The Society of the Rights of Man engendered the Society of Action,
composed of impatient men who detached themselves and hurried forward.
Other associations tried to recruit themselves in the great mother
societies: and the sectionists complained of being tormented. Such
were the "Gaulish Society" and the "Organizing Committee of the
Municipalities;" such the associations for the "Liberty of the Press,"
for "Individual Liberty," for the "Instruction of the People," and
"Against Indirect Taxes." Next we have the Society of Equalitarian
Workmen divided into three fractions,--the Equalitarians, the
Communists, and the Reformers. Then, again, the Army of the Bastilles,
a cohort possessing military organization, four men being commanded by
a corporal, ten by a sergeant, twenty by a sub-lieutenant, and forty
by a lieutenant; there were never more than five men who knew each
other. This is a creation where precaution is combined with audacity,
and which seems to be stamped with the genius of Venice. The central
committee which formed the head, had two arms,--the Society of Action
and the Army of the Bastilles. A legitimist association, the "Knights
of Fidelity," agitated among these republican affiliations, but was
denounced and repudiated. The Parisian societies ramified through the
principal cities. Lyons, Nantes, Lille, and Marseilles, had their
Society of the Rights of Man, The Charbonnière, and the Free Men. Aix
had a revolutionary society called the Cougourde. We have already
mentioned that name.
At Paris the Faubourg Marceau buzzed no less than the Faubourg St.
Antoine, and the schools were quite as excited as the faubourgs.
A coffee-shop in the Rue Saint Hyacinthe, and the Estaminet des
Sept Billards in the Rue des Mathurins St. Jacques, served as the
gathering-place for the students. The Society of the Friends of the A.
B. C. affiliated with the Mutualists of Angers, and the Cougourde of
Aix assembled, as we have seen, at the Café Musain. The same young men
met, as we have also said, at a wine-shop and eating-house near the Rue
Montdétour, called Corinthe. These meetings were secret, but others
were as public as possible, and we may judge of their boldness by this
fragment from an examination that was held in one of the ulterior
trials. "Where was the meeting held?" "In the Rue de la Paix." "At
whose house?" "In the street." "What sections were there?" "Only one."
"Which one?" "The Manuel section." "Who was the chief?" "Myself." "You
are too young to have yourself formed this serious resolve of attacking
the Government. Whence came your instructions?" "From the central
committee." The army was undermined at the same time as the population,
as was proved at a later date by the movements of Béford, Luneville,
and Épinal. Hopes were built on the 52d, 5th, 8th, and 37th regiments,
and on the 20th light infantry. In Burgundy and the southern towns the
tree of liberty was planted, that is to say, a mast surmounted by a red
cap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account