depend more or less on +hazard--as battles, for example--are themselves subject to this +law of the accumulation of small causes. No doubt the decisive +struggle is sometimes terminated in a day or less, but many +minute efforts, slowly accumulated, are essential to victory. We +had a painful experience of this in 1870, and the Russians have +learned it more recently. Barely half an hour did Admiral Togo +need to annihilate the Russian fleet, at the battle of Tsushima, +which finally decided the fate of Japan, but thousands of little +factors, small and remote, determined that success. Causes not +less numerous engendered the defeat of the Russians--a +bureaucracy as complicated as ours, and as irresponsible; +lamentable material, although paid for by its weight in gold; a +system of graft at every degree of the social hierarchy, and +general indifference to the interests of the country. + +Unhappily the progress in little things which by their total make +up the greatness of a nation is rarely apparent, produces no +impression on the public, and cannot serve the interests of +politicians at elections. These latter care nothing for such +matters, and permit the accumulation, in the countries subject to +their influence, of the little successive disorganisations which +finally result in great downfalls. + + +5. Social Distinctions in Democracies and Democratic Ideas in +Various Countries. + + +When men were divided into castes and differentiated chiefly by +birth, social distinctions were generally accepted as the +consequences of an unavoidable natural law. + +As soon as the old social divisions were destroyed the +distinctions of the classes appeared artificial, and for that +reason ceased to be tolerated. + +The necessity of equality being theoretical, we have seen among +democratic peoples the rapid development of artificial +inequalities, permitting their possessors to make for themselves +a plainly visible supremacy. Never was the thirst for titles and +decorations so general as to-day. + +In really democratic countries, such as the United States, titles +and decorations do not exert much influence, and fortune alone +creates distinctions. It is only by exception that we see +wealthy young American girls allying themselves to the old names +of the European aristocracy. They are then instinctively +employing the only means which will permit a young race to +acquire a past that will establish its moral framework. + +But in a general fashion the aristocracy that we see springing up +in America is by no means founded on titles and decorations. +Purely financial, it does not provoke much jealousy, because +every one hopes one day to form part of it. + +When, in his book on democracy in America, Toqueville spoke of +the general aspiration towards equality he did not realise that +the prophesied equality would end in the classification of men +founded exclusively on the number of dollars possessed by them. +No other exists in the United States, and it will doubtless one +day be the same in Europe. + +At present we cannot possibly regard France as a democratic +country save on paper, and here we feel the necessity, already +referred to, of examining the various ideas which in different +countries are expressed by the word ``democracy.'' + +Of truly democratic nations we can practically mention only +England and the United States. There, democracy occurs in +different forms, but the same principles are observed--notably, a +perfect toleration of all opinions. Religious persecutions are +unknown. Real superiority easily reveals itself in the various +professions which any one can enter at any age if he possesses +the necessary capacity. There is no barrier to individual +effort. + +In such countries men believe themselves equal because all have +the idea that they are free to attain the same position. The +workman knows he can become foreman, and then engineer. Forced +to begin on the lower rungs of the ladder instead of high up the +scale, as in France, the engineer does not regard himself as made +of different stuff to the rest of mankind. It is the same in all +professions. This is why the class hatred, so intense in Europe, +is so little developed in England and America. + +In France the democracy is practically non-existent save in +speeches. A system of competitions and examinations, which must +be worked through in youth, firmly closes the door upon the +liberal professions, and creates inimical and separate classes. + +The Latin democracies are therefore purely theoretical. The +absolutism of the State has replaced monarchical absolutism, but +it is no less severe. The aristocracy of fortune has replaced +that of birth, and its privileges are no less considerable. + +Monarchies and democracies differ far more in form than in +substance. It is only the variable mentality of men that varies +their effects. All the discussions as to various systems of +government are really of no interest, for these have no special +virtue of themselves. Their value will always depend on that of +the people governed. A people effects great and rapid progress +when it discovers that it is the sum of the personal efforts of +each individual and not the system of government that determines +the rank of a nation in the world. