TO THE WORKMAN THE TOOL.
The factory of implements of war, established by John Lebrenn in his
iron works, took the toil of twenty workmen. All--apprentices, old men,
young men--vied with one another in patriotic ardor in the
accomplishment of their task. They felt that this was no ordinary labor.
They were conscious of serving the Republic, and lavished their skill on
the arms destined for the patriots at the front. Accordingly, with what
eagerness did not these artisans forge, beat, or file the iron, lighted
here by a smoky lamp against the wall, there by the reverberating glow
of the furnace. The ringing cadence of the hammers on the anvils was
often accompanied by the popular songs of the period chanted in chorus
by the workmen's sturdy voices. Most oft it was the Marseillaise, the
Carmagnole, or the famous _Ca Ira_, whose brief and rapid rythm seemed
to beat the "Charge!"
Songs and labors both stopped short at the entrance of John Lebrenn.
Castillon had notified the shop a few minutes before that 'friend John,'
as they cordially called him, was coming to post them on the events of
the coming day, and to supply the information of which they had for some
time been deprived.
"Citizens," said Castillon when he saw Lebrenn, "I rise to a motion! In
order to lose as little time as possible, and in order to hear friend
John without halting the work, let us set aside for an hour our hammers
and files, and put in the time fitting or polishing our pieces. That
will make practically no noise, and in this way we shall not be idling,
and still can hear friend John in comfort."
"The motion is carried!" cried the workmen. In a few moments the bustle,
consequent on the change of occupations, was over, and silence fell on
the shop. John Lebrenn took his accustomed place, and speaking to
several by name, thus addressed his companions:
"Brothers, we are on the eve of a great day, as beautiful, as decisive,
as those of July 14 and August 10. This day will save, I hope, the
Revolution, the Republic, and France, now more seriously threatened than
ever. And moreover, it is also my firm hope that not a drop of blood
will be shed. The law and the national Representatives will be
respected, the people will know how to rise to the grandeur of its
mission and overcome its adversaries no longer by force of arms, but by
its moral influence. My language surprises you, men of action that you
are."
"My faith, yes, friend John. But after all, if one can win without a
fight, that is so much gained. It makes for peace."
"The victory will only be the purer for it. But, in order that you may
understand the significance of the events now on the threshold, we must
first take up those which have preceded. You know, my friends, and it is
one of the greatest misfortunes of the times, that the Convention chosen
by the people to proclaim the Republic and to arraign and judge Louis
Capet has been, from the beginning of its existence, divided by party
rivalries. The party leaders, the Mountainists, the Moderates, or the
Girondins, are all more or less guilty of the same fault, I ought to say
the same crime; for, forgetting the public weal, or confounding it with
their own personalities, they have lost precious time reciprocally
accusing one another of treason. Thus Capet's trial was dragged out over
four months. The new Constitution is hardly drafted. National education
is as yet but a project. Finally, if they have accepted the compulsory
tax of a thousand million on the rich, and have established a maximum of
wealth, we still await the laws to complete the emancipation of the
proletariat by decreeing the right to the common possession of the
instruments of production, for all citizens, male and female."
"We agree with you, friend John. The bourgeoisie has gotten its part of
the Revolution, namely, justice; but Jacques Bonhomme has still the half
of his to get. He has won political rights, universal suffrage, and the
Republic--that is good, it is something, but it is not all. One must eat
to live, and in order to eat one must have at his disposal either work
or the tool with which to produce the necessaries of life. To the
peasant the land, to the workman the tool. To each his part in the
common property."
"Whose the fault, my friends, if our legitimate hopes have not been
fulfilled?"
"By my pipe, friend John, the fault is in the delays of the Convention;
that is clear as day."
"Whence it follows, that if we had chosen better Representatives we
would never have had to suffer the delays which now bear so harmfully
upon us. If the Convention has not up to now completed the emancipation
of us proletarians, the fault lies with our lack of discernment in
choosing our Representatives. You follow my reasoning? Now let us come
to the conclusion."
"In fact, that is true enough, friend John. But, after all, if we made a
bad choice, on whom can it be blamed?"
"On our inexperience, my friends; an inexperience entirely natural, for
we are still _apprentices_ in the exercise of our political rights. But
experience will teach us how to serve ourselves better with the
sovereign instrument over which we dispose; we shall obtain by the votes
of our Representatives everything that we can legitimately claim and
demand. Are we proletarians not, after all, the vast majority of the
country? Let us then know how to make a better choice for the Assembly
which will succeed the Convention, and our freedom will be complete.
Does that mean, however, that the Convention does not count within its
ranks some true friends of the people? That would be a slander on it;
but these, Robespierre, St. Just, Danton and the other Jacobins, are
unfortunately in the minority. The Girondins, who control the majority,
are incapable of dissipating the perils which now stare the Republic in
the face."
"An idea, friend John! How if we invited the Girondins to take a little
visit down there to see how their friends Pitt and Coburg were getting
along? If they don't accept, we march in force upon the Convention, sort
the goats from the sheep, purge the flock of the goats, and then--.
