on a pike, taken to his house and presented to the servant, who is
told that "her master will not come home to supper." The torment of the
priests has lasted from five o'clock in the morning to seven o'clock in
the evening, and the municipal authorities were duly advised; but
they cannot put themselves out of the way to give succor; they are too
seriously occupied in erecting a liberty-pole.
Route from Bordeaux to Caen.--The Minister's finger turns to the north,
and stops at Limoges. The day following the federation has been here
celebrated the same as at Bordeaux.[3257] An unsworn priest, the abbé
Chabrol, assailed by a gang of men and women, is first conducted to
the guard-house and then to the dwelling of the juge-de-paix; for his
protection a warrant of arrest is gotten out, and he is kept under
guard, in sight, by four chasseurs, in one of the rooms. But the
populace are not satisfied with this. In vain do the municipal officers
appeal to it, in vain do the gendarmes interpose themselves between it
and the prisoner; it rushes in upon them and disperses them. Meanwhile,
volleys of stones smash in the windows, and the entrance door yields to
the blows of axes; about thirty of the villains scale the windows, and
pass the priest down like a bale of goods. A few yards off, "struck down
with clubs and other instruments," he draws his last breath, his head
"crushed" by twenty mortal wounds.--Farther up, towards Orleans, Roland
reads the following dispatches, taken from the file for Loiret:[3258]
"Anarchy is at its height," writes one of the districts to the Directory
of the department; "there is no longer recognition of any authority; the
administrators of the district and of the municipalities are insulted,
and are powerless to enforce respect.... Threats of slaughter, of
destroying houses and giving them up to pillage prevail; plans are made
to tear down all the châteaux. The municipal authorities of Achères,
along with many of the inhabitants, have gone to Oison and Chaussy,
where everything is smashed, broken up and carried off On the 16th of
September six armed men went to the house of M. de Vaudeuil and obliged
him to return the sum of 300 francs, for penalties pretended to have
been paid by them. We have been notified that M. Dedeley will be visited
at Achères for the same purpose to-day. M. de Lory has been similarly
threatened... Finally, all those people there say that they want no more
local administrations or tribunals, that the law is in their own hands,
and they will execute it. In this extremity we have decided on the only
safe course, which is to silently accept all the outrages inflicted upon
us. We have not called upon you for protection, for we are well aware
of the embarrassment you labor under."--The best part of the National
Guard, indeed, having been disarmed at the county-town, there is no
longer an armed force to put riots down. Consequently, at this same
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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