France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Fiction; French fiction -- Translations into English; War stories
The _citoyenne_ had heard say that the duties of a juror of the Tribunal
carried a salary; and she had no hesitation in asking the question
whether the emoluments were enough to live respectably on, for a
juryman, she opined, ought to cut a good figure in the world.
She was pleased to hear that each juror received an allowance of
eighteen livres for every sitting and that the multiplicity of crimes
against the security of the State obliged the court to sit very
frequently.
Old Brotteaux gathered up the cards, rose from the table and addressing
Gamelin:
"_Citoyen_," he said, "you are invested with an august and redoubtable
office. I congratulate you on lending the light of your integrity to a
tribunal more trustworthy and less fallible perhaps than any other,
because it searches out good and evil, not in themselves and in their
essence, but solely in relation to tangible interests and plain and
obvious sentiments. You will have to determine betwixt hate and love,
which is done spontaneously, not betwixt truth and falsehood, to
discriminate which is impossible for the feeble mind of man. Giving
judgment after the impulses of your heart, you will run no risk of
mistake, inasmuch as the verdict will be good provided it satisfy the
passions that are your sacred law. But, all the same, if I was your
President, I should imitate Bridoie, I should appeal to the arbitrament
of the dice. In matters of justice it is still the surest plan."
IX
Evariste Gamelin was to enter on his duties on the 14th September, when
the reorganization of the Tribunal was complete, according to which it
was henceforth subdivided into four sections with fifteen jurors for
each. The prisons were full to overflowing; the Public Prosecutor was
working eighteen hours a day. Defeats in the field, revolts in the
provinces, conspiracies, plots, betrayals, the Convention had one
panacea for them all,--terror. The Gods were athirst.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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