Stern diseases need stern remedies!"
"Then, my friend Castillon, the sovereignty of the people one and
indivisible would be violated in the person of its Girondist
Representatives. For these, no less than the Mountainists, are sacred by
virtue of their popular election. Their inviolability covers them so
long as there exists against them no proof of overt treason. We shall
not step out of the just path. What must be done to save the Republic
without violence, without illegality, without an assault on the
sovereignty of the people, is to obtain from the Girondins, voluntarily,
an abandonment of their power to the Jacobins."
"But how can that be done?"
"By using our right of assemblage and petition, by making the Convention
hear the voice of the people, of Paris, and of all France. And, I call
God to witness, that voice will be heard! The most refractory of our
Representatives will be forced to obey."
"Bravo! Tell us some more!"
"Here, comrades, is what occurred yesterday, May 29. The Section of the
Cite, through the organ of its president Dobsen, issued an appeal to the
other forty-seven Sections of Paris, inviting them each to send two
delegates to the electoral club sitting at the Bishopric. These
delegates, clad by the Sections with full power for the common safety,
are to act in concert. The call of the Cite has been heeded, and to-day
these ninety-six commissioners of the Sections have named a superior
committee of nine. This committee has resolved as follows:
"To-morrow, in order to establish the legality of the power with which
the Sections have invested it, the committee will repair to the City
Hall, declare its powers, and dismiss (but only for form's sake) the
Municipal Council, whose authority exists only at the will of the
Sections. This done, the Municipal Council will be reinstated in its
functions, as it is composed of good patriots. The directorate of the
department, on its part, being with the Sections, will call upon the
officers of the Commune to assemble at the City Hall to-morrow and meet
with the Municipal Council to the end of consulting, if need be, on
matters of general security. Thus, to-morrow, at daybreak, all the
Sections will assemble, with their cannon; that is to say, all Paris
will be afoot, armed, not to fight, but to demonstrate, calm and
dignifiedly, garbed imposingly in its power and sovereignty."
"I understand, friend John, that the ex-nobles still carry, even in
tranquil times, their rapiers at their sides. It is 'part of their
costume,' they say. Well, by my pipe, on these grand occasions, and
without meaning to fight, the people shall put on _its_ Sunday best, and
march with pike-staves and cannon! That will be its ceremonial costume!"
"You have said it, friend Castillon. The ex-gentleman is not complete
without his sword beside him--it is his symbol of oppression. The
patriot is not complete without the pike in his hand, his symbol of
resistance to oppression. To-morrow, then, when the Sections are
peacefully assembled, in their ceremonial costume, as you said,
Castillon, Citizen Rousselin, the spokesman of the deputation of the
forty-eight Sections of Paris, and L'Huillier, in the name of the
directorate of the department of Paris, will read at the bar of the
Convention the petitions borne by the delegates of the Sections."
"Now, friend John, I understand the affair," returned Castillon. "We go
say to the Girondins: 'Look you, citizens, we are here, a hundred
thousand good patriots of Paris; and down there, in the country, other
hundreds of thousands of good patriots, all convinced, like us, that you
have not enough hair on your eyebrows to save the Republic. That is
settled! We have the numbers, the force and the cannon for you, but
these numbers, this force, these cannon we do not want to use. Only we
say to you, in the name of the country: Citizen Girondins, when your
loins are not strong enough to bear the burden, leave it to others more
robust. Come, make yourselves scarce!'"
"You speak words of gold, my good Castillon. Yes, in all probability,
such will be the consequences of to-morrow's program. The majority of
the Convention--a majority which is often vacillating and undecided, but
which has so far supported the Girondins--will, struck with this
imposing manifestation, this calm, dignified, legal attitude of the
people, and yielding to the pressure of public opinion, throw off the
Girondin influence which dominates it, and join forces with the
Jacobins, who will thus become masters of the situation. Then, my
friends, be sure of it, whatever the allied monarchs of Europe may do,
whatever the plots of the royalists and priests, the Republic, the
Revolution, France, will be saved without the sovereignty of the people
having been violated in the person of a single one of its
Representatives in the Commune or the Convention, even of those most
opposed to new ideas; and without the stigma of bloodshed."
All at once John Lebrenn's wife dashed into the workshop. She was pale
and trembling, and called in tones of terror:
"John, my friend, come at once! What a misfortune!"
"Charlotte, you frighten me," cried Lebrenn, hastening to his wife's
side. "Heavens, what has happened?"
"Come, come, in haste."
"Citizeness Lebrenn, do you need us?" called Castillon, as much moved as
his comrades at the anxiety depicted on the young woman's face.
"Speak--here we are, at your service."
"Thank you all, my friends, thank you. Alas! There is no remedy for the
grief which has smitten us," replied Charlotte. And taking the arm of
her husband, who grew every instant more uneasy, she dragged him out of
the shop and towards their dwelling.