We have a court-martial; it is presided over by the citizen Rossel,
chief of the grand staff of the army. It has just condemned to death
the Commandant Girod, who refused to march against the “enemy.” The
Executive Committee, however, has pardoned Commandant Girod. Let us
look at this matter a little. If the Executive Committee occupies its
time in undoing what the court-martial has done, I can’t quite
understand why the executive has instituted a court-martial at all. If
I were a member of the latter I should get angry. “What! I should say,
they instal me in the hall where the courts-martial are held, they
appoint guards to attend upon me, and my president has the right to
say, ‘Guards, remove the prisoner.’ In a word, they convert me into
something which resembles a judge as much as a parody can resemble the
work burlesqued, and when I, a member of the court-martial, desire to
take advantage of the rights that have been conferred upon me, and
order the Commandant Girod to be shot, they stand in the way of
justice, and save the life of him I have condemned. This is absurd! I
had a liking for this commandant, and I wished him to die by my hands.”
Never mind, court-martial, take it coolly; you will have your revenge
before long. At this moment there are at least sixty-three
ecclesiastics in the prisons of Mazas, the Conciergerie, and La Santé.
Although they are not precisely soldiers, they will be sent before you
to be judged, and you may do just what you like with them, without any
fear of the executive commission interposing its veto. The refractory
also will give you work to do, and against them you can exercise your
pleasure. As to the Commandant Girod, his is a different case, you
understand. He is the friend of citizen Delescluze. The members of the
Commune have not so many friends that they can afford to have any of
them suppressed. But don’t be downcast; a dozen priests are well worth
a major of the National Guard.