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE NEW FORMS OF DEMOCRATIC BELIEF + +1. The Conflict between Capital and Labour. + +While our legislators are reforming and legislating at hazard, +the natural evolution of the world is slowly pursuing its course. +New interests arise, the economic competition between nation and +nation increases in severity, the working-classes are bestirring +themselves, and on all sides we see the birth of formidable +problems which the harangues of the politicians will never +resolve. + +Among these new problems one of the most complicated will be the +problem of the conflict between labour and capital. It is +becoming acute even in such a country of tradition as England. +Workingmen are ceasing to respect the collective contracts which +formerly constituted their charter, strikes are declared for +insignificant motives, and unemployment and pauperism are +attaining disquieting proportions. + +In America these strikes would finally have affected all +industries but that the very excess of the evil created a remedy. +During the last ten years the industrial leaders have organised +great employers' federations, which have become powerful enough +to force the workers to submit to arbitration. + +The labour question is complicated in France by the +intervention of numerous foreign workers, which the stagnation of +our population has rendered necessary.[13] This stagnation will +also make it difficult for France to contend with her rivals, +whose soil will soon no longer be able to nourish its +inhabitants, who, following one of the oldest laws of history, +will necessarily invade the less densely peopled countries. + + + +[13] Population of the Great Powers:-- + 1789. 1906. + +Russia ... ... 28,000,000 129,000,000 +Germany ... ... 28,000,000 57,000,000 +Austria ... ... 18,000,000 44,000,000 +England ... ... 12,000,000 40,000,000 +France ... ... 26,000,000 39,000,000 + + + + +These conflicts between the workers and employers of the same +nation will be rendered still more acute by the increasing +economic struggle between the Asiatics, whose needs are small, +and who can therefore produce manufactured articles at very low +prices, and the Europeans, whose needs are many. For twenty-five +years I have laid stress upon this point. General Hamilton, ex- +military attache to the Japanese army, who foresaw the +Japanese victories long before the outbreak of hostilities, +writes as follows in an essay translated by General Langlois:-- + +``The Chinaman, such as I have seen him in Manchuria, is capable +of destroying the present type of worker of the white races. He +will drive him off the face of the earth. The Socialists, who +preach equality to the labourer, are far from thinking what would +be the practical result of carrying out their theories. Is it, +then, the destiny of the white races to disappear in the long +run? In my humble opinion this destiny depends upon one +single factor: Shall we or shall we not have the good sense to +close our ears to speeches which present war and preparation for +war as a useless evil? + +``I believe the workers must choose. Given the present +constitution of the world, they must cultivate in their children +the military ideal, and accept gracefully the cost and trouble +which militarism entails, or they will be let in for a cruel +struggle for life with a rival worker of whose success there is +not the slightest doubt. There is only one means of refusing +Asiatics the right to emigrate, to lower wages by competition, +and to live in our midst, and that is the sword. If Americans +and Europeans forget that their privileged position is held only +by force of arms, Asia will soon have taken her revenge.'' + +We know that in America the invasion of Chinese and Japanese, +owing to the competition between them and the workers of white +race, has become a national calamity. In Europe the invasion is +commencing, but has not as yet gone far. But already Chinese +emigrants have formed important colonies in certain centres-- +London, Cardiff, Liverpool, &c. They have provoked several riots +by working for low wages. Their appearance has always lowered +salaries. + +But these problems belong to the future, and those of the present +are so disquieting that it is useless at the moment to occupy +ourselves with others. + + +2. The Evolution of the Working-Classes and the Syndicalist +Movement. + + +The most important democratic problem of the day will perhaps +result from the recent development of the working-class +engendered by the Syndicalist or Trades Union movement. + +The aggregation of similar interests known as Syndicalism has +rapidly assumed such enormous developments in all countries that +it may be called world-wide. Certain corporations have budgets +comparable to those of small States. Some German leagues have +been cited as having saved over three millions sterling in +subscriptions. + +The extension of the labour movement in all countries shows that +it is not, like Socialism, a dream of Utopian theorists, but the +result of economic necessities. In its aim, its means of action, +and its tendencies, Syndicalism presents no kinship with +Socialism. Having sufficiently explained it in my Political +Psychology, it will suffice here to recall in a few words the +difference between the two doctrines. + +Socialism would obtain possession of all industries, and have +them managed by the State, which would distribute the products +equally between the citizens. Syndicalism, on the other hand, +would entirely eliminate the action of the State, and divide +society into small professional groups which would be +self-governing. + +Although despised by the Syndicalists and violently attacked by +them, the Socialists are trying to ignore the conflict, but it is +rapidly becoming too obvious to be concealed. The political +influence which the Socialists still possess will soon escape +them. + +If Syndicalism is everywhere increasing at the expense of +Socialism, it is, I repeat, because this corporative movement, +although a renewal of the past, synthetises certain needs +born of the specialisation of modern industry. + +We see its manifestations under a great variety of circumstances. +In France its success has not as yet been as great as elsewhere. +Having taken the revolutionary form already mentioned, it has +fallen, at least for the time being, into the hands of the +anarchists, who care as little for Syndicalism as for any sort of +organisation, and are simply using the new doctrine in an attempt +to destroy modern society. Socialists, Syndicalists, and +anarchists, although directed by entirely different conceptions, +are thus collaborating in the same eventual aim--the violent +suppression of the ruling classes and the pillage of their +wealth. + +The Syndicalist doctrine does not in any way derive from the +principles of Revolution. On many points it is entirely in +contradiction with the Revolution. Syndicalism represents rather +a return to certain forms of collective organisation similar to +the guilds or corporations proscribed by the Revolution. It thus +constitutes one of those federations which the Revolution +condemned. It entirely rejects the State centralisation which +the Revolution established. + +Syndicalism cares nothing for the democratic principles of +liberty, equality, and fraternity. The Syndicalists demand of +their members an absolute discipline which eliminates all +liberty. + +Not being as yet strong enough to exercise mutual tyranny, the +syndicates so far profess sentiments in respect of one another +which might by a stretch be called fraternal. But as soon as +they are sufficiently powerful, when their contrary interests +will necessarily enter into conflict, as during the Syndicalist +period of the old Italian republics--Florence and Siena, for +example--the present fraternity will speedily be forgotten, and +equality will be replaced by the despotism of the most powerful. + +Such a future seems near at hand. The new power is increasing +very rapidly, and finds the Governments powerless before it, able +to defend themselves only by yielding to every demand--an odious +policy, which may serve for the moment, but which heavily +compromises the future. + +It was, however, to this poor recourse that the English +Government recently resorted in its struggle against the Miners' +Union, which threatened to suspend the industrial life of +England. The Union demanded a minimum wage for its members, but +they were not bound to furnish a minimum of work. + +Although such a demand was inadmissible, the Government agreed to +propose to Parliament a law to sanction such a measure. We may +profitably read the weighty words pronounced by Mr. Balfour +before the House of Commons:-- + +``The country has never in its so long and varied history had to +face a danger of this nature and this importance. + +``We are confronted with the strange and sinister spectacle of a +mere organisation threatening to paralyse--and paralysing in a +large measure--the commerce and manufactures of a community which +lives by commerce and manufacture. + +``The power possessed by the miners is in the present state of +the law almost unlimited. Have we ever seen the like of it? Did +ever feudal baron exert a comparable tyranny? Was there +ever an American trust which served the rights which it holds +from the law with such contempt of the general interest? The +very degree of perfection to which we have brought our laws, our +social organisation, the mutual relation between the various +professions and industries, exposes us more than our predecessors +in ruder ages to the grave peril which at present threatens +society. . . . We are witnesses at the present moment of the +first manifestation of the power of elements which, if we are not +heedful, will submerge the whole of society. . . . The attitude +of the Government in yielding to the injunction of the miners +gives some appearance of reality to the victory of those who are +pitting themselves against society.'' + + +3. Why certain modern Democratic Governments are gradually +being transformed into Governments by Administrative Castes. + + +Anarchy and the social conflicts resulting from democratic ideas +are to-day impelling some Governments towards an unforeseen +course of evolution which will end by leaving them only a nominal +power. This development, of which I shall briefly denote the +effects, is effected spontaneously under the stress of those +imperious necessities which are still the chief controlling power +of events. + +The Governments of democratic countries to-day consist of the +representatives elected by universal suffrage. They vote laws, +and appoint and dismiss ministers chosen from themselves, and +provisionally entrusted with the executive power. These +ministers are naturally often replaced, since a vote will do +it. Those who follow them, belonging to a different +party, will govern according to different principles. + +It might at first seem that a country thus pulled to and fro by +various influences could have no continuity or stability. But in +spite of all these conditions of instability a democratic +Government like that of France works with fair regularity. How +explain such a phenomenon? + +Its interpretation, which is very simple, results from the fact +that the ministers who have the appearance of governing really +govern the country only to a very limited extent. Strictly +limited and circumscribed, their power is exercised principally +in speeches which are hardly noticed and in a few inorganic +measures. + +But behind the superficial authority of ministers, without force +or duration, the playthings of every demand of the politician, an +anonymous power is secretly at work whose might is continually +increasing the administrations. Possessing traditions, a +hierarchy, and continuity, they are a power against which, as the +ministers quickly realise, they are incapable of struggling.[14] +Responsibility is so divided in the administrative machine that a +minister may never find himself opposed by any person of +importance. His momentary impulses are checked by a network of +regulations, customs, and decrees, which are continually quoted +to him, and which he knows so little that he dare not infringe +them. + + + +[14] The impotence of ministers in their own departments has been +well described by one of them, M. Cruppi, in a recent book. The +most ardent wishes of the minister being immediately paralysed by +his department, he promptly ceases to struggle against it. + + + + +This diminution of the power of democratic Governments can +only develop. One of the most constant laws of history is that +of which I have already spoken: Immediately any one class +becomes preponderant--nobles, clergy, army, or the people--it +speedily tends to enslave others. Such were the Roman armies, +which finally appointed and overthrew the emperors; such were the +clergy, against whom the kings of old could hardly struggle; such +were the States General, which at the moment of Revolution +speedily absorbed all the powers of government, and supplanted +the monarchy. + +The caste of functionaries is destined to furnish a fresh proof +of the truth of this law. Preponderant already, they are +beginning to speak loudly, to make threats, and even to indulge +in strikes, such as that of the postmen, which was quickly +followed by that of the Government railway employees. The +administrative power thus forms a little State within the State, +and if its present rate of revolution continues it will soon +constitute the only power in the State. Under a Socialist +Government there would be no other power. All our revolutions +would then have resulted in stripping the king of his powers and +his throne in order to bestow them upon the irresponsible, +anonymous and despotic class of Government clerks. + +To foresee the issue of all the conflicts which threaten to cloud +the future is impossible. We must steer clear of pessimism as of +optimism; all we can say is that necessity will always finally +bring things to an equilibrium. The world pursues its way +without bothering itself with our speeches, and sooner or later +we manage to adapt ourselves to the variations of our +environment. The difficulty is to do so without too much +friction, and above all to resist the chimerical conceptions of +dreamers. Always powerless to re-organise the world, they have +often contrived to upset it. + +Athens, Rome, Florence, and many other cities which formerly +shone in history, were victims of these terrible theorists. The +results of their influence has always been the same--anarchy, +dictatorship, and decadence. + +But such lessons will not affect the numerous Catilines of the +present day. They do not yet see that the movements unchained by +their ambitions threaten to submerge them. All these Utopians +have awakened impossible hopes in the mind of the crowd, excited +their appetites, and sapped the dykes which have been slowly +erected during the centuries to restrain them. + +The struggle of the blind multitudes against the elect is one of +the continuous facts of history, and the triumph of popular +sovereignties without counterpoise has already marked the end of +more than one civilisation. The elect create, the plebs +destroys. As soon as the first lose their hold the latter begins +its precious work. + +The great civilisations have only prospered by dominating their +lower elements. It is not only in Greece that anarchy, +dictatorship, invasion, and, finally, the loss of independence +has resulted from the despotism of a democracy. Individual +tyranny is always born of collective tyranny. It ended the first +cycle of the greatness of Rome; the Barbarians achieved the +second. + + + +CONCLUSIONS + +The principal revolutions of history have been studied in this +volume. But we have dealt more especially with the most +important of all--that which for more than twenty years +overwhelmed all Europe, and whose echoes are still to be heard. + +The French Revolution is an inexhaustible mine of psychological +documents. No period of the life of humanity has presented such +a mass of experience, accumulated in so short a time. + +On each page of this great drama we have found numerous +applications of the principles expounded in my various works, +concerning the transitory mentality of crowds and the permanent +soul of the peoples, the action of beliefs, the influence of +mystic, affective, and collective elements, and the conflict +between the various forms of logic. + +The Revolutionary Assemblies illustrate all the known laws of the +psychology of crowds. Impulsive and timid, they are dominated by +a small number of leaders, and usually act in a sense contrary to +the wishes of their individual members. + +The Royalist Constituent Assembly destroyed an ancient monarchy; +the humanitarian Legislative Assembly allowed the massacres of +September. The same pacific body led France into the most +formidable campaigns. + +There were similar contradictions during the Convention. The +immense majority of its members abhorred violence. Sentimental +philosophers, they exalted equality, fraternity, and liberty, yet +ended by exerting the most terrible despotism. + +The same contradictions were visible during the Directory. +Extremely moderate in their intentions at the outset, the +Assemblies were continually effecting bloodthirsty coups +d'etat. They wished to re-establish religious peace, and +finally sent thousands of priests into imprisonment. They wished +to repair the ruins which covered France, and only succeeded in +adding to them. + +Thus there was always a complete contradiction between the +individual wills of the men of the revolutionary period and the +deeds of the Assemblies of which they were units. + +The truth is that they obeyed invisible forces of which they were +not the masters. Believing that they acted in the name of pure +reason, they were really subject to mystic, affective, and +collective influences, incomprehensible to them, and which we are +only to-day beginning to understand. + + +Intelligence has progressed in the course of the ages, and has +opened a marvellous outlook to man, although his character, the +real foundation of his mind, and the sure motive of his actions, +has scarcely changed. Overthrown one moment, it reappears the +next. Human nature must be accepted as it is. + +The founders of the Revolution did not resign themselves to the +facts of human nature. For the first time in the history +of humanity they attempted to transform men and society in the +name of reason. + +Never was any undertaking commenced with such chances of success. +The theorists, who claimed to effect it, had a power in their +hands greater than that of any despot. + +Yet, despite this power, despite the success of the armies, +despite Draconian laws and repeated coups d'etat, the +Revolution merely heaped ruin upon ruin, and ended in a +dictatorship. + +Such an attempt was not useless, since experience is necessary to +the education of the peoples. Without the Revolution it would +have been difficult to prove that pure reason does not enable us +to change human nature, and, consequently, that no society can be +rebuilt by the will of legislators, however absolute their power. + + +Commenced by the middle classes for their own profit, the +Revolution speedily became a popular movement, and at the same +time a struggle of the instinctive against the rational, a revolt +against all the constraints which make civilisation out of +barbarism. It was by relying on the principle of popular +sovereignty that the reformers attempted to impose their +doctrines. Guided by leaders, the people intervened incessantly +in the deliberations of the Assemblies, and committed the most +sanguinary acts of violence. + +The history of the multitudes during the Revolution is eminently +instructive. It shows the error of the politicians who attribute +all the virtues to the popular soul. + +The facts of the Revolution teach us, on the contrary, that a +people freed from social constraints, the foundations of +civilisation, and abandoned to its instinctive impulses, speedily +relapses into its ancestral savagery. Every popular revolution +which succeeds in triumphing is a temporary return to barbarism. +If the Commune of 1871 had lasted, it would have repeated the +Terror. Not having the power to kill so many people, it had to +confine itself to burning the principal monuments of the capital. + +The Revolution represents the conflict of psychological forces +liberated from the bonds whose function it is to restrain them. +Popular instincts, Jacobin beliefs, ancestral influences, +appetites, and passions unloosed, all these various influences +engaged in a furious mutual conflict for the space of ten years, +during which time they soaked France in blood and covered the +land with ruins. + +Seen from a distance, this seems to be the whole upshot of the +Revolution. There was nothing homogeneous about it. One must +resort to analysis before one can understand and grasp the great +drama and display the impulses which continually actuated its +heroes. In normal times we are guided by the various forms of +logic--rational, affective, collective, and mystic--which more or +less perfectly balance one another. During seasons of upheaval +they enter into conflict, and man is no longer himself. + + +We have by no means undervalued in this work the importance of +certain acquisitions of the Revolution in respect of the rights +of the people. But with many other historians, we are +forced to admit that the prize gained at the cost of such ruin +and bloodshed would have been obtained at a later date without +effort, by the mere progress of civilisation. For a few years +gained, what a load of material disaster, what moral +disintegration! We are still suffering as a result of the +latter. These brutal pages in the book of history will take long +to efface: they are not effaced as yet. + +Our young men of to-day seem to prefer action to thought. +Disdaining the sterile dissertations of the philosophers, they +take no interest in vain speculation concerning matters whose +essential nature remains unknown. + +Action is certainly an excellent thing, and all real progress is +a result of action, but it is only useful when properly directed. +The men of the Revolution were assuredly men of action, yet the +illusions which they accepted as guides led them to disaster. + +Action is always hurtful when, despising realities, it professes +violently to change the course of events. One cannot experiment +with society as with apparatus in a laboratory. Our political +upheavals show us what such social errors may cost. + +Although the lesson of the Revolution was extremely categorical, +many unpractical spirits, hallucinated by their dreams, are +hoping to recommence it. Socialism, the modern synthesis of this +hope, would be a regression to lower forms of evolution, for it +would paralyse the greatest sources of our activity. By +replacing individual initiative and responsibility by collective +initiative and responsibility mankind would descend several steps +on the scale of human values. + +The present time is hardly favourable to such experiments. While +dreamers are pursuing their dreams, exciting appetites and the +passions of the multitude, the peoples are every day arming +themselves more powerfully. All feel that amid the universal +competition of the present time there is no room for weak +nations. + +In the centre of Europe a formidable military Power is increasing +in strength, and aspiring to dominate the world, in order to find +outlets for its goods, and for an increasing population, which it +will soon be unable to nourish. + +If we continue to shatter our cohesion by intestine struggles, +party rivalries, base religious persecutions, and laws which +fetter industrial development, our part in the world will soon be +over. We shall have to make room for peoples more solidly knit, +who have been able to adapt themselves to natural necessities +instead of pretending to turn back upon their course. The +present does not repeat the past, and the details of history are +full of unforeseen consequences; but in their main lines events +are conditioned by eternal laws. + + + +INDEX + +Absolute monarchy, the +Acceleration of forces of violence +Administrations, real ruling forces +Affective logic +Affirmation, power of +Alexander I of Russia +Alsace loss of +Ambition, as a motive of revolution +Anarchy, followed by dictatorship; mental +Ancestral soul +Ancien regime, bases of the; inconveniences of; life under; +dissolution of +Ancients, Council of +Anti-clerical laws +Armies, of the Republic; character of; victories of; causes of +success +Army, role of, in revolution; in 1789 +Assemblies, the Revolutionary; psychology of; obedient to the +clubs; see National, Constituent, Legislative Assemblies, +Convention, &c. +Assignats +Augustine, St. +Aulaud, M. +Austria, revolution in; royalist illusions as to her attitude; +attacks the Republic + +Balfour, Rt. Hon. A. J., on coal strike +Barras +Barrere +Bartholomew, St., Massacre of; European rejoicing over +Bastille, taking of the +Battifol, M. +Bayle, P. +Beaulieu, Edict of +Bedouin, executions at +Belgium, invasion of +Beliefs, affective and mystic origin of; intolerance of; +justification of; intolerance greatest between allied beliefs; +intolerance of democratic and socialistic beliefs +Berquin, executed by Sorbonne +Berry, Duchess de +Billaud-Varenne +Bismarck +Blanc, Louis +Blois, States of +Bonaparte, see Napoleon +Bonnal, General +Bossuet +Bourdeau, M. +Bourgeoisie, their jealousy of the nobles causes the Revolution; +their thirst for revenge; the real authors of the Revolution; +philosophic ideas of +Brazilian Revolution, the +Britanny, revolt in +Broglie, de +Brumaire, coup d'etat of +Brunswick, Duke of, his manifesto +Buddhism +Bureaucracy in France + +Caesar, on division amid the Gauls +Caesarism +Caesars follow anarchy and dominate mobs +Cahiers, the +Calvin; compared to Robespierre +Carnot +Carrier; crimes of, and trial +Catechism of the Scottish Presbyterians +Catherine de Medicis +Catholic League +Cavaignac, General +Chalandon +Champ-de-Mars, affair of the +Charles IX +Charles X +China, revolution in +Chinese labour +Christian Revolution, the +Christians, mutual hatred of +Church, confiscation of goods of the +Civil War +Clemenceau, M. +Clergy; civil constitution of +Clubs, the, 24- psychology of the; obeyed by the Assemblies; +closed; increasing power of the; see Jacobins +Coalition, the +Cochin, A. +Colin, M. +Collective ideas; collective logic +Collot d'Herbois +Commissaries of the Convention, psychology of +Committees, the Governmental +Commune of Paris, the; in insurrection; chief power in State; +orders massacre of September; tyranny of +Commune of 1871 +Communes, the revolutionary +Comte, A. +Concordat, the +Condorcet +Constituent Assembly, the; psychology of the; its fear of the +people; temporarily resists the people; loses power; its last +action +Constitution of 1791; of 1793; of 1795; of the year VIII +Constitutions, faith in +Constraints, social, necessity of +Consulate, the +Contagion, mental; causes of; in crowds +Contrat Social, the +Convention, giants of the; inconsistency of; decimates itself; +psychology of the; cowardice of; mental characteristics of; +composition of; fear in the; besieged by the Commune; surrenders +Girondists; Government of the; abolishes royalty; dissolved +Council of State +Couthon +Criminal mentality +Cromwell +Crowd, Psychology of the +Crowds in the French Revolution +Cruppi, M. +Cuba +Cunisset-Carnot +Currency, paper + +Danton +Darwin, Charles +Dausset, M. +``Days,''of May 31; June 2; of June 20; of Aug. 10; of June 2; of +Oct. 5 +Debidour, M. +Declaration of Rights, the +Democracy; intellectual and popular +Departmental insurrections +Desmoulins, Camille +Dictatorship follows anarchy +Diderot +Directory, the, failure of; closes clubs; psychology of the; +government of the; deportations under +Discontent, result of +Dreux-Breze +Drinkmann, Baron +Dubourg, Anne, burned +Dumas, President of the Revolutionary Tribunal +Dumouriez +Durel + +Ego, analysis of the +Elchingen, General +Elizabeth, Empress of Russia +Emigres, banished +Empire, the Second +Encyclopaedists, the +England, coal strike in +English Revolution; Constitution +Enthusiasm +Envy +Equality +Evolution + +Faguet, E. +Fatalism, historians on +Faubourgs, disarmed +Fear +Federation +Ferrer, notes on anniversary of execution of +Fersen +Five Hundred, the +Fontenelle +France, kings of; artificial unity of +Francis I +Franco-Prussian war +Fraternity +Freethinkers, intolerance of +French Revolution, the, revision of ideas concerning; generally +misunderstood; a new religious movement; origins of; religions +nature of; descends to lower classes; causes of; opinions of +historians concerning; becomes a popular government; causes of +democratisation; causes of the Revolution; a struggle of instinct +against reason +Fouche, at Lyons +Fouquier-Tinville +Freron + +Galileo +German Emperors +``Giants'' of the Convention; mediocrity of +Gilbert-Liendon +Girondists, the; late of the; surrendered by the Convention; vote +for Louis' death +Glosson, Professor, experiment in crowd psychology +Governments, feeble resistance of, to revolution; best tactics to +pursue; revolutions effected by +Greek Revolution +Gregoire +Gregory XIII +Guillotine, regeneration by +Guiraud, M. +Guise, Duke of +Guizot + +Hamel, M. +Hamilton, General +Hanotaux, G. +Hanriot +Hatred, value of +Haxo, General +Hebert +Hebertists +Helvetius +Henri II +Henri III +Henri IV +Henry IV of Germany +Henry VIII of England + +Historians, mistaken views of, re French Revolution; opinions of; +concerning +Hoche, General +Holbach +Holland, invasion of +Hugo, Victor +Huguenots, massacre of +Humboldt +Hunter's ancestral instinct of carnage + +Iena, explosion on board of +Impartiality, impossibility of +Incendiarism, of Commune of 1871 +Inequality, craving for +Inquisition, the +Islam +Italy, revolution in + +Jacobinism; failure of; modern; its craze for reforms +Jacobins, the; real protagonists of the Revolution; claim to +reorganise France in name of pure reason; they rule France; +results of their triumph; theories of; small numbers of; the +clubs closed,; downfall of +Jourdan, General + +La Bruyere +La Fayette +Lanessan, M. +Langlois, General +Latin mind, the +Lavisse +Lavoisier +Leaders, popular, psychology of +Lebon +Lebrun, Mme. Vigee +Legendary history +Legislation, faith in +Legislative Assembly, the psychology of; character of; timidity +of +Lettres de cachet +Levy, General +Liberte, the, explosion on board +``Liberty, Equality, Fraternity'' +Lippomano +Logics, different species of +Louis XIII +Louis XIV; poverty under +Louis XVI; flight and capture; his chance; powers restored,; a +prisoner;regarded as traitor; suspended; trial of;execution of, a +blunder +Louis XVII +Louis XVIII +Louis-Philippe +Luther + +MacMahon, Marshal +Madelin +Mohammed +Maistre, de +Malesherbes +Marat +Marie Antoinette; influence of +Marie Louise +Massacres, during wars of religion; during the French Revolution; +see September, Commissaries, &c. +Mentalities prevalent in time of revolution +Merlin +Michelet +Midi, revolt in the +Mirabeau +Monarch, position of, under the Reformation +Monarchical feeling +Montagnards +Montesquieu +Montluc +Moors in Spain +Mountain, the +Mystic logic +Mystic mentality + +Nantes, Edict of; revoked +Nantes, massacres at +Napoleon; in Russia; on fatalism; on the 5th of October; in +Italy; in Egypt; returns; as Consul; reorganises France; defeated +Napoleon III +National Assembly, the +National Guard +Nature, return to, illusions respecting +Necker +Noailles, Comte de +Nobles renounce privileges; emigrate + +October, ``days'' of +Olivier, E. +Opinions and Beliefs +Oppede, Baron d' +Orleans, Duc d' + +Paris, her share in the Revolution. See People +Pasteur +Peasants, condition of, before Revolution; burn chateaux +People, the, in revolution; never directs itself; supposed part +of; the reality; analysis of; the base populace; commences to +terrorise the Assemblies; the sections rise +Peoples, the Psychology of +Persecution, religious +Personality, transformation of, during revolution +Peter the Great +Petion +Philip II +Philippines +Philosophers, influence of +Plain, the +Poissy, assembly of +Poland, decadence of; revolution in; partition of +Political beliefs +Pope, the +Portuguese Revolution +Positivism +Predestination +Presbyterian Catechism +Protestants, martyrs; persecute Catholics; exodus of; mentality + of +Prussia, invades France +Public safety, committee of + +Quinet + +Racial mind, stability of the +Rambaud, M. +Rational logic, seldom guides conduct; original motive in French +Revolution +Reason, Goddess of +Reformation, the; rational poverty of doctrines +Reforms, Jacobin craving for +Religion, the French republic a form of +Religion, wars of, the +Repetition, value of +Republic, the first; the second; the third +Revision, necessity of +Revolution of 1789; see French Revolution; of 1836; of 1848; of +1870 +Revolutions, classification of; origin of; usual object of +Revolutions, political; results of +Revolutions, religious +Revolutions, scientific +Revolutionary army +Revolutionary communes +Revolutionary mentality +Revolutionary municipalities +Revolutionary tribunals +Robespierre; compared to Calvin; High Pontiff; pontiff; reigns +alone; sole master of the Convention; psychology of; his fall +Rochelle +Roland, Mme. +Roman Empire +Rossignol +Rousseau +Roussel, F. +Russia +Russian Revolution +Russo-Japanese war + +Saint-Denis, destruction of tombs at +Saint-Just +Sedan +September, massacres of +Sieyes +Social distinctions +Socialism; hates the elect +Sorel, A. +Spain, revolution in +States General +Sulla +Suspects, Law of +Syndicalism + +Tacitus +Taine; on Jacobinism; his work +Taxes, pro-revolutionary +Terror, the; motives of;psychology of; executions during; +stupefying effect of; in the provinces; in the departments +Thermidor, reaction of +Thiebault, General +Thiers; President +Third Estate, jealousy of the +Tocqueville + +Tolerance, impossible between opposed or related beliefs +Togo, Admiral +Toulon; fall of +Tradition +Tsushima +Tuileries, attacked; Louis prisoner in; attacked by populace +Turenne +Turgot +Turkey, revolution in + +United States +Universal suffrage + +Valmy +Vanity, cause of revolution +Varennes, flight to +Vasari +Vendee, La +Vergniaud +Versailles, attack on +Violence, causes of +Voltaire + +Wendell, Barrett +Williams, H. + +Young, Arthur + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Psychology of Revolution + Binary files differdiff